Chapter 2219: The Despairing Jin Ling’er
Who should I vote for?
The sixty thousand spectators all fell deep into thought.
Jin Feihong—who was still hiding in some corner—also felt a sliver of antic.i.p.ation.
He was still hopeful of competing against An Lin.
Although An Lin’s performance had been better than his, An Lin didn’t have a single fan at all! He had an advantage in fans, so he should beat An Lin without a problem, right? If he obtained more votes than An Lin tonight, then this would at least give him some confidence when he returned to the training room later…
The voting began.
Some hardcore superfans cast their votes without hesitation.
However, how many of the sixty thousand spectators were hardcore superfans? Indeed, most of them had several favorite main drawcards. After all, each of the main drawcards was supremely talented and able. Thus, it was almost impossible to only like one main drawcard.
There was only one minute to vote, so the spectators didn’t have any time to discuss their choices. They could only ponder for a short moment before making their final decisions.
Even so, it was evident that the main drawcards of the Red Ink Tavern would be the top vote-getters.
“G.o.ddess Gu Qiu’s new character was simply stunning and unparalleled. I’m definitely voting for her.”
“I loved G.o.d of Dance Lun Yang’s performance. I’m going to vote for Brother Lun Yang!”
“The Cloud Maiden’s singing was my favorite!”
“Jin Ling’er’s Nine Colored Phoenix Bells were incredibly pleasant to the ears!”
“The Ice Wolf’s ice sculpture was a true piece of art!”
Apart from praising these main drawcards, another figure involuntarily rose into the minds of the audience.
Chicken, you’re too fragrant!
“Although the main drawcards were brilliant, I still can’t forget that mouthful of chicken.”
“The cooking dance pleased both my eyes and my mouth. I can’t help but feel impressed by it!”
Meanwhile, some of the fandoms had already started to shout for more votes.
“Vote for Jin Ling’er! Vote for Jin Ling’er! Vote for Jin Ling’er!”
“Vote for G.o.ddess Gu Qiu!”
“Vote for Jin Feihong!” a leader of Jin Feihong’s fandom shouted loudly.
However, he immediately cast his vote for that man who held a frying pan after shouting this.
In any case, Jin Feihong had so many fans, so what difference would his one vote make?
This was Liu Dabao’s maiden performance, so how could they let him receive too few votes? What if this affected his confidence and destroyed his motivation to perform his cooking dance? That would be a loss for the entire Red Ink Tavern and even the entire Tai Chu Holy Land!
The leader of Jin Feihong’s fandom felt like he should give a vote of encouragement to Liu Dabao.
After all, he still wanted to enjoy Liu Dabao’s next performance, and he still wanted to taste Liu Dabao’s cooking.
However, what the leader of Jin Feihong’s fandom didn’t know was… many other spectators were also thinking the exact same thing as him. Many, many other spectators…
Far more spectators than he could imagine…
Why?
Because everyone thought that Liu Dabao wouldn’t receive many votes.
After all, he didn’t have a fanbase.
However, Liu Dabao’s performance had been far too amazing!
Chicken, you’re too fragrant!
He deserved to have fans!
Before Liu Dabao developed a fanbase, they would temporarily act as his fans and give him their vote of encouragement. This was an act of respect to his cooking dance, and this was an act of respect to “Chicken, you’re too fragrant”.
Numerous fans of the drawcards—and even some fans of the main drawcards—started to secretly cast their votes for Liu Dabao. They didn’t shout his name, but they had already cast their votes for him. They secretly cast their votes for their favorite performance of the night.
Sitting in some hidden corner, Jin Feihong felt a sense of gratification and satisfaction as he listened to his hardcore fans loudly shouting his name. He was still fairly popular.
Do you see, Liu Dabao?
This is the power of a fanbase!
I have a group of hardcore and loyal fans!
What do you have?
A victorious smile spread across his face as he listened to the few voices that were shouting Liu Dabao’s name. Even so… he didn’t know what he was competing for anyway…
However, this didn’t stop him from feeling delighted.
One minute quickly pa.s.sed.
