Wake Up, This is Not a Dating Show! Chapter 7

Chapter 7 Initial Stage (Part 4)

Back when the Feidu band won the championship, Ye Nai was entirely focused on his rap and paid absolutely no attention to anything else. However, because Feidu was simply too popular, he knew a few of their hit songs, though he had never listened to the full versions.

It wasn’t until today that he saw Yi Xingzhi’s live performance for the very first time.

Blessed with a uniquely gifted voice, masterful singing skills, and a fully devoted performance, every minute and every second struck straight at the heart. The experience could only be described as shocking.

The votes were already being tallied on stage. Ye Nai felt that this performance was undoubtedly the best of the day so far, he just didn’t know how many votes it could secure.

As the countdown ended, the big screen flashed and displayed a blank white space.

The audience was in an uproar, looking at each other in dismay.

“What a pity, the votes for this round did not surpass the current highest score on the stage,” the host explained. “Please take a short break. After all performances have concluded, we will reveal the voting results together.”

Ye Nai was a bit stunned, and Yuan Lei couldn’t help but let out a confused “Ah?”.

The reaction from the bullet screen was roughly the same. Yi Xingzhi’s fans were voicing their grievances, and many bystanders also flooded in to speak up for him.

[TBH, this is the performance that moved me the most!]

[Is the live audience okay? If you guys don’t know how to vote, let me go instead, okay?]

[Maybe the halftime break interrupted the atmosphere, and the audience’s state hasn’t recovered yet.]

[Isn’t it just because Yi Xingzhi’s public reputation is terrible right now, and his popularity can’t compete with the others?]

[If they’re just voting based on popularity, what’s the point of performing? Just cast the votes directly!]

Soon, Yi Xingzhi returned to the backstage area. His expression remained indifferent; exactly how he looked before going on stage was how he looked now. Without breaking his stride, he walked straight past the numerous empty seats and sat right back down next to Ye Nai.

Ye Nai stared straight ahead at the screen, though from the corner of his eye, he could glimpse the person beside him.

Yi Xingzhi just sat quietly, not displaying any emotions of disappointment or regret, seemingly unaffected.

But Ye Nai suddenly had a strong urge to say something.

“I think you sang really well,” he maintained his posture of looking forward. “It’s just that you didn’t have the home-court advantage, and you essentially had to open the show all over again, that’s all.”

Yin Tianhan’s expression became somewhat subtle; that phrase “home-court advantage” was clearly directed at him. He opened his mouth, unsure if he wanted to offer a few words of defense or smooth things over like before, but ultimately, he stayed silent.

Ye Nai actually knew that saying this right now wasn’t a wise move. If he wasn’t careful, he’d make another enemy, or be slapped with a “zero EQ” label.

But he didn’t care. These were his true thoughts, and he certainly wasn’t going to hold everything in just for the sake of a show or some so-called interpersonal relationships.

“Thank you.” Yi Xingzhi leaned against the back of his chair, crossing his hands in his lap, and said mildly, “I feel comforted.”

Ye Nai knew that Yi Xingzhi was defusing the situation for him, indicating that he said those things purely to comfort him, and wasn’t deliberately targeting Yin Tianhan.

He originally intended to stop there, but the moment he caught sight of Yin Tianhan’s deep V-neck, he couldn’t put the brakes on: “Maybe if you tugged at your collar a few times in front of the audience, you could’ve gotten a few more votes too.”

Yin Tianhan’s face turned cold, but in a flash, it returned to normal. When he looked up again, he had already swapped on a smiling face.

“Xingzhi’s sweater is indeed hard to work with. He should change into something else next time. If you need reference advice, you can come to me, I have experience in this area.”

Ye Nai frowned and was about to speak again when he heard Yi Xingzhi say first, “Mhm, I was just saying earlier that I’ll change my clothes next time.” He lifted his chin slightly toward Ye Nai. “Right?”

