After offending capital, my songs became more and more popular.

Chapter 141 The Soloist at the Imperial Ancestral Temple: The Other Half of the Chinese Music Scene!

Nightfall shrouded the magnificent Forbidden City palace in mystery. Beneath the veil, in the brightly lit performance venue, a group of celebrity guests who should have been lingering in social circles stood still, their expressions strange, staring blankly at Yao Shuli not far away.

It has to be said that Yao Shuli's words really stirred up a huge wave, and everyone seemed to connect Shen Ming'en with that solo performance at the Temple of Heaven.

It's not that everyone should overthink it...

It's true, Shen Ming'en always has a knack for doing unexpected things!

"What's he doing at the Imperial Ancestral Temple?" Zhou Chujian couldn't help but pull his manager Liu Wei aside and ask in a low voice from the crowd.

The solo performance opportunity at the Imperial Ancestral Temple was reportedly awarded to a very well-known senior in the industry, a veteran artist from the National Centre for the Performing Arts, who was the kind of person everyone expected to win.

Although we don't know exactly who it is, but...

anyway!
It couldn't possibly be Shen Ming'en!

They had confirmed this matter countless times, especially after learning that Shen Ming'en was the singer of the chorus at the recording of the "Beijing Welcomes You" music video the day before yesterday, they hurriedly confirmed it several more times...

But since it's not Shen Ming'en...

So why is this guy not coming to the Forbidden City tonight to perform "Beijing Welcomes You" with a host of Chinese stars, but instead going to the Imperial Ancestral Temple next door?

"I don't know..."

Liu Wei knew what Zhou Chujian was thinking. It wasn't just Zhou Chujian who was worried; he was actually quite worried too.

Shen Ming'en is a bit strange; he always does unexpected things. Everyone thought he wouldn't have a chance to participate in Olympic-related activities, but didn't he parachute onto the Great Wall and sing the chorus of "Beijing Welcomes You"?
"Should I go ask my older brother?" Liu Wei asked.

The "big brother" he mentioned refers to the person in the "national team" behind Zhou Chujian. As someone on the official side, he must be well-informed.

But Zhou Chujian waved his hand dismissively, rolled his eyes, and said, "He found out with us on the Great Wall that day. The secrecy surrounding the other two solo songs was much more meticulous than that of 'Beijing Welcomes You.' How could he possibly know?"

"Then what should we do?" Liu Wei asked.

"Let's go check it out after the performance," Zhou Chujian said.

“Okay,” Liu Wei nodded, then after a moment of thought, he said to Zhou Chujian as if to comfort him, “Don’t think too much about it. He’s not even qualified to participate in the official live recording of ‘Beijing Welcomes You,’ so how could he be qualified to sing a solo next door?”

"Hmm..." Zhou Chujian's expression relaxed a bit upon hearing this, and he nodded, saying, "Sparrow food."

Having said that…

Deep down, however, he had a bad feeling.

It's worth mentioning that, not far away, the woman who had just spoken to Yao Shuli during the day suddenly started asking probing questions, saying, "What did he go to the Temple of Heaven for? Why didn't he come here to perform?"

Yao Shuli was somewhat embarrassed by her question, but fortunately, while she was thinking about how to answer, her staff pulled her away after daybreak...

I really want to shut her foul mouth!
Why is everything being sloughed out?!

……

As time went by, the celebrities gradually arrived, and the live recording of "Beijing Welcomes You" in the Forbidden City began.

It's worth mentioning that when the live stream started, many people were still commenting:
Where is Shen Ming'en?

Where is Shen Ming'en?

【what's going on? 】

When they saw that the chorus was sung by the veteran singer Zhao Yuqiang, they were stunned and exclaimed:
[Ber, what's going on? Where's my brother?]

Why is Zhao Yuqiang singing the chorus? What the heck?!

Seeing this, the little black guys, as if they had finally seized an opportunity, all started kicking him while he was down, saying:

[Pfft... What else can you do? He obviously doesn't get any!]

