Chapter 84: Finals (4)
The moment He Ting spoke, the audience collectively choked up—an instant of shared silence, and then a wave of anguished wailing erupted.
“You said it so well—please never say it again!”
“Why would you remind us of something so cruel?! How are us durians supposed to choose?!”
“You said it well, but it’d be even better if you shut up next time!”
[Strong condemnation!]
[+11111]
[Hehe, as a devoted Xiuologist, I saw Xiu-baby’s expression and I fear nothing!]
[As much as I hate to admit it, Xiuologists are seriously everywhere. Shen Xiu’s got both center skills and visuals—nothing but envy, wuwu]
“And one more thing,” He Ting added, “This time, the voting window is only thirty seconds.” Afraid of getting booed, he quickly followed up, “But after everything we’ve been through together, I’m sure everyone already knows exactly who they want to vote for. So thirty seconds really isn’t too short… right? Right?”
Standing atop the platform, He Ting blinked playfully at the audience, putting on a pitiful look like he was terrified of getting yelled at.
What he said wasn’t wrong. For those who had been following “The Youth Unstoppable” all the way to this point, most already knew in their hearts who their favorite was.
Seeing that the audience’s teasing cries were lighthearted and not angry, He Ting seized the moment and continued: “In one minute, the second round of stage voting will begin. Let me repeat: voting time is thirty seconds. Please be ready, everyone.”
This was the final stage. The nine trainees on stage were not told to step down—they stood there, waiting for the final judgment of fate.
The time may have been short, but for the nine standing under the lights, every second dragged on like a year.
It was especially torturous to see the audience occasionally glancing up at them and whispering to each other, while they themselves had no idea what was being said.
At last—the final moment had arrived!
Would they collapse suddenly, or be reborn?
As he faced this life-or-death verdict, Shen Xiu was so nervous he nearly forgot to breathe multiple times. His mind had gone numb. He could no longer calmly analyze the situation as he usually would. Panic gripped him so tightly that he could barely register what the host was saying.
Right now, he felt almost exactly the same as that time he got drunk and couldn’t think straight.
With his brain turned to mush, Shen Xiu silently started pulling cyber rose petals in his head, counting one by one: “Live… or die… live… or die…”
While Shen Xiu was mentally stuck on his “live or die” loop, the other trainees on stage were quietly whispering to each other, trying to ease their nerves.
Xiang Yueting clenched the hand hanging by his side into a fist. “It’s coming, it’s coming… ughhh I’m so nervous! I don’t even dare look anyone in the eye—I’m scared if I look too fierce, no one will vote for me!”
Shang Yu tried to keep calm and responded quietly, “Forty-five seconds left.”
Song Chengwang added with a sigh, “Plus the thirty seconds of voting time…”
Shang Yu: “Right. So if you count the time still ticking down, we’ve got sixty-seven seconds to go.”
Ning Sinian whispered, “You can still do math at a time like this… no wonder it’s you.”
Xia Wenhao said softly, “Aside from Shang Yu, there’s one more person here whose breathing hasn’t even faltered.”
At those words, everyone instinctively turned to look at the far left side of the group—where Shen Xiu was standing.
Shen Xiu stared straight ahead, calmly gazing at the audience. His eyes were as composed as ever, not blinking even once.
Jiang Yanxi muttered, “S-So calm…”
Mu Zhenchu nodded. “It’s Shen Xiu—we’re fine then.”
Just as Mu Zhenchu finished speaking, He Ting’s voice boomed across the venue: “Voting begins now!”
The mere thirty seconds flew by. Before Xiang Yueting could even finish panicking, it was already over.
“Second round of voting is now closed! Audience members, please return your voting devices to the side of your seats.”
“So fast?!” Xiang Yueting raised his hand to clutch his wildly thumping heart.
Hearing Xiang Yueting’s exclamation, Shen Xiu snapped out of his daze, blinking in disbelief: I-It’s over?
The next moment, the host’s voice rang out again: “Trainees, please turn around and look at the results of this round’s voting.”
Almost the instant voting ended, the screen behind them lit up with the second round’s results.
The audience burst into animated chatter as they took in the rankings on the big screen.
“No wonder he’s my Xiu-baby!”
“I saw this coming from a mile away!”
“Oh my god, my precious Nian Nian is amazing, I’m crying!”
