Trainee Ch.91

Chapter 91: Finals (2)

After the groups were decided, on the way to the practice building, Lai Yudong kept thinking about which group he should place his solo stage in.

The staff said that before ten o’clock tonight, he had to go to the designated room to register the positioning and track for his solo stage. If he missed the deadline, the consequences would be on him.

The solo track couldn’t be revealed to the audience beforehand; practice could only be done in a special room where the cameras were turned off.

Unlike the position evaluation in the second round, the solo stage didn’t have assigned songs. Each person had one minute. They could sing or dance whatever they wanted—completely up to them. Except for a few particularly troublesome cases, they didn’t need to worry about copyright; Sky Video would handle that.

Rap was definitely out of the question. The lyrics and flow had to be written by oneself, not as easy as the third round.

Singing suited clear and specific emotional expression and was relatively easier than practicing dance. But the solo stage meant no teammates to share the pressure. Whether it was good or bad would be obvious right away, and it was the easiest for casual viewers to single out and judge.

Dancing wasn’t as easy to flop. Outsiders would just watch for fun, at most commenting on rhythm and strength. But all he could do was cover dances. He didn’t know much about that. Either he’d have to borrow Li Xu’s phone to watch videos one by one to pick something, or ask Jin Xiheng or Su Junzhe for recommendations.

It was tough, and he had to decide today.

Although Lai Yudong had an idea, the difficulty intimidated him. He wasn’t sure if he should push himself at the last moment.

He thought, I’ll think about it later, there’s still time before ten o’clock.

With that on his mind, he stepped into the practice room of the “Vendela” group.

“Come on, let’s divide the parts.” Bai Xuanhe sat cross-legged on the floor, calling everyone to start the familiar process. “First pick the center position?”

“I have a suggestion~” Su Junzhe raised his hand, a pair of dimples on his cheeks. “Why don’t we let someone who’s never been center before take it?”

The group stage in the finals wasn’t competitive; it leaned more toward a showcase. Who stood as center wasn’t that important. In fact, generously giving up the position was the smarter choice.

If someone jumped out to oppose at this point, it meant either their head or their heart wasn’t in the right place.

Lai Yudong was the first to agree: “I support it.”

He had already been center twice, so there was no need to fight for it again. Besides, he had a hunch that the leader position might get pushed onto him once more. The pressure would be too much to juggle along with his solo stage.

The teammates echoed one after another, and Su Junzhe’s proposal was accepted.

Lai Yudong remembered there should be three people who hadn’t been center yet, but worried he might be mistaken, he double-checked: “Raise your hand if you’ve never been center?”

Song Yanxi, Qin Xu, and Jin Xiheng raised their hands.

Just as he remembered.

“I’ll sit out,” Song Yanxi lowered his hand. “You two choose. I don’t really want to be center.”

“I’ll pass too.” Jin Xiheng put his hand down as well. “Even though the center in the second round was Yuki, our group actually rotated the center role. I still count as having been center once.”

[Why isn’t Song Yanxi fighting for center?]

[He’s here to show his face, probably doesn’t want to compete with others.]

[This group is so modest.]

[Thanks everyone for looking after our foreign kid quq]

“You two don’t want it?” Qin Xu held his hand up, looking bewildered. The way things were going was beyond his comprehension, making him suspect his Chinese had regressed.

Lai Yudong leaned closer and asked, “Do you want to be center?”

Qin Xu cautiously tested the waters: “Can I? Don’t I need to compete and prove myself first?”

“It’s the finals already. Everyone knows what’s what. If you want it, seize the opportunity—don’t leave regrets.”

Qin Xu nodded. “I understand.”

With everyone’s approval, Qin Xu took his nametag and solemnly placed it under the “center” column on the whiteboard.

The next step was to choose a leader.

Lai Yudong’s premonition came true. His teammate from the last round, Jiang Yangfan, recommended him, giving concrete examples to prove he was fit for the role. Clearly, the small bit of dissatisfaction from the third round had already been let go.

Since there was no second candidate, Jiang Yangfan’s suggestion passed unanimously—faster than the center vote.

