Trainee Ch.74

Chapter 74: The Third Performance (10)

One bottle of black nail polish: acquired.

Unlicensed manicurist Xiao Zhao: on duty.

Seven clueless lab rats: in position.

The venue was set at Dorm 504, one of the only two ten-person dorms. The reason—plenty of space and few people. Otherwise, they would have had to cause a ruckus in the cafeteria.

According to Zhao Yifeng, after the first round in his dorm, only four remained. The second round eliminated three more, leaving him alone, pitifully yet comfortably enjoying the whole ten-person dorm to himself.

At first, it sounded a bit tragic, but judging from his tone and wording, it was hard to tell how he actually felt. After all, he often put on a laid-back, indifferent air that made it impossible to guess whether he truly cared.

Lai Yudong recalled that Zhao Yifeng had always kept to himself. Even he, an introverted contestant, had his name mentioned now and then in the early stages, but Zhao’s name was rarely heard outside of his main vocal lines or the teammates he was grouped with.

Perhaps it was because he gave off a faint sense of distance, making it clear he didn’t want to be too entangled with others.

But Lai Yudong could feel that Zhao Yifeng had relaxed his guard a little around him—the proof being that he was willing to directly acknowledge their relationship in front of the cameras, instead of skimming over it vaguely.

From that perspective, they could be considered friends.

It seemed Zhao Yifeng had taken advantage of his “manicurist privileges” and slotted Lai Yudong into the second-to-last spot, sparing him the fate of being a true lab rat.

The very last slot went to Yin Zizhen, simply because he had said: “Sorry, may I go grab a late-night snack first?”

A smart kid who knew how to manage his time.

The very first true lab rat to be called up was Lin Xiao—making it hard not to suspect Zhao Yifeng of holding a personal grudge.

Lai Yudong leaned in to watch and learn. Zhao Yifeng’s technique was practiced—dip the brush, scrape off the excess on the bottle’s rim, apply at a 45-degree angle. It looked exactly like how his mom used to paint her nails.

The final result wasn’t bad at all: smooth and even, with only a little overflow.

[I’ve lost it—staying up late just to watch a bunch of guys paint their nails]

[I grabbed a bottle of polish and started painting along while watching…]

[Thanks, Yuzu, all the “Yifeng ships” are well-fed tonight]

[Yuzu doesn’t do fanservice himself, but here he is playing matchmaker. I’m crying]

Lai Yudong: ?

This counts as… fanservice?

So it’s true—“fujoshi will ship anything.”

The polish dried quickly. If there were no problems, they could leave early, following the principle of saving energy before a performance.

When it was Lai Yudong’s turn, Yin Zizhen had already returned from his late-night snack, so only three people were left in the dorm.

Zhao Yifeng lifted Lai Yudong’s hand and carefully brushed on a layer of black polish. Thanks to the four “lab rats” before, his technique was now flawless and swift.

After finishing the pinky finger on the left hand, Zhao rubbed his sore eyes with his forearm. “Alright, let it dry.”

“Thanks for the trouble.”

Lai Yudong stood up, gave his seat to Yin Zizhen, and sat off to the side waiting for the polish to set.

He spread his fingers wide in the air, careful not to make any big movements—the tragic scene of Li Xu accidentally smudging his polish earlier was still fresh in his mind.

[Why is Yuzu even cute while drying nail polish!]

[Waaah, he’s holding up his little puppy paws]

[So adorable, his mom would smother him with kisses]

Lai Yudong quietly lowered his hands and rested them on the edge of the table.

[My Samoyed does the exact same thing when it’s pawing at the couch]

[Stop comparing him to a dog! Yuzu is a sweet little fawn]

Lai Yudong: …

Forget it. He gave up resisting.

When the last person was finished, Zhao Yifeng glanced at the blond boy still staring intently at his nails and reminded him:

“Should be dry by now. Aren’t you leaving?”

Lai Yudong looked up blankly. “Aren’t you still not done?”

“Nope, I already finished Yin Zizhen’s.”

“I meant you.”