[The MV recording from the day before yesterday wasn't the final version to begin with. Whose footage was ultimately used depended on editing. I really don't understand how a bunch of brainless fans could possibly think the chorus was definitely his.]

[9494, with so many superstars gathered here, what right does Hakeem have to sing the chorus? Does he deserve it?]

[Perhaps the organizing committee used the person recommended by the creator to participate in the recording out of consideration for the creator's feelings, but it's unlikely that he will ultimately be used.]

Haha...those fans got their fun for nothing now, hahaha...

……

There are many different opinions about this matter online. One thing that everyone knows is that "Beijing Welcomes You" invited more than 100 celebrities from the Chinese entertainment industry, but only those who appeared at the live performance recording site in the Forbidden City will be the final singers.

Many people have already expressed their opinions about Shen Mingen's performance of the chorus of "Beijing Welcomes You," feeling that he is unworthy of his position and lacks the necessary qualifications. They are only reluctant to say anything too harsh because of their fans.

This is just great……

Now that Shen Mingen hadn't even appeared at the recording, the truth was crystal clear, and the haters naturally started jumping up and down in a frenzy.

It's not just them...

Even the teahouse next door, filled with people with itchy noses, was buzzing with laughter and chatter!
"You're scaring yourself, Mr. Lin!"

Fatty Ma laughed heartily, patted Lin Bei on the shoulder, and said:

"We're really something. Just because Shen Ming'en participated in the recording of a music video segment, we're all scared like crazy. With his qualifications, if he were to sing the chorus, even those superstars wouldn't allow it."

"Hahaha... Yes, yes!" Mr. Li, the white-haired man standing to the side, nodded and said, "Now we don't need to worry anymore. He didn't even show up at the official recording. In that case, it would have been better if he hadn't shown up at all the day before yesterday!"

“Yeah, yeah…” Fatty Ma chimed in, and the two of them burst into laughter as they talked.

In retrospect, it would have been better if Shen Mingen hadn't shown up at the Great Wall MV concert the day before yesterday. It wouldn't have mattered if he had shown up, but the key point is that he completely ignited the fans' passion, enthusiasm, and expectations!
Before tonight's live performance, the online "expectations" for him were incredibly high, with many people coming to see his live performance of "Beijing Welcomes You" tonight because of him.

Now look what's happened...

Now, he didn't appear at the performance; the chorus was sung by another senior singer, and everyone is saying that he wasn't qualified to sing the chorus, or even to appear on stage...

Snapped!Snapped!Snapped!
What a slap in the face!
That's not enough of a slap in the face!

Xiao Heizi's crazy face-jumping and chicken-foot-out gestures are upsetting for his fans, but he's probably even more upset. This is a huge blow to his image, fan base, and everything else!
Not far away, Mr. Qin, the tea master, also picked up his teacup with a smile and took a sip. It has to be said that they seem to be worrying about nothing lately.

The teahouse staff were actually quite well-informed, but it wasn't firsthand information. They couldn't be informed of Shen Ming'en's whereabouts immediately from the scene, so they genuinely didn't know that Shen Ming'en had gone to the Imperial Ancestral Temple.

This really created a strange information gap...

What do they know?
What they knew was...

"What's wrong with Zhou Chujian?"

The projector displayed footage of the official recording of "Beijing Welcomes You" on a white screen. One after another, glamorous celebrities took to the stage. As the camera switched to each of the top singers, their faces were beaming with smiles and radiant with joy...

But for some reason, Zhou Chujian, that jerk, still had that expression on his face during the actual performance recording...

Distracted!
He was daydreaming, giving a forced smile, and when it was his turn to sing, he actually forgot the lyrics. He just grinned like an idiot and managed to fool his mother...

It's fortunate that the organizing committee of "Beijing Welcomes You" recorded the audio in advance and lip-synced on set, otherwise it could have directly affected the entire recording!
"Has Chu Jian lost his mind this week? Does he not want to work here anymore? Hahaha..." Fatty Boss Ma was laughing so hard.

