“What do you mean by this?” Xia Lan’s heart was in turmoil. Was Luo Ying acting so strangely, because she knew that Xia Lan was going to give up on her?
“I still have a year left in my contract with the company.” Luo Ying just wanted to live a more leisurely life. “Since you’re still my manager, we’re bound together, for good or for bad. During this remaining year, I won’t ask you to go out of your way to make things work, but I won’t appreciate you causing me any trouble either.”
With her secret exposed, Xia Lan’s face turned red and white. She spun around in circles and decided to call the two executives at the company to ask them what was going on.
In the end, the news she received was indeed not as she had hoped. From the other party’s tone, although they had not made their decision, they did have a candidate in mind.
Xia Lan stood there in a daze for a while before rushing to the stage. She looked at the director who was directing the show on the podium and hesitated for a moment, but in the end, she did not walk over.
Luo Ying was dressed in a youthful and beautiful stage outfit. She walked from the lounge to the backstage, attracting the attention of many people.
She met a few groups of artistes who were also going on stage to perform. Those with good attitudes would smile at her. Those with bad attitudes would pretend not to see her and turn their heads away. When Luo Ying walked past, they would speak ill of her behind her back.
“Luo Ying actually wants to dance!”
“Didn’t she say that she wouldn’t dance anymore when she disbanded her team? I thought she had a semblance of self-awareness.”
“She’s willing to lose face, what does that have to do with us?”
“She moves like a crab. Even a dolled-up crab would still move like one.”
As soon as this line was uttered, several people laughed out loud, because “crab” was the meme that the audience had used to describe Luo Ying’s dance.
The night of the red carpet had always been a time for various artistes to compete for beauty. In the end, no one expected that before the red carpet event even began, Luo Ying would be the first to get claim the to spot in the hot search.
Many artistes disliked her for it. They believed she was too scheming, so they were all secretly waiting to see her make a fool of herself.
Luo Ying also heard the discussion behind her, but she acted as if she didn’t hear it. In this circle, only the weak depended on the wagging of their tongues to get by.
She saw the staff approach her with an ear-monitor. She said, “Please, get me a mic.”
The staff was stunned for a moment, then tactfully reminded her. “The higher-ups have a rule that you can’t lip-sync on the platform.”
The old-school mic she was requesting for lacked a filter. Her voice would come raw and clean, unfiltered and unedited.
Lip-syncing was off the table, but most performers would still use filters and autotunes. As an experienced singer and dancer, how could Luo Ying not understand this? This was precisely why she wanted the microphone.
“Yingying, stop it.” Su Ran, who had just put on her own ear-monitor, quickly stopped her. The two of them were performing on the same stage. If Luo Ying had a handheld mic, then what was the point of her wearing an ear-monitor?
“If you’re not comfortable, you don’t have to follow suit.” Luo Ying turned to the director and said, “Please turn off my autotune, too.”
Upon hearing this, all the staff at the scene were in an uproar. Luo Ying was being a little arrogant, wasn’t she?
“She can’t have given up, right?”
“I’m afraid she’s trying to drag Su Ran down with her.”
Some of the staff members were secretly discussing behind her back.
“Your sudden change of mind is adding to their workload.” Su Ran pursed her lips, her face full of disapproval.
“Scared?” Luo Ying gave her a provocative look.
“Why should I be afraid?” Although she was not professionally trained at singing and dancing, she had practiced this dance for a week and was definitely not worse than Luo Ying.
“Disable all filters and autotunes,” Luo Ying immediately turned around and said to the director.
Su Ran saw that Luo Ying had directly taken advantage of the situation. She immediately regretted it, but she did not dare to change her words in front of everyone.
The director knew that this was going to create sensational news either way, and agreed.
The audience who had seen the teaser already knew who was about to go up the stage.
[I’ll mute the audio and focus on her face.]
[I heard that she’s a terrible performer. I’m here to see if it’s true.]
[Can’t wait to see the memes this performance is bound to create.] [Another crab-dance meme?]
“Ready!” The stage director’s instructions came through their ear-monitors. “One, two, three, go!”
The lights flickered, and the two of them appeared on camera. Su Ran, who was in a daze, was a beat slower. Luo Ying, on the other hand, masterfully stuck to the beat and let out a high note. Coupled with the dynamic music, it blew up the entire audience.
Everyone in front and behind the stage, including the audience watching the live broadcast, froze in shock!
[Wow!]
The bullet screen was silent for a moment before it surged wildly. Was this the tone-deaf Luo Ying?!