Chapter Ninety-Eight: A Trifle of No Importance

Heavens above! Earth below! Which deity at last has taken a hand? At long last they have driven Zhang Big Cannon down! Hahahahaha! That feels amazing!

Today’s ranking is the only fair result! “I Sing” is finally back on track! Showered with petals!

Everything that Black Cannon Old Master praises is garbage! Truth is always held in the hands of a minority! You sheep who merely follow the crowd, you spineless drifters, you are all mindless single-celled creatures with no ability to think for yourselves! May you all die miserable deaths!

Hahaha, those stupid cannon-fodder losers are losing their minds. Never mind, you’ll have to get used to it sooner or later. This is where Zhang Big Cannon belongs.

What a pity. If Ji Chunying had been a little stronger today, Zhang Big Cannon would have been driven back to where he truly belongs.

The divine Xuan has Penghu Bay, while garbage Zhang Big Cannon has the near-last place of Changan County, hahaha. Let’s see how arrogant you are now!

Serves you right! That’s what you get for mouthing off at my Xuan god! You have Changan County? More like the county of your own damned nonsense! You country-bumpkin idiot! Go keep company with last place!

Zhang Big Cannon, weren’t you the son of the richest man? So you have lean days too? Why don’t you keep spending money to buy championships? Hmph!

Xuan god saved “I Sing,” long live! There are countless members of the Xuan-Love family, forever proud of the Xuan god!

At last, I have the motivation to keep watching “I Sing.” The production team has finally found its conscience this time; they’ve shown some backbone at last and stopped taking Zhang Big Cannon’s dirty money.

I have just heard the shocking news that Zhang Big Cannon seized second-to-last place in tonight’s competition. I rushed eight hundred miles to spread the word, and all who heard it were moved to tears, weeping for joy! Everyone says: the sky of “I Sing” is finally beginning to brighten!

Have you noticed that the song Xuan god sang today, “Penghu Bay,” was written and composed by someone called Kitchen Knife? Who is that guy? I’ve never heard of him before. The songs he writes suit Xuan god perfectly!

You have Penghu Bay, I have Changan County—hahahahahaha! Zhang Big Cannon has told another joke of the year!

Though I also hate Zhang Big Cannon, is it really right for you all to curse him like this? If it is really right, then I’ll curse him too: garbage Zhang Big Cannon! Damn your whole family for eighteen generations! Hahaha!

Don’t be discouraged, cannon-fodders. Old Cannon will definitely rise again and come storming back. Next week he’ll slap everyone in the face! Just you wait!

I hate Zhang Big Cannon, but to be fair, his performance tonight wasn’t bad. How could he end up ranked so far down? Is someone deliberately smearing him?

Old Cannon, stand up straight and don’t lie down. Old Shaanxi is backing you to the end!

...

That night, the anti-Cannon camp dressed themselves in red and green, hung lanterns and set out streamers, as though it were a festival; the whole place was brimming with uproarious celebration.

The major forums had all been seized by the anti-Cannon crowd. They seized every opening to sneer at Zhang Qiyang’s “normal result,” a scene of people determined not to stop until his face had been trampled to pieces and ground to dust.

Wang Dachong did not watch the live broadcast of “I Sing” that night.

Later, when he heard that Zhang Qiyang had placed second-to-last, Wang Dachong was over the moon.

He immediately booked out a venue for a party and threw a huge celebration for Zhang Big Cannon’s stumble.

Wang Dachong posted a picture of champagne being opened on Weibo and said nothing about why, but everyone knew it was aimed at Zhang Qiyang.

Countless people applauded Wang Dachong’s boldness, and all of them followed this leader of the anti-Cannon camp as he gleefully sang Zhang Big Cannon’s downfall.

In their eyes, tonight marked a major turning point. From this point on, Zhang Big Cannon would lose his shine and gradually fade from public view. At last, he would stop getting in their way.

Watching millions of anti-Cannon fans wildly celebrate Zhang Qiyang’s stumble in every possible venue, Qin Xueyang was livid.

