The livestream bullet comments had already exploded the moment the shot of the two sitting together appeared.
『What the hell is going on? Why is Lin Lin sitting with him?』
『Oh my God, don’t tell me they’re really going to be the first couple?』
『Where is Zhang Wenbo? Weren’t there rumors that those two were already together?』
『Zhang Wenbo has hinted at it many times. He’s publicly confessed to Lin Lin more than once.』
『Oh my God, what did Lin Lin just say to him? Why is she blushing?』
『Old Six is amazing. Just a couple of words and he’s got your goddess blushing like that.』
『Li Lu is a famous ladies’ man. Don’t get fooled.』
『What blushing? Nonsense. Lin Lin can’t drink, and that was just the colored lights.』
『Everyone sit down. It’s the lighting.』
……
The camera shot shifted again, and Xiao Xiao walked onto the stage amid the crowd’s cheering.
After chatting with a few others for a while, Zhang Wenbo actually picked up his wine glass and walked over to the two people who were eating.
The main camera, perfectly in tune with the rhythm, followed closely.
『Two men fighting over one woman. This is exciting.』
『Damn, here they come. Here they come.』
『Brothers turning against each other. This is intense.』
『No way, no way. It’s only the first day of the show. Everyone else hasn’t even gotten into the groove yet, and these three are already putting on a show?』
……
Whether it was scripted or real, the variety show audience was already thrilled.
Even Xiao Xiao’s brain-dead fans couldn’t be bothered to complain about the producer’s unfair camera work.
At this point, who the hell still wanted to watch some pretty boy sing?
“Old Six, give me your thoughts. What did you think of that song just now?”
Zhang Wenbo sat down across from Li Lu. Even though he was unhappy inside, he still wore a warm, friendly smile.
“Amazing. The opening arrangement was very impressive, and those chord changes were beautiful too.”
Li Lu was also good at social niceties and knew how to flatter people wherever he went.
“Hey, we’re brothers here. Let’s skip the polite talk. Tell me, what’s worth changing?”
“I think it’s best not to change a single note.”
Li Lu frowned, looking extremely serious.
Then, unable to hold it in any longer, he let a smile slip at the corner of his mouth.
Of course, everyone knew those were just polite words, so it was harmless enough.
“Haha, don’t misunderstand me, don’t misunderstand me. You know me, right? My level is nowhere near yours. If you had me critique it, I’d be totally clueless.”
What he was saying now was the truth. To be fair, he was nowhere near as good as the other guy.
With his amateur-level skills, giving other people feedback would only make himself a laughingstock.
“Old Six, why are you being so modest all of a sudden? That song you wrote before, that one, ‘My…’ what was it, ‘My…’”
Zhang Wenbo slapped his own forehead but still couldn’t remember.
The livestream bullet comments were going wild too:
『Ah, the pretty boy’s song. I can’t even remember the name.』
『I get it. I used to be a fan too, but I can’t remember it either.』
『It was all electronic music, and the lyrics were full of English. Who knows what he was even singing.』
『And they call themselves brothers? Plastic is stronger than your bond.』
『Haha, “My Love.” I was so stupid back then that I spent 2 yuan buying that song.』
『This is hilarious. So mean. Isn’t this basically a deliberate slap in the face?』
……
“‘My Love.’”
Li Lu knew which song he was talking about. That song was actually pretty good, and the company had paid a lot for it.
“Right, right. That song was amazing. It held the sales champion spot on the Golden Hits chart for a whole month.”
Zhang Wenbo’s face was full of admiration. This was an important honor for a singer.
“That song wasn’t actually written by me.”
Li Lu no longer had any obligation to keep it secret. He had already terminated his contract anyway.
The copyright to that song belonged to the company, and he had nothing to do with it.
“Old Six, what nonsense are you talking about?”
Zhang Wenbo laughed it off. He had originally planned to accidentally expose him as an empty idol.
But this guy had actually admitted it on his own, leaving him with nothing else to say.
The livestream bullet comments were also exploding:
『Holy shit, he actually admitted he can’t write songs.』
『That’s normal. Did you ever really believe these pretty boys could write songs?』
『A past-his-prime top star who has already given up. As long as he can get traffic, he’ll say anything.』
『How can he even compare with Zhang Wenbo? He’s the acknowledged music genius.』
『Li Lu is a mess, and Zhang Wenbo isn’t exactly a saint either.』
……
On stage, Xiao Xiao finished singing a song, and everyone praised him enthusiastically.
Lin Xuan and Li Shihan went up next to perform the theme song from their movie.
The camera shot lingered for a while before returning once more to the three seated together.
After all, this was a dating variety show. Just from the number of bullet comments, you could tell everyone preferred watching drama like a catfight.
“Old Six, sing a song later. It’s been a long time since I heard you open up your voice.”
Zhang Wenbo patted his shoulder, his tone full of anticipation.
“No, no. I’m just here to fill a slot. Why would I sing?”
Li Lu immediately refused. He was about to quit the industry anyway. Why would he sing?
Besides, no one had told him about this segment in advance. He was completely unprepared.
And now that he had terminated his contract with his former company, he couldn’t sing their songs anymore.
“See? See? I’ve noticed you’ve become especially fake lately. You just said you’ve been making music all these years, and now you’re suddenly acting high and mighty.”
Zhang Wenbo had had a few drinks. With a bit of drunken courage, he no longer held back.
There was nothing to hold back on anyway. He just wanted the audience to know that, compared with him, that former champion was actually nothing.
He had even been shelved by his own company… no, abandoned.
The bullet comments were buzzing as well:
『Sing! Go and compete with him.』
『Holy shit, here it comes. Knew they were going to start fighting.』
『Don’t be a coward. Sing!』
『Oh my God, I’m going to have to relive “My Love” again. This hurts. I want to cry. This is torture.』
……
“Hey, Old Zhang, don’t you know me by now?
What songs could I possibly write? Everything before was just empty talk for appearances.
The truth is, I’m just a waste. I got famous back then for no reason at all.
These years I’ve accomplished nothing, drifting through life, taking things as they come.
Coming on this show was an accident too.”
Li Lu understood how aggressive the other man was being, but he didn’t lose his temper.
He had been exactly like this back then.
In the show, Li Lu came in first and he came in second.
During the program, he was always at odds with Li Lu, and after the show ended, he even wrote songs to mock him.
Li Lu could understand him to some extent, but the first-place spot wasn’t something he had stolen from Zhang Wenbo — others had insisted on giving it to him.
Now that they were meeting again, maybe he still had a knot in his heart.
Li Lu himself was about to quit the industry anyway, so he cared even less about these petty, ugly affairs.
So he said it very openly: I am a waste. I’m not as good as you.
Now, are you satisfied?
『Holy shit, he actually admitted in person that he’s a waste.』
『You don’t need to say it. We all know.』
『You still have one good point: honesty.』
『This guy really knows how to roast himself. I think maybe he still has a chance to get popular.』
『Self-roasting to clear his name. Old-school move.』
……
The livestream room bullet comments were flying, and the audience’s mockery was even more ruthless.
Zhang Wenbo was stunned too. Li Lu had completely given up resisting and didn’t care about saving face at all.
If he kept pushing any harder, that would really be going too far.
The winner is king, the loser a bandit. He decided to let him off and not make him lose face.
“That’s not true. You’re not that bad.”
Lin Lin felt a little heartbroken. How far down and out did someone have to be to say something like that?
“Back then, you had a lot of talent. I still remember that melody you wrote for me.
Da da da da da, da da da da da.”
Then she hummed a few lines softly, having never forgotten them.