Chapter 188: Well done!

When Chen Qi issued the command to rest, the entire production crew, who had been tautly wound up, finally relaxed.

They let out long sighs of relief, left their positions to stretch a little, and eased their tense nerves.

During this break, the audience members began to enter the venue.

Although it was four o'clock in the morning, the audience members remained full of energy. After entering, they looked around with excitement at the live stage they had previously only seen on television.

These were all young audience members.

Su Xiaoxiao had exhausted every effort for the sake of these audience members.

In the afternoon, she was the first to offer sincere apologies to the arriving audience members and presented them with generous gifts to win their understanding.

After confirming the exact number of people willing to attend the venue at three or four in the morning, she hurriedly contacted Tang Yan from Everyday Music, asking her to help select more young viewers who were willing to come over at such an hour.

The specific emphasis on young audience members was primarily due to the consideration that older viewers could not handle staying up all night.

In addition, to ensure these viewers would arrive promptly at three or four in the morning, she even promised even richer gifts.

It is no exaggeration to say that she spent the entire afternoon dealing with matters concerning the live audience.

With the admission of the audience, the previously quiet venue grew lively.

The scene was bustling with noise.

Having endured the torment of the daytime, the production crew not only failed to find the bustling sounds annoying, but instead felt a sense of grounding.

For them now, that terrifying silence was what truly tortured the soul!

As the audience entered, Chen Qi also walked onto the stage.

"How does it feel?" he asked the members of the temporarily assembled band.

"Pretty good," the music teacher answered with a quiet smile.

The others also smiled and nodded.

Although they were somewhat exhausted after working for more than ten hours, their hearts remained filled with excitement.

This excitement permeated every single one of their nerves!

Especially when thinking about the impending formal recording, and imagining their friends, family, classmates, and teachers seeing them through the television lenses, they felt an irrepressible sense of eager anticipation.

*Singer*!

A nationally sensationally popular show!

A phenomenal music program!

When the show aired, wouldn't their friends, family, teachers, and classmates be utterly shocked to see them appear on this stage?

Thinking of the astonished expressions on the faces of people seeing them on television, they were indeed quite thrilled.

Two of them even decided to organize a viewing party with others when the show aired!

Chen Qi smiled along with them. After confirming with the veteran musicians on stage that there were no issues, he said nothing more and turned to step down from the stage.

A moment later, his voice rang through the speakers across the venue.

"Everyone get ready, the recording of the show is about to begin."

Hearing this voice, the previously noisy venue instantly quieted down.

"Ten-second countdown."

"Ten!"

"Nine!"

When the countdown reached one, Chen Qi walked onto the stage amidst dazzling and magnificent lighting effects.

"Whoo—"

Seeing Chen Qi, the live audience instantly burst into a round of thunderous applause.

This was not because of how high Chen Qi's popularity was; the audience was merely happy that the show was finally beginning to record.

Applaud for Chen Qi?

Out of the question!

Given Chen Qi's method of announcing rankings, not booing him already showed immense regard for his face.

Chen Qi wore a smile on his face, bowing gratefully to the live audience to acknowledge them.

Whether it was meant for him or not, he chose to believe the applause was entirely his.

"Welcome everyone to *I Am a Singer*, exclusively titled and sponsored by Kuku Mobile!"

Well, an entirely unoriginal opening remark.

However, even though Chen Qi only recited the sponsor's promotional lines at the opening and during the ranking reveals at the end, Kuku Mobile had zero complaints.

They were overjoyed right now!

Because Chen Qi had only found a single advertiser for the entire show, and combined with the fact that almost no commercial breaks were inserted in the middle, the external reception was overwhelmingly praised!

This naturally brought a lot of favorable impressions to them as the sole advertiser. Coupled with the show's current average ratings approaching 2%, both their brand awareness and market share were steadily climbing upward.

A few days ago, Qian Dafu from Kuku Mobile had even specifically called Chen Qi to express his gratitude. Over the phone, the general manager had almost laughed like a fool, completely abandoning his managerial image.

"Whoo—"

Following Chen Qi's opening remarks, the live audience offered another round of applause.

Even though many people harbored deep resentment toward Chen Qi, his hosting style—so simple it was practically devoid of any conversational filler—still won favorable reviews from many.

