Chapter Fifty: Guest Performer, Chen Nian...

Seven days later, the guest singer round of "Who Is the Singer" officially began recording.

Bang!

"Has Xing Fei's mentor arrived yet?" Lin Xinrou slammed her hand on the table, looking at her manager.

"No," the manager shook her head. "Xing Fei's mentor is truly mysterious. Up to now, we haven't received any information about him—not even a trace. Xing Fei was the only one who attended rehearsal."

In order to secure this enigmatic mentor behind Xing Fei, Lin Xinrou had dressed herself extravagantly and arrived early at the recording site.

But after waiting for more than an hour, Xing Fei's mentor still had not appeared.

Completely out of patience, Lin Xinrou got up and headed for Xing Fei's lounge. After all, once the official recording began, there would be many things she could not discuss on stage.

"Xiao Fei, the director sent me to ask—has your mentor arrived?" Lin Xinrou pushed the door open and strode in.

"He should be here soon. I can't reach him at the moment," Xing Fei replied, glancing at the time with an impassive expression.

"Alright," Lin Xinrou nodded. "When your mentor arrives, please let me know."

Xing Fei nodded silently.

Lin Xinrou pushed open the door and left, only to run into Brother Wei coming toward her.

"Heh, you look stunning today," Brother Wei said with a sly smile, his eyes sweeping over Lin Xinrou's dazzling attire and flawless makeup.

Revulsion churned in Lin Xinrou's stomach at his lecherous expression. If not for her career, she would never have gotten involved with such an old man.

But now, with the prospect of clinging to Xing Fei's mentor, she could finally kick this parasitic Brother Wei aside.

Seeing Lin Xinrou's triumphant demeanor, Brother Wei smiled faintly. After years of working together, he knew exactly what kind of person she was.

"So, you’ve found a new target and plan to toss your old partner aside?"

"If you don't want to spend the rest of your life in prison, you'd better know your place and keep your distance from me!" Lin Xinrou jabbed a finger at Brother Wei's face, enunciating each word.

With that, she turned and left without hesitation.

Perhaps once she had cowered beneath Brother Wei's tyranny, but now she was about to latch onto Xing Fei’s mentor—why would she care about a mere star producer?

As he watched her walk away, Brother Wei frowned.

"Lin, let me tell you, this industry isn’t as simple as you think..."

Lin Xinrou ignored his well-meaning warning and left the set without looking back.

An hour later, the audience entered, and the show officially started recording.

"Goddess Lin! Goddess Lin! Goddess Lin!"

"Goddess Lin, you’re the best! You are the hope of Mandopop!"

"Chen Nian is nothing! Just a plagiarist dog!"

"Goddess Lin, you’ll always be our idol. We believe in you—you’re the greatest!"

To boost the show's popularity, the "Who Is the Singer" team had even arranged a full live broadcast.

The four judges took their seats as the crowd erupted in wild cheers.

To attract Xing Fei’s mentor’s attention, Lin Xinrou had specifically asked the producers to let her fans fill the audience.

Now, of the five hundred audience members, nearly eighty percent were Lin Xinrou's fans.

Having proven that the song "Parting Sorrow" was indeed co-written by Lin Xinrou and Xing Fei’s mentor, her followers had grown bolder than ever.

They hadn’t just flooded Chen Nian’s social media with criticism—they had even targeted his friends and family.

Although her fans had managed to offend nearly everyone in the industry, Lin Xinrou didn’t care at all. In fact, she was secretly delighted to have trended twice because of it.

"Heh, what a following," Chen Nian mused, standing amidst the crowd with sunglasses masking his eyes.

Lin Xinrou frowned. The show was already being recorded, but Xing Fei’s mentor had yet to appear.

There was nothing she could do. With a sigh, she resigned herself to waiting until the recording ended to speak with him. No matter what, tonight she had to secure this mysterious mentor.

She craved fame and wanted to become a truly renowned singer!

For that goal, she was willing to give up anything!

The first to take the stage were Li Wen from Lin Xinrou’s team and his guest vocalist, Xu Wei.

Xu Wei was indeed a rock legend in the music industry—even in semiretirement, his presence still caused a sensation.

With a performance of "Blue Lotus," a song Li Wen had sung before, the atmosphere soared to a climax.

It had to be said, Xu Wei truly deserved his reputation—his rendition of "Blue Lotus" impressed even Chen Nian. It would have met the bar in their world’s music scene as well.

At the host’s cue, the audience began scoring the song.

Chen Nian hesitated for a moment, then pressed his voting device.

With the support of rock veteran Xu Wei, the song received a final score of 455.

As Li Wen’s mentor, Lin Xinrou nodded in satisfaction.

If nothing unexpected happened, "Blue Lotus" would likely be the highest-scoring song of the night.

"Li Wen, I heard you lost last time. I don’t care about all this mentor-disciple nonsense! This time I’m taking the stage myself—no one can beat you, not even the King of Heaven!" After the voting ended, Xu Wei tossed aside the microphone, exuding confidence.

His words were a direct challenge to Xing Fei, who had once defeated "Blue Lotus" on this very show!

Instantly, the five hundred audience members erupted into a frenzy.

"Whoa! That’s awesome—he really is a rock king!"

"That’s attitude, old-school rock!"

"As long as Xu Wei lives, rock lives!"

Amid the thunderous cheers, Xu Wei strode offstage without looking back.

Seated in the audience, Chen Nian watched it all with a faint smile, making no move to respond.

Next, the teams led by Niu Huan and Zhang Han performed in turn, but their scores were lackluster—none of their songs broke four hundred.

After the other three teams had finished, it was finally time for Zhang Jie’s team, featuring Xing Fei.

Thanks to Xing Fei’s outstanding performances, Zhang Jie’s team had become the designated closing act each episode.

"And now, let’s welcome from Zhang Jie’s team, Xing Fei, and her special guest singer..."

At this point, the host paused—not for suspense, but because, even as host, he still didn’t know who Xing Fei’s guest was, or who her mysterious mentor might be.

Draped in a long red gown, Xing Fei stepped onto the stage.

Seeing this, Lin Xinrou immediately smoothed her dress, more nervous than Xing Fei herself.

Once she took her place, Xing Fei gripped the microphone and gazed ahead with unwavering resolve.

"Now, allow me to introduce my mentor and today’s guest singer—Chen Nian..."

In an instant, the previously raucous hall fell silent. Every face was filled with confusion and suspicion.

"Who? Chen... Chen Nian? Did she say Chen Nian?"

Lin Xinrou thought her ears deceived her, her expression frozen in shock...