0713: You who shine in the parallel world

When the result of the red card match came out, Xin, who was on the same team as Ma Boqian, smashed his paper cup.

When their captain, Wang Yaoqing, saw him suddenly do this, he reacted quickly and immediately followed suit by smashing a paper cup as well. It's all about putting on a show; one would be a bit abrupt, but two would be just right.

Xin didn't mean any harm; he was just feeling sorry for Ma Boqian and adding a little drama to the scene. The moment the cup hit the ground, he picked it up. He noticed that Wang Yaoqing was still pretending to be unconvinced and hadn't moved. He didn't say anything, but simply picked up Wang Yaoqing's cup as well.

Only then did Wang Yaoqing pretend to break character and laugh, bending down to take the paper cup from Xin's hand.

Although Shin and Wang Yaoqing, both artists from Taiwan, don't interact much—one in the music industry and the other in the entertainment industry—he has heard some rumors about them.

He hadn't taken it seriously before, but after spending time together, he started to see some clues.

He knew that Wang Yaoqing was a very shrewd and power-hungry person who was good at judging people by their appearance. He treated Wang Yaoqing, a "big shot," and the vocalist in the team differently from Bo Yuan, who had excellent dance skills but was not as famous, and Wei Zheming, a "newcomer" in the entertainment industry.

This became even more apparent in the second round as Wang Yaoqing's position as captain became more secure, and at the same time, Wang Yaoqing's attitude towards his teammates underwent subtle changes.

Because of his established position in the industry, Wang Yaoqing's changes will not affect him for the time being. As a straightforward rock musician, he doesn't really like ambitious people like Wang Yaoqing who are too cunning, so he won't take his showmanship to heart.

As a senior who participated in the previous season of "Brother Pi", he knew the true nature of the production team very well. He knew that the production team initially wanted to use Ma Boqian to get rid of Su Xiaoding, and at the same time create some topics and controversies for Ma Boqian. Unfortunately, Su Xiaoding's captain, Chen Chusheng, refused to compromise, which doomed the production team's plan to failure.

Ma Boqian couldn't beat Chen Chusheng. After listening to the live showdown, most musicians, including Shin, understood this. It was alright for him to help Ma Boqian shift some of the pressure, because he really liked Ma Boqian, this hardworking and down-to-earth kid. Shin also knew how the production team would edit this scene.

After smashing the cup, Xin turned around and apologized to the brothers from Chen Chusheng's tribe. Yu Yu, being a sweet-talking and shrewd person, naturally noticed something and went up to him with a smile to exchange a few words. The atmosphere seemed harmonious and instantly broke the slightly awkward atmosphere from before.

The two stopped talking after Chen Chusheng, Su Xiaoding, and Ma Boqian returned. People from both teams lined up to give the two who brought the exciting showdown, as well as Su Xiaoding who was temporarily out of danger, a hug.

"I was just talking to Xiaoyu about you. Although I unconditionally support Xiaoma, your stage is really amazing." Xin shook hands with Chen Chusheng and said, "Xiaoma is in danger after losing this round to you. We'll have to go all out from here on out."

"No, no, they are all great stages, and the upcoming performances will be too. The important thing is to enjoy the music," Chen Chusheng replied with his usual humble and unassuming demeanor.

As for Ma Boqian, despite being defeated by Chen Chusheng, he didn't seem discouraged at all. He seemed to have enjoyed listening to Chen Chusheng's guitar playing and singing up close, and he was still in a sunny mood.

However, when he came to Yu Yu, he suddenly became a little reserved for some reason.

"Um, Brother Yu, can I ask you something?" Ma Boqian asked.

"Just ask, what's there to be afraid of?" Yu Yu laughed.

"If I have any music-related questions in the future, can I ask you for advice or get some extra lessons?" Ma Boqian said somewhat shyly.

When he was chatting with Su Xiaoding's uncle and Li Jiuzhe, three of his old teammates from "Up the Mountain and Down the Mountain," he saw the admiration and worship Su Xiaoding showed when he mentioned Yu Yu. He thought Su Xiaoding was exaggerating, but then his uncle and Li Jiuzhe also praised this "little nobody with a strong background" artist who was not very old but was praised by Su Xiaoding as an old artist. This made Ma Boqian, who was already paying some attention to Yu Yu because of his family's instructions, even more curious.

Later, during rehearsals, he witnessed Su Xiaoding's progress since the start of the performance and realized that their boasts were not exaggerations but the truth. Yu Yu really could sing, had extremely high musical literacy, unique insight, and was good at training people.

He then learned that Guan Zhibin and He Zhancheng still seek private tutoring from Yu Yu, and he suddenly became interested—it could improve himself and build a closer relationship. What could be better than seeking tutoring from Yu Yu to kill two birds with one stone?

Besides, even if Yu Yu's skills are useless to him, he just needs to get along well with Yu Yu. He's already worried about how to integrate into Yu Yu's small group without being too deliberate.

He probably didn't realize that what he thought was an effortless act was actually quite obvious to Yu Yu, a shrewd person who had lived two lives.

