Chapter 59: Preparation for the Third Performance (1)
[???]
[Did I see that right…? No wait, did I think that right? Is that the Lin Jiashi I know?]
[Help, he’s been bouncing around like crazy these past few days. He just signed with Qinghe Entertainment, and after leeching off Duan Mingfei from the same company, he couldn’t wait to come freeload off our Xiu? Does he think we Shen-stans are dead?!]
[Get out of here!]
[Don’t be an eyesore, pei!]
The barrage of comments came in fast and fierce, but Shen Xiu, who was singing at the time, felt too self-conscious to stare at his phone while performing, so he looked away and focused on something else. Because of that, he didn’t notice Lin Jiashi’s arrival right away.
After entering the livestream room, Lin Jiashi sent a long message.
@Lin Jiashi: Shen Xiu, I’m sorry. I admit I’ve been jealous of you, but I really can’t bring myself to hate you. As much as I don’t want to admit it, you truly work hard—you’re the most hardworking person I’ve met since entering the industry. I came just to tell you that the past is in the past. Since three days ago, you’ve no longer been my goal. Goodbye.
The moment Shen Xiu’s livestream started, Lin Jiashi had already entered the room using a burner account.
He had been watching every exchange between Shen Xiu and his fans clearly.
Watching Shen Xiu respond so warmly to his fans, seeing how different his eyes looked when facing the barrage compared to when he looked at him—Lin Jiashi felt stifled. On impulse, with heat rushing to his head, he clicked into the livestream with his main account.
[…What a nutcase.]
[I don’t get it. Boss Shen has already made it clear he doesn’t like him. Why does he keep trying to force his way in?]
[Nothing we can do. Our Demon King Shen was born to shine—his charm is impossible to resist.]
After Shen Xiu finished singing a song, he pulled his gaze back from the void and looked at the phone screen. He originally meant to ask the fans if they liked it, but instead he saw that no one was talking about the song—they were all telling Lin Jiashi to get lost.
[Xiu-baby finished singing and is looking at the comments!]
[Xiu Xiu, don’t pay attention to him. He’s saying all sorts of weird things.]
[Good thing I recorded the screen—I can listen to the song later. Damn Lin Jiashi, he messed up my mood so bad I couldn’t even focus on Xiu Xiu’s singing.]
Lin Jiashi?
When he suddenly saw that name, Shen Xiu froze for a moment before recalling who it was. Once he remembered, he frowned in confusion.
He and Lin Jiashi… weren’t really close, were they? More or less strangers, if you rounded it off.
Seeing that the fans didn’t like Lin Jiashi and were repeatedly telling him to leave, Shen Xiu, who had no moderators, had to figure things out on his own.
He tapped through every clickable interface in the livestream room, and finally, after searching Lin Jiashi’s name in the search bar, he located the “kick out and block” button.
Shen Xiu let out a sigh of relief and said, “One moment.”
Hearing Shen Xiu’s cold voice, the fans hadn’t yet caught on to what he was about to do. The next second, they saw a system message: “User Lin Jiashi has been removed from the livestream room.”
Immediately after, another message popped up: “User @D Lin Jiashi has been blacklisted from this livestream room.”
[……66666]
[That’s my Xiu Xiu!]
[So cool!]
[Love it, love it! I knew it—the moment Xiu Xiu frowned, it wasn’t for nothing. Turns out he frowns at the sight of Lin Jiashi just like we do, hahaha!]
Lin Jiashi: “……”
Staring at the notification that he’d been kicked and blacklisted, Lin Jiashi began to question his life choices.
Wait—he wasn’t there to leech. He just wanted to make peace, to say a proper goodbye. Was Shen Xiu really not even willing to give him that?
Did Shen Xiu truly despise the version of him who avoided hard work and just wanted to take shortcuts?
Thinking about the path he’d chosen, and knowing full well he had no intention of working as hard as Shen Xiu in the future either, Lin Jiashi grew increasingly irritated. He pulled out his phone and began drafting a veiled post on Weibo, throwing shade at Duan Mingfei.
Anyway, the two of them were both slackers—if he wasn’t going to have it easy, then Duan Mingfei could forget about having it easy too!
Shen Xiu hadn’t even seen the long-winded “farewell” message Lin Jiashi had posted. After kicking him out and blocking him, he didn’t give it another thought. His mind was still focused on singing, so he asked everyone how he’d done just now: “Was that okay?”
[More than okay!]
[No matter what anyone else thinks, our Demon King Xiu will always hit me right in the heart!]
[Exactly! For annoying clingy types like that, the best thing to do is not give them a single glance!]
