Soft music began to play. Blue skies, white clouds, a deep blue ocean.
The Statue of Liberty raised her torch high, gazing over the bustling city of New York in the sunlight.
The scene shifted to a university campus, introducing Liu Lang’s student life.
It was a typical segment, similar to those of the other male contestants, with some shots of Liu Lang on campus.
Nothing particularly special.
But when it came to personal interests, the screen suddenly went black.
Zheng zheng zheng—a strange sound began.
Then—BOOM!
The music exploded.
The visuals burst into life.
Accompanied by thunderous metal music, the stage lights flashed wildly.
A mass of frenzied young people, arms raised, screamed and swayed around a performing band.
Subtitles in Chinese rolled across the screen.
A rap-style voice rose:
“I’m here to wreck the mic, the stage, and everything in this place.
I was born a revenger.
Debts must be paid in blood!
My enemies?
Those who misled and fought me—
Capitalism, the system, discrimination, hypocrisy,
Stupid elitism!
This is our American dream!!
This is our American dream!!”
The guitarist and lead singer shredded away, sweat flying from his bare torso, creating a mist under the lights.
The high-energy scene flashed past in a blur.
Then—silence.
The video ended abruptly.
It was short, but the impact was massive. Especially the sudden end—it left viewers stunned.
In front of the screen, the man frowned.
“They included that too?”
“The producers asked me earlier about his hobbies. I casually mentioned music… I didn’t think they’d actually find that clip,” the woman said, surprised.
“There’s probably plenty of footage on foreign websites,” the man sighed.
“So… what do we do?”
“It’s fine. The only sensitive part was the bail and extradition thing. Everything else… whatever.” He smiled lightly to reassure her.
“Alright.” The woman nodded, then muttered, “But honestly, aside from that, our son doesn’t really have much worth showing off.”
“This isn’t worth showing off either!” The man gave a wry smile.
“He could’ve done anything—why this howling mess? And who the hell writes lyrics that insult themselves?”
“Himself??” The woman blinked, then laughed as she recalled the lyrics.
The man rubbed his temples, looking exasperated. “Sigh… Just get him married already. Once there’s a next generation, maybe we’ll have something to look forward to.”
Very different from the parents’ mood, everyone at the live venue was visibly stunned.
The livestream chat exploded after the initial wave of “WTF” reactions:
“Damn! Didn’t see that coming. This guy’s in a band? Lead singer and guitarist? That’s badass!!”
“Wait, that’s Liu Lang? The difference is insane—feels like two different people.”
“Lazy like a pig offstage, raging like a bull onstage…”
“Dude looked seriously cool on that stage!”
“I mean, he was already stupidly handsome, but now—he’s got rock star vibes.”
“Yeah, but so what? That kind of thing only works overseas. Domestic audiences don’t care about pure rock.”
“Facts. In China, rocks tied to underground fringe culture—it doesn’t make it mainstream.”
Opinions flew back and forth. Some praised, some dismissed.
But no matter what was said, Liu Lang’s vote count started climbing—fast.
On stage, the celebrity guests had various expressions.
Yang Mi and Reba looked genuinely surprised. Zhang Haoliang’s expression was filled with disbelief and suspicion.
Hua Chenxue had a slight smirk, eyes glimmering as if deep in thought.
Liu Tianxian looked stunned at first, but then let out a subtle sigh of relief.
In her mind: Whew. Scared me for a second. He can’t possibly be that guy.
No way a rich, powerful heir would be into this kind of music.
They are the system and the capital. Singing this stuff would just be slapping themselves in the face.
After dinner, everyone had gotten to know each other better. Then came the next segment of the show—self-promotion for votes.
This show aimed to narrow the gap between celebrities and ordinary people.
Even Yang Mi and the others had to get serious.
Since it was “ladies first,” the competition started with the four female guests.
Each was to perform something to win votes.
They decided the order by surname initials. Liu Tianxian, being “L,” went first.
Since the performances were last-minute and constrained by copyright, she chose to sing one of her own songs—《Heartbeat》.
As the music started and her voice rang out, Liu Lang blinked in surprise.
He’d never heard any of her songs before—not in his past life or this one.
He genuinely hadn’t expected her to actually sing well.
Though the song itself was a bit weak, her voice was sweet, with a youthful and cute energy that didn’t match her age.
The contrast was oddly charming.
A memory flashed in Liu Lang’s mind— He remembered reading somewhere that she’d originally signed with Sony Japan and even released an album there.
The experience was underwhelming, eventually overshadowed by her acting career, and few ever mentioned it again.
Wow, Liu Lang thought, a singer whose music career was derailed by acting success.
But still—based on today’s performance, there was no way she was going to win.
Without a strong song, no amount of effort could save it.
After Liu Tianxian’s performance, the audience clapped. The live chat went wild.
Most viewers—aside from fans—reacted the same way Liu Lang did: surprised more than impressed.
Her vote count began to surge, quickly surpassing everyone else, and kept climbing.
Then Reba took the stage, grinning playfully.
She also performed one of her own songs.
The moment she began, Liu Lang knew—Liu Tianxian was toast.
Reba wasn’t just a good singer—she had a uniquely magnetic voice.
On top of that, her figure and dancing were top-tier.
The combination of vocals and dance made it a feast for the eyes and ears.
The chat exploded with praise and simping.
As a result, Reba pulled ahead dramatically, her vote count skyrocketing past everyone else’s.
Seeing this, Liu Tianxian maintained her calm expression.
But Liu Lang could see a hint of disappointment in her eyes.
He nearly couldn’t stop himself from walking over to say, Sis, if you want to win, being decent won’t cut it!!
And he was totally right.
The next performance proved it.
Yang Mi stepped up.
The moment she smiled slyly at Liu Tianxian, Liu Lang knew—she was about to stir some serious trouble just to mess with her old rival.
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