Volume One: Rising to the Peak from the Start Chapter Thirty-Three: Plans Never Keep Up with Changes

The next morning, at the recording venue of "Voice of China," the third round of competition officially began. Because Chen Jing’s performances in the previous two rounds had aired relatively early—and each time his act was so flawless and captivating that every subsequent contestant seemed lackluster by comparison—the audience’s enjoyment of the show was affected, and ratings actually dropped after his segments. This time, the director had learned his lesson: other groups would record first, with Chen Jing’s group competing last. On the same day as Chen Jing’s recording, Xie Weiyu’s group was also scheduled to perform.

Although there was nothing scheduled for Chen Jing and his group on the first day, they were still required to attend as audience members to watch the other contestants compete.

The first day’s matches saw four groups of evenly matched contestants. The competition was fierce, and Li Qingwei, watching from the audience, was on edge. He couldn’t help but feel that every contestant who made it to this round was formidable—some were already pulling out their secret weapons.

After the day’s recording ended, Chen Jing noticed Li Qingwei looking anxious and asked, “Are you nervous?”

Li Qingwei nodded. “A little.”

“There’s no need to be nervous. Just believe in yourself and keep a good mindset.”

Li Qingwei nodded again, remaining silent.

However, plans never keep up with changes. The next day, when Chen Jing arrived at the venue, he saw Li Qingwei hurrying toward him, his voice hoarse and anxious: “Boss, my throat’s inflamed.”

Chen Jing narrowed his eyes slightly, but before he could speak, Lin Zitan, standing nearby, angrily demanded, “How did this happen? What did you eat yesterday? Didn’t you know you had to perform today?”

Lin Xi furrowed her brows as well, but instead of blaming Li Qingwei, she immediately began considering remedies.

Li Qingwei bit his lip, looking down and avoiding their gaze. He didn’t explain, only muttered, “Sorry.” In truth, he hadn’t eaten anything particularly spicy or irritating the day before—just a box of fried noodles. Normally, he often ordered fried noodles at night and never had any problems, but at this crucial moment, he got unlucky.

Chen Jing sighed, stopping Lin Zitan from continuing to scold him, and said to Li Qingwei, “Did you take any medicine?”

Li Qingwei nodded. “Yes, I took throat lozenges too. But they haven’t worked; my voice is still hoarse.”

Lin Xi said helplessly, “Those medicines don’t work that quickly. Just drink more water for now. We still have another group to record before us, so we have two or three hours left. Let’s see if your voice improves before then.”

Li Qingwei was crestfallen. If his condition cost Boss Jing’s team their chance to advance, he’d never forgive himself.

Chen Jing patted his shoulder, comforting him. “Don’t worry so much. It’s all right. The song you’re singing actually calls for a slightly hoarse voice, and it’s a short piece. It won’t matter much.”

Li Qingwei knew Chen Jing was just trying to reassure him. The song required not a hoarse voice, but a magnetic male timbre—there was a fundamental difference. Seeing Chen Jing’s comforting gaze, Li Qingwei only felt more guilty.

The show would not pause for any contestant’s misfortune; the recording continued as scheduled, with Xie Weiyu’s group and the fourth group facing off first.

The fourth group consisted of one male and one female contestant. The man went up first, facing Gu Tao as his opponent.

The competition began. The male contestant delivered a passionate song, obviously going all out, knowing his opponents—Xie Weiyu and Gu Tao’s team—were considered by many to be the strongest contenders for the championship. He couldn’t afford to hold back.

After his performance, the audience erupted in applause. Then it was Gu Tao’s turn, and her performance stunned the entire hall. She sang an extremely challenging song, seamlessly transitioning from the lowest to the highest octaves, blending emotional falsetto and chest voice. The audience was left in awe, as were the judges and all the contestants.

When her song ended, the crowd cheered wildly. Even her opponent applauded, convinced of his defeat.

Watching Gu Tao bow in thanks, Li Qingwei couldn’t help but exclaim, “This girl’s voice is incredible. She’s just too strong.”

Chen Jing nodded. He had to admit, if he faced such a performance in the finals, he wouldn’t be sure of winning.

The voting segment began: the final score was 114 to 686, with Gu Tao winning by an overwhelming margin. The applause was thunderous.

Next, it was Xie Weiyu’s turn to face the other female contestant from the fourth group. Perhaps Gu Tao’s performance had been so dazzling that, by contrast, both Xie Weiyu and her opponent’s acts felt lackluster. Even though Xie Weiyu won by a wide margin, compared to Gu Tao’s performance, it seemed somewhat empty.

Unsurprisingly, Xie Weiyu and Gu Tao’s team advanced to the next round with a huge lead.

“It’s our turn—let’s go!” Chen Jing stood up with a smile. Li Qingwei followed nervously.