“When di—” Ye Nai stopped halfway through his sentence. Seeing Yi Xingzhi’s hand seemingly unintentionally fiddling with the tassels on his sleeve, he finally understood what he was referring to.

What a massive boomerang effect!

“Ah, yeah,” Ye Nai replied vaguely, touched his nose, and muted himself.

While they were talking, it was already Pei Ze’s turn on stage.

He wore a red coat over a black outfit, yet he didn’t look tacky in the slightest; on the contrary, it made his complexion look especially fair.

Pei Ze sang a highly popular fast-paced track from his new album. The beat was strong, the melody catchy, and the moment he opened his mouth, he hyped up the atmosphere of the venue.

An original choreography was interspersed in the middle. His movements were crisp and clean, and his precise timing with the beats was extremely satisfying to watch, pushing his personal advantage as an excellent singer and dancer to the extreme.

What was rare was that he danced and sang simultaneously with his mic fully on, yet his breath control was astonishingly stable. He even effortlessly belted out several high notes after the dance segment concluded, completely driving the audience’s emotions through the roof.

Pei Ze was already a top-tier idol with quite a lot of fans who only cared about his face. Today, extra care had been put into his styling, highlighting the delicacy of his facial features, making him look as flawless as a 3D model.

A few close-up shots of his face swept past, triggering continuous screams from the audience that nearly lifted the roof off the building.

It was the first time the people backstage had seen Pei Ze’s stage performance. They hadn’t expected that despite appearing rather harmless, his professional skills would be shockingly strong. The title of “All-Rounder ACE” truly wasn’t an empty boast.

Seeing that the stage was moving into the voting segment, Ye Nai asked Yi Xingzhi, “Do you think this one will get first place?”

He was well aware that this kind of highly visual singing and dancing stage was the most loved by audiences and the easiest to rack up high votes.

Furthermore, Pei Ze’s performance had broken the aesthetic fatigue caused by the two consecutive pure singing performances, offering an outstanding audiovisual feast, granting him a massive advantage in gaining votes.

“Probably,” Yi Xingzhi spoke bluntly, giving him the exact same answer.

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the big screen displayed Pei Ze’s final vote count—892 votes.

Ye Nai began to feel his hands itching with emptiness again. This time, however, he didn’t pull on random things, and merely squeezed his own knuckles forcefully a few times.

Pei Ze returned backstage with a brisk step. Facing Yin Tianhan’s unstinting praise, his face bore a hint of smugness that he tried hard to hide but completely failed to conceal.

“Oh stop it, maybe my luck was just a bit better, hehe.”

Ye Nai suddenly stood up with a whoosh and silently took two steps toward him.

Pei Ze’s expression changed, and he backed up a few steps to put some distance between them. “Wh-what are you going to do?”

Ignoring him, Ye Nai kept his hands in his pockets and continued walking forward expressionlessly.

Pei Ze backed up even faster, unknowingly pressing himself against the wall. Swallowing hard, he said, “I’m warning you, the cameras are all rolling here, it’s a live broadcast, don’t try anything funny!”

In the next moment, he saw Ye Nai walk past him in large strides and grab two bottles of mineral water from the front row.

Pei Ze: “…”

Soon after, Ye Nai walked back, and Pei Ze immediately dodged to the side.

“Are you scared of him?” Fu Tingyuan, who had been sitting to the side watching the whole thing, suddenly asked.

“What? Scared of him? How is that possible?” Pei Ze, acting as if he had heard a fairy tale, said righteously, “This is me being civilized and yielding the way!”

“But your legs seem to be shaking.”

“I’m cold, is that not allowed?”

After saying this, Pei Ze felt an itch on his forehead. Reaching up to touch it, it was a bead of sweat.

Truth be told, he had just finished an intense routine of singing and dancing, and he was currently burning hot.

Both of their gazes simultaneously focused on his damp fingertip.

Having anticipated what Fu Tingyuan was going to say, Pei Ze preempted him, “This is cold sweat.”

