Chapter 39: Who Will Claim the Championship?

Thirty seconds passed swiftly, and the audience voting ended. Neither the judges, the audience, nor the singers themselves knew how many votes Qin Haiyu had received this round.

Backstage, the staff responsible for tallying the votes were in shock.

Director Zhang Qian was dumbfounded.

Five hundred votes?

All five hundred live audience members had voted for Qin Haiyu?

This was the first time in the show's history that someone had received a perfect score from the audience.

At that moment, Yang Bing, who was involved in the production, was stunned as he saw Qin Haiyu’s vote count.

In the first half, Qin Haiyu ranked third, just twenty-five votes behind the top singer, Ye Fei.

That meant if Ye Fei received fewer than 475 votes in the second half, Qin Haiyu would surely take the crown—there would be no need to consult the other two singers’ second-half scores.

He slipped away for a moment to send Yu Zhile a congratulatory message: “Old Yu, your wife is about to win! She got a perfect score in the second half!”

Upon receiving Yang Bing’s message, Yu Zhile immediately felt at ease. It seemed his wife had withstood the pressure and delivered a flawless performance of “Afterwards.”

He knew “Sakura Grass” wasn’t suited for competition, but it was a lovely song, so singing it in the first half was enough to secure a spot in the top four.

As for “Afterwards,” as long as his wife performed as well as she had during rehearsals at home, she would move the entire audience and earn a high score.

But he never expected every single audience member to vote for his wife.

He typed back, “Old Yang, you guys aren’t rigging the results, are you?”

Yang Bing replied, “Hard to say, but the four eliminated contestants’ votes in the first half were real! I don’t think the audience votes are manipulated, but the judges’ votes probably were in previous seasons.”

Yu Zhile responded, “Too bad I couldn’t make it to the studio today. I’ll just have to wait and watch the broadcast.”

Yang Bing said admiringly, “Old Yu, you’re amazing! I never imagined both songs your wife sang tonight were your original works!

With this finale airing, you’re going to blow up! Soon you’ll be as recognizable as your wife—people will spot you everywhere.”

Yu Zhile replied, “You can’t hide fire under paper. It’s only a matter of time. Let’s just go with the flow.”

“That’s true. I better get back to work.”

Yang Bing put his phone away and returned to the stage. Now that Qin Haiyu had finished performing, the set needed to be rearranged before the next singer’s segment was recorded.

Meanwhile, Qin Haiyu returned backstage, took out her phone, and messaged her husband: “Honey, I finished singing! All the judges praised me again! And this time, so many people were moved to tears by my performance!”

Yu Zhile saw her text and replied, “What about you? Did you cry?”

Qin Haiyu didn’t answer, but instead asked, “Honey, does Mom have a class this afternoon? Are you at home by yourself, or with Mom and Dad?”

Yu Zhile responded, “Mom just left for class. The baby just fell asleep. I’m at home keeping an eye on things. Dad’s unreliable—he’s off playing chess again!”

Now certain her in-laws weren’t with her husband, Qin Haiyu began to type coquettishly: “Boo hoo, honey, let me tell you, I cried while singing that song! It’s all your fault for writing such a sad song. Not only did I make the audience cry, I sang myself into tears! I don’t care, you have to comfort me!”

“….”

Yu Zhile was defeated by his wife. She only started acting spoiled after confirming his parents weren’t around.

She’s a mother herself, but harder to please than the baby!

He suddenly thought of a joke and typed, “Honey, let me tell you a joke about ‘Afterwards.’”

He sent her this: “One day, a little ant got lost and couldn’t find its nest. Just when it was getting anxious, it saw its companion carrying food home. It rushed over and asked, ‘Buddy, how... how do you find your way back to the ant nest?’ The other ant was puzzled and replied, ‘With... with a smile or in silence?’”

After reading her husband’s joke, Qin Haiyu didn’t get it at first, but when she finally understood, she couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

The backstage cameras recorded the entire scene as she laughed.

Wu and Ye Fei, who were waiting for their turn on stage, looked at Qin Haiyu in confusion as she suddenly laughed. Embarrassed, Qin Haiyu explained and repeated the joke aloud, but they didn’t quite get the punchline, offering only awkward, polite chuckles.

After all, they weren’t very familiar with the song “Afterwards”—they’d only just heard it.

Qin Haiyu replied to her husband with a laughing emoji and typed, “Honey, I have to get back to the show, so I can’t chat right now.”

“Okay.”

Yu Zhile put down his phone, glanced at the baby sleeping sweetly on the bed, and lay down for a brief rest himself.

At four thirty.

His father returned from chess and grocery shopping. Normally, his mother would finish class, buy groceries, and then head to the chess club to drag him home.

But since their son and granddaughter were visiting, his mother had issued an order—his father had to buy the groceries before she got home from class. So today, his father was more proactive.

Yu Zhile suddenly suggested, “Dad, since you love chess so much, why don’t I organize a chess tournament for you? It’d be exciting and help spread chess culture. Wouldn’t that be great?”

Old Yu was intrigued, but quickly declined: “No need. Playing chess is just a way to pass the time and cultivate myself. Organizing a tournament is a waste of money, and not many people would participate.”

Yu Zhile said, “If you want to play against top players, I can get sponsors for a tournament, so it wouldn’t waste any money.”

“Is that even possible?” His father was skeptical. “It’s not a big-name competition. Why would any sponsors be interested?”

Yu Zhile replied, “Dad, have you forgotten your daughter-in-law is a celebrity? If she gets an endorsement deal, I’ll help you organize a citywide chess tournament so you can show off your skills. If you win, Mom won’t complain when you hang out at the chess club anymore!”

Old Yu was suddenly excited: “If it doesn’t cost anything, then let’s do it! On this county’s old street, your old man has never met a worthy opponent!”

Yu Zhile laughed, “Alright, I’ll remember that. Just don’t embarrass yourself when the time comes!”

Old Yu boasted, “Are you kidding? Back in the day, I competed in the national chess tournament!”

Yu Zhile asked, “What place did you get?”

Old Yu replied, “I almost won the championship!”

Yu Zhile chuckled, “How close is ‘almost’?”

Old Yu grumbled, “Don’t worry about how close! I was nearly champion! Everyone in the tournament had similar skills!”

Yu Zhile teased, “Come on, you couldn’t even beat Old Liu! How can you brag?”

Old Yu scoffed, “Who says I can’t beat Old Liu? I win against him all the time. He’s more afraid of me than his wife! And he used to be on the provincial chess team. What does that say? That your old man’s chess skills are national level!”

“Yes, yes, Dad, you’re amazing!”

Yu Zhile smiled helplessly. Actually, his father and Old Liu were about evenly matched, so his father might have the skills of a typical professional player. If the citywide chess tournament really happened, he’d get his fill.

Soon, his mother returned from class to make dinner.

Yu Zhile messaged his wife. By now, Ye Fei, the last finalist, had finished performing.

The votes for the top four contestants were about to be announced!

The winner would soon be revealed!