Two days ago, Zhou Chujian's expression was very strange during the recording of the "Beijing Welcomes You" MV, which even became a trending topic. Later, it was rumored that it was because of Shen Mingen, but Shen Mingen is not here today, right?
He keeps forgetting his lines and not matching his lip movements. What's going on this time?
Doing this kind of thing at an official event, are they trying to lose their jobs?
"Squeak..."

The woman in the suit, Ms. Liu, was also so angry that her lips twitched. She secretly made up her mind that she would definitely give Zhou Chujian a good scolding later.

It's worth mentioning that Lin Bei's expression was somewhat strange during the performance...

He wondered, since Zhou Chujian was involved because of Shen Ming'en last time, could it be because of Shen Ming'en this time as well?

A sense of foreboding lingered in my mind, growing stronger and stronger.

……

The recording of the official performance of "Beijing Welcomes You" ended quickly. After the performance, the celebrity guests on site didn't have any plans. They could choose to leave on their own or go to other performance venues to watch as audience members.

But you absolutely must not linger inside the Forbidden City!

The Forbidden City is filled with treasures. Many of the things in the palace cannot be measured in money. They are all precious historical and cultural heritages of our country. If even one or two pieces were lost, these actors would lose their heads and still not be able to afford to compensate.

Originally, the organizing committee staff thought that most of them would leave, but to their surprise, after the performance, led by Zhou Chujian, this group of superstars, who could be called "half of the entertainment industry" or "super galaxy battleship", actually headed south towards the Temple of Heaven!

Yes, that's right...

All of them went to watch the award ceremony for the selection and evaluation of Olympic songs, which is also known as the "solo performance".

At first, many staff members of the organizing committee thought they were just concerned about who sang which song...

But later they found out that all of them had heard that Shen Ming'en had gone there early in the morning, and they all went to find out what was going on!

"Could it be Teacher Shen Ming'en?" An unsuspecting staff member gossiped privately.

“Definitely not,” another staff member waved his hand without hesitation, saying, “My friend told me that after Teacher Ming En arrived, he just stayed in the audience. If it were really him, he would have definitely done the final rehearsal, but he didn’t.”

"Oh, I see..." The staff member looked disappointed, though to be honest, she had really hoped it was Shen Ming'en.

The same news reached not only the staff on site, but also the celebrity guests who rushed to the Temple of Heaven.

What was Shen Mingen doing when they arrived?

This kid is sitting in the audience, gulping down tea from a thermos.

He was wearing a white jacket and loose-fitting casual pants, which looked completely unprofessional. He didn't look like he was there to perform; he looked more like he was there to have fun!
"call……"

Seeing this, a group of colleagues who couldn't stand to see him succeed breathed a sigh of relief. They exchanged glances, all saying the same thing:
"Are they here to be spectators?"

"I don't think he's wearing a costume either..."

"Phew...you scared me! I knew it!"

……

Among the crowd, Zhou Chujian, who had been on tenterhooks the whole time, couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief upon seeing this scene. Liu Wei, standing beside him, even said:
"I told you you were just scaring yourself!"

The singers of these two solo songs had not only been exposed online, but they had also asked around many times. If it was Shen Ming'en, they would have received no information at all.

“Hmm…” Zhou Chujian nodded as well. After relaxing his guard, he recalled that Shen Mingen had not appeared at the recording of the official performance of “Beijing Welcomes You” earlier, and couldn’t help but smile.

For some reason, he suddenly had an urge to go over and mock him, to kick him when he was down.
……

Why aren't you wearing your performance costume?

When Yao Shuli approached Shen Mingen from a distance, she couldn't help but feel a little strange seeing him dressed so casually. Of course, she still spoke very softly, as if afraid of being overheard.

As clever as she is, she must understand that Shen Mingen has been keeping this a secret in order to "play dumb to fool others," and to be on the safe side, she certainly wouldn't expose it for Shen Mingen in advance.

