The past weekend was undoubtedly a wonderful one for Mu Li, as his fan count directly increased from 300,000 to 700,000.
In just one weekend, his fan count directly increased by 400,000, and Mu Li’s trending topic directly topped Weibo.
The number one trending topic was “Mu Li Cheats.”
As a result, Mu Li also sparked a heated discussion: is it unfair to other contestants to allow Pokémon to participate in musical performances?
This topic was clearly aimed at Mu Li.
Most people were rational, believing that since Pokémon are not human, their inclusion on stage would not affect the fairness of the competition. Although they can Sing, it requires long-term training, not to mention forming a band like Mu Li.
They believed that Pokémon were merely like harmonies and stage aesthetics, capable of enhancing a performance. One couldn't restrict their use just because others couldn't do it, could they?
If such restrictions were necessary, should those who can Sing high notes also be restricted?
As for the opinions of the minority, no one really cared much.
But the problem arose here: “Vocal Creation Chapter”, due to the opinions of this minority, prohibited Mu Li from continuing to use Pokémon abilities, only allowing them to perform as a band, without using illusion or other skills.
Thus, this matter quickly went viral because it involved the performance rights of Pokémon.
The Pokémon Rights Protection Association publicly expressed its boycott of the “Vocal Creation Chapter” production team, and behind this association stood all the people who liked Pokémon.
This immediately pushed the production team into the eye of the storm.
Now the production team had only two choices: one was to apologize to Mu Li and allow him to continue performing with Pokémon, but the result of doing so would be that among the remaining 8 contestants, besides Mu Li and Qiao Bo, 6 contestants would engage in passive resistance or even withdraw from the competition.
The second was to tough it out against the online pressure, restrict Mu Li from performing with Pokémon, and let the show continue, but the result would likely be a violation of the world's mainstream voice of “human-Pokémon harmony,” leading to the Chinese government directly intervening.
Clearly, neither of these choices was optimistic for the production team.
Immediately after, a top composer's intervention directly pushed this farce to its peak.
This top composer, Fei Lang, was an elderly composer nearing sixty. His works had created several Elite singers and queens of the music scene. Fu Peiyao became the youngest queen of the music scene because of his song “Firefly” back then.
Fei Lang directly posted a video, and in the very first sentence of the video, he said: “Actually, the fundamental reason is not with Pokémon, but Mu Li’s work killed this competition.”
He said in the video: “These people participating in the competition are not on the same level as Mu Li. Judging from the two songs Mu Li has already presented, although he is not yet among the top creators, he is more than sufficient compared to the others in the show.”
This old man was not afraid of offending people, publicly stating in the video that the creators in this show were of mid-to-low level, unable to even find classic representative works.
Fei Lang’s video also directly unveiled the last fig leaf of “Vocal Creation Chapter.”
Reporters, like jackals smelling blood, frantically sought out top creators for interviews.
Of course, most creators stated that they would not participate in such a show, as they simply did not have the leisure to gild themselves in such programs.
Reporters also found Mu Li’s friends.
Wang Yijia directly stated: “A Li, stop playing, come back and release an album.”
Following Wang Yijia’s lead, all of Mu Li’s friends left the same message at the end of their interviews: “A Li, stop playing, come back and release an album.”
Even Mu Li’s Weibo fans frantically tagged Mu Li: “A Li, stop playing, come back and release an album.”
Mu Li, who was preparing for his next song, had not expected such a big change to occur.
“How is it? Do you feel the thrill of revenge?” Fu Peiyao laughed on the phone, “Let them bully you.”
Mu Li also hadn't expected Fu Peiyao to find Fei Lang to speak up for him. He couldn't help but laugh, “To say completely no, that's impossible. But this way, it seems I have no other choice but to withdraw from the competition.”
“Then withdraw,” Fu Peiyao said, “Worst case, we perform elsewhere. Are we lacking this one stage?”
“That’s true,” Mu Li hesitated, “But I’ve only prepared half of this song, it feels a bit wasted. I even specifically prepared a trump card for them, wanting them to really feel it, but the bomb hasn’t even been activated and the competition ended early.”
“What did the production team say?” Fu Peiyao asked.
“We’ve already negotiated. After one more performance stage next time, the news of the withdrawal will be announced,” Mu Li suddenly remembered, “Didn’t I promise to Sing a duet with you before? Do you have time to come over this week? I just prepared a duet song.”
“Of course I have time,” Fu Peiyao seemed a bit excited.
“Then I’ll send you the song.” Mu Li directly sent the digital score of “The Seventh Chapter of the Night” to Fu Peiyao.
After a long while, Fu Peiyao quietly said, “You said I had a Miracle Eye, but you’re even more ruthless, aren’t you? It’s like you’re crushing the opponent on their strongest ground.”
