Chapter 38: Preparation for the Second Performance (1)
When he heard Xue Yi’s words, Shen Xiu thought of his future solo teammate and refused without hesitation: “No.”
Xue Yi was slightly surprised by this response. Although he had only been joking, he was still curious about the reason.
After all, judging from Shen Xiu’s past behavior—although he always seemed cold and distant, giving off a vibe that he was hard to approach—as long as someone asked for help, Shen Xiu rarely said no.
This refusal was unexpected to Xue Yi.
“Can you tell me why?” he asked.
Not wanting to be misunderstood, Shen Xiu expressed his true thoughts: “I’m willing to help, but I can’t be their team leader. I have a responsibility to my own team.”
If it were just him alone, he would have joined them.
But according to Teacher Xue’s words, being the leader of another group while he already had his own team would obviously be unfair and irresponsible to his own group.
After speaking, Shen Xiu turned to the six auditing trainees. “I’m sorry.”
The six of them had been given a rare second chance to return to the stage—something the eliminated trainees didn’t get—so they were already deeply grateful.
They hurriedly shook their heads.
“It’s really okay.”
“Yeah, just the fact that you even remembered us in this situation is already something.”
“We totally understand, no need to apologize.”
Whether sincere or not, in front of the cameras, none of the six showed any resentment toward Shen Xiu.
Xue Yi clapped his hands. “Very good, all of you.”
Especially Shen Xiu—every choice he made always left Xue Yi impressed.
Shen Xiu had “compassion and kindness,” but he wasn’t the type to let it overflow recklessly at the expense of those around him. He could reject unreasonable requests without hesitation and with blunt honesty.
His mind was always so rational and clear-headed, so strong that he didn’t even care whether the audience might call him “hypocritical”—and that earned Xue Yi’s admiration.
[I was scared for a second. I thought Xiu Xiu was going to lead a team with over a dozen people. No matter how strong he is, I don’t want him to exhaust himself.]
[Same here. Being strong doesn’t mean you should work more.]
[He brought it up and then turned it down—how hypocritical.]
[Oh please, if you’re such a saint, why don’t you take them in? Didn’t you hear Xiu Xiu say he’d still offer help?]
[Helping them within the limits of his abilities, without compromising his own responsibilities—Xiu Xiu, you’ll always be my number one pick!]
The trainees whose rankings had been announced were full of admiration when they heard Shen Xiu’s cold and direct refusal to absorb the six auditing students into his team.
Such blunt words—they themselves wouldn’t dare say out loud.
They might get labeled as “fake” and dragged by public opinion.
But Shen Xiu just said it, without a moment of hesitation.
In their hearts, everyone sighed—Shen Xiu’s strength, to be completely indifferent to what others might say about him, was just so cool.
So badass.
When would they ever reach his level of confidence and power?
Shen Xiu noticed that everyone kept sneaking glances at him, and couldn’t help but feel uneasy.
Did what he said… make people dislike him?
But honestly, that was what he truly thought—he couldn’t fake it even if he tried.
So be it. There are so many people in this world, and everyone has their own perspective. It’s perfectly normal to disagree with others.
Which means… it’s also normal for people to dislike him, Shen Xiu thought, giving in to his own pessimism.
In the awkward silence, Shang Yu suddenly spoke up, “Teacher Xue, will it be the same as the first performance?”
Where each of the six teams would voluntarily accept one auditing student into their group.
That way, the six would be able to perform on the second stage.
Xue Yi shook his head. “Of course not.”
The ranked trainees were confused.
“Then what method will be used?”
“If they can’t perform in the second stage, then they won’t get any votes from that round and will be eliminated, right? Doesn’t that make the revival votes from the first performance totally meaningless?”
“Knowing this show’s style, I bet the production team is up to something weird again.”
Hearing the murmurs of the ranked trainees, the auditing students standing on the side grew increasingly anxious.
All eyes turned toward Xue Yi in unison.
Song Chengwang asked, “Teacher Xue, there are 72 trainees divided into 8 groups, with 9 members per group. Then what about the six revived auditing students? Can you just tell us directly what’s going to happen to them?”
Ning Sinian added, “Yeah, even if they’re going to leave the stage, it should be because they lost a proper PK match.”
