I’m Really a Superstar Chapter 1018

Chapter 1018: Petal Shower gets mad!

This had come about too suddenly!

It came so suddenly that even the King of Masked Singers program team was caught off guard!

Hu Fei immediately flew into a rage. “What the fuck is he thinking!”

Hou Ge said angrily, “What is Teacher Li Yu trying to do?”

Dafei could not understand either. “W-Why did he admit to it just like that? No one really said anything much at all! Everyone was just wildly guessing! No one could have been so sure that Sunflower was him!”

Xiao Lu’s expression shifted. “Isn’t he trying to make trouble then? We told them before the show went into production that the contestants are not allowed to expose their identities! Even if others can guess it, they can’t admit to it until the moment they take off their mask. It’s written in the contract and the contestant is obliged to cooperate. What the hell is Teacher Li trying to do!”

“This…”

“This will be tricky to handle!”

“How can we deal with this? We can’t hide it anymore!”

“Can we say that his account was hacked? Would anyone believe that?”

“Aiyo, he’s totally making trouble for us! We’re about to start recording!”

“Is Sunflower really Li Yu?”

“Yes.”

In reality, most of the program team staff did not know who Sunflower was. But after they saw the Weibo post and then looked at how Hu Fei, Hou Ge, Dafei, and some others reacted to it, they knew that it had to be true. Sunflower in the Starlight was definitely the famous singer and movie star from Hong Kong who had been popular for many years, Li Yu!

Hu Fei yelled, “Is Sunflower here yet?”

“Not yet,” the employee who was assigned to liaise with Sunflower replied.

Hu Fei immediately picked up his cell phone and contacted him.

The call went through, but it was Li Yu’s assistant who picked up the phone.

Hu Fei bluntly said, “Assistant Xu, please inform Teacher Li Yu to delete his Weibo post. It’s not too late to remedy the situation. Let’s try to do whatever we can to turn this situation around as much as we can!”

Assistant Xu said, “But why?”

Hu Fei explained matter-of-factly, “Our show’s selling point is that all of the contestants are masked. It’s also stated in the contract that they are not allowed to reveal their identities to anyone. Otherwise, how can we still make the show? If everyone already knows about Teacher Li Yu’s identity, what’s the point of wearing a mask? Can we still produce the show that way? This will greatly affect the show’s recording and broadcast. Besides, it’s also unfair to the other contestants since with Teacher Li Yu’s status and reputation in the music industry and with him being established, how can the other contestants possibly hope to compete against him? Would they even need to sing anymore? Teacher Li Yu might even get crowned as Masked King in every episode from now on!”

No one production would always be smooth sailing. There were always shows that encountered celebrity problems, people acting like a diva, finding fault with little things, or arguing. A lot of these problems were unpredictable, but if they happened, it could usually be resolved with some communication. However, the program team and Li Yu’s assistant were unable to come to an agreement.

After Assistant Xu listened to his speech, she said, “Director Hu, first things first, it was the fans who guessed Teacher Li Yu’s identity and not us who actively volunteered the information. Teacher Li Yu has never been one to speak against his conscience or to ignore his fans. Even if you want him to lie, he won’t be able to do it, which was the reason he admitted to it. Second, you said that it would affect the show, which I agree with. However, it is a positive effect here. With Teacher Li Yu’s reputation, your show’s viewership rating will definitely increase! So I don’t understand what it is you’re unhappy about?”

With that, Hu Fei flew into a rage!

What sort of pretense is this!

Do you think we’re stupid?

Hu Fei said, “Don’t you talk to me about that. Our program team decides how the show is designed and how the arrangements are made. Am I the director or are you the director? Delete that Weibo post immediately!”

Assistant Xu said, “I can’t make that decision. I can only inform Teacher Li Yu about it, so I don’t know how things will turn out. I’m hanging up then!”

Du du.

The line was suddenly cut!

Hu Fei’s face darkened as he let out an angry huff.

Next to him, Hou Ge had heard everything. He said angrily, “If he doesn’t want to cooperate, then let’s just disqualify him!”

Dafei said, “Right, it was Li Yu who violated the contract first!”

Hu Fei looked at them and said, “How can we disqualify him? It’s going to be such negative press that it’ll certainly affect the viewership rating!”

“Isn’t he getting too cocky?” Xiao Lu said, “I actually used to have quite a good impression of Teacher Li Yu! How can he do this! He’s really being too disrespectful to the others like this!” She held up her cell phone’s screen which was displaying Weibo and said, “Look, not only did Li Yu give away his identity, he even publicly asked for votes and for everyone to support him. Isn’t that as good as asking the audience who will be here today to vote for him? This, this…”

Music Director Bai Yuanfei and the house band’s members rushed over upon finding out.