Seeing Fu Tingyuan about to speak again, he interrupted once more: “Do you know why the water in your house never boils?”

Fu Tingyuan: “?”

“Because you always lift the pot that doesn’t boil.”

Fu Tingyuan: “…”

Oblivious to what was happening behind him, Ye Nai returned to his seat holding the mineral water, handing one bottle to Yi Xingzhi. “Want a drink?”

“Thanks.” Yi Xingzhi extended his left hand to take it.

Ye Nai had passed it over casually, but he suddenly felt a strange sensation brush past his fingers. His entire hand tingled slightly as if a current of electricity had run through it.

Lowering his eyes, he realized it was the calluses on Yi Xingzhi’s fingertips.

Probably formed from pressing down on guitar strings for long periods, they didn’t feel overly rough; rather, they added a bit of his own personal characteristic to those bony, distinct hands.

Ye Nai stared blankly for a moment, then mechanically tilted his head back and chugged a few gulps. Only when nearly half the bottle was empty did he remember that his original intention in grabbing the water was to squeeze the bottle to vent his emotions.

It seemed that burst of anger had already passed, but he still symbolically squeezed the plastic bottle a few times. The rustling sound of the plastic made a person’s heart feel chaotic too.

On the stage, the final performer, Yuan Lei, was already in position.

His performance was similar to Pei Ze’s—a heavily rhythmic singing and dancing act, though his primarily focused on dancing. As a former street dance champion, it was only natural to play to his strengths and showcase his advantages.

In comparison, the difficulty of Yuan Lei’s dance moves was much higher, and his overall performance was smoother and more fluid. However, he fell short in the singing department. After all, he only had experience in rap and had never undergone systematic vocal training.

Before it even ended, Ye Nai had already guessed that it would be very difficult for Yuan Lei to win against Pei Ze this round.

With the limited field of vision for the audience below the stage, the visual impact of the choreography would be greatly diminished. It was hard to distinguish whose dancing skills were superior, but it was incredibly easy to hear who sang better.

Furthermore, with the two acts placed right next to each other, the comparison was even more direct, which would probably heavily affect the votes.

Just as Ye Nai was feeling regret over his friend’s disadvantageous position, the male host suddenly handed over two bottles of a beverage.

“Sponsored drinks, one per person, please help pass them along, thank you.”

Ye Nai didn’t pay attention when he took them and brushed against the other party’s hand, but this time, he didn’t feel anything strange.

It seemed that the weird feeling from earlier was solely because the touch of Yi Xingzhi’s fingertips was far too unique.

Thinking this, Ye Nai felt quite relaxed as he passed the drink to the side.

However, the moment Yi Xingzhi’s hand covered his, Ye Nai’s hand immediately jerked to the side as if acting out of his control.

Ye Nai stared at his own hand in disbelief, deeply wishing he could interview it to ask what exactly it was dodging.

Looking up, he saw that Yi Xingzhi’s gaze was also fixed on his hand, not knowing if he had noticed his action just now.

“Sponsored drinks, one per person,” Ye Nai activated repeater mode.

Yi Xingzhi hummed in acknowledgment and took the drink, seemingly acting as normal.

Ye Nai’s heart relaxed, but then he suddenly heard the person next to him call out softly, “Ye Nai.”

“Ah?” He turned his head, only to see Yi Xingzhi looking down at the beverage in his hand.

He followed his gaze and noticed the words written on the bottle: “Coconut Milk” (Ye Nai).

Ye Nai: “…”

Why the hell did he answer to that for no reason?

“It would be unreasonable if they didn’t give this commercial endorsement to you,” Yi Xingzhi’s crisp voice carried a hidden smile. “Custom-tailored.”

Had it been any other time, a retort of “stop playing with homophonic puns” would have flown right out of Ye Nai’s mouth.

But right now, looking at those eyes in front of him that were as tranquil as a lake, for some reason, he couldn’t force the words out. Ultimately, he just unscrewed the bottle cap and took a gulp, drowning out the words he originally wanted to say.