Chapter 72: Daily Life
The assistant director glanced sideways at Xia Wenhao, lifting his chin and saying, “Why else? Obviously because our production team is full of beautiful and kind-hearted people!”
Standing behind Song Chengwang, Xiang Yueting muttered quietly, “Really? I don’t believe it…”
Tired of being contradicted, the assistant director glared at Xiang Yueting. “You guys are something else.”
He didn’t keep them guessing any longer and explained, “Today’s a special situation — we’re giving you all a day off. Your phones are being returned, and until midnight tonight, you’re free to use them however you want. You can post on social media, contact family or friends, play games, whatever. The production team won’t place any restrictions.”
In modern society, few people dislike using their phones. After being deprived of them for so long, everyone was quite happy to hear the news.
At the same time, everyone understood what the assistant director meant by “special situation.”
The trainees eliminated after the third public performance had spent the most time with them. The production team, worried that their departure might affect the remaining contestants’ moods, gave them a day off to adjust.
“Don’t get too excited just yet.”
Before they could enjoy the good news for more than a few seconds, the assistant director spoke again: “Each of you still has a task today.”
“What task?”
“Whew… that twist came out of nowhere, I almost didn’t catch my breath.”
The moment they heard the word “task,” everyone grew visibly tense and looked toward the assistant director.
He waved his hand. “Relax, it’s not hard. You just need to decide among yourselves whose home to visit — any one of you nine — and use your phone to film a video. Edit it into a vlog and post it on your personal social media account.”
“Of course, you’ll be filming your own footage, and the production crew will film theirs.”
“Tomorrow, as usual, be at the 10th-floor practice room at 9 a.m. sharp for the announcement of the final competition rules. Don’t be late. There are only nine of you left — whoever shows up late will stick out like a sore thumb, and it’ll be easy for Teacher Xue to catch you and drag you up front for a public scolding.”
After hearing the assistant director’s words, Xiang Yueting was the first to let out a sigh of relief and said with a scoff, “That’s it? I thought it was going to be something serious.”
Before anyone else could respond, Xiang Yueting continued, “But I’ll give it to you — when your production team’s being shady, you’re really ruthless, but when you’re being kind, you’ve actually got some heart.”
Assistant Director: “…That mouth of yours really doesn’t stop, huh.”
No one else said anything — they all clearly understood the production team’s real intentions. Only Xiang Yueting, the obvious center of attention, looked genuinely happy.
Being told he talks too much didn’t sit well with Xiang Yueting. He felt it was just his cheerful and outgoing personality — what did that have to do with being talkative? “Director, what you just said—”
“Goodbye!” the director called out without even turning around, quickly leaving through the training camp gates and not giving Xiang Yueting a chance to continue.
Watching the director’s retreating back, Xiang Yueting felt the frustration of someone who hadn’t gotten to say their piece during an argument.
“Ugh, why run off so fast? I wasn’t even done talking!”
Shen Xiu glanced at Xiang Yueting with envy.
When would he ever be able to have social skills as insane as Xiang Yueting’s?
Everyone noticed the way Shen Xiu was looking at Xiang Yueting and instantly understood his thoughts. They all turned to Xiang Yueting as well, their eyes full of affection.
Sure enough, aside from Xiang Yueting, the other eight of them all knew: the production team’s goal wasn’t as simple as it seemed.
Asking them to discuss whose home to visit was clearly a way to push them closer — not just to be team members after debut. To put it bluntly, the show didn’t want them to treat each other like mere colleagues.
A purely professional relationship — even if the group successfully debuted, it wouldn’t be long before they disbanded.
But judging from the production team’s arrangements, this group wasn’t just expected to be strong individually. The members were also expected to genuinely open up to each other and form deep friendships — the kind of bond that wouldn’t break easily.
Invading a team member’s private space — their home — was a way to encourage those friendships to go one step further.
But… was it really that easy to open one’s heart?
They had trained together for so long, and on the surface, their relationships looked perfectly fine — even closer than what you’d normally see in debut groups from other survival shows.
But it only looked that way. Who really knew what was going on in anyone’s heart?
In that kind of situation, who would willingly invite a group of people — who only seemed familiar on the surface — into their home?
Probably no one.