"I'm wearing it~"

Shen Ming'en chuckled and moved slightly closer to Yao Shuli...

He raised his hand, grabbed the collar of his shirt, and pulled it outwards...

"ah……"

Yao Shuli was startled and instinctively raised her hand to cover her eyes. A blush visibly appeared on her fair face as she said:

"What are you doing? In broad daylight, put your clothes on properly..."

As she finished speaking, she muttered shyly in a low voice, "Don't let anyone see..."

This is outrageous! With your breasts exposed, what kind of behavior is this?!
"No, I'm wearing clothes underneath..." Shen Ming'en's forehead was covered in black lines as he pointed to his performance outfit under his white jacket, saying, "I'm not taking off my clothes for you to see, what are you thinking?"

Upon hearing this, Yao Shuli was taken aback at first, and then, in a very adorable manner, she parted her hands that were covering her eyes a little and cautiously peeked through the gaps between her fingers at the inside of Shen Ming'en's torn collar...

Upon seeing the costumes inside, she blushed and removed her hand from her eyes, whispering an "Oh~"...

"Hey hey hey..."

Shen Ming'en scratched his head, pulled up his collar, and looked around furtively to make sure no one was watching before whispering to Yao Shuli, "How's it going on your end?"

“That’s all…” Yao Shuli replied, “Just a normal performance.”

"Nobody..." Shen Ming'en originally wanted to say, "Is nobody talking about me?"
Before he could finish speaking, he heard footsteps coming from the right...

Shen Ming'en turned his head and saw Zhou Chujian, dressed in a white performance outfit, walking towards him with his manager Liu Wei. The two of them, with itchy noses, were walking towards him from not far away.

"Hey, who's this? Isn't this Teacher Ming'en?"

Zhou Chujian, a smug smile on his face, sat down next to Shen Ming'en with an air of nonchalance. When he spoke, he not only had a strong voice, but he even deliberately raised his voice, as if…

It was as if he was deliberately saying it to those around him.

As expected, as soon as Zhou Chujian finished speaking, many people nearby turned to look at them.

After seeing this, almost everyone had a "watching the show" expression on their face...

Please!

Everyone knows the relationship between Zhou Chujian and Shen Mingen.
Thanks to Shen Mingen, Zhou Chujian was trending on social media just the day before yesterday!
Even those who didn't know the inside story must have found out from snippets of information online.

Shen Ming'en did not participate in the live performance of "Beijing Welcomes You" tonight, and he most likely wasn't included in the final music video. He's also not one of the performers at the Temple of Heaven tonight...

The more triumphant Shen Ming'en was on the Great Wall the day before yesterday, the more dejected he is tonight!

Zhou Chujian went over at this moment, deliberately raising his voice to attract everyone's attention...

What else could it be but "kicking someone when they're down"?!

To be honest, this kind of plot is really exciting, and the sense of conflict is just too much!

"Eating melons" is a habit that Chinese people can never shake. They absolutely love watching these kinds of stories, especially being "on the front lines of gossip"!!!

It's worth mentioning that many people cast a few "sympathetic" glances at Shen Ming'en. After all, Shen Ming'en had already suffered so much tonight, and to be kicked while he was down was truly pitiful...

But then again…

They were genuinely puzzled as to why Shen Ming'en wanted to come to the Imperial Ancestral Temple.

Didn't he realize that since he wasn't involved in the official recording of "Beijing Welcomes You" and wasn't a solo singer at the Temple of Heaven, he would definitely be ridiculed?
Anyway...

At this moment, everyone must be thinking their own thoughts.

Returning to Shen Ming'en's perspective, facing Zhou Chujian's smug and mocking expression, Shen Ming'en wasn't angry. Instead, he cheerfully said:
"Oh, it's Teacher Zhou..."

"I heard you were really tongue-tied during the performance and couldn't even match the lip movements?"

As soon as these words came out...

"..."

Everyone present was taken aback at first.

then……

"puff……"

Someone couldn't hold back and burst out laughing!