Watching the wave of comments flood in, Shen Xiu: “……”
What they were saying… didn’t seem to be about the same thing he was.
Shen Xiu timidly added, “Um… I meant, was my singing okay?”
Hearing that faint trace of helplessness in Shen Xiu’s usually calm voice, the fans replied: […]
Wuwuwu, once again, they’d failed Shen Xiu in their fan duties!
[So Shen Xiu never even paid attention to him! Damn, we were the weak ones all along!]
[The most powerful clapback is often the simplest—ignoring him was the ultimate strike!]
[Xiubaby: Lin Jiashi? What’s that? Not even close to as important as singing for my dear fans!]
Shen Xiu finally understood that last comment on the barrage and nodded enthusiastically: “Mm, you all are what’s important!”
Then he continued, “What do you want to hear next? Dancing’s okay too.”
[I want “Myself”!]
[“XX” is really good too!]
[I’m different—I’ll take anything as long as it’s Xiu singing or dancing. I’m not picky~]
With Shen Xiu setting the tone by completely ignoring Lin Jiashi, the fans quickly followed suit and moved on, spamming the chat with song and dance requests for Shen Xiu.
For the entire afternoon, Shen Xiu watched the live comments and picked whichever song or dance got mentioned the most—and performed it just for them.
If he came across a song he didn’t know, Shen Xiu would listen to it once using his multimedia headphones, then settle for the next best thing—reading the lyrics from the device screen and singing it live for his fans.
At 7 PM, when it was dinnertime, Shen Xiu noticed the viewers didn’t want the stream to end. So he didn’t stop the livestream. Instead, he quickly ran to the cafeteria, got himself a meal, and turned it into a mukbang performance.
Throughout the entire livestream, Shen Xiu answered every question and fulfilled every request.
At 10 PM, when it was almost time for the staff to collect their phones, Shen Xiu finally ended the stream.
—
10:30 PM — On the dorm bed.
It had been half an hour since the staff had taken away their phones. In that time, Shen Xiu had rushed through his night routine and climbed into bed while his roommates were still lounging in their chairs, chatting.
Lying on his bed, Shen Xiu began mentally replaying everything that had happened during the livestream.
Even though he had probably spoken a month’s worth of words just that afternoon, Shen Xiu realized he wasn’t tired at all. In fact, he was buzzing with energy, his mind a loud hum of excitement.
He knew exactly what this feeling was—it was genuine joy, from the bottom of his heart.
When the livestream first started, Shen Xiu had been worried. He thought his reserved nature and awkwardness would lead to awkward silences and make the stream flop.
But once it began, the fans not only kept the conversation flowing with fun topics, they were also incredibly warm and enthusiastic, never once letting the atmosphere go cold.
His fans are such wonderful people!
Shen Xiu made a silent promise to himself: he had to become better, to be worthy of their passion and love.
That was the last thought in his mind before he drifted off to sleep.
—
That same night, the forums were practically flooded with discussion about the afternoon livestream from Youth Unstoppable.
[Baba Forum]
Original Post: My baby streamed all afternoon, his Weibo gained a million followers—absolutely insane, so spicy cool!
1F: I was there, decoding it in real time. Our Demon King Xiu is truly eternal—he’s already declared full-on hustle mode!
2F: User @Shen Xiu gained a million followers in one day on Weibo? Come on, be precise—here’s a screenshot from the moment the livestream ended: 5.2 million. screenshot.jpg
3F: Sisters, who can understand this feeling? Every new follower Xiu-baby gains is in the shape of love for us! Proof of our mutual devotion +1! If anyone dares say Shen Xiu and we Shen-stans aren’t a two-way street, I will personally fight them!
4F: Since we’re being precise, let’s update it: it’s now 5.4 million. screenshot.jpg
5F: FYI—his follower count is still skyrocketing! This speed is even faster than me slurping noodles. As expected of my Shen Xiu—truly, excellence can’t be hidden!
6F: All the discussion threads next door are talking about how people finally found Shen Xiu’s Weibo, and here we’re analyzing how fast his follower count is rising—LOL.
7F: That reminds me! Who would’ve thought this was Xiu’s first time using Weibo? Does this mean he doesn’t have any other social media accounts?!
8F: New perspective from the comment above! Praying for Shen Xiu to register on DouDou Short Video and generously bless us with footage of those beautiful eight-pack abs~
9F: Cool, handsome, cold demeanor, tightly pressed thin lips, sharp and commanding gaze, a powerful aura… plus an eight-pack—I’m ready to take out a loan in advance to gasp and drool. I’ve seen everything, darling. Bring it on!
10F: So… when’s this kind of video dropping? Hurry up, I can’t wait any longer!
