CSGM - Chapter 93
Chapter 93: Ling's Summons
Chu Xi turned around to see Li Xiling trotting over in a black evening gown, her assistant hurrying behind to hold up the train of her dress.
The moment Li Xiling saw Chu Xi, her face lit up with surprise, and she greeted her enthusiastically.
"You're here too! I didn't expect it. Are you famous now?"
Li Xiling gazed at Chu Xi with a mix of excitement and curiosity, her words as direct as ever.
Chu Xi didn't think she was famous.
"Not really. I just got an invitation."
"Oh." Li Xiling looked her up and down, a reunion after a long time. "You look great tonight! By the way, where are you sitting?"
Chu Xi glanced at the nearby table and gestured with her eyes. "Here."
Li Xiling glanced at the seven people sitting uncomfortably at the table and immediately understood the situation.
It was a common sight.
The entertainment industry was full of snobs. If you weren't a top star, it was easy to get the cold shoulder at events. A missing chair or microphone was par for the course.
But since it was Chu Xi facing this misfortune, Li Xiling couldn't just stand by and watch.
Li Xiling immediately raised her voice and called over a staff member to bring the missing chair for the table.
She was a senior figure in the music world, so her words carried some weight.
The minor mishap was quickly rectified by the venue staff.
Li Xiling patted Chu Xi's shoulder. Before leaving, she didn't forget to add a helpful reminder, "If you're in a tough spot, just find me."
As she walked away, she raised her hand to her ear in a "call me" gesture.
Chu Xi nodded at her.
Some of the other artists at the table sized her up, while others looked at her with a hint of envy.
—So Chu Xi actually has connections in the industry. Even Sister Ling takes such good care of her.
—No wonder Chu Xi could attend the gala, even though she isn't that popular and has no projects this year.
—This artist is gorgeous. What was her name again? With a face like that, she's bound to become famous sooner or later.
Everyone at Chu Xi's table was socially awkward. Plus, none of them were big names in the industry—not household names like the people in Section A. Some of them didn't even know one another, so they all remained mostly silent.
More importantly, it was best not to speak carelessly in a place like this.
In this industry, you could never know what people were truly thinking. It was a chaotic world.
Chu Xi had no interest in admiring the heavily made-up singers and idols at her table either. Her attention was focused on the gala's events.
The tables and chairs were clearly arranged for a banquet, yet there was no food to be seen.
On the round tables, which were decorated with light blue cloths, a server simply handed each person a can of Scholar Ox.
Oh, and it came with a straw.
Chu Xi couldn't resist calling out to the server. "Is there nothing else?"
The server paused for a moment before replying, "You can call me if you need another beverage."
In other words, there was nothing but drinks.
The tables were set for a meal, but no food was served—only drinks.
"..."
Chu Xi was frustrated. She would have eaten beforehand if she had known.
The gala began, and after the host's opening speech, stars were invited on stage in turns to participate in fun games.
Most of the invitees were stars from Section A and Section B.
Of course, there was a segment for volunteers, but the artists from Section C onward knew their place.
Don't steal the spotlight, and don't offend the organizers or the A-listers up front.
These games were designed to give the real celebrities a chance to shine.
Take Ren Zhi, for example. She had only been sitting in the audience for a few minutes before being invited on stage to play a game of "Lyric Telephone."
Ten artists were split into two teams. Luo Yangtian was among them, on the same team as Ren Zhi.
Except for the first person on each team who listened to the song, all other members had to wear noise-canceling headphones. They had to guess the lyrics passed down the line and relay them to the next person.
It was a boring, childish game, but Ren Zhi's participation made it much more entertaining for Chu Xi to watch.
During the game, a children's song, "White Dragon Horse," had been completely transformed into a new song by the time it reached Ren Zhi at the end of the line.
Luo Yangtian, who was first in line, listened as the lyrics passed along by the three teammates behind him grew increasingly absurd. Sabotaged by the three in the middle, he slapped his own forehead.
Ren Zhi stared wide-eyed at the teammate in front of her, who was singing with all his might. Catching Luo Yangtian's reaction out of the corner of her eye, she knew this person had definitely relayed the wrong lyrics.
Luo Yangtian's gaze shot past the three people in the middle and suddenly met Ren Zhi's. An idea struck him.
Thinking fast, Luo Yangtian decided to just go for it and immediately made one of Xiao Han's signature gestures toward Ren Zhi—touching his forehead with a wry smile.
