Chapter 980: Stop pretending to be an oil worker, you!

Chapter 980: Stop pretending to be an oil worker, you!Translator: Legge Editor: Legge

A few days later.

At home.

Zhang Ye received a call from Chen Guang.

"Zhang'er, King of Masked Singers has invited me."

"I know. I was the one who recommended you."

"The show's content has been explained to me by the production team. It sounds really good. It's making my pulse race a bit. But I have some big concerns that are holding me back from joining."

"You can sing so well. What do you have to worry about?"

"Don't you know how many people are in the music industry? Those newcomers are all better than the last at singing. Their vocals are so good, so how can I not be worried?"

"They can even sing better than you?" Sᴇaʀᴄh the ɴøvᴇlFɪre.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

"If we're all going to be masked, then that might just be the case. Since we can't depend on our popularity and our looks, we'll purely be pitting our singing skills. Besides, the choice of song plays a very important role too. Hai, but you don't know about singing, so I can't really explain it to you. Forget it. I think I need to mull this over. If I can't participate, I'm fine with being on the panel of guest judges. The production team has also given me that choice if I don't choose to participate in the actual competition."

"Sure. Give it some consideration then."

"Lemme ask you this. Will the show succeed?"

"This show is produced by me. Whatcha think?"

"Alright, I understand."

...

At Beijing Television.

The last episode of Do You Remember finished broadcasting. The actual recording was completed a week ago, and the Do You Remember program team was officially renamed to the King of Masked Singers program team today. It still consisted of the original team as its base, but over a dozen other employees were transferred from other departments to join them as well.

The King of Masked Singers program team officially began production work.

In the office space, each person was working without rest.

Hu Fei was making a call. A woman was on the other end of the line.

"Teacher Li, I am Beijing Television's Hu Fei."

"Yes, hello, Director Hu."

"Regarding what we discussed two days ago, have you made a decision yet?"

"I'm still thinking. I'm not ready to make a decision yet."

"If it's about the appearance fee, we can still increase it some more."

"Don't misunderstand. It's not about the appearance fee. I think this show is really good and personally I would like to join. But I'm afraid that the pressure would be too great on me, which is why I have some hesitation."

"With your talent, you definitely won't have a problem on this stage. You're the first celebrity I called because I've always loved your songs."

"Thank you, Director Hu. Then…"

"Come join us. We'll definitely keep your identity a secret!"

"Well…fine."

"Great. So it's decided?"

"Ai, I'm going to have to go all-out this time."

He hung up.

Hu Fei laughed loudly. "I got one!"

Dong Shanshan blinked. "That woman?"

"Right, it's that woman!" Hu Fei and she were speaking in riddles.

When a few of the rookies on the team heard this, their curiosity was piqued. But they didn't have the courage to ask who it was, although they knew that this woman was definitely someone extremely popular and a big shot from the expressions on Hu Fei's and Dong Shanshan's faces!

Dafei suddenly exclaimed from where he was, "Brother Hu, I reeled in one as well!"

Hu Fei hurriedly went over. "Who?"

"That actor," Dafei said mysteriously.

But Hu Fei seemingly understood and kept saying, "Good, good, good!"

Dafei said, "But it's only rumored that his singing is very good, as no one has actually heard him before. So I was a little worried and requested that he send us a demo."

Hu Fei nodded and said, "Right, if it were a professional singer, that wouldn't be necessary. But for celebrities from other industries, it's better to play it safe by asking for a sample of their singing. Otherwise, if we spend money inviting them and it turns out that they can't sing well, it wouldn't be too appropriate to replace them at that time. It'd also be too late to do so."

Dafei said, "Let's listen to it."

Hu Fei beckoned to everybody. "Come here, everyone. Let's listen to it together."

The program team staff all came over.

The audio clip, which was simply titled "demo," was played.

Right at the start, a melodious male voice drifted out.

"I once loved a woman.

"Her smile, ever so innocent.

"One day…"

Everyone was astonished!

"That was really good singing!"

