In the waiting area.

As soon as The Clown and Spinach came back, they were surrounded by Yesterday's Daylily, Petal Shower, and Sunset Glow.

Petal Shower said in shock, "Are you serious?"

The Clown laughed. "Yeah."

Sunset Glow gasped. "How sure are you that you can win?"

The Clown shook his head. "I don't know."

"You don't know but you still did that?" Yesterday's Daylily had to take his hat off to him in admiration.

Petal Shower thought for a moment before saying, "If Sunflower's first song had been a Cantonese one, I probably wouldn't have won. I've checked with Bai Yuanfei and Sunflower's second song is gonna be a Cantonese one, so be careful." She had always known that in order to eliminate Sunflower today, it would take more than her alone because she could only face off against Sunflower in one round. She needed someone else who could sing as well as her to finish the job. But Petal Shower did not make this clear as she could only ask this of herself, not the others.

She did not expect that someone would understand her intentions.

And all the more did she not expect that someone to be The Clown!

This man had always felt especially mysterious to Petal Shower. He seemed familiar, like he was someone she knew, yet was somewhat unfamiliar because she had no impression of anyone like that at all.

The Clown was quite calm. "I will."

Spinach clenched her teeth and said, "You must win!"

The Clown chuckled, "OK."

Could he win?

Zhang Ye wasn't sure, but he was also too lazy to think about it. He just found Sunflower to be unpleasing to the eye and so wanted to knock him out. This was Zhang Ye's style. Even with a mask on, his att.i.tude was the same as before. If this fellow saw something that he didn't like, he would have to get involved. Could there be anything more enjoyable than this in life?

...

In Sunflower's waiting room.

a.s.sistant Xu came rus.h.i.+ng back in anger.

The camera in the waiting room was turned off as they requested not to be filmed.

a.s.sistant Xu said, "That Clown did it on purpose!"

Sunflower grunted. "I know that."

"If he goes to the elimination round, his next opponent would b-be you?" a.s.sistant Xu said in worry.

But Sunflower simply smiled. "Do you think that I'll lose today?"

a.s.sistant Xu said, "But the first round…"

Sunflower said, "I'll be singing in Cantonese for my next song."

a.s.sistant Xu immediately rested a.s.sured!

Cantonese?

Then the win would be a sure thing!

Even if The Clown was a amazingly talented singer, he wouldn't be able to use a Mandarin song in today's' setting and atmosphere to beat Li Yu, who was going to sing a Cantonese song. As the news had already spread, many of those who came to attend today's recording had the mentality that they would be listening to Li Yu sing a Cantonese song. With such antic.i.p.ation, there would surely be an outpouring of emotion once Li Yu appeared onstage. At that time, it wouldn't matter who took the stage!

...

In The Clown's waiting room.

On the television, the match between Sunset Glow and Yesterday's Daylily began.

Han Qi came back in all angry. "Teacher, you're taking a huge risk!"

The Clown smiled. "It's not that bad."

Han Qi said anxiously, "But this is Li Yu we're talking about! He's the biggest name of all the contestants here!"

The biggest name?

That wasn't true now, was it?

Zhang Ye chuckled but did not say anything.

Everyone thought that Sunflower was the biggest name of all the contestants on King of Masked Singers. But in reality, n.o.body, not even the program team, knew that this unknown Clown was actually a much bigger name than Sunflower!

Comparing who was more popular?

Would I be afraid of you?

Zhang Ye even had the confidence to say that if he were to take off his mask and reveal his ident.i.ty, even if he were to sing " The Hottest Ethnic Trend 1 ," he could take the throne of the Masked King. But there was no meaning to that. Zhang Ye did not come here to compete with popularity; he was not here to swagger before others. The point of the show was for the celebrities to cast aside their popularity and reputation to compete solely on talent. But of course, he didn't dare take off his mask at this time. He was afraid that it might halt the broadcast of the show. As such, when faced with an arrogant Li Yu who had resorted to using his popularity to beat the others, Zhang Ye despised him.

I didn't use my popularity against you, yet you want to use you your popularity to stifle me?

It had been Zhang Ye who personally knocked Li Yu off the list Celebrity Rankings.

So Zhang Ye found it rather amusing.

Hmm, which song should I choose?

Which song would be most suitable?

Zhang Ye started pondering. He had prepared a total of four songs today, and "Life's More Than the Grind" was just used. Now there were three songs remaining.

That one?

Or that one?

