TL: Hua
Appearance can be considered a kind of strength to a certain extent. The trainees’ gasps of astonishment were a natural acknowledgment of Lin Yanran’s stunning looks.
After a brief interaction with the trainees, he walked toward the mentors’ seats.
Seeing him approach, Tangtang energetically stood up and waved, motioning for him to come over to her.
Although Han Zhe’s expression didn’t change upon seeing Lin Yanran, he gave a slight nod in greeting.
Only Pei Luo, sitting in the very center, intentionally looked down and pretended not to see him as he approached, acting as if he wanted nothing to do with him.
So obvious in his coldness, did he expect Lin Yanran to come over and get the cold shoulder?
Lin Yanran resisted the urge to roll his eyes and walked directly past Pei Luo without a single glance.
The mentors’ seats were arranged in pairs, and Lin Yanran’s was next to Tangtang.
As soon as he sat down, Tangtang leaned over, her face beaming.
“Yanran, you look so handsome today! Don’t forget to take a picture with me after the show! I want to post it for my fans!”
As she spoke, Tangtang’s pigtails bobbed, and her slightly exaggerated tone made her seem incredibly playful and cute.
Lin Yanran smiled and nodded at her. “No problem.”
Tangtang’s expression might have seemed a bit dramatic, but Lin Yanran knew she wasn’t just flattering him.
She was the only mentor on the show who had added him on WeChat, and she had done so during the first episode, always treating him with genuine respect.
After agreeing to the photo, Tangtang gave Lin Yanran a thumbs-up and added, “You should have your team do this for you from now on. You’re guaranteed to gain fans like crazy!”
Tangtang was straightforward; she said whatever was on her mind.
But Lin Yanran couldn’t exactly tell her that it would be difficult to maintain this high level of styling in the future.
After all, this was Gu Siyue’s private team, not the show’s makeup artists.
As Lin Yanran was thinking, the host’s voice suddenly rang out.
“The mentors are in position. What about you, trainees?”
The host walked to the edge of the stage, continuing his question. “Are you ready?”
The previously noisy studio suddenly became quiet as the trainees straightened up and answered in unison, “Ready!!”
Their voices were incredibly loud.
“Since you’re ready, then the next segment…”
The host raised his eyebrows slightly, intentionally creating suspense.
The trainees below began to grumble.
“What? What? What’s the next part?”
“Is the next segment a battle royale…?”
While everyone was joking, the host just shook his head with a smile.
His voice rang out from the speakers again, but this time it was noticeably different, particularly strong and powerful.
“Now, for the next segment, let’s welcome our super mentor to the stage!!!”
The trainees’ eyes widened as they all looked toward the stage.
However, the stage was empty.
The trainees were all confused.
“Did I just hear ‘super mentor’?”
“I heard it too!”
“I thought the production team was just messing with us, but there really is a super mentor??”
“So who is it?! I’m so excited!”
“Ahhh, this is so thrilling!!!”
“Please, please, let me see the super mentor in person!”
The cunning host deliberately didn’t reveal the super mentor’s name, leaving the trainees both anxious and clapping enthusiastically.
But the more eager the trainees became, the more the production team enjoyed playing with their suspense.
Just as the trainees started chanting “Super mentor,” the stage lights began to dim one by one, accompanied by a ticking sound.
Then, with a “bang,” a single spotlight shone at an angle on the center of the stage.
A platform slowly rose, revealing a tall, straight back to everyone.
The trainees gasped, their eyes fixed on the stage.
However, the lighting was tricky, shining almost entirely on the person’s long legs, making it impossible to see who it was.
So, some people couldn’t help but guess based on the person’s build.
“Is it Zhang Jiayi?”
“Hui Chengxin?”
A few more cool spotlights came on, and the host’s voice finally returned.
This time, he raised his voice, his tone exceptionally solemn—
“Let’s give a round of applause to welcome our super mentor—Gu~ Si~ Ye!!!”
The moment the host announced Gu Siyue’s name, all the lights on the stage came on at once.
The man in the center of the stage was dazzling, making all the waiting worthwhile.
The studio was silent for several seconds as the trainees stared open-mouthed at the man, their eyes filled with disbelief.
After being shocked to the point of being speechless for a moment, the trainees who finally came to their senses let out shocking screams.
Surprised, happy, incredulous, and uninhibited… The studio was filled with screams and thunderous applause, almost blowing the roof off the building.
“Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap!!!!”
“Gu Siyue!! Ahhh, it’s actually Gu Siyue!!!”
“Oh my god, is this something I’m actually experiencing in my lifetime??”
“Gu Siyue, my idol!!! I’ve liked him for seven years!!”
“He’s never been on a variety show before, right? How did we get so lucky!!!”
“They were able to invite him?? You guys are amazing!”
After their initial excitement, the trainees, still a bit dazed, gave the production team a thumbs-up.
Brilliant, you guys are absolutely brilliant with this move!
They had already filmed three episodes, yet the show could still drop such a huge surprise on them!
The breathtakingly handsome Gu Siyue on stage raised the microphone and looked at all the trainees. “Hello, everyone, I’m Gu Siyue. Congratulations to all of you for passing the first three rounds and successfully entering the top 60.”
The moment he spoke, his voice was a sexy, deep baritone that could make one’s ears pregnant. The entire buzzing audience instantly fell silent.
Everyone sat obediently in their seats, like elementary school students on their first day, listening intently to every word Gu Siyue said.
“In the previous training, some of you may have achieved great results, while others may have regrets about their less-than-ideal performance.” Gu Siyue’s gaze swept across the entire hall. “But what’s past is past. Please forget your former pride and disappointment. Starting today, we’re setting off on a new journey.”
Gu Siyue’s tone was not as intense as the host’s, but it was incredibly inspiring to the trainees below.
They looked at the confident and charming man on stage and felt encouraged.
They clapped and cheered with all their might, as if trying to tell Gu Siyue that they understood.
After the applause died down, everyone quieted down again to continue listening to Gu Siyue.
But at that moment, someone suddenly shouted.
“You’re so handsome, my idol!!!”
The ill-timed voice rang out, clear for everyone in the recording studio to hear, and everyone immediately looked over at the person who said it.
The atmosphere was suddenly a bit awkward and a little funny.
The person who made the confession was a trainee from the C section, Wang Zehao.
He had been shouting along with everyone during the excitement, and his voice wasn’t particularly loud.
But his luck seemed to be a bit poor; the moment he shouted that phrase, everyone else happened to have fallen silent.
So, in the quiet studio, he was the tragic one…
Gu Siyue’s gaze followed the sound to the trainee.
The trainee, who had been shouting a moment before, immediately cowered when he met Gu Siyue’s eyes, lowering his head in embarrassment.
Gu Siyue saw this and chuckled softly, responding to the trainee in a relaxed tone.
“Thank you.”
With a single sentence, he easily resolved the awkwardness in the room.
The trainee who received the response breathed a sigh of relief in his heart and thanked his idol for helping him.
But he didn’t expect that after Gu Siyue said “thank you,” he would add one more sentence—
“But compared to Teacher Yanran, I’m still a little lacking.”
Lin Yanran, who had been sitting in the mentors’ section, smiling and watching everything unfold on stage, was suddenly called out, which left him a bit stunned.
He was even more taken aback when he saw that all the cameras, which had been pointed at Gu Siyue, were now turned toward him.
He and Gu Siyue made eye contact.
Seeing that the other party was smiling happily, Lin Yanran also subtly curved his lips and gave a helpless shrug to the camera, looking completely innocent.
Lin Yanran: This really has nothing to do with me!
The people below saw Lin Yanran’s expression and found it funny and endearing.
The trainees, who had been trying their best to hold back laughter at Gu Siyue’s half-joking comment, couldn’t contain themselves anymore. They laughed and ran with Gu Siyue’s joke, immediately shouting, “Teacher Yanran, you’re so handsome!”
The atmosphere livened up again, and the entire venue became lively and pleasant.
Gu Siyue clearly knew how to control the stage. After this little interlude passed, he slowly put away his smile and looked at everyone seriously, his tone no longer lighthearted.
“Starting today, your voting channels will officially open. The audience will vote for their ideal ‘center’ based on your upcoming performances. Therefore, the next assessment will be even more strict and brutal.”
As Gu Siyue finished this sentence, the trainees who had just been laughing and joking felt the harshness of the upcoming competition. They all sat up straight, their expressions more serious than ever before.
Gu Siyue: “Do you have confidence?”
“Yes!!”
This time, the answer was louder than ever.
Gu Siyue seemed satisfied and nodded. “Very good. Now, I will announce the rules for the new round of the competition.”