11F: Keep dreaming. Xiu-baby’s phone has already been confiscated by the show staff—wuwuwu.
12F: Watching Xiu-baby’s Weibo fan count keep climbing—can’t help but ask, hey Duan someone, feeling jealous yet? 😌
…
Across both forums and Weibo trending searches, it was all about the trainees of Youth Unstoppable. Everyone was winning big.
The program team had been monitoring the trainees’ follower growth, and at 11 PM, the official Weibo account of Crossing the Primeval Forest posted several screenshots.
@CrossingThePrimevalForestOfficial: Surprised? Turns out we have the same boss—shocking or what? So, if a company’s own people go on their own show, does that count as favoritism? Asking online, kinda urgent. Also, FYI: every trainee receives an appearance fee.
[Image] [Image] [Image]
The images revealed that Crossing the Primeval Forest and Youth Unstopabble were both backed by the same company.
The shared chat records showed that even before Youth Unstopabble aired, it had already been decided that the top nine trainees from the second performance rankings would be invited to appear on Crossing the Primeval Forest.
This indirectly debunked the claims made by Duan Mingfei and his manager suggesting someone was receiving special treatment—completely baseless and entirely imagined.
— Time to @Duan Mingfei
— LOL, implying someone’s getting resources or has big money backing them… turns out both shows have the same boss! And based on the timeline, the decision to have top trainees appear on Crossing was made before auditions even began. Care to explain, @DuanMingfei?
— Aiya, come on, let’s be kind. Don’t @DuanMingfei anymore. If @DuanMingfei sees this, he’ll probably explode. Poor guy—he and his manager went through all that effort to stage that drama, only for it to totally backfire. Let’s not bully @DuanMingfei anymore.
— Excellent, today’s dose of virtue just flew right out of me from laughing so hard.
— Suddenly realizing… the perks for Youth Unstoppable are insane! Is it still possible for me to sign up now??
— The show wasn’t always this good. Probably got better because of a change in management. I remember the old boss of Youth Unstoppable didn’t have the same last name as the one that just got exposed.
…
When Duan Mingfei saw that Crossing the Primeval Forest and Youth Unstoppable were backed by the same boss—and especially when he saw that even those trainees he had looked down on were getting paid appearance fees, while he, a supposed big shot, had to pay out of pocket to be on the show—he was so furious his nose practically twisted out of shape.
“That boss is doing this on purpose!” Duan Mingfei shouted, slamming his phone in rage.
Whether it was in the eyes of the trainees or from the fact that he had been rejected when he tried to join Youth Unstoppable, everything made him look like a complete clown.
Du Heng quietly picked up the smashed phone, sighing inwardly. Being around Duan Mingfei not only caused hair loss—exacerbating his already thinning scalp—but also cost him phones.
Duan Mingfei paced back and forth around the room, the sound of smashing and banging echoing in his wake.
Du Heng didn’t try to stop him. He just silently waited for Duan Mingfei to finish venting.
After who knows how long, Duan Mingfei finally came to a halt and looked at Du Heng. “Contact Mr. Wang’s assistant for me. I’ve got something—”
Du Heng interrupted him. “Brother Ming, Boss Wang is currently unavailable.”
Duan Mingfei: “?”
Du Heng sighed. “Lin Jiashi is with Boss Wang right now.”
Duan Mingfei exploded again: “That little—wait, how do you know that?!”
Du Heng answered truthfully, “Boss Wang told me to take care of Lin Jiashi.”
He strongly suspected that after Lin Jiashi got frustrated dealing with Shen Xiu and couldn’t vent it on him, he had turned his sights on Duan Mingfei instead.
Shen Xiu walked away untouched. Lin Jiashi tried to hurt his enemy but ended up hurting himself. Meanwhile, Duan Mingfei took hits from both sides.
In the end, it was a world where only Duan Mingfei ended up wounded.
“WHAT?!” Duan Mingfei exploded once again…
—
The Next Day.
At 9 a.m. sharp, Xue Yi arrived at the 10th-floor practice room.
Thanks to yesterday’s livestream, everyone had gained a good number of new followers, and today they all looked radiant with joy.
Seeing Xue Yi, they greeted him enthusiastically.
“Good morning, Teacher Xue~”
“Morning, Teacher Xue~”
“Teacher Xue, you look so handsome today.”
Standing at the front, Xue Yi responded with a helpless smile, “I’m always handsome, okay? Not just today.”
[Hahaha, as expected — being handsome is a lifelong thing!]
[Sharp-tongued Xue: If you say I’m only handsome today, I absolutely can’t tolerate that — not at all!]
[The Third Performance is finally here. What kind of team format will they use this time? I can’t wait to find out!]