Xiang Yueting raised his hand. “We refuse to let them lose their chance on stage without any fair arrangement!”
“Right, we refuse!!” the ranked trainees echoed loudly and passionately.
Shi Buwen, watching from the live studio feed, felt his eyes go red.
No matter what little calculations everyone might have had before—or would have in the future—at this moment, he saw pure unity.
The assistant director standing behind him hesitated. “…Director Shi, are you… crying?”
Shi Bowen stiffened, cleared his throat, and sat up straight. “Haven’t you ever seen someone get sand in their eyes?”
Assistant Director: “……”
This spotless backstage area had every window tightly shut—there wasn’t even a breeze. Where would the sand come from? Truly impressive. Why not just say your eyes were drooling while you’re at it?
[Wuwuwu this is so touching. I thought they’d look down on the auditing students, but they didn’t—]
[Probably because they can relate. Until the final debut spots are confirmed, any one of them could end up in the same position.]
[This is a competition, after all—they should get the chance to battle it out on stage. After training for so long, not even getting a shot to perform? We’ve all worked hard together—who could accept that?]
Amidst the trainees’ protests, Xue Yi looked genuinely pleased.
“Every one of you has surprised me.”
“Don’t worry—they’ll still have the chance to perform. But since they’re revived auditing trainees, their path is different from yours.”
Different how? The trainees were curious.
Xue Yi explained, “The six auditing students will form their own team. After your eight teams have completed four rounds of duels, the auditing group will take the stage last and perform, receiving votes from the audience.”
“Their votes won’t get any bonus or multiplier, and when it comes to calculating the votes for the second ranking release, only one-third of their total votes will be counted.”
Upon hearing that, the auditing students froze.
No one from the production team had told them that on the second performance stage, they’d have to work twice as hard as the ranked trainees to gather enough votes just to have a shot at making it into the third round.
Hearing this all of a sudden, their faces turned pale.
“N-no one ever said that…”
“Exactly.”
“Without a high-ranking trainee leading us, and only one-third of our votes being counted—can we even make it?”
“This is way too hard, seriously too hard!”
Hearing the murmuring voices, Xue Yi responded coldly and firmly, “The other trainees were part of the official ranking. You were brought back. Since you’ve been revived, shouldn’t you cherish this stage even more—and work even harder?”
“Facing a tougher challenge just to stay—do you have a problem with that?”
“As revived auditing trainees, standing on the same track as the ranked trainees would be unfair to them. If you want to blame someone, blame yourselves for not making it into the ranking list during the first performance.”
The auditing trainees: “……”
Crude words, but… hard to argue with. Just way too sharp-tongued!
[Damn… that actually makes a lot of sense.]
[Yeah, if you’re an auditing trainee and you want to stay in the game, it should be tougher—so people don’t slack off.]
[And honestly, it’s not that harsh. Sure, they don’t have a top-ranked leader, but they’re not going head-to-head with another group. They get votes from the entire audience, unlike the ranked groups, where two teams split the votes between 18 people. The auditing group only having one-third of their total counted for the second ranking is actually pretty fair. The show sounds harsh, but the setup isn’t that different from the others.]
Seeing everyone fall silent, Xue Yi asked, “So, any other questions about this?”
What the viewers realized, the auditing trainees quickly came to understand too. Aside from not having a top-ranking captain, the vote-counting setup wasn’t really that unfair.
Everyone shook their heads. “No.”
The trainees had no objections to the production team’s arrangement. Sure, they often complained about the show’s constant unexpected twists, but deep down, they knew the show wasn’t truly mistreating them.
Xue Yi continued, “Since there are no more questions, let’s move on to team assignments.”
As soon as he heard the words “team assignments,” Shen Xiu’s mind instantly flashed back to the scene of picking teammates during the first performance. He instinctively looked over at his original teammates.
Except for Xiang Yueting, the other members from Shen Xiu’s first-round team also looked at him, as if on cue.
Their gazes burned with unspoken intention—clear and direct.
They still wanted to be on Shen Xiu’s team!
Eight people, eight pairs of eyes meeting in that instant—some of them were nearly moved to tears.