Lai Yudong: …

Once a leader, forever a leader.

[Unshakable Captain Yuzu, ever-changing teammates.]

[Is Xiao Lai still going to be leader after debut hhhh]

[If it’s just for stages, Yuzu’s leader traits aren’t that strong, but after debut he’d be well-suited to speak as leader.]

[What, like telling the reporters: “That’s one big camera”?]

[Honestly… not impossible hahahahaha]

At that rate, he’d probably get thrown out by the reporters.

Resigned, Lai Yudong stuck on the leader sticker and began hosting the part-distribution session as leader.

Main vocal was undoubtedly Xu An. For main rap, only Bai Xuanhe—one of the two with rap positioning—could handle it. Dividing the five sub-vocals and two sub-raps was a bit tricky, not because of fighting over lines, but because the group simply didn’t have enough rap strength.

Aside from the main vocal and main rap, the group had four members specializing in dance—the dance quota was heavily overloaded.

It wasn’t that Lai Yudong didn’t want to share the burden, but in the third round, the rap part had been taught to him word-for-word by two rap instructors. If he were to rap again now, he’d have to repeat the same method.

But with the finals’ prep time being so short, there was no way he could shamelessly ask their sole rap specialist, Bai Xuanhe, to tutor him all over again.

The best contribution he could make to the team was not to cause trouble at a critical moment, so he chose a middling role as Sub-Vocal 3.

In the end, Jiang Yangfan and Su Junzhe stepped up and took the two Sub-Rap positions.

The whole process was extremely peaceful, without the slightest whiff of conflict—so much so that the livestream comments jokingly called it “the stage version of a dying man’s last kind words.”

“Let’s confirm our practice schedule,” Lai Yudong said, taking down the whiteboard hanging by the door. He sat cross-legged with it resting on his lap. “Since everyone here might have different routines—for example, Su Junzhe and I both prefer staying up late—my suggestion is to set Vendela’s practice time from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. That way, our schedules will definitely overlap, and the remaining hours can be used for solo stage practice.”

“This time we have three more days than usual to prepare, and the song isn’t that difficult. I’ve estimated that, even taking myself as the baseline, the practice time is more than enough.”

After finishing, he paused: “That’s just my personal thought—it may not be the best fit. Does anyone have anything to add?”

[Really love hearing Yuzu lay out a plan like this.]

[Leader’s speech (?)]

[When he gets serious, I flash back to his cool-guy vibe from the very first stage.]

[I can’t listen to Yuzu talk for a long stretch—every time I just end up zoning out at his face…]

[Exactly! I never zoned out before—because he never used to say this much!]

Su Junzhe propped up his chin. “Maybe we should set two disband times?”

“You mean adding in a dinner break in the middle?” Bai Xuanhe asked.

“It should be adding an overtime buffer at the end,” Lai Yudong immediately grasped Su Junzhe’s meaning.

Su Junzhe confirmed: “Exactly. Most of the time we can’t end on time, so adding a final cutoff is better.”

“Then we’ll wrap up at nine. Everyone must leave before ten.”

The finalized schedule was written on the whiteboard, hung back on the practice room door, and the official rehearsal phase began.

Among the four rounds, the finals’ group rehearsal was the most relaxed for Lai Yudong.

The teammates divided their tasks clearly, the atmosphere was friendly, and progress advanced in an orderly fashion. No need for extra songwriting, no challenges to overcome. The only thing that took up time was Xu An’s dancing, but that was expected—what the group had in abundance was dance specialists.

During a break, Lai Yudong sat against the wall, watching from a distance as Xu An was surrounded by the two main dance members, Jin Xiheng and Su Junzhe. For a moment, he felt like he was witnessing a senior disciple being guided by masters.

“The last time someone got coached like that, it was you. But you had one-on-one lessons, not this many people,” Bai Xuanhe remarked. He walked over and sat down beside Lai Yudong, casually starting a chat. “Have you decided which category to put your solo stage in?”

“Vocal, I think.” Lai Yudong still chose to stick with his original idea. “What about you—rap or dance?”

