Chapter 91: Preliminary Round

On April 2, Saturday, the preliminary round of the "Yuandfang Cup" singing competition officially began.

Early in the morning, Li Dong was awakened by Meng Qiping's call.

Upon hearing that Meng wanted him to join his cheering squad, Li Dong immediately cursed, "Have you no shame? Clearly going to embarrass yourself, and now you want a cheering squad? If you're not afraid of embarrassment, I'm afraid of it!"

Even so, seeing Meng's desperate pleas, Li Dong had no choice but to get up and freshen up.

---

When Li Dong arrived at the multifunction hall, it was already packed with people.

This was just the preliminary round, and yet there were so many people. It was clear that the singing competition was indeed a great success.

Moreover, slogans promoting Yuandfang Supermarket were hung around the multifunction hall, indicating that the student council had done their job well.

The preliminary round took place in the multifunction hall, and the finals would be held in the school's grand auditorium.

The grand auditorium could accommodate five thousand people, so the scene would definitely be even more lively than today. Li Dong privately hoped it would be a big hit, at least to recover his investment.

He found Meng Qiping and the others after about five or six minutes.

As soon as he saw Li Dong, Meng Qiping hadn't even spoken, when Cheng Nan remarked, "Li Dong, you actually came?"

The expression clearly indicated, "You really came to embarrass yourself?"

Li Dong's face turned dark as he said, "Didn't you say he could win first place? I came to share in the glory."

Cheng Nan was somewhat speechless. It was just something I said casually, and you really believed it?

Seeing that Li Dong was looking around, Cheng Nan said, "Don't bother looking, it's just us. Did you really think Meng had a cheering squad?"

Li Dong's face darkened. Meng had told him that dozens of people were invited to cheer for him, and he believed it.

Seeing that Li Dong looked like he wanted to strangle him, Meng Qiping quickly forced a smile and said, "Brother Dong, this is just the preliminary round. Our cheering squad isn't needed yet. Wait until we get to the semi-finals, then you'll see."

Seeing this, Li Dong thought, with a 90% elimination rate, it would be surprising if Meng didn't get eliminated!

Li Dong couldn't be bothered to argue further and looked up at the stage, asking, "Which one is Li Qian?"

Cheng Nan and Meng Qiping all stared at Li Dong as if he were an alien.

Even the nearby students who heard Li Dong's question showed surprised expressions, clearly disdainful.

Li Dong was a bit confused. Was it strange that he didn't recognize a minor celebrity who wasn't even a third-tier star?

After a while, Meng Qiping cleared his throat and asked, "Brother Dong, are you sure your eyes are okay?"

Li Dong glared at him and was about to speak when Bai Su, looking puzzled, said, "Li Dong, which eye did you see a female judge with?"

Li Dong scratched his head and said, "I didn't see any. But aren't there a few who look a bit feminine? Isn't that Li Qian?"

In his mind, Li Qian should be someone with short hair and a neutral appearance, looking almost like a man.

Because that was the impression the Super Girl contest had left on him. But from the looks of it, wasn't that the case?

Cheng Nan and the others were too tired to comment. After a while, Bai Su finally said, "Li Dong, don't tell me you haven't even looked at the promotional posters."

The promotional posters had Li Qian's photo. If Li Dong had seen them, he wouldn't have made such a big mistake.

Li Dong nodded. He hadn't looked at them.

Since finding out he was tricked into spending over a hundred thousand yuan, Li Dong had lost interest in the matter.

He was now just waiting to see the result. If he didn't get the money back, Hu Yong would definitely be in trouble.

Bai Su didn't want to talk anymore and just shut up.

Meng Qiping sighed, "Brother Dong, saying that will get you beaten up."

Li Dong glared at him. Was it really that exaggerated?

Seeing Li Dong's disbelief, Meng Qiping hurriedly said, "Really, Li Qian is a dream girl for many people!"

Li Dong remained indifferent. To Meng Qiping, any woman could be a dream girl.

Although he hadn't seen Li Qian, Li Dong didn't believe that Super Girl contestants would be stunning beauties.

Before Li Dong could rebut, Cheng Nan gritted her teeth and asked, "Fatty, is Li Qian your dream girl?"

Meng Qiping, not being foolish, quickly shook his head and firmly said, "I have Nan Nan, that's enough. Li Qian or Wang Qian, none of them can compare to our Nan Nan."

