Did they...start on the wrong foot?

Both the audience and judges were all taken aback.

Hong Na's tone was not at all friendly, it had carried a hint of contempt. Did she have a grudge against Chen Xiaoyan?

"Miss Na is quite straightforward. Chen Xiaoyan does seem reckless to have started with her own song right off the bat." Brother Haha tried his best to salvage the situation. He then continued, "However, we can hear from this song that it is clear that Chen Xiaoyan can sing well."

"That's right. Even originals are sung by people. We made our mark in the past through our original works too. It does make sense for her to be a hit," Wang Qing chimed in.

"Thank you, Judge Wang Qing. Thank you Judge Haha," Chen Xiaoyan thanked them immediately.

Hong Na's words put her in quite the spot, making it almost impossible for her to react.

With that, the incident should have passed. However, Hong Na rambled on, "Chen Xiaoyan is a hit on the internet. The style she went for is following the internet's trends. Nevertheless, internet trends tend to come and go fairly quickly. They will never become classics!"

"The song that she sang is the same. It's also riding on internet trends. It's different from our traditional way of music. Both the composer, Y, and the singer, Chen Xiaoyan, have only one piece of work. It amounts to nothing. It's already extremely fortunate for them to make a mark on the internet."

Hong Na pretty much spelled out that internet celebrities were unworthy without saying it aloud.

"F*ck! What's wrong with this woman? She ate some explosives?!"

"This Hong Na is more venomous than the legends had it. B*tch!"

"She just has a grudge against Chen Xiaoyan. That woman is jealous!"

"She's just the typical basic b*tch. How can such a person be a judge?"

"Everyone else can't be a classic except her?"

The audience immediately erupted in discussions as whispers and murmurs washed through the crowd.

Apart from that, due to China's Top Voice opting to showcase this event via livestream, countless viewers in front of their screens were similarly stunned.

They were mostly youngsters where a huge portion of them was watching because of Chen Xiaoyan. With that, it immediately triggered them.

"Damn it! Who's that grandma? How dare she criticize our Xiaoyan?!"

"I don't even know this woman. What're her qualifications as a judge?"

"Motherf*cker, she's just unable to catch up with the times! What's wrong with internet celebrities? Do you know how hardworking they are? Why are you looking down on them?"

"Classic? Could she be referring to herself? I'm sorry, I don't know her at all!"

"Not only did she criticize Chen Xiaoyan, she even criticized Y! Does she think she's number one?"

…

Ye Lingchen too put on a frown.

As a judge, one should point out the flaws and praise the good points. What Hong Na did was bordering on a personal attack. She had nothing useful to point out and resorted to making stuff up just for criticism. Her mentality was that of her being the best in the world. What an 'amazing' person!

"Judge Hong Na, I don't agree with what you said!" Chen Xiaoyan took a deep breath, then stared directly at Hong Na with a determined look in her eyes.

"For you to not recognize my skills, I'm fine with that as I can improve! But for this song, Chaser of the Light, I feel that it deserves its spot as a classic! The fact that it garnered so much love and recognition from everyone is the best evidence for it. The status of being a classic is not determined by a single person, but instead requires everyone's recognition!"

It was fine to criticize her, but she would not stand down when it came to Y!

"Good one! Classic is not based on the recognition of one, but everyone!"

"That's right! Could it be that you think Chen Xiaoyan was a hit because of us fans being blind?"

"Hong Na is just trying to flaunt her seniority. Stop your bragging!"

…

"Alright, since we have three judges that lit up the red tick, that means that Chen Xiaoyan passes the preliminaries! She can go back to the backstage to prepare for the next round," The emcee quickly announced, afraid that both of them would start a fight on the stage, tried to settle this as soon as possible.

However—

Bang!

Hong Na slammed the table to light up the sign. Right behind her, a big red X appeared!

"Your passing is one thing, but it would never have my recognition," Hong Na stated coldly. "You're a junior, yet you don't know how to respect your seniors! When we made our marks, which of us didn't go through tens to hundreds of songs to build our foundations on? Internet celebrities have nothing to stand on and will eventually come crashing down from the sky! Y has only written one song, yet you would call it a classic? From my perspective, this song's lyrics lack depth, trying to sound profound by making use of bombastic words. Naive! If it were me, I won't even sing such a song!"

"I think I understand it now! This Hong Na is just trying to push her own songs!"

"Shameless woman. So what if she has many songs? What's the use if nobody heard of it?"

"Depth? What a joke! Is she writing a poem now?"

"How can such a person be called a senior? She's just jealous of a junior's popularity and being an attention whore!"

"The anger of a woman falling out of trend!"

…

Chen Xiaoyan's face was scarlet. She forcefully calmed herself and spoke up in a serious tone, "Some people's recognition is not something I wish for!"

With that, she turned around and went off the stage!

"These juniors these days, such insolence! Just a small taste of fame makes them lose their heads in the clouds!" Hong Na lamented towards the audience. "Let's see how she does in the next song!"

The other three judges looked at each other, unable to salvage the situation. 

After Chen Xiaoyan went backstage, her entire body was trembling.

She had never interacted with Hong Na before, but she did not expect to be picked on so badly in front of her. She had originally wished to put on her best performance for Y, yet this had happened. That made her feel very wronged.

The others in the backstage stared at Chen Xiaoyan, but their eyes were filled with joy over her suffering.

Hong Na was the Music Queen!

Even though she had aged, her influence in the industry was still deeply rooted. She was a big shot in that field!

Chen Xiaoyan had pissed off Hong Na and used her trump card. She was as good as disqualified in the next round.

Ye Lingchen looked at Chen Xiaoyan's figure, his gaze turned serious.

'My Singer Y persona got looked down on because I had only one song? Furthermore, she said my work was naive? Seems like it's time for Singer Y to show himself to the world again!'

Ye Lingchen rose up from the corner, then stealthily went backstage.

His movements were quick and agile, easily avoiding the guards without attracting any attention.

Only a small number of contestants made it through the preliminary round so everyone was given their own room.

Chen Xiaoyan shut the door and was silently cried alone inside.

She felt useless. Not only did she embarrass herself, but she had also embarrassed Y.

It was to the point that she had no confidence to take part in the next round, ready to throw in the towel.

Yet right at that moment, her phone vibrated.

[Y: Which room are you in?]

Chen Xiaoyan's heart raced, immediately wiping away her tears, thinking she might have imagined things.

Following that, she quickly replied, [Room 6]

She was the sixth contestant that made it through the preliminaries.

For a full three minutes, she did not receive a reply from Y.

Chen Xiaoyan stared unblinking at the phone while her fingernails were turning white from gripping the phone so strongly.

She bit her lips, unable to hold herself back and wanted to send a message to Y, just to have her phone vibrate again!

"Open the door…"