In an instant, Ran Xiaoxiao became the center of attention. Inside, she had already cursed Yin Ping a thousand times over.

If the songs were even remotely close in quality, she might’ve been able to smooth things over. But in this situation, it was like she was being shoved into a furnace.

She hesitated, her heart torn with intense conflict.

One wrong move here, and what awaited her could be the collapse of her public image and a storm of controversy. She was rapidly weighing the pros and cons in her mind.

The audience had already stopped breathing. The venue was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop.

No one had expected things to unfold like this.

As for the livestream viewers, they weren’t holding back at all. The comment section had already exploded.

    “?????”
    “WTF?! What’s going on? Xue Xiaoqian’s vote, I can accept as a sympathy vote—but Wang Bing? What’s his excuse? Is he blind? No wait—is he deaf? Can’t even tell the difference in quality? And he’s supposed to be a top-tier veteran artist?!”
    “It’s rigged! Rigged, I swear!”
    “Are the judges brain-dead? Or do they think we’re stupid?”
    “That vote was clearly BS!”
    “Hold up, don’t panic! There’s still one more vote left! If it ends in a tie, then the audience vote will definitely go to Xia Xiyao—she can still win!”
    “I feel like even I could judge better than these so-called experts! If Xia Xiyao really gets eliminated, I’m turning into a full-on keyboard warrior! Damn it! I was counting on Xingyao’s next few songs to get through life!”

It wasn’t just the netizens who were in an uproar. In front of the TV, Gu Xingyi narrowed his eyes. He didn’t care about the votes anymore—any idiot could tell something was fishy. All he cared about now was Xia Xiyao.

Right then, the camera panned to the two contestants on stage. Cheng Di's eyes were wide with disbelief.

As for Xia Xiyao, Gu Xingyi saw that she didn’t seem upset by the judges’ votes, and only then did he finally relax.

Truthfully, Xia Xiyao was a little disappointed—but not because of the vote. She just felt like Gu Xingyi’s Sea of Flowers was truly incredible, and she was worried she hadn’t done it justice.

Meanwhile, in the backstage control room, the director of the show, Ren Chao, was already slamming the table with loud bangs in fury.

“What the hell are they doing? How dare they!?”

He turned to his assistant, demanding an answer. The assistant gave a helpless smile and said nothing. He had no clue either!

There was a dangerous glint in Ren Chao’s eyes. Someone was trying to ruin him.

Something so obviously wrong had happened on his show, and he, the director, knew nothing about it? The viewers weren’t going to care about the details—they’d just assume the show itself was rigged!

When that happens, won’t he be the one everyone flames as an idiot?

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. He had to uncover the bastard behind this! Trying to pull strings on his show? They must be tired of living!

But for now, all he could do was place his hopes on Ran Xiaoxiao.

All eyes were on her—this was the moment everyone was waiting for.

Ran Xiaoxiao suddenly felt like she was back in her prime. Back then, the crowd had looked at her just like this—whether on stage or off.

Seeing this scene again stirred her emotions. And in her heart, she had already made her decision.

If she could use this chance to make a comeback—even if it was a scandalous one—it would still be traffic, wouldn’t it?

After all, even if this mess blew up later, she could just push all the blame onto Yin Ping. It’s not like she was the only one! Xue Xiaoqian and Wang Bing had voted the same way!

With her mind made up, Ran Xiaoxiao parted her lips. Her voice wasn’t loud, but it rang out like thunder.

“Sorry, Xia Xiyao. I personally preferred Cheng Di’s song. So, my vote… goes to Cheng Di.”

“F*ck!”

In the control room, Ren Chao felt the world go dark as soon as he heard Ran Xiaoxiao’s words. The cup in his hand dropped to the ground with a loud crash, water spilling everywhere.

His assistant trembled in fear beside him. The entire control room fell into stunned silence.

Even the host, Chen Xue’er, was thrown off. She didn’t know how to continue. The votes were in—was there even a point to the audience vote now?