"Let us welcome our first singer."

After finishing these words, Chen Qi turned and walked off the stage.

"Bang!"

Almost at the exact moment he stepped off the stage, the lights on the stage dimmed.

Then, the sound of footsteps, familiar to countless viewers, echoed through the venue.

Immediately afterward, the accompaniment music started playing.

Just like the previous batches of audience members, the moment they heard the music begin, these viewers couldn't help but gasp in admiration.

This audio effect... was simply beyond peerless!

The first to take the stage was Song Quqi.

Her ethereal voice quickly pushed the atmosphere of the venue to a peak!

"Wow!!!"

After the song ended, almost every member of the live audience wore a look of shock!

"Let us welcome our second singer!"

Then came the third singer.

The fourth singer...

When all seven singers completed their performances, dawn had already broken.

"Our program today concludes here. Thank you everyone, please leave the venue in an orderly fashion."

Leaving the audience's departure in the hands of the production staff, Chen Qi turned and walked toward the side of the stage.

"Thank you everyone, you've worked hard," he expressed his gratitude sincerely to the music teacher and his group.

"It's nothing," the music teacher smiled, shaking his head gently.

Chen Qi smiled back and refrained from uttering any more overly polite sentiments.

Actions spoke louder than words; he would simply keep this favor in mind.

After bidding farewell to the music teacher and the others, Chen Qi didn't delay further. Clutching the newly filmed footage, he dived straight back into the post-production office.

This busy spell lasted for more than ten hours.

It wasn't until around nine o'clock on Thursday evening that the post-production for the new episode was finally completed.

Handing the program over to Vice Station Master Wang at the earliest opportunity, Chen Qi, who had toiled for two full days and a night, let out a long sigh of relief.

Fortunately, he had finally made the deadline.

With the program finished, it was time to settle accounts with those behind-the-scenes masterminds.

Before that, however, he needed to get some sleep.

On his way back, he intentionally searched the internet for related news.

Whether it was due to their tight confidentiality or some other reason, the news about the accident during the new episode's recording had not spread online.

After pondering for a moment, Chen Qi composed a text message and sent it to Su Xiaoxiao.

While he was doing post-production yesterday, Su Xiaoxiao had wanted to stay and help as well, but he had forcibly chased her back.

Having worked busily for an entire day and night, everyone was quite exhausted.

...

Half an hour later, just as Chen Qi returned to his rented apartment and fell into a deep sleep, a media outlet suddenly received an anonymous tip.

The anonymous individual claimed to be a live audience member of *Singer*, stating they possessed major news regarding the show, and demanded two thousand yuan right off the bat.

The keywords "live audience member" and "*Singer*" successfully captured the attention of this media outlet.

Holding a wait-and-see attitude, they contacted the anonymous tipster.

Subsequently, they obtained the keywords provided by the other party.

The recording of the new episode of *Singer* had encountered an accident and was delayed.

Upon hearing this keyword, the media outlet's eyes lit up, and they instantly grew interested.

They transferred the funds to the tipster without hesitation.

Shortly afterward, they received an email.

Reading the specific contents of the email, their editorial department practically boiled over!

Not long after, the news about the unexpected incident during the new episode's recording of *Singer* was published by them.

Having obtained reliable information, they detailed the beginning and end of this accident in their report.

They stated that the unexpected incident was caused by the sudden absence of multiple musicians.

At the end of the report, they also claimed that Chen Qi was currently panicked and running in all directions, and the next episode of the show would most likely fail to air on time.

A single stone stirs a thousand ripples!

As the broadcast of *Singer* drew close, this piece of news quickly caught the attention of several internet users.

Because the media outlet breaking this news was the very same one that had leaked Li Hongti's identity last time, coupled with the outlet's substantial reputation and scale, the netizens harbored little doubt regarding the authenticity of the report.

They clicked on it immediately.

Upon reading the contents within the news, these netizens who had been closely following *Singer* were utterly shocked.

Musicians absent at the last minute?

The next episode unable to air on time?

Good heavens, playing things this excitingly?

...

The next day, Friday.

Chen Qi woke up naturally.

Checking the time, it was already past nine o'clock in the morning.

Rising unhurriedly to wash up, he then prepared a breakfast for himself and finished it, after which Chen Qi finally took out his phone to check the news online.