Li Dong felt a shiver down his spine from Meng Qiping's nauseating words.

He forgot to continue asking about Li Qian and asked Bai Su, "Why are you here to cheer for Meng?"

Bai Su quickly shook her head and denied, "I'm not here to cheer for Meng Qiping. It's Wan'er and Shan Shan who are performing later. They're preparing and will be on stage soon."

Li Dong then understood why Bai Su was there.

Although Li Dong didn't ask further, Bai Su still explained, "Li Qian won't participate in the preliminary round. She'll come for the finals."

Li Dong hadn't known this before and felt even more frustrated.

Earlier, he had wondered why Li Qian would charge 100,000 yuan for a commercial performance in Yuandfang, but it was so cheap here at Jiangda.

Turns out, she only needed to appear once. He had mistakenly thought Li Qian would participate from start to finish.

It seemed these minor celebrities had quite the attitude, charging several tens of thousands for an appearance, yet only needed to perform for a few hours. No wonder so many people wanted to become stars.

Just as he was about to ask more, a burst of laughter erupted in the hall.

Li Dong hurriedly looked up and saw someone singing on stage.

Listening carefully, he was greeted by an off-key rendition.

"Little boy, little boy, carrying that backpack to school, not afraid of the sun…"

Li Dong was stunned for a moment, then said helplessly, "Is he here to be a joke?"

Meng Qiping patted his shoulder and said with feeling, "So now I still have the confidence to stand here. When you weren't here, there were several such jokes already."

Li Dong rolled his eyes. Did you think you were much better?

Just as he finished speaking with Meng Qiping, the performer was booed off the stage.

The judges remained expressionless and didn't even ask the contestant's name, clearly ignoring such an amateur.

A few more contestants performed. Some sang quite well, while others were unbearable.

Li Dong was really curious where these people got the confidence to participate in the competition.

There were hundreds of people watching from below, and they weren't afraid of embarrassment.

When Huang Shanshan took the stage, the laughter from the audience finally stopped.

Many people remembered this beautiful girl who had stunned everyone at the welcoming party. Even a few judges smiled rarely upon seeing Huang Shanshan.

Huang Shanshan sang Teresa Teng's "May You Live Long."

It was Li Dong's first time hearing Huang Shanshan sing, and he felt it was quite good.

Although her voice wasn't loud, the multifunction hall was exceptionally quiet at that moment.

After Huang Shanshan finished singing, there was a burst of warm applause.

Without a doubt, the judges announced Huang Shanshan's advancement to the semi-finals on the spot.

A few more contestants performed, and then Li Wan took the stage.

Although Li Wan's singing wasn't as good as Huang Shanshan's, it was still much better than the others and she smoothly advanced to the semi-finals.

After that, Li Dong felt a bit bored. To be honest, these campus singing competitions were sometimes really dull.

If Meng Qiping hadn't been up next, Li Dong would have prepared to leave.

After about half an hour, Meng Qiping finally appeared on stage.

Seeing Meng Qiping take the stage, Li Dong quickly shouted, "Fatty, go for it!"

Then he ducked back, thinking he had done his best. He just hoped Meng wouldn't embarrass him.

What surprised Li Dong was that Meng Qiping didn't pull out any special tricks this time.

He sang "We, the Soldiers" in a fairly standard manner and actually received quite a few applauses.

Cheng Nan said with some pride, "I picked this song specifically for him. Fatty is suited to sing these military songs. Even if his voice isn't great, people generally don't mind."

Li Dong gave a thumbs up. It was indeed somewhat interesting.

Although Fatty's voice wasn't pleasant, his breath was strong enough. Singing military songs was quite fitting.

After Meng Qiping got off stage, Li Dong asked, "Did you make it?"

Meng Qiping shook his head and explained, "Apart from those who sang exceptionally well, the rest will be decided after the preliminary round. I think my chances are quite high."

Li Dong laughed. This guy was getting confident.

Just as he was about to tease him, his phone rang.

After answering the call and speaking for a few moments, Li Dong's expression turned grim as he said coldly, "Alright, I understand!"

Hanging up the phone, Li Dong's expression returned to normal.

He chatted with Meng Qiping and Cheng Nan for a bit before saying, "I have some matters to attend to. I'm leaving now."