Chapter 182: Snorting in Derision

The middle-aged man's evaluation also earned a wave of applause from the audience.

However, with the brilliant critiques from the elderly gentleman and the female judge preceding his, the man's assessment could only be described as fairly pertinent.

Therefore, the applause lacked the sensational impact of the previous two instances, and some of the clapping was merely out of courtesy.

This is not to say that the man's evaluation was poor. To be frank, anyone invited to be a judge on Tomorrow's Star, currently the country's most popular variety show, bound to possess genuine talent and solid credentials.

Yet, words of wisdom are prized precisely because they are rarely spoken and seldom heard, making them precious.

However, a succession of high-level critiques had already made the audience accustomed to such praise, naturally dampening any feelings of excitement.

Standing on stage, Director Liu felt a tight knot in his chest as he witnessed this scene. He realized that the commentary from the judges' panel had ceased to be effective.

In other words, the judges could no longer hold the audience's attention.

If he wanted to buy time for Cai Xukun through the judges' critiques, let alone wondering what flowery praise the judges could possibly come up with next, even if they could, the audience had to be willing to listen!

Faced with this situation, Director Liu had only one question in mind.

What the hell is that bastard Cai Xukun doing?!

He said ten minutes, and now it has been almost half an hour!!!

Director Liu was not the only one with this doubt; the millions of viewers in the live streaming room suddenly realized that Judge Cai Xukun was inexplicably delayed in returning to his seat.

By now, anyone could see that the production team was blatantly stalling for time!

After all, having the teachers on the judges' panel give their critiques one by one, and in such meticulous detail, left them unable to think of any other reason besides buying time.

Making everyone wait for Cai Xukun—who on earth did he think he was?!

Consequently, the viewers in the live streaming room instantly grew furious, and the bullet comments filled the screen in an instant!

"Three critiques in a row... I finally get it, Director Liu's bitch-ass is purely stalling for time!"

"You're just realizing this now? I knew it all along. After all, missing a judge means the rest of the competition simply cannot go on!"

"This isn't a pre-recorded show, it's a live broadcast! How can Cai Xukun be so unreliable? Making all of us wait just for him?"

"I'm just waiting for Su Chen's score, and then I'm going to sleep. I have to work tomorrow! Can this bastard Cai Xukun hurry the hell out?!"

"Stop bashing gege! His manager said he suffers from social anxiety. Everyone saw him being escorted away backstage looking pale as a sheet, didn't you?"

"Exactly! Have you people lost all empathy?!"

"What the fuck? Does anyone actually buy that excuse? I'm laughing so hard. An entertainer claiming to have social anxiety—who the hell would believe that?"

......

Director Liu was unaware of the chaos in the live streaming room, but he could easily guess that things must have descended into utter disorder.

Even the live audience was chattering away, repeatedly glancing at Cai Xukun's vacant judge's seat as the discussions threatened to escalate!

Yet, Director Liu was out of options; he had already colluded with the judging panel to stall for half an hour!

Thus, the moment the male judge finished speaking, Director Liu felt a heavy wave of pressure crashing down on him!

What should he do now?!

If he invited another judge to speak, forget about the live streaming room—the live audience would explode!

On the other hand, if he didn't, announcing Su Chen's score would mean moving straight on to the next segment of the competition!

And they were still short a scoring judge!

At that moment, Director Liu mentally cursed the eighteen generations of Cai Xukun's ancestors.

Just as he was gritting his teeth and preparing to invite the next judge to speak, the door leading backstage was finally pushed open.

Cai Xukun brushed his hair aside, struck a minor pose, and slowly walked into the television studio.

The moment Director Liu caught sight of Cai Xukun, he almost burst into tears!

You little punk, you finally fucking made it!

...You son of a bitch, couldn't you walk a little faster?!

Steadied by this sight, Director Liu composed himself, picked up the microphone, and prompted Cai Xukun in a subdued tone: "Welcome back, Judge Cai Xukun."

Cai Xukun, who had originally intended to greet the audience, abandoned the idea upon hearing Director Liu's voice and hurried back to his seat.

Adjusting his microphone, Cai Xukun began: "Apologies for keeping everyone waiting so long."

"Due to sudden health issues and for the smooth continuation of the program, I had to step backstage to recuperate... My apologies once again."

With that, Cai Xukun bowed deeply toward the camera.

Clueless viewers were genuinely moved by this display, and even the live audience broke into applause.

It had to be said that Cai Xukun was truly wasted as a singer; if he applied this acting to the film industry, he would have won several Best Actor awards by now!

Of course, there were plenty of people who sneered at Cai Xukun, such as the individuals on the judges' panel and the mentors' seats.

Anyone with half a brain could see right through the facade of this popular pretty boy based on this incident!

Naturally, Director Liu also had a brain.

So, after curling his lips in silent contempt, Director Liu proceeded with the competition flow.

Director Liu announced: "Alright, now that Judge Cai Xukun has returned and all the teachers have given their critiques on contestant Su Chen's performance."

"Next, let us announce contestant Su Chen's scores!"

"First, Judge Zhou Zhiqian... 100 points!"

"Next, Judge Han Hong... 100 points!"

"How many points did our Judge Yan Mi give... Very well, 100 points!"

"Finally, our Judge Cai Xukun... 100 points?!"

"Then we have the scores from our six music critics... Contestant Su Chen receives a total score of 300 points from them!"

"Therefore, combined with the 300 points from the audience vote, contestant Su Chen's final total score is 1,000 points!"