When Bai Yuanfei heard what happened, he said, “The way I see it, we might as well cancel the recording today and just crown him as Masked King. We won’t even need to record the show from now and just give him the trophy for the finals as well!” Bai Yuanfei did not care about Li Yu’s status at all as he also was a very big name in the music industry. “The idea behind the show was to wear a mask, and compare who can sing better without caring for an individual’s popularity or looks. Now that that Sunflower has revealed himself, he’s even asking for votes! What competition is left!”

If Hu Fei had known this was going to happen, he would never have invited Li Yu onto the show!

Bai Yuanfei said, “Now that the other contestants have found out as well, I don’t even know how to explain to them. Director Hu, why don’t you talk to them instead.”

Suddenly, Xiao Lu cried out, “There’s an outcry on the Internet as well!

Everyone’s heart pounded as they jogged over to have a look.

…

Online.

There was a constant stream of news updates!

“Sunflower’s real identity exposed!”

“Li Yu joins the King of Masked Singers!”

“King of Masked Singers’ cut and dry champion—Sunflower in the Starlight!”

In the short span of an hour, just one single hour, the popularity of Sunflower in the Starlight on the official website had soared from third place to first!

Sunflower: 1.1 million votes!

The Clown: 670,000 votes!

Petal Shower: 540,000 votes!

Li Yu was already way out in the lead!

This was how popular he was. This was the result of his fans swarming in with their support!

Most important, there were many of Li Yu’s good friends in the industry who helped him drum up support.

A famous movie star from Greater China said: “Haha, so Li Yu has gone to compete in King of Masked Singers, and he’s actually Sunflower. He sings really well, so everyone, please give him your support.”

Another celebrity said: “Teacher Li, I’m cheering you on. And here I was thinking about why Sunflower could sing so well. So it turned out that it was you. That completely answered my question. Since you didn’t take it seriously the first two episodes, I believe you’ll be serious in the third episode? Who can compete with you then? Remember to get crowned Masked King as much as possible!”

Quite a few celebrity friends voiced their solidarity for Li Yu.

And in turn, it created even greater support for Sunflower. His popularity votes kept rising!

Meanwhile.

Li Yu’s fans started something.

“Go Teacher Li!”

“Love you to death!”

“What was wrong with the last two episodes? Why wasn’t Li Yu crowned as Masked King?”

“There must be some conspiracy on the show, right?”

“Does the live audience there even know how to appreciate music? How could they crown The Clown as Masked King? Who is he to deserve that? Can he even compare to Teacher Li Yu?”

“Sunflower sang really well!”

“Right, The Clown, Petal Shower, and the others are nowhere good enough!”

“That Sunset Glow is nothing either. I don’t even get it. How did she beat Teacher Li Yu by so many votes last week? That must have been because Teacher Li Yu did not take you guys seriously!”

“Hahaha. Now that we know Li Yu is Sunflower, do you guys think he’ll become Masked King for every episode from now?”

“Definitely!”

“That’s a must! Teacher Li Yu is incredibly popular!”

The opinions were totally skewed.

The people were also giving him their support.

Sunflower in the Starlight was garnering more and more support!

But this action of Li Yu’s had created a negative impact on the King of Masked Singers. He was basically destroying the show that they all had worked so hard to make! His action was all for his own selfish purposes in a bid to create an advantageous situation for himself. But for the show and the other contestants, what he did was full of malice!

…

But there were also people in the industry who were understanding of the situation.

At an entertainment company.

Fang Weihong found Zhang Yuanqi. “Sister Zhang, Sunflower is Li Yu?”

Zhang Yuanqi said, “I heard that it.”

Fang Weihong spread her hands. “He admitted it himself? What does that mean?”

“It means that Old Li cannot afford to lose,” Zhang Yuanqi replied.

A female celebrity from the same company who was beside Zhang Yuanqi added, “He did not get crowned as Masked King for two episodes now, so Li Yu couldn’t bear that any longer and decided to expose himself in hopes that it would aid him in becoming the Masked King? But would the program team allow that? Ever since Teacher Li dropped off the A-list celebrity rankings, he has been a bit anxious to make himself famous again. He must intend to make use of this show to get back into the A-list? Since King of Masked Singers has gotten really popular, his team must have given him that idea, I guess?”

