Chapter 101: Crushed

Onstage, Lin Wen’s performance of "Meeting You" was drawing near its end.

To preserve a shred of suspense in the match, the live vote count on the giant screen had been temporarily hidden.

I fly ahead, crossing an ocean of time
We, too, have been wounded by love
I look at the narrow entrance to the road of dreams
Meeting you was the most beautiful accident
One day, the answer to my mystery will be revealed
...

As the song ended, Lin Wen lowered her head slightly, then smiled and bowed to the audience below as her curtain call.

The audience answered once more with thunderous applause.

"That was incredible. I’ve already forgotten I’m supposed to be the host," Wu Chuan said with a broad smile as he stepped to center stage, engaging the audience. "Did you enjoy it?"

"Yes!" the audience answered in unison.

Wu Chuan smiled. "Then do you want to know who sang such a beautiful song?"

"Yes!" came the unified response again.

Wu Chuan turned his smiling gaze to Lin Wen. "Then please introduce yourself to everyone, beautiful lady. Tell us who you are."

Lin Wen nodded and waved toward the camera. "Hello, everyone. My name is Lin Wen. I’m still a student studying music. I’m very honored and very happy to have the chance to appear on the stage of Music PK Arena. I saw that many of you voted for me just now. Thank you, everyone."

When she finished, Lin Wen bowed again to the audience.

"Lin Wen, may I ask a bit presumptuously: what is your relationship with Lin Feng? You both have the surname Lin, so it couldn’t be a coincidence, could it?" Wu Chuan naturally knew the relationship between Lin Wen and Lin Feng, but for the sake of the show, he still had to ask as if he did not.

"Lin Feng is my older brother," Lin Wen replied with a smile. At that moment, the camera cut to Lin Feng at the side of the stage, and he waved at the lens.

Upon hearing this, the audience could not help but let out a collective "oh," all of them wearing expressions of sudden realization.

"No wonder the two of you are both so good-looking. So you really are siblings," Wu Chuan said with a laugh. "People always say brothers are best in battle and fathers and sons charge together, but today it’s sibling power on the battlefield!"

Lin Wen stuck out her tongue playfully. "Since my brother came to take part in your program, of course I have to support him~~"

"What a good sister you are," Wu Chuan teased. "If only I had a sister who was this beautiful, this cute, and this good at singing..."

"All right, enough joking. Please welcome the previous performer, Chen Xi, back to the stage," Wu Chuan said, collecting himself and moving the show along.

Chen Xi walked onto the stage with a dark expression. Though she was unwilling to admit it, after hearing Lin Wen sing, she no longer had much hope for this round of the match.

"Both support singers are now standing onstage. Next, the result of this round will be revealed." Wu Chuan raised his voice. "Earlier, Chen Xi had 298 in-studio votes, right? Now let’s reveal Lin Wen’s in-studio votes. Please look at the big screen..."

Following Wu Chuan’s cue, everyone’s eyes shifted to the giant screen.

Lin Wen’s in-studio vote total began to emerge gradually: 500!!!

The moment that number appeared, the entire venue erupted in cries of astonishment.

But soon after, the audience broke into applause, because they felt Lin Wen deserved that score.

"My God! Five hundred votes! Full votes! Everyone here voted for you!!" Wu Chuan exclaimed, unable to hide his shock. He was not acting, either. In all the many episodes of Music PK Arena, full votes had appeared only a handful of times, and in the past year especially, the level of the competing musicians had been rather limited; full votes had become a long-absent phenomenon. That was why he was so stunned.

"Thank you, everyone."

Lin Wen bowed again in gratitude.

At the side of the stage, Lin Feng and Qin Han were also clapping excitedly.

On Zhou Ziqian’s side, everyone wore dark expressions. Five hundred versus two hundred ninety-eight: in in-studio voting, Chen Xi had suffered a crushing defeat, and her opponent had won with a perfect score no less. It was an utter humiliation.

"According to the rules of the show, the in-studio audience votes will be multiplied by one hundred and counted toward the total. That means Lin Wen now has fifty thousand total votes, while Chen Xi has twenty-nine thousand eight hundred. Add in the one hundred seventy thousand two hundred votes from the outside audience, and the total comes to exactly two hundred thousand. In other words, if Lin Wen’s outside vote count exceeds one hundred fifty thousand, then this round will be won by Lin Feng. If Lin Wen’s outside votes are below one hundred fifty thousand, then Zhou Ziqian will win. Now, please reveal Lin Wen’s outside vote count..."

When Wu Chuan finished, everyone’s gaze once again turned to the big screen.

At the same time, Lin Wen’s outside vote number began to spin rapidly upward.

120,000, 130,000, 140,000, 150,000...

In almost an instant, Lin Wen’s outside votes broke through 150,000, and the result of this round was decided.

Onstage, Lin Wen excitedly waved her arm and then smiled toward Lin Feng at the side of the stage.

Chen Xi, meanwhile, cursed furiously under her breath. Of course, her voice was very low and did not make it to the live broadcast, but just like when Sun Hao had previously cursed Lin Feng, the lip-reading experts in front of their televisions caught it red-handed...

On the big screen, Lin Wen’s outside vote count was still surging wildly upward: 160,000, 170,000, 180,000...

The frenzied rise even broke through the 200,000 mark.

"My God, it’s already over 200,000. Is it still going up?" Wu Chuan cried out in shock. On Music PK Arena, it had been a long time since the outside vote count had exceeded 200,000. In fact, the 170,000 Chen Xi had just now would have been an extremely high score in previous seasons.

In the end, Lin Wen’s outside votes stopped at 250,000.

Seeing that number, the venue erupted once more in enthusiastic applause.

"Two hundred fifty thousand! Add that to the fifty thousand from before, and that makes a full three hundred thousand! My God, this is the first time this year a contestant has reached three hundred thousand votes! Congratulations, Lin Wen, and congratulations as well to Lin Feng, for winning the first round of the PK battle!!"

"Right now, Lin Feng versus Zhou Ziqian stands at one to zero!"

Wu Chuan announced the result loudly.

Lin Wen came down from the stage and rushed to the side to give Lin Feng a big hug.

"Bro, I didn’t embarrass you, did I?" Lin Wen’s little face was full of proud delight.

"Not only did you not embarrass me—you were perfect!" Lin Feng said with a smile, patting her on the shoulder.

"Wenwen, you sang so beautifully. What was that phrase again? Right, a voice like heaven’s music! Your voice, your singing—it’s truly amazing!" Qin Han said ingratiatingly.

"Thank you." Lin Wen smiled at him. "You’re up next. Do your best, okay?"

"Don’t worry. Leave the next one to me," Qin Han said confidently, patting his chest. "After this round, the match will be decided."

Having said that, Qin Han strode toward the stage.

...