My Landlord is an Idol Singer - Chapter 174

At the entrance, they drew lots. Gu Zhinan felt that his whole life must be tied to the number eight. An eight-person contest, and of course, he drew number 8!

The “trash talk” segment only existed in the first round. This time, the reporters from Zhuhai Jiang TV still came forward to ask questions.

“Contestant Bro Sun-and-Moon-Frog, may I ask what song you’re singing this time?”

“Is it another original piece?”

“Those two sentences you said last round, what did they mean? Can you give us an official explanation?”

“Last time you barely scraped through to advance. Do you have enough confidence to secure a top-three spot and move on this round?”

“Original songs may get a lot of attention from viewers and live stream audiences, but they don’t really help your competition ranking much. So what approach will you take this time?”

Two reporters, two microphones, firing questions one after another. Gu Zhinan felt a headache coming on. One question after the other without even pausing, how was he supposed to answer? 

He thought about it. Since this was an official interview, it wouldn’t look good to say nothing at all. “Original song. The words mean what they say. Results don’t matter, effort does.”

After thinking it through, Gu Zhinan felt his answer was tactful enough and wouldn’t offend anyone. He swallowed back the words that nearly slipped out, “I’m just here to clock in and collect a paycheck.”

The reporters were speechless. This guy sounded like he had no motivation at all, his words brushing them off casually. Still, at least he said something. At first, they thought he might clam up completely again, like last time, when he only said “hand clasping the bright moon,” or when he only opened his mouth once he was on stage singing.

But they got something out of him, It’s another original!

That one piece of information alone was explosive. Two rounds, two original songs! That was unheard of on Masked Singer!

“What the hell? Another original?”

“Stop it already! That last original song was so good, but the second half was awful!”

“Yeah, I tried listening these past two days, I can’t even bear to get to the second half! Such good melody and lyrics wasted!”

“I put up with full-loss sound quality just to hear a good song, and sure, the song was good, but what a pity!”

This episode’s ratings were already noticeably higher than the first. The competition hadn’t even started, and countless people had already turned on their TVs or tuned in to the live stream.

The Zhuhai Jiang TV backstage crew were thrilled with the traffic numbers, higher even than last year’s second episode, and this was just the beginning!

Variety shows like Masked Singer always risked decline over time. You had to keep finding high-level singers, and without innovation, audiences would lose interest after a show or two. That was why Lin Xi had been desperately searching for that mysterious singer from the Hangzhou music bar.

Tonight, A Little Thing Called First Love had night filming, so the people at Natural Entertainment couldn’t watch Gu Zhinan’s performance live. They’d have to wait for the results.

Meanwhile, in Haipu City, Cheng Mengying and Ruan Ying were both surprised. Normally, at this hour, Xia An’ge would be working out or reading. Yet tonight, she had turned on the TV, hugging a pillow, watching Masked Singer intently.

She was unusually focused.

“When did An’ge-jie start liking this show?” Cheng Mengying asked, puzzled. It didn’t make sense, she’d never seen it before.

Ruan Ying shook her head. She had no idea. She had asked last time, too. “I don’t know. Maybe she wants to understand it fully first? Didn’t Masked Singer invite An’ge-jie to be a guest judge for the fourth episode? Has she agreed yet?”

“She hasn’t agreed, but she hasn’t refused either. They gave her until before the third episode, so there’s still time.” Cheng Mengying explained. Maybe Xia An’ge wanted to get a better grasp of the rules and process before deciding whether to go.

They were interested too, especially knowing that the most popular contestant, Frog, was going to sing another original song!

Finally, after a long introduction, Episode 2 of Masked Singer began amid much anticipation.

Gu Zhinan was still in the lounge, bored. Why was it number 8 again? That was the real problem. If he’d drawn number 1, he’d already be done singing by now!

On the screen, Sis Rabbit, the opening contestant, appeared. She started with Love Song that instantly lit up the stage. This time, she sang the love song with fiery passion, the rearrangement was pretty good.

