Chapter 34: The Results Are In

“Cannon King is the champion!”

“Cannon King, your performance tonight made every underdog proud! So domineering!”

“I’m proud to be an underdog!”

“Cannon King’s singing tonight was even more badass than his makeup!”

“In Cannon King’s world, there’s no such thing as the most badass—only more badass!”

“You want to know what true dominance looks like? Cannon King’s performance tonight gave you the answer!”

“Are your ears working properly? I feel like Cannon King was just yelling a few lines and you all lost your minds—are you really that sensitive?”

“Zhang Cannon, you’re polluting the stage with your filth—get out of ‘My Song’ now!”

“Who else dares to blast the world with crap? Only me, General Cannon!”

“I’ve been insomniac for days, sleeping pills don’t work, finally felt drowsy tonight, and Cannon King’s roar woke me right up, damn it.”

“Let’s be honest—wasn’t Cannon King’s ‘New Crap’ the most incredible rock song ever on the Chinese music scene? I’ve never heard anything this wild before, nor seen such an insane live performance. Cannon King, there’s no word for your awesomeness!”

“All you big shots out there, have you ever heard rock this intense before? Have you? Shout it out!”

“You’re all praising a guy who spews filth—are you out of your minds?”

“Trash Zhang Cannon, get out of ‘My Song’! Like if you agree!”

“I’m glad I didn’t miss ‘My Song’ tonight, didn’t miss Cannon King’s groundbreaking performance. I’ve gone from hater to fan—Cannon King, you blew my mind tonight.”

“I started listening to heavy metal in middle school, always preferred hardcore and black metal, also liked death and industrial. I’ve been working for six years now, heard countless songs. Domestic metal bands always sounded like crap to me—nothing listenable. But tonight, Cannon King’s ‘New Crap’ scared the crap out of me. Turns out there’s a voice this wild in China! Music this badass! Cannon King, tonight I’m your loyal follower!”

“Who else besides me listened to Cannon King’s performance on their knees? Show of hands!”

“‘My Song’ has always been a refreshing stream on stage, but tonight a raging rockslide swept in—what a thrill!”

“Trash Zhang Cannon, filthy-mouthed, scary ghost makeup—someone should have him banned from TV!”

“Boycott Zhang Cannon, starting with me! Everyone call Star City TV and complain! Zhang Cannon is poisoning minds—trash like this needs to be kicked out of showbiz immediately!”

“What the hell was Zhang Cannon singing, and why are so many people kissing up to him? You must all be paid shills—damn!”

“If you missed Cannon King’s performance tonight, watch the replay. I highly recommend turning your TV volume up to the max for ‘New Crap.’ I guarantee you’ll get a huge thrill!”

“Star City TV’s complaint hotline is 0731-82871645! Let’s all report Zhang Cannon for singing obscene songs! If Star City TV doesn’t ban him, I’ll never watch their programs again!”

“Join the movement—call and complain! I’m calling right now, lines are busy, brothers must be complaining too. Be forceful—tonight, let’s blow up their complaint hotline! Make sure trash like Zhang Cannon is kicked off ‘My Song’ for good!”

“Damn, a bunch of idiot trolls are attacking Cannon King again. Brothers, charge! Let’s call Star City TV too, complain about those trolls smearing Cannon King! If Star City TV dares to ban Cannon King, we’ll boycott them instead!”

…

Fueled by the trolls, a lot of viewers called Star City TV’s complaint line that night, accusing Zhang Qiyang of poisoning the airwaves—not just scaring people with his ghostly makeup, but also singing trash songs that corrupt the audience.

They demanded the station ban this piece of trash!

The diehard Cannon followers also called the complaint line, reporting the trolls as idiots for slandering Cannon King.

The complaints department at Star City TV was overwhelmed that night.

The phones never stopped ringing—not until four or five in the morning. Even then, people jealous of Zhang Qiyang were still calling in complaints.