"This is great!"

"Is this an actor? Isn't this just like how a professional singer would sing?"

"Who is this? Brother Fei, please tell us!"

"Yeah, you're making us so curious! Who is it?"

"I can't identify him by his voice at all!"

Dafei simply smiled knowingly. "That's classified."

Hu Fei approved, "It's confirmed! This teacher has made the grade!"

Dafei said, "Alright, I'll go and contact him immediately!"

Hu Fei reminded, "Remember to keep it a secret!"

"Understood!" Dafei promised.

One…

Five…

Eight…

The number of approved celebrities kept growing!

This greatly exceeded the expectations of the program team staff. They had initially thought that it would require a great deal of persuasion and talk to convince those celebrities to join. But as it turned out, when they explained the show's internal workings to the celebrities, a lot of them became very interested upon hearing how the show worked. There was even a veteran singer who hadn't appeared much in public for over ten years who agreed immediately when invited! The celebrities weren't dumb. For some shows that were destined to have very little viewership, they wouldn't join even if they were offered a lot of money for the appearance fee. But if they heard about a show they believed would get extremely popular throughout the country, even if the program team did not invite them, some of them would surely come looking for the program team instead. Even if the appearance fee was low, they would surely agree to join. And this King of Masked Singers by Zhang Ye was clearly such a show!

"Brother Hu, I have a demo here for you to listen to."

"Coming."

"How is it?"

"This is good! This sounds really clean!"

"Then should I contact them?"

"Who is this?"

"A celebrity who came up through the ranks of a talent show."

"Go ahead!"

Suddenly, Dafei fell silent while holding a stack of papers of the recommended participants.

"What's the matter, Brother Fei?" a rookie named Han Qi asked.

Dafei asked curiously, "Who recommended this person? Why is there only a contact number on it? There's no name?"

Han Qi was one of the few staff members of the program team who had access to this recommendation list. "I don't know, it wasn't me." Turning to another colleague, she asked, "Brother Sun, did you put them in?"

Sun looked over the list. "It wasn't me."

Hu Fei also came over to have a look. "Give them a call and ask who it is. The people on this list are all celebrities and big shots."

So Dafei handed the paper to Han Qi. "I still have a lot to do here. You can handle it."

"OK." Han Qi got very excited. The chance to have direct contact with a celebrity could count toward her qualifications. She immediately called the number.

...

At home.

Ring, ring, ring.

Zhang Ye's other phone started ringing. This was the new cell phone he had gotten from the Central TV annual staff party's lucky draw. Just a few days ago, he had slotted in a new SIM card he had just bought.

Zhang Ye purposely disguised his voice and answered: "Hello."

"Hello, Teacher. How are you?" On the other end, Han Qi spoke with caution.

"Ah, I'm good."

"I'm calling from the King of Masked Singers' program team. Has anyone contacted you before this?" Han Qi somehow felt that this voice was very strange.

"Yes."

"Someone has already done that?"

"Yes."

"Apologies, but we don't seem to have a record of your name. May I know who you are, sir?"

"Just an ordinary person."

"Uh, what's y-your surname, sir?"

"It's confidential."

"How old are you this year, sir?"

"Not old."

"What's your occupation, sir?"

"I'm a worker."

"Ah! You're a worker?"

"Yes."

"Huh. Th-Then are you sure you were invited to participate on King of Masked Singers?"

"Yes."

"If you're not a professional singer, we require that you send us a sample of your singing. Can you provide us with that, sir? You can just send it to our email."

"Sure."

"Thank you very much."

"You're welcome."

The call ended just like that.

Zhang Ye smiled to himself. He wasn't purposely trying to keep it from Hu Fei and Dong Shanshan, but had to do so because he needed to participate anonymously.

A sample of his singing?

Was this a screening?

Then what song should he choose?

Zhang Ye hesitated for a bit, then chose a song at random to record his sample. He did not have any professional equipment at home and did not know how to play any instruments either, so he chose to sing a cappella for the recording. At most, he might need to do some post-processing to it, but he could do that at home anyway. As this was just a sample clip, there wasn't really a need to do any major fixes to the recording.