“Just as I thought—the top four spots are totally undisputed. Wait… if both rounds account for 50% each, then…”
…
Things had come to this point—no matter the result, Shen Xiu could only turn around with his teammates and look at the large screen behind them.
The second-round ranking results on the big screen were:
1st Place: Shen Xiu
2nd Place: Shang Yu
3rd Place: Song Chengwang
4th Place: Xiang Yueting
5th Place: Xia Wenhao
6th Place: Ning Sinian
7th Place: Mu Zhenchu
8th Place: Zhuang Yi
9th Place: Jiang Yanxi
Ning Sinian covered his mouth, eyes reddening in disbelief: “I—I actually…”
“Ahhh I love my fans so much!”
Shang Yu was suddenly pulled into a hug by Xiang Yueting. Not used to physical contact, he was briefly stunned. By the time he collected himself, Xiang Yueting had already dashed over to Song Chengwang and thrown himself into another hug.
“I got fourth! I got fourth! I got fourth!!!”
“Yes, yes, yes—we heard you!”
Song Chengwang raised his hand and patted the excited Xiang Yueting on the shoulder, playing along with his thrilled shrieking. His face couldn’t hide a rare smile—surprisingly free of his usual sarcasm or passive-aggressive tone.
Where there are high rankings, there are inevitably those at the bottom. The trainees ranked lowest in this second round inevitably felt a bit down. But now that everything was settled, the disappointment wouldn’t last long.
After all their efforts, they could look into their hearts and say that they had no regrets—neither towards their fans who supported them, nor towards themselves.
Because… sometimes, no matter how hard you work, you really just can’t catch up to those who are not only more talented but work even harder than you!
Everyone began hugging one another. The most eye-catching drama queen of the group, Xiang Yueting—his eyes red—had hugged everyone except Shen Xiu. Finally, he turned with teary eyes to look at Shen Xiu, who had remained silent on the far left ever since the results were announced.
Xiang Yueting wanted to hug Shen Xiu, but when he saw Shen Xiu staring expressionlessly at the results screen without saying a word, the unusually sentimental Xiang Yueting hesitated, suddenly unsure about approaching.
While the other trainees were hugging each other in tears of joy, Shen Xiu forced himself to calm down, shutting out all the noise around him.
The moment he turned to look at the big screen, Shen Xiu had already scanned all the voting data in a flash, rapidly comparing it to the first-round data in his mind…
A dozen seconds later, after calculating all the rankings, Shen Xiu’s anxious, unsettled heart finally found some relief.
A belated wave of joy and excitement began to rise within him, bubbling up uncontrollably as he muttered under his breath, “I’m… first place…”
He wasn’t going to die after all!!!
Shen Xiu was so overwhelmed he couldn’t put his emotions into words. His heart was pounding wildly. But just as he finished mumbling to himself, his previously dazed eyes suddenly snapped into focus—only to meet Xiang Yueting’s teary, red-rimmed gaze head-on.
He was looking straight at him.
Shen Xiu’s heart, which had just been racing with joy, instantly froze in fear: “?”
And then he noticed the other teammates beside Xiang Yueting, all of them also looking at him with similar expressions.
Now Shen Xiu’s heart turned to ice.
“???” What’s going on with everyone?
That line—“I’m first place”—spoken in Shen Xiu’s distinctively cold voice, was clearly heard by everyone nearby.
In that moment, they all silently turned to look at Shen Xiu.
Under everyone’s gaze, Shen Xiu—completely clueless about what he had done wrong—felt awkward and started frantically calculating in his head.
Help… did Xiang Yueting say something to me while I was calculating?
And because I didn’t respond… he got so upset that his eyes turned red?
Wait a minute… He’d just said out loud that he was in first place. Judging from Xiang Yueting’s red-rimmed eyes and the way everyone was staring at him—was it because they heard his shameless remark that they were now all looking at him like that?!
That had to be it!
Thinking about it carefully—how on earth did he manage to say something so brazen with such confidence? Sure, it was the truth, but saying it out loud so shamelessly was a whole different matter.
No wonder his teammates were all giving him weird looks!
Shen Xiu was mortified and embarrassed. He wished the ground would open up and swallow him whole.
Ashamed for being called out by his teammates for his arrogant comment, Shen Xiu apologized awkwardly: “Sorry…”
He’d gone too far. His shamelessness must have shocked them. They probably had never met anyone with such a thick skin before.
