Trainee Ch.29

Chapter 29: The First Performance (2)

As it turns out, Lai Yudong’s issue was even more critical than the intense debate over song selection — if you run too slowly, all you can do is wait for fate to decide your path.

Just like them now.

Zhou Rui wasn’t the slowest runner among the fourteen trainees — he was the fifth to reach the finish line. But by the time he got there, the remaining performance songs were Fairyland, Dormant Fireflies, and Peppermint. Two of them were songs they had been hoping to avoid, and the other one was something they’d rather not pick unless absolutely necessary.

Bai Xuanhe, who arrived just a bit later, immediately tore down Fairyland without hesitation. Seeing that the seventh person was about to arrive, Zhou Rui had no time to hesitate either. The two of them quickly tore down the remaining two song choices and turned back, running to the starting point.

In the end, Zhou Rui placed seventh and ended up with the song Peppermint.

“We’re doomed,” Zeng Kai covered his face in despair, his tone laced with blame. “Seventh place doesn’t get to choose an opponent — they automatically get grouped with whichever team is left unpicked. Zhou Rui, you might as well have stayed put and not chosen anything.”

Lai Yudong thought to himself that they’d never really planned for this kind of situation in the first place. If anyone was to blame, it was all of them for being too careless.

What worried him even more was — why was he again performing a song in front of its original singer!?

“I disagree,” Shu Tengjie said calmly, analyzing the situation. “Choosing the right song is more important than choosing the right opponent. No matter who we’re up against, the stage we present is set. But the song is the key factor in determining how good that stage will be. If Zhou Rui gave up and didn’t pick anything, there would be a 2-in-7 chance of drawing the worst-case scenario. There’s no need for us to gamble on the first performance.”

Zeng Kai shot back decisively, “And why don’t you mention that there’s a 5-in-7 chance of drawing a good one?”

“No — there’s also a 1-in-7 chance the result ends up exactly the same, and another 1-in-7 chance we’d get picked for Cheese.”

“Well, it’s not completely hopeless either,” Zeng Kai said, scratching his head. “Even if we don’t win, there’s no bonus score, and several people in our group are already on the verge of elimination.”

Chu Tianyi couldn’t help but retort, “And it’s not like you can guarantee that Zhou Rui not picking would’ve guaranteed a win.”

Huang Yeru gently tried to soothe things, “Let’s not say such demoralizing things…”

[The vibe in this group is so bad]

[Nah, it’s good — everyone’s going head to head]

[Zhao & Zhou & Yu: at peace with the world.jpg]

[These three are killing me — how are they so in sync?]

Lai Yudong hadn’t expected things to line up so coincidentally. Hoping to stay away from the conflict, he quietly took a step back — right in sync with Zhou Rui and Zhao Yifeng, who had the same thought. The three of them looked like they were silently counting down “three, two, one” in the team chat, then wordlessly withdrew in perfect harmony.

The scene was hilariously peaceful — like a picture of serenity in the middle of chaos.

The three of them exchanged glances in pairs. Nothing needed to be said — they were all thinking the same thing.

Teammates fighting while I watch the drama.jpg

What was done was done. Even if they were unhappy about the song selection, it couldn’t be changed anymore. All fourteen teams lined up again for the next phase: choosing opponents.

The host, Fu Hanyu, picked up the process: “Team ‘Charging Up!’ who came in first place in the race, please choose your opponent.”

The Class C trainee standing at the front of the line said, “We choose the team that Yin Zizhen is in.”

From a competitive standpoint, the further back in the line, the weaker the team was likely to be. Choosing one of the last few teams would make it easier to win. But perhaps to avoid looking bad in front of the audience, or maybe out of pride, they didn’t pick the fourteenth team — the one left unchosen after the lottery round.

Team Twelve and Team Ten — matched successfully.

The team that came in second place in the race was led by Song Yanxi. And with his actions, he confirmed what the barrage of comments had long suspected — he was, without a doubt, a hardcore face-con. He chose his teammates purely based on looks, completely disregarding ability. In the face of beauty, skill took a back seat.

As a result, even though they were Team Seven, their overall strength was actually weaker than several teams ranked after them. The strongest member of their group was Qu Xincheng.

But they were both clever and lucky — they ended up selecting the song with the lowest difficulty: Cheese.

Just when everyone thought they would go for Team Fourteen, Song Yanxi revealed a sly smile and said, “We choose the team led by Wei Zhengbin.”

Cough cough…

At the front of his team, Wei Zhengbin was so startled he choked on his own saliva.

[This is wild — macho man doing cute concepts]

[Whose awful idea was this hahahahaha]

[You won’t believe it — it was actually Qu Xincheng’s suggestion]

[Didn’t expect you to be that kind of crown prince!]

Lai Yudong quickly scanned Wei Zhengbin’s group. The other members were Yu Yizhen, Li Xu, Zhang Mingche, and the like — either cold, edgy rappers or mature manly types, not a single one remotely matched the sweet and cute aesthetic of Cheese.

