I am Really a Superstar

The third contestant got on stage.

Her name was Shi Fangru and she was going to perform a song that another contestant had sung during the preliminary auditions. The title was “Blooming.”

“Flowers bloom on the window sill.”

“But you aren’t here.”

“Remembering that spring, when you were still beside me.”

“These petals and your smiling face.”

“The flowers have bloomed!”

“But I’m crying!”

“Why did you go!”

This person sang in a very standard way and was not as amazing as those two before, although she still did quite well!

This song moved both Zhang Xia and Fan Wenli and the two coaches turned around for her. As for Zhang Yuanqi and Chen Guang, who knows what considerations they had, but they did not press on the button.

When Zhang Ye was not on stage, Zhang Yuanqi took over the hosting job. She asked, “What is your name?”

Shi Fangru replied, “My name is Shi Fangru.”

Zhang Yuanqi said, “What do you do?”

Shi Fangru smiled and said, “I don’t have a job. I’m a housewife. I stay at home to care for my kid.”

Fan Wenli sounded surprised as she remarked, “Oh, I couldn’t see that at all. You have children already? Then how old are you?”

Shi Fangru said, “I have a baby face and everyone says I look younger than I am. Actually, I’m 34 years old and my child is in primary school.”

Fan Wenli said, “Then you should come to my—”

Before she could finish, Zhang Xia found a chance to interrupt, “The other coaches all do not have children yet, but I have five and they were all brought up by my hands. I also have a lot of grandchildren. If you join my team, not only will I be able to mentor you in music, I can also teach you how to bring up your children!”

Zhang Yuanqi laughed. “Grandma Zhang has dealt her finishing blow!”

Zhang Xia said, “Of course. All the contestants have been snagged by the couple, so if I don’t make my move, I will end up with nobody on my team!”

In the end, Shi Fangru chose Grandma Zhang to be her coach. No one knew if she did so because of the talk about the children or because she was touched by Grandma Zhang’s sincerity. Fan Wenli seemingly looked regretful, sighed, and ranted about it for quite a while. It was clear that she liked that contestant very much, but just couldn’t snatch her away from Teacher Zhang Xia.

……

Following that, the contestants appeared one after another.

For the fourth contestant, Zhang Xia and Chen Guang turned around at the last second. This was a contestant who performed a folk song that needed powerful vocals and an extraordinary range. Teacher Zhang Xia, without much effort, lured the contestant to join her team. In terms of these folk music and bel canto style of singing, even if the other three coaches tried their very best, they wouldn’t be a match for Zhang Xia.

The fifth contestant…

The sixth contestant…

The seventh contestant…

For all of the contestants who had appeared on stage today, they all received acknowledgment in the form of having the coaches turn their seats around for them. On the higher side, all four coaches turned, while on the lower end, there was just one coach who turned their chair. For instance, only Chen Guang turned around for the seventh contestant, so that didn’t lead to the contestant getting a chance to choose their coach and was automatically assigned to Chen Guang’s team.

Up until now.

Zhang Xia had two contestants in her team.

Chen Guang had three.

Fan Wenli had two.

Only Zhang Yuanqi, who might have higher expectations, did not turn around for anyone except for Luo Yu’s performance. Her team was currently still empty, but she did not seem to feel anxious about it nor did she lower her requirements. She insisted on waiting for that voice which could move her to turn around.

……

It was now 3 PM in the afternoon.

The coaches and audience were all feeling quite tired.

At this moment, Zhang Ye came out from the backstage and yelled out some instructions. He said, “All teams, let’s take a break for ten minutes. After the break, we will commence with the recording for the last contestant.”

Zhang Yuanqi did not move.

Meanwhile, Zhang Xia, Fan Wenli, and Chen Guang stood up to go to the restroom.

Hearing that, many of the audience members were also led out of the recording studio for a water break, to relax in the corridor, or go for a bathroom break.

“I’m feeling exhilarated from today’s recording.”

“Yeah, what an exciting show.”

“However, it’s a little bit anticlimactic.”

“Yes, I feel the same. Perhaps, because the start was too amazing—even though the contestants who appeared later were very good as well—they didn’t have the abilities like the contestants in front of them, who gave us goosebumps after listening! Uhh, could it be that those were all the strong and capable contestants they found in the auditions? So they ended up getting arranged to appear at the beginning by the program team? And there are no more great contestants? If that’s the case, then the anticipation level for the later episodes will definitely drop by a lot. There’s nothing to look forward to at all!”

“I don’t know.”

“Stop thinking too much. Having so many who can sing well is already very good. Of these seven people, even the most average one could dominate all those contestants in the other talent shows!”

