Wake Up, This is Not a Dating Show! Chapter 8
Chapter 8 Initial Stage (Part 5) The Weibo post he liked…
Because Yuan Lei was the last one to perform, his voting results would be revealed alongside Yi Xingzhi’s unannounced votes.
Actually, the several guests roughly already knew the answers in their hearts. It was just inconvenient to discuss it in front of the live broadcast cameras, so they stood up and headed toward the stage.
Only Pei Ze, who was walking at the very front, wore a nervous expression, seemingly very apprehensive about the results.
“What are you worried about?” Fu Tingyuan shot him a glance. “You securely made the top two, the three points are already in your hands.”
“Ah?” Pei Ze thought about it for a while before he finally caught on. “Oh right! I placed first among the first five people, so that’s why they announced my score. Is that what you mean?”
Everyone: “…”
He only just figured that out?
The moment Ye Nai thought about how such a piece of work actually took first place this episode, he felt his temples throbbing and went up to the stage with a foul expression.
The current situation was extremely clear: Pei Ze was first, Yin Tianhan was second, and them each securing 3 points was a foregone conclusion.
His votes were lower than Fu Tingyuan’s, and probably wouldn’t be higher than Yi Xingzhi’s either. So it was just a matter of whether he placed dead last or second to last. Either way, they would only get 1 point, so there was no difference.
“Currently, the votes for two gentlemen on stage remain unannounced. Who will the championship crown of this round fall to? Let’s count down together…”
The host was still busy hyping things up and building the atmosphere. Ye Nai stood on stage with a wooden expression, his heart like stagnant water. He was only thinking about checking how the netizens evaluated this episode’s stage once this was all over.
“Boom!”
An exaggerated sound effect rang through the venue, and everyone’s final voting results were displayed on the big screen.
Aside from the top two whose scores were already announced, Yi Xingzhi was two votes lower than Fu Tingyuan, placing fourth with 867 votes. Ye Nai had 856 votes for fifth place, and Yuan Lei had 839 votes for sixth place.
Amidst the uproar of the crowd, Ye Nai glanced over irritably. His first reaction was—Yi Xingzhi’s votes actually weren’t higher than Fu Tingyuan’s?
On the other side, Pei Ze had already begun bowing to the audience in gratitude, emotionally delivering his acceptance speech.
“I truly didn’t expect that among so many outstanding competitors, I would actually be able to take first place. Thank you all so, so much…” He sounded slightly incoherent, and when he reached an emotional point, he even choked back a sob. “I definitely won’t let down your expectations, and I will bring even more brilliant stages later on!”
Ye Nai watched coldly from the side. For a moment, he couldn’t even tell if this was a silky-smooth combo move he had mastered by heart, or if he was truly this sentimental.
Aside from Pei Ze’s fans frantically spamming the bullet screen, there was no shortage of complaints and support for other people.
[A bit too exaggerated, bro?]
[People who didn’t know would think this is the grand finale.]
[And some people still say Han-Han is corporate royalty? Didn’t he sing better than this guy?]
[I don’t care! In my heart, Ye Nai’s stage was number one today!]
[You guys keep chatting, I’m gonna go loop Yi Xingzhi’s song again.]
Ye Nai listened as the host announced the final match results and points standings, did an appropriate teaser to hype up expectations for the next episode, and then finished a long string of live sponsor reads.
Enduring to the very end, his meager amount of patience had bottomed out. He planned to leave immediately the second it was over; he simply couldn’t stand it for half a moment longer.
However, just as he walked out of the studio hall, Yuan Lei chased after him.
Without the cameras pointing at them, he spoke with far fewer reservations. “I accept my ranking, but given your performance, the fact that you didn’t even make the top three means this voting is total bullsh*t.”
“It is bullsh*t,” Ye Nai’s footsteps slowed a little, but his speaking speed was very fast. “A professional singer’s professional performance actually got two votes less than an actor singing a character theme song.”
Yuan Lei paused for a second before realizing he was talking about Yi Xingzhi and Fu Tingyuan’s scores.
“Then why don’t you mention how you, a professional rapper, got over ten votes lower than him?”
“Too lazy to mention it.”
“…Alright,” Yuan Lei patted Ye Nai’s shoulder. “I can see your admiration for Brother Yi.”
Ye Nai instinctively wanted to refute it, but thinking carefully, there seemed to be nothing wrong with that statement, so he swallowed his words back down.
“Me?” Yi Xingzhi happened to walk past them and turned his head upon hearing this.
Ye Nai froze, not expecting him to overhear, and even less expecting him to stop and ask about it. He was instantly at a loss for words.
“Ah,” Yuan Lei answered first. “He, the guy in fifth place, is fighting injustice for you, the guy in fourth place.”
Ye Nai sucked in a breath of cold air and commenced the mutual destruction typical of bad friends: “Aren’t you, the guy in dead last, fighting injustice for me, the guy in second-to-last place?”