This surprise gift of Cheese had landed squarely on them, and their expressions were… remarkable.

Team Seven and Team Six — matched successfully.

Perhaps because the first two teams had made bold moves, the teams choosing opponents afterward became noticeably more polite. Team Fourteen still hadn’t been picked.

Team Two and Team Eight — matched, with the performance song All Night.

Team Four and Team Nine — matched, with the performance song Spring Color.

With four matchups finalized in a row, Lai Yudong suddenly had a bad feeling. He leaned out from the back of the line and scanned the situation on the field. After confirming what was left, he had a growing suspicion that his premonition was about to come true.

Something was probably about to go very wrong for their team.

The next teams to choose opponents were Team Three and Team Thirteen.

The ones still waiting to be chosen were Team One, Team Eleven, and Team Fourteen.

In other words, if Team Three didn’t choose Team One, then Team Thirteen would almost certainly pick either Team Eleven or Team Fourteen — the two teams closest to their own level.

Which meant… the outcome was already obvious.

Their team was about to be automatically paired with Team One!

To put it more bluntly—

Their team was going to perform Fir-Nine’s debut song against a team that included a former Fir-Nine member!!!

Lai Yudong nervously looked at Bai Xuanhe, who had raised the mic in his hand, silently praying that he’d be willing to take on this hot potato.

“Our team chooses…”

And then Bai Xuanhe picked Team Eleven.

“What two teams are left?” Zeng Kai, standing in front, tiptoed and craned his neck to get a better look at the lineup — and only then realized what was happening. “Wait—are we seriously going up against Mo Li’s team!?”

“Logically speaking, they shouldn’t pick Su Junzhe’s group,” Shu Tengjie said calmly.

“So we can really be this unlucky, huh?” Zhao Yifeng remarked casually, in a tone so light it could be mistaken for that of an unaffected bystander.

Zeng Kai was on the verge of a breakdown: “I told you we were better off not choosing anything!”

[Wait, does this mean Mo Li’s doing Little Peppermint??]

[Either Dormant Fireflies or Peppermint]

[No way they’re doing Dormant Fireflies. That team isn’t even strong — you’d have to be out of your mind to pick Team One. Peppermint it is]

[And the first public performance is already this intense!?]

[Sky Video, don’t sleep too soundly tonight ^ ^]

As expected, faced with the two teams that represented the performance spectrum’s upper and lower limits, Team Thirteen chose the weaker one.

Host Fu Hanyu then announced the result that neither team wanted to hear:

“Since no one selected Su Junzhe’s team, they will be automatically matched with Zhou Rui’s team, who chose Peppermint.”

And thus, a world where everyone suffered — except the production team — was achieved.

[What kind of living hell is this…]

[Zhou Rui’s team is so screwed. There’s no hope for bonus points now.]

[As bad as they’ve got it, at least they’ll get some attention. Team One is the real loser here — with Mo Li around, who’d dare fight for center? Not afraid of getting flamed by Li stans?]

[But if Mo Li does fight for center, won’t Tree1 fans bash him? It’s their group’s debut song, after all.]

[Mo Li is truly the most miserable — whether he fights for center or not, he’ll be judged either way.]

[Sky Video: I used one song choice to make 14 people equally unhappy.]

[15, actually. Don’t forget me :)]

Lai Yudong looked toward the three remaining trainees yet to be assigned to a group and silently corrected them — it was seventeen people.

Peppermint was for an eight-member team.

He had thought the misfortune would end here — that it couldn’t get worse than this. But that was far too naïve.

As the team that placed seventh in the race, Zhou Rui’s group had the privilege of choosing their additional teammate first. But after discussing it, they didn’t pick the only C-class trainee left — Lu Zhonghao — and instead went with Luo Feiran from F-class, simply because he was roommates with Zhou Rui and Zeng Kai.

Lai Yudong: …

A poor pick, on top of an already bad situation, only made things worse.

It wasn’t that he had anything against F-class trainees — as a C-class himself, looking down on F-class would be the pot calling the kettle black.

But the one and only interaction he’d had with Luo Feiran had left a terrible impression. If it were just him, he could live with it, given his temperament. But their team was already fraught with tension, and adding someone with questionable interpersonal skills was basically throwing gasoline on a fire that was already burning.

Lai Yudong sighed gloomily, thinking this might be karma for voting in Su Junzhe out of goodwill.

Just kidding.

Even if karma were real, he would still cast that vote for Su Junzhe again — and with a thankful heart.

Fortunately, Lai Yudong snapped out of it quickly.

Their team already had Zeng Kai — adding Luo Feiran on top of that didn’t seem like such a big deal anymore. As the saying goes, “One rat dropping ruins the whole pot of porridge.” At this point, throwing in another wouldn’t make a difference.

…Sorry, he didn’t mean to insult anyone with that metaphor, nor was he looking down on any of his teammates. It just happened to be the first proverb that came to mind, and he let some personal frustration sneak into his thoughts. If the tone came across as too harsh, that was his oversight. Next time, he’d be sure to use gentler language.

