Chinese entertainment: Top stars have no holidays

The days passed by.

Jiang Bai's filming pace in Hengdian was steady and tight.

During a break from filming, he took time to travel to Jiaxing again to record the second episode of the second season of "Masked Singer," where he performed a duet and a solo.

However, he still failed to unmask himself, but Angela Chang, who recorded the first episode with him, successfully unmasked herself in this episode.

Yes, she only signed a two-term contract.

Jiang Bai, on the other hand, still has one more contract left, and will be successfully revealed in the third phase.

Time flies, and it's already August 6th.

The highly anticipated first episode of the second season of "Masked Singer" has officially premiered on Jiangsu Satellite TV and major online platforms.

As a phenomenal hit music variety show last year, the first season of "Masked Singer" achieved explosive success in both ratings and word-of-mouth.

With its unique masked competition format, a stage focused purely on vocal performance, and suspenseful guessing segments, the first season of the show garnered countless fans and firmly established itself as one of the top music variety shows in China.

This is precisely why the second season already had top-tier popularity even before it premiered, with the entire internet eagerly anticipating its release.

Countless viewers sat glued to their television sets, eagerly awaiting the program's premiere.

The moment it premiered during prime time, the show's ratings skyrocketed to the top of all other variety shows in the same time slot, and its online popularity soared, securing a solid first-run success.

The first episode had limited runtime, but featured a large number of masked singers, each with their own unique characteristics. All six masked singers delivered outstanding performances, including group and solo pieces.

But after the show ended, the peak of its popularity, discussion, and number of comments was when the character codenamed "The Busy School Heartthrob" appeared.

When Jiang Bai, wearing a robot headgear and adorned with a wisp of green grass, stepped onto the stage, and the gentle piano prelude began, the online streaming platform's bullet comments exploded and flooded the screen.

The barrage of comments filled the entire screen, even causing a slight lag in the live stream at one point.

The number of bullet comments was relatively normal compared to when other guests appeared.

The moment the "busy school heartthrob" appeared, the density of comments exploded, leading all other performances by a wide margin.

It was actually okay when we sang "Rooftop" together.

Although Jiang Bai's singing voice is warm and delicate, it perfectly complements Zhang Shaohan's male and female vocal lines, creating a romantic and healing stage atmosphere that captivated many viewers.

But since this was a cover song stage, the audience's attention was still focused on guessing who the two masked singers were.

When Jiang Bai took to the stage to sing his original single "Slowly Like You," the brand-new original song immediately captured the audience's attention.

People stopped paying attention to who the masked singer was and started focusing on the song itself.

A clean, clear, gentle, and healing voice.

A simple and delicate singing style.

The lyrics are vivid and evocative, told in a gentle, detailed manner.

The melody is refreshing and soothing, the lyrics are delicate and touching, the stage atmosphere is amazing, and the gentleness can instantly calm your mind.

The song ended, but the lingering melody still resonated.

After hearing this, countless viewers in front of their screens instantly erupted into a frenzy of discussion, completely igniting online buzz.

The trending topics on Weibo are refreshing rapidly.

#Who is the masked, busy school heartthrob?#

#Slowly Falling in Love with You is Amazing#

#TheMostSurprisingStageOfTheMaskedSinger#

Three related terms appeared on the trending search list one after another, soaring and surpassing other entertainment hot topics of the same period.

The two major platforms, Douyin and Weibo, were instantly overwhelmed, with countless netizens spontaneously editing stage clips and performance snippets.

In just over ten minutes, countless freshly produced cuts and related videos garnered over ten thousand or even over one hundred thousand likes.

Thanks to big data recommendations, the performance of this song was seen by more netizens who hadn't watched the show.

Everyone is frantically trying to uncover the identity of this mysterious singer.

"Help! What an amazing voice! It's so gentle, I can't stop listening to it on repeat!"

"Is this song 'Slowly Falling in Love with You' an original? The melody is so beautiful! The lyrics are delicate and gentle, with just the right amount of sweetness—it's a cure for all emo moments!"

"The school heartthrob can sing so well! He even held back during the chorus, but his solo was absolutely divine. His singing is incredibly stable; he's definitely at the level of a professional singer-songwriter!"

"The voice is so unique, warm, clean, and full of stories; it's impossible to tell who it is. The entire judging panel is definitely wrong!"

Amidst the heated speculation across the internet, the initial guesses of most viewers were remarkably consistent.

The music is gentle and serene, the vocals are clean and detached, and the singing style emphasizes empathy rather than technical skill.