Major news like the unexpected incident during the recording of *Singer* had already spread like wildfire across the internet.

The keyword "*Singer* unable to air on time tonight" even trended on the hot search list.

Netizens were engaged in heated discussions.

Some speculated on the reasons why those musicians were absent.

Others guessed whether Chen Qi had any solutions.

Yet more people were simply debating whether they would be able to watch the latest episode tonight.

After roughly browsing through these news pieces, Chen Qi smiled faintly.

Following that, he made a phone call to Ma Qianli.

Ma Qianli's actions were prompt; the legal proceedings to sue those few musicians had already advanced past the major stages.

After having the other party send over some relevant materials, Chen Qi logged into his Weibo account.

His Weibo feed was already in utter disarray.

Countless people were asking him to confirm the authenticity of the rumors outside.

Come to think of it, due to being overly busy lately, aside from posting two promotional videos related to *Singer*, he hadn't logged onto Weibo for quite some time.

The fans on Weibo seemed to have developed some grievances.

After briefly glancing at the netizens' comments, Chen Qi posted a Weibo update in response.

He stated that the external rumors were true.

Unabashedly, he poured dirty water all over those nine absent musicians.

He stated that their temporary absence was due to someone paying them a higher sum to poach them.

He also stated that he had already initiated legal proceedings to hold them accountable.

Not only did he say this, but he also attached screenshots.

The images showed individual petitions for prosecution, clearly bearing the names of those nine musicians.

At the end of the post, he mockingly thanked all the melon-eating onlookers for their concern, stating that the new episode had already been produced and was currently undergoing review, and tonight's show would broadcast on time.

Suddenly fed such a massive juicy piece of gossip, the netizens were dumbfounded.

The expressions on their faces were nothing short of spectacular!

They were shocked!

Shocked by Chen Qi's ruthless methods!

This shameless fellow really was a man of few words who acted decisively—he actually sued them directly?

Yet, I love it!

So much for a gentleman taking revenge ten years later; spectators who loved drama couldn't wait that long!

They adored this kind of immediate, on-the-spot payback!

Seconds later, the comment section under Chen Qi's Weibo exploded directly!

"Holy crap, beautifully done!"

"Why do I find this so deeply satisfying to watch?"

"Oh wow, are you actually playing for keeps?"

"Hold them accountable! You must hold them accountable! It's best to bankrupt them entirely!"

"Hahahahaha, those few musicians are probably shivering in their boots right now!"

Upon confirming they could watch the show normally tonight, the netizens were overjoyed.

Fearing no chaos in the world, they self-righteously joined Chen Qi in condemning those musicians who lacked basic contractual integrity.

Over an hour later, the keyword "Chen Qi sues musicians" also made it to the hot search list.

...

Not many people knew that while that media outlet broke the news about the accident during the recording of *Singer*, those nine absent musicians had also been closely following the development of the situation.

They felt panicked inside.

It wasn't because of these reports, but rather because they discovered that the progression of events far exceeded their expectations.

That senior industry insider who had called them hadn't told them it would turn out this way.

He had said their jobs wouldn't be lost; he had said Chen Qi would definitely bow down to them; and he had said that if Chen Qi didn't yield, it would be difficult for him to continue producing this show.

They had believed him.

Their jobs wouldn't be lost, and they would win a huge favor from this senior insider—talk about a massive profit!

Therefore, they had been drinking beverages and eating fruit with peace of mind, waiting for his call telling them to resume recording the show.

However, they waited until dark on Wednesday, yet no call to return for recording arrived.

Thursday remained the same.

Then, they began to panic a little.

Abnormal!

Utterly abnormal!

The schedule for this episode was already very tight; Chen Qi couldn't possibly drag things out like this!

They strongly suspected the show had already been recorded.

Yet at that exact moment, the news about their absence broke online.

Seeing themselves featured in such news reports, instead of panicking, they breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

So after all this commotion, the show hadn't even started recording yet?

This week's episode couldn't air on time?

It was only upon seeing the news that they realized so many others had skipped the recording just like them.

Knowing there were so many others, they had even less to worry about.

Since the show hadn't been recorded yet, it must be just as the senior insider said: Chen Qi couldn't find anyone to help.

He should be lowering his head to compromise very soon.