Ren Zhi understood in a flash.
A strange, unspoken connection was successfully made.
Even Chu Xi, watching from her seat, laughed out loud.
The moment Luo Yangtian imitated Xiao Han, Ren Zhi thought of Xiao Han's signature song—
"White Dragon Horse, hmm~"
So, taking off her headphones, she sang the children's song for the host.
"That's correct!!!" the host exclaimed, completely surprised.
The audience roared with laughter, shocked that Ren Zhi had gotten the right answer.
The three people in the middle had all passed it on incorrectly, yet Ren Zhi still managed to guess it right at the end?!
Someone in the audience must have tipped her off!
But it didn't matter. The gala's games were just for fun, meant for entertainment.
When the host asked what he thought of the game, Luo Yangtian could only offer a remote apology to the absent Xiao Han, smiling sheepishly.
"I'm sorry, Xiao Han—Brother Han! Please don't hold a grudge against me for this!"
During the intermission, the host announced the Peach Video Audience Choice awards for actor and actress, after which the program resumed.
The word was that things were about to get more difficult; the guest performances were going to be more challenging.
The new performance segment was called "Sing, Play, and Test Your Chemistry."
This was a stage game jointly developed by the technical department of "Quanmin Maiba" and Peach Video.
A piano was connected to a score generator, and the vocals picked up by the microphone would be graded. The closer the singing was to the piano's melody, the higher the score for pitch.
Of course, in addition to pitch, the lyrics were also a scoring metric.
It sounded just like the "Quanmin Maiba" mobile app, only this was a live, 3D version.
However—
The host had hinted that the piano for the performance had a hidden trick; not just anyone could play it well.
But no one seemed to think too deeply about what this meant. They just assumed that since the piano's melody was the standard, the singer would have to match its tune.
In other words, the person playing the piano had to be an expert.
They had to be able to play the song's original melody perfectly, or else the singer would have to follow the piano's mistakes and go off-key just to get a good score.
For the first performance, the gala's sponsors appointed four well-known singers to take the stage. They graciously accepted, formed two pairs, and decided who would play the piano.
One was a young pop idol rumored to have perfect pitch, and the other was a veteran singer who had composed countless songs.
Both were experienced musicians, completely at ease with the piano keys.
Just as the four, confident in their performance, began to play and sing "Ten Years" while looking at the teleprompter and sheet music—
The audience erupted in laughter!
Both pianists were playing with great seriousness, but the very first "do-re-mi-fa-sol" was a complete mess!
It caught their microphone-wielding teammates completely off guard!
What kind of tune is this?!
But they had no choice but to brace themselves and sing along to the new melody, which was running wild like a crazed stallion. In their panic, they turned to see what was happening with their pianists.
"If those two words didn't tremble..."
But the two singers on stage certainly were trembling!
What was this bizarre, twisted new song they were singing?!
They had never been so horribly off-key in their entire lives!
The four professional singers were completely overwhelmed by the performance, sending the audience into fits of laughter.
Meanwhile, in Section A, the daughter of Chairman Zhang of Peach Video sat unnoticed, her expression blank as she stared down at her phone.
No one was paying attention to her anyway. She had no interest in watching such a boring, vulgar clown show.
The competitions on the I Am the Brain King mini-program were more fun than this.
One more round!
"Xiao Xue, ahem..." But Chairman Zhang nudged her hand and shot her a look.
This was Section A. She needed to show some respect for the event and not be so rude.
On stage, both pianists looked flustered and guilty. The young pop idol turned to his teammate with a pained expression to explain.
"The keys are scrambled."
The notes the keys were supposed to produce were completely different from the ones they actually played!
The keys on both pianos had been scrambled. In the beginning, neither the young idol nor the veteran could play the tune from the sheet music.
The two singers holding microphones could only struggle through the song, their voices wavering high and low. At one point, a teammate hit a sustained high note, and a calm, soothing song with a hint of melancholy was forcefully turned into two wailing dirges, leaving the audience in stitches.
The worst part was, because the singers couldn't keep up with the off-key melody their teammates were playing, the score displayed on the big screen showed consecutive failing marks, triggering the penalty mechanism.
Water suddenly sprayed down from overhead, leaving the two performing artists drenched and looking miserable.
After the segment ended, the young idol's teammate took a towel from the host and complained jokingly.
"My teammate was clearly the one being pranked, so why am I the one suffering!"
The audience, however, was thoroughly satisfied, applauding and laughing heartily.
