My Landlord is an Idol Singer - Chapter 175

Advancing to the next round was a sure thing, but even so, the number of votes still exceeded Gu Zhinan’s expectations. The Landlady had already sent him a congratulatory message in advance, praising his performance of Sea of Flowers.

If she hadn’t added a little tsundere remark at the end about how it was “only because she taught him well,” Gu Zhinan would’ve felt her aloof, cool persona was completely on point today.

It seemed like in the future, he could just set up somewhere on the street with a guitar and not starve to death. If he dragged the landlady along too, she could sing while he played. And if nobody bought it, well… he’d just make her cry on the spot.

A teary-eyed beauty singing in the rain, who wouldn’t throw money at that!?

Gu Zhinan indulged in the fantasy, though honestly, telling him to actually lay a hand on Xia An’ge, he wouldn’t dare even with ten thousand times the courage. Those peach blossom eyes of hers had way too much destructive power; he couldn’t withstand them.

On stage, the host announced the voting results, finally eliminating Cow and Horse. One was a folk music god-tier singer, the other an eighteenth-tier actor. A poor performance meant they had no choice but to leave.

Still, it wasn’t bad for them. After the unmasking, they’d gotten unprecedented exposure, their Weibo follower counts shot up, and there would definitely be plenty of commercial offers coming their way soon. After all, Masked Singer was nicknamed the “mini star-making factory” for a reason.

And as the brightest star of this round, Gu Zhinan, still wearing his frog mask, left with Xiao Li.

Same old routine, except this time, the number of reporters waiting was unprecedented. Over a dozen reporters, cameras flashing nonstop. When Gu Zhinan tried sneaking out through the side staff exit, the sight left people stunned.

If Xiao Li hadn’t been vigilant enough to get some decoys to throw them off, Gu Zhinan’s shady “staff disguise” would’ve been busted on the spot. Even so, one or two sharp-eyed reporters still spotted the strange, overly cautious figure with his cap brim pulled low.

As reporters, they’d be embarrassed to even claim the title if their noses for news weren’t sharp.

“Hey, that guy looks suspicious! Come on, let’s check him out, that might be him!”

The moment suspicion arose, one of them called over his cameraman and rushed toward Gu Zhinan. Their steps quickened. After all, how else could they get answers? Out of the dozens of frog masks around, maybe this one would spit out another “Hand clasping the bright moon, plucking down the stars!”

“Holy crap! They noticed me!?” Gu Zhinan panicked, quickly speeding up his steps and diving headfirst into Lai Jingming’s car. “Drive! Reporters are on our tail!”

“Got it!” Lai Jingming didn’t waste words. He slammed the gas, and the car shot forward.

By the time the reporters reached the spot, all that was left was a faint puff of exhaust. They hadn’t even gotten a glimpse of the license plate! The underground parking lot was enormous, and with Xiao Li’s arrangements, Lai Jingming’s car had free access in and out specifically for picking up Gu Zhinan.

“How does it feel, Bro Frog of the Sun and Moon? Three rounds in! Did Lin Xi really say the next round’s appearance fee is 250,000?”

Gu Zhinan nodded, still dazed. 250,000, even if he went up there and tanked, he’d still pocket 250,000! Round one, 100,000. Round two, 150,000. Round three, about to land 250,000. A total of 450,000 in hand! Where else could you find that kind of money!?

“Fatty, this is crazier than panning for gold in Africa!” Gu Zhinan muttered. Throw him in Africa and he still couldn’t dig up 450,000 in half a month.

“Pfft, what an amateur. Some singers earn hundreds of thousands just stepping on stage. And that’s for one song. Some actors make a million for a single scene, can you believe that?” Lai Jingming, half-entertainment industry insider that he was, didn’t think it was that shocking.

“Xia An’ge’s appearance fee must be pretty high now too. Has she ever told you?”

Gu Zhinan shook his head. Why would the landlady tell him that? And besides, it wasn’t like all of it was hers, wasn’t there that shameless Starlight Entertainment company taking their cut?

Lai Jingming clicked his tongue. He’d thought the two of them were already close enough to share that sort of thing. He was certain their relationship wasn’t “just friends,” but as for how far it had gone, he didn’t dare ask.

He didn’t want his youth shattered again, even if the object of that youth was his closest brother. Better to let things unfold naturally.

“How’s First Love coming along?”

“Wow.” Even while driving, Lai Jingming couldn’t resist sneaking a look at Gu Zhinan.