“Ahem…” Xue Yi adjusted his headset and cleared his throat twice, his expression turning serious. “Quiet!”
The trainees immediately fell silent. Looking up and seeing Xue Yi’s stern face, they couldn’t help but grow tense.
Seeing that everyone had quieted down, Xue Yi began, “Since everyone is here, I’ll now announce the rules for the third performance.”
“The third performance will be divided into four small teams, with two rounds of competition.”
“But this time, the production team will not be assigning team leaders like before.”
Hearing this, the trainees exchanged glances, starting to whisper among themselves.
“No team leader?”
“Damn, I just remembered what happened to the audit team in the second performance when they didn’t have a leader.”
“This is gonna be total chaos.”
“Ugh, I’m so done. The production team is always setting traps. I feel like after this show, my mindset will be unshakable. No matter what unexpected situation I face in the future, I’ll stay calm. Sigh.”
“That’s not called calm — that’s numbness.”
[Ah, the familiar flavor, the familiar formula — the familiar chaotic tricks of the production team.]
[Knowing this production team’s usual antics, I doubt this is the end of it.]
[I hereby name them the most trap-setting production team in history. So, those who said they wanted to sign up yesterday—still interested?]
[I’ll pass, thanks. My mental state can’t handle it.]
Xue Yi waited patiently until the trainees’ murmuring quieted down before continuing, “There are a total of four songs for the third performance.”
“They are ‘Lemon Hawthorn’, ‘Collapse’, ‘Delusion’, and ‘Heaven’.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a staff member in a suit and white gloves appeared at the entrance to the 10th-floor practice room.
Trainees: “?”
Xue Yi addressed them, “Starting from the leftmost trainee in the first row, you’ll each go with the staff member one by one to choose the song you want.”
“Each song can only be selected by nine trainees. If too many trainees choose the same song, there will be an internal group battle. The losing trainees will have to reselect from the remaining songs.”
Xue Yi swept his gaze over the room, and before anyone could speak, he warned sternly, “From now on, no one is allowed to speak to each other.”
The trainees, who had just been planning to whisper about which songs they were going to pick, immediately shut up under Xue Yi’s hawk-like stare, their faces a little awkward.
Shen Xiu quietly glanced around and realized a terrible truth.
Unfortunately, he was the very last in line. Since the number of trainees selecting each song wouldn’t be made public, by the time it was his turn, three songs might already be full. This meant he would likely end up in a song that already had nine people—forcing him into a battle.
Shen Xiu: “……”
He’d never thought that sitting in the last row could be such a disadvantage!
[This… really depends on what songs everyone is interested in.]
[In this setup, everyone’s just choosing based on personal taste—anything could happen.]
[What will Xiu-baby choose? Wait… do we actually know anything about his preferences?]
[No—actually, it’s more like Xiu-baby is good at everything. He’s so strong, it’s like he doesn’t even need personal preferences…]
[Or maybe he does have them—we just can’t tell.]
The trainees gradually finished choosing their songs. Naturally, there were cases where more than nine people selected the same track. Those who came back after the internal battles didn’t dare say a word as they looked at Xue Yi—only silence remained.
At 10:30, it was finally Shen Xiu’s turn to leave the 10th-floor practice room for his secret selection.
Following the staff member, Shen Xiu arrived at the song selection room.
Looking at the four tracks—none of which he had ever performed—he recalled the voices and preferences of the remaining 35 trainees who had already gone. Then, on the board provided, he carefully wrote down his choice.
As Shen Xiu handed over the board, even his breathing grew quieter from nerves.
The staff member took the board, glanced at the song title, and looked surprised.
But then, remembering that this was Shen Xiu, they quickly regained their composure. Hitting the only song that hadn’t reached capacity—despite the incredibly low odds—was just typical Shen Xiu behavior. The look in the staff member’s eyes turned into admiration.
The staff member said to Shen Xiu, “Song selection successful. You may return.”
Hearing this, Shen Xiu let out a sigh of relief. He guessed right!
As with previous times, the production team reused their old trick—covering the paper with a mosaic cat-head sticker, hiding the trainees’ selections from the viewers.
[Such a low probability—how did Xiu-baby manage it? I don’t get it, but I’m amazed.]
[At this point, no matter what astonishing thing Boss Shen does, I’m no longer surprised. I mean… it’s Boss Shen! I had the same expression as the staff, but still—I want to shout: Production team, you’re so mean! Why censor it again?! Just let us see it once, come on!]
[Right, it is Boss Shen—never mind then!]
[But seriously… what did Xiu-baby choose? Waiting online, I’m dying of curiosity here!]
