Hua: If you are interested, here’s the link to the song that Yanran is singing.
Xiao Yuan, the staff member responsible for monitoring the livestream data, looked at the terrifying amount of traffic and asked the director with some concern.
“Right now, the chat is flooded with mentions of Yanran. It feels like the audience is entirely here for him. If he really messes up his singing today, director, don’t you want to think of a way to help him make amends?”
Xiao Yuan had watched Lin Yanran’s variety shows and held no ill will toward him.
Seeing the bullet comments filled with schadenfreude, wishing for his failure, he couldn’t help but sweat on Lin Yanran’s behalf.
Lin Yanran was so popular right now, and his previous appearances had showcased his excellence. If he took a hard fall here today, it would likely impact him.
So, even though Xiao Yuan knew his singing wasn’t great, since everyone came with expectations, if the director just gave the judges a heads-up to help round things out, the final result might be slightly better.
Xiao Yuan looked at the director, expecting him to help think of a solution.
Instead, the director just stared at the livestream data, chuckling, completely unconcerned about Lin Yanran’s fate.
“He wanted to come here himself. What does that have to do with us?”
While Xiao Yuan was speaking with the director, Lin Yanran had already arrived at the production set.
To maintain a sense of mystery and surprise, the program Guess Who I Am did not give guests a chance to rehearse on stage beforehand.
They only took photos to show the guests the stage structure and explained where the camera positions were.
After Lin Yanran finished reviewing this, a staff member came to notify him that the show was about to start and he could put on the outfit he brought.
Lin Yanran had actually already finished his styling, but since his look couldn’t be revealed prematurely, the production team required every guest to wear eccentric costumes over their outfits. This was to mask their distinct features so people wouldn’t guess who they were immediately.
Once the staff left, Lin Yanran put on the custom-made mascot suit.
The suit was a puppy with a large head.
To prevent being identified by his physique, the puppy’s belly was specially made to be chubby.
Lin Yanran, usually tall with long legs, became adorable once he put on the mascot suit.
Seeing Lin Yanran, who usually committed “arson with his beauty,” looking this cute for the first time, Xiao Wang couldn’t resist using his phone to snap several photos of him.
“Brother, I sent you the photos.”
Because he had to play the violin, Lin Yanran’s paws were detachable.
He took off the gloves and fished out his phone to look at the pictures Xiao Wang had taken.
Opening the full image, he saw that Xiao Wang had not only thoughtfully added a cute filter but also applied adorable little animal effects.
Looking at his own clumsy and silly appearance, Lin Yanran inexplicably thought of Ultraman.
Of course, Ultraman isn’t silly, but at that moment, he felt he looked just like it.
Finding the photos quite amusing, Lin Yanran casually forwarded two of them to Gu Siye.
Yanran: Do I look like Ultraman?
After sending the photos, the production team notified him that recording would start in ten minutes. The team would have the live audience vote, and whoever got the highest votes would perform first.
Lin Yanran handed his phone to Xiao Wang and turned on the broadcast monitor in his room.
At this moment, the monitor screen was still pitch black, and the guest judges in the studio were slowly taking their seats.
Song Zhu went to a spot without cameras and whispered to his manager, “Have you found out which one is Yanran?”
The manager shook his head. “They all prepared their own costumes; no one knows who is who.”
Then the manager smiled indifferently. “It doesn’t matter if we know in advance. When the time comes, the one who sucks the most will definitely be him.”
Song Zhu smiled and adjusted the long sleeves of the ancient costume he had specially worn today. “True.”
“The press releases are written, and the marketing accounts are all lined up. Once he finishes singing, we’ll release them all at once.”
Ever since Lin Yanran’s Shui Long Yin exploded in popularity, Song Zhu, originally the top domestic artist in the traditional style genre, had been reduced to a mere alternative.
He was outshined in every aspect.
Many people even bluntly commented that he wasn’t as good as Lin Yanran.
Having his livelihood threatened and being belittled by the audience, Song Zhu had nursed a grudge for a long time.
Now that he had finally caught the other party’s inferior side, he naturally wanted to seize the opportunity to step on him while he was down.
Hearing his manager’s arrangement, he sat down in the guest seat with peace of mind.