“You actually care about movies now?”

“What kind of pig-headed question is that?”

“The progress is good. We’ve already shot all the location scenes. But the weather’s getting colder. It still looks like autumn, but we’ll need to hurry up.”

Tomorrow is December. In past years, the weather might shift suddenly at the end of the month and dump a load of snow on them. If that happened, filming would be screwed. Hangzhou usually doesn’t get snow, but it wasn’t impossible.

“We still have time. I’ll see about putting together the theme song and insert songs soon.” Gu Zhinan knew the weather could become a real problem for the script.

“Wait, the Masked Singer songs weren’t written for A Little Thing Called First Love?”

Lai Jingming was stunned. They’d all assumed that’s what was happening, that Gu Zhinan wrote the theme song for the movie, just using the show to hype it up.

“Who told you that?”

“No one. Everyone on set just… sort of assumed…”

Lai Jingming didn’t know what to say. He stole another glance at Gu Zhinan’s refined face. The more he looked, the more convinced he became, maybe this guy really was like in the movies, where your brain develops beyond normal limits. His thinking was already on another plane entirely!

Meanwhile in Haipu City, Xia An’ge sat curled up on the sofa, hugging her knees, watching Cheng Mengying pace back and forth. She blinked, “An’ge-jie, why did you suddenly decide to be a guest on Masked Singer?”

Cheng Mengying was baffled. When Starlight Entertainment first mentioned inviting Xia An’ge to be a guest singer in the fourth episode, she’d asked for her opinion. At the time, Xia An’ge had said she wasn’t interested, that she’d wait and see. 

But when Cheng Mengying and Ruan Ying came back from vacation, they found Xia An’ge glued to the show, watching two episodes in a row. And now, she was saying she wanted to join.

“Is it not allowed?” Xia An’ge’s voice was soft, tinged with a rare nervousness.

Cheng Mengying pinched her brow and shook her head. “Of course it’s allowed. Starlight’s been circling me about it anyway, and the Masked Singer side has been very accommodating. If it were already the third episode, then no, but now we can just let Starlight know and it’ll be fine.”

“Then let them know. I want to go.”

“Why so suddenly?” Ruan Ying chimed in, equally puzzled. Xia An’ge had never liked these kinds of shows.

“I just… want to understand it better.” Xia An’ge muttered. Truthfully, because Gu Zhinan had made it to round three. She wanted to go, see how he performed, and most of all, see his reaction when he spotted her in the audience!

“Alright. I’ll tell Starlight tomorrow. Honestly, this is good, Masked Singer clearly recognizes your traffic and status now.” Cheng Mengying nodded. For Xia An’ge, joining was actually a positive move. It showed that the program saw her as top-tier traffic.

Before, even if she wanted to join, she’d need connections and Starlight’s approval. Now, with her contract almost up, this would be her first appearance on a show with such high visibility!

The next day, after the official competition wrapped up, Gu Zhinan’s Sea of Flowers shot straight to number three on the hot search.

Reasons? Simple. The song was good, and the singer was mysterious. Videos of “Bro Frog” singing Sea of Flowers in his mask were plastered across trending feeds.

“Holy crap, is this a concert?”

“Hahaha, so pretentious! Totally fits his persona, pluck the stars, pluck the stars!”

“The title sounds so romantic, but the second he opened his mouth, I knew it wasn’t. Once again, he hit me right in the feels.”

“Did you cry this time? Any complaints upstairs?”

“Who the hell is this singer? Two episodes in and not a single clue. What are the judges even doing? And the netizens aren’t helping either!”

“You’re clueless. Obviously he’s some company’s golden boy, hidden away this whole time!”

“When I first heard Bro Frog’s debut song, I thought, it doesn’t matter how good the song is, if the singer’s bad, it’s worthless. Honestly, when he came out yesterday, I was ready to laugh. But the moment he opened his mouth, I was stunned. He nailed the emotion from start to finish!”

“Yeah, the prelude alone took me right back to the summer I can’t stop missing.”

“Bro Frog is definitely the hottest guy on Masked Singer this season!”

Gu Zhinan knew none of this. Not the trending feeds, not the heated debates, not even the mounting speculation on his Legend of Sword and Fairy book review section, which was already getting dangerously close to the truth. What he did know was far more terrifying.

He’d just gotten a phone call from his mom, Chen Ru, and what she said was absolutely outrageous!