157: Chapter 157: Advancing Again, the Topic of the Next Match is...

On the big screen, the scores of the five judges lit up one by one.

Then, after calculation, the final average score reached 9.9 points!

The whole venue was in an uproar.

Broken the record again?!

It even surpassed the record that Shen Qingxue had created herself before.

The bullet comments in the livestream room exploded once again.

[Holy shit, the record is broken again?! Another all-time high score!!!]

[Well-deserved! This song deserves this score!]

[Lu Li and Shen Qingxue are eternal gods!]

[I declare that this year's champion is no longer in suspense.]

[Don't pop the champagne at halftime, although everyone can basically guess the result.]

On stage, Shen Qingxue bowed again and then left.

In the waiting area, Lu Li leaned against the back of his chair with his hands behind his head, his mouth grinning almost to the roots of his ears.

Seeing Shen Qingxue walking over from the other end of the corridor, he stood up and gave her a thumbs up.

"Very good!"

Shen Qingxue walked up to him, the corners of her mouth curving slightly.

"The lyrics are well-written too."

The two of them looked at each other, then averted their gazes at the same time.

"Ahem, next is just waiting for the results."

Lu Li cleared his throat.

Shen Qingxue nodded, sat down on the chair, took out her phone, and glanced at it.

In the livestream room, the host was warming up the crowd.

The list of advancing contestants was also being tallied.

The atmosphere in the waiting area became somewhat subtle.

Some were nervous, some were expectant, and some had already resigned themselves to fate.

Before long, on the television screen in the waiting area, the host had obtained the final results.

"Dear audience, sorry to keep you waiting. The list of contestants advancing from the Top 16 to Top 8 elimination round of the Original Song Creator Competition is already in my hands."

The host deliberately paused for a moment, his gaze sweeping across the audience.

"Next, I will announce the list of advancing contestants..."

He read out the first name.

It was not Shen Qingxue.

The second one, neither was it.

Until the subsequent third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh...

None of them were.

The atmosphere in the waiting area became increasingly tense, and several contestants had already stood up, clenching their hands into fists.

Lu Li leaned against the back of his chair, crossing his legs, looking completely indifferent.

Shen Qingxue sat beside him, her expression still calm, but her fingers curled slightly.

"The last advancing slot..."

The host paused again, drawing out his voice.

"Shen Qingxue!"

In the waiting area, Shen Qingxue let out a slight breath.

Lu Li grinned, stood up from his chair, and reached out his hand to her.

"Congratulations, congratulations, you've advanced to the top eight. Eight hundred thousand in prize money is waiting for both of us."

Shen Qingxue glanced at him, smiled faintly, and likewise reached out to gently pat his palm.

"Same to you."

On the television screen, the host continued to speak.

"Congratulations to the above eight contestants on successfully advancing! Next, I will announce the topic for the next match."

He pulled a card out of the envelope, glanced at it, and then turned to the camera.

"The topic for the upcoming Top 8 to Top 4 elimination round is..."

In the waiting area, many of the contestants who had already advanced instantly became nervous, fearing they would draw a topic they weren't good at.

Lu Li, however, didn't care.

He wasn't afraid of whatever topic came up; after all, was the small song library in his brain joking with you?

"The topic is..."

"Inspirational!"

As soon as this news came out, the waiting area exploded.

"Inspirational? Isn't this topic way too broad..."

"It's broad, but it's not easy to write something original."

"It's over, I'm least good at this kind of theme."

Several advancing contestants discussed spiritedly with varied expressions.

Shen Qingxue sat on the chair, her brows furrowing slightly, but they quickly smoothed out again.

Inspirational?

This topic was similar to the Chinese style theme; both tended to be mainstream—not hard to say it's hard, nor easy to say it's easy.

But the only difficulty was that it was hard to stand out.

After all, whatever could be written had long been written by the veteran seniors in the entertainment industry. If one wanted to write something original, it really required putting in some thought.

Thinking of this, she tilted her head and glanced at Lu Li.

Lu Li leaned against the back of his chair with his legs crossed, his expression practically light and breezy.

At first glance, it seemed as if the two words "Inspirational" were as simple to him as deciding what to eat today.

"Um... do you have any ideas?"

Shen Qingxue asked tentatively.

Lu Li glanced at her, the corners of his mouth turning up slightly.

"Not yet."

Shen Qingxue: "..."

What does your confident expression mean?

"But no rush, we can think about it when we get back."

Lu Li stood up from his chair and stretched lazily.

"Let's go back to the hotel first, today has been tiring enough."

Shen Qingxue nodded and stood up with him, then the two walked out of the waiting area one after the other.

Just as they walked to the door, Lu Li tilted his head and glanced at Shen Qingxue.

"Your performance tonight was perfect, it sounded amazing."

Shen Qingxue was stunned for a moment, then gave him an uncharitable roll of her eyes.

"Your flattery tonight is pretty perfect too."

"I'm serious."

Lu Li's tone suddenly turned serious.

"The song "hair like snow", if anyone else sang it, they wouldn't be able to sing out that feeling you had tonight."

He wasn't lying about this; besides that milk tea heavenly king, Shen Qingxue was the one whose singing gave him the most feeling.

Shen Qingxue's footsteps paused slightly, and she tilted her head to look at him. Lu Li's expression was indeed very serious.

She withdrew her gaze, lowered her head, and the roots of her ears turned slightly red.

"You wrote it well."

"That goes without saying."

Hearing this compliment, Lu Li finally revealed a cheeky grin.

Shen Qingxue ungraciously rolled her eyes at him.

"Childish."

For the rest of the time, the two walked side by side in the night, neither speaking again.

After returning to the hotel, Lu Li swiped open the door with his room card and walked in.

As soon as he changed his shoes, his phone vibrated.

Picking it up to look, it was a message sent by Shen Qingxue.

"Thank you today."

Oh ho?

Lu Li stared at those four words for two seconds, the corners of his mouth curved slightly, and then he typed a reply.

"What for?"

"Guess?"

Lu Li looked at this message, was stunned for a moment, and then couldn't help laughing.

What is wrong with this sister tonight? She feels a bit different from usual, doesn't she?

"Were you possessed by something tonight, Elder? I am the grandmaster of the Maoshan Sect! Little ghost, hurry up and back off!"

After the message was sent, the other side fell silent for quite a while.

Lu Li thought she was angry and was about to send another one to remedy it when the screen suddenly lit up.

"You're the one possessed by a little ghost. Goodnight."

Lu Li stared at that line of text for two seconds, the arc of his mouth harder to suppress than an AK.

"Goodnight."

He threw his phone onto the bed and walked into the bathroom to take a shower.

When the hot water rushed over his body, he finally felt his whole body completely relax.

In one word: Awesome!!!