Upon hearing Shen Xiu’s apology, Xiang Yueting drew in a sharp breath and decisively looked at the others: “I knew it!”
The others all nodded solemnly in agreement.
So it was all within Shen Xiu’s calculations after all!
Sorry?
Damn it—so it really was that Shen Xiu felt guilty for being too strong, for taking first place by such a large margin while they were so weak.
They were the ones who were weak, yet Shen Xiu, the strong one, always had to accommodate them. How shameful!
Wait… didn’t this also prove that, in Shen Xiu’s heart, they held a very special place?
Once they figured this out, the group looked at Shen Xiu with eyes that were reddening with emotion.
Shen Xiu… he was killing them with feels!
“No need to apologize. It’s our issue!”
“That’s right, it has nothing to do with you.”
Hearing this, Shen Xiu was overwhelmed with emotion. Everyone was so accepting of him!
[Confirmed, everyone—our beloved Xiu-baby clearly anticipated today’s result. Otherwise, how could he have been so calm and composed, saying ‘I’m first place’ with such grace upon seeing the ranking?]
[Isn’t the real highlight the fact that after saying he was first place, Boss Xiu actually apologized to his teammates? What is this? This is strength and gentleness!]
[He felt sorry to his teammates for being too strong and taking first place! If anyone dares say these nine don’t have real brotherhood, I will fight them!]
[As a fan of the group, I am fully satisfied. (Cheers!)]
Ever since inviting his teammates over to his house, Shang Yu had gradually started to open up. The corners of his mouth twitched slightly as he said, “Isn’t this… a bit too formal between us?”
Xiang Yueting clapped a hand hard on Shang Yu’s shoulder: “You’re right!”
If Shen Xiu valued them so much, why should they be afraid of him?
With that, Xiang Yueting took a giant stride forward and did what he hadn’t dared to before—he threw his arms around Shen Xiu’s shoulders in a big, tight hug.
Caught off guard, Shen Xiu’s entire body went stiff from the sudden hug. A second later, he heard Xiang Yueting’s choked, sobbing voice right next to his ear:
“Wuwuwu I got fourth place! Fourth place! Fourth place!!”
Out of everyone here, the one Xiang Yueting most wanted to hug was Shen Xiu.
If it hadn’t been for what Shen Xiu told him in the bathroom at the very beginning, he wouldn’t have had the motivation and drive to push himself the whole way through. He might’ve been eliminated long ago.
It was all thanks to Shen Xiu’s encouragement that he had stayed optimistic and made it this far.
Now that he had finally hugged Shen Xiu, Xiang Yueting couldn’t stop the flood of words pouring out of him.
“Who cares if I’m older—when I’m old and gray, I’ll still dance!”
“Dancing isn’t irresponsible—it’s my passion, and in my world, I am the best!”
“Those people who mocked me back then must be dying of envy now that I’ve debuted!”
“Hmph, I’m not old—no one dances better than me…”
Shen Xiu was already stunned from being hugged so suddenly—now, hearing Xiang Yueting’s endless stream of declarations, he was doubly stunned, totally overwhelmed.
After Xiang Yueting finished his tearful rant and finally stopped talking, Shen Xiu—who wasn’t good at comforting people—muttered the go-to, all-purpose reply: “…Got it.”
But after saying that, Shen Xiu realized that Xiang Yueting had just poured his heart out while he’d only given one measly line. That seemed super rude. So he quickly forced out an extra sentence:
“You’re the best.”
That should… be good enough, right?
None of the nine trainees knew that, when the results came out, the production team had already sneakily put all of their reactions—including audio—on an auxiliary screen, and zoomed in with a crane camera for the live broadcast.
The focus was a first-person close-up of the group’s raw reactions.
Gossip is human nature. Once viewers noticed the show’s sneaky move, they all silently agreed not to say anything—just quietly watched the heartfelt, emotional interactions of the trainees on stage.
Watching Xiang Yueting cry his heart out—and yet not be pushed away by Shen Xiu—Song Chengwang quietly said to Xia Wenhao, “Like this… he can’t be more than three years old.”
Xia Wenhao: “…I thought you’d say two and a half.”
Jiang Yanxi glanced between the two of them, then raised a hand to cover his mouth and whispered to Ning Sinian: “Xia Wenhao’s starting to get sassy.”