Xiang Yueting watched the assistant director’s figure disappear into the distance. When he turned back around, he found the other eight all staring at him in perfect unison, with looks he couldn’t decipher.
“W-What’s going on? Why are you all looking at me like that? So intense… I’m kind of embarrassed…”
Shen Xiu: “?” You get embarrassed? That’s actually shocking!
The other seven: “…” Idiot. There’s a reason we call you a husky.
Among them, no one understood the production team’s intentions better than Shang Yu. He was sure this decision had everything to do with Shi Buwen.
From Shang Yu’s perspective, all of this was just the production team trying to push onto them what Shi Buwen once longed for but never had.
Shang Yu didn’t quite agree with Shi Buwen’s idealistic thinking. To him, even a time-limited group could be just fine.
Xiang Yueting still didn’t understand why everyone was just staring at him and not saying a word. He mumbled in confusion, “So weird…”
Hearing Xiang Yueting’s words, Shen Xiu suddenly remembered what the assistant director had said before leaving.
Invite people over to your home?
But… his home wasn’t here. He hadn’t been back in years — it probably didn’t even exist anymore.
To be precise, ever since his parents passed away, he hadn’t had a home.
Then what about his dorm?
His roommates were all locals and didn’t stay on campus during the summer break.
And right now was summer break. At his school, anyone wanting to stay on campus during the summer had to apply for housing in advance. He hadn’t submitted any application before the break started, so now he couldn’t even return to the dorms.
If he really had to bring someone… hmm, how exactly was he supposed to explain to the dorm manager auntie that he wanted to take people up just to “have a look” at his room?
Just for a visit, not to stay overnight. That… should be okay, right?
Shen Xiu began mentally drafting how to explain it.
To the other seven, aside from Xiang Yueting, it was obvious: both Shen Xiu and the rest of them were staying quiet because they understood the production team’s “devious intent.” No one wanted to step into that trap by bringing others into their private spaces.
“You guys all go dumb or something?”
Xiang Yueting still didn’t get what the hesitation was about. He picked up the black tote bag and began handing out the phones inside.
Each phone and its charger had been packed in a clear sealed bag by the production team, with a name label on it. Xiang Yueting distributed them one by one according to the names.
“Thanks.”
“Appreciate it.”
“Thanks for the trouble.”
…
Everyone took their phones from Xiang Yueting and thanked him politely, but an unspoken sense of distance hung in the air.
After the phones were all handed out, the staff member assigned to film them for the day took the tote bag and casually asked, “So, have you guys decided whose house you’re going to today?”
Everyone: “……”
Talk about bringing up exactly the wrong thing! How were they even supposed to respond to something so awkward…
Xiang Yueting enthusiastically raised his hand. “My place, my place! Everyone can come to my house!”
Everyone: “?”
Wait—no hesitation at all?
As soon as Xiang Yueting finished speaking, all eyes turned to him.
Shen Xiu: “!”
Thank goodness — he could finally stop stressing over how to convince the dorm supervisor auntie!
The other seven: “……”
Xiang Yueting… he really is something else. Crying inside. And yet… they felt so guilty.
Even though Xiang Yueting’s answer didn’t surprise Shang Yu at all, he still felt a little uneasy upon hearing it. As a subtle reminder, he asked, “Xiang Yueting, you know the production team will edit and broadcast the vlog, right?”
If he was smart, he’d do what they did — avoid letting people he wasn’t deeply familiar with into his personal space.
The staff member quickly added, “Don’t worry, we’ll only film the inside of the house and your interactions. We won’t include any exterior shots or reveal the actual location.”
But Xiang Yueting hadn’t even thought that far ahead. He cheerfully replied, “It’s fine! Where I live isn’t some big secret. If people find out, it might even help business. Free publicity! I’d be happy about it.”
Jiang Yanxi asked with curiosity, “You opened a shop?”
Xiang Yueting winked mysteriously. “You’ll find out soon enough.”
Hearing that, everyone began to assume Xiang Yueting must have opened some kind of store and was likely taking them there. That thought eased their guilt a little.
If it was a store, then it probably didn’t involve his private living space.
The staff confirmed again, “So you’ve all decided to go to Xiang Yueting’s place?”