The ‘My Song’ production team heard about the constant complaints against Zhang Qiyang from the control room during the live broadcast, feeling even more pressure than the previous week.

When Luo Tao received the results of the live audience vote, his heart sank to the depths—he was almost faint with anger!

Staring at the brutal numbers, Luo Tao couldn’t bring himself to walk into the singers’ lounge.

Announcing these results would definitely stir up a huge storm!

Luo Tao was so angry he wanted to slap himself. He’d totally shot himself in the foot!

What was he thinking, approving so many young audience members?

Now, with such a controversial outcome, the show was bound to attract more backlash!

He cursed himself over a hundred times in his heart, but in the end, he still walked into the singers’ lounge, ready to announce the results of this week’s competition to the eight contestants and millions of viewers.

When Luo Tao entered the lounge, his expression was even stranger than last week’s. He tried to smile, but it looked more like he was about to cry.

Li Xuan’s instincts were sharp. One look at Luo Tao and she immediately tensed.

Could it be that her championship was about to slip away tonight?

She nervously squeezed her fingers, and her smile grew stiff.

Zhang Qiyang was still seated to Li Xuan’s right, at the far left of the camera’s view.

He hadn’t wanted to sit next to Li Xuan—their relationship was just too awkward. It was better to keep some distance.

But when he returned to the lounge, only that seat was left.

Aside from Li Xuan, none of the other singers wanted to sit next to him, so he had no choice but to awkwardly endure the cold war at her side.

Yet after performing the jaw-dropping “New Crap,” the way the other singers looked at Zhang Qiyang had changed. No longer was there the covert contempt from earlier in the evening.

Especially Zhao Lei, who also sang rock—he was genuinely floored by Zhang Qiyang’s performance.

When Zhang Qiyang returned to the lounge, the cool guy made a point of giving him a big thumbs-up.

And, right in front of the cameras, he gave Zhang Qiyang’s performance the highest praise: “Insane!”

Unfortunately, that praise was only for the song and the performance. Zhao Lei still held nothing but disdain for Zhang Qiyang’s arrogant, attention-seeking personality.

The others, too, didn’t want to mess with Zhang Qiyang—not that they dared, either.

After lavishing praise, they all went back to pretending Zhang Qiyang was invisible.

Only Zhou Delin, from the far end of the row, exchanged a few more words with him; the rest barely acknowledged his presence.

Now, with the results about to be announced, the singers suddenly remembered Zhang Qiyang again.

Before this competition, no one had taken him seriously.

When Luo Tao announced, at the last minute, that text-message voting would be canceled, the singers were convinced that, without the chance for his fans to stuff the ballot, Zhang Qiyang would be dead last.

With him as the designated bottom-feeder, everyone else could perform without much pressure; after all, as long as Zhang Qiyang was at the bottom, they were safe from elimination.

But now, with his earth-shattering performance of “New Crap,” Zhang Qiyang had shattered their comfortable illusions and made everyone nervous.

In their hearts, even Li Xuan couldn’t claim her own performance was stronger than his tonight—at least not in terms of the impact on the live audience. As the final act, Zhang Qiyang’s song was far more electrifying than any of the others.

All they could do was pray that the audience couldn’t handle his brand of wild music and wouldn’t vote for him.

Except for Zhou Delin, whose fighting spirit had been fired up by Zhang Qiyang, the others all hoped he would come in dead last. They still didn’t want to compete on the same stage as the man who conquered the world with “crap.”

But with a performance like that, how could Zhang Qiyang possibly come last?

Realistically, as the final act, with such a high-energy performance, his ranking would surely be near the top, giving him a huge advantage in the two-week overall standings.

But that raised another problem—if Zhang Qiyang wasn’t last, who would be?

Now that the universally acknowledged weakest link had outperformed them, whoever came last this week would be in real danger of elimination!

None of them wanted to leave “My Song” so soon!

At the very least, they didn’t want to be eliminated before Zhang Qiyang—what a humiliation that would be!