Coupled with his low-key, mysterious, and reluctance to be in the spotlight, all his characteristics perfectly match the public's preconceived notions about Pu Shu.

In no time, 60-70% of netizens across the internet took sides, convinced that this "very busy campus heartthrob" was Pu Shu.

"It's definitely Pu Shu! Only he can sing with that clean and healing feeling!"

"The musical style, vocals, and overall atmosphere are exactly the same—understated, original, gentle, and healing. I can't think of anyone else but Pu Shu!"

"No wonder no one could guess it. Pu Shu doesn't like participating in variety shows, so it makes perfect sense for him to participate in a show like 'King of Mask Singer' where he has to hide his identity!"

However, after a brief period of public outcry, dissenting voices quickly emerged.

"How could it be Pu Shu? Pu Shu's voice has a sense of vicissitude, while this 'busy school heartthrob' has a clear and bright voice. It's definitely not Pu Shu."

"They say Pu Shu has something wrong with his ears? I suggest you listen to 'The Ordinary Road' on repeat a hundred times. It's obviously two different people!"

"The voice of the 'busy school heartthrob' sounds very young; it's definitely not Pu Shu. He must be a young man around 25 years old!"

Those who support Pu Shu and those who oppose him started arguing directly on Weibo.

Just as the online guessing craze reached its peak, trending topics continued to dominate the screens, and countless netizens were debating and frantically digging into the details.

A sudden post from the official Weibo account instantly went viral, sparking an even bigger wave of public opinion.

The official Weibo account for "A Love So Beautiful" was quietly launched amidst the attention of millions of netizens.

I forwarded a high-definition clip of the solo performance of "Slowly Like You" uploaded by the official Weibo account of "The Masked Singer".

Without any preamble, it was accompanied by a gentle yet thought-provoking caption.

"A tender and enduring love, a careful and devoted affection, a slow and steady heartbeat, a gradual descent into infatuation."

"The sentiment expressed in this song perfectly matches Jiang Chen's entire emotional journey; it's as if the song was written specifically for him!"

"This masked singer is amazing!"

The short post, seemingly just an official attempt to ride the wave of popularity and praise the stage, actually concealed a hidden agenda: it was a pre-planned joint marketing campaign orchestrated by the program team and Dai Lu.

Within minutes of the post being published, the comment section exploded, completely unleashing a massive number of drama fans lurking across the internet.

Netizens who were initially guessing Pu Shu's character were instantly drawn back to Jiang Chen, the cool, reserved, gentle, and patient academic genius in the drama.

Fans instantly went wild, the comment section exploded, and the popularity soared again.

"My God! This is terrifying when you think about it! This song really sounds just like Jiang Chen's true feelings!"

"That's exactly how Jiang Chen's affection is in the drama! Not passionate, not flamboyant, he likes her slowly, protects her silently, gentle and restrained!"

"It wasn't just my imagination! The song's mood, lyrics, and gentle vocals perfectly match Jiang Chen's character!"

"Official confirmation that it's compatible with Jiang Chen—what a coincidence! Who would have thought of this dream collaboration!"

As fans of the show flooded social media with posts, more and more meticulous netizens began to analyze, scrutinize, and delve into the details.

"Wait! Is there any possibility...?"

"While the musical style is clean, it lacks the world-weariness of Pu Shu's music, but possesses a youthful gentleness and naiveté!"

"Moreover, this song has no official audio release or announcement; it's a completely new original! Could it be from a newcomer in the industry?"

"Based on the official Weibo post of 'A Love So Beautiful'... could this mysterious school heartthrob have some connection to the show?"

Countless fragmented speculations began to sprout, and the fog of mystery across the internet gradually cracked open.

Just then, Dailu's second marketing campaign was launched.

A montage MV titled "How Much I Like You, You'll Know," which had been released more than half a month ago, suddenly went viral and became a trending topic.

Click on this trending topic and you'll see this song sung by Jiang Bai.

Originally only circulating among drama fans, this well-known OST quickly became known to a wider audience.

Although there are some differences, a little comparison will reveal them.

Jiang Bai, who sang this song, has a voice very similar to that of the "busy school heartthrob" who sang "Slowly Like You"!

The former was sung in a sweeter tone to match the atmosphere of the song, while the latter was more gentle and delicate.

When the speculation reached this point.

The answer is obvious.

Even though it's hard to believe, a large number of fans of the drama "A Love So Beautiful" have started gathering under the official Weibo account of "The Masked Singer".

Could this "busy school heartthrob" be Jiang Bai?

So it turns out he can not only act, but also write and sing songs?

What a treasure of a boy!