Everyone nodded. “Yes.”
“Alright, let’s head out then.”
The staff made a call to have the show’s vehicle brought over. The nine of them, phones in hand, got into the production team’s van.
Xiang Yueting gave the driver the address, and the vehicle set off following GPS directions.
—
The training camp’s livestream room didn’t cover anything outside the training camp building, so the livestream viewers could only stare longingly out through the training camp lobby’s livestream cameras.
The livestream could only capture the few people standing outside the mirrored glass, but their conversations beyond the glass doors couldn’t be heard.
After the nine people got in the car and left, they completely disappeared from the viewers’ sight.
Staring at the now-empty livestream, the viewers were totally confused.
[Where are they? What’s going on? Shouldn’t they have come back in after sending them off? Why did they leave too?]
[No explanation? @ProductionTeam]
[What the heck, the production team whittled it down to just nine people with their unorthodox approach, but the finals haven’t even started yet—why did they leave?!]
[Sisters, hurry and check the official Weibo! The production team just posted an announcement!]
Viewers in the livestream, having received the news, flooded to the official Weibo account of “Youth Unstoppable” and saw the latest post, finally feeling relieved.
— So they just went to someone’s house… Wait, what? Went to their house? Since when did their relationships get close enough to visit each other’s homes and we didn’t know?!
— Whose house, whose house? I’m anxious, tell me quick!
— There’s a vlog too?! Sitting patiently and waiting!
— I’m different, I’m worried if someone’s dropping out before the finals!
After refreshing, viewers returning from the comment section saw the show’s latest Weibo post: a newly uploaded, edited video.
@YouthUnstopabbleOfficial: Edited version of the group dinner video after the third ranking announcement. If you want it, we’ll release the full version later~ [Video]
The dinner lasted several hours, but the version edited and released by the production team was only an hour long.
Viewers and netizens clicked on the video—some skimmed through it using fast-forward, while others selectively watched only the parts featuring their favorite trainees.
As a result, just half an hour later, the comments under the post had already stacked up into a towering thread from viewers who had watched—either skipping around or all the way through.
— What a treasure this is! Brother Yu placing his hand on Xiu-baby’s wine glass, Xiu-baby’s cold, melancholy side profile as he sipped alone, Xia Wenhao and Song Chengwang staring intently at each other before downing their drinks in unison, and next to them, Xiang Yueting foolishly hyping things up while hugging a bottle—so many iconic moments just begging to be “processed”! All I can say is, the production team really gets us!
— Am I the only one who felt attacked when Demon King Xiu said that hoarse, low “let go” with extra emphasis? It was lethal!
— Underage drinking is a no-no and all… but props to the production team! The cuties obediently sipping juice were adorable too~
— The editing was phenomenal. They weren’t even doing anything special—just going about their business—but somehow it all felt so intense and emotionally charged? The vibes were unreal, what’s going on?!
— While the clueless fans are still squealing in the comments, us clever ones are already @-ing the top fan editors! Fresh new material alert! Click to see an S-rank Alpha in full flirt mode—no joke, fellow meme-loving fans, this is gold!
Thanks to the enthusiastic tagging from netizens, the top fan editors on all the major fan-video platforms quickly showed up and added the newly released footage to their editing libraries.
Meanwhile, production teams from other talent shows could only look on with red-eyed envy as Youth Unstoppable’s team pulled off one genius move after another.
They had never seen a production team this good at marketing!
This show was truly unconventional—unlike traditional talent competitions, it didn’t rely on malicious editing to stir up fan wars for clout.
And yet, by simply showing the trainees getting along naturally, the show managed to market itself so effectively that not only were viewers and netizens not turned off—they actually loved it. The show even went viral multiple times and gained wave after wave of new fans.
Today, even though the final debut group of nine didn’t appear in the livestream, Youth Unstoppable still managed to generate plenty of buzz just by releasing a dinner video featuring all 36 trainees.
It felt like they were trending nonstop, hogging the spotlight as if the trending list were free real estate.
—
Inside the car, on the way to Xiang Yueting’s house, the group had no idea that the production team was using their dinner footage not only to provide material for fan edits, but also cleverly to reassure fans.
In the car.
