Superstar Ch.20

Chapter 20: Reserved

Was it common for rules to be changed? Actually, it happened quite often.

Generally speaking, different talent shows or different seasons of the same show would make certain modifications to the rules inherited from the first season. It was never entirely unchanged. Most of the time, these changes were made to enhance the show’s appeal.

That was understandable.

But… why was the production team changing the song selection rules now?

Their reasoning was certainly valid, and perhaps no one would care when this segment aired. However, for the trainees present—those whose interests were directly affected—they were the most sensitive to it.

They almost immediately thought of a person who had unexpectedly made it into Class A—someone who had even reached the pinnacle of the pyramid.

Ji Yan and Fu Wenze exchanged a glance, both seeing the same realization in each other’s eyes. Ji Yan abruptly pressed his lips together. He opened his mouth as if to say something but didn’t know where to start.

After all, the show was run by the production team, and changing the rules was normal.

Even if it was targeted, so what?

Many in Class F shared the same thoughts.

The cameras were still rolling, so their discussions were restrained. They had to be careful not to be picked up by the microphones. But their thoughts were strikingly unanimous.

First, the production team was openly making things difficult for Xie Xizhao.

Second, Xie Xizhao had no choice but to endure it.

Most likely, he wouldn’t be able to choose the group he wanted.

Expressions varied across the trainees’ faces. Ji Yan was nearly livid, on the verge of losing his composure in front of the cameras, whereas people like Ni Xin were smugly pleased.

Soon, the murmurs of discussion died down, leaving only one person moving his lips.

Just as Ai Qingyuan was about to speak, the person beside him seemed to sense it and immediately pressed down on his wrist.

Ai Qingyuan stiffly turned his head and saw Guan Heng giving him a slight shake of the head.

Then, Guan Heng lowered his voice with a smile, “Don’t act on impulse. The production team has its reasons. Besides, think about Xiao Yin and the others.”

Whenever rules changed, there would always be those who suffered losses—and those who benefited.

At this moment, some trainees who had existing fan bases but lacked strong skills could no longer hide their delight.

With this rule change, those ranked higher would now have priority in song selection.

Among them were all the trainees from Shenghong.

Shenghong had family-backed fans, and before the competition began, their company had already released a lot of promotional content. Most of their members had been ranked high from the start. In the second episode, the production team had crafted an image of them as a powerful, all-dominating boy group. This week, every single one of them had been voted into the top twenty. But in reality, most of them had received low rankings in the initial evaluations.

They were the teammates Ai Qingyuan had been with day in and day out.

Ai Qingyuan suddenly pressed his lips together.

In his ears, Dou Yu was already cueing the next segment. He didn’t know why, but he unconsciously turned his head to look at the person beside him.

And then—

He realized that person was… looking at him?

Ai Qingyuan: ?

He snapped back to his senses almost instantly and barked, “Why are you looking at me?”

His voice was a little loud, and as soon as he spoke, the people around them all turned to look. Even Dou Yu, who had been focusing on the cue, heard him.

Dou Yu paused for two seconds as if nothing had happened, then repeated his previous line for easier editing.

For once, Ai Qingyuan felt his face heat up. Meanwhile, Xie Xizhao, who had been inexplicably questioned, was stunned for a second. He was about to explain when Ai Qingyuan cut him off immediately, “Alright, I don’t care.”

Xie Xizhao: “…”

Alright.

He sighed and then said softly, “Listen to your brother.”

Guan Heng’s hand paused mid-action.

Almost at the same time, Ai Qingyuan’s face darkened instantly.

—

Xie Xizhao didn’t dislike Ai Qingyuan.

Though Ai Qingyuan had a less-than-stellar reputation and always acted like a bristling hedgehog around him, Xie Xizhao still found him to be… how should he put it? Pretty straightforward.

A little young master living in an ivory tower, completely unaware of the hardships of the world.

That could be both a flaw and a virtue. On the bright side, he was clear about his likes and dislikes—his character was easy to read at a glance.

That was much better than a two-faced hypocrite.

So, Xie Xizhao didn’t mind lending him a hand.

The little young master’s poor social standing was obvious. Even his own company teammates weren’t particularly close to him. While the production team and trainees indulged him due to his background and agency, he couldn’t keep making enemies forever. If he caused a scene now, his already limited social connections would only worsen.

Of course, Xie Xizhao only gave him a single reminder.

Whatever Ai Qingyuan did afterward was none of his concern. After all, Guan Heng was a smart guy—he would handle it.

Instead, Xie Xizhao turned his focus to himself.

There was no doubt that the production team was targeting him. That meant both of his original song choices were likely out of reach. He needed to assess the remaining options carefully and rank them in order of preference.

Two minutes later, he had a plan in mind.

Not bad.

He thought optimistically.

Fortunately, his ranking was in the middle, so he wouldn’t be forced into a cutesy concept. If this were a typical scripted setup, he—being the designated underdog—would definitely have been thrown into the last group to stir up drama with the equally down-on-their-luck protagonist.

As expected, deliberate targeting by people was much more considerate than rigid system programming.

Dou Yu took note of Xie Xizhao’s expression.

At first, he had only felt a bit of sympathy and pity for him. But now, those emotions had entirely transformed into admiration.

A steady mindset and strong psychological resilience—qualities like these ensured that temporary setbacks wouldn’t break a person. Dou Yu firmly believed that even if this young man was momentarily lost in the crowd, one day, he would stand out.