At 8:00 PM sharp, Guess Who I Am began its broadcast on time.
The moment the official livestream lit up, countless comments saying [Waiting for Yanran] flooded the screen, completely obscuring the video.
When the host went through the procedure of introducing today’s guests and the sponsors, the bullet comments read:
[Hurry up, next segment]
[Who wants to watch you blabber on]
[Now. Immediately. Yanran. Understood?]
After the host finished the introductions, the screen displayed the nine guests participating in the recording today.
The production team used a 3×3 grid, with each guest occupying one square.
Lin Yanran looked at the video feed in front of him and discovered that his puppy mascot avatar had been arranged in the bottom-right corner, the ninth spot.
This position was one of the least conspicuous spots in the 3×3 grid.
After seeing the grid, both the guests and the audience began speculating about which one was Lin Yanran.
The bullet comments, in particular, were already engaged in a fierce debate.
[That Ultraman has to be Yanran, right? He seems to really like Ultraman.]
[Why do I feel like the Knight looks more like him? After all, a handsome guy like him would care about his image, right?]
[Does anyone think that to hide himself, he might… cross-dress??]
Everyone guessed back and forth. The vast majority of people were betting on the male cosplay roles, while only a very small number guessed the gender-neutral puppy suit.
Consequently, in the first round of voting, Ultraman won the first performance slot with an overwhelming lead.
However, the moment the person opened their mouth, the audience was disappointed.
The voice belonged to a singer who was at least forty years old.
After the failure of the first round, the audience shifted their thinking and voted for a Witch that looked like a cross-dressing disguise.
Yet, when she began to sing, she turned out to be a genuine female singer.
And so, the audience’s “Capture Yanran” plan failed once again.
However, precisely because of this uncertainty, the audience’s enthusiasm reached an all-time high.
In the following two rounds, the bullet comments were filled with all sorts of discussions and analyses regarding which one was more likely to be Lin Yanran.
[It’s Santa Claus, he’s trying so hard to disguise himself.]
[Brothers, listen to me, voting for the Knight is definitely the right move.]
[Actually, I think the Piggy is a viable option too; the least likely is often the most likely.]
Everyone argued endlessly, but in the end, the one voted onto the stage for the third round was Santa Claus.
This time, however, everyone was happy.
Because Santa Claus lived up to expectations—his voice cracked on the very first line.
When the audience heard the crack, they immediately got excited. That’s the one!
[It’s this one, it’s this one!! This is definitely Yanran!!]
[Hahahaha, I’m dying of laughter. Cracking on the first line, as expected of you.]
[That familiar flavor!]
[First line cracks, second line goes off-key. With this level of skill, you dare to come out and embarrass yourself?]
[How did you have the nerve to critique Xuan Yihan’s singing back then? You aren’t even one-tenth as good as him.]
[While watching Super Idol, seeing how Yanran critiqued with such logic, I thought he was amazing. Turns out he’s just a theoretical master, a giant only in words?]
[LOL, compared to his previous songs, this could barely be considered an improvement for Yanran 2333]
[To the person above, you are so mean hahahaha]
Haters and those just there for the drama, hearing Santa Claus’s tone-deaf performance, became absolutely certain that this person was Lin Yanran.
They immediately spread the news to various forums.
For every line Santa Claus sang, they attacked him, belittling him as completely worthless.
Santa Claus on stage didn’t know any of this. Although he wasn’t singing well, he persisted in finishing the entire song.
But his performance was truly lacking, so not only the audience but also the guest judges assumed this tone-deaf person was Lin Yanran.
Thus, during the scoring segment after the song, Song Zhu unhesitatingly gave him a score of 3.
If he didn’t have to maintain his persona as a kindhearted immortal, he actually wanted to give a 0.
Soon, the scores were announced.
When Santa Claus saw the scores given by each guest, his head drooped involuntarily, clearly taking a heavy blow. He didn’t even listen carefully when everyone guessed his name wrong.
However, the various judges had no intention of letting him off easy just because he was down. They picked at his faults, each harsher than the last.
After the first few judges took the spotlight to critique Santa Claus as having no redeeming qualities, Song Zhu took the microphone and spoke slowly.
“I feel that this guest needs to spend a bit more time on his singing skills.”