After Xiang Yueting finished sending out a mass message to his family and friends sharing his excitement and reflections from the past few weeks, he suddenly realized something horrifying:
They had known each other for so long… and yet, none of them had each other’s contact information!
Xiang Yueting abruptly looked up, sweeping a serious gaze over the other eight trainees who were all absorbed in their phones.
Shen Xiu was sitting in the back row, with Xiang Yueting right beside him.
Noticing Xiang Yueting suddenly purse his lips and scan the entire car with a stern expression, Shen Xiu tensed up, his scalp prickling.
He instinctively sat up straighter, trying to make himself less noticeable. In his head, one thought echoed in panic:
‘What is Xiang Yueting about to do?! Why does he suddenly look so intense?!’
The next second, Shen Xiu heard Xiang Yueting’s serious voice ring out in the car:
“We should all add each other on WeChat. No—actually, that’s not enough. We need to make a group chat!”
Shen Xiu: …That’s it?
But… Shen Xiu quickly thought again: ‘Thank goodness that’s all it was!’
As the person sitting closest to Xiang Yueting, Shen Xiu pulled up his QR code and held it out to him.
Xiang Yueting scanned it and added Shen Xiu as a contact.
Xiang Yueting looked at Shen Xiu’s WeChat profile screen and thought to himself, Shen Xiu is so serious. His nickname was just his name, plain and simple—“Shen Xiu”—and his profile picture was nothing but a pitch-black image.
“What’s your photo supposed to be?”
Shen Xiu’s WeChat was still the same as when he first set it up on his old phone. Nothing had changed.
His old phone didn’t have a great camera, and landscape photos always came out poorly. So he never really used it to take pictures. When registering WeChat and needing a profile picture, Shen Xiu had casually taken a photo of the night sky.
It was pitch-black anyway, and with the bad resolution, no one could tell what it was.
Hearing Xiang Yueting’s question, Shen Xiu answered honestly, “The night.”
At that moment, Shang Yu also added Xiang Yueting on WeChat. When he saw Xiang Yueting’s nickname—“Cool Swag King”—along with a profile photo of himself striking a V-sign pose with his hand under his chin, he couldn’t help the slight twitch of his mouth.
Well… that’s Xiang Yueting for you.
As for Shen Xiu’s pitch-black profile picture and basic-name nickname, not only did Shang Yu find it unsurprising—the others who added Shen Xiu didn’t find it strange either.
After all… a lot of “cool guy” types had profile setups just like his.
Xiang Yueting glanced at Shang Yu’s profile photo, winced, and grumbled, “Shang Yu, Shen Xiu, what is up with you two? You’re both so young, yet your vibes are so old! I won’t even comment on the fact that you both just used your names as nicknames—but one of you has a profile picture of the deep ocean, and the other has one of total darkness. Can you two at least try to act your age?”
‘I’m the oldest one in this whole group, and yet judging by our nicknames and profile pictures, I look like the youngest.’
Immature? No, Xiang Yueting absolutely refused to admit he was immature!
Hearing his rant, Jiang Yanxi quietly glanced at Xiang Yueting’s WeChat background image—a goofy meme that said “Act like a proper badass, no playing the clueless newbie”—and couldn’t help but laugh.
Young?
Looking at it this way, Xiang Yueting suddenly seemed younger, like a three-year-old in kindergarten.
Shang Yu smiled. “I think I’m just fine.”
Shen Xiu glanced at Shang Yu and, being the person most familiar with Xiang Yueting among the eight, bravely expressed his opinion, “No difference.”
The other seven, excluding Xiang Yueting: “…”
Understood. A big shot like him wouldn’t care about small things like WeChat profile pictures or nicknames.
Xiang Yueting disagreed. “Oh, there’s a huge difference. A profile picture represents a person’s state. Take me for example. When you see my profile picture and name, don’t you think I look handsome and cool?”
Ning Sinian covered his face. “Xiang Yueting, stop! What you just said sounds exactly like something my mom would send me!”
Mu Zhenchu’s eyes lit up as he looked at Ning Sinian. “Same world, same kind of mom!”
Song Chengwang chuckled and added, “To be honest, my mommy’s current chat profile picture is of Buddha. She says ‘Buddha is compassionate,’ and if it’s not that picture, she’d pinch my ear.”