The host asked the other pianist, the veteran singer, to share his thoughts. The veteran singer smiled into the microphone.
"This piano is no simple instrument. I won't say any more, since the show must go on, right? Let's let the next group of singers enjoy it!"
He had just started to get the hang of it toward the end, finally managing to play a small part of the correct melody in the last few lines.
Unfortunately, he only became familiar with this "brand-new" piano at the very end.
It was just too difficult.
And indeed, there was another performance.
There were countless singers in the venue that night, so the host once again granted a special privilege to Peach Video's investment partners, allowing the investors to pick their favorite singers to perform.
The two investors, who were not young, chose two classic singers from the music world.
Coincidentally, both were Golden Melody Award-winning divas—one was Li Xiling, and the other was May.
The two went on stage together, each with the right to choose a partner. May won a round of rock-paper-scissors and immediately picked Nana, who was known as the "Piano Princess."
Nana was one of the most professional pianists in the industry.
Having watched the previous performance, May didn't hesitate to pin her hopes on Nana, who had won international awards.
There was likely no pianist at Scream Night more skilled than Nana.
May gleefully took Nana's hand as she came on stage, while Li Xiling stood to the side with a look of regret and frustration.
It was easy to guess that she had also intended to pick Nana, but May had beaten her to the punch.
In that case...
Li Xiling had felt hopeless, but as her gaze swept across the venue, she suddenly felt a glimmer of hope!
It was worth a gamble, right?
Although she had never actually asked Chu Xi if she could play the piano.
She picked up the microphone, thought for a moment, and said to a smug-looking May:
"I was going to pick Nana too, but since you got to her first, I won't steal your choice."
Behind May, Nana gave a coy smile.
Li Xiling continued.
"But since May has roped in Nana, I'll have to find a seriously awesome partner too. Am I right, everyone?"
She called out to the audience, who immediately cheered in support.
Unevenly, but in unison, they shouted, "Right!!!"
Yes, yes, yes! It was only interesting to see powerhouses team up and face off against each other!
"Then I'm going to call up the strongest helper in this entire venue! With her here, we won't lose to May and Nana! Most importantly, I don't want to get wet!" Li Xiling grew more animated as she spoke, her voice rising. "So! I'm going to bring up my secret weapon!"
For some reason, Chu Xi suddenly had a bad feeling. Her eyelid started twitching.
Li Xiling had whipped the audience into a state of excitement, anticipation, and eagerness.
Who could it be? Who could make the diva Li Xiling praise them so extravagantly on stage?
Was it Li Xiling's best friend, the other music industry diva, Deng Yufei? Or her personal genius composer, Yuan Wuhai? Or could it be the rock OG Miao Feng, who was once rumored to be involved with her and claimed to hold up half the music industry?
All three were undisputed powerhouses!
Whoever it was, the thought alone was thrilling!
As fellow divas, Li Xiling's advantage over May was her extensive network of connections!
So? Who on earth was Li Xiling going to invite?
The audience waited eagerly for her to reveal the name. Who, in Li Xiling's mind, was a pianist even more skilled than Nana?
Holding the microphone, Li Xiling couldn't help but laugh as she looked at her best friend in the audience. "Feifei, stop looking at me. We'll work together next time, there will be plenty of opportunities. I can't afford to have my makeup ruined by rain tonight."
Deng Yufei's eyes sparkled as she watched her; even she had thought Li Xiling was about to call her up for backup.
But as it turned out, it wasn't her?
Did that mean that, in Li Xiling's mind, this person was even more skilled than Deng Yufei?
Impossible, right? Deng Yufei and Li Xiling weren't just best friends; Fei-shen was a diva-level talent!
Deng Yufei was confused, and the rest of the audience was even more curious!
If even Deng Yufei wasn't her choice, it was hard to imagine just how powerful a helper Li Xiling was planning to bring on stage using her connections!
The audience in Section A looked around, trying to spot any hidden musical gems they might have overlooked. Those in Section B and beyond craned their necks toward Section A, trying to predict her choice.
Just as everyone was speculating and eagerly awaiting the arrival of this heavyweight musical guest, Li Xiling finally called out a name!
Let's see which musical master would be dueling with the Piano Princess, Nana!
Li Xiling shouted, "Come on up! Chu Xi!"
Wow! It's...
Who??
The entire venue fell silent in an instant, a look of utter confusion on every face.
Huh?
Chu Xi? Who's Chu Xi??
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