Xiang Yueting, the team leader for the second performance stage: “……”
Damn it!!! Why did he have to be the team leader for round two!
He looked at Shen Xiu and the other seven members from Shen Xiu’s original first-round team with a gaze full of blatant resentment.
[Hahaha Xiang Yueting’s probably gonna wake up in the middle of the night punching his pillow in frustration.]
[Boss Shen, just glance at Yueting—his resentment is thick enough to fuel ten evil sword spirits!]
Right now, Shen Xiu didn’t even notice Xiang Yueting.
He was completely focused on the teammates whose eyes were practically shouting we want to be in your group again.
Shen Xiu: “!”
It’s mutual!
Teammates who were just as quiet and reserved as he was were so hard to find. Even when they talked, they didn’t direct conversation at him. This time, they had to be together again…
Shen Xiu hadn’t even finished forming the thought when—
Xue Yi coldly and mercilessly interrupted.
“This time, it won’t be the center picking teammates. It will be the teammates choosing their leader. Starting from the trainee ranked 9th in the training rankings, each group of 8 will take turns choosing the captain they want.”
“The auditing students won’t be included—they’ll automatically give up their spots and selection will pass to the next trainee in line.”
“Of course, if multiple trainees choose the same captain, they’ll have to battle for it. The winner gets priority.”
Shen Xiu: “……”
What a terrifying system!
Shen Xiu’s original teammates: What kind of devil is Teacher Xue?! This is outrageous!
To the trainees who hadn’t had the chance to work with Shen Xiu yet, this announcement was basically a blessing from above.
The shockwaves from Shen Xiu’s team in the first performance were still fresh in everyone’s minds. He was the legend who single-handedly carried his team into the spotlight. An absolute powerhouse!
He might be cold and distant, but he’s incredibly capable.
At worst, they could just avoid eye contact when talking to Shen Xiu to overcome their fear—they could still be teammates!
“What?! This kind of good luck exists?!”
“Shen Xiu, I want to be on your team!”
Once one person started, the other trainees gradually found their courage, calling out to Shen Xiu with a mix of excitement and nervousness.
“Shen Xiu, look at me, look at me!”
“Pick me! I’ll work super hard!”
“I’m the most obedient! If you tell me to go east, I won’t even think about going west!”
Faced with such enthusiasm—and even spotting a trainee forming a heart with their hands above their head directed at him—
“!” Shen Xiu was shaken. These people… weren’t just extroverts, they’d ascended to social terrorists!
His pupils trembled. He had a sudden urge to turn and run.
But he couldn’t.
If he ran now, it would definitely be caught on camera and might become a legendary moment of social death that would be replayed in front of him forever.
After realizing the consequences, Shen Xiu saw nothing but darkness ahead. To avoid this terrifying fate, he desperately wished he could weld his legs to the ground and never move again.
[That was too obvious—Xue Yi barely finished speaking, and the other trainees’ eyes lit up instantly.]
[Who wouldn’t want to team up with Shen Xiu?! Not saying the other captains are bad, but Boss Shen absolutely dominated in round one!]
[Only the original members of Shen Xiu’s first team are living in a world of heartbreak right now, lol.]
[Even with all the attention and “pick me” energy being thrown at him, Demon King Shen remains unmoved—not even a hint of delight on his face. So composed!]
[“Not elated by gain, not saddened by loss.” How long until I reach that level of emotional control?!]
Seeing how enthusiastic the trainees were toward Shen Xiu, the other seven team leaders weren’t actually angry.
Song Chengwang: “Why can’t I be one of them? I’m jealous!”
Xiang Yueting ground his teeth nearby: “Damn it!”
Jiang Yanxi: “Exactly!”
Zhuang Yi: “So unfair! I strongly condemn this!”
Shang Yu: “Calm down, will you? Look at Ning Sinian and Mu Zhenchu—they’re not even…”
Ning Sinian: “I wonder if I give up being team leader, can I join Shen Xiu’s team?”
Mu Zhenchu: “Same question.”
Shang Yu: “…” No saving them. Might as well shut up.
Xue Yi, after watching the chaos unfold for a moment, finally spoke up: “Alright, alright, that’s enough.”