Fang Weihong shook her head. “Even if they know he’s up to no good, there’s nothing they can do. With his popularity, as long as he doesn’t sing badly, he’ll certainly become the Masked King. Unless the other contestants can come up with spectacularly outstanding performances or also give away their identity, there isn’t really any way they can compete against him.”

…

At Beijing Television.

In the dressing room.

Chen Guang frowned, “What’s there left to do now that this has happened?”

Wang Zhuishu grunted, “Is he really Li Yu?”

Chen Yidong was having his makeup done by a makeup artist. “Perhaps it won’t affect the show as much as we think? The live audience members might not necessarily be Li Yu’s fans.”

In the dressing room next to them.

Zhang Xia kept shaking her head. “Looks like we’ll be welcoming a new Masked King today.”

Amy said, “I really couldn’t tell from Sunflower’s singing that it was him!”

Backstage.

In a small conference room.

Hu Fei, Hou Ge, and the others had gathered the show’s contestants except for Sunflower for a meeting.

When they all got there, Hu Fei immediately apologized, “Sorry about this, everyone. I did not handle this problem well, so let me first apologize.”

Sunset Glow’s light voice came from under her mask. “Are we still carrying on with the competition?”

Hu Fei sighed. “We’ll still go ahead and record the show, that’s for sure. We’ve also considered disqualifying Sunflower from the show. But the fallout of that would be too great, which we know the station will definitely not approve of.”

A new replacement masked singer asked, “Then does that mean we deserve this?”

It was a man’s voice. His stage name was Yesterday’s Daylily and he had a yellow flower on his mask. It was both quite unique and odd at the same time.

Hou Ge quickly said, “That’s not what we mean. We understand that this is very unfair to all of you as contestants, but…”

The other new replacement masked singer was a woman.

Her stage name was Spinach.

Spinach said, “Could we get Teacher Li Yu himself to back out from the competition then?”

Hu Fei said, “He’s currently staying in his waiting room and completely unwilling to communicate with our people.”

Yesterday’s Daylily said, “Isn’t he cheating this way?”

Dafei, influenced by Zhang Ye, was more straightforward with his speech. “Right, he’s cheating! And we can’t do anything about it!”

Petal Shower did not say anything.

Sunset Glow was just listening.

The Clown was drinking tea and thinking about something else.

Yesterday’s Daylily said, “This is a variety show where we pit our talents against each other. It’s either we win or we lose. Does he have to go that far with those underhanded methods? And he’s even a big name A-lister?”

“Former A-lister,” Spinach corrected. “He was knocked off the list by Teacher Zhang Ye.”

Yesterday’s Daylily snorted. “Serves him right. With his behavior, he can’t compare to Zhang Ye at all. They’re on totally different levels.”

The two of them were not very big names in the entertainment circle, or might even be newcomers to the industry, but they talked about this matter without any care or scruples.

Hu Fei apologized again, “I’m so sorry.”

Spinach said, “Director Hu, it’s not like this is your fault.”

Yesterday’s Daylily added, “We’re just unhappy with his unscrupulous methods. We’ll definitely record what we must, but his behavior has broken the rules of the show. Is there no way we can make him answer for it?”

Hu Fei did not say anything.

Petal Shower finally spoke up.

When she opened her mouth, what she said shocked everyone at the table. “The program team can’t disqualify him? And Sunflower won’t take the initiative to pull out of the competition?”

Hu Fei said, “Well…”

Petal Shower nodded and went on, “Alrighty then, why don’t we just eliminate him instead?”

Everyone was dumbfounded!

Eliminate?

Get who eliminated?

Sunflower? Li Yu?

Damn, who can possibly do that? He’s already revealed who he is! Even if he sings like shit, there will still be people in the audience voting for him!

Petal Shower tacked on, “When we draw lots later, I’ll switch lots with whoever gets matched against Sunflower!” Petal Shower then got to her feet and left the conference room.

Sunset Glow looked at her and giggled.

Spinach gasped.

Yesterday’s Daylily was too stunned to react.

Hou Ge, Hou Ge, Dafei, and the others looked at each other!

Eliminate Li Yu?

That would of course be the best way out!

But then, could that really happen? Would Petal Shower be able to do that? Could she really beat Li Yu who had already revealed himself? Fine, even if there was a one percent chance of that happening and Petal Shower really won, what about the round after that? Li Yu would surely still win in the elimination round! Who could stop him?

The Clown also chuckled. He was becoming more and more certain that Petal Shower was an old friend of his. Her temper was exactly what he liked!