A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return

Since she was up against a formidable opponent, Xia Yu decided to sing her most popular hit song.

It was also the first song that she sang for today’s head-to-head battles — “Wilting Lotuses in the Rain” — which had made everyone sit up and take notice of her.

She opened her thin lips to release a lilting melody, pleasing to the ears. “That early summer day with many wilting lotuses, the unheard woes… That year when the glow bugs flew amongst the flowers, tracing your features like a picture…”

Xia Ling stood listening to her from the other end of the stage. Her memory for music was extremely good, and she could tell without a doubt that Xia Yu’s singing was completely identical to that of the morning session, as well as the recorded version.

She was sure that Xia Yu was lip-synching.

An expression of disdain came onto Xia Ling’s face as lip-synching was the one thing that she truly despised. She thought that anyone who lip-synched was not worthy of being called a singer as they did not have the most fundamental sincerity.

She started to look forward to the moment that Xia Yu’s lip-synching was revealed.

Xia Yu continued to pretend to sing with her all onstage, unaware of Xia Ling’s thoughts. Even though she didn’t need to sing the song live, it still took much effort to ensure that her expression, movements, and dance looked the part. She smiled more radiantly than she did before, and her movements were more graceful. However, the audience started to get bored.

“How boring…” One of the audience members commented.

Another person in the audience gave a big yawn. “Exactly… we’ve been listening to Xia Yu all day.”

“She’s doing pretty well.”

“Good? Yeah, it’s good, but it’s boring. There are no mistakes, but there’s also nothing that really stands out. She’s just really steady. She should be like Ye Xingling earlier, who captured everyone’s attention once she opened her mouth.”

“You’re right…”

“What’s more, her singing isn’t as good as Ye Xingling’s…” Another person chipped in. “When I was listening to Ye Xingling sing, I forgot that I was here altogether. I was completely enthralled, like… like I was right in the middle of the whole scenario she sang about. Yes… right in the middle of that. However, when I’m listening to Xia Yu sing, I’m just not into it. I can still have a conversation with you guys.”

Many around her nodded in agreement. “Yes, yes, agreed.”

If Xia Yu could hear their discussions, she would have been speechless with disappointment. Even though she was performing better now as compared to the morning, the audience was so taken by Xia Ling’s song earlier that they found Xia Yu boring. Reviews of her performance now were nowhere close to that of the morning session.

The murmurings in the audience spread wider and wider. Many started to be distracted by their snacks and water, and some even took a toilet break, thinking that they would make it back just in time for the results.

Xia Yu started to become flustered in seeing the commotion offstage.

At the edge of the crowds, Li Lei saw that it was about time to set things in motion. He rang a number on his mobile. “Start now.”

Feng Kun suddenly appeared beside Li Lei. “You’re really making things so convenient for Xiao Ling. She doesn’t need to do a thing to reveal this lip-synching.”

Li Lei smiled at Feng Kun, transitioning from the serious expression he had when giving the command over the phone in an instant. “Brother Feng, say more good things about me in front of her. I’ll invite you to the wedding in the future.”

Feng Kun laughed out loud.

This man knew exactly how to butter up the people around him to his favor, and his mind was always on his girlfriend. This afternoon, when Feng Kun was busy with the arrangement for “The Butterfly Can’t Transcend the Seas,” Li Lei was also busy organizing his subordinates to carry out various tasks.

Onstage.

Xia Yu was wholly absorbed in her own performance.

The lilting melody coupled with her graceful dance moves made her look beautiful.

A female fan, carrying a huge bouquet of hyacinths, came onstage to present her with the flowers. Xia Yu received them graciously and thanked the female fan with a bright smile. However, that female fan seemed to be overly nervous, stepping on Xia Yu’s long chiffon dress by accident. She lost her footing in her high heels and fell toward Xia Yu. Both of them fell down onto the stage.

The audience gasped in shock in seeing this scene pan out.

After the initial shock passed, they were in for a greater shock. The background music as well as the singing for “Wilting Lotuses in the Rain” did not stop! “You asked me where the ends of the Earth is as I ride on my horse… Is it that… The ends of the Earth also has wilting lotuses in the rain…” The sad and pitiful voice rang out in the expanse of the room, echoing out over the audience. What was previously a beautiful song now seemed like an insult to the audience.

“Lip-synching!”

“Lip-synching!”

“Xia Yu is lip-synching!”

Pandemonium broke out in the crowd as they booed her loudly. All of them were shocked as Xia Yu’s amazing performances of the day were revealed now to be all but a farce. She was not singing the songs live in these head-to-head battles!

Liar!

This was blatantly cheating fans of their feelings!

Everyone was furious, and many cursed out loud. Some were so agitated that they started to throw their bottles of water at the stage.

Xia Yu was very embarrassed and struggled to stand up, scolding the fan that caused her lip-synching to be revealed. “Quick, get up! Don’t lie on me!”

Even though that fan was small-sized, she was pretty strong. She made a show of struggling to get up, but continued to remain on the floor and held onto Xia Yu’s dress. She apologized to Xia Yu anxiously, “Sorry… sorry… Miss Xia Yu… don’t pinch me… I… I know you… lip-synched… Sorry… sorry… ”

They were entangled on stage, and she was very close to the microphone in Xia Yu’s hands. Thus, her nervous voice was captured and transmitted to the audience. Everyone heard her words loud and clear.

What… Xia Yu was pinching the fan in anger even after her lip-synching was revealed?

The crowd became agitated again. “You’re shameless, Xia Yu!”

“Xia Yu, get off the stage!”

“Get off!”

“Get off!”

“Get off!”

The shouting was unanimous in the place and peppered with boos and angry whistles.

Xia Ling watched quietly from the other end of the stage, feeling mildly happy at her vicious sister’s plight. She mumbled to herself, “Baby, are you looking at this? The people that hurt you will get their just deserts. This is just the start… In the future, mummy will let her know what it means to lose all hope and feel pain so deep it penetrates her bones…”

Offstage, Feng Kun was watching the female fan in amusement, as she made a great show of struggling and apologizing to Xia Yu before managing to stand up. He laughed out loud at the sight and asked Li Lei, “Where did you find that marvelous lady? Her acting is great!”

Li Lei laughed as well. “That’s easy, there are a ton of them in my training camp. All the girls were fighting to be involved in this exciting assignment. I merely chose the girl with the highest scores in the acting class.” He paused before adding, “I should totally add some bonus points to her score for this practical lesson.”

Feng Kun was speechless. This Big Boss really knew how to use his resources well. Such a genius move. He couldn’t help but pity Xia Yu… what if this Big Boss decided to have more of these practical lessons? She was in for a hard time. There would be no end to her troubles seeing that she had offended Xia Ling and Li Lei.

The music and singing onstage finally came to an end. It seemed that the backstage staff realized that something was wrong and had switched the music off frantically. But it was too late, the lip-synching had been revealed. There was no way to hide that fact now.