TL: Hua
A mutual blind selection between mentors and trainees was exciting enough.
But now they also had to record a video.
If they switched mentors and gave them a bunch of praise, only to find out that the mentor hadn’t even considered them, wouldn’t that be incredibly awkward?
And if they were unlucky enough to be left without a team and had to go back to their original mentor, how would that mentor feel after hearing their reason for leaving?
No wonder Gu Siye had reminded them to choose with caution.
This wasn’t just a test of chemistry between mentors and trainees; it was a situation where they could lose everything if they weren’t careful!
As soon as the rules were announced, many trainees’ faces turned solemn.
They wanted to leave but had reservations, yet they were also unwilling to stay.
Xia Xingxing, on the other hand, had no such worries. He simply wanted to join Lin Yanran’s team.
After all, Lin Yanran was his idol. He would go wherever his idol went.
But the others didn’t have it so easy. Even the trainees in their group were frowning in a dilemma.
So he asked in a low voice, “What’s wrong, guys? You’re not thinking of betraying my idol and going to another group, are you?”
Gao Yu shook his head at Xia Xingxing. “Of course not. We definitely want to choose Teacher Yanran…”
The trainees from other groups might not know, but the ones in their group were well aware that Lin Yanran was talented in singing, dancing, and composition, and his performances were particularly innovative.
With his skills, if they could stay in his group, they would at least be safe from being the last-place team, and their ranking would be guaranteed.
Xia Xingxing thought the same thing, so he was confused by their hesitation. “Then why are you still hesitating?”
Xia Xingxing was always carefree and only had eyes for his idol.
Everyone in their group knew this, so Jin Letian lowered his voice and explained his and Gao Yu’s worries to him.
“But there are fifteen of us in our group, and Teacher Yanran can only choose ten people.”
This meant that five of them would definitely be eliminated.
“And some people from other groups want to join our group, too. I feel like several of the A-class trainees are also very interested in Teacher Yanran…” Gao Yu took over Jin Letian’s words, his eyes filled with sadness.
This time, they weren’t just competing with the people in their own group; they also had to compete with trainees from other groups for a spot.
Their overall skills were already a bit weaker than the others, so their chances of staying were even slimmer.
Gao Yu and Jin Letian looked at each other, seeing the regret that only they could understand in each other’s eyes.
After all, just a little over ten days ago, who would have thought that the Lin Yanran, who was disliked by all the trainees, would now be in such high demand?
When they were put into Lin Yanran’s team, none of them could have predicted that there would come a day when they wouldn’t want to leave his group.
Gao Yu recalled how he had mocked and belittled Lin Yanran in front of everyone only to have the mentor himself hear his words…
Every time he thought back to his foolish actions, Gao Yu wanted to slap himself.
He regretted it so much!
It was true: what goes around comes around.
The more he had disdained Lin Yanran before, the more his heart was squeezed with worry now.
While Gao Yu and Jin Letian were still worrying about whether they could stay in Lin Yanran’s team, some trainees were already thinking further ahead. They were planning to manipulate the votes!
Since the new format included a public voting component, a few of the more popular trainees started forming alliances to secure their advancement.
In reality shows, while everyone was outwardly friendly, alliances had always existed.
Whether they were close friends, both popular, or from the same agency…
Forming alliances was an excellent way to boost popularity and gain attention.
And with this new format that relied on group votes, alliances were even more important than choosing a mentor.
So, some of the trainees who had tasted success in the previous episodes began to form their own cliques. The top fifteen trainees, in particular, started recruiting members to ensure their team’s online votes would be high.
It was a better strategy to bring popular trainees together first and then collectively choose a popular mentor.
Hearing that the popular trainees in Tangtang and Han Zhe’s groups had already started forming alliances, Xuan Yihan didn’t want to be left behind. He went straight to Qiao Ye from his previous group, who was ranked second.
Being ranked second meant he had a large fan base and a lot of online votes.
Just based on his popularity, Xuan Yihan wanted to keep Qiao Ye.
He wasn’t worried about the mentor because he knew that both his and Qiao Ye’s names would definitely be on Pei Luo’s list.
