Alerted the Higher-Ups

There was a reason why Ye Shuning was the most popular and promising contestant on the entire show. Be it the online popularity or live polls, her results far surpassed the rest of the trainees. The second to sixth places had about the same number of votes. The seventh place only had 243 votes. Individual rankings were only revealed to the sixteenth place, which had 152 votes.

Based on the internet, nine out of ten viewers were Ye Shuning fans, which explained the discrepancies. None of the local contestants could catch up with Ye Shuning. The gap between her and the others was too huge.

In order to achieve high-quality post-edits of the show, the backstage crew did not allow the contestants to watch the performances of other teams.

The voice of the host filled the room, coming through the loudspeaker. "We will now announce the number of votes for each contestant and the ranking for Team 8."

Besides Ding Liuyue and Jiang Ran, who were expecting to be in for a good show, the rest of the people weren't interested in Team 8's ranking. Nevertheless, they continued to stare at the large screen perfunctorily for the sake of the show. At the same time, the individual rankings on the entire screen disappeared and were replaced by the group ranking.

From top to the bottom, the screen was divided into eight rows. The first row was the individual votes and overall ranking of Ye Shuning's team. Ye Shuning's team had received 1,503 votes and was ranked first. Taking the second place was Nan Qiu's team with a total of 1,251 votes.

…

Jiang Ran's team was ranked fourth with a total of 1,124 votes. Besides Ye Shuning's team, the votes of the other three teams were very close to one another.

"We'll now announce the results of the individual votes for Team 8. Chu Yue—" said the announcer.

Holding her breath, Wei Jin's gaze was fixated on the screen. Her hands instinctively grabbed Meng Fu's sleeve. On the last row of the screen, the names of team eight's members appeared.

"277 votes."

277 votes. This was considered a lot of votes, ranking seventh overall. Had this happened in the past, no one would have been surprised. After all, Chu Yue had good foundations. She was also a dancer with strong stage presence. However, everyone thought Meng Fu's presence would have dampened the team's performance. Furthermore, Ding Liuyue did not compose the song. Yet, Chu Yue's team still received 277 votes?

Even Jiang Ran couldn't help but take a second glance at Chu Yue. She heaved a sigh of relief. She had 100 votes more than Chu Yue. Everything would turn out fine.

As she consoled herself inwardly, she couldn't help but look at the last row.

"Wei Jin: 127 votes."

"Wu Yatong: 68 votes."

As the number of votes appeared one by one, the total score located in the second column of the eighth row increased gradually. After Wu Yatong's score appeared, the total score became 756. The overall rank was still displayed the number "8."

Jiang Ran and Ding Liuyue, who had been staring at the screen, went from feeling nervous to relaxed. Jiang Ran's team was in fourth place and had gotten 1,126 votes. Chu Yue's team had 756 votes now. Only Meng Fu's votes had not been announced. If Chu Yue's team wanted to take fourth place, Meng Fu had to garner at least 370 votes.

Chu Yue, the strongest individual in the team, had only received 277 votes. There was no way Chu Yue's team could clinch the fourth place even if Meng Fu were to receive 300 votes, let alone 277. Furthermore, it was doubtful whether Meng Fu could receive even 100 votes with her performance.

Nobody in the crowd was expecting much. It was obvious who the top four teams would be. Some were upset while others felt thankful that they had joined a strong team.

"It's okay." Chu Yue was still as calm and cool as ever. Holding onto the mic on her collar, she glanced at Meng Fu expressionlessly. "Don't feel stressed. You've done very well. This is the first public performance. The netizens' impressions have always been shadowed by the trivials. They will change their opinion of you."

Meng Fu crossed her arms on the chest and leaned lazily against the wall, bending her long and slender legs. Hearing this, she took off the cap on her face and gave Chu Yue an "okay" gesture to express that she was not worried.

After seeing Meng Fu's expression and confirming that Meng Fu didn't care much about other people's gossip and opinions, Chu Yue then retracted her gaze coldly.

On the other side.

"It's a pity for Chu Yue. She has quite a number of individual votes," Ding Liuyue exclaimed with a regretful tone. Despite this, her slightly droopy eyes were filled with joy and smugness.

Fortunately, she had chosen to work with Jiang Ran. Otherwise, she would be the one facing this situation now. Jiang Ran's team was ranked fourth. She would get an extra 10,000 popularity votes. Coupled with her rank of 37th during the last popularity poll, it would not be a problem for her to remain on the show now.

Just as Ding Liuyue was pondering over this, the room began to get quiet. She looked up in surprise, only to discover Jiang Ran staring at the large screen with a dumbfounded and stupefied expression as if she had seen a ghost. The rest of the people in the room were also staring at the screen.

What was happening?

Ding Liuyue instinctively turned her gaze to the screen. The total number of votes had been revealed on the last row of screen.

Team 8, the total number of votes…

1408.

Group ranking…

Second place.

After the group ranking was finalized the screen immediately displayed the individual rankings. From the top to the bottom, everyone could clearly see the rankings on the screen.

No. 1 Ye Shuning, 689

No.2 Meng Fu, 667

No.3 Nan Qiu, 435

No.4 Shen Qingfeng, 417

No.5 Jiang Ran, 409

…

In the quiet room, every row of words and numbers was extremely clear and distinct.

Even the directors behind the camera couldn't calm down, let alone the group of trainees in the room. They couldn't help but stand up, supporting themselves with the table and staring in shock at the name in the second row of the screen.

[No.2 Meng Fu, 667]

Ye Shuning had been the dark horse of the "Best Idol" show. Her scores were way ahead of the other trainees in all aspects. She had been hailed as the show's first dark horse by the netizens because of this.

This was the first time that someone had received almost the same number of votes as Ye Shuning since the show had begun. Most of the live audience came to support Ye Shuning and most of them were Meng Fu's haters. All the votes were real and no one was faking them. Under such circumstances, Meng Fu could still get 667 votes…

The backstage crew couldn't help but look at each other.

"What the crap. That high?"

"Something major has happened."

A trainee who had been portrayed as a bimbo by the program team had gotten second place…

"I have to say something. I couldn't help but focus the camera on her during her performance tonight. Her stage presence is too strong. She is naturally cut out for this."

The program team had an internal discussion. Ye Shuning had countless fans and was deemed the best candidate for the "Global Idol" show. They were also banking on her for the bet-on agreement.

Despite this however, Meng Fu's 667 votes was significant because the vast majority of the audience supported Ye Shuning. Therefore, although Meng Fu had scored lower than Ye Shuning, Meng Fu's achievement was that much more impressive.

The program higher-up squinted at this and stood up immediately. "Why haven't I heard you guys mention this person before? Where is Director Mu? Please contact Director Mu!"

He knew that Director Mu was counting on Ye Shuning being chosen.