RAAS ### Chapter 16: Even the Diva Came
### Chapter 16: Even the Diva Came
The next day at noon, Li Qing, carrying his Zebra guitar, went to the Beijing TV station with Han Han.
After registering their names at the TV station entrance, they followed the rules and put on the guest name tags for "Music Star."
As they were walking backstage in the studio, Han Han suddenly slowed down, frequently glancing at Li Qing with curious eyes.
Li Qing was puzzled, "Is there something on my face?"
Han Han laughed and said, "No, I'm just curious, when did you buy a guitar..."
"You mean Zebra..." Li Qing realized and patted the guitar on his back. "A friend of mine gave it to me."
Friend? Now it was Han Han's turn to be puzzled. Aside from herself, who else was around Li Qing? Was it someone he met recently? Han Han became alert, feeling a bit nervous and uneasy.
In the "Music Star" studio, the lights were bright, and as the recording time approached, the audience began to fill up the seats.
Director Zhang Heng was in front of the studio, talking to a group of people. Among the crowd, there was a constant stream of laughter and conversation. Many staff members passing by held their breaths and walked carefully, glancing over with excitement and joy.
"Leng Ling actually came..."
"Is she here as a guest?"
"Most likely, otherwise, why would she, the queen of Mandarin pop, come here..."
"What do you mean 'lower herself'? The diva is clearly here to boost the ratings. Think about it, our show has a 21% rating. How many shows in the country have that?"
"Hey, you're wrong. The diva doesn't need to boost ratings. Her presence guarantees high ratings wherever she goes. Just look at the people around her!"
"It's Director Zheng, and next to him are Director Yu and the others. Wow, most of the top station leaders are here. It seems last time's ratings really caught a lot of attention."
"I heard the vice president of Yuan Zheng Group came too?"
"It's Mu Guiying, the vice president of Yuan Zheng Group and Leng Ling's manager."
"Oh my god, what's happening today? So many big shots are here. Even if our ratings exceeded 20%, it shouldn't be this sensational."
"By the way, isn't Li Qing an artist under Yuan Zheng Media? Do you think they're all here for him? Wow, he must have some serious connections to have the diva herself come to support him. Li Qing is really going to make it."
"Come on, if Li Qing had that kind of influence, he wouldn't have been sidelined for a whole year."
Everyone was buzzing with speculation and curiosity.
At this moment, a young girl in the audience looked towards the crowd around Director Zhang. She accidentally glimpsed a cold yet beautiful face through a gap in the crowd. She paused, instinctively feeling the woman was stunning but somewhat familiar.
When she realized who it was, she screamed. This scream caught everyone's attention. The girl, with a flushed face and trembling lips, could only scream incoherently, "It's Leng Ling! Leng Ling!"
The whole audience was stunned. Leng Ling? The diva Leng Ling?
Those quick to react stood up on tiptoe to see better, and when they saw the familiar figure, they too screamed, "It really is Leng Ling!"
The audience erupted. Instantly, cries of "Leng Ling" echoed, and the studio was in an uproar.
In the midst of the crowd's adulation, the woman, surrounded by people, walked to the stage, took a microphone, and waved to the audience with a smile, "Hello everyone..."
Another wave of screams and cheers followed.
"Please, everyone, calm down," Leng Ling, dressed in a stylish business suit with shiny leather shoes, exuded an aura of elegance and sophistication. Her exquisitely beautiful face was a natural marvel, proven by countless studies to be entirely natural since her debut.
Her words had an immediate effect, and the studio quickly quieted down to a pin-drop silence. Leng Ling nodded and explained, "Today, I accepted an invitation from the station to be a guest on 'Music Star.' Thank you all for your support, but I believe that discovering outstanding musical talents on the show is our primary goal today. What do you think?"
The audience responded enthusiastically, "Yes!"
Leng Ling smiled, said a few more comforting words, and handed the microphone back to the stage staff. Then, a middle-aged woman with a commanding presence approached Leng Ling, whispered a few words, and led Leng Ling backstage with her assistants, disappearing from the audience's view. It seemed she wouldn't appear again until the show started.
Despite this, the audience's enthusiasm was undeterred, and the studio buzzed with even more fervent discussion.
"This is such a windfall!"
"Who would've thought the diva would come? I'm so glad I didn't sell my ticket for this show. Do you know how much the scalpers are selling 'Music Star' tickets for? Three hundred! That's half a month's salary for me!"
"That's because the scalpers didn't know the diva was coming. Otherwise, the price would have doubled at least!"
"Haha, tickets for the diva's concert start at a thousand yuan. We're really hitting the jackpot this time!"
"Music Star" tickets are drawn from the audience interaction during the broadcast, completely free of charge.
In front of the stage, Director Zhang Heng, seeing the scene, nodded in satisfaction and called a stage manager, "Are all the judges and contestants here?"
"They're all here!" the stage manager nodded repeatedly.
Director Zhang nodded, "Tell everyone to get ready. We start recording in ten minutes."
Then he smiled at the station leaders nearby, "With the diva here, this episode will be even more exciting. The ratings will definitely hit 20% again, rest assured."
The leaders exchanged smiles. Last time, "Music Star" reached 21% ratings, garnering industry-wide attention and benefiting Director Zheng and the other leaders greatly. They saw a bright future ahead.
If "Music Star" could maintain its ratings this time, such achievements would be firmly associated with them, paving the way for their promotions.
Now, with Director Zhang's confident promise, the portly Director Zheng was extremely pleased, "With your assurance, I feel at ease. This time, success is the only option. If you stabilize the ratings, you can choose any program in the station to manage."
Director Zhang was delighted, repeatedly promising, "Rest assured, with the diva here, the ratings are guaranteed. If we can't stabilize them, I don't deserve to stay in the station."
Director Zheng laughed heartily and then, as if remembering something, solemnly added, "By the way, make sure to give enough screen time to Xie Sijie and Li Qing, especially Li Qing. Talk to the judges, ask about his life, his creative inspiration, whatever."
Director Zhang knew that the high ratings last time owed much to Li Qing and Xie Sijie, so he nodded in agreement.
Before leaving, Director Zheng smiled at the other station leaders, "Li Qing is a handsome, talented young man with good singing skills. If such a person doesn't advance, it would be a pity, and the audience would accuse us of being unfair, saying we have a black box operation..."
Director Zhang immediately understood the leader's intentions.
His eyelids twitched as he made up his mind. Now was the time to be in perfect sync with the leadership's political stance and ideological awareness.