After all, internal team chemistry and individual skill shouldn’t be confused — for all he knew, he might be the one dragging the group down.

“All right, all the performance songs and group matchups have been decided,” the host, Fu Hanyu, announced with a cheerful tone.

“Since the practice rooms in the dorm building aren’t enough, we’ve prepared special rooms for the public performance training in another building. Staff will guide you there shortly.”

“The stage for the first public performance will be recorded next Thursday. Including today, you have a total of seven days to prepare. We hope you all give it your best and show your supporters — the Starseekers — your very best.”

…

The other building was very close to the dorm — just a turn around the corner after heading downstairs, and the walk took less than two minutes.

The arrangement wasn’t because the production team couldn’t afford a bigger venue. On the contrary, this setup was deliberately designed to make the trainees’ “commutes” transparent to the public. On the first day of livestreaming, fan site managers and professional photographers had already begun staking out this location.

Once they arrived at the new venue, the trainees were led to their assigned practice rooms. Groups performing the same song shared a single practice space.

When they practiced, when they stopped, how far along they were, how good they were — all this information was fully visible to the opposing group. The sense of competition and urgency skyrocketed.

Cut to the Peppermint group’s practice room.

Both teams were seated in two circles on the floor. Each person held a lyric sheet distributed by the show. In the center sat a tablet and four MP3 players.

The first step wasn’t to dive straight into practice, but to complete the part assignment chart posted on the wall.

For the eight-person group, the roles were divided into: one main vocalist, four sub-vocalists, one main rapper, and two sub-rappers. They also needed to choose a center responsible for the killing part, as well as a team leader.

Peppermint Group A —

“I’ve got a question,” Zhao Yifeng said, leaning toward the center of the group. He covered the mic clipped to his collar and lowered his voice so the other group couldn’t overhear. “Have you all actually listened to this song before?”

Though Peppermint had once gone viral as a hugely popular boy group hit, only Zhou Rui and Zeng Kai among them had ever heard it. The remaining six hadn’t — and Shu Tengjie even dropped a bombshell, saying he never listened to idol music at all.

Lai Yudong pressed a hand to his forehead, wishing he could escape this practice room.

He’d heard Shu Tengjie was actually a professional producer, so having a rigid hierarchy of musical tastes wasn’t surprising. But to say something like that on a survival show… well, it was even more “authentic” than Li Xu’s infamous remarks.

What, did he want the audience to believe his dream was to “save idol music”?

The more this went on, the more Lai Yudong felt like he had landed in a particularly challenging team.

“Let’s pick the center first,” Huang Yeru quickly changed the subject. “Anyone want to try for it?”

Lai Yudong had zero thoughts about center position. He’d be doing great just to handle his own part well — aiming for a highlight part on top of that felt like sheer overreach.

Then he stared in stunned silence as Zeng Kai raised his hand.

The worst part?

Among all eight of them… he was the only one.

————————————————————

**Author’s Note:

Revealing part of the first public performance group assignments—

Don’t worry too much if you can’t remember all the names — I can’t either, and have to flip back through the character sheet (?). Honestly, isn’t that just how survival shows go? You forget someone as soon as you meet the next. Or you can just use the full text search function to look up a name and find the chapter where they appeared!

Notes:

Group A is listed above, Group B below.

The number at the beginning indicates the group formation order during the lottery.

The first name listed in each group is the trainee who drew the group number.

Some trainees haven’t appeared yet or don’t have finalized names, so placeholders like class names are used, or they’re left blank. Any unnamed or class-only slots are from Class C or Class F.

Unless otherwise noted, all groups have seven members.

‍♂️ First in the race — Charging Up!

12 (A group): C Class, Liu Qichu

10 (B group): Yin Zizhen

Second in the race — Cheese

7 (A group): Song Yanxi, Qu Xincheng (aka the “visuals group”), B Class

6 (B group): Wei Zhengbin, Yu Yizhen, Li Xu, Zhang Mingche

Third in the race — All Night

2 (A group): Du Yongguan, B Class, Cheng Jinghao, Qu Junwei, B Class, B Class, B Class, Shen Bo

8 (B group): C Class, Pei Lan, Liang Zhisheng

Fourth in the race — Spring Color

4 (A group): B Class, Xu An, Qin Xu, B Class, B Class, B Class, B Class

9 (B group): [Not yet filled]

✨ Fifth in the race — Fairyland

3 (A group): Bai Xuanhe, Wang Yiwen, Jin Xiheng, B Class, B Class, B Class, B Class

11 (B group): [Not yet filled]

Sixth in the race — Dormant Fireflies

13 (A group): [Not yet filled]

14 (B group): [Not yet filled]

Seventh in the race — Peppermint

5 (A group): Zhou Rui, Lai Yudong, Zhao Yifeng, Zeng Kai, Shu Tengjie, Huang Yeru, Chu Tianyi, Luo Feiran (8 members)

1 (B group): Su Junzhe, Mo Li, Jiang Yangfan, Lin Xiao, B Class, B Class, B Class, Lu Zhonghao (8 members)

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