Zhuang Yi leaned in and muttered gloomily: “That’s what happens when you hang around snark too long…”
[Xia Wenhao: Respect Song Chengwang. Understand Song Chengwang. Become Song Chengwang. Feels good!]
[Xiang Yueting is the oldest in the group? I don’t believe it!]
[Ahem, sisters—based on that farewell team-building footage from before, Xiang Yueting really is the oldest of the nine. If I remember right, he’s 23…]
[Starting to chase the idol dream at 23 is admittedly a little late—for other shows, that is. I mean, in some talent shows, the average age of 25 basically means you’re ancient and one foot in the grave. It’s weird. But in Youth Unstoppable, as long as you’re serious and willing to work hard, 23 isn’t old at all. There’s endless potential ahead!]
[Wuwuwu everyone’s so full of love, their bond looks so genuine—they can’t just be a summer-only boy group, right?]
Mu Zhenchu clicked his tongue twice. His eyes accidentally glanced at the auxiliary screen—and something about the image looked oddly familiar. Mu Zhenchu squinted for a closer look.
Yup, just as he thought—it was them, on stage, right at that very moment!
“Ahem…” Mu Zhenchu let out an awkward cough. “Uh… you guys… look at the auxiliary screen.”
At his words, everyone finally turned their attention to the large side screen next to the round two voting results. It was silently broadcasting their every move and word.
The nine of them: “……”
What could they say? Classic show producers.
After being in the training camp this long and making it to this point, they were honestly used to the production crew’s chaotic antics—so much so that not even a twitch of the mouth was worth the effort anymore.
“Hahaha their expressions are like copy-pasted versions of ‘speechless.’”
“I swear, after enduring all the ‘torture’ from Youth Unstoppable production team, they’ll never panic again no matter what kind of on-stage mishap happens.”
“Not only won’t they panic—they’ll probably even scoff in their heads: ‘Is that all?’”
“Hahaha we fans know them too well now!”
It had already been a full ten minutes since the announcement of the second-round voting results when He Ting finally spoke up: “Everyone, have you had your fill of the trainees’ little drama today?”
As he finished, He Ting cheekily pointed the microphone toward the audience.
In an instant, the venue rang out with a synchronized, enthusiastic shout from the audience:
“NOOOOO!!!”
The nine trainees: “……”
Great. They had officially achieved peak secondhand embarrassment—together.
“Hahaha, did you all hear that? Everyone says they haven’t had enough yet~”
As he spoke, He Ting couldn’t help but glance over in Xiang Yueting’s direction.
Xiang Yueting, recalling how he had just hugged Shen Xiu with teary eyes and choked out his emotional journey, immediately let go of Shen Xiu. He stood frozen in place, not daring to even glance at the audience. His entire face, neck, and even the tips of his ears turned bright red, his eyes filled with regret.
Damn it, his cool and edgy persona was completely ruined!
Freed from Xiang Yueting’s embrace, Shen Xiu secretly let out a breath of relief—but before he could even finish that breath, his mind replayed Xiang Yueting’s dramatic stunt. It had undoubtedly pushed the two of them straight into the spotlight, making them the most noticeable “center of attention” on stage.
“……”
Shen Xiu felt the breath catch in his throat—he nearly choked on it.
All he could say was: Xiang Yueting never fails to surprise him, in every possible way.
After He Ting’s playful teasing, his expression turned serious as he announced, “The second-round voting results display is now complete. Trainees, please step off the stage and wait quietly backstage.”
As Shen Xiu exited the stage along with his teammates, he was a bit confused. The two rounds of data were already shown, essentially confirming the final outcome—so why were they being sent backstage instead of announcing the results directly?
At that moment, the system—silent all night, lurking in the background—couldn’t hold back anymore and finally spoke:
[99% of people can’t clearly remember specific numbers they’ve already seen.]
Shen Xiu was startled: [You’re here?!]
The system wasn’t going to go back on its word, was it? Was it planning to cut him off right here on stage?
[Of course I’m here! This is such an important moment—how could I not be?]
Not only was it present, it had set up countless cameras, ready to film Shen Xiu’s center-position debut from every imaginable angle in full 360 degrees!
Shen Xiu: […Please don’t do that.]
Anything out of the ordinary was cause for concern—and he was terrified.