After clearing his throat, he began.

This was the first time Zhang Ye seriously tried to record his singing, so he felt rather diffident. But when he opened his mouth to sing, even he was taken aback by his own voice!

...

Back at Beijing Television.

The King of Masked Singers' program team.

Han Qi said in a speechless manner, "Who could have recommended him? Why did someone contact him?"

"Did you find out who it was?" Hu Fei looked over.

"He wouldn't say!" Han Qi said angrily.

Dafei was surprised. "Wouldn't say?"

Han Qi said, "He didn't want to reveal anything at all. When I asked him what his profession was, he actually told me that he was a worker!"

"Pffffft!" Xiao Lu, who was drinking some water, did a spit-take. "A worker?"

Hu Fei didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "The names on this list are all big shots. How can there be any ordinary workers on it? Was he just teasing you?"

Han Qi said angrily, "That man was so awful. He spoke in a strange, gravelly voice, like he was afraid that someone would recognize him. It's like he thinks he really is some big shot or something."

Hou Di pondered this for a moment. "If he really did try to disguise his voice while talking, then he might really be a big shot. Perhaps he might actually get recognized easily if he speaks in his natural voice?"

"Ah?" Han Qi was startled. "Are you sure?"

Xiao Lu was cramping up from laughing. "Would a big shot call themselves a worker? This is clearly a prank on our Little Han! Hahahaha, I'm dying of laughter!"

Han Qi started blushing and became even more angry. "I asked him to send us a demo. I want to hear for myself just what kind of a worker he really is!"

A rookie suddenly said, "Oh, an email just arrived? Is it this one?"

Han Qi quickly ran over and pointed at the screen while gnashing her teeth. "Yes, yes, yes, it's him!"

Hu Fei laughed and said, "Come, let's all have a listen."

Dafei was getting very curious. "I really want to find out who this could be."

"I wanna listen to it too." Xiao Lu scrambled over as well. "Heehee, which big shot is so playful that he's willing to tease our rook?"

Han Qi's face was getting hot. "Sister Lu, please don't ridicule me."

Xiao Lu said, "Sure, sure, sure. Big Sis will help you denounce him. Will that do?"

"Yeah!" Han Qi replied.

Having encountered such a weird person!

Everyone in the program team came over in delight upon hearing about this amusing incident.

The rookie clicked on the email attachment and started playing the recording.

There was no melody.

There were no instrumentals.

Everyone was surprised. Was it a cappella?

However, when the singing started, everyone was shocked by the vocal weight and technique. As the tune played, Xiao Lu got the goosebumps!

"Land as pretty as a picture!

"Our native land built on the backs of steeds!"

It was bel canto! But the voice was magnetic and sounded very young! What song was this? An oldie? But it couldn't be. Otherwise, why hadn't they heard of it before? Was it an original?

Damn!

Who was it?

Which famous person of the music industry was this?

The timbre of some singers' voices was recognizable right at the first word they sang. Although this man seemed to be purposely disguising his voice, those seasoned vocals could not be concealed! Everyone in the program team had already heard quite a few demos submitted by the celebrities and professional singers. But they had to admit that this unknown big shot's singing that was playing right now was definitely one of the best they had heard today!

The vocals.

The technique.

The control.

All of them were at the professional level!

A lot of them were drawn into the singing as they listened!

Hu Fei exclaimed, "Who is this!"

Dafei shouted, "Damn!"

Xiao Lu said, "This is a heavyweight contestant!"

Han Qi stood there dumbfounded, slack-jawed. She didn't expect this tight-lipped celebrity she was just on the phone with to actually sing this well!

Following this, however, everyone was floored!

The lyrics this man sang next made everyone feel like they were going to vomit blood!

"Land as pretty as a picture!

"Our native land built on the backs of steeds!

"How glorious it is to be an oil worker!

"Wearin' a hard hat and trav'lin' the world!"

