Chapter 84: The Champions Were Decided Long Ago

Hearing her words, Zhou Xiancheng finally realized what wicked scheme she was plotting. He had thought this woman had changed her ways and simply wanted to check how much buzz his match was generating online tonight. In the end, she was still scheming against others with ill intentions, and it was obvious who her target was—Song Wanning.

At first, Zhou Xiancheng rather disliked Song Wanning, after all, he’d lost several thousand yuan because of her. But now, seeing Jian An’an constantly plotting against Song Wanning, he suddenly felt that Song Wanning was actually quite pitiful, having the misfortune of getting tangled up with someone like Jian An’an.

Still, pity was one thing; it didn’t stop Zhou Xiancheng from making money off the two of them.

Jian An’an, unable to find anything online, remained unwilling to give up. She recalled that phone number and sent another message:

“Is double the price still not enough? I’ll raise it to three times, but you must help me and get that news published!”

After sending it, Jian An’an quickly deleted the message, but as she turned around, she saw Zhou Xiancheng standing behind her. She couldn’t tell if he’d seen anything.

“Why are you standing so close? You nearly scared me to death!”

Zhou Xiancheng shrugged. “Are you done? If so, I’m heading back. The moment the match ends, I need to pack up and can’t be away from work for too long.”

Feeling irritable, Jian An’an replied, “Fine, here you go! Go back.” She shoved the phone into his hand without care, then walked out of the cave, hurrying back to the competition site.

No matter how foolish Jian An’an was, she couldn’t shake the feeling that someone had been secretly obstructing her every time. Last time, those people stopped replying midway, and now, no matter how much she offered, this person wouldn’t post the news.

Weren’t these people all money-hungry? Why wouldn’t they help her now, when they used to do so without question?

Could it be that someone was secretly helping Song Wanning? Song Wanning was in the crew and didn’t have her phone; it must be someone outside the crew. But who could it be? As for the Song family, that seemed unlikely—her own sister was leaking all sorts of scandals about her, so their relationship couldn’t be good.

So who was helping her after all?

Meanwhile, Li Weiwei had gathered everyone to take a group photo before ending the night’s competition. But after searching for a while, no one could find Jian An’an.

Li Weiwei went to ask Jian An’an’s cameraman, since he was supposed to follow her everywhere.

Unexpectedly, the cameraman complained that Jian An’an walked too fast and never waited for him, always squeezing into crowds, and he couldn’t keep up.

Li Weiwei frowned. “She’s a living person, not a ghost—did she just vanish into thin air? Go search again!”

As soon as she finished speaking, Jian An’an appeared. She apologized to everyone, saying she’d eaten something bad and had to rush to the restroom, which was why she hadn’t informed anyone beforehand.

Seeing her so polite, everyone let the matter pass.

When it was time for the group photo, Jian An’an strode straight to the center spot. Even as the staff asked her to move sideways, she pretended not to hear, smiling and standing firmly in place.

But Li Weiwei would never allow Jian An’an to take the center position, especially with her swollen face—it would reflect poorly on the show if such a photo got out.

Seeing Jian An’an unmoved, Li Weiwei simply directed the others to shift around her. With such a long staircase, she gave directions with her hands, not words, showing everyone where to stand.

By the time Jian An’an realized what had happened, she found herself at the edge instead of the center. Now Song Wanning and Nan Yan stood in the middle, with herself and Shen Yue on either side, and the boys standing a step higher behind the girls.

Jian An’an wore a constipated expression, unable to voice her frustration.

Li Weiwei secretly laughed offstage. After reviewing the photos, she dismissed everyone for the night.

The judges selected four videos from the competition: Jian An’an’s, Jiang Mingzhao’s, Nan Yan’s group, and Song Wanning’s group.

At nine o’clock sharp, the four videos were uploaded online.

Almost immediately, Song Wanning’s group claimed the top spot. Nan Yan’s group was second, Jian An’an’s third, Jiang Mingzhao’s fourth.

Early comments on Song Wanning’s video claimed her top ranking was only thanks to Wen Jingxing’s fame. Yet, after watching, the audience was forced to eat their words, leaving messages like “worship the master” in the comments.

Everyone agreed that Song Wanning’s first place was well-deserved.

Once again, Song Wanning trended on social media, with the headline: #Song Wanning: The Seemingly Useless Girl with a Hidden Side#.

The content featured several video clips: skillfully trimming greenery with a machete, bravely confronting a troublesome customer in the restaurant, punching a lecherous man, and her unremarkable yet deft pancake-making skills.

Add to that today’s brilliant pipa performance on the variety show, and Song Wanning had won countless fans online.

Unfortunately, Song Wanning had no social media account, leaving her fans without a place to comment. They all flocked to discussion groups about her instead.

There was even a trending topic: #Chronicles of Song the Vase’s Useless Days#, which had skyrocketed from 1,103 posts to 78,000, with views soaring from 2.206 million to over thirty million.

Initially, the posts in that topic were all criticisms of Song Wanning, but gradually, people began sharing stories of her accomplishments. Over time, the topic became a place to celebrate her supposed “uselessness,” and its name was changed to #Chronicles of Song Wanning’s ‘Useless’ Days#.

Meanwhile, Song Wanning, now a popular figure online, was walking with Nan Yan, discussing the events and feelings from today’s competition.

“Wanning, this was my first time singing in front of so many people. I was so nervous, afraid I’d sound terrible,” Nan Yan said, reenacting her feelings with vivid expressions.

Song Wanning was amused by her antics. “Don’t worry, to me, your singing was absolutely perfect!”

“And you! I can’t believe how well you play the pipa—you could be a teacher. When did you learn it?”

Song Wanning paused, then after a while replied, “I learned it a long time ago. I haven’t practiced in ages, so I’m a bit rusty.”

“Was it when you were a child? You must really like it, right?”

At that, Song Wanning smiled again. “At first, I didn’t like it. But over time, I got used to it.”

“So you didn’t like it at first?”

“No, but now I really do.”

“Is it that you developed feelings for it after doing it for so long?” Nan Yan tilted her head curiously.

Wen Jingxing also looked over with interest. When he was young, he often saw Song Wanning in the music room. She used to dislike music.

How had she come to love it now, and play the pipa so well? That kind of skill only comes from long practice. If she truly disliked it, she would never have persisted.

(End of chapter)