On stage, host Cai Lun announced with enthusiasm: “Since 'Voice of China' began airing, many songs have become hits through our program. For example, ‘The Brightest Star in the Night Sky’ that went viral two weeks ago, and the recent smash ‘Northbound.’ As everyone knows, both songs were written and composed by the same person—their original singer, Chen Jing. Now, please welcome the musical prodigy Chen Jing and his partner, the rap genius who’s ignited a rap craze, Li Qingwei. Give them a warm round of applause!”

“Musical prodigy” was Chen Jing’s latest nickname among online fans.

The other group’s introduction was much shorter—they simply didn’t attract as much attention as Chen Jing and Li Qingwei.

When all four contestants were on stage, judge Wei Guoqiang spoke first, smiling kindly at Chen Jing. “Chen Jing, is your song this time another original?”

Chen Jing smiled and nodded. “Yes.”

“Excellent, as expected of a musical prodigy. I look forward to your performance.”

Huang Wenhao asked with interest, “Can you tell us in advance what style this song is?”

“Ancient style,” Chen Jing replied succinctly.

Huang Wenhao grinned. “Ah, ancient style! That’s not exactly mainstream, but since you wrote it, I’m definitely looking forward to it.”

Next came some polite conversation between Su Tingting and the other group’s contestants, with Wei Guoqiang and Huang Wenhao occasionally chiming in.

After some friendly banter, Huang Wenhao finally turned to Li Qingwei, who hadn’t spoken yet, and asked with a smile, “Qingwei, will your performance be a rap song again?”

Li Qingwei, a little uneasy, replied quietly, “Yes.” His voice was noticeably hoarse, which surprised Huang Wenhao and the others.

While the audience might not have noticed, the three judges and other contestants immediately picked up on the change in Li Qingwei’s voice. The judges exchanged looks, but none of them mentioned it; instead, they continued with a few more questions for Li Qingwei before moving on to the competition.

Since Chen Jing’s team was up first, they had the privilege of arranging the performance order. They decided to have the weaker contestant from the opposing team—who had done poorly in the last round—perform first. This was their strategy: let a weaker opponent face Li Qingwei, so that no matter who won, the score gap wouldn’t be too large. As long as the score difference wasn’t insurmountable, Chen Jing could handle the rest.

However, things rarely go as planned. The first contestant unexpectedly rose to the occasion, singing flawlessly and delivering an outstanding performance. This made Li Qingwei, waiting backstage, even more nervous.

“What do we do now, Sister Xi?” Lin Zitan, flustered, asked Lin Xi backstage.

Lin Xi shook her head, brows tightly knit. “It’s up to them now.”

Chen Jing’s expression remained calm. He continued to reassure Li Qingwei. “Don’t worry, just sing your best. Leave the rest to me.”

Li Qingwei took a deep breath and nodded. “All right, Boss, I’m going up.”

“Now, let’s welcome contestant Li Qingwei with his original song: ‘Missing You, Missing Me.’”

On stage, Li Qingwei took another deep breath and nodded to the sound engineer. The music began.

“I love you
I say it to you all the time
You’re the sweetness I want to keep on my lips
…”

A magnetic, slightly hoarse voice spread through the hall via the microphone. Upon hearing it, Wei Guoqiang and Huang Wenhao exchanged glances—they could tell Li Qingwei’s voice was indeed off.

Su Tingting’s eyes sparkled—she sensed an opportunity.

But thanks to Li Qingwei’s careful control, the audience couldn’t really hear the hoarseness, though the judges certainly could.

“I want to see you in a pure white wedding dress
Leave my mark in your memory
…
Yeah yeah yeah, ah—
Missing you, missing me
…”

After the first chorus, Li Qingwei swallowed hard, his gaze determined. Hold on! I have to hold on, he told himself.

The music resumed, and his voice, now even hoarser, filled the hall. However, because of the song’s style, the audience assumed the roughness was intentional.

“…I once searched everywhere for Zixia Fairy
Obb obb, I swear I’ll work hard
…
The first time I saw you
I knew you were the one
…”

When he finished, the music faded.

“Whoa!!”

“Clap clap clap!”

The audience still cheered and applauded, but compared to the previous contestant’s passionate performance, it was noticeably less enthusiastic.

At the judging phase, before Wei Guoqiang or Huang Wenhao could speak, Su Tingting jumped in: “Li Qingwei, let me ask you a question—what happened to your voice?” She added, feigning regret, “I could hear the hoarseness in your singing just now. Your rap didn’t have the power it normally does. Is there something wrong with your throat?”

The audience: “!!”

Chen Jing: “…”

Lin Xi: “…”

Lin Zitan: “Ugh, I want to go up there and slap Su Tingting!”

(Homage: PRC Bayinhan’s ‘Missing You, Missing Me’)

Author’s note: I think this song really sticks in your head…