Zhao Yifeng froze for a second. “You’re waiting for me?”

“Yeah,” Lai Yudong said matter-of-factly.

After helping everyone else with their nails, leaving Zhao Yifeng to be the only one stuck in the ten-person dorm painting and drying his own—it didn’t matter if Zhao Yifeng himself didn’t mind, but as the one who had suggested the whole thing, Lai Yudong would’ve felt guilty.

It would’ve made him look like he’d just used Zhao Yifeng and then abandoned him. A little heartless.

Zhao Yifeng accepted Lai Yudong’s reasoning without comment, then turned to persuade the underage kid who insisted on staying with “Brother Yuki” to go back to bed.

He lowered his head, painting the nails on his left hand. “If you fall asleep, we’ll have to carry you back to the dorm.”

“I can walk back myself,” Yin Zizhen retorted.

“You mean after we wake you up?”

“Yes.”

Zhao Yifeng waved him off. “Forget it. I couldn’t do something that cruel.”

“But last time Brother Yuki woke me up.”

Cruel Lai Yudong: “……”

The two of them went back and forth like they were bickering, but at the root of it, both were just looking out for each other. Seeing that they might argue until dawn, Lai Yudong had no choice but to step in and end the match.

“Xiao Zhen, why don’t you head back first?”

Yin Zizhen looked left, then right, and in the end chose to listen to his leader. He left the room with his half-dried, polished nails held carefully in the air.

A few seconds later, Zhao Yifeng glanced curiously at the closed door. “He really listens to you.”

Lai Yudong neither confirmed nor denied. “It’s alright.”

[Go tell Zhen-baby you want to be a rap star—he’d listen to you too, lol]

[Correct answer: I’m experiencing the charm of rap]

[Kids are really easy to fool /smoke]

Before long, Zhao Yifeng had finished his left hand. To be safe, he decided to wait for it to dry before starting on the other.

The waiting felt too long, so Lai Yudong suggested he give it a try himself—after all, both of his hands were already dry.

“Sure,” Zhao Yifeng agreed without hesitation, simply handing his hand over.

“Don’t blame me if I mess up,” Lai Yudong warned in advance.

Zhao Yifeng didn’t care. “Worst case, I’ll just remove it.”

Lai Yudong picked up the nail polish cap and mimicked the process he had observed. The brush pressed down lightly, leaving a streak of black on the nail, then he added a few more strokes to even out the color.

One-fifth of the job was done.

“Not bad,” Zhao Yifeng said, pulling his hand back and waving it from side to side to check. “Then could I trouble you to finish the rest too?”

“Okay.”

[Ahhh, who should I even be jealous of]

[Possess Teacher Zhao’s body]

[If I were Zhao Yifeng, I’d never remove this polish in my life]

[Wake up, it’s just a few words to him]

Zhao Yifeng idly watched the brush swaying back and forth, staring until it almost made him sleepy. To pass the time, he casually started a conversation: “Do you think this makes us look like…”

He paused, choosing his words carefully. “Like a pair of sisters having tea?”

Lai Yudong shot him a glance. “I thought you were going to say we were forming a clique.”

[Each has their own brand of chaos]

[Feng is ridiculous, Yuzu is shocking]

[The most dramatic trio of Stardom: Maple (Feng), Honey Pomelo (Yuzu), and Black Tea (Hongcha / Li Xu)]

[No, no—Zhao Yifeng still has to bow out in defeat]

[Li Xu: tragically losing his true name]

Zhao Yifeng couldn’t help but laugh, deliberately teasing: “Are we even that close?”

“It kind of feels like it,” Lai Yudong said, head lowered as he held Zhao Yifeng’s ring finger. Focused on the task at hand, for once he didn’t speak while making direct eye contact.

Zhao Yifeng raised an eyebrow. “Only kind of?”

Before this conversation, Lai Yudong really wasn’t sure. After all, when he first arrived at Dorm 504, his impression was only that they could “at least be called friends.”

But now, he was certain.

