I am Really a Superstar

Friday.

At around 8 in the morning.

Near the side door of Beijing Television\'s main building, Han Qi was standing alone at a spot she felt would not be eye-catching. She looked around from time to time and seemed to be waiting for someone.

Not too far away, Xiao Lu and Dafei were chatting and laughing as they walked over.

"Eh, Little Han?" Xiao Lu was surprised to see her here.

Han Qi smiled and said, "Sister Lu, Brother Fei, good morning."

Dafei wondered, "What are you doing here?"

Han Qi blushed and said, "I-I\'m waiting for Teacher Clown."

Dafei asked, "The Clown\'s rehearsal is scheduled for 9 AM, right?"

Han Qi nodded. "Yes."

Xiao Lu smiled and said, "Then you better hurry. The other singers finished rehearsing yesterday except for Teacher Clown." Her smile then withdrew and she said with melancholy, "The public opinion during the past two days hasn\'t favored him much. A lot of people are already doubting The Clown for not winning the competition properly, saying he relied on the lyrics to remedy his situation and even chastised him for trying to gain pity points. We will start recording the show in the afternoon. When he takes the stage later, he\'ll definitely face a great deal of pressure and the audience will probably be affected by public opinion during the voting."

Han Qi said angrily, "What do they mean \'relying on lyrics\'? They don\'t know a thing!"

"Just be a bit more attentive in regards to that. Also, the condition of Teacher Clown\'s voice is another problem, so follow up with him on that." Then Xiao Lu and Dafei went into the main building.

Han Qi was left feeling both angry and worried.

It was really infuriating!

What would those media people know!

What would those netizens know!

How could they criticize Teacher Clown?

Han Qi continued to look around as she waited for her target. She was here to "intercept" The Clown today. He had always been either appearing at the station or in front of her without getting noticed every single time, so Han Qi decided that she would just come out to the entrance to wait for him. She really wanted to know who the man behind The Clown\'s mask was. She was confident that with her past interactions with him, if The Clown stood in front of her, she would be able to recognize him as quite a few of The Clown\'s distinct traits came to her mind.

Celebrity.

Professional singer.

Charming.

Short haired.

Around 30 years of age?

In front of her, a celebrity and two of his assistants were walking over.

Han Qi immediately locked her eyes on him. No, not him. This man was invited to come for an interview today. Eh, another person was coming, but it wasn\'t him either. He was a host at Beijing Television.

In the end, she did not manage to spot The Clown, but instead saw her idol.

In the parking lot, Zhang Ye got out of his car and walked straight toward the building.

On his way over, there were quite a few people who greeted him.

"Aiya, Teacher Zhang!"

"Hello, Teacher Zhang."

"Good morning, Teacher Zhang."

"Good morning, Director Zhang."

Not only the King of Masked Singers\' program team, even the other departments and program teams\' staff who saw Zhang Ye were friendly to him. The King of Masked Singers that Zhang Ye produced had allowed Beijing Television to achieve the top spot in the nationwide viewership ratings of television shows for the first time ever. Even if they were not staff from the King of Masked Singers\' program team, they still felt extremely excited. Due to the domino effect, the other program teams experienced a slight viewership increase for their shows. This proved that the King of Masked Singers was leading Beijing Television to move onto a bigger stage and journey to becoming a leading provincial satellite station. Naturally, a lot of the Beijing Television staff were willing to recognize Zhang Ye\'s merits because everyone knew that if it were not for Zhang Ye\'s contributions, even with the skill of all the program teams in Beijing Television combined, it was impossible that they could come up with a show that performed so outstandingly.

Zhang Ye smiled and nodded at them.

He arrived at the entrance in the blink of an eye.

Han Qi was already extremely nervous. She straightened instantly and mustered up her courage to greet him. She did not have any expectations that Zhang Ye would reply to her. "Teacher Zhang, good morning!"

When Zhang Ye heard that, he was surprised for a moment. Only then did he see Han Qi, to whom he smiled and said, "Morning to you as well." Then he went upstairs without saying anything else.

But Han Qi got very excited!

Teacher Zhang spoke to me! He spoke to me!

She was truly a diehard Zhang Ye fan and was the type who would argue with anyone if they said bad things about him online. She was in a very terrible mood today due to Teacher Clown\'s situation, but when Zhang Ye greeted her with a "morning to you as well," her mood immediately improved and she became much more spirited!