“Hey, how come whenever words come out of your mouth, they sound so awful?”
“How is what I said any different from what you said?”
Listening to them bicker like elementary schoolers, Yi Xingzhi found it amusing and reminded them: “The show just ended. If people hear you in a moment…”
“Whatever,” Ye Nai said carelessly. “Even if Fu Tingyuan were standing right in front of me right now, I’d still dare to say…”
Before he could finish, Fu Tingyuan actually walked over and asked calmly, “Say what?”
Ye Nai raised an eyebrow, not feeling awkward in the slightest, and met his gaze without changing his expression. “I dare to say that a large portion of those 869 votes of yours were cast out of nostalgia for the character. Do you dare admit that?”
“Hey, bro, you’re truly brave.” Yuan Lei hadn’t expected him to actually say it to the guy’s face.
“I don’t deny it.” Fu Tingyuan’s expression was frank. “The reason I chose this song was precisely to maximize my own benefits. This is a competitive match, doing it to win, there’s nothing wrong with that, right?”
This person seemed to have his own set of logic for everything, and he didn’t mind speaking plainly about it.
Hearing him be so frank, Ye Nai didn’t continue his attack. “Of course, that’s the competition format. I respect the results.”
Fu Tingyuan gave a slight nod, passed between them, and walked forward.
How interesting.
When Ye Nai came to this show, he only originally cared about the opening and finale stages. Having interacted with these other guys today, he actually felt a bit of interest in the games and competition segments in the middle.
Perhaps engaging in a battle of wits and courage with these guys wouldn’t be devoid of fun.
Then he might as well throw himself into it fully and have a good time playing.
“I’m off,” Ye Nai bid the two farewell. “See you next episode.”
“See you.” Yuan Lei waved and left.
Yi Xingzhi, however, didn’t move and said, “Maybe we’ll run into each other at the recording studio before then.”
“I rarely go there, last time was a coincidence.” Remembering Yi Xingzhi’s snobbish sound engineer, Ye Nai suggested, “Next time, you can go to the one I usually frequent. I’m more familiar with it, and there are a few teachers I collaborate with often.”
“Okay.” Yi Xingzhi agreed without hesitation. “Where is it?”
“I’ll send you the address.” Ye Nai pulled out his phone, only then remembering he didn’t have his contact info yet. “Add each other as friends?”
After scanning the QR code, Yi Xingzhi’s profile popped up.
His nickname was “E”, and his profile picture was a guitar with a phoenix pattern. He had no bio, and he didn’t even have an entrance to his WeChat Moments.
With such identifiable features, Ye Nai even skipped adding a remark name. Once added, he directly sent the recording studio’s location over.
“If you’re going, tell me, I’ll contact them for you.”
Yi Xingzhi seemed like he wanted to say something, but hesitated for a long time without speaking.
“What’s wrong?” Seeing his hesitation, Ye Nai thought he didn’t want to trouble him.
“Nothing, just…” Yi Xingzhi seemed to recall something, a flash of amusement crossing his eyes. “You really are quite helpful.”
Why did this word sound so familiar?
Before Ye Nai could think too deeply about it, Yi Xingzhi had already said his goodbyes and left.
It wasn’t until he got into the car that Ye Nai suddenly realized that at the music festival last time when he helped someone move a chair, somebody had used this exact phrase to describe him.
He immediately fired off a message to Yi Xingzhi.
Nyle: [You heard that last time?]
His question lacked context, but Yi Xingzhi replied very quickly.
E: [Mhm. I also witnessed the entire process of your “helping” others.]
Ye Nai paused for a moment, then typed: [Just lifting a finger.]
Only after sending it did he suddenly realize—was it because Yi Xingzhi had seen this scene that he acted so friendly toward him later on?
Nyle: [Were you deliberately choking Li Wan on purpose that day?]
This time, the other side waited a while before replying.
E: [Just lifting a finger.]
Ye Nai pictured the scene of Yi Xingzhi strumming his guitar and felt that this phrase was truly fitting.
He smiled and threw over a “Salute” sticker.
As he neared the hotel, his phone vibrated twice.
Ye Nai quickly raised his hand to unlock it, but saw that it was from someone else. His hand instantly dropped back down.
Brother Kuan: [Did you see the Weibo post Li Wan made?]
Brother Kuan: [Promise me, stay calm!]
When Ye Nai ranked second to last, he had already guessed that Li Wan wouldn’t let this opportunity slip by. He opened Weibo and saw this post that had just been uploaded.
@Li Wan: [Do you recognize your true skill level now? @YeNaiNyle]
The top comments were swiftly hijacked by Li Wan’s die-hard fans, filled with voices dropping stones on someone who had fallen into a well.
[Did the young master’s financial power fail to keep up this time? Family went bankrupt?]
[I didn’t even watch the show. Just searched around and he’s actually second to last? Laughing to death, daring to make a bet with this level of skill?]