Xue Yi’s famously sharp tongue made him someone the trainees didn’t dare mess with. They immediately quieted down, though their burning gazes toward Shen Xiu remained undiminished.
Shen Xiu: “…”
At that moment, a lyric from a song he’d learned from the multimedia music library echoed in his mind:
‘I want to run, but I can’t escape~’
Xue Yi: “Trainees ranked 9th to 16th in the training assessment, please step forward and choose your desired team leader.”
Among the top-ranking trainees, everyone wanted Shen Xiu as their leader. The selection turned into an intense battle royale.
In the end, Xia Wenhao, whose name was among them, defeated the other seven through sheer effort and earned his place on Shen Xiu’s team.
The seven who lost could only continue battling it out to join other team leaders.
The battles were dance-based, and Xia Wenhao was absolutely exhausted by the end.
As he walked over to Shen Xiu, he recalled how, during training, no matter how many times they practiced or how late it went, Shen Xiu never once panted, never even said he was tired.
Just now, during the battle with the other trainees, Shen Xiu’s gaze had remained calm and indifferent, his expression flat and emotionless.
Obviously, in Shen Xiu’s eyes, whether he won or lost, he didn’t care.
Because in Shen Xiu’s world, it didn’t matter who his teammates were—they were all the same to him.
But—Xia Wenhao refused to admit defeat. He had to prove to Shen Xiu that he was worthy!
And finally, he succeeded.
Worried that Shen Xiu might think he was physically weak, Xia Wenhao immediately forced himself to slow his breathing and, with sheer willpower, walked toward Shen Xiu’s back.
Only when he stood behind Shen Xiu, out of his line of sight, did Xia Wenhao dare to relax—though he still didn’t dare to breathe too loudly.
As he quietly tried to catch his breath, Xia Wenhao stared at Shen Xiu’s back. He didn’t understand how someone could even make their back look so cold and intimidating.
Even just standing behind him felt stressful!
Sensing the faint sound of breathing behind him, Shen Xiu’s body grew even more rigid.
He hated it when people stood behind him!
When Xia Wenhao started walking over, Shen Xiu had actually been really nervous, afraid that Xia Wenhao was going to talk to him.
Luckily, Xia Wenhao silently took his place behind him without saying a single word.
Shen Xiu was genuinely touched. He’d been right—Xia Wenhao was clearly an introvert with hidden depths!
The fact that Xia Wenhao insisted on being on his team must’ve meant that, after observing him during the first public performance evaluation, he found Shen Xiu to be a quiet leader who didn’t talk much—exactly the kind of teammate Xia Wenhao wanted.
“Contestants 17 through 24, please step forward.”
Ten minutes later, Ke Zi’an, thanks to his great voice, was chosen as the winner and joined Shen Xiu’s team.
Ke Zi’an was already afraid of Shen Xiu, and being shy by nature, he only met Shen Xiu’s eyes for a brief second as he walked over. He gave a quick nod and hurried behind Shen Xiu, standing obediently in place.
Shen Xiu: Another introvert. Even better, Xia Wenhao and Ke Zi’an are close friends—they’ll talk to each other and still leave me out. Perfect!
Ke Zi’an was bursting with excitement—he hadn’t expected to win.
When he walked behind Shen Xiu, he couldn’t wait to share how nervous he’d felt during the battle with his childhood friend. But the moment he looked up and saw Shen Xiu’s icy back, his voice automatically softened.
“Aaahh! I’m on Team Shen again!”
Xia Wenhao: “You’ve always been great at singing. See? I told you—battle them with your voice, and they wouldn’t be able to beat you.”
“Contestants 25 through 32…”
Among contestants 25 to 32, Zhou Tong came out as the winner.
Zhou Tong ran over to join Shen Xiu’s team. Compared to the cold and stern Shen Xiu, Zhou Tong quickly nodded in greeting, then chose to stand behind Shen Xiu with Xia Wenhao and Ke Zi’an, chatting quietly.
“That scared me so much—I really thought I was going to lose. Luckily our group had fewer people in the battle.”
Ke Zi’an: “That’s because you’re strong! You’ve improved so much!”
Zhou Tong thought back to his old self who used to cry at the drop of a hat, and his face flushed bright red.