“Even if we say that, the opening stage contestants were too awesome and that increased my anticipation for the show thinking that there would be even better contestants later on.”

“Oh come on, getting such contestants is like finding a needle in a haystack. You can only get one in every million people, it’s not like you can just easily pick them up off the street. So having those opening stage contestants already wasn’t easy. I bet Zhang Ye went scouring around the country just to find them. In my opinion, it’s better that we don’t have too much expectation. The contestants from now on should only be like most of what we just heard. There won’t be someone else like Luo Yu who had such shocking vocals. All the trump cards for The Voice have already been played.”

“I think so too.”

“Ai, that’s true, where could they find so many amazing contestants anyway!”

“Even so, this show is already incredible. At least I know that I’ve never, ever watched such an exciting talent show before!”

“Zhang Ye truly lives up to his name!”

During the break, Zhang Ye was still busily handling some issues.

He found a staff member and asked, “Have we brought Qian Pingfan’s parents over to the studio yet? Why don’t I see them?”

That staff member answered, “They’re on the way right now. They were held up at the airport for a very long time because they have never traveled by plane before. They got lost after they got off. When I found out later, I quickly found someone to drive there to pick them up!”

Zhang Ye said, “Where are they at now?”

The staff said, “They are already at North Third Ring Road, so they will be arriving very soon.”

Zhang Ye said, “Hurry the driver up some more. Otherwise we won’t be able to finish the recording in time!”

Ha Qiqi came over. “Director Zhang, why not arrange for another contestant to appear first?”

Zhang Ye shook his head firmly. “No way, today’s recording must end with Qian Pingfan as the final act. No one else can take her place.”The contestants’ appearance order was all arranged by Zhang Ye who worked overnight for many days. Who came first, who came last, who was slated to appear in which episode, all of these details were very important. This order of appearance was worked on over and over for a long time before it was finally confirmed!

“Then let me call the driver to hurry him up!”

After the ten-minute break, Zhang Ye extended it for another ten minutes.

……

Just before 3:30 PM.

Zhang Ye finally found Qian Pingfan’s parents who had just arrived. The two of them were in the forties, but, possibly due to the fact that they were farmers and had to work out in the fields, getting battered by the weather, their skin didn’t look too good. It made them look older as well, as though they were already in their fifties.

“Hello, how are you?”

“Where is our son?”

The couple did not speak Mandarin too well, talking with very heavy accents.

Zhang Ye brought the two of them into the second recording studio. “It’s good to see both of you here. Qian Pingfan is currently backstage getting ready to go on the main stage. He will be appearing very soon. Here, you can see him on this TV.”

Pingfan’s father asked, “Who are you?”

The cameraman said, “This is Teacher Zhang Ye.”

The couple had looks of confusion. “Oh, hello.”

Seeing that the couple did not know who Zhang Ye was, the cameraman wasn’t surprised either. He understood that Qian Pingfan’s parents were not familiar with events in the entertainment industry, so he spoke again changing his wording, “This is our executive director.”

Only then did Pingfan’s father react with some surprise. “Director?” Maybe he felt that way because he wasn’t expecting someone this young to be a director.

Zhang Ye smiled and said, “Just call me Little Zhang.”

Pingfan’s mother could not help asking, “Director, our son is really going to be on TV?”

Zhang Ye said, “Yes, but it’s just the program recording now and this TV is connected to the main recording studio. Only at 9 PM tonight will the show be broadcast.”

Pingfan’s mother wanted to speak but stopped short of saying anything.

Pingfan’s father remarked, “Did you all get something wrong?”

Zhang Ye asked, “What did we get wrong?”

Pingfan’s father said, “Our son is just a bicycle repairman. There are no people in our family who know how to sing.”

“You’ve never heard Qian Pingfan’s singing before?” Zhang Ye asked.

Pingfan’s mother said, “No. He only knows how to farm and repair bicycles. Our son does not have any talent, so of course we have never heard him sing before!”

Zhang Ye did not know how he should explain things. Unlike Luo Yu’s parents who always heard Luo Yu’s singing but felt that she did not sing well, Qian Pingfan’s parents had not even heard their son’s singing before. Even if Zhang Ye tried to explain it, he felt that it would be useless. But that was also the reason why he tried so hard to invite Qian Pingfan’s parents to the set. He called them countless times tirelessly trying to persuade them with his speech, and even booked the hotel accommodation and air tickets before he got them to agree reluctantly to come to Beijing. Zhang Ye had no other motives but to let Qian Pingfan’s parents listen to their son’s singing and learn that he knew more than just farming and repairing bicycles!