I Became an All-round Artist

Lin Yuan’s prediction turned out to be spot on.
In the following rounds of the competition, Xia Fan advanced swiftly, breaking through one stage after another and entering the final four, drawing widespread attention.
There was something, however, that even Lin Yuan hadn’t seen coming—Xia Fan was a rare, high-performing contestant under pressure!
Even though she was the type of girl who’d get so nervous she’d need to run to the bathroom, the intense competition environment had somehow unlocked her potential, allowing her to perform better with each round!

However...
As the competition progressed, Xia Fan became busier and busier. She rarely appeared in their group chat anymore. Her last message was a quick explanation: “The organizers don’t allow us to use our phones, afraid we might leak competition details.”
That was perfectly understandable.
To keep the show’s suspense and boost ratings, it was common for contestants to be cut off from using their phones to avoid spoilers.

Jian Yi and Lin Xuan, on the other hand, were constantly discussing Bloom’s competition in the chat.
“All four finalists are incredibly strong!”
“Yeah, they’re all tough, but I think Xia Fan’s biggest competition is Tang Yue. Her natural ethereal voice is out of this world!”
“If she can beat Tang Yue, Xia Fan could win the whole thing!”
“I don’t think Xia Fan is any worse than Tang Yue. While Tang Yue’s voice is her biggest advantage, Xia Fan’s vocal technique is stronger.”
“They each have their strengths.”
“...”

Lin Yuan knew who "Tang Yue" was from the competition, based on his sister and Jian Yi’s conversations. Tang Yue was another contestant on Bloom.
Among this season’s competitors, Tang Yue had the highest popularity and support, with Xia Fan trailing in second place. Based on the current data, Tang Yue seemed to have the best shot at winning the championship.
“Let’s see what happens in tomorrow night’s match,” Lin Yuan thought.
It was the end of July, and tomorrow, August 1st, was the Bloom championship showdown!

Lin Xuan even considered going to the finals in person.
But with everyone busy with their own lives and the finals being held in another city, there was no guarantee they could even meet up with Xia Fan. So, they decided to watch from home instead.

Meanwhile, at Radiant Silverlight Entertainment...
As a top-tier singer, Chen Zhiyu wasn’t in the mood to pay attention to a talent competition—even if he had once been beaten by Zhao Yingluo, last season’s Bloom champion.
One must always look forward.
What’s past is past.
Chen Zhiyu had finally moved on from the shadow of Red Rose and was preparing to make another run at the music charts.

His goal?
To be number one in August!

Normally, Chen Zhiyu wouldn’t release songs so frequently.
But two consecutive second-place finishes had sparked a burning obsession in him to win a seasonal championship.
“I have to be first at least once!”
In fact, Chen Zhiyu could’ve released a new song in July, but with four other top-tier artists competing, he chose to sit it out.
He wasn’t reckless enough to face them head-on.

August, however, looked promising. Only one other top-tier artist was set to compete with him—someone everyone knew well:
Jin Shuyu from Starlight Entertainment!
This meant it would finally be the long-anticipated "Battle of the Two Yu’s."
Nobody expected Chen Zhiyu and Jin Shuyu, after missing each other in June, to end up facing off in August. When both sides declared their intent to compete for the August title, the industry buzzed with excitement:

“What a coincidence!”
“The Battle of the Two Yu’s is happening!”
“Haha, the showdown may have been delayed, but it was inevitable!”
“It seems Chen Zhiyu and Jin Shuyu are destined rivals!”
“This feels like a throwback to June, except this time without Xianyu to stir things up. Now these two top-tier artists can fight it out fairly!”
“...”

Chen Zhiyu ignored the industry gossip.
With both he and Jin Shuyu being top-tier artists, their fanbases were closely matched, meaning the quality of their songs would be the deciding factor.
Chen Zhiyu wasn’t worried!
He had full confidence in the quality of his new song.
Although the composer was a newcomer, not one of the established big names—just a second-year student at Dongyi University’s composition department—the rookie had real talent. The moment Chen Zhiyu heard the song, he knew it was a hit!

The company also backed Chen Zhiyu in this competition.
After all, losing two titles to non-top-tier artists had been an embarrassment, and they couldn’t afford to let it happen again.
By the end of June, the media had started teasing him, calling him “forever second place.”
For a top-tier artist, that was a humiliating label.
The only way to shed that “second-place” curse was to win a championship.
This time, Chen Zhiyu had to win, no matter what!

Still, after his last defeat, he asked his manager to run a thorough check.
He had to make sure there weren’t any surprises this time—specifically, that “fish” wasn’t lurking in the background.
“I swear, this time there really isn’t!”
The manager, after three days of careful investigation, reassured him: “Last time I promised to double-check, and I did. You can trust me now.”
“Phew.”
Chen Zhiyu finally let out a sigh of relief. “As long as Xianyu isn’t involved, I’m not worried about going head-to-head with Jin Shuyu. This is a battle between top-tier artists!”
“Exactly.”
His manager added with a sigh, “That ‘fish’ really keeps us on our toes. Every time, he finds some unknown singer to work with and leaves us in shambles. Without him in the mix this time, you’re bound for victory!”
Chen Zhiyu’s heart skipped a beat. “Don’t jinx it!”
The manager chuckled. “You’re being overly cautious. Do you really think Jin Shuyu’s song can beat yours? Remember, this song was handpicked by the company for you—it’s top-quality, no doubt about it.”
Chen Zhiyu nodded. “True enough.”
The manager shrugged. “See? This one’s in the bag... Uh!”
Chen Zhiyu quickly covered his mouth. “Please, stop jinxing me!”
After two jinxed losses, Chen Zhiyu had become genuinely wary of his manager’s words.
Even though Xianyu wasn’t in the picture this time, just to be safe, Chen Zhiyu wasn’t going to let his manager’s “cursed” predictions get the better of him again.
“Overconfidence often leads to downfall.”
The last two times were lessons learned the hard way.

After a few seconds, Chen Zhiyu finally let go.
His manager sighed. “Alright, alright, I’ll stop.”
He found Chen Zhiyu’s hyper-cautious attitude somewhat amusing.
Even in a situation where victory seemed certain, Chen Zhiyu insisted on being so careful. It was clear the shadow of Xianyu still loomed large over him. Hopefully, time would heal that.
“I’m heading out now.”
The manager, finding the conversation less fun, waved and left.

Chen Zhiyu nodded, thinking to himself, Jin Shuyu probably avoided July’s intense competition on purpose, just like I did. Since we both had the same strategy in mind, let’s use August to finally settle this!