It's no secret that Zhou Chujian's lip-syncing was off during his performance; it's even trending on social media now. Almost everyone in the audience knows, but no one's too embarrassed to point it out...

Only Shen Ming'en would be so unscrupulous!
It's worth mentioning that upon hearing this, Zhou Chujian's previously smug expression suddenly froze, and then his lips began to twitch uncontrollably, his eyes looking as if he wanted to stab Shen Ming'en.

Fortunately, after a moment, he finally regained his composure, a seemingly "peaceful" smile returning to his face, and said:

"Teacher Ming'en seems to have a lot of free time, even having time to watch the performance next door... Speaking of which, weren't you also involved in the recording? Why didn't I see you earlier?"

As soon as he said that...

"Oh……"

Many people at the scene showed expressions of excitement, internally shouting "Exciting!"

Just as the outside world said, these two were really at odds back then, their confrontation never-ending!

Shen Mingen mocked Zhou Chujian for lip-syncing during the actual performance, and Zhou Chujian retorted that Shen Mingen was not qualified to participate in the recording. Neither of them would give in to the other!

But what surprised everyone was...

Shen Ming'en surprisingly said at this moment, "I don't have enough time. I need to focus on preparing for the performance here."

He said this very honestly, very earnestly, and very seriously, but after he said it…

"puff……"

There were many people at the scene, but they almost couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Why?

Because everyone knows that Shen Ming'en will definitely not be the solo singer at the Temple of Heaven tonight. He didn't even wear a performance outfit. So, when he says this, who can't tell that he's just bragging?

In other words, even if it was just to retaliate against Zhou Chujian, Teacher Ming'en, you wouldn't say something so unbelievable that nobody would believe, would you?
"Hahaha……"

Zhou Chujian roared to the sky, thinking to himself, "Since you, Shen Mingen, have offered me your shameless card, then I shall accept it!"

"It's better to obey than to be respectful," Zhou Chujian said frankly.
"Teacher Ming'en is so funny, still joking at a time like this?"

"You probably don't know how important the performances at the Imperial Ancestral Temple are, do you?"

"Oh?" Shen Ming'en played along with him like an actor, asking, "Then tell me, how important is it?"

Let me put it this way...

Zhou Chujian stood up, waved his hand, and behind him were all the superstars who sang "Beijing Welcomes You".

Pointing at them, Zhou Chujian said:
"Those of you here can be said to represent half of the Chinese music scene. It took all of you to sing 'Beijing Welcomes You' together."

"And the person performing at the Imperial Ancestral Temple can be said to be another half of the Chinese music scene!"

That’s all…

He turned back to Shen Ming'en, and said with a smile:
Do you think you're worthy of being the other half?

As soon as these words came out...

"Oh!!!"

Many people nearby were practically screaming inside their heads!
It's fighting!

They've finally started fighting!
It's great! I love watching it! Can't you add more of these thrilling and exciting conflict scenes?

It has to be said that Zhou Chujian is now really putting his words on the table, openly mocking Shen Ming'en!
This person is really too arrogant and ignorant!

He's bragging in front of everyone!

Others might hesitate to call him out on it out of politeness, but Zhou Chujian wouldn't tolerate that!
cool!

At that moment, Zhou Chujian was incredibly happy!

Finally, I got to hold my head high!

But it was at this very moment...

"Tsk..."

Shen Ming'en suddenly smacked his lips for no apparent reason...

Then, making a "hot" expression, he tugged at his collar and said:

"Why is it so hot..."

At first, Zhou Chujian didn't understand what Shen Mingen was doing, but in the instant Shen Mingen pulled at his collar, Zhou Chujian saw the performance costume hidden under Shen Mingen's white coat at close range...

That moment!

Zhou Chujian's pupils suddenly contracted!
It was like a fucking blast in my brain!

no……

no!
Are you really that soloist from the Imperial Ancestral Temple?!

You really are the other half of the Chinese music scene?!

……

(End of this chapter)