Of course, Yu Yu didn't expect Ma Boqian to be so ambitious. In fact, given his current status as a nobody in the Chinese music scene, most people would never ask him for advice. It was probably because of his family's instructions and the information he received from his three former bandmates from "Up and Down the Mountain" that he approached him.

Regardless of the type, Yu Yu would never refuse a request from someone who wants to take their music to the next level. Teaching vocal lessons to other teammates is just a matter of course, whether it's teaching one or several.

Wang Yuexin and Yu Haoming watched Ma Boqian's happy departure, then silently exchanged a glance—this naive and silly boy probably hadn't realized the seriousness of the problem yet.

Ma Boqian had no idea that his words would lead to many more bittersweet days in the future. Now, back in Wang Yaoqing's tribe, he suppressed his joy and excitement and apologized to his teammates because he had lost the duel, putting the tribe in danger of losing all its firepower.

"It's okay. No matter the outcome, we will give it our all on both stages." Wang Yaoqing, as the team leader, reached out and patted Ma Boqian on the shoulder.

After the red card showdown, the first stage is about to begin. This performance will be divided into two halves, and like the first performance, the first stage will still be Wang Yaoqing's group.

Besides reasons similar to the previous performance, the production team also considered that their stage was quite lively with a lot of backup dancers, making it suitable for the opening.

"Alright, we should go backstage now. Don't worry, none of us will make any mistakes this time, right? Have confidence in yourselves!" Wang Yaoqing clapped his hands. At first glance, this sentence sounded like encouragement to his teammates, but those familiar with the inside story found it a bit awkward, especially since his eyes kept glancing at one person.

Lan Zhenglong.

Wang Yaoqing, as the team leader in the second performance, could indeed participate in both stages at the same time. He did have this idea at the beginning. Unfortunately, his physical condition is what it is. The singing and dancing difficulty of "Zhang San's Song" is not as high as "Drifting", but it is still a singing and dancing. He had to withdraw from the "Account Deleted" stage because his leg injury had not yet healed. He could not carry out his hard-working and diligent persona.

He could only rely on the stage performance of "Zhang San's Song", and even became somewhat nitpicky. On this stage, compared to He Zhancheng, Zhang Dongliang and Wei Zheming, the only one he could be so nitpicky about was Lan Zhenglong – the two of them were about the same, but Lan Zhenglong was a little worse than him.

Unfortunately, Lan Zhenglong, though seemingly quiet, is actually a tough guy with a bad temper. He has his own understanding and rhythm, dislikes being constrained, and even more dislikes being bossed around by others, especially when the person giving the order is not very capable.

Wang Yaoqing just happened to be right on his nerves.

Therefore, Wang Yaoqing, who has always appeared in front of the public with a friendly, humorous and popular image, has encountered a rare setback with Lan Zhenglong. His "charm" failed him, and he even pushed too hard during a rehearsal, which resulted in Lan Zhenglong giving him a cold shoulder and storming out. At that time, Wang Yaoqing's smile was somewhat shaky.

The cameras in the rehearsal room were recording the whole time. Lan Zhenglong made him lose face in front of the camera, and he, who wasn't exactly magnanimous to begin with, couldn't possibly not mind.

Afterwards, Zhang Dongliang coaxed Lan Zhenglong back to apologize to Wang Yaoqing. However, the apology was superficial and insincere, as if it were just a perfunctory task. Wang Yaoqing, who accepted the apology with a cold face, only said some platitudes about the need for strictness for the sake of the team. The smile he finally showed was more like a poorly acted fake smile.

Yu Yu heard these gossips from Zhang Yuan. As for where Zhang Yuan heard them from, Yu Yu didn't ask in detail. Bird's CEO Zhang had some unknown channels to get the gossip first, and then shared it with Yu Yu on Green Bubble through private chat, even though their practice room was right across from each other.

Seeing Wang Yaoqing still bothering Lan Zhenglong before going on stage, Yu Yu began to believe the gossip was somewhat true. He looked up at Zhang Yuan and found that Zhang Yuan was also secretly watching him.

Their eyes met, and they both revealed smiles that only they could understand. (Sarcasm intended)

"What are you two laughing at that I can't laugh at?" Wang Yuexin noticed Yu Yu and Zhang Yuan's interaction across the crowd, moved closer to Yu Yu and whispered, "You two are laughing at something that doesn't seem like a good person at all. Could it be... that?"

"Which one? That one?" Yu Haoming leaned closer and winked subtly in the direction the group from "Zhang San's Song" had left.

"We all share the same source of information, so who else could it be?" Yu Yu shrugged.

So, Wang Yuexin and Yu Haoming also showed the same gossipy smiles as Yu Yu had just had.

The three guys, dressed in flamboyant and dark attire, huddled together, chuckling menacingly, and they really did have the air of villains.

However, no matter how villainous they were, it was a different story in the eyes of the eldest brother, Chen Chusheng, who was leaning on the sofa. These three troublemakers must have had their brainwaves connected with the other side of the distance, because the four of them were laughing so hard that it was unbearable to watch.