The longed-for village system

Chapter 244 Taking the stage
Chen Qing chose the Ultraman mask, and his answer just now was a reference to a joke from his past life.

After choosing their masks, the two went on stage to begin rehearsing. Of course, at this point, both of them were already wearing masks to disguise their identities, so neither the artists who had finished rehearsing nor the band members on stage knew their identities.

After three rehearsals, Chen Qing began his solo rehearsal, followed by a practice session with the band members and some simple positioning exercises before concluding the rehearsal.

The show officially started recording at 6:30 pm after dinner, and Chen Qing and Zhang Bichen were arranged to appear in the third group.

"Good evening, everyone. This is 'Masked Singer Guessing Game,' a program co-produced for the first time by Jiangsu Satellite TV and Canxing Productions. I am your good friend Li Hao. Before the program begins, I would like to introduce a good friend to everyone. Please welcome our popular actress Zhao Xiaogu with applause."

The audience was stunned when they heard Li Hao's introduction. Everyone knew that Zhao Xiaogu was currently pregnant and resting in Manyuan Village, so why would she come to participate in this music program?
The judges were also surprised, but when they saw Zhao Xiaogu come out, they immediately stood up and cheered. It turned out that the front row seats were reserved for Zhao Xiaogu. At first, they thought it was that senior! But Zhao Xiaogu also deserved to sit in the front row.

Amid cheers from the crowd, Zhao Xiaogu walked to the center of the stage, bowed slightly, and greeted everyone, "Hello everyone, I am Zhao Xiaogu. I am very happy to participate in this episode of Masked Singer."

"First of all, congratulations to our Xiao Gu on becoming a mother-to-be! You're almost three months along, right? May I ask if you've watched our show before?"

"Hmm! It'll be three months soon. As for whether I've watched your show, can I say I'm a professional? Although I'm not a professional singer, I have a very good ear. I can definitely guess at least two guests tonight, otherwise I'll retire from the music industry."

Hearing Zhao Xiaogu's words, everyone burst into laughter. This joke is probably going to stick around forever. However, everyone also realized that Zhao Xiaogu had actually watched the show. As for whether she can really guess more than two guests, we'll have to wait and see.

After a brief introduction, Zhao Xiaogu sat down in the judges' seats, and the show officially began. The first group of guests were two boys, who were obviously quite young. Their stage performance was still very immature, and their singing skills were only average. Such a performance naturally could not fool the judges.

The guesses given by Da Laoshi and others are all members of groups that came out of talent shows in the past two years. It's not that they have any prejudice against talent show contestants. There are quite a few excellent ones among them, such as Mao Mao, Zhou Shen, and Zhang Bichen, who are all very powerful singers. Of course, there are also ordinary professional singers who rely on their looks to stand out.

Looking at the two model-like figures on stage, they are clearly the kind of contestants with outstanding looks but mediocre singing skills, so naturally they can't guess who they are.

The second group of guests was a female duet. Both of them had ethereal voices. This was the group that everyone guessed but failed to predict in the previous episode.

Backstage, Chen Qing was slightly surprised to hear one of the voices and remarked, "It sounds a lot like Zhou Shen!"

Chen Qing's assistant was taken aback by Chen Qing's words and secretly sighed that he was indeed Teacher Chen. Even though he was disguised as a woman, he could still recognize Teacher Zhou Shen's voice. His ears were amazing.

The panel of judges failed to guess again this time. They never would have guessed that one of them was Zhou Shen, a man dressed as a woman. In addition, no one guessed that Zhou Shen's voice was the only one who could be guessed.

Finally, it was Chen Qing and Zhang Bichen's turn to go on stage. Zhao Xiaogu, who was in the judging panel, immediately sat up straight. She was finally going to see her man perform on the music stage, and she thought it would be very exciting.

The moment the intro started, everyone's eyes lit up. This song, "Lovers in the World," was incredibly famous. Although not everyone could perform it, almost everyone knew the song.

The opening soft duet of the two was enough to give you goosebumps; their coordination was so pleasant to listen to. As the song progressed, everyone felt that their collaboration was seamless, so perfectly in sync and harmonious. "These two are also our new friends, one is called The Little Mermaid Princess, and the other is called Ultraman. What do the judges have to say about them after listening to them?"

Li Hao knew that these two were the main focus of the day, and PD Liu had specifically instructed him to spend more time interviewing them. Although Li Hao didn't know their identities, he knew that these two were definitely not simple people and were not people he could afford to offend.

Da Laoshi spoke first: "First of all, these two are definitely professional singers. Their singing skills and stage presence are top-notch, and their stage chemistry is excellent. May I ask if you two know each other in private?"

Everyone nodded in agreement with Da Laoshi's question, as it was the same question they wanted to ask; the two had such a high level of understanding.

"Of course we know each other, and our relationship is quite special!" Zhang Bichen answered Da Zhangwei's question by picking up the microphone.

"Can you tell me how close you are? Are you best friends who can talk about anything, or are you boyfriend and girlfriend?" Teacher Wu's gossip instincts kicked in, and she asked a question that everyone was interested in but dared not ask.

Zhang Bichen glanced at Chen Qing, a sly smile playing on her lips beneath her mask, and replied, "I'm sleeping in his bed at his house."

“I knew it! They’re definitely boyfriend and girlfriend or newlyweds.” Teacher Tao became excited upon hearing Zhang Bichen’s answer.

Teacher Da, Teacher Wu, and the other judges all nodded without refuting, since the woman had said so, so the two of them must at least be boyfriend and girlfriend.

Zhao Xiaogu rolled her beautiful eyes. She was the one who was Brother Chen's wife. These women were really wicked! If she didn't know the situation, she would have thought the same thing as everyone else.

"Xiao Gu, do you have any questions for these two? Or have you guessed who they are?"

"I know these two, and I'm sure I'm not wrong." Zhao Xiaogu said confidently, and then prompted everyone, "Isn't Ultraman just married this year, and his wife is only two or three months pregnant like me? Mermaid Princess, you're my friend, right? We've worked together before."

Chen Qing and Zhang Bichen remained silent in the face of Zhao Xiaogu's obvious question or hint. In any case, they were going to leave this episode anyway, so it was up to Zhao Xiaogu to see if the judges could guess what was going on.

"Is it Xie Na? Wasn't she also reported to be pregnant before?"

"Zhang Jie? He looks a bit like him!"

"Impossible. If Sister Na's singing skills were that good, she would have debuted as a singer long ago. The person next to her could not possibly be Sister Na." Da Zhangwei directly denied that the woman's identity was Xie Na.

Teacher Wu and the others accepted Teacher Da's rebuttal. Indeed, although Xie Na had some singing skills, they were only at an amateur level. The person on stage was clearly a professional singer who had received many years of training.

(End of this chapter)