As Shen Xiu trembled with premonition, He Ting’s voice rang out from the stage:
“Now, we’ve come to the most important moment of the night. Will the trainees whose names are called please come to the stage!”
“Ninth place: Zhuang Yi!”
When he heard his name, Zhuang Yi let out a sigh in his heart.
Although the ranking wasn’t great, at least the sword that had been hanging over his head had finally fallen.
Thinking of his fans, Zhuang Yi couldn’t stop the guilt rising within him. He walked toward the stage with slightly heavy steps.
He Ting looked at Zhuang Yi, now standing beside him, and handed him the microphone. “How do you feel about your final ranking in the competition? Is there anything you’d like to say to everyone?”
Zhuang Yi took the microphone. Facing the audience, who had fallen into a spontaneous silence to hear him speak, he first bowed deeply.
Then he spoke, full of apology: “Thank you all for your continued support and love. I’m really sorry to have let you down. Please believe that I’ll work even harder in the future and bring an even better version of myself to all of you!”
“It’s okay, we’ll always be here for you!”
“Don’t cry—you were amazing today! We’ll support you forever!”
“Keep going! Let’s grow stronger together!”
Hearing the fans’ support, Zhuang Yi’s eyes turned red again. He bowed once more to express his thanks and stood to the side, waiting as the host continued to announce the next names.
He Ting: “Eighth place, Jiang Yanxi!”
Jiang Yanxi walked up to the stage, and He Ting asked him the same question.
Holding the microphone, Jiang Yanxi—ranked low as well—gave an answer nearly identical to Zhuang Yi’s, filled with apology and gratitude.
He Ting: “Seventh place, Mu Zhenchu!”
As Mu Zhenchu made his way to the stage, Jiang Yanxi and Zhuang Yi, standing off to the side, shared a mutual-empathy hug. They weren’t putting on a show—while they felt at peace, they still couldn’t help feeling their rankings were too low. Though they had no regrets, they felt deeply sorry toward their fans.
Mu Zhenchu took the microphone from the host and responded:
“If I had to say something… hmm, I guess I’m just really surprised. Truly, very, very surprised. Thank you so much for your love!”
Mu Zhenchu knew he could get carried away easily on stage, and he truly was surprised by the result he had achieved.
He Ting continued reading from the list: “Sixth place, Xia Wenhao!”
Although Xia Wenhao had a bit of a temper, he wasn’t someone who talked much. After thanking the audience, he handed the microphone back to the host on his own and quietly walked over to join Mu Zhenchu and the others.
“Hahaha, let our Brother Ha take a good look—this is what it really means to be cool and low-key.”
“I have a feeling Brother Ha is going to go off with a whole speech.”
The fans’ intuition was right. After fifth-place Ning Sinian choked up and gave a tearful speech, fourth-place Xiang Yueting stepped onto the stage and, even before the host could speak, was already gazing eagerly at the microphone.
As soon as He Ting handed him the mic, Xiang Yueting didn’t stop talking for five whole minutes.
He Ting stood there dumbfounded and finally asked in exasperation, “Xiang Yueting, remember—you’re an idol, not here to steal my job as host! I’m begging you, give me the microphone back!”
In the end, He Ting had to snatch the mic out of Xiang Yueting’s hands. Xiang Yueting, clearly still not done talking, walked off toward Zhuang Yi and the others in disappointment, drawing a round of laughter from the audience.
[All I can say is—this is our Brother Ha, through and through.]
[Hahaha, he never fails to deliver for us fans!]
Third-place Song Chengwang and second-place runner-up Shang Yu, when facing the cameras, didn’t say much either. Both simply thanked their fans for their support and then handed the mic back to the host.
Watching Shang Yu walk away without even looking back, He Ting muttered quietly into the mic, “If only Xiang Yueting could lend them some of his words!”
As the third and second-place winners, they really didn’t say much at all! Those were valuable camera moments!
He Ting was exhausted—he just couldn’t figure out the higher the ranking, the harder it was to understand them.
Thinking of the only name left, a chill crept up from the soles of He Ting’s feet—when it came to being silent and icy cold, no one could compare to Shen Xiu!
At that moment, He Ting actually started to miss chatterbox Xiang Yueting. Snatching the microphone from him earlier… that was rash!
“First place…” As he reached this part, He Ting’s tone paused deliberately. He glanced at the audience staring at him nervously, then smiled and announced loudly:
“Shen Xiu!”
