Chapter 27.2: First Performance (2)
On stage.
The host walked over to Shen Xiu’s team, who had just wrapped up their debut performance.
“Incredible. That was absolutely stunning!”
“Every single member of Shen Xiu’s team—can you tell us how you pulled this off?”
Xiang Yueting had been extremely nervous before the performance. But after seeing the audience’s overwhelming response, he knew their stage had been a massive success. Having escaped being “killed” by Shen Xiu’s death stares during rehearsal, Xiang Yueting was now fully unleashed and enthusiastically raised his hand.
“Me, me, me! I’ll answer!”
Normally, it would be the team leader who spoke in moments like this. But Shen Xiu, aware that his own speaking tended to kill the mood, and not really knowing what to say anyway, saw Xiang Yueting volunteering and felt rescued from disaster.
Shen Xiu (in his head): Nice work. One fewer time I have to hint at someone to save me.
He Ting laughed so hard wrinkles showed on his face.
“Alright, alright, go ahead!”
Xiang Yueting turned to the side, staring at Shen Xiu with eyes full of admiration.
Shen Xiu: “…?”
A sudden feeling of doom crept in.
And in the very next second, that feeling became reality.
“The reason we were able to succeed today is all thanks to Shen Xiu!” Xiang Yueting raised his hand dramatically, his gaze toward Shen Xiu growing even more intense. He added proudly, “All the lyric changes, choreography tweaks, every single prop and costume—we owe it all to Shen Xiu. He even made a whole PPT for us!”
“If you’re not in Shen Xiu’s team, you just don’t get it,” Xiang Yueting said with heartfelt sincerity. “In Shen Xiu’s PPT, he even mapped out exactly where each stage light should go. Our stage positions were clearly marked right next to the vocal parts he assigned us!”
Xia Wenhao glanced back and forth between Shen Xiu and Xiang Yueting:
“……”
Clearly, he’d been blind before—Xiang Yueting was the real ‘conspicuous bag’.
As for Shen Xiu… he was a god.
“Are you done yet? My turn!” someone jumped in. “Ahem… here’s the thing—Shen Xiu is forever a god!”
“Shen Xiu’s incredible. If I could, I’d want to be in his team next time, the time after that, and the time after that too!”
“Out of all hundred contestants, Shen Xiu is the only person I truly admire. The outfits and styles we’re wearing right now? Shen Xiu designed every one of them!”
“Whether or not I make it to the final debut lineup, in my heart, there’s no way it won’t include Shen Xiu!”
“Be confident! With the way Shen Xiu treats this talent show like an academic research project, I’d say the center position belongs to no one but him!”
“Hey! You stole my line!”
All eight team members stood on stage, taking turns gushing about Shen Xiu in front of a live audience. The host tried several times to jump in, but couldn’t get a word in edgewise. Holding the mic, he could only watch helplessly as the group enthusiastically chattered on and on.
“……”
As for Shen Xiu, he felt like…
This is just like those family holidays where you’re forced to perform in front of every relative, and afterward, they all shower you with polite compliments out of obligation!
He thought saving Blood Romance would help him avoid public embarrassment, but now it felt like he’d just stumbled into a whole new level of it.
Shen Xiu was so mortified he wanted to find a mask to cover his face—this was peak secondhand embarrassment!
As for Xiang Yueting, who started it all?
Assassination count: ×N!
[Faced with so much praise, Boss Shen remains calm as still water—his mindset is unshakable.]
[A PPT? What kind of wild move is that?! Never would’ve guessed—seriously, the way a straight-A genius operates is beyond our imagination.]
[Case closed. So that’s why Boss Shen didn’t go back to the dorm that night—he was in the studio writing a full-blown thesis to revise Blood Romance! Did… did he really carry the whole team on his own?]
[Not just carried—he assigned each part and screen time fairly. Boss Shen is the true master of balance. Being on his team must be pure bliss, sob sob.]
After hearing the speeches from Shen Xiu’s team on stage, the rest of the trainee groups fell into a dead silence.
A long moment passed before Jiang Yanxi finally spoke up:
“We’re doomed. We’ve walked right into Shen Xiu’s Shura Field.”
None of them could have imagined that someone would go to such extreme lengths just for the first public performance.
—
In the restroom.
Lin Jiashi leaned his wet hands on the sink, staring blankly at his white hair in the mirror. His face was still made up—he didn’t dare wash it to calm down, only rinsed his hands.
In Class F, which was widely acknowledged as the weakest, he had worked hard but never stood out. He ended up in Zhuang Yi’s team as a fill-in. Because his idol, Shen Xiu, was the undisputed top-ranked contestant, he had longed to join Shen Xiu’s team.
But during the first public performance, his idol chose someone else over him, and that little spark of unwillingness to accept defeat stirred up debates and sympathy among the audience.
He crafted a hardworking persona in other groups, and eventually, with fans voting out of a desire to help him debut alongside his idol, he made his way into Class A.
Whether he was truly hardworking didn’t really matter—what mattered was that he appeared to work hard on camera.
