Chapter 15: First C
When Ai Qingyuan stiffened because he caught a glimpse of Xie Xizhao’s movement, a whole group of people also froze at the same time. Or rather, for anyone watching the evaluation, there was a moment when their minds went completely blank.
Dou Yu held the assessment pen in his hand but had yet to write a single word on the paper. It was rare for him to not ease into the session with some opening remarks. He only snapped back to reality when Lan Yezhou twisted open his pen cap, glanced at the stage, and nudged his arm.
He said, “This group…”
“What perfect timing,” Li Lin murmured.
She had always maintained a pure and sweet persona, so she typically smiled before speaking in front of the camera. This was the first time she had forgotten to manage her expression and gave a straightforward comment instead.
But she wasn’t looking in Ai Qingyuan’s direction.
“His breathing is exceptionally steady,” Qiu Xuerui added.
Although the theme song didn’t have any rap sections, she was also an idol in a group and was equally familiar with singing and dancing.
“He knows how to minimize the impact of breathing on the microphone while singing a cappella,” she continued. “That makes the listening experience very smooth, without sounding breathy.”
“But he must be really exhausted,” Lan Yezhou adjusted his glasses and joined the conversation.
Among them, he was the calmest, a stark contrast to how excited he had been when evaluating Xie Xizhao during the initial stage rating. But in truth, he wasn’t surprised—he was simply an introverted composer who only cared about the work itself and had little interest in singing and dancing.
He looked at Xie Xizhao. If, at the beginning, his interest had only been in the songs Xie Xizhao wrote, then now, that interest had shifted to Xie Xizhao himself.
He could tell that Xie Xizhao was very, very tired.
His stamina was still not enough to sustain such intense singing and dancing, but his gaze, his movements, and even his breathing remained steady and unwavering.
Inside this beautiful young man, a roaring lion lay caged—his frail body its shackles.
But the chains had already begun to loosen. And once they fully broke away, the lion would no longer be bound.
It would step out of its cage with grace and ascend to the highest peak.
—
Of course, these were merely the thoughts of the mentors.
The trainees present did not possess the same level of professionalism as seasoned artists.
With the fierce beat of the music pounding in their ears, they focused all their attention.
Raise a hand, turn, a light-footed leap. Everyone knew that Super Rookie’s theme song had intricate and highly rhythmic choreography, and at this moment, the two people on stage were executing it with precision.
But…
It was just different.
Those five words flashed through everyone’s minds.
Same moves, yet when Xie Xizhao danced, it looked sharper, more fluid, and simply more captivating.
Maybe it was his composed expression. Maybe it was the flawless precision down to his fingertips. And of course, there was also the undeniable stability in his voice.
Everyone had performed the theme song before, but only Xie Xizhao had made it his own.
There was no second person.
As the 90-second instrumental came to an end, the entire venue fell into complete silence.
And then—
For the first time, thunderous applause erupted.
It surged like a tidal wave, unrelenting.
Amid the roaring ovation, the head director, Ma Hongping, stood frozen, mouth agape, utterly dumbfounded.
—
Ma Hongping had been in a great mood today.
The negotiations with Shenghong had gone smoothly. As expected of a major company, they had confidence in their trainees. Once the production team assured them that they would cooperate with promotions, the other side had stopped being so aggressive.
Originally, as long as Ai Qingyuan secured the first center position without issue, there would be countless trending topics, marketing accounts, and even paid fan campaigns waiting for him. They would shower him with praise, sparing no effort in hyping him up as the next top-tier superstar.
Ma Hongping had no qualms about this.
Exaggeration only makes people guilty if there’s nothing to back it up. The kid was excellent—so what if they hyped him up a little?
He had already thought of ten thousand ways to justify it to himself.
But he had never once considered the possibility that Ai Qingyuan might lose.
And worse, that the person he lost to was someone Ma Hongping had dismissed as just a pretty face with a bit of talent.
His entire mind went blank.
A nearby intern sneaked a glance at his expression. “Director Ma…”
“Don’t worry,” Ma Hongping cut her off.
At the same time, he took a deep breath.
‘No need to panic,’ he told himself.
The first center position was decided by a vote from the trainees.
Even if they didn’t care about Shenghong’s influence, the trainees had already developed the same habitual thinking as he had. They must have long assumed that the first center was Ai Qingyuan’s by default.
Besides… besides… He grasped at straws, convincing himself with whatever excuses he could find.
If they picked Xie Xizhao—his health wasn’t great. What if he had to stop and rest multiple times while recording the initial stage performance? Wouldn’t that be a hassle? Right?
His thoughts spiraled as he gripped the ballot in Dou Yu’s hand.
Dou Yu, holding the votes, could feel an unprecedented pressure weighing down on him.
Silently, he prayed—prayed that there wouldn’t be a tie.
Because if there was a tie, the trainees’ votes were anonymous.
But his final decision… would be public.
…Who was he supposed to choose?
Dou Yu closed his eyes briefly.
Beside him, Li Lin took the ballots and began reading out the votes while Qiu Xuerui recorded them.
A minute later, Li Lin called his name softly. “Brother Yu, the results are in.”
Dou Yu felt his heartbeat quicken. “Who got the most votes?”
Li Lin handed him the final tally. Dou Yu glanced at it quickly—and at last, his heart settled back into place.
Then, a flicker of complex emotion passed through his eyes.
Under the weight of everyone’s expectant gazes, he slowly lifted his head, his signature perfect smile returning to his face.