[It’s so great to be rich. I also want to experience the feeling of being a champion with dead-last skills.]
[Is there even a need to keep competing? The young master shouldn’t waste any more time, just start writing your song about the psychological journey of buying a championship.]
As Ye Nai was pondering how to respond, Jiang Kuan’s messages arrived again.
Brother Kuan: [Absolutely do not reply! I checked the trending searches and the feedback is actually okay, take a look.]
Ye Nai opened the trending list. Before looking closely, he already scanned many search terms related to Battle of the Defending Champions, indicating the show’s popularity was very high. The one related to him was #YeNaiInitialStageRightOrWrong#, currently ranking seventh.
The style of the comments under this tag was completely different.
[Play it another hundred million times! I’m trapped in this song ahhhh!!!]
[This is second to last??? What kind of votes were cast at the live venue, please explain? If not, let me go vote, okay?]
[No way, this bro’s skills are totally different from what I’ve heard? And he’s so handsome. Keep this up and I’m turning from a hater to a fan!]
[I can apologize to him, but the haters who constantly made me misunderstand him better apologize to me too!]
After scrolling through the comments and real-time Weibo posts for a while, seeing that most of them were praises, Ye Nai’s mood calmed down significantly. He planned to return to Li Wan’s Weibo to handle things.
Who knew that when he clicked back, the text in front of his eyes had suddenly become unfamiliar. He almost thought he clicked on the wrong place and exited to confirm it again.
The pile of mocking and sarcastic comments from earlier had already been suppressed by other remarks. It seemed the people who finished watching the show had found their way over and pushed the more objective comments to the top with likes.
[Emmm… To be reasonable, I think his skill level isn’t bad at all, it’s even kind of high?]
[Uh, you guys keep arguing first, I won’t take sides for now. Let the bullets fly for a while.]
[One thing is one thing, Ye Nai’s personality is a bit arrogant, but looking at it today, it seems he has the right to be arrogant…]
[Suddenly want to watch Ye Nai’s past rap performances, can anyone point the way?]
Why did it feel like a glorious defeat?
Ye Nai didn’t respond to Li Wan. Instead, he forwarded that comment asking for directions to his own Weibo, captioning it: [Thank you to the blogger for the promotion. The links are placed in the comment section, friends who want to watch can take them freely.]
Then, he posted several rap videos in the comments that he was relatively satisfied with from his past.
Very quickly, his comment section became lively.
[At a quick glance, I thought it was some marketing account trying to piggyback on the clout. It’s actually the man himself!]
[Laughing to death, being naughty makes you very happy, huh? You really know how to play.]
[Low damage, but extremely high insult.]
[Seeing that you know how to promote yourself puts this sister at ease. Keep it up, this sister supports you spiritually!]
Some fans even consecutively posted a few more links to Ye Nai’s other brilliant stages, leaving messages: [No need to thank me, this sister can only help you this much.]
By the time Ye Nai arrived at the hotel, washed up, and opened Weibo again, he found that not long after the show ended, he had already gained over ten thousand followers.
There were also many new fans reporting in, successively expressing their praise for his stage and telling him not to mind the rankings too much.
Just as he lay down on the bed, Jiang Kuan sent another message: [Remember to follow the other guests, interactions are inevitable during the program.]
Interactions were interactions, there was no need to follow them, right?
Ye Nai couldn’t be bothered. Following the official Battle of the Defending Champions Weibo was good enough. Plus, he already followed Yuan Lei from before, so he’d consider his mission accomplished.
He started scrolling through the real-time Weibo posts related to the program again. The very first one was currently the most popular: the pure enjoyment cut of Yi Xingzhi’s stage.
Having just watched it live, Ye Nai didn’t plan on looping it. Just as he was about to scroll down, he suddenly remembered something. He casually clicked into Yi Xingzhi’s Weibo, preparing to give Jiang Kuan some face and follow one more person.
Just as he was about to click, he saw that the button which should have displayed “Follow” actually read “Follow Back”.
Yi Xingzhi was already following him?
After clicking “Follow Back”, Ye Nai entered Yi Xingzhi’s personal homepage. The pinned post was his newly released original song, and scrolling further down, there was a very familiar Weibo post.
[@YeNaiNyle: Thank you to the blogger for the promotion…]
Wait, isn’t this the one he just posted himself? Why would it appear on Yi Xingzhi’s homepage? Did it bug out?
Ye Nai looked closer, only to see a row of small text marked above it— “The Weibo post he liked”.
Translator’s Note: Hahaha, Ye Nai was totally stunned! Li Wan thought he was going to humiliate Ye Nai, but ended up looking like a clown. To “drop stones on someone in a well” (落井下石) means to hit someone when they are down. Also, a netizen says “let the bullets fly for a while”, a famous phrase originating from a popular Chinese movie, meaning to wait and see how the situation develops before jumping to conclusions! I guess the ship is officially setting sail now that they are interacting on social media. See you in the next update!