So she continued waiting.

Why hadn\'t Teacher Clown arrived yet?

10 minutes.

20 minutes.

30 minutes.

It was almost 9 AM and time for the scheduled rehearsal, but The Clown was still not here yet.

Han Qi quickly called The Clown, but no one answered the phone. As such, she had no choice but to call to Music Director Bai Yuanfei. She anxiously said: "Teacher Bai, Teacher Clown has not arrived yet, and as he might not be feeling too well, do you think we can arrange something regarding the rehearsal…."

On the other end of the line.

Bai Yuanfei said in surprise: "The Clown? But he\'s already here, isn\'t he?"

Han Qi exclaimed: "Ah?"

Bai Yuanfei said: "We\'re already rehearsing."

He already arrived?

What the hell!

When did you even arrive?

Don\'t tell me you can teleport?

Han Qi nearly fainted as her attempt to intercept The Clown ended in vain. The Clown was simply too mysterious. Could it be that he had entered from the back door or through the cafeteria\'s stairway entrance? Why are you doing things so randomly! Han Qi\'s curiosity almost exploded. Like a lot of the viewers in the country, she really wanted to know who The Clown was! Why wouldn\'t he show his face? Why did he have to hide his identity so carefully? Was there any reason why he couldn\'t show his face? That not even the program team staff could know about it? Uh, could it be that he was very, very…ugly?

She immediately set herself thinking.

Who were the ugly celebrities in the entertainment industry?

Crosstalk comedian Tang Dazhang?

Korea\'s Lee Anson?

Or those athletes from the sporting world?

Whatever it was, in Han Qi\'s eyes, those who had scolded Zhang Ye were all ugly.

See, this is what you call a diehard fan!

...

In the rehearsal room.

This was a rather big set allocated to them by Beijing Television. Other than musical instruments, there were cameras set up around the place. Some rehearsal scenes would probably end up being edited and broadcast in the episode. The entire time after the masked singers arrived at Beijing Television would be fully recorded, unless the contestants personally requested for them not to do so. For example, not placing any cameras in the waiting room. If that happened, the program team would respect the singers\' wishes like what The Clown had just done.

By the time Han Qi came over, The Clown had indeed already arrived.

Music Director Bai Yuanfei said, "Let\'s rehearse once more."

The Miracle Wheels nodded.

The house band lineup for today was magnificent, with about eight old folk music teachers invited as well.

Han Qi did not go over to disturb them. She just found a seat in the audience and listened attentively.

The music started playing.

The band members looked at the score given to them by The Clown and started playing the accompaniment.

The Clown was wearing his mask and standing on stage, humming softly along with the music. "Hmm, mmm, hmmm…" He practiced his song by humming in a nasally voice the entire process.

Han Qi\'s heart skipped a beat.

Shit!

The teacher\'s voice had not recovered yet!

They finally finished with the rehearsal of the first song after a long very time.

The Clown said, "Thanks for helping me, teachers."

Han Qi was surprised. Eh, listening to Teacher Clown\'s speak, he sounded like he was in better shape than last week. He even spoke with his disguised voice? He was purposely hiding his voice? Or was it because his voice had not fully recovered yet?

Bai Yuanfei said worriedly, "Is everything gonna be fine?"

The Clown nodded. "The song is a bit difficult, so I can\'t do a proper practice run."

The band guitarist asked, "Was it because of the side effects from the cortisone shot? You really risked your life. With three shots, even the gods would not be able to bear with it!"

The drummer sighed while shaking his head.

The Clown said, "That\'s why I have to save my voice for the actual performance."

"Alright." Bai Yuanfei said, "We\'ll rehearse this way for now. You don\'t have to sing; it\'s fine to just hum along. Try your best to maintain your stamina. Let\'s start with the rehearsal of the second song!"

However, the second song went beyond their expectations as they spent almost two hours before just barely getting through the rehearsal. Every one of the band members were extremely tired from it.

What song was this?

Why was it so complex?

Was this even necessary?

Could it be that his voice was unable to recover in time, so he decided to use the accompaniment to make up for it? Using the music\'s charm to cover his mistakes?

Hai. The band members no longer held much hope for The Clown in this round of the competition!