They don't actually think I like them, do they?

As for the male editors...

Not expressing any opinions in the group is already the greatest tolerance!

Leng Yan's fans are notoriously fierce. If you say the wrong thing, you could easily be labeled a "submissive man." Who would dare to speak up?

It is precisely because of the cautionary tale of Leng Yan that male editors now have an extremely negative impression of content creators who look delicate and weak, have effeminate tendencies, and speak excessively softly.

That's right, that's prejudice!

There's nothing we can do; one bad apple spoils the whole bunch.

To avoid being disgusted, this is the only way we can do it!

"A dark horse video topped the daily charts yesterday, did any of you watch it?"

Just then, the editor-in-chief, Qinggua, slowly spoke.

"Number one on the daily chart?" Lettuce thought for a moment. "Oh, you mean that 'Lovely Woman'?"

All the editors immediately scrolled down, and since everyone was sorting by view count, they scrolled all the way down before finally finding the video titled "Lovely Woman".

The name immediately silenced everyone.

Both male and female editors suddenly choked up.

As everyone else lined up, they were all singing things like "The Road to the Peak," "Surpassing Yourself," and "Unity is Strength."

How come it's become "Lovely Woman" here?!

This art style has changed way too much!

"You've read it? What's your opinion?" The editor-in-chief tagged Lettuce.

Lettuce immediately felt ashamed and said:

"Uh... Although it briefly reached number one, its subsequent growth was very poor, far inferior to other popular products, so I didn't bother looking at it."

"You don't want to watch it because the subsequent price increase is not good? I'm too embarrassed to call you out on it," Pumpkin said sarcastically.

"No... who wants to click on this forum's name and take a look?!"

Especially after seeing that the content creator is a boy, there were many keywords like "gentle" in the comments section.

All the male editors were reminded once again of the fear they had felt when they were dominated by Leng Yan.

　"This song is an original work by the uploader..."

Just then, the seaweed spoke up in surprise.

Everyone was shocked.

　This grassroots competition actually has participants submitting original works?!

The song title made everyone even more panicked.

This is tantamount to suicide!

"Go and see."

　Editor-in-Chief Qinggua took a sip of goji berry tea and said, a barely perceptible smile flashing across his face.

PS:

Today is my birthday, and I want to give myself a little break.

So there will only be one update today, sorry guys.

Thank you for your understanding. I will add an extra chapter tomorrow to make up for it!

Thank you everyone!

027. The most controversial work in history

Upon hearing the editor-in-chief's words, everyone had a bad feeling.

Generally speaking, the works that the editor-in-chief specifically recommends to everyone are either of exceptionally high quality, masterpieces, or simply a pleasure to review.

Either it's exceptionally bad, or it's bad in a novel way. Ordinary bad won't do; it has to be the kind of bad you can remember for a lifetime after just one listen! No adjective can accurately describe the feeling of chewing shit when you hear that song!

Although the editor-in-chief repeatedly stated that the purpose of showing such terrible works was to allow readers to learn from them and reflect on why they were so bad, he would even sometimes, on a whim, have the editors write an article analyzing why the work was so bad.

However, the editors simply felt that the editor-in-chief was just indulging his perverse tastes and tormenting everyone.

What the hell is there to think about?! Why would anyone in this world be able to sing this kind of nonsense??

It's like you know perfectly well that it's a stinky pile of excrement, but your boss still insists that you taste it carefully, write down in detail why it smells bad, and why you don't want to eat it.

Now, when the editors look at the song "Lovely Woman" on the screen, they feel a little uneasy.

Clearly, it's more likely to be the latter.

However, since it's on the review list, they'll have to see it sooner or later, regardless of whether the editor-in-chief lets them see it in advance or not.

Thinking about this made everyone feel much better, and they clicked on the video.

In the picture, a boy whose head is not visible is sitting in front of a piano.

Not showing his face? And he's even playing his own accompaniment?

It was just the beginning, but it already made everyone feel that something was going to happen.

Generally speaking, participants in such competitions aim to become celebrities; regardless of their appearance, exposure is a given.

Especially a large number of female content creators, who are just recording singing videos, dress up in flamboyant outfits, use full makeup and beauty filters, or wear padding as high as Mount Everest in front of them, trying to attract as much attention as possible.

Someone who didn't know better might think it was some kind of late-night men's radio station.

Good-looking people can use their faces to attract attention, but don't assume that ugly people are any better.

There are many ugly people who, the uglier they are, the more they will adjust the camera to the original mode, trying to make sure you can see every pimple and blackhead on their face clearly, as if they are afraid of not disgusting you.

As long as the singer doesn't sing too badly from the start, the audience will keep praising them:

"Heaven didn't give you a beautiful appearance, but it gave you an angelic voice!" "This is a true powerhouse singer!" "Wow, this young man is so handsome when he sings!"

If they were truly talented masters, that would be one thing, but many people who only sing a 7 out of 10 are praised as 10 because they are so bad, and those who praise them are full of superiority because they think their aesthetic sense is superior.

So, regardless of whether the content creator is good-looking or not, if they don't show their face in the video, it's because they genuinely just want everyone to enjoy the music and not focus on anything else.

However, in this particular video, everyone will only think:

What is this immersive eating of shit?

Soon, everyone in the office fell silent and began watching the video intently.

