The live audience was completely immersed in the song.
Every lyric, every melody, seemed to strike the most vulnerable chords of their hearts, bringing tears to their eyes.
Old Master Ji suddenly broke down in uncontrollable sobs.
At the age of eight, he had lost his mother. The loneliness, pain, and despair he had felt back then were all too real.
Even though his mother was right there on stage,
he still missed her terribly.
Old Master Hai wiped the corner of his eye and patted his shoulder. "Old Ji, it's alright. We won't live much longer anyway. You and your mother will be reunited soon."
Old Master Ji's tears vanished instantly.
He puffed up in anger. "Don't curse me! I plan to live to a hundred!"
A hundred years was too short—better yet, he should live to 130 or 140 and break a Guinness World Record...
As the song ended,
the sound of muffled sobs from the audience was unmistakable.
After a long pause, spurred by Old Master Hai and Old Master Si, thunderous applause erupted.
Rong Yu led the entire group in a bow of gratitude.
Su Tian, her voice choked with emotion, said, "Our leader never looked down on us low-ranked members. He brought us together as a team, even though it limited our song choices, leaving us with this emotional ballad. But he told us that even with a bad hand, we could make it shine—and this song wasn’t a bad hand at all. It was an opportunity gifted to us by fate."
Li Ying'er added, "It was Rong Yu who suggested rearranging the song with a focus on familial love. Many parts were personally adapted by him. He poured his heart and soul into this performance... No matter what others think, I personally believe our performance was incredible. I loved every second of it!"
The moment it was revealed that Rong Yu had spearheaded the rearrangement, haters in the live stream immediately lashed out.
"Pfft, turning a love song into a family tribute? How ridiculous!"
"Love and family love are NOT the same thing. This is a total mess!"
"Disrespectful to the original work!"
"The original artist should sue!"
But just then, a Weibo post surged to the top of the trending list.
It was from the song’s original singer:
"This is the story I truly wanted to tell."
The song had been written in memory of his late mother,
but fans had misinterpreted it as a tribute to a deceased girlfriend.
The misconception spread so widely that even casual listeners assumed it was a love song.
Back then, the song had gone viral,
and his manager forbade him from correcting the narrative to avoid affecting its promotion.
So the misunderstanding persisted—until now.
After all these years, someone had finally understood what he had meant to convey...
Netizens in the comments section couldn’t help but laugh.
"Well, haters? Still wanna sue?"
"Rong Yu just has that kind of talent. Stay jealous."
"I was deeply moved by Rong Yu’s performance. Too bad I don’t have a voting pass."
"..."
"Now, let’s begin the live audience vote!" the host announced loudly. "You have one minute—please pick up your voting devices!"
Old Master Ji eyed the voting devices in the neighboring section with envy. He wanted one too.
Old Master Hai said calmly, "Rong Yu is outstanding, and his team’s performance was powerful. Don’t worry, their score won’t be low."
Old Master Si pulled out his phone. "Look, they’re already trending. Even the original artist has spoken up..."
Since the audience wasn’t required to surrender their phones, many had already seen the news online.
Receiving the original artist’s approval was the highest form of validation for their performance.
On the stage’s giant screen, the vote count on the bar graph soared—
finally stopping at 914.
The entire venue erupted.
"Oh my god, that score is insane!"
"The previous highest was 912. Rong Yu’s team just broke their own record!"
"Watching this performance live had me bawling. I can’t even imagine how powerful it must’ve been in person."
"This performance absolutely deserved those votes!"
"Ahhhh!" Su Tian shrieked. "We got over 900 votes! Oh my god, oh my god, I’m losing it! AHHH!"
The team members hugged each other in exhilaration.
From the audience, fans chanted their names.
"Rong Yu! Rong Yu!"
"Su Tian! Su Tian!"
"Li Ying'er!"
Su Tian and Li Ying'er burst into tears.
They were the lowest-ranked contestants. Since joining the show, no one had ever chanted their names like this—now they knew how it felt.
The entire group huddled together, crying in joy.
Viewers in the live stream could hear the cheers too.
"Su Tian finally got her moment."
"Everyone in this team hit the jackpot. Their popularity is gonna skyrocket after this."
"Wait, did I just hear an old man’s voice? Are there elderly people in the audience?"
"Do old folks even watch these kinds of shows?"
"..."
On stage, Rong Yu shot a sharp glare in one direction.
Old Master Ji, who had been shouting the loudest, immediately quieted down and sat back in his seat.
He stood up. "Rong Yu’s performance is over. Let’s find somewhere more comfortable to keep watching."
Only his mother’s performance could make him endure the chaotic atmosphere of the live venue.
He led his group to the top floor, where they lounged on sofas, snacking on fruit and sipping premium tea—living the good life.
Meanwhile, backstage, the remaining teams were in disarray.
They had assumed Rong Yu’s team would score around 800 at most. No one expected them to break 900.
Once a team crossed that threshold, first place was practically guaranteed.
How were they supposed to compete now?
How?!
Jiang Shuang’s confidence shattered completely.
If she had chosen Rong Yu instead of Lisa, would she now be part of the winning team?
Regret washed over her like a tidal wave, threatening to drown her.
Rong Ruoyao’s expression darkened.
First to perform, and with such a high score? Were the audience out of their minds?
Didn’t the production team control the votes at all?
How were the later performers supposed to keep their morale up?
She took a deep breath and forced a calm tone.
"Maybe the audience is just feeling generous this round. All the teams might get high scores. Let’s not panic—stay focused."
Just as she spoke, Rong Yu’s team returned backstage.
A crowd swarmed around them, offering congratulations—some sincere, some perfunctory.
Rong Ruoyao bit her lip, hesitated, then approached.
"Congratulations on breaking 900. Maybe we can team up sometime."
Rong Yu’s lips curled into a faint smile, but she didn’t respond.
She didn’t like Rong Ruoyao.
Why force herself to work with someone she disliked?
Rong Ruoyao’s face twisted further.
Her own sister couldn’t even bother with polite formalities?
Were family ties worth nothing to her?
Lisa’s team was next to perform after Rong Yu.
Several members were visibly shaken, their nerves on full display.
Lisa herself was too tense to reassure them. The eight of them took the stage in a state of panic.
The audience was still emotionally invested in the previous performance.
But Lisa’s group delivered an explosive dance track—completely mismatched with the crowd’s lingering mood.
When their performance ended,
the audience awarded them 719 votes.
Nearly 200 votes behind.
"To be fair, Lisa's group didn't perform poorly."
"Unfortunately, following Rong Yu's act, their energy was completely overshadowed."
"Let's just say Lisa had bad luck."
"..."
Lisa trudged backstage, dejected.
The entire group's morale hit rock bottom.
The tension spread, making the performers who followed even more nervous.
Then, a mishap occurred on stage.
Old Master Ji, lounging on the sofa, shook his head. "None of them compare to my mom... cough—I mean, none compare to Rong Yu. If this group gets even 900 votes, I’ll livestream an octogenarian doing a handstand while washing his hair..."
"Enough with the nonsense," Old Master Hai grumbled, frowning at his phone. "Didn’t you keep pestering me to join some fan club? How do I do it? Where do I sign up?"
At that, Old Master Ji perked up instantly.
