I Am A Prodigy

The boycott of China’s Top Voice went beyond Director Zhou’s expectations. He walked alone in the wind, lost and in disarray.

This incident ruined the show’s reputation overnight, turning it into a target of public scorn.

“Nevermind, we’ll just not film the live audience and stick to the stage!” the Director said through gritted teeth, finally coming to a decision.

This season had finally arrived at the final stage. The stage was the main focus anyway. They could just make do.

Everything was ready and the filming began.

The two participants for the finals took to the stage. Their faces were covered with tears, appearing emotional and anxious.

Holding the mic, they kept speaking a whole load of emotionally charged words to stir the heart. The cameraman had even given them the occasional close up of their tears.

All that to create an atmosphere of a strong bond of friendship being treasured, yet they were forced to compete with each other.

The judges gave the occasional guidance and both participants prepared their script well. After a lengthy exchange, the first person finally started to sing.

“How is it? How’re the ratings?” the Director asked nervously.

Little Zhao swallowed a mouthful of saliva, afraid of speaking. He finally spoke up anxiously, “Director, the ratings are only at 0.02…”

“What? Say that again!?” The director’s face turned green.

0.02. Just how trashy would it be to obtain such low TV ratings? In his memories, there were never any shows that made such low ratings.

“The ratings are only at 0.02…” said Little Zhao with great pain and difficulty.

“Impossible! Top Voice’s ratings had always been at least 0.8. The last two episode ratings had just reached a record high. How can it drop this badly all of a sudden?!” The director was going crazy. “Go check it carefully. The system must be wrong!”

“Director, I’ve already checked it five times. This is it,” said Little Zhao bitterly.

To be honest, the 0.02 rating was due to some people watching just to throw profanities at Top Voice. Little Zhao could not bear to tell the director the truth.

Right then, a middle-aged man walked over quickly.

He frowned while he held onto a stack of materials in his hands. His expression looked terrible!

“Chairman Ding!” Director Zhou’s expression immediately changed, looking at the middle-aged man apprehensively.

“Director Zhou, so you do know that I’m the chairman?! If your Top Voice wants to die, don’t drag our Capital TV station down with you!” Chairman Ding roared like a clear resounding bell. “Stop all your shows under Top Voice immediately!”

“No! Please!” Director Zhou’s face turned pale. “Chairman Ding, today is Top Voice’s finals!”

“Hehe, nobody would watch such a competition. What’s the point of continuing it?” Chairman Ding stared coldly at Director Zhou. “I don’t know how your brain works! This show was such a hit when Chen Xiaoyan was on it. Can’t you tell the reason why your show has fallen this far?! This is the data collected from our TV station’s servers. Look carefully at your handiwork!”

Chairman Ding slammed the materials in front of Director Zhou with a loud smack.

Director Zhou grabbed them with his trembling hands.

The materials recorded Capital TV station’s ratings. When Chen Xiaoyan was around, the entire channel’s ratings were soaring. However, after Chen Xiaoyan was disqualified, the channel’s ratings sank like a rock and the TV station’s back end[1] was filled with accusations.

That level of contrast was stunning, shocking them to their core!

“Chairman Ding, Chen Xiaoyan’s disqualification had nothing to do with us. It was all because of Hong Na…” Director Zhou struggled to explain.

“Hehe, Director Zhou, you’re experienced in this field. How can you still not understand Chen Xiaoyan’s worth?!” Chairman Ding voiced his disappointment. “Chen Xiaoyan was popular to start with. Furthermore, there’s Y backing her up! How can you overlook that?!”

“Just today, your Top Voice faced such abysmal ratings, but QQ Music’s charts were taken over by Y and Chen Xiaoyan!”

Some People placed first, then Chaser of the Light, Boundless Sea and Sky, and Lightyears away were respectively placed second, third and fourth!

That popularity was fearsome.

Director Zhou’s body quivered and his mouth trembled, too stunned for words.

He could not help but recall the hesitation that he had. If he had stepped forward to clarify the show’s position, cut ties with Hong Na, and taken back Chen Xiaoyan’s disqualification, then the outcome would be a complete opposite of his predicament.

Even if he had only made an announcement to say that Chen Xiaoyan’s disqualification had nothing to do with Top Voice, things would not have been this bad.

At that moment, his heart was filled with regret.

He overestimated Top Voice’s popularity, and also underestimated Chen Xiaoyan and Y’s popularity!

“You have three days. If you can’t control the damage of this incident, our Capital TV station will not air China’s Top Voice!” Chairman Ding then looked at the dejected Director Zhou, then left with a sigh.

…

China’s Top Voice finals episode was canceled. The news went up into Weibo’s trending topics.

Immediately behind that, the notice from Top Voice attracted a massive following.

[Chen Xiaoyan’s disqualification was not a decision from the show, but rather Hong Na’s personal actions! Chen Xiaoyan’s skills were flawless. As long as Chen Xiaoyan is willing, she will be able to step foot onto Top Voice’s stage once again!”

At times like this, China’s Top Voice threw Hong Na under the bus without a second thought.

That notice undoubtedly became a hot topic at that time. China’s Top Voice gave in!

At that moment, all the morning lights felt a sense of relief wash over them.

[Hahaha, Top Voice finally knows the importance of our Chen Xiaoyan now!]

[Making an apology now? What were you doing all these while?]

[Hehe, trying to cut ties with just a single notice? Why didn’t you stand up for her when Chen Xiaoyan was disqualified?]

[Now that Chen Xiaoyan is a hit, you want her back? How shameless can you be? Are you even worthy of her?!]

Following that, someone exposed pictures of China’s Top Voice’s hall during the finals and the TV ratings for that day. The empty hall and near-zero TV ratings could only be described as pathetic. It got them a wave of insults and likes.

[F*ck! This is just too pathetic! Hahaha…]

[Forgive my bluntness, but this is the worst TV ratings in history.]

[No wonder they gave in. It seems that China’s Top Voice can’t survive anymore. You reap what you sow!]

…

Meanwhile, towards China’s Top Voice’s announcement, Chen Xiaoyan’s reply was very simple. [Thank you for your offer, but I will never step foot on this stage ever again!]

[Domineering!]

[Today you do not treasure me, tomorrow you’ll be unworthy of me!]

[China’s Top Voice, it’s about time to cry, hahaha…]

When Director Zhou saw Chen Xiaoyan’s reply, he could only shake his head in resignation as it was expected.

As of then, Chen Xiaoyan’s popularity could be described as a massive hit. Furthermore, there’s a Singer Y hidden behind her, boosting her popularity, most definitely turning her into a popular guest fought over by various big-name shows!

Funny that he originally held the biggest trump card in his hand, yet it resulted in this. He felt like a mentally challenged person!

[1] In raw, it was written as 电视后台 (TV back end) – pointing to the administrative end of the TV station. However, we believe the author intended to mean the TV station’s online portal/website.