Superstar Ch.150

Chapter 150: The Vase Career

The truth is, even though in the eyes of everyone in TP, Xie Xizhao had always been a gentle and harmless baby, the moment he actually started filming, both the staff on site and the other mentors treated him as if they were facing a formidable enemy.

Strictly speaking, this attitude no longer had anything to do with Xie Xizhao’s actual personality.

Simply put, no matter how gentle he was, his fans were never going to be gentle. If Xie Xizhao were b*llied, he might not care — but his fans definitely would.

So, when Xie Xizhao and his team arrived, what awaited him was a clean, bright lounge, along with food and coffee that had been specially prepared according to his tastes.

He politely declined the staff’s offer to bring more things, inserted a straw into his iced Americano himself, and sipped it while getting familiar with the script.

It was currently six in the evening.

Barring any surprises, they were expected to film until the early hours of the morning. Xie Xizhao rarely stayed up late these days, and he didn’t want to look tired later on.

After briefly reviewing the MC’s script, the other mentors started arriving one after another.

The first to knock on Xie Xizhao’s door was Shi Mu, the dance lead of the currently very popular girl group Hearty.

Hearty had debuted after TP, so the two groups had a junior-senior relationship. But since they were a boy group and a girl group, they usually avoided interacting in public to prevent rumors. The young girl wasn’t especially outgoing either, so she was visibly nervous when she came in to greet him.

Her manager, on the other hand, seemed quite eager to strike up a conversation with Xie Xizhao. But before they could get far, someone from the production team came in, and the manager had to give up.

The production crew had come to deliver a fruit platter to Xie Xizhao. They left as soon as they set it down.

Xie Xizhao quietly took a picture of the delicately arranged fruit platter, shaped like a flower, and sent it to the TP group chat.

Xiao Ai: That’s all you’re eating? The production team’s abusing you.

Zou 1: …I can feel Director Ma’s panic.

Xiao Ai: Huh?

Before long, there was another knock at the door. Xie Xizhao turned off his screen and went back to playing the polite greeter.

And once the show officially began filming, he had already formed a rough idea of its future prospects.

—

Super Rookie had reached its fourth season, which, for a variety show, was already considered a long lifespan.

Even though talent competitions were an evergreen genre, due to the declining quality of trainees and fading novelty, if no fresh elements were introduced and no buzz was generated, the best-case scenario would be lukewarm reception.

The fact that Ma Hongping and Lu Yan had the nerve to invite him in the first place already gave Xie Xizhao a pretty good sense that they were aware of this.

And sure enough, just by looking at the mentor lineup, it was clear they were trying to cover all their bases.

As the main MC and lead mentor, Xie Xizhao guaranteed a stable viewer base and strong buzz at launch. He also had the strongest skillset among everyone there—across the board, he was a top-tier (T0) performer.

Below him, each of the others had their own strengths.

Dance mentor Shi Mu, the dance lead of her girl group, also specialized in traditional Chinese dance. Her group had high national recognition, which could bring in some of that mainstream traffic.

Rap mentor Ni Qinglin came from a well-known rap competition show. He was highly skilled in rap, though a bit odd as a person. In Xie Xizhao’s words: a strange-brained goofball. If the show was going to have any comic relief, it would most likely come from him.

The remaining vocal mentor, Lin Ying, was someone Xie Xizhao knew well. Back when he competed on a music show and won runner-up, Lin Ying had been the champion. The two had even released a hit collab song afterward. Lin Ying was a young female vocalist whose vocal abilities were so solid she could qualify for the national team.

Aside from that, Lin Ying was straightforward and outspoken. As the two female mentors, she and Shi Mu were essentially the “salty and sweet” combo. Unless something unexpected happened, one would play the strict role and the other the gentle one — a classic bad cop, good cop dynamic.

This was something Xie Xizhao hadn’t anticipated. After Lin Ying came over to greet him, he fell into deep thought.

He asked Fang Qingqing seriously, “So we’ve got the bad cop, the good cop, and the comic relief — what am I supposed to be?”

Fang Qingqing: “……”

She hesitated and said, “You’re… in charge of looking good?”

Xie Xizhao: “…”

Great. Turns out coming back to where his dream began also meant returning to his “vase” career.

A perfect 1:1 recreation.

“Vase Mentor” Xie Xizhao dramatically reviewed the script, dramatically got his hair and makeup done, and then dramatically took the stage.