Song Zhu smiled faintly, looking breezy and indifferent. “Just like how we practice instruments, we definitely need to spend a large amount of time every day to maintain the feel… So, if you are appearing before the public as a singer, and you have time to do other things, why not simply spend that time refining your singing?”
Song Zhu had drafted this speech in his mind countless times. Emphasizing the identity of a “singer” repeatedly, he was just short of directly naming Lin Yanran and saying he wasn’t doing his proper job.
Although he was smiling and his tone was relatively gentle while saying this, some viewers still sensed something was off.
[Why do I feel like Song Zhu is being passive-aggressive?]
[I also feel like he’s insinuating that Yanran has time to play the Guzheng but no time to practice singing?]
[Fans can get lost. Your idol isn’t good enough, and you blame others for telling the truth? He sang so badly, and you still expect the guests to praise your brother?]
[Is Song Zhu wrong? Yanran does all this flashy stuff all day, why doesn’t he practice singing? Doesn’t he always set himself up as a hardworking all-rounder?]
There was questioning and defending, but Song Zhu’s words brought the rhythm of the conversation to a climax.
Lin Yanran took advantage of the camera not being on him to secretly check the bullet comments on his phone. Seeing that the netizens had identified the wrong person and were arguing fiercely, he couldn’t help but glance at Song Zhu’s face on the broadcast monitor.
This person really knew how to stir the pot.
Song Zhu’s critique was the last one.
After he finished speaking, the crestfallen Santa Claus took off his headgear.
Song Zhu sat at a distance, smiling leisurely, wanting to enjoy the look of defeat on Lin Yanran’s face.
However, when Santa Claus’s face was fully revealed, the smile on Song Zhu’s face froze instantly.
This person was not Lin Yanran but a rookie actor who had recently starred in a fresh campus drama and made a small splash.
Realizing they had attacked the wrong target, the bullet comments were instantly filled with question marks.
The actor’s fans were also rendered speechless after seeing the face clearly.
Just moments ago, quite a few of them had followed the crowd in mocking Santa Claus…
Who could have guessed that karma would come so quickly? The boomerang hit them instantly…
The clown turned out to be their own idol…
Seeing this dramatic scene, the audience and the guests were all dumbfounded.
Song Zhu also looked at the actor with immense awkwardness, his eyes holding a hint of apology.
If he had known it wasn’t Yanran, he definitely wouldn’t have been so harsh.
But he noticed that after the actor saw his gaze, he immediately looked away.
Clearly, his words just now had thoroughly offended the man.
After this blunder, viewers watching the live stream were completely bewildered.
So, for the fourth round, everyone voted randomly without much discussion.
The screen lit up again, and the avatar with the highest votes became the puppy.
Seeing this vote, the director screamed internally.
Actually, according to the production team’s plan, they hoped Lin Yanran would come out after the fifth slot.
This way, their ratings, online viewer count, and topic engagement could be maintained longer.
But who knew the audience would randomly vote and hit the correct answer? They couldn’t deliberately stop it, so they could only tearfully notify Lin Yanran to prepare to go on stage.
Meanwhile, the oblivious audience were blaming each other.
[Didn’t we say vote for the Knight?? Why did you vote for the Dog?]
[Now we have to wait another round to see him, so annoying.]
[Dog lovers just wanted to vote for the puppy, what about it?]
[The puppy is so cute, maybe we just wanted to see it perform, so what?]
Amidst the arguing, the stage slowly darkened.
A few minutes later, the prelude to Half Moon Serenade rang out in the darkness—it was that violin sound everyone was incredibly familiar with.
But soon, those familiar with the song realized that this melody was slightly different from the original version; the rhythm was slower and softer.
At that moment, on the rising platform, a yellow puppy wearing a mascot head placed a violin on his left shoulder.
He tilted his head slightly, playing with deep immersion.
The dark studio was pierced by the tremolo of the violin.
It was like the wind of yearning blowing in autumn or a lonely star in the vast night sky.
Melancholy, sorrowful, and serene.
The nearly thirty-second violin solo calmed the audience’s restless hearts, and the arguments in the bullet comments gradually subsided.
Everyone’s gaze involuntarily followed the music toward the stage, watching the puppy earnestly playing the violin, starting to anticipate his performance.
