INHA Chapter 93

As Yan Yu was reflecting on his own thoughts, the online community was buzzing with attention toward the talent show. Many viewers were eagerly waiting for the show to air, while others preferred to skip the live broadcast and planned to watch it on a video streaming platform a couple of hours later.

However, the buzz on Weibo, with discussions about an astonishingly attractive contestant on the show, caught many people’s attention. Some claimed that this contestant was so stunning that words couldn’t do them justice, and that just looking at them was worth it.

These exaggerated comments made some of the viewers who were still waiting for the show scoff, displaying a look that suggested they had already seen through the hype.

These marketing tactics, hyping up someone’s looks, are so annoying. Aren’t they worried that overdoing it might backfire? Saying someone is so good-looking that words can’t describe it—isn’t that just another way of saying they’re shockingly ugly?

But then, about ten minutes later, Weibo was flooded with posts from people screaming in excitement. They raved that there was a contestant on the show who was absolutely mind-blowing, with an incredible singing voice performing an original song, and that this contestant was extremely good-looking, with a unique charm that was unmatched in the entertainment industry.

Upon seeing this, the skeptics felt even more annoyed.

It’s fine to praise someone, but exaggerating like this just makes people resist. After doing a quick search, they found that the contestant everyone was raving about seemed to be named Xu Dongyou.

Fortunately, a few people on Weibo managed to snap a photo when Xu Dongyou appeared on stage. Although the picture was a bit blurry, it still revealed that the contestant seemed to be… indeed very, very attractive.

At first glance, the contestant appeared stunning, beautiful yet handsome, with an indescribable impact that left people staring at the photo for a long time before snapping back to reality, starting to feel conflicted.

If they look this good in a blurry photo, how amazing would they look in a high-definition one?

However, there was also the possibility that the effect was reversed—sometimes a person might look astonishingly good only in a blurry photo, but less impressive in a high-definition one.

So, a group of people sarcastically challenged, If you’re so confident, then show us a high-definition photo!

To which the fans of Xu Dongyou responded, Just wait until the show is on the streaming platform, then we’ll see who’s laughing.

Time quickly passed, and two hours later, the first episode of the show was promptly uploaded to the website, complete with a headline advertisement for promotion, immediately drawing in a wave of casual viewers who hadn’t previously been interested in the show.

As the barrage of comments flew across the screen, many people were asking when the contestant named Xu Dongyou would appear. They were curious to see if he was really as good-looking as those seemingly fake fans had claimed.

Soon, Xu Dongyou made his appearance. He first emerged from a rising platform, perfectly lit in such a way that it almost made him seem translucent. Even though the same filter was used for everyone, there was something about him that made his presence distinctly different from the others.

His exceptionally striking and beautiful face stunned everyone, leaving them staring at the screen for a long time with only one thought in mind.

Oh, so those people on Weibo who praised his looks weren’t just hired fans after all because it’s actually possible for someone to be this good-looking, good-looking enough to leave people in awe.

When Xu Dongyou moved on to the performance stage, he captivated everyone once again, with the audience completely absorbed in his performance.

It sounds amazing. And he’s so good-looking, too. They could watch him for hours without getting tired of it.

The production team closely monitored the viewership as the show aired. They noticed that the viewership peaked when Xu Dongyou appeared, with the most comments flooding in during his screen time.

In fact, the viewership only really started to climb after Xu Dongyou appeared. Even though it dropped slightly after his performance, the viewership didn’t decline too much, possibly because Xu Dongyou continued to appear briefly in the background of later scenes.

The production team quickly realized that these viewers were primarily drawn in by Xu Dongyou—or more accurately, by his face.

Although Xu Dongyou’s voice was indeed very pleasing, that face of his was just too striking, causing people to overlook how impressive his singing and vocal skills actually were.

By the time the first episode finished airing, the overall viewership numbers were very encouraging, immediately attracting more advertisers who decided to increase their spending, making the production team beam with joy.

The production team was so pleased that they immediately decided that if Xu Dongyou ever seemed at risk of being eliminated in future episodes, they would find a way to keep him on the show. Although, up until now, another contestant, Yan Yu, has also generated a lot of buzz.

However, most of the attention Yan Yu received was negative.

In contrast, Xu Dongyou received nothing but overwhelming praise, with fans turning into enthusiastic cheerleaders for him.

The probability of Xu Dongyou being eliminated is still quite low. After all, his appearance and singing skills are both outstanding, and coupled with the added halo of being an original singer, it’s almost certain that he has already secured first place.

As long as no unexpected incidents occur later on.

The competition and the show are still ongoing. Father Xu and Mother Xu have long mobilized their friends and colleagues to tune in and watch the show, contributing to Xu Dongyou’s viewership ratings.

As for their relatives back in their hometown, Father Xu and Mother Xu didn’t inform them. Those relatives had once urged and encouraged them to abandon their child, which left a lasting resentment in the hearts of Father Xu and Mother Xu.

Moreover, they had rarely been in contact over the years, and they didn’t want to cause trouble for Xu Dongyou because of this matter. If those people with loose tongues revealed that Xu Dongyou was adopted, it might affect his performance in the competition.