The moment he stepped out, the wave-like cheers from the audience pulled him out of his beautiful-but-useless daydream. He felt a little regretful, but still picked up the cue cards professionally.

“Hello, everyone,” he said with a smile. “Welcome to the filming of Super Rookie, Season Four. I’m your lead mentor and host for this season — Xie Xizhao.”

Xie Xizhao was really popular.

That was the first thing everyone realized within thirty minutes of filming starting.

After he transitioned into acting, even though he still did occasional comeback promotions with the group, most of the public had started to think of him more as an actor than an idol. Because of that, a lot of people had the illusion that he was “past his prime” in the idol world — that it now belonged to the next generation.

But the reality was: the second he stepped on stage, nearly all the trainees stood up, their excitement written all over their faces.

Earlier, while filming was underway, Lin Ying had been chatting with the production crew backstage. She joked, “Looks like everyone’s white moonlight has returned home.”

Off to the side, Ma Hongping choked on a mouthful of coffee and nearly suffocated himself.

But the statement was spot on.

After the first two trainee groups came onstage, under the “idol inspiration” section of their profiles, every single one had written Xie Xizhao and TP. Not only that, while the trainees were perfectly comfortable chatting with the other mentors, the moment they spoke to Xie Xizhao, they started stammering—like they were experiencing intermittent language loss.

The production team obviously wasn’t going to miss out on this juicy bit. The earpiece prompted Lin Ying to bring it up, and she got the message. Smiling, she said, “You all get this nervous when you see Mentor Xie?”

The trainees’ ears turned red.

Xie Xizhao was reading through contestant profiles at the time. When he heard that, he curled his lips into a faint smile, though there wasn’t much amusement in his eyes. He looked up and asked gently, “Were you just as nervous during your performance?”

As soon as the words left his mouth, the recording set—which had still been buzzing with whispered chatter—instantly went silent.

—

Xie Xizhao had said it very gently.

In fact, from the moment he stepped on stage to host, both the staff and the trainees could tell he had a good temperament.

His hosting style was calm and steady, though he’d occasionally throw in a joke or two. Even when the audience dared to tease him a little, he never lost his temper—just gave a helpless little smile and smoothly continued the show.

During breaks in filming, he’d chat with the mentors and trainees alike, showing none of the aloofness you might expect from someone at the top of the game.

That line just now was also soft and polite—but everyone understood what he really meant.

In an instant, the trainees on stage were red to the tips of their ears.

Perhaps sensing their embarrassment, Xie Xizhao didn’t press the issue. The mentors moved on to deliberation and ultimately gave the group a C rating.

But this was only the beginning.

During the next two hours of filming, everyone felt the unmistakable pressure coming from their beloved “white moonlight.”

From beginning to end, Xie Xizhao never raised his voice once—but he also barely handed out any praise. His gentle tone gradually took on the weight of a devil’s whisper for the trainees. By the time the first half ended, the entire set was dead silent. Xie Xizhao sat in his seat, massaging his temples.

Beside him, Lin Ying lowered her voice and said, “Xizhao, you’ve stolen my job.”

Xie Xizhao paused for a moment. “…Sorry.”

Lin Ying smiled, “It’s fine. It’s not exactly a fun job anyway.”

“I get it—you couldn’t help it,” she said knowingly.

—

Back before he stepped on stage, that conversation he had with Fang Qingqing might’ve been a joke—but he truly hadn’t intended to be too harsh.

It wasn’t for any particular reason. It was just that Xie Xizhao had also started out as a trainee. What he meant was, when he first entered the entertainment industry, it was involuntary—but even so, he’d seen so many trainees step into this world with stars in their eyes.

And to be honest, it’s tough.

The entertainment industry in his world was highly developed, the number of trainees nearing saturation. Most people, even after years of relentless practice, still never saw the light at the end of the tunnel. And at the start, inside the company’s training system, the feedback they got was often more criticism than praise.

It wasn’t that he was against being strict—but when it came to evaluations, Xie Xizhao didn’t think it was necessary to be too strict.

At the very least, you shouldn’t use the standard of a fully-debuted idol to judge a trainee stepping onto their first stage.

But even kindness had its limits.

When the second half of filming started, and two groups in a row went completely off-key and out of tune—Xie Xizhao finally couldn’t hold back.

He let out a quiet sigh.

<< _ >>

**TN

New novel alert! I picked up a new project, it’s called – Treated Like a Big Shot by Everyone in the Boy Group Survival Show Check it out! 😀