“Starting with this episode, the competition will be in the form of mentor teams. The mentors and trainees will form new teams, and from now on, the mentors will be fully involved in the trainees’ stage performances.”
After hearing the rules, the trainees were overjoyed. Their eyes shone as they looked at their favorite mentors, wishing they could collaborate with them immediately.
Gu Siyue narrowed his eyes, scanned the trainees’ reactions, and a smile appeared on his lips.
Lin Yanran noticed the subtle change in Gu Siyue’s expression and immediately understood that the competition format was not as simple as everyone imagined.
Sure enough, Gu Siyue spoke again, intentionally asking the trainees, “It seems you’re all very excited.”
The trainees, completely unaware of the danger, immediately replied, “Yes!”
Lin Yanran looked at the trainees’ innocent reactions and couldn’t help but laugh.
Gu Siyue clearly knew there was a pitfall ahead but was deliberately teasing the trainees. Lin Yanran couldn’t help but feel that Gu Siyue looked like a cunning old fox.
However, just as he was laughing happily, he felt another sharp gaze fall upon him.
Lin Yanran looked up and found that Gu Siyue, who had been interacting with the trainees, had somehow turned to look at him instead.
A hint of a smile appeared in his peach blossom eyes.
For some reason, Lin Yanran felt he could understand what the other man wanted to say.
Gu Siyue: Laughing behind my back?
Caught red-handed, Lin Yanran shrugged: No, I wouldn’t dare.
Their interaction lasted less than two seconds, so quick that almost no one noticed.
Gu Siyue nonchalantly picked up the microphone again and read the rest of the rules.
“However, please note that each mentor’s team can only have 15 people.”
Upon hearing this, many trainees’ smiles faded.
But at this point, they still hadn’t realized how much more brutal the following rules would be.
“Mentors and trainees will choose each other. In the first phase, the trainees will choose first. Each person can only select one mentor, and once the choice is made, it cannot be changed. The number of people each mentor has at this stage is not counted.”
“The second phase is the mentor’s counter-selection. Only if a mentor accepts can a trainee join their team. If the mentor rejects them, the trainee will become unassigned. If a mentor has more than 15 trainees, they must eliminate the extra trainees from their team. Those who are eliminated will also become unassigned.”
The atmosphere in the room gradually solidified, with only Gu Siyue’s voice echoing through the hall.
“Unassigned trainees will have a second chance to choose. The mentor acceptance rules are the same as before. If a mentor’s team is not full, the unassigned trainee will automatically be placed on that team.”
After hearing Gu Siyue’s announcement of the rules, many of the trainees who had previously been overjoyed now looked worried.
If it were just a simple matter of choosing a mentor, it would be fine. The key was that the mentors also had to choose them back, which meant that when they made their decision, they had to be certain that their desired mentor would choose them in return.
But who could be so certain of another person’s heart?
After Gu Siyue finished the announcement, the trainees couldn’t help but start discussing among themselves.
Some of the more naive trainees were still confused by the rules and were asking around for an explanation.
Those who were quicker on the uptake had already started analyzing the situation and planning which mentor would be the safest choice.
As the discussion deepened, the trainees all grew more nervous.
They not only feared not being able to choose a mentor who suited their style but also feared ending up as an unassigned trainee, forced to join Lin Yanran’s group.
All the trainees acknowledged one fact.
Lin Yanran was truly beautiful.
But they also knew very well in their hearts that Yanran was also truly useless.
Anyone who knew anything about him knew that he had been relying on his looks for the past six years since his debut, and after six years, he was still relying on his looks!
His professional skills were almost the same as they were six years ago, with no improvement whatsoever. His abilities were, to put it mildly, disappointing.
So, if such a useless mentor were to lead a team, it would mean that if someone was unlucky enough to be assigned to his group, he not only wouldn’t be able to help the trainee, but his own negative reputation might cause the audience to dislike the entire team he led.
If they could, the trainees would certainly not want to go to his team.
But the rules stipulated that all four mentor teams had to be full, which meant that 15 unlucky people would be assigned to his group.
Going to such a “death group” was almost equivalent to a career-ending move, and none of the trainees dared to joke around with their debut spot and their acting careers.
So, they all knew that this choice had to be made with extreme caution!
Realizing that the situation was dangerous, Xuan Yihan’s roommates gathered around him from their different sections.
The roommates all assumed Xuan Yihan was kind, smart, and beautiful, so they came to him to discuss strategy.