Unlike netizens who watch music videos, some netizens may be easily influenced by stereotypes when they see love songs. Even if they think the melody is quite nice, they will subconsciously find it hard to listen to and find it difficult to accept.

Just like the S12 theme song, when everyone sees Ni Ge rambling on and on with lyrics that are utterly meaningless, they instinctively feel disgusted and think this lousy song is truly garbage no matter how they listen to it.

To be fair, the song isn't exactly great, but it's still a 5 out of 10; it's not as bad as everyone says.

But is the team that made the music video really dead?

However, as industry professionals, editors tend to appreciate this song from a more objective and professional perspective.

then,

As time passed, the editors' expressions shifted from initial disdain to confusion, and then to thoughtful consideration...

Finally, a clap of hands.

"Holy crap, awesome!" Lettuce shouted in the office.

The group chat exploded immediately.

"So beautiful, so soothing, so gentle!" Zi Cai gave a precise evaluation in nine words.

"This is the first time I've ever heard this type of song, and honestly, it's so addictive!!"

"He even wrote his own songs! He's a future beacon of Chinese pop music!"

"At first I was going to say that I was almost fooled by the title, but then I thought about it again and realized that the song is indeed about a lovely woman, and the lyrics are all normal love songs, so there's nothing wrong with it. Sigh, I can only blame the current environment, because love songs really give people a bad impression!"

Lettuce excitedly started flattering him in the group chat:

"As expected, Teacher Qinggua is amazing! He can find such niche gems and recommend them to us! I wouldn't even glance at them. The editor-in-chief's taste is truly beyond our reach!!"

"Huh? Are you guys serious?"

Just then, Pumpkin typed several question marks in the group chat.

"I think this song is incredibly cheesy. Although the melody is indeed well-written, what it wants to express and the connotation it conveys are too empty, aren't they? If this can be called the light of the future, then the Chinese music scene is doomed!"

"You don't know anything! Who said love songs have no meaning?!" Lettuce retorted.

"I don't know who stopped listening to it in the first place because it's a love song."

Just as a major war of words was about to begin, Cucumber finally spoke up.

"Okay, I originally told you to listen to this song, but I didn't say it was necessarily a good song."

"Does Teacher Qinggua think this song is no good?" Zicai asked.

"Personally speaking, I like this song. This person named Orange Jam is simply a genius."

"That......."

"However, its drawbacks are as obvious as your reactions just now. The opinions are extremely polarized; many people praise it, but we can't ignore the criticisms either," Qinggua sighed and said.

“Right, Mr. Cucumber, according to our usual practice, no matter how popular a work is, if it is controversial, we will not select it! Besides, its popularity is only so-so,” Pumpkin said immediately.

"However, I still want to try and see what happens if I give this work a homepage recommendation and let it truly reach the general public."

The cucumber gave a meaningful look.

"I don't want a genius to be buried because he can't gain the approval of the public's aesthetic sense."

"Homepage recommendation? This work with these stats doesn't even deserve it! Out of the 300 works that advanced, less than five would even get this recommendation!" Pumpkin hurriedly said, "Mr. Green Cucumber, please reconsider!!"

“This work is still in its infancy, and the audience’s engagement hasn’t picked up yet. If it’s put on the homepage like this, it will attract more criticism. Will it be able to handle it?” Zicai also worried.

"If he can't handle such a huge influx of traffic and collapses, it means his skill level is just so-so! No need to say anything more, this is the decision!"

After saying that, Qinggua added this ID to the list of those who advanced – “Orange Jam”.

028. Lin Han apologized.

Friday's last class is always hard to concentrate on.

The math teacher was lecturing eloquently on the podium, and the hypnotic technique, a unique skill of every math teacher, failed to work in the last class of this Friday.

The overhead fan wobbled precariously, as if it might fall down at any moment and saw off the students' heads.

Each student was a little too excited, thinking about how to squeeze onto the bus or subway after school and fight their way through the crowds of students leaving school.

Those who live far away and those who usually live on campus stay in one place. The journey home takes three or four hours and involves squeezing onto a hot and crowded bus. There's really nothing to look forward to.

Regardless, a restless atmosphere permeated the entire classroom.

Even a good student like Lin Han is not immune to this situation; at this moment, his mind is filled with thoughts of how to plan his weekend.

Xu Hui knew that Lin Han was in a poor state of mind when studying, and as his deskmate, he felt obligated to help Lin Han by talking to him.

"By the way, weren't you going to discuss the show with Cen Sisi and the others yesterday?"

“Yeah,” Lin Han said casually.

"Then why did you go to have dinner with Yan Yuli later?"

"Yan Yuli called me, so I went." Lin Han's gaze remained fixed on the math teacher.

"You're being too perfunctory! Can't you just give me a proper answer?" Xu Hui said, dissatisfied.

"Yan Yuli is calling you, are you going or not?" Lin Han glanced at Xu Hui.

“…” Xu Hui suddenly choked up.

What he said made such a good point that I couldn't refute it!

"That's not right. You yourself said you don't like Yan Yuli, so why did you make plans with someone else and then suddenly go to see her?"

"Is it possible that I don't like Cen Sisi?"

Lin Han made up a random excuse.

You can't exactly say that you received 100,000 yuan from Yan Yuli, can you?