Chapter Thirty-Five: The End of the Entertainment Industry

“Director Mo Fan, something’s wrong.”

“What is it? Even though our ratings this episode aren’t as high as ‘Who’s the Singer,’ it shouldn’t be that big a gap, right?”

Backstage at the recording of “The New Voice,” Mo Fan looked up at his assistant.

By inviting top international singers to join the show, “The New Voice” was making history. Even without Chen Nian’s explosive presence, the ratings might dip, but not dramatically.

The assistant nodded. “You’re right, our ratings are a bit lower than ‘Who’s the Singer,’ but not by much. But… but—”

“What is it?” Mo Fan frowned, irritated by the assistant’s hesitancy.

“Just see for yourself.” Gritting his teeth, the assistant handed over his tablet.

Mo Fan took the tablet, puzzled.

Displayed on it were the live barrage comments and reviews.

“Damn, this is hilarious, the domestic music scene is a joke this time.”

“Seven top domestic singers, and they couldn’t beat two foreigners?”

“We’ve made fools of ourselves on the world stage—our country is ‘leading’ for all the wrong reasons.”

“Decades ago, we never backed down against foreign invaders, but now we’re getting crushed in singing competitions!”

“It’s truly shameful. In a country of over a billion people, can’t we find a few people who can actually sing?”

“Exactly! Aren’t these guys always bragging? They even wanted to blacklist our favorite singer, but now, faced with real talent, they wimp out?”

Mo Fan scrolled through the comments, his brow furrowing ever deeper.

“What’s going on?”

The assistant sighed. “The two foreign singers we invited are dominating this competition, outpacing Zhou Lu, the third-place contestant, by over a hundred votes. The audience is furious, and the show’s rating has plummeted to 5.6.”

“5.6? That’s impossible! The first episode had a rating of 9.6. Even if Xinji Entertainment hired trolls to sabotage us, the rating wouldn’t drop this fast.” Mo Fan was stunned.

A passing grade for a show was 5.6. That meant they weren’t even scraping by anymore.

“Director Mo Fan, what do we do now? If the next episode turns out like this, ‘The New Voice’ is finished.”

Their original intention had been to craft a quality show that would snuff out the buzz around “Who’s the Singer.” That was supposed to be an easy win.

But not only had they failed to create a hit, they’d handed their rivals a wave of publicity.

No, this could not stand!

Mo Fan slammed the table in frustration.

He’d worked for years, spent vast sums, produced countless shows, and never once had a program score below passing.

As a top producer, he would never allow such a thing to happen.

“Right now, immediately—put out a call for powerful singers to challenge those two foreigners!”

“Damn it, our great nation has driven out invaders before, and we can do it again!”

“Yes, I’ll get on it at once!”

The assistant, just as fed up with the arrogance of those two foreigners, hurried to post the singer recruitment notice online.

“Hahaha! Mo Fan’s brought this on himself!” At the celebration banquet for “Who’s the Singer,” the boss of Xinji Entertainment raised his glass.

“Exactly. Inviting foreign singers to outshine your own—what was he thinking? That’s just shooting yourself in the foot!”

“Without Chen Nian, ‘The New Voice’ is nothing.”

Their success was obvious—everyone was in high spirits, chattering away.

Only Lin Xinrou sat alone in a corner, her eyes full of thoughts.

Xing Fei’s words to her on the show still echoed in her mind.

It only strengthened her resolve: she wanted a new song that would become her legacy.

A thought slowly surfaced in her mind.

She still hadn’t found out who Xing Fei’s mentor was.

To be able to write a song of that caliber—of all the people she knew, only Chen Nian was left…

“Everyone’s seen the singer recruitment announcement just put out by Tianxing Entertainment?” Wang Tao took a sip of vintage wine and smiled.

“With the level those two foreign girls have shown, who would dare go on that show now?” someone joked.

“That’s not enough.” Wang Tao smiled too.

The man paused, then caught on. “Don’t worry, Mr. Wang. I guarantee that before the next episode, not a single singer will dare accept an invitation from ‘The New Voice.’”

Wang Tao nodded in satisfaction.

Five days later, with only two days left before the next recording of “The New Voice,” Tianxing Entertainment had sent invitations to most of the industry’s capable singers, yet all of them, as if by prior agreement, declined with various excuses.

“What the hell is going on?” In Gong Yu’s office at Tianxing Entertainment, nearly all the company’s executives were present for an emergency meeting about the show.

Gong Yu swept his gaze over the group.

“You’ve all been in the industry for years—are you saying you can’t recruit a single real singer?”

Everyone hung their heads under the boss’s anger, except for Mo Fan, who pushed up his glasses and spoke.

“There aren’t any real singers left in today’s music scene. It’s all auto-tuned studio products. When they heard our show would be broadcast live, and with Xinji Entertainment playing dirty in the background, none of them dared to come.”

“So what now?” Gong Yu banged the table and shouted. “I’m telling you, the show’s recording is in two days. If you can’t give me a solution, you can all get the hell out!”

“There is a solution, but it may be a little difficult to pull off,” Mo Fan replied.

“Speak! The situation is urgent. As chief director, what are you waiting for?”

“We posted our recruitment online, and netizens suggested some names. Of those, aside from the ones I’ve already tried, there’s one I haven’t contacted yet. He might be our only hope.”

“Who? Mo Fan, since when did you start playing coy? Tell me who it is and get him for me!”

“Chen Nian.” After a brief hesitation, Mo Fan spoke the name—perhaps the only person in the industry who could save “The New Voice.”