He had already recruited the trainees ranked fourth and seventh. With his own rank as sixth, if Qiao Ye, ranked second, joined, all four of their fan bases would concentrate their votes on their team.
Combined with Pei Luo’s own popularity, their team would definitely have the highest number of online votes.
Xuan Yihan saw Qiao Ye sitting alone in a corner and took the initiative to sit next to him.
“Qiao Ye…”
Xuan Yihan called his name cautiously.
He had noticed Qiao Ye the moment he arrived at the show.
Just like his name, he was cold on the outside but incredibly talented—cool and wild, exactly the type he liked.
For a while, Xuan Yihan had tried various ways to get close to him, but with little success. Qiao Ye had always been cold and distant.
Especially after he had stolen his center position last time, Qiao Ye had stopped talking to him almost completely. Xuan Yihan had been the one to keep reaching out repeatedly.
Because of this, Xuan Yihan felt a vague sense of unease toward him.
But given the current situation, with other groups forming alliances, he had no choice but to humble himself again and try to win him over.
He was holding a bottle of water and tried to hand it to Qiao Ye.
The other man didn’t take it.
Xuan Yihan didn’t mind and whispered to him, “I see everyone is discussing choosing a mentor together. Several popular trainees have formed alliances. You’re smart; you should be able to see the situation clearly.”
Xuan Yihan looked at Qiao Ye, and, to show his sincerity, he even told him the names of the people who had formed alliances.
“A few of us are planning to stay with Teacher Pei Luo’s team, and I’m sure he’ll choose us. So if you can stay as well, we’ll have the best chance of winning this round, and we’ll all be able to advance safely.”
Xuan Yihan finished and looked at Qiao Ye expectantly.
Qiao Ye, however, let out a cold, somewhat disdainful laugh.
“You’re the third person to try and persuade me.”
Qiao Ye spoke, but as usual, he didn’t even look at Xuan Yihan.
He played with the voting card with his name, Qiao Ye, printed on it. He stared at the blank space above it, his eyebrow slightly raised.
“I have my own choice.”
*
Mentors’ Room
The production team had arranged a room for the four mentors and the super mentor, Gu Siye.
In the center of the room was a pentagonal table.
Gu Siye sat in the center, and the other four mentors each sat at one side.
When Lin Yanran sat down, he saw a screen in front of him with headshots of the trainees. Below each picture were two options, “yes” or “no.”
Lin Yanran, who had already figured out the production team’s intention, looked at the director sitting cross-legged by the door. “Are we going to choose our teams together here?”
The director nodded. “Yes, but don’t worry, mentors. The other mentors won’t be able to see your list.”
But Pei Luo frowned. “But we can hear each other’s words.”
The director raised his eyebrows at him. “That’s why it’s convenient for you to use all kinds of smoke, fog, and bullets to confuse the other mentors!”
Hearing this, Han Zhe was in awe of the production team and immediately gave the director a thumbs-up.
“I respect you! You guys are amazing!”
Tangtang was on the verge of a breakdown, seeing that the production team was up to something again. “We’re just reforming the teams. Why does it have to be like a political drama… Is it really necessary, director?”
The director smiled and nodded. “Yes, it is. It looks better this way~”
Tangtang: …
Han Zhe: …
After they both complained a little more about how the production team was driving them crazy, the director said to Gu Siye, “The time is almost up. The trainees have started voting. Now, it’s up to our super mentor to distribute the trainees’ information to the mentors.”
Gu Siye looked at the trainee database on his screen and confirmed with the director, “Can I choose the order myself?”
“Yes, you can randomize it.”
“Okay.”
Gu Siye agreed, thought for a moment, and then selected the profile of a trainee ranked fifth.
The trainee’s photo immediately appeared on the screens of the four mentors.
Tangtang excitedly shouted, “Hey, hey, hey, Zheng Kaicheng, he’s in my group, he’s in my group! I want this one; don’t you guys dare steal him.”
Hearing Tangtang’s words, Han Zhe’s hand paused for a moment.
After pretending to hesitate for a bit, he clicked “yes” under the photo.