After the prelude finished, the puppy gently placed the violin on a nearby table. After putting on the dog paw gloves, he slowly brought the microphone to his mouth.
[Help, I actually saw a hint of elegance in the puppy’s movements just now.]
[The puppy played that segment beautifully, but the thought of it singing this song makes me feel a bit out of sync.]
No sooner had this viewer posted that comment than a low murmur was heard:
[Still leaning on in a sleepless night
Looking at the stars in the sky
Still hearing the violin
Seductively whispering like a lament.]
The voice emerging from the puppy mascot head was clean and clear, gentle and delicate like a mountain spring, instantly captivating everyone’s attention.
He had deliberately lowered his vocal range, as if weaving a beautiful dream.
It’s as if he were slowly recounting the past to someone, or as if he were subtly reliving old memories.
The audience was utterly shocked just by the first verse.
No one expected that a sad and profound song could be performed so movingly by a puppy.
They hadn’t originally looked forward to this segment, and some even wanted to skip it and fast-forward to the drama. But these thoughts were completely washed away the moment the performer began to sing.
[Bow down after the first line??]
[I take back what I just said.]
[This dog sings so well.]
[He’s great at creating atmosphere.]
[So stable and so beautiful.]
[This vocal skill is incredible.]
Upon hearing the singing, the audience instantly looked at the puppy on stage in a new light.
He stood quietly in place, without any unnecessary movements or elaborate stage visuals.
Yet, simply holding the microphone with both hands, he effortlessly used his voice to draw everyone into this regretful dream.
[But my heart every minute and every second
Is still possessed by her
She is like this moon
Still refusing to speak.]
The puppy on stage propelled the climax forward with a more concentrated and powerful high note.
The clean vocals lingered in the ear. The rendition was not one of sad heartbreak or bitterness but held a touch of tragic, unwavering resolve, maximizing the music’s infectious power…
Any sense of dissonance that some viewers felt because of the puppy mascot head was instantly ignored.
In a trance, many people were moved by the emotion, recalling the person they had secretly loved but who had moved out of their lives.
It wasn’t the pain of a breakup but the yearning and nostalgia for an unfulfilled secret love.
[My concern
My yearning
Until forever.]
Unconsciously, the dream was drawing to a close.
For the end of the song, the puppy, who had not moved from his spot on stage, began to hum softly.
Within the ethereal, pure sound lay the acceptance of the past and the remembrance of an old memory.
Not until the very last note ended did everyone wake as if from a dream.
It was like experiencing a tragic dream about a first love that ended without a trace…
And the adorable puppy on stage, whose appearance completely contradicted the song’s atmosphere, had so easily controlled everyone’s emotions, making them willingly and utterly intoxicated by his voice.
After Lin Yanran finished singing, the venue was silent.
Not until the production team brought the lights back up did the guests and audience members, who had shared a dream, truly “wake up.”
The slow-to-react audience finally realized they needed to do something.
At first, there were only scattered sounds, but seconds later, the entire venue erupted in thunderous applause and non-stop screams.
Even the bullet comments on the live stream went crazy.
[I cried listening to that.]
[I feel like he was showing off technique, but it was also strangely emotional…]
[Is this the fusion of skill and emotion? Absolutely amazing, incredible.]
[That high note was so sophisticated; it didn’t feel forced at all, and it was incredibly evocative.]
[I used to hate it when people tried to hit high notes, but now I realize it’s because I hadn’t heard this young man’s.]
[Wuwuwu I want to cry.]
[So gentle and delicate, a completely different feeling from the original version.]
[I would call that performance flawless.]
[The pronunciation is so accurate, is he a native singer1The song is originally in Cantonese and the singer (Hacken Lee) is from Hong Kong.?]
[He’s a walking CD player.]
[I clearly came here to watch a joke, but I didn’t expect to hear such beautiful singing.]
Seeing the audience showering him with rainbow farts and compliments, the director of Guess Who I Am was stunned.
“Yanran can sing like that? Did we get the wrong person?”
The director couldn’t help but rewind and double-check—it really was Yanran!!
But wasn’t he a terrible singer???
How could he suddenly be this good!!
