Chapter 512: Withered Lotus in the Rain

However, Xia Ling did not smile.

She still felt that this situation was rather strange. The next day, she pulled Li Lei along to spectate during the head-to-head competition.

The first singer of the competition was randomly chosen by the system—a singer called Vivian was selected. She recently debuted and was currently popular. In reality, singers who signed up for this event did not differ much in skill level. Those who were not capable were afraid of losing horribly and being humiliated. Those who were too skillful were afraid of being accused of not winning fair and square. If they lost, it would be even more humiliating. So, they would not participate. Most of those who participated were either newcomers eager to become famous or those unsuccessful after being in the industry for a long time and wanted to increase their popularity.

Vivian was not bad and sang quite well for a newcomer.

Guarded by Li Lei, Xia Ling stood in the crowd and overheard what a few fans were saying besides her. "The next few singers are so miserable. The benchmark is too high. Vivian just received the Best Newcomer Award in a Singapore singing contest."

"Exactly!" Someone else said. "I'm afraid that she can only be kicked out if there's tag team fighting."

"The first challenger is definitely someone else's stepping stone."

"I wonder who will be so stupid to be the first challenger."

"Who will be so stupid? I'm sure no one will volunteer. There will be another round of random selection for a challenger." The fans who had watched many music festivals nodded in unison.

Xia Ling also felt this way.

The host, wearing a black semi-sheer lace dress, asked, "Does anyone want to challenge her? If not, the system will start to automatically select... Ah, wait. We're very surprised to have a challenger! Who is the one who dares to challenge our best newcomer?"

Everyone's eyes were fixed on the host.

It turned out to be...

"Xia Yu." The fans screamed. "She's crazy! Doesn't she know that Vivian is on a roll today?"

"How can our Xia Yu be crazy?" Some crazily loyal fans rebuked. "She's awesome. No one else but her dared to challenge Vivian! Only she is not afraid!"

"Yeah! Who cares if she's the best newcomer in Singapore. She will be mauled by our Xiao Yu!"

"Exactly! Exactly!"

The fans cheered for Xia Yu, and even the surrounding crowd that was looking at the stage for entertainment cheered loudly in excitement to find out what would happen next.

In the commotion, Xia Yu smiled lightly as she went on stage. She said softly, "Vivian, please accept my challenge." Her voice was sweet and leisurely like a noble princess.

"Xia Yu, Xia Yu, Xia Yu!"

"Vivian, Vivian, Vivian!" Two groups were screaming at the top of their lungs.

Even Li Lei was a little uncertain and tapped Xia Ling's shoulder lightly. "Who do you think will win?" He was naturally tone deaf and was lucky to be the boss of an entertainment company. At this time, he didn't feel embarrassed at all and asked for Xia Ling's advice with an open mind.

Xia Ling rarely had a sense of superiority when it came to her IQ. "Logically speaking, Vivian has a higher chance of winning." Her eyes were focused on the big screen behind the stage. On it, Vivian's life story was being played. She was a folk singer who enjoyed singing since she was a child. In school, she would frequently use time in between classes to play "concerts," and many students would come out of their classes to hear her sing. She debuted after becoming popular and standing out on stage.

"A singer like her," Xia Ling commented. "probably may not have better singing skills than trainees who received training during training camp. She may even be inferior. However, her stage presence is not bad, which means that she has a very good stage dominance. As long she sings on stage, she will perform better than usual."

Li Lei listened very attentively and nodded.

Xia Ling continued, "However, Xia Yu is the complete opposite. Xia Yu's singing was trained by experts, and her songs even need post-production edits. She's also naturally weak and doesn't have much stage experience. If she's on stage, she won't perform as well as usual."

"There seems to be a vast difference in their skill level, so I think Vivian has a higher chance of winning."

"That means that Vivian will win." Li Lei smiled. How could his Xiao Ling's judgment be wrong?

Unexpectedly, Xia Ling shook her head. "That's what I think is strange. Logically speaking, Xia Yu should know very well what her strengths and weaknesses are. Why would she choose to be the first challenger against Vivian? If she had no confidence in winning, she definitely would not go head to head with her." She should know that it was very embarrassing to lose the first round.

Li Lei was also confused. "That makes sense. What is she relying on then?"

Xia Ling rolled her eyes again. At this time, she felt a little regretful. Why did she bring her boyfriend to this music festival? She should have brought Wei Shaoyin or Feng Kun. A discussion with either of them would have been more interesting as they were more knowledgeable about music.

She glanced at Boss sadly and felt that she was casting pearls before swine.

Ignorant Boss hugged her as he looked at the stage and quietly waited for the situation to develop.

Vivian sang one of her famous songs. Once the song ended, the audience erupted in applause. As Xia Ling commented before, although her singing skills were somewhat lacking, she had a very good stage presence, and her emotional appeal was powerful. Unconsciously, everyone was fascinated and immersed in the song.

Xia Ling believed that it was challenging for Xia Yu to do the same.

The host was also blown away by Vivian's singing and asked Xia Yu, "Xia Yu, after hearing such a good song, are you feeling stressed?"

"Stress?" Xiao Yu laughed delicately. "Of course, I'm stressed. Miss Vivian sang extremely well, but I believe that my singing is not any worse. I don't think I will lose."

Below the stage, the crowd went wild again as they anticipated Xia Yu's wonderful performance.

The music slowly flowed out like water.

It was a very emotional song, and also one of Xia Yu's popular songs: Withered Lotus in the Rain.

"The cruel early summer of that year. A silent sorrow..."

"The fireflies of that year reflected a pretty picture of you..."

"You asked me if it were the end of the world if you released your sword... Is it true that a withered lotus in the rain looks like art at the end of the world..."

She was very good with this kind of depressing song style which matched her pitiful and extremely fragile appearance. Her mourning singing was like painting a beautiful picture of the Jiangnan river in front of everyone and caused people to be deeply immersed in it.

Xia Ling felt that she had to refresh her evaluation of her. It was apparent now that Xia Yu was not lacking in stage presence when she stood on stage. Although she didn't make others feel intense emotions, the way she sang was very effective as her song infiltrated the audience's hearts.

A scholar who had been away for three days must be looked at with new eyes.