“I want to dance, but there aren’t many rap specialists. I feel like the production team will drag me into doing rap,” Bai Xuanhe sighed. It was rare to see a troubled look on his face. “But I don’t want to rush out some sloppy rap at the last minute.”

“Wait—the production team can still interfere?”

“They can.”

Lai Yudong thought for a moment. “Then let’s leave evidence in front of the camera. If we get reassigned later, that means we were kidnapped.”

“…You can do that?”

Bai Xuanhe looked stunned, but quickly accepted the bold suggestion. He sprang up, pulled his leader along, and dragged him toward the nearest camera.

The two of them stood solemnly in front of the lens, exuding the serious air of a “Peach Garden Oath of Brotherhood”—just missing the third sworn brother.

“I, Murong Xuanhe, swear to the earth, to the sky, and to this camera—on the finals stage I’ll only join the dance group! —Hey, Yuki! Wait, why are you running off?”

Without even turning back, Lai Yudong replied, “That’s a little beyond my comprehension.”

“Didn’t you say we’d leave evidence together?”

“Too old-fashioned. It’s the unbearable heaviness of being.”

“…Why don’t I understand?”

[Brother Bai, Yuzu thinks you’re an idiot hahahaha]

[He only agreed to leave evidence with you, not to say something THAT dumb!]

[I’m dying, the way Yuzu turned away stone-faced was way too decisive]

[Yuzu: And so I turned and walked into the mountains.jpg]

[Yuzu is what now? Chu Yudong?]

[That’s Teacher Jin’s character! Yuzu should be Duanmu Yu, lolol]

Lai Yudong didn’t want to be either.

In a person’s lifetime, there was only a fixed quota of moments of social death to be caught on camera. If he exceeded that number, he’d surely die of embarrassment!

But he was an honest and dependable person. If he promised someone something, then even if he couldn’t follow through, he had to provide an alternative solution.

So, Lai Yudong went to Qin Xu and solemnly told him that Bai Xuanhe wanted to teach him a bit of Chinese.

Qin Xu’s eyes sparkled. “He really wants to teach me?”

Lai Yudong nodded. “Mm-hm, go on.”

Bai Xuanhe gained a partner, Qin Xu gained a sense of belonging, the audience gained entertainment, and he himself maintained his credibility.

Thus, a world where everyone was happy was achieved.

Behind the two swearing into the camera, Lai Yudong secretly threw up a victory sign.

[Qin Xu! Learning everything will only harm you!!!]

[I can’t take it—so cringe, but I want to watch!]

[Spotted: a sneaky little pomelo cat]

[Requesting the arrest of this black-hearted pomelo]

Once the commotion on that side finally ended, Xu An was released by the two dance coaches. He collapsed onto the floor in exhaustion, staring blankly at the ceiling as if a piece of his soul had drifted right out of his mouth.

Lai Yudong immediately dashed over, considerately handing him a towel and some water.

At last—he’d finally caught Xu An at a free moment.

He had almost thought they wouldn’t be done before ten, and had been itching the whole time, nearly ready to just kidnap him away.

Sitting cross-legged beside him, Lai Yudong waited until Xu An had fully caught his breath. Then he pressed a hand earnestly onto his shoulder, his sincerity practically written across his face:

“Xu An, I want to discuss something with you.”

“W-what is it?” Xu An, thinking it was some earth-shattering matter, immediately sat up straight. “Please go ahead.”

Lai Yudong leaned in close, whispering right into his ear: “For the finals… can I sing your Lose Heart again?”

—————————————————

***Author’s note:

Vendela part distribution—

Main Vocal: Xu An

Sub-Vocal 1: Qu Xincheng

Center / Sub-Vocal 2: Qin Xu

Leader / Sub-Vocal 3: Lai Yudong

Sub-Vocal 4: Song Yanxi

Sub-Vocal 5: Jin Xiheng

Main Rap: Bai Xuanhe

Sub-Rap 1: Jiang Yangfan

Sub-Rap 2: Su Junzhe

<< _ >>

**TN

Sorry for the delay. I lost my internet connection due to the super typhoon. cri.