Lai Yudong lifted Zhao Yifeng’s pinky, dipped the brush in polish, and said, “Once I finish this last one, we’ll be close.”

Congratulations—you’ve gained a real friend.

…

The third performance arrived as scheduled.

Because the rules had been changed to “one person, one vote,” the votes allotted to each trainee would inevitably decrease. To make sure the numbers didn’t look like their popularity was falling, the audience size was increased to two thousand people, and the recording venue was switched to a larger one.

Rumor had it the finals stage would be even bigger than this, which only made the trainees long more for the day they could stand on that stage.

Backstage, the dressing room was bustling. Staff and trainees weaved in and out, the atmosphere anything but quiet despite two rounds of eliminations.

“Qu Junwei! Did you see who I passed my GoPro to?”

“Cheng Jinghao was holding it just now.”

…

“Bai Xuanhe, you’re almost as tall as Pei Lan.”

“Why bother with height inserts when you’re already that tall? What’s the point?”

…

“Did anyone bring nail polish? Yin Zizhen accidentally smudged his.”

“No idea, go ask Miura.”

…

Lai Yudong was among the last batch to finish hair and makeup. He stood before the full-length mirror, trying hard to get used to his new hairstyle.

To match the theme of Grotesque, the stylist had parted his bangs down the middle, then gone to town with a curling iron, hairspray, and wax—turning them into a pair of ironclad bangs that not even a level-ten typhoon could blow apart.

The final result was a center-part hairstyle with comic-book levels of texture.

One had to admit, Sky’s styling team really had skills. Each of his looks for the three performances had been completely different, yet all maximized his refined features while highlighting both his personality and the song’s theme—nothing like the cookie-cutter, assembly-line stage makeup.

For some people, their bare face or light makeup actually looked better than their stage look. That was largely because mass-produced makeup styles didn’t suit everyone: not only did they cover up natural strengths, they could also exaggerate flaws.

For example—if someone already had wide-set eyes, and the makeup artist went swish swish with a pair of long, winged eyeliners, the “seductive vampire” instantly became a vacant-looking flatfish. You could practically fit a cab fare between those two eyes.

Of course, with Lai Yudong’s flawless features, even mass-produced makeup still looked good on him.

“Yuki—! Emergency!”

A sharp voice came from behind, and the next moment, Song Yanxi’s figure appeared in the full-length mirror:

“Xiao Zhen smudged his nail polish! Did you bring any polish with you?”

“…”

Lai Yudong turned his head slightly, gently reminding him: “The one in charge of nail polish is Zhao Yifeng.”

In other words, the right answer was to go find Zhao Yifeng.

He added, “I reminded him after we wrapped last night, and again before we left today. He should have brought it.”

“Oh, right!” Song Yanxi smacked his forehead. “Li Xu told me to ask you, and in my panic I didn’t think it through. Ugh, this brain of mine—come on, I’ll take Yin Zizhen to find him!”

With that, he spun around and hurried off.

Watching Song Yanxi’s back, Lai Yudong wondered if it was just his imagination—or had he somehow built a different image within the group during this third performance?

It really felt like: When in doubt, ask the leader.

That was good. At least it meant he hadn’t failed as a leader.

Guided by the staff, the backstage waiting room gradually filled up.

Lai Yudong leaned over and softly asked the returning Yin Zizhen, “Did the touch-up work?”

Yin Zizhen raised his hands, showing off his fully restored black nails, and received a fond head pat in return.

Not long after, the third public performance officially began.

The livestream went live, and the barrage of comments poured in.

Fu Hanyu stepped onto the stage, carefully emphasizing the new voting rules:

“After the performance ends, Starseekers will need to complete two rounds of voting. First, select the group you believe performed the best, and then choose the trainee who gave the strongest interpretation within that group.”

“Important—each Starseeker can only vote for one trainee.”

[So this time there won’t be split votes, right?]

[I get so annoyed whenever I see useless fans of losers trying to excuse low votes with that split-vote nonsense]

[If you’re multi-fan, either turn solo on the spot or just give up your vote]

[Offline solo-fan PK, I’m here for it]

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