One of the roommates, Fu Bohao, summarized the information he had gathered. “I just looked around, and all the trainees in Class A seemed pretty relaxed. They’ve probably already made their decisions.”
Another roommate, Tan Zixuan, chimed in, “After all, they have the skills, so they’re not afraid that the mentors won’t want them.”
Fu Bohao nodded and sighed. “I envy them. I got a C, and I don’t even know how to choose.”
Xuan Yihan, who had been listening to his roommates, chimed in at the right moment and offered a suggestion. “Your vocals are very strong. Maybe you can try for Teacher Han Zhe’s team.”
Fu Bohao was confused. “Why?”
“Because he’s the only one who specializes in rap! Those trainees who are mainly rappers will definitely choose him first.” Xuan Yihan then gave Fu Bohao a mysterious wink. “But think about it. If a team is full of only rappers, how will Teacher Han Zhe compete against other groups later?”
The protagonist, after all, was the protagonist. Xuan Yihan’s mind and intelligence were far superior to the other minor characters. While everyone was still struggling with how to choose a mentor, he had already figured out what the mentors were thinking.
After enlightening Fu Bohao, he continued, “By the same logic, I don’t think Class A is completely safe. When mentors are choosing people, they have to consider the overall harmony of their team. They will try to balance vocalists, dancers, and rappers. If positions overlap, the team is full, and the styles don’t match, even those in Class A can be kicked out of the team.”
“So, they only have a slight advantage over us, but as long as we make the right choice, we can pretty much guarantee we won’t go… there.” Xuan Yihan intentionally paused. Although he didn’t mention Yanran’s name, everyone understood.
Xuan Yihan spoke again, half to comfort and half to encourage his roommates. “We won’t be that unlucky.”
Tan Zixuan’s eyes lit up, and he quickly asked Xuan Yihan to help him analyze what he should choose.
Xuan Yihan propped his chin up, looking as if he was thinking. After a moment, he said, “You should go for Teacher Tangtang’s group. They’ll probably be short on dancers.”
Fang Su, who was next to him, didn’t care which team he went to. He only cared about what Xuan Yihan would choose.
“Hanhan, which mentor are you going to pick? I’ll follow you.”
Xuan Yihan subtly glanced at Pei Luo through the crowd.
The other man was also looking at him, and through his eyes, he was telling Xuan Yihan to join his group.
Feeling that Pei Luo was interested in him, Xuan Yihan felt confident. After looking away, he shook his head at his roommates. “I haven’t decided yet. After all, I don’t have much trainee experience, and I’m learning everything as I go. Unlike you guys, who all have something you’re good at, I’m not sure if the mentors will want me.”
The roommates saw how worried Xuan Yihan was and couldn’t help but give him a hug. “It’s okay. You’re very talented and learn fast. Besides a certain someone, the other mentors should all like you.”
The trainees were engaged in a heated, agonizing discussion.
The mentors, though seemingly calm, were nonetheless incredibly nervous.
Scoring trainees before was one thing, but now the tables had turned, and they had become the objects of the trainees’ selection.
Their popularity, their skills, and whether they could save face in front of everyone all came down to this moment.
Since there were four mentors, they would inevitably be ranked one, two, and three.
If, at the end of the day, a mentor had very few trainees while others had too many, the comparison would be a public humiliation.
And it would be public humiliation in front of the entire nation!
It couldn’t be more embarrassing.
Even Han Zhe, who was considered the most “real” and unconcerned about these things, was now wondering if his sharp tongue had offended too many trainees.
Compared to Han Zhe, Tangtang was much more honest. She made no attempt to hide her nervousness, patting her chest as she cried to Lin Yanran.
“Oh no, what should I do? I’m so nervous. My style doesn’t seem to match anyone’s. I feel like I’m going to be publicly humiliated.”
Lin Yanran comforted her. “You won’t be. I’ve got your back.”
When the rules were announced, he was still laughing at the trainees’ naiveté. But he didn’t expect to be slapped in the face so quickly, and now he has become the clown.
His reputation among the trainees was not good. He knew without a doubt that he would be everyone’s fourth choice.
So, Lin Yanran, who had already anticipated what was to come, smiled. “You’re so cute. Let the audience humiliate me instead.”
On camera, Lin Yanran said this with a relaxed tone, as if he didn’t truly care.
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Why do I smell a white lotus? Hmmm….🤔