While the director was in the midst of his self-doubt, the guest judges on site had already begun scoring Lin Yanran.
The production team only announces a few newsworthy and high-traffic singers in advance each episode; the rest of the guests are kept completely secret.
So, although the guest judges knew a partial list of names, the jumbled order and the inclusion of mysterious hidden guests meant they were unsure who exactly was on stage.
Therefore, none of them dared to be absolutely certain about the identity of the puppy on stage.
The guest judges began whispering to each other, “Did you figure out who was singing?”
“Could it be the original singer…?”
“The original singer’s vocal texture is more mature; this one is clearly younger.”
“It must be a newer generation singer.”
They debated back and forth, but the guest judges still couldn’t determine who this person was, so some started using the process of elimination.
“Which younger singers in the industry have vocal skills this good?”
Some senior music critics listed a large number but ultimately failed to narrow down the best fit.
“Please, guest judges, submit your scores as soon as possible.”
Hearing the host’s urging, the guest judges, who really couldn’t guess who the person was, could only start giving their scores.
Meanwhile, the bullet comments also began speculating.
[Who is this young man? Why haven’t I noticed him before?]
[What a treasure the production team dug up, that voice is so beautiful, woo woo]
[I’ll immediately become a loyal fan for the next ten years!]
[I’m calling him ‘Hubby’ immediately!]
[This voice, this singing ability, this technique, this emotion—I’m absolutely blown away!! So, has any expert figured out who it is?]
[Who the hidden singer is, I don’t know, but first, we can rule out one wrong answer.]
[Exactly, it’s definitely not Yanran, anyway.]
Song Zhu looked at the puppy on the stage. With the experience from the last performer, he cautiously gave 9 points this time.
Not too high, not too low; the middle ground was the safest.
Soon after the guest judges finished scoring, everyone’s scores were displayed on the big screen.
Unsurprisingly, except for one person who gave 8.9 points, almost all the other scores were above 9 points.
Everyone gave Lin Yanran a very high score.
For the sake of the show’s effect, the host specifically asked the person who gave 8.9 points why they gave that score.
The person replied that the puppy mask affected the aesthetic beauty, so they deducted 0.5 points.
The deduction wasn’t because of the singing skill, but because of the puppy mask…
The audience expressed their disapproval of this bizarre reason.
However, this was just a small interlude, and no one paid too much attention to it.
The most important thing was that everyone wanted to know who the puppy was!
So, the program entered its main segment. The guest judges and the audience began the ‘Guess Who I Am’ segment.
“Mi Yi?”
“Kong Chang?”
“Luo Xuning?”
Each of the nominees is a talented singer from the new generation.
Everyone guessed different people, but none of these guesses included the name Lin Yanran.
The few fans who mentioned Yanran’s name were immediately criticized by the audience, who warned them not to pat their idol on the back.
The guest judges guessed for a long time but couldn’t reach a unified conclusion.
Finally, they could only go by the majority opinion and chose Luo Xuning.
The host smiled and returned to the stage.
“So, is our deeply affectionate puppy Luo Xuning?”
Lin Yanran looked at the stage through a small gap in the puppy mask. The host’s voice rang out; he had already walked up to him.
“Now, Puppy, please take off your mask.”
Everyone’s eyes were fixed on the puppy mask, filled with anticipation.
Some people even held their breath.
However, just as the host started the countdown, Lin Yanran deliberately shook his head.
The host spoke again, “Puppy doesn’t want to take off the mask?”
Lin Yanran nodded.
“Why?”
Lin Yanran signaled for the host to hold out his hand and then wrote the words ‘Not Happy’ on the palm of his hand.
“Why are you not happy?”
Having had his fun, Lin Yanran didn’t write anything further.
Knowing when to stop was enough.
But the host seemed to understand something and helped him interpret, “Because the guess was wrong??”
Hearing the host’s words, Song Zhu suddenly had a bad feeling.
He immediately looked toward the stage, only to see the puppy neatly and gracefully removing his mask.
On stage, under the lights, that face, once again exposed to the camera…
It was Yanran!!!
Please consider supporting me on Ko-fi if you like what I’m doing. Thank you for reading! (´▽`ʃ♡ƪ)
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MicoLy On FCC Chapter 37.3