And that day… probably wasn’t far away.

—

After a brief announcement of the rules, the song selection began.

Without question, the top-ranking trainee last round was Ai Qingyuan. All eyes turned to him, only to notice that he seemed to be in a low mood.

But Ai Qingyuan always wore an expression like the world owed him eight million dollars, so everyone was used to it. Still, they played along, erupting into cheers.

He lifted his eyelids lazily and walked to the board displaying the song titles.

A moment later, without hesitation, he stepped toward the first board and stood behind it.

The card read “Stand By” – Group A.

No one was surprised by his choice.

And “Stand By” was precisely the hit boy group song that Xie Xizhao had originally intended to pick.

After making his selection, Ai Qingyuan glanced toward Xie Xizhao, only to find that the latter was staring blankly at the song boards in front of him, completely unfazed by the fact that his strongest competitor had already secured the ideal track.

Ai Qingyuan: “…”

A vein twitched at his temple as he clenched his fist.

“Well… a very expected choice,” Dou Yu commented with a smile. “That means, Ai Qingyuan, you will automatically be the center for Group A’s ‘Stand By.’”

He glanced at the ranking list. “Next up—Guan Heng.”

Hearing that name, Xie Xizhao lifted his eyes in slight surprise.

Xie Xizhao hadn’t checked the rankings. Though he had expected Shenghong to be strong this season, he hadn’t anticipated them taking both of the top two spots.

As their gazes met, Guan Heng gave him a small smile. Xie Xizhao returned it before looking away.

His impression of Guan Heng was positive. In terms of skill, the guy was definitely solid.

And Guan Heng didn’t hesitate.

However, to everyone’s surprise, he didn’t choose the ballad “Swan in the Rain,” a song that seemed tailor-made for him. Instead, he walked straight to “Stand By” – Group B.

Gasps filled the room, but Xie Xizhao remained completely unfazed.

He idly rolled the dice in his pocket.

The slow-paced selections were making him drowsy. He needed something else to focus on.

Even Ai Qingyuan was a bit surprised. He couldn’t help but speak up, “Brother, you—”

Guan Heng tilted his head toward him. “Don’t want to compete against me?”

“…That’s not what I meant,” Ai Qingyuan muttered.

“Then let’s give it a shot.” Guan Heng chuckled. “We’ve never been on opposing sides before.”

With that, Ai Qingyuan had no further objections.

While the room was still buzzing with shock, the third-ranked trainee stepped onto the stage.

Given the time constraints, the next contestants moved much faster.

The third and fourth trainees, both from different companies and already debuted, each chose songs with strong boy group appeal. The reason was obvious—securing the center position was more valuable to them than picking the most popular song.

As more trainees made their selections, every song except the cutesy concept track had its center position filled—unsurprising, since only one trainee suited that style.

Xie Xizhao didn’t particularly care about getting center position. Sure, the center got more screen time, but in a show like this, the difference wasn’t huge. Plenty of past survival shows had seen centers completely overshadowed by their teammates.

What really caught his attention was something else—his second-choice song, the ballad “Swan in the Rain,” was still nearly empty.

—

Xie Xizhao recognized the trainee who had chosen it.

His name was Zou Yi, 26 years old, a former boy group leader from a small company. He had delicate features—not exactly ordinary, but not strikingly stunning either. His role was main vocalist.

Being a leader was a thankless job, and Zou Yi hadn’t even been the main focus of his group.

But Xie Xizhao recalled that his vocal skills were solid—the kind that came from years of relentless training rather than natural talent.

Zou Yi was ranked 13th. If he were the center of the A group, that was fine by Xie Xizhao. A good leader meant fewer internal conflicts, as they usually took on the role of mediator.

Xie Xizhao wasn’t afraid of conflicts—he just found them annoying. If Ni Xin hadn’t provoked him so directly, he wouldn’t have even bothered to argue.

For the first time, he felt a bit nervous. He silently hoped that anyone else choosing “Swan in the Rain” would go to Group B instead.

Maybe his sincerity paid off, because even as the 30th-ranked contestant made their selection, “Swan in the Rain” still had only Zou Yi and the B-group center.

Relieved, Xie Xizhao met Zou Yi’s gaze.

Zou Yi blinked in surprise, then quickly understood. His eyes lit up.

Their eye contact was almost like an instant agreement. At that moment, Xie Xizhao no longer regretted missing out on “Stand By”—

Well, maybe a little, but one had to be content with what they had.

And he was a content person.

Feeling quite satisfied, he allowed himself a moment of quiet joy before finally remembering to check in on his original first-choice song.

Group B, Guan Heng’s team, was already full.

But to his surprise, Group A—Ai Qingyuan’s group—still had two open spots.

Xie Xizhao: …

He sighed internally. Poor little Ai Qingyuan and his tragic social skills…

He didn’t hold out any unnecessary expectations. Soon enough, someone did join Ai Qingyuan’s group.

But then, just as the 46th-ranked contestant stood up and headed toward them, Ai Qingyuan suddenly spoke up.

“Sorry,” he said flatly. “It’s full.”

The contestant froze. “Huh?”

Xie Xizhao instinctively did a quick headcount.

The next second, he locked eyes with Ai Qingyuan.

A beat of silence passed.

The corner of his mouth twitched.

No way…

A suffocating stillness filled the air. Ai Qingyuan stared at him and, with absolute calm, said—

“I saved a spot.”

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