If it had been in the past, and Zhang Qiyang had done something that defied the world, then being publicly cursed would have been understandable. Qin Xueyang might even have secretly cursed Zhang Qiyang along with everyone else for being a brainless idiot.

But tonight, Zhang Qiyang had set aside his usual high-profile manner and come to “I Sing” simply to sing earnestly. Even if he had done poorly, so be it, but to have a bunch of losers point at him and sneer like that... how was anyone supposed to bear it?

Qin Xueyang turned grief and rage into appetite. After returning to the hotel, she went out to buy a late-night meal, ordering enough for ten people all by herself, ready to gorge in savage revenge and vent the indescribable fury in her heart!

That night, however, Chen Ke was in high spirits. She had arranged for Zhang Qiyang to meet Lixuan in her suite, intending to discuss having Zhang Qiyang continue making new shoes for Lixuan.

Qin Xueyang took Xiaowei out to buy late-night food, leaving only Lixuan, Chen Ke, and Zhang Qiyang in the living room.

Seeing that Zhang Qiyang was in low spirits and clearly affected by the night’s ranking, Lixuan comforted him patiently. “Victory and defeat are common things in war, Young Master Yang. Don’t take the outcome of a competition too seriously. It doesn’t mean much.”

Zhang Qiyang said with passion, “I don’t care much about tonight’s ranking or the result. What infuriates me are those petty villains who kick a man when he’s down! I just don’t understand it. Why do so many people seem unable to bear seeing me do well? Is it that the worse I am, the happier they become?”

Seeing Zhang Qiyang growing a little world-weary again, Chen Ke hurried to persuade him. “Don’t think like that, Young Master Yang. That’s just the current situation. There will always be people who feel society is unfairly arranged, that the wealth gap is too obvious, and so on. For that reason, most people now hate the rich with a vengeance. They do not merely dislike seeing you do well; almost whenever any public figure runs into trouble, there are people who clap and cheer. If one person is like that, it means that person has a problem. But if most people in society are like that, then it’s society that’s sick. Since the whole society is ill, why bother bickering with those people? Just do your own work honestly. Your efforts do not need everyone’s approval.”

After Chen Ke took a long detour, she finally eased Zhang Qiyang’s mood. “That’s right, Sister Coco. You really see through things. My efforts don’t need everyone’s approval. But if they make me unhappy, I’ll make them unhappy too!”

Chen Ke’s back stiffened. She had a bad feeling Zhang Qiyang was about to do something outrageous again, and hurried to counsel him. “Young Master Yang, don’t overthink this. Look ahead.”

Lixuan also said, “Then work hard next week and win back everything you lost, won’t that do?”

Zhang Qiyang smiled in a way that was inscrutable. In his heart he thought: I don’t even care about the weekly championship of this lousy competition. What’s there to win back? The right path is to take the fight to those obnoxious people!

He did not stay in Lixuan’s suite for long that night. After wolfing down a huge bowl of noodles with Qin Xueyang, he let out a satisfied belch and went back to his own hotel suite with her.

As for helping Lixuan make the new shoes, Zhang Qiyang agreed to it. Once they returned to the capital, he would go to Lixuan’s music studio and personally custom-make a pair of the most dazzling new shoes for her, ensuring that Lixuan could continue to crush Zhao Ziqi.

After returning to his room, Zhang Qiyang went into the bathroom to shower.

Qin Xueyang suddenly burst into Zhang Qiyang’s bathroom in a flurry and shouted angrily, “This is infuriating! Absolutely infuriating! That filthy dog Wang Dachong has taken the opportunity to kick us while we’re down again!”

She had seen the picture Wang Dachong posted of opening champagne in celebration, and she was so furious she nearly went mad. She had to tell Zhang Qiyang immediately.

Zhang Qiyang was in the middle of a shower, his head full of shampoo foam, when Qin Xueyang barged in without warning.

Zhang Qiyang glared at her in grief and fury, only for the shampoo running into his eyes to sting like fire.

He yanked off a towel and wrapped it around his waist, then rubbed at his eyes and snapped at Qin Xueyang, “It’s no big deal! Can’t you wait until I finish showering before telling me?”