“Yes, the results are in.”
“The theme song center position has been chosen from the eleven A-class trainees,” he announced. “This trainee received significantly more votes than the second-place candidate in this anonymous vote.”
He paused for a moment before continuing, “A total of 45 votes.”
The moment he finished speaking, a wave of gasps erupted from the audience.
Out of the 100 trainees present, with the 11 nominees excluded, there were 89 valid votes.
And one person alone had claimed over half of them—an utterly overwhelming victory.
“That’s right,” Dou Yu adjusted his earpiece.
His emotions were running high, to the point that he barely registered whatever was being said to him through his headset. Instead, he continued speaking quickly,
“Our first center has received a total of 45 votes—21 more than the second-place candidate. Not only is this the highest vote count in the entire room, but it has also broken the record for the highest first center vote in Super Rookie’s three-season history, surpassing the previous record of 39 votes.”
He took a deep breath, lifted his head, and slowly announced—
“His name is—”
“Xie Xizhao.”
—
6:00 PM.
On a popular entertainment forum, a new thread titled “Super Rookie Re-evaluation Recording Live Discussion” had just gone up.
As the moderator of the talent show discussion section and a longtime fan of Ai Qingyuan since his debut, Rabbit, the thread starter, was already opening her 17th dedicated discussion thread for Super Rookie.
She expertly typed out the usual thread rules: “Chat freely, no fighting. Share content, no spreading rumors.” Then, she uploaded a carefully chosen fan-taken photo of Ai Qingyuan looking absolutely stunning.
It didn’t take long for comments to start flooding in.
iii: Here we go! Here we go! Good evening, Sister Rabbit! This pic of Xiao Ai is soooo handsome! [licking emoji]
I’m Lu Xing’s dog: Has the recording been going on for a while? I saw a few Weibo bloggers posting multiple updates already. It’s making me kind of nervous.
Never Watching Talent Shows Again: Yeah, I heard they’re almost halfway through. The trainees this season seem to be working hard. But ugh, this damn production team is scamming us again. Ever since the official photos dropped, this season has looked like a mess. China has done so many seasons of survival shows—any real talent has already been picked out.
iii: Sister Rabbit, are you nervous? Hhh But Xiao Ai is definitely fine, right? Even non-fans know he’s a lock for it.
Rabbit: A little bit, but I believe in him! [heart emoji]
sdklgh: People on Weibo are saying you can tell the quality of a season just from the official photos. Lmao.
iii: Not wrong tho. This season really only has a handful of visually appealing contestants. AQY, JY, XXZ? FWZ is okay too, but our side isn’t really into the cool guy aesthetic.
iii: LMAO, so true. That’s why, as someone with no pick this season, I’m not stressed at all. Just hoping for some entertaining drama.
A Little Star: Finally here! Worked all day, I’m exhausted. Time to catch up on my little flop survival show. How late is the recording running? Also, who’s XXZ? These forum abbreviations are so unfriendly to newbies like me.
iii: Xie Xizhao?
Never Watching Talent Shows Again: Probably recording until 8 or 9 PM. They just said it’s nearly halfway through. XXZ is Xie Xizhao, right? Isn’t he and Ji Yan known as the Pretty but Useless Duo?
sdklgh: Hahaha.
Never Watching Talent Shows Again: But their friendship seems legit. My friend is at the recording; she’s a Ji Yan fan, and she says these two are always together. According to her, XXZ looks even better in person than in the official photos—her personal visual center.
iii: For real? Then can we keep this handsome guy around for a few more rounds?
I’m Lu Xing’s Dog: Why are we suddenly talking about XXZ? I’m at the recording too, and yeah, we all agree he’s good-looking. But let’s be real—he’d be lucky not to get eliminated in the first round. He barely has any active fans on Weibo. And dude, he’s a math major—unless this is a math competition, I don’t see how he’s making it past round two.
Giving You Flowers: LMAO, but honestly, as a STEM dummy, the fact that he studies math is a plus for me.
I’m Lu Xing’s Dog: Not trying to hype him up—it’s just that there’s so little content pre-broadcast. Even Sister Rabbit’s discussion threads aren’t getting much traction. Plus, this season is super polarized.
sdklgh: Weibo already assumes the first center is locked in.
I’m Lu Xing’s Dog: Yeah, obviously AQY. No doubt—he’s got real talent.
Never Watching Talent Shows Again: Ugh, this is so boring. The last two seasons at least had some fight-for-the-center drama. This year, locking in the first center makes things so dull. (Not saying Xiao Ai isn’t good—don’t take it the wrong way, OP.)
Rabbit: I get it. O.O
sdklgh: Eh, it’s whatever. The past center fights were half-scripted by the production team anyway. Some of those guys debuted and instantly went from top-tier to mid-tier, LMAO. At least AQY is actually worthy of the position. No one else can compete with him this year.
iii: But he’s kinda childish, imo. (Also, why has Weibo been so quiet for so long?)
A Little Star: Seriously, it’s been forever. Like, fine, don’t drop any new leaks, but at least say something.
…
I’m Lu Xing’s Dog: Holy crap, I think the production team just messed up big time!
Rabbit: … 🙂
iii: ? What happened?
I’m Lu Xing’s Dog: [Screenshot] Someone just posted this in the super topic—looks like a production intern accidentally leaked it and deleted it immediately.
Never Watching Talent Shows Again: WTF!!! “The first center isn’t Ai Qingyuan”!!!
sdklgh: Huh???