She got 1,870 votes. Three judges voted for her, two didn’t, one of them Lin Xi, who felt that love songs should be sung with deeper emotion, like Xia An’ge did.

Everyone had their own understanding. Though Gu Zhinan himself still thought, “Landlady, my forever god!”

In the end, Sis Rabbit got exposed. A judge directly named her, Xiao Qiangqiang, a once-popular starlet who had vanished from the music scene for five years.

That name caused heated discussion online. At first, few recognized it, until the judge pointed out her vocal traits and style. Then the internet woke up. Almost everyone agreed it was her.

And she didn’t deny it.

According to the rules, she would perform next episode half-masked. A cover-up that wasn’t much of a cover-up, after one more song, she’d have no choice but to officially reveal herself.

Several other contestants after her were also half-exposed. As long as none of them were eliminated this round, they’d have to perform half-masked next time too.

This was the program’s hook. The masked format encouraged audience speculation and boosted mystery, with clues from the show and judges’ guesses fueling discussions until the final reveal. That whole process was far more exciting than the competition itself.

Each contestant got their votes. At last, it was time for the final act, the original-song “madman.”

“Mr. Gu, get ready, it’s your turn. Tone it down this time, don’t get carried away,” Xiao Li reminded him.

“Got it.” Gu Zhinan nodded. Last round, he really had let himself loose too much.

“And now, our final contestant, also the fan-favorite among the eight, Frog!” The host’s voice was lively as Gu Zhinan slowly walked out from backstage. He wore the same simple casual outfit, nothing flashy.

“I hear this is another original?” Judge Dong Gege asked. She had just gotten word backstage that this contestant was doing another original. Could it be true, like the rumors said, that he was just an artist being hyped up by an entertainment company?

As the music director of China Star Entertainment, she hadn’t heard a single whisper of such a thing.

Gu Zhinan nodded. “What about it? He had plenty of songs!”

“What’s the title?” Lin Xi asked as well. This time, to keep things fair, he hadn’t asked privatelyx suppressing his curiosity.

“Sea of Flowers.”

“Sea of Flowers, such a romantic name. I’m really looking forward to it. Good luck!” Lin Xi’s words were sincere. He felt that Gu Zhinan’s “Blue and White Porcelain” performance at CCTV had been excellent, and last time’s slip-up wasn’t a true reflection of his ability.

“Alright, let’s welcome Frog with his original song Sea of Flowers!” 

The host finished and jogged offstage, leaving Gu Zhinan standing alone at center stage. He tightened his grip on the mic, as if adjusting his state.

Xia An’ge grew nervous in front of the TV. She worried that if Gu Zhinan underperformed again, he’d be eliminated. Even though he still had the revival round, repeated failures would crush his momentum.

The beautiful accompaniment began. Everyone felt as though they were standing in a sunlit sea of blossoms, their hearts at ease. This damn prelude was dazzling again!

Another great song!

Netizens didn’t even need to hear the lyrics, the arrangement alone had already won them over.

Gu Zhinan gave a soft chuckle, whether sighing for having borrowed so much from Bro Zhou or for something else, then began to sing slowly.

“Still, all the flowers bloom. Far away, love grows clear. The sky is gloomy, yet love delights. Back then I didn’t know this was called love.”

His voice was gentle. Judges and audience alike were surprised. Had this guy changed? He didn’t sound like the same person as last round. And this song, was it a sad one?

“You like to stand at that windowsill. It’s been so long since you came by. Colored time stains blankness… blurred by the tears you shed!”

Suddenly, his eyes turned firm, and his voice rang out stronger.

“Don’t leave me, distance can’t divide! Longing turns to sea, stuck outside the window, can’t come inside! Forgive me for words too fast, love turned into a block! The kite in my hand, too quick to ever return!”

He felt his state was excellent this time, so good he wanted to shout it out. But he restrained himself. This wasn’t a song for roaring.

The judges and audience were stunned. They even wanted to rip off his mask to see if this was really the same guy as last time. But last time, they hadn’t figured out who he was either!

