Chapter 121: The Professional Scapegoat - Ye Ming

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What the hell, System? What kind of bug are you having? This is the Youth Song Contest—the national competition for young singers—and you’re making me use a children’s song for the preliminary round? And the same song, too? Who gave you that kind of confidence? And I still can’t complete Level -1? It takes me over a hundred thousand experience points just to level up now. Aren’t you forcing me to accept this?

“Uh... the song I’m going to sing is... is a children’s song...” Chen Yun said with a twitch at the corner of his mouth.

A children’s song?

The corners of the three judges’ mouths twitched. A children’s song at the Youth Song Contest?

They suddenly regretted it. They regretted giving this fellow a chance to perform.

Chen Yun took two steps back, activated his Beginner Singing skill, and began to sing:

The sun shines high above
The flowers smile at me
The little bird says
Good morning, good morning, good morning

The first four lines had barely left Chen Yun’s lips when the judges’ mouths fell open. They were not astonished by the children’s song itself, but by Chen Yun’s voice.

“A child’s voice?”

“Both a boy’s and a girl’s child voice?”

“He actually knows the vocal mixing technique that only advanced singers can master!”

“How come I’ve never heard this song before?”

The judges began discussing it among themselves, their faces filled with disbelief. They had now determined that this contestant had reached at least the level of an advanced singer. Otherwise, he would never have been so confident that he could certainly pass the preliminary round.

After singing four lines, Chen Yun stopped. He knew that preliminary auditions were always like this: singing the opening few lines was enough. His Beginner Singing skill had already reached 15 out of 20 in proficiency, bringing him very close to the threshold of Intermediate Singing. A Beginner Singing skill perfected to the highest level by the System was comparable to the skills of a master singer in the real world. The current Chen Yun was therefore unquestionably a quasi-master singer!

“Why did you stop? Keep singing!” The judges had just become engrossed in the performance. When Chen Yun stopped, they initially assumed he was taking a breath, but after waiting more than ten seconds without hearing him continue, they urged him on.

“I’m finished,” Chen Yun said with a smile.

“...” The judges were speechless. Finished? That was it? Was this fellow’s song only four lines long?

“Don’t fool around. How could such a wonderful children’s song have only four lines? Hurry up and keep singing,” one of the judges urged.

“I’m not singing anymore. There are still so many contestants waiting behind me. I should have passed, right?” Chen Yun shook his head.

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“...” Only then did the judges remember that this was merely the first stage of the preliminary auditions. There was not enough time for contestants to sing an entire song. But they were simply too curious about this contestant—especially about this children’s song they had never heard before.

“If you finish singing the song, I’ll let you pass,” one of the judges said with a kindly smile. “Otherwise, I’ll keep your contestant number.”

“...” Chen Yun was speechless when he heard that. Judge, how could you be so shameless?

“Um, Judge, are you sure you want me to finish the song?” Chen Yun asked, his expression strange.

“Of course. Hurry up and sing.” The judges waved their hands. “Don’t worry about the time. We can spare the length of one song.”

“All right, but let me confirm one more time. As long as I finish singing, you’ll let me pass?”

“Yes. Why are you so long-winded? If you keep rambling, I won’t let you pass even if you do finish.”

“Then I’ll sing.”

Chen Yun cleared his throat. The moment he opened his mouth, the judges nearly spat out their tea.

Why are you carrying a bomb?
I’m going to blow up the school.
The teacher doesn’t know.
I’ll pull the cord
And run away.
With a thunderous boom,
The school will disappear.
...

The judges collapsed inwardly. Was this the song they had been looking forward to?

Good heavens! If they had known it would turn out like this, they would rather never have heard it. The opening lines had given them an impression of youthful vigor and boundless positivity. But then came the rest—what was this? A bomb? Blowing up the school? And the teacher didn’t know?

What the hell—what genius wrote this song? Don’t stop me. I’m going to blow up his house first!

“Tell me, who wrote this song?” the judge asked through clenched teeth.

“Uh... this song was written by Ye Ming. Um, did I pass?” Seeing the judges’ unpleasant expressions, Chen Yun hurriedly pinned the blame on Ye Ming, a person who did not even exist in this world.

“Ye Ming, is it? Fine. I’ll write a blog post criticizing him as soon as I get home! You passed. Have that other girl come over and sing again. But let me make this clear: if she’s still in the same condition as before, she won’t pass either!”

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“Sister Yuan, trust me. Sing one more time and you’ll definitely pass.” Chen Yun walked over to Yuan Xin.

“I can’t. I have a terrible cold, and my throat is hoarse. My nose is blocked...” Yuan Xin had only just begun speaking when her eyes widened. She discovered that her voice had somehow returned to normal, and her blocked nose was clear as well!

“This is...” Yuan Xin stared at Chen Yun in astonishment. “Could it be that thing you gave me to drink earlier...?”

“That’s right. It’s a special cold medicine. It takes effect immediately.” Chen Yun grinned. “Sister Yuan, you can rest easy now, right?”

Yuan Xin’s eyes reddened. Deeply moved, she looked at Chen Yun and nodded firmly. Then she turned and walked to the center of the raised stage. After bowing to the judges, she said in a clear voice, “Judges, the song I’m going to sing is ‘Red Sun.’”

...

This was the venue for the second round of preliminary auditions. It was far more formal than the first round. There were four judges, as well as a dedicated band to accompany the contestants. From time to time, contestants who had passed the first round would arrive and line up, waiting for their turn onstage. Chen Yun and Yuan Xin were among them.

“Chen Yun, why are you taking part in the Youth Song Contest too?” Yuan Xin asked. Her cold had been cured, and she had successfully passed the first round, so she was clearly in a good mood. Her smile had returned as she held her daughter, Tuantuan.

“Oh, after reading the notebook you gave me last time, I felt that I’d improved quite a bit. So I wanted to come and see what level I’m actually at,” Chen Yun said, making it up as he went. If he could not use this place to gain fame points, he would never have bothered coming.

“Although I don’t know how good your singing was before, I could tell from those few lines you sang that your singing is now very impressive—better than mine, in fact.” Yuan Xin smiled. “It seems you really do have a talent for singing.”

“I just sing for fun. How could I compare with a professional like you?” Chen Yun laughed it off. Just then, he saw the previous contestant step off the stage and said, “It’s your turn. Good luck!”

“Good luck to you too!”

With her voice restored and her performance as steady as ever, Yuan Xin naturally obtained the highest score so far and successfully secured a place in the preliminary round of the Youth Song Contest. She did not leave. Instead, she stood below the stage, waiting to enter the advancement contestants’ passage together with Chen Yun.

“Next up is Contestant Number 293, Chen Yun. Chen Yun, tell the band the name of the song you’ll be performing, and they’ll accompany you,” the host announced.

“My song is an original composition. It has no accompaniment,” Chen Yun replied.

An original song? The host froze. Good grief. He had come up with an original song already in the second round of the preliminary auditions. Should the host call him confident—or lacking in confidence?

“All right, then sing it unaccompanied,” the judges said, nodding. They were not surprised. Original songs received bonus points regardless of their quality. Some contestants whose vocal and physical abilities were inadequate would choose this route. However, so far, not a single contestant who had taken this path had successfully passed. After all, if their basic abilities were lacking, their creative abilities were unlikely to be any better.

“Good luck.” The host smiled as he handed the microphone to Chen Yun and walked offstage. The instant Chen Yun took the microphone and was about to open his mouth, he received a notification from the System.

“Player Chen Yun’s secondary profession is neither host nor announcer. The microphone cannot be used.”

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