Chapter 8: A Dominant Victory

"I'll do my best," Chen Ke replied to Zhang Qiyuan.

For someone as sharp and perceptive as Chen Ke, there was no need for Zhang Qiyuan to spell things out; Chen Ke understood perfectly well what she meant. Keeping Zhang Qiyang on stage tonight was all about pushing his support rate into the top three. For Dongyu Entertainment, who had come prepared, this was not out of the realm of possibility. While the in-house audience votes were beyond outside interference and could only be manipulated by the production team, the situation was different for the external audience voting by text message—here, other companies could make their moves.

Dongyu had already laid the groundwork outside the venue to ensure Li Xuan's dominance on "My Song"; they were prepared to flood in a massive number of text message votes. In fact, they had little choice—every entertainment company was bound to pull some strings in the background, and if they did nothing, they'd simply be outmaneuvered.

But this round, pushing Zhang Qiyang into the top three was a real gamble. Everyone had witnessed Zhang Qiyang's performance that night; if he made it into the top three, the audience would be furious, the show would become a magnet for criticism, and the production team would be sure to retaliate—making things extremely unfavorable for Li Xuan's prospects in the competition.

Yet, since the eldest Miss Zhang had made this request, Chen Ke could only do her best. After ending her call with Zhang Qiyuan, she immediately phoned the company, instructing the external team to go all out for Zhang Qiyang and raise his support rate as high as possible.

Meanwhile, in the restroom, Zhang Qiyang was almost delirious from his ordeal. The production staff outside his stall could barely stand to listen to his pained groans. "Young Master Yang, are you all right? Can you still appear on camera?"

Appear on camera? At this rate, a funeral would be more fitting!

Zhang Qiyang, drained to the point of collapse, couldn't even open his eyes. He mumbled, "Call me an ambulance... hurry... I'm dying..."

The staff, thoroughly alarmed, called for an ambulance at once and rushed him to the hospital for gastric lavage. On the way, Zhang Qiyang passed out from the pain, oblivious to the results of the competition that would follow.

Back in the singers' lounge, the six remaining contestants continued their recording session without Zhang Qiyang. With the absence of the notorious "Cannon King," everyone felt a little more at ease. But the production team was wracked with headaches.

The technical department handed the consolidated support rates for this episode to Luo Tao, who was dumbfounded and demanded, "What is going on with these numbers?"

"What else could it be? Someone's obviously been voting for Zhang Qiyang en masse," replied a member of the statistics team, whose face was ashen, as if they'd swallowed a fly.

Had such blatant vote manipulation occurred for a contestant without powerful backing, the show would have immediately disqualified them. But this was the son of the richest man in the country!

The Dongfang Group's influence was so vast that not only the production team, but even Xingdu TV wouldn't dare offend them. After weighing the pros and cons, Luo Tao could only grit his teeth and prepare to announce the results.

The six contestants were relaxed, waiting for Director Luo to reveal the results. Luo Tao appeared on camera and first announced the fourth, fifth, and sixth place for this round. Fourth went to Ji Chunying, the iron-lunged singer, with a support rate of 13.6%. Fifth was the veteran Tan Zhizhong, with 10.2%. The rock star Zhao Lei came in sixth with 8.9%. Luo Tao then announced the runners-up: Lin Haoran, who excelled tonight and benefited from performing later in the program, took second with 18.2%. Song queen Li Xuan, though not as dazzling as in previous rounds, still secured third with 15.5% due to her immense popularity.

That left only first and last place to be revealed. Only Yue Li had yet to have her result announced, as Zhang Qiyang had been sent to the hospital and was no longer part of the recording. Everyone assumed the championship would go to Yue Li; online, trolls were already mocking Zhang Qiyang, saying he rightly deserved his last-place finish.

Yue Li herself was quietly overjoyed. She had never expected to win this round; her previous results were sixth and third, hardly impressive enough to make her a contender. But tonight's chaos had seemingly handed her the crown, and her team was elated.

As Luo Tao prepared to announce the winner, Yue Li's face could barely hide her smug smile. She was already thinking about how to graciously accept the congratulations of her fellow contestants. The other five, however, felt resentful—they didn't think Yue Li's performance was anything special tonight. How had she managed to seize first place? Were the audience members all deaf?

"The winner of tonight's competition is..." Luo Tao finally announced, pausing with a look of utter resignation.

Yue Li held her breath, carefully managing her expression, waiting for Luo Tao to say her name.

But Luo Tao said, "Zhang Qiyang!"

"Ah!" Yue Li cried out in shock, nearly standing up to accept the congratulations by reflex. Only as she steadied herself did she realize Luo Tao had said Zhang Qiyang's name.

Yes, Zhang Qiyang!

The expressions of the other contestants froze—they thought they had misheard.

Who was the winner?

Zhang Qiyang?

Had everyone gone mad?

An explosion went off in everyone's hearts. This had to be some kind of joke. Zhang Qiyang had left the stage halfway through his song and somehow won first place? It was beyond ridiculous!

Zhao Lei covered his mouth and muttered, "This is a total farce." The other singers managed awkward, incredulous smiles and gave Zhang Qiyang a perfunctory round of applause. Their skin crawled at the thought of having to compete alongside him again; the idea filled them with distaste and discomfort.

To prove the result, Luo Tao announced Zhang Qiyang's support rate: 24.8%, a full 6.6 points ahead of Lin Haoran, winning the championship by a landslide. This support rate was second only to Li Xuan's staggering 25.8% in the first round, making it the second highest in the first three episodes.

Yue Li, meanwhile, finished at the bottom with 8.8%. The camera director didn't dare give Yue Li a close-up; her stiff smile looked like she'd had too much botox—no one could tell if she was laughing or crying.

To avoid further controversy, Luo Tao refrained from disclosing the breakdown between in-house and external support. If the public learned that Zhang Qiyang had received only 1% of the live audience's support, but an unbelievable 49.5% from external text messages, the show would be roasted alive!

Anyone with eyes could see the text votes had clearly been bought. It was brazen, outrageous.

That very night, after the live broadcast, the production team convened an emergency meeting with the technical department, determined to crack down on voting manipulation—they couldn't let outside companies ruin their show.

Luo Tao and the others had no doubt that Dongyu was behind Zhang Qiyang's win. Dongyu's shamelessness had pushed them to the brink; they were furious enough to want revenge on Dongyu's own contestants.

At the scene, Chen Ke nearly had a heart attack when she learned Zhang Qiyang had won. She cursed Dongyu's voting team in her heart—what a bunch of idiots! How could they let Zhang Qiyang win? This was just inviting disaster! Such stupidity was mortifying.

Far away in the capital, Zhang Qiyuan frowned when she heard the news, then gave a helpless smile. "This is a bit much," she murmured. This was practically setting Zhang Qiyang up for a spectacular fall.

But then again, her brother had never had much of a reputation to lose. Perhaps it was best to let him run wild once, get it out of his system. After he’d had his fill, he might settle down.

The moment Luo Tao announced Zhang Qiyang as champion, the "My Song" forums exploded.