“How can it be that exaggerated?” Mu Li couldn't help but laugh.
“Sigh, I finally understand how your opponents feel,” Fu Peiyao sighed, “Have you noticed, whether it’s Pokémon battles or music creation, you really have a kind of visible, yet forever unreachable, despair-inducing talent.”
Facing such praise, Mu Li didn't know what to say. Such musical accolades might be reasonable for that man who loved drinking milk tea, but he was merely a porter.
“I sent a copy of the score to Teacher Fei so he can preview it, so he knows how to help you blow when the time comes,” Fu Peiyao said with a smile.
Meanwhile, Fei Lang stared at the manuscript for a long time before suddenly sighing, “Sigh, if I had seen this song earlier, I wouldn’t have had to be so cautious.”
Fei Lang chuckled, “This little girl doesn’t know where she found such a treasure, and she didn’t even bring it for me to see…”
Mu Li naturally couldn't hide such a matter from the production team, because more importantly, Mu Li didn't want the production team to take advantage of Fu Peiyao.
The “Vocal Creation Chapter” production team seemed to have completely given up. Ever since Fei Lang explained the professional level of the “Vocal Creation Chapter” contestants, they no longer touted themselves as China’s top creative competition. Even the show’s promotional slogan changed, from “Let the world hear the voice of Chinese music” directly to “Let China hear the voice of young original singers.”
Unexpectedly, the production team’s change actually earned them a lot of praise. Not only was the staff’s pressure reduced, but the number of times the contestants were criticized also decreased.
Before, audiences would complain, “With this level, they claim to represent Chinese music?”
Now it’s better. Audiences have lower expectations for the contestants, fewer people are criticizing, and the contestants’Mindset has improved a lot, along with a significant reduction in pressure on the four mentor initiators.
By a strange twist of fate, the show found a brand new positioning.
As for Mu Li, the production team had also come to realize that given the show's current positioning, Mu Li's departure was the best choice. Otherwise, it would be unfair to other contestants, especially when the show's music director heard Mu Li's latest creation, “The Seventh Chapter of the Night.”
Mu Li originally thought the production team would be somewhat affected by his withdrawal, but he didn't expect the impact to be positive. So much so that everyone in the production team, far from harboring resentment, now wished they could kneel down and thank Mu Li.
So when he proposed that Fu Peiyao perform with him, the production team agreed without a second thought, and the general producer immediately decided that not a single cent of the announced fee would be withheld.
Thus, without any fans knowing, Fu Peiyao secretly came to Hang City.
Mu Li had just finished a sound check and came out of the recording studio, where he saw Fu Peiyao in a white dress. Her long, shiny black hair was simply draped behind her, and just standing at the entrance, she was a beautiful sight.
“When did you come? Why didn’t you tell me?” Mu Li’s face broke into a smile.
“How about it? Surprised? Unexpected?” Fu Peiyao said playfully.
“So-so,” Mu Li forced down the slight upturn of his lips and asked, “After listening just now, what do you think?”
Fu Peiyao deliberately pouted, seemingly dissatisfied with Mu Li’s answer, but continued to reply, “It’s good, you’ve made great progress. I didn’t expect that after two months of training, your level is no worse than those students who graduated from vocal performance majors.”
“Of course,” Mu Li laughed, “Don’t you see who taught me?”
Fu Peiyao’s lips couldn’t help but curve into a slight smile, her chin slightly raised, seemingly a bit smug: “So who taught you? How can they be so amazing?”
Mu Li winked at Fu Peiyao and said, “Of course it’s… Brother Yunyi!”
Fu Peiyao’s originally smug expression instantly fell, and her delicate features scrunched up: “In that case, then you can just go find your Brother Yunyi from now on.”
Mu Li immediately replied, “What Brother Yunyi? I was saying that Brother Yunyi didn’t teach well at all, but he’s an elder after all, so I still have to show some respect. The person I’m most grateful for in my heart is you, of course!”
Fu Peiyao’s previously twisted little face instantly turned red, and her voice became like a mosquito’s: “Who wants you in their heart…”
“Cough cough…” Xiao Zhu, the assistant accompanying Fu Peiyao, really couldn’t stand it. She deliberately coughed and pulled Fu Peiyao aside, “Be careful! This is a public place. If others see us, who knows what rumors will spread.”
Fu Peiyao pouted and said, “Alright, alright, you’re like an old lady. How will you ever get married later?”
Xiao Zhu almost choked.
For this collaboration, Mu Li put in twelve points of effort for only one reason—he didn’t want his first collaboration with Fu Peiyao to go wrong.
So these past few days, the two had been diligently rehearsing the song in the recording studio, until the live broadcast of the fifth episode of “Vocal Creation Chapter” began.