By now, the audience at the venue was clearly getting restless, and the online outrage only intensified. The barrage of comments completely drowned the livestream screen.

    “I’m dying laughing! Damn, this is unbeatable! You’re openly rigging it and no one can do anything, huh?”
    “Trash show! Trash production! Trash mentors! All of them are damn trash!”
    “It’s rigged! It’s rigged! If this isn’t rigged, I’ll eat ten pounds of dirt!”
    “Don’t lie just to get free snacks, dude! Even an idiot can see this is rigged! Ugh! And I actually followed this show for so long!”
    “This vote is just ridiculous! I used to like Ran Xiaoxiao… Never thought she’d turn out like this!”
    “Why are y’all just blaming Xiaoxiao? Didn’t Xue Xiaoqian and Wang Bing vote the same way?”
    “This is insane! These votes had my heart riding a roller coaster—and then it just crashed at the end!”

The internet was in chaos—either filled with curses or questions.

At the venue, things were also getting rowdy. Many people were shouting things like “rigged!” and “refund!”

On stage, Chen Xue’er let out a sigh. Things had already come to this point—she could only move forward.

She picked up the mic and put on her professional smile again, though it was clearly forced.

“As all four mentors have now cast their votes, currently, Cheng Di—”

“Wait a second!”

“Hold on!”

Chen Xue’er’s words were suddenly interrupted. Everyone turned toward the voices—it was Xue Xiaoqian and Cheng Di.

Xue Xiaoqian looked grim, while Cheng Di looked anxious.

The director quickly switched the camera to the two of them. Seeing Xue Xiaoqian speak up, Cheng Di nodded slightly, signaling for him to go first.

Xue Xiaoqian picked up the mic, his face heavy with guilt.

“Sorry, host. I need to interrupt. There’s a problem with my vote. Here and now, I want to apologize to Xia Xiyao, and to the audience. I’m sorry!”

“I previously received a message from Yin Ping, Director of Operations at Yin Hai Entertainment. He told me that since both Cheng Di and Xia Xiyao are from Yin Hai Entertainment, if the gap between them was too big, I should throw in a sympathy vote for Cheng Di—so she wouldn’t lose too badly.”

“But instead, this sympathy vote ended up advancing Cheng Di! I believe I’m responsible for this. Because of me—Xia Xiyao is being eliminated! I hereby resign as a mentor of StarSong Gathering!”

Xue Xiaoqian’s words rang out loud and clear, echoing through the venue.

The audience erupted. No one had expected it wasn’t the production team—it was Yin Hai Entertainment! And no one expected that Xue Xiaoqian would be this bold, exposing the whole thing on the spot!

In front of the TV, Gu Xingyi raised an eyebrow at the familiar scene.

This Xue Xiaoqian... interesting. His character really held up—he could give the Lao Xue from his original world a run for his money.

Elsewhere, Yin Ping shoved away the heavily made-up woman in his arms, hands trembling, his face filled with panic.

He couldn’t believe it. How dare Xue Xiaoqian?! Wasn’t he afraid of becoming a public enemy?

But right now, he didn’t have the luxury to worry about Xue Xiaoqian. He knew—this was the end of the line for him.

The woman beside him also realized something was wrong. Her voice shook as she stammered:

“Y-Yin-ge, this…”

“Get lost! This is all your fault! If you hadn’t kept whining that Xia Xiyao stole your spot and needed to be taught a lesson, none of this would’ve happened! It’s over! Everything’s ruined now!”

Yin Ping roared, pushing all the blame onto the woman next to him.

He still couldn’t believe it. The votes were already cast, yet Xue Xiaoqian had still come forward and confessed everything!

“No! I can’t just sit here and wait for the axe to fall!”

Yin Ping still wanted to struggle, but just then—his phone rang loudly. On the screen: Chairman Yang Xian.

Yin Ping’s eyes immediately went blank. Hands trembling, he picked up the call.

From the other end came Yang Xian’s furious roar:

“Yin Ping! Get your ass over here right now and explain yourself!”