Pfft!

Pfft!

Pfft!

Everyone in the office burst out laughing!

"Snow from Tianshan falls overhead!

"Facing the Gobi's desert storms!

"Greeting the rising sun on the banks of the Jialing River!

"Sending off the sunset at the foot of the Kunlun Mountains!

"Fearing nothing!

"And no one!

"Let it thunder and snow!

"I offer oil to my homeland!

"Wherever the oil is, that is where my home shall be!"

Han Qi's legs wobbled!

Offering oil to the homeland?

I'll offer your little sister's oil!

"Fluttering red flags welcome rosy clouds!

"Heroes whip their horses of war along!

"How glorious it is to be an oil worker!

"Wearin' a hard hat and trav'lin' the world!

"Erecting oil rigs in the vast grasslands!

"Bottom of clouds cover the wells!

"Underground crude oil meets the sky!

"My native land blooms with the gift of oil!

"Fearing nothing!

"And no one!

"Looking over the world with our great ambition!

"I offer oil to my homeland!

"With oil for my homeland, my heart blooms happily!"

The song ended.

The demo finished playing.

Everyone in the office was looking at each other!

Suddenly, Hou Di slapped his thigh and collapsed onto the table, belly laughing. "Hahahahaha hahahaha!" He was sprawled out on the table, unable to get up!

Dafei burst into laughter!

Xiao Lu was crying with laughter. "Aiyo!"

Only Han Qi looked embarrassed. She nearly burst into tears!

Hu Fei couldn't help but pat Han Qi on the shoulder. "It's been confirmed. You were the victim of a joke."

Han Qi was angered to tears. "Brother Hu—"

"Hahahaha!" Hu Fei couldn't hold it in any longer and started laughing too.

A worker?

You're a worker?

Bull fucking shit!

As a big shot celebrity and a professional singer with such good singing, why on earth are you pretending to be an oil worker!

You even offer oil to the homeland?

Why don't you dig some coal for your homeland instead!

At this moment, everyone had determined the nature of this voice's owner!

Just look at the other invited participants! Which one of them were not taking this competition seriously? Which of the interested participants of their show did not send in a serious sample of their singing that would exhibit their best points? But this guy? Not only did he not give his name, he even claimed that he was a worker? He even made up some song about offering oil to the homeland? Most importantly, he still fucking sang with such excellence?

This was an old pro!

This fellow was definitely a seasoned pro of the industry!

But who could it be?

Why couldn't they figure it out from his singing?

Dafei said, "Brother Hu, what do we do about this person?"

Tears streaming down her face, Han Qi said, "Must we invite him?"

"What reason is there to not invite someone who can sing with such skill?" Hu Fei said with excitement, "No matter who recommended him and whether or not he wants to reveal his identity, this man…must definitely be invited onto the show!"

Han Qi groaned, "Ugh."

Dafei nodded. "Alright, understood!"

Han Qi spoke hesitantly, "Brother Fei, I…"

Dafei made a decision and said with a snigger, "Little Han, you'll be in charge of contacting this guy. We'll leave it to you to call him, notify him, and take care of his costume from now on."

Han Qi said tearfully, "Brother Fei, can you not?"

"Hahaha, you can consider this to be part of your training!" Dafei said, "Usually, someone who's such a hooligan has self-confidence, and is a very big shot in the industry. Getting few more connections will do you no harm. I'm doing this for your own good, Little Han."

Han Qi was skeptical. "Seriously?"

Dafei said solemnly, "Of course."

Han Qi made a noise in acknowledgment and moped, "OK, alright. I'll do my best."

Due to the special nature of the show, every participant on King of Masked Singers would need to have a dedicated assistant to take charge of their makeup, costumes, masks, communication, and other related tasks. But no matter how Han Qi thought about it, she felt like she had been deceived. Having been assigned to such an unreliable singer, she felt that her future was utterly bleak! But even she had to admit that this man's voice and singing were really amazing!

Just who could it be?

Was there even such a person in the music industry?