“Ahem… In some ways, yeah, I really have improved. And I owe it all to…” He didn’t finish the sentence, just looked up and stole a glance at Shen Xiu.
Under Shen Xiu’s icy, piercing gaze, there was no room for tears—not a chance!
Besides, Shen Xiu had never scolded anyone.
Still, that chilling stare and emotionless expression were far scarier than any scolding could be!
Everyone exchanged glances—they all silently understood exactly what Zhou Tong had left unsaid.
“Contestants 33 through 40…”
The trainees in the later rounds shouted enthusiastically about wanting to be on Shen Xiu’s team, but when it came time to actually step up, the thought of tough competition—and Shen Xiu’s cold, expressionless face—made many of them back down.
So, the later rounds weren’t very competitive.
…
“Contestants 65 through 72, please step forward…”
After a long selection process, the last eight of the 72 trainees had finished choosing their team leaders.
In the end, Shen Xiu’s team consisted of: Captain Shen Xiu, and team members Xia Wenhao, Ke Zi’an, Zhou Tong, Yuan Jiafei, Ye Cheng, Zhao Mingwei, Song Junying, and Gao Yongshi.
With the teams finalized, Xue Yi looked at the trainees standing behind their respective team leaders and spoke:
“Are you all thinking the next step is choosing your song?”
Everyone nodded: “Yes!”
Xue Yi immediately shut that down: “Nope.”
[Here we go again—the showrunners are up to something!]
[This production team always throws us for a loop. Masters of misdirection. And damn it, every time we fall right into their trap. Ugh!]
The trainees: “?”
Thinking back on all the times they’d been set up in the past, everyone had the same sinking thought: What kind of weird stunt is the production team pulling this time?
Seeing how tense they all looked, Xue Yi prompted them, “Think carefully—what have you all been learning recently?”
The trainees thought about it… What had they been doing? Intensive training camp, of course.
As soon as that hit them, everyone’s expressions changed dramatically.
“No way… It can’t be what I’m thinking, right?”
“We haven’t even debuted yet! Has the production team lost their minds?”
“Exactly! There’s no way we can pull it off!”
“…Unless… someone can pull it off…”
Hearing that, the trainees instinctively looked toward Shen Xiu. Seeing his calm and confident demeanor, only one thought echoed in everyone’s minds:
If it’s Shen Xiu… he can definitely do it, right?!
At the same time, Shen Xiu was completely stunned by the message from his system and hadn’t heard a word Xue Yi or the other trainees were saying.
Shen Xiu: [What did you say?!]
System: [I said, someone named Duan Mingfei is investigating you. He couldn’t find any info on your company, so now he’s hiring a private detective. To put it bluntly, he’s trying to dig up everything about you.]
The system hadn’t expected this. It had been offline for a while, and as soon as it came back online, it noticed a red alert on the terminal.
Because it was bound to Shen Xiu and could detect everything happening to him in this world, it opened the alert and found that a person named Duan Mingfei was actively trying to dig into Shen Xiu’s background. So, it reported this to Shen Xiu immediately.
Hearing the stunned murmurs of disbelief from the trainees, Xue Yi chuckled and raised his voice: “Congratulations! Your guesses were absolutely correct.”
“This time, everything from composing to choreography to lyric writing will be done entirely by you.”
“What kind of stage performance you want to present, what kind of impact you want to make in the second public performance—it’s all up to you. Success or failure, you’ll be fully responsible.”
The trainees: …How is that something to be happy about?! Teacher Xue, you’ve got to be kidding us!
After speaking, Xue Yi scanned the room, his gaze finally landing on Shen Xiu—who had remained silent, lips tightly pressed together, eyes narrowed slightly.
The moment he heard the devastating news, Shen Xiu froze completely. His mind went blank, all the sounds around him fading to nothing.
One thought consumed him:
His past… his parents’ past… it must never be exposed. They’re already gone. He won’t let their suffering be dragged into the light. He absolutely won’t…
In a daze, Shen Xiu suddenly heard Xue Yi’s voice piercing through the fog in his mind.
“Shen Xiu, go ahead—tell everyone. What’s your next move?”