Damn it!

As he sang, Gu Zhinan raised a hand, waving it upward, his body swaying slightly to the rhythm.

Watching from her living room, Xia An’ge laughed secretly. That brute was always like this, singing and unconsciously swaying to the beat. He’d done the same with “Lime,” and now he had the audience swaying along too.

What was this, a concert?

“Don’t leave me, memories won’t cut away. The love I owe you, I’m waiting to repay. The sky still shines, it loves the sea. Love songs are defeated, love no longer remains!”

Gu Zhinan had guided the emotions perfectly. The ending was flawless. The audience, too, found themselves waving in rhythm with him, utterly swept up by the song.

He had sung so well, why had last time been so bad? Had he thrown the match?

The venue erupted with applause, louder than for any prior contestant. This was encouragement for the brave.

“So good!”

“The moment that intro played, I felt like I went back in time, amazing.”

“The accompaniment and his voice match perfectly! I’m in love! From now on, I’m a diehard fan of Sun and Moon Frog!”

“Put it on KuLe’s Masked Singer list already! I need this on repeat!”

“Give him all the votes!”

“If only he’d sung like this last round! Did he mess up on purpose? Damn!”

“Yeah, now that you mention it, that last song was so good too!”

“He’s bound to release an album one day. These two songs are too valuable to be stuck with only Masked Singer’s bad sound quality. And as a music critic, I feel like these songs still aren’t complete!”

Even the judges were stunned. This really was a great song, so good it made them jealous. They all started wondering, besides their four entertainment companies, what other company could have such works in hand?

Two S-tier songs, thrown out for this Frog guy?

“Alright, once again, Frog’s original song has amazed us, and his performance was flawless. Now it’s time for judges and audience to cast their votes!”

The host returned to lead the process. As the audience cast their votes one by one, the judges also all voted for him. All five. Then the program team released a clue: this person was actually a fairly famous poet, with very famous verses to his name.

“???” Hadn’t he denied being a poet before?

The judges were stuck. Except for Lin Xi, who already knew, the others were convinced the program team was just throwing out smoke bombs.

“When was your very first poem written?” One judge suddenly asked, without discussion.

Gu Zhinan was dumbfounded. What kind of tricky question was that? Answer it wrong and his identity would be blown wide open!

Then what’s the point of playing? All the beans would be spilled!

“Just a few months ago.”

His voice, distorted by the voice-changer, came out calmly. He decided to give a vague answer. It wasn’t against the rules, after all!

“What the hell?”

“Expert-level feints?”

“Didn’t he deny being a poet before?”

“Deny what? Just because his job isn’t ‘poet’ doesn’t mean he can’t write poetry!”

“What, just because I’m a man I can’t like men?”

“Oh damn, bro, wait a second!”

“Legend. Absolute legend.”

“So we’re still left with nothing. Poet, huh? Anyone familiar with the poetry world, help us out!”

“I know of Quan Zhizhuan from the Poetry Association, a great talent, and he sings well too, but I’ve never heard he wanted to enter the entertainment circle.”

“Guys, aren’t you forgetting someone? That bastard Gu Straight Man!”

“Straight Man isn’t in the Poetry Association, stop it. Didn’t you watch the first episode? That contestant was from the Poetry Association. Straight Man’s just a lone wolf!”

Back when Gu Zhinan entered the Poetry Association, hardly anyone knew. Du Guangyu never publicized it either, since he disliked showy displays. So thanks to that old man, Gu Zhinan dodged another round of mass netizen hunting.

Outside the show, heated discussions raged. Inside, there were no clear answers. Gu Zhinan got to keep his frog mask for another round. And his final score was impressive, 1,970 votes, placing him second!

First was still Monkey, but Gu Zhinan didn’t mind. This was already an above-average performance for him.

Why had he slacked off with Give Me a Song’s Time, yet managed to nail such a difficult song as Sea of Flowers?

He sank into thought. Was his talent only triggered by high difficulty? Sigh.

Singing, really, it’s just simple!