After watching the show, Father Xu and Mother Xu already had teary eyes. Even their younger son, who also watched the show, suppressed his excitement and quickly comforted the elderly couple.

Father Xu and Mother Xu were crying tears of joy because they knew that Xu Dongyou’s dream was to become a singer, and with his current performance, he was sure to fulfill that dream.

The child they raised is truly outstanding.

Xu Yangchen was still very excited. In the future, he would have a superstar brother. With his brother’s looks and voice, it would be unreasonable if he didn’t become famous.

In the following days, the show’s popularity continued to grow. More and more people learned about the show through short videos and trending searches. Some even became fans of Xu Dongyou or other contestants like Li Ge, starting to vote for their favorite contestants.

Naturally, Xu Dongyou’s votes surged far ahead, quickly surpassing the second-place contestant by nearly a million votes.

This was the first time in history that such a large gap had opened between first and second place.

People began to eagerly anticipate the second episode, which put a lot of pressure on the production team but also turned that pressure into motivation to produce an even better show.

At the same time, some companies began to regret not offering better conditions to sign Xu Dongyou before the show. Now, if they wanted to sign this clear superstar-in-the-making, they would have to pay a much higher price.

After all, many other companies were eyeing him as well.

Some powerful companies quietly contacted the director, hoping to get in touch with Xu Dongyou to discuss their offers. However, the director, who had high hopes for the show, didn’t want to disturb Xu Dongyou and rejected all such requests.

He could see it clearly: with Xu Dongyou in the show, it was bound to become the hottest program of the year, unmatched by any other.

The company deeply regretted it even more because of this.

Zhang Feng, being an agent in the entertainment industry and also a handler like Xu Dongyou, saw Xu Dongyou’s participation in the talent show as part of his mission. At the same time, Zhang Feng was given another task: if Xu Dongyou hadn’t found a suitable agent by then, Zhang Feng would temporarily take over.

Zhang Feng immediately had greater ambitions—he wanted to become Xu Dongyou’s official agent. Although he was currently Tian Haomiao’s agent, Tian Haomiao was now a top-tier singer and didn’t really need him to manage anything.

Tian Haomiao had met Xu Dongyou and naturally knew that he was also a handler. He discreetly asked Zhang Feng which company and agent Xu Dongyou planned to sign with in the future.

Zhang Feng didn’t give a definitive answer, saying only that it was still unknown, and that he was just a temporary agent. He also advised Tian Haomiao not to reveal that Xu Dongyou was a handler, so as not to cause any trouble.

Tian Haomiao understood the gravity of the situation and quickly nodded in agreement, secretly hoping that Xu Dongyou would sign under Zhang Feng. He didn’t mind if Zhang Feng managed Xu Dongyou; in fact, he was all for it.

This way, he could rely on two handlers, especially Xu Dongyou, who had become the only official streamer for the Anomaly Handling Bureau. This indicated that Xu Dongyou was incredibly powerful and might even hold a significant position within the Bureau.

Even though the authorities stated that in the event of a strange incident, one could report it to the police and explain the situation and a handler would be sent to deal with it.

But he thought, what if the handler didn’t arrive in time and he ended up dead?

However, if he knew some handlers personally, he wouldn’t have to go through the trouble of reporting it. He could directly call them, and they would arrive immediately—faster than reporting it to the authorities.

Xu Dongyou was still engrossed in intense practice, working hard alongside the other nine members. On the last day, all the members were anxious and couldn’t sleep, but they forced themselves to sleep so as not to affect their performance the next day.

Xu Dongyou was different; he would fall asleep as soon as he lay down.

Li Ge was the same.

Only Yan Yu was filled with resentment and anger towards the other members. He couldn’t understand why these members had so much hostility towards him. Despite not showing any sense of superiority and being willing to cooperate with everyone, they remained cold and even engaged in passive-aggressive behavior toward him off-camera.

Angered, he could only force a smile and pretend that nothing had happened. Surely, no one would criticize him this time?

The next day, the performance began again.

Teams took the stage one by one. Everyone had been practicing hard the previous week, so the stage performances were quite impressive, with most of them meeting the passing standards.

Xu Dongyou’s and Li Ge’s teams were the two standout teams in the performance. Although there was a weak link in Li Ge’s team, the members knew his weakness was dance. Therefore, the team made adjustments, assigning him to handle the singing part to counterbalance the dance weakness.

As for Yan Yu’s team, although their dance was well-coordinated, their stage presence didn’t match up to the others. The performance, while standard, conveyed an indescribable atmosphere that made it clear the members lacked chemistry.

There was no feeling that made one want to keep watching, but since there were no mistakes and the performance was passable, the judges gave a passing score.

Among Yan Yu’s team, he was the best performer, with a dance full of energy. Therefore, he had the highest score in the team. The other members looked slightly displeased. Yan Yu had to suppress his instinctual urge to smile with pleasure, fearing it might lead to more criticism.

The camera faithfully recorded all of this.

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