Hearing the usually sarcastic Song Chengwang say “mommy,” Zhuang Yi, Mu Zhenchu, Jiang Yanxi, and Xia Wenhao all threw surprised glances at him.
So, the guy who seemed tough and unapproachable actually had such a delicate side privately!
Xiang Yueting, who had just become the eldest in the group, wasn’t very happy. He turned his head gloomily, only to spot Shen Xiu’s chat screen, which was filled with nothing but teachers. He looked stunned.
Noticing Xiang Yueting’s expression, Shen Xiu didn’t close his phone. He turned his head to look at Song Chengwang, asking in confusion, “What’s wrong?”
Xiang Yueting exclaimed in shock, “Every single contact on your phone is some teacher or professor or associate professor or dean, Shen Xiu, I’m in awe of you!”
Unlike him, who had been in university for four years and only communicated with teachers through social media platforms, Shen Xiu actually had WeChat contacts with teachers, professors, and even deans.
The other seven trainees, upon hearing this, all thought the same thing without saying it out loud: As expected of Shen Xiu! No matter where he is, he’s amazing!
Shen Xiu, the person in question: “?”
‘I don’t really get it!’
But seeing how relaxed everyone was chatting, Shen Xiu couldn’t help but feel inexplicably happy, especially seeing Song Chengwang. Shen Xiu had never imagined that someone who looked so fierce could actually be so different in private!
Xiang Yueting naturally created a WeChat group and added all eight of them.
Just after he finished, the production team’s car came to a stop.
“We’ve arrived,” the driver called out to the trainees in the back. “Please put on your masks and caps, and get out of the car.”
As the protagonist of the moment, Xiang Yueting quickly jumped from the last row where Shen Xiu had been sitting to the front. He opened the car door, got out first, and stood by the car, clearing his throat twice in an exaggerated manner.
The next moment, a formal voice with a broadcast tone echoed inside the car: “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to my world!”
Shen Xiu: “…”
This is so embarrassing! How did Xiang Yueting manage to say something so cringeworthy with such confidence? He must be really brave!
Shang Yu: …So annoying! Why does Xiang Yueting always have to be so enthusiastic, so… unguarded?
Of course, Shang Yu wasn’t annoyed with Xiang Yueting’s enthusiasm. He was just frustrated with himself.
Xiang Yueting was equally enthusiastic with the staff: “Don’t worry, this is just a storefront. Feel free to shoot and release any outdoor scenes. It’s fine with me.”
After getting out of the car, everyone looked around and saw the place Xiang Yueting had brought them to. From the exterior decorations, it was clear that it was a dance studio.
The studio was fairly large, and through the glass doors, they could see four employees inside.
When the people entered and pushed open the glass door, the employees stared at them in disbelief. As if they had guessed something, their eyes heated up as they looked past Xiang Yueting to the people behind him.
“Boss!”
“Ahhh, what did I just see!”
“Xiu… ahem, welcome, welcome!”
From the employees’ reactions, it was clear that although Xiang Yueting was the boss, he got along well with them. Everyone seemed to really like him.
Xiang Yueting confidently raised his hand. “Low-key, low-key.”
Facing everyone’s eager gazes up close, Shen Xiu subconsciously tensed up.
He tried to give a friendly smile to the employee who had almost called out his name earlier, but after awkwardly tugging at the corner of his mouth, he realized he was wearing a mask. Embarrassment rushed through him, and he couldn’t even look the employee in the eye, his toes gripping the floor in discomfort.
Now that they were on his turf, Xiang Yueting was in his element: “Don’t make a fuss, I’ll take them upstairs. You all just continue with your work as usual.”
“Got it, boss!” The employees responded, trying to suppress their excitement.
Xiang Yueting looked at Shen Xiu and the others. “Come upstairs with me.”
The eight of them, along with the program staff, followed Xiang Yueting upstairs.
As they watched the group’s backs disappear, one of the employees, who had her cute woolen curls styled, excitedly said, “The boss brought Xiu, the big shot, here. Is it because the boss raised a snake and wants Xiu to recreate the painting that Madam Lanyue Qingfeng did for him?!”
