Chapter 120: A Mature Woman of Thirty, Still Radiating Charm

“98 points—that’s indeed a bit too high.”

“Although this girl Wang Situ performed quite well, Chen Fang is also one of the singers. The scoring should take his performance into account as well.”

Zheng Wenyan spoke coldly.

In his view, Wang Situ’s performance deserved a high score, but Chen Fang’s was only average. After all, his presence was minimal; everyone’s attention was focused solely on Wang Situ.

Logically, Chen Fang should have dragged the score down.

Yet, that was not the case.

The judges still gave an exaggerated 98 points—so far the highest score of the program.

The other judges on site also felt this score was too generous, but since they were all big names in the entertainment industry who often crossed paths, no one dared to openly voice objections.

The audience, however, had no such reservations and voiced their doubts directly.

“I think 96 points would be just right.”

“Yeah, 98 is too high—makes the other contestants hopeless.”

“Could Chen Fang know this little superstar personally behind the scenes?”

“A favor score?”

Questions flooded the live comments.

Clearly, those waiting for an opportunity to slander Chen Fang had come out in force.

Chen Fang spent his days locked within the gates of Future Stardom, never venturing out; where would he find the time or chance to meet other celebrity big shots?

No, wait!

Chen Fang did know one person: An Tinghan.

But their acquaintance was purely coincidental.

Moreover, with Future Stardom’s terrible reputation, those top-tier celebrities in the entertainment world probably avoided Chen Fang altogether, fearing paparazzi might snap photos to fabricate rumors and drag them into that stinky swamp.

The haters didn’t care about any of this; all that mattered was to smear him.

Still, this was normal.

Which star doesn’t have haters?

Chen Fang actually enjoyed seeing these haters fail to take him down and get frustrated.

In the resting room, Zheng Wenyan needed to think about his upcoming performance.

No matter how much he doubted the score, he wasn’t the one seated at the judges’ table giving points—and since the score was already given, it was effectively set in stone and couldn’t be changed.

“Relying on the judges’ scores, we definitely can’t beat Chen Fang and Wang Situ.”

Zheng Wenyan’s eyes flickered slightly.

He was also a little superstar.

Moreover, he had climbed from a rookie step by step to his current status.

He knew very well how difficult it was to get a high score on such a major show. He was confident that if he performed alone on stage, he might earn 98 points, but now that he brought Qiao Yue-zhu along, the possibility was slim.

Unless... Qiao Yue-zhu performed beyond expectations!

But that was even less likely.

These days, Qiao Yue-zhu had been too busy enjoying herself in bed with him, barely spending any time practicing singing. Expecting her to overperform was like inviting a miracle.

Therefore, the judges’ scores weren’t the main focus.

Their real advantage lay in the fans’ votes later on.

Thinking of this, Zheng Wenyan felt he should mobilize his large fan base.

...

On stage, Chen Fang was also surprised to hear the 98 points.

Wang Situ was shocked too.

A score of 98 was essentially the ceiling for scoring shows; it was nearly impossible to get higher.

“You two must be wondering why I gave such a high score,” Zhou Chuanxiong said with a smile.

Everyone was puzzled—not just Chen Fang and Wang Situ.

This time, the judges did not ignore Chen Fang but instead focused their comments on him first.

“I gave such a high score partly because the quality of this song is very high. To compose such a fine song in a short time, this score affirms Chen Fang’s talent.

“Secondly, the cooperation between you two in singing this song was excellent—knowing when to hold the final note, when to harmonize, the rhythm was perfectly controlled. You must have practiced a long time privately.”

Look at that!

This was professionalism.

Just from one song, so many insights could be drawn.

Chen Fang could only think, no wonder he was a little superstar—the top tier deserved to be him.

“To be honest, my initial thought was to give a perfect 100 points,” Zhou Chuanxiong continued.

“But you have two shortcomings.”

“First, Wang Situ: I don’t know if you’ve been practicing too much before, but your voice has a noticeable tremor when you hit high notes. Although you didn’t miss any notes during the performance, the tremor weakened your singing technique considerably.”

“For this, I deduct one point.”

“Second, Chen Fang: I understand your intention to give Wang Situ more chances to shine, even compressing your lyrics and lowering your pitch. But I must remind you, you are also one of the five contestants. When evaluating groups led by other stars, I can overlook the celebrity factor, but not in your case.”

“So, I have to deduct one point from you as well.”

That was the origin of the 98 points.

Hearing this, Chen Fang bowed humbly.

“Thank you, judge, for your comments.”

Wang Situ bowed as well.

Finally, it was time for the last judge.

The only diva among the four judges.

An Tinghan was the newly crowned top diva, but this fox-like woman before them was an established diva long ago.

In terms of status, she was on par with An Tinghan, but having passed the age of thirty and already a married mother of two, she was less popular with fans compared to An Tinghan.

“Chen Fang, Wang Situ, hello,” the fox-like woman greeted in a very sweet, almost syrupy voice.

She sounded as if she had a piece of candy in her mouth.

Chen Fang was puzzled again.

That voice sounded familiar!

Why did this woman’s voice resemble that of Sister Zhi Ling so much? No, now she should be called Kurozawa Zhi Ling.

Chen Fang’s emotions were strange.

It was so odd!

He even had the illusion that he was still on Earth, not in Huaguo.

The only thing reassuring Chen Fang was that this fox-like diva was even more beautiful than Kurozawa Zhi Ling, especially the small teardrop mole beneath her right eye, which gave off an irresistibly seductive aura with just a glance.

A born enchantress!

More importantly, she was a married woman.

Men in Huaguo seemed not to have embraced the new era’s Cao Wei legacy yet and thus didn’t feel strongly about married women, but Chen Fang was born under the red flag, living in the trendy era, and well-versed in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Such a stunning married woman knew exactly how to delight a man.

Unfortunately,

Chen Fang was a man of principles.

Though goalkeepers scoring goals was thrilling, that kind of thrill was still quite dangerous.

Chen Fang’s eyes briefly flashed with admiration before returning to calmness, his gaze plain and natural.

Seeing this,

The fox-like woman arched her eyebrows with interest.

Many young men had blushed and gotten flustered upon first seeing her—even to the point of “pitching a tent” below—but Chen Fang simply admired her beauty momentarily and then lost interest.

Could it be that she really was getting old?

No longer able to captivate the hearts of young men?