Sister Hong and the other host entered the stage again.
At the same time, a giant screen materialized in the center of the stage, ready to display the final results of the votes.
“Voting has concluded!
“Now, it’s finally time to announce the results of the votes!
“Who’s going to become the ‘Flower Owner’ tonight?
“As always, we’ll announce the top ten vote-getters of the night!
“Let us see, who came in at tenth place?”
As the host said this, the image of an elder from the Stone Tribe appeared on the giant screen. Under his image was the number of votes that he had received: 1,072.
“In tenth place is the artist, Mao Busheng! He received a total of 1,072 votes. Congratulations!”
Sister Hong smiled as she congratulated Mao Busheng. The spectators also applauded in congratulations.
A rock golem walked onto the stage and bowed toward the spectators to express his grat.i.tude.
Immediately afterward, Hua Xiaomi—the performer who had won the ninth place with a total of 1,200 votes—also happily entered the stage.
These results were all well within the spectators’ expectations.
“Why hasn’t Liu Dabao appeared yet?”
“Perhaps Liu Dabao didn’t make the top ten?”
Some of the spectators started to feel disappointed and sympathetic. In fact, some of them even started to regret not shouting Liu Dabao’s name during the voting process. After all, he was clearly a skilled performer! Would Liu Dabao feel broken-hearted about this? Would he stop cooking because of this?
Some of the spectators started to feel even more agonized upon thinking of this.
Only Jin Feihong was feeling absolutely euphoric.
Brilliant! Dabao, you didn’t even make the top ten, so let’s see how you’ll show off?!
How refres.h.i.+ng!
Immediately afterward, Jin Feihong’s image appeared on the giant screen.
“In eighth place is the martial artist, Jin Feihong! He received a total of 1,282 votes! Congratulations!”
Hiding in his corner, Jin Feihong was slightly taken aback.
What?
Only eighth?!
One had to realize that he was the most skilled performer under the main drawcards!
Moreover, there were only five main drawcards present, so he should have come in at the sixth place, shouldn’t he?
How was he only the eighth place?!
Even though he was feeling stupefied and shocked, Jin Feihong still had to force a smile onto his face and pretend to be delighted as he entered the stage to thank the audience.
At the same time, there was a sense of bewilderment in his mind. He was fairly certain that there were more than 1,282 of his hardcore fans present…
“In seventh place is the Daoist, Hei Xuan! He received a total of 1,373 votes. Congratulations!” Sister Hong continued to announce the top vote-getters.
A giant turtle ambled onto the stage to the cheers and applause of the audience. It then cheerfully turned to the spectators and nodded in acknowledgment.
Jin Feihong came to a sudden realization. Hei Xuan’s performance had indeed been fairly spectacular. Thus, it was understandable that Hei Xuan had received more votes than him.
However, Hei Xuan was still only seventh!
There were five main drawcards, yet there were six positions remaining. Perhaps another drawcard had performed better than Hei Xuan?
Right at this moment, the image of a pet.i.te and adorable young woman in a golden dress appeared on the giant screen.
This was none other than Jin Ling’er, a main drawcard. She came in at sixth place with a total of 3,698 votes.
Silence.
Deathly silence.
Even Sister Hong didn’t immediately announce the result. She was just as dumbfounded as everyone else.
What in the world was going on? Sixth place didn’t go to a drawcard, but actually to a main drawcard?
This meant that a drawcard had received more votes than a main drawcard?!
This was an earth-shattering event!
However, none of the drawcards’ performances could surpa.s.s the performances of the main drawcards…
Hang on! There was one person who could pull this off!
The spectators all came to a sudden realization.
There was a trainee who could pull this off. This was a trainee who was neither a main drawcard nor an ordinary drawcard.
Liu Dabao!
It was definitely Liu Dabao!
Standing in the backstage, Jin Ling’er almost fainted upon seeing this result.
“Liu Dabao! You’ve ruined my youth!
“You’ve ruined my career as a main drawcard!”
The young woman’s eyes were red with grief. She was the first main drawcard who had received fewer votes than a trainee… This was destined to be an eternal stain on her career!