Should he combat him indirectly?

Or clash with him head on?

He was a little undecided as it was difficult to make a choice.

So he simply gave up on thinking. Zhang Ye turned his attention to the television to watch the match between Sunset Glow and Yesterday's Daylily.

He didn't feel anxious, but Han Qi said in panic, "Teacher, what are you doing?"

Zhang Ye said, "Watching their match."

Han Qi said in disbelief, "We're faced with elimination yet you're taking things at your own pace? What if we get eliminated in the next round? Have you thought of which song you'll sing? I heard that you rehea.r.s.ed four songs?"

Zhang Ye laughed. "Let's think about it when the time comes."

When the time comes?

But it's coming right up!

Han Qi gave up. She truly believed that The Clown didn't have much of an advantage. If she were to be blunt about it, today's stage was Sunflower's home field. Even if The Clown could sing a little better than Sunflower, he still couldn't beat him, unless he was like Petal Shower who could crush him with both her song and singing skill!

Singing skill?

Everyone knew that The Clown had that!

But as for the song choice?

What song could take on the Cantonese song that Li Yu was going to sing?

...

Sunset Glow and Yesterday's Daylily finished singing.

The voting began.

The results were decided very quickly.

Unsurprisingly, Sunset Glow won by a huge margin!

Yesterday's Daylily was not surprised. He smiled sadly as he congratulated Sunset Glow.

This match was very exciting to watch and the audience got quite a bit of enjoyment out of it. But when they thought about how the elimination round was coming up, much of the audience got distracted once again.

Sunflower?

The Clown?

Yesterday's Daylily?

Of those three, two had to leave the show? Only one of them could remain?

How cruel was this! Can this episode get any more exciting than this?

The Clown and Sunflower were currently the two contestants with the highest popularity. In the eyes of many, these two were supposed to be fighting for the crown of the Masked King and were both capable enough to do that. But today, these two had ended up fighting for the right to "survive" on the show? One of these two had to be eliminated? This development came out of left field!

The elimination round was about to begin!

The audience was getting so excited it was like they were on an adrenaline rus.h.!.+

"It's starting!"

"The first round is over! It's time for the elimination round!"

"Li Yu!"

"Li Yu!"

"Li Yu will prevail!"

"There's no suspense to this! We don't even need to watch!"

"Haha, Li Yu's going to perform the songs he's best at!"

"Cantonese songs!"

"Come and sing the Cantonese song!"

"Yeah, we've been waiting so long!"

"We came here today just to see Li Yu sing in Cantonese!"

The studio was heating up.

Many of Li Yu's fans were waving their fluorescent glow sticks to cheer on their idol!

At the panel of judges.

Zhang Xia asked, "Who do you guys think will win?"

Chen Yidong smiled and said, "Definitely Li Yu, I guess."

w.a.n.g Zhuishu thought about it. "Actually, I'm hoping that The Clown will win. But I can't think of a reason why Sunflower would lose. He has the advantage of being in just the right place, at just the right time, and as the just right person."

Amy was worried. "The Clown is in danger!"

Yao Jiancai did not quite understand. He asked, "Didn't Petal Shower beat him just now?"

Chen Guang explained, "Sunflower will be singing a Cantonese song. As a Hong Kong singer, him singing in Cantonese and Mandarin are two totally different things!"

Yao Jiancai simply said, "Oh, so it's like that."

Onstage.

Dong Shanshan raised her cue cards and recited some advertising messages. Then, with a smile, she said, "Next we head into the elimination round. Let's welcome our first compet.i.tor—Sunflower in the Starlight!"

Cheers erupted instantaneously!

"Li Yu!"

"Li Yu!"

"Li Yu!"

He was incredibly popular!

Even before he started to sing, a lot of those in the audience were already standing!

Then, the t.i.tle of the song was shown on the teleprompter screen overhead. When some of the audience members saw it, they screamed even louder!

This was a purely Cantonese song!

It was a love song!

It was one of Li Yu's representative works!

"I Really Hate You."

Lyricist: Xu Fei.

Composer: Li Yu.

This was Li Yu's debut song. Back then, the song wasn't terribly well-known but held a very special meaning for Li Yu. He performed this song at almost every concert. Since then, many fans gradually became familiar with the song and also started liking it!

"This is great!"

"I love listening to this song!"

"Li Yu's maiden work! I'm looking forward to it!"

"There's no hope for The Clown now!"

"That's right!"