Based on the patterns he’d observed in other talent shows before joining this one, contestants who broke down under pressure during evaluations—crying or throwing a small tantrum—were rarely harshly criticized. Instead, the mentors would comfort them, give them another chance, and the audience would remember them for their emotional moments. He thought, and it turned out, he had been remembered.
Before Shen Xiu’s team’s performance, he had carefully paved the way for his future. Everything was under control.
Now, after Shen Xiu’s team had performed, he had become a joke. Everything was slipping out of his hands.
Thinking of Shen Xiu’s soft, naturally glossy white hair, Lin Jiashi gritted his teeth, a flicker of irritation flashing in his eyes.
The exact same white hair and red eyes as his—Shen Xiu… he must have done it on purpose!
The vampire look was so attention-grabbing. With Shen Xiu standing out in front, who would even notice him anymore?
—
In a team showdown, the vote doesn’t take place until both teams have performed. Only when both teams are on stage together does the two-round voting begin.
Shen Xiu’s team had already left the stage. There were only five minutes left before their second group was up.
Lin Jiashi had not come out of the restroom, so Luo Yuan came to call him: “Lin Jiashi, hurry up, it’s almost our turn!”
“I’m coming.”
Lin Jiashi replied, then took off the red contact lenses from his eyes while looking at himself in the mirror.
It was certain that many viewers would pick Shen Xiu now. In this critical moment, it would be wiser for him to avoid the spotlight.
When Lin Jiashi came out of the restroom, everyone noticed that his red contact lenses were gone. Zhuang Yi breathed a sigh of relief.
It seemed that Lin Jiashi had realized it was inappropriate—good decision.
Looking at his teammates, who were clearly struggling with their energy, Zhuang Yi reached out his hand to rally everyone: “We’ve practiced for so long, just for this moment, let’s go, guys! Let’s do our best!”
Nine hands stacked on top of each other, and they all shouted in unison: “Let’s go!”
As the host finished speaking, Zhuang Yi’s team, with smiles on their faces, walked toward the stage…
Zhuang Yi’s team had drawn the song “Tonight,” which was more on the lyrical side, with no intense dance moves—just some hand gestures and positioning in sync with the lyrics. Although it was an English song, it wasn’t particularly difficult.
However… when it was Lin Jiashi’s turn, about one minute and thirty seconds into the song, something unexpected happened.
Luo Yuan had finished singing his part on the right side of the stage, and the spotlight shifted to Lin Jiashi.
Lin Jiashi sang the first half of the line, but when he reached the word “see you,” he suddenly remembered that Shen Xiu had also sung this same English line on stage. He froze for a moment and lost his rhythm.
At this moment, Zhuang Yi, who was standing at the center of the stage, couldn’t see what was going on with Lin Jiashi on the left side. In order to avoid disrupting the performance for the rest of the group, Zhuang Yi directly took over the next two lines of lyrics for Lin Jiashi.
Lin Jiashi watched as Zhuang Yi moved in front of him, blocking his actions. His face turned pale. He forced himself to push away the image of Shen Xiu sitting on the thorny iron throne, saying “see you” in his mind, as he still had one more line to sing.
Though Lin Jiashi didn’t make any more mistakes during the second half, the earlier glaring error was something that neither Zhuang Yi’s team nor the audience could overlook.
As Zhuang Yi finished the final line of lyrics, the entire team froze in their poses on stage, marking the end of Zhuang Yi’s team’s first public performance.
Afterward, the applause from the audience was noticeably less enthusiastic than when Shen Xiu’s team had finished.
The atmosphere among Zhuang Yi’s team members was awkward, with everyone falling into silence, not speaking a word.
The host came on stage, and, as usual, asked about incidents that happened during training. Zhuang Yi was the only one answering.
[I can feel the oppressive atmosphere of Zhuang Yi’s team through the screen. What happened to Lin Jiashi?]
[Such a simple song and he made such a big mistake. Who could stay happy after that? Zhuang Yi must have had bad luck. He kindly took in Lin Jiashi, and Lin Jiashi dug a huge pit for him. With Shen Xiu’s white hair leading the way, now even Lin Jiashi’s white hair doesn’t seem special.]
[What’s up with Lin Jiashi? He must have some kind of curse! Both have white hair, but the difference between the two is huge. Zhuang Yi’s team is really unlucky to be affected by him.]
…
The comments were flooded with criticism of Lin Jiashi, and those who liked him didn’t dare to speak up, fearing the wrath of the majority.
As the team leader, Zhuang Yi finished speaking and, with his teammates, temporarily moved backstage, his mood heavy.
He also wanted to ask—what on earth happened to Lin Jiashi?!
Clearly, during practice a few days ago, there hadn’t been any problems at all. So how was it that Lin Jiashi messed up on the actual stage?
He Ting: “With both groups’ performances now complete, let’s invite Shen Xiu’s team and Zhuang Yi’s team to the stage for the first round of voting!”
At the announcement, the members of both groups walked out from behind the stage and stood on either side of the host.
He Ting: “The voting channel is about to open. Please, both the live audience and viewers online, cast your valuable vote for the group you’re supporting.”
“Team Shen Xiu, Team Zhuang Yi, which group will claim victory in the first round of the initial public performance? The first round of voting is limited to three minutes. Countdown, three, two, one, begin!”