On the other side, Pei Luo also clicked “yes” without any hesitation.
When the screen notified them that all four mentors had made their choices, Gu Siye displayed another trainee’s profile.
This person was from Han Zhe’s group last time, so he immediately shouted, “Don’t steal him, don’t steal him! He’s mine!!”
But after he said that, he smiled and pressed the “no” button without any hesitation.
The mentors who had just complained about the political drama were all incredibly good actors.
After more than ten rounds of this, whenever a trainee’s profile appeared, regardless of their skill level, a mentor would compliment them and say they wanted them.
They were all feeding their opponents a mixture of truths and lies, making each other dizzy and unable to tell who was serious about wanting a trainee.
Qiao Ye’s profile was released by Gu Siye in the middle of the process.
Unlike the exaggerated acting from before, this time, as soon as they saw his picture, Tangtang and Han Zhe both shouted that they wanted to take him. Even Lin Yanran, who hadn’t participated in the drama, smiled and said, “He is a must-have.”
The four of them looked at each other, confirming for the first time that the other was serious.
So, if everyone wanted him, wouldn’t Qiao Ye end up in the team he had chosen?
At this thought, some of them hesitated.
Each mentor had a limited number of spots, only ten.
This meant that wasting a precious spot would have a huge impact on the final team.
Han Zhe’s finger lingered over Qiao Ye’s profile photo for a long time.
Qiao Ye had strong all-around skills, and if he joined his team, it would definitely be a huge boost for the entire group.
However… he didn’t think Qiao Ye was very interested in his team.
With only three spots available, it seemed like a bad deal to waste one on someone with so much uncertainty.
It wasn’t just Han Zhe; Tangtang was thinking the same thing.
After a moment of thought, the two of them, with a mutual understanding, both clicked “No.”
Pei Luo didn’t hesitate. He confidently pressed “Yes,” then smiled at the other three. In a half-joking tone, he said, “Give up, you can’t compete with me. He chose me in the first round, and he’ll definitely choose me again this round.”
Pei Luo had already read Tangtang and Han Zhe’s expressions and knew they had given up on Qiao Ye.
His words were meant for Lin Yanran, who was sitting beside him.
It was both a warning and a show of dominance.
When Gu Siye first announced the two-way selection rules, Pei Luo was a little worried.
Without any outside influence, just based on Lin Yanran’s performance last week, he knew a lot of trainees would choose him. He even worried that his own team might have too few members, which would be embarrassing.
But the subsequent voting rules gave him a sense of security.
Each trainee’s fans could only cast one vote, which made the mentors’ fan-supported votes especially crucial.
So what if Lin Yanran’s stage performance was flashy and elaborate?
He was a top-tier idol with tens of millions of followers on Weibo.
Lin Yanran, on the other hand, was a nobody with only a million or two fans.
With his massive fan base and public appeal, could that washed-up nobody Lin Yanran really compare?
Any trainee with half a brain who wanted to win the competition would choose to join his team.
Qiao Ye was no different.
Pei Luo’s contemptuous gaze just fell on Lin Yanran, and before he got the chance to show off, the real top star, the one the production team placed in the center, whose fan base was countless times larger than his, spoke.
“Don’t speak too soon.”
Gu Siye’s charming eyes narrowed slightly, and his commanding presence was on full display.
The seemingly playful remark left Pei Luo speechless.
—
Three hours later, the two-way selection between mentors and trainees had concluded.
After everyone had dinner and a short break, the production team called them all back to the studio.
With a defiant “I’m-not-afraid-of-anything” expression, the director suddenly announced something.
“I forgot to tell you earlier, but this mentor-trainee selection segment is going to be a live broadcast!”
The director’s eyes crinkled into a smile. “Get ready, everyone. The live stream will begin in ten minutes.”
This “social death” moment was going to be live-streamed…
Hearing this, all the trainees’ eyes collectively darted to Song Yingming.
Director, you better watch your back. Someone might come knocking on your door at midnight!!!
Please consider supporting me on Ko-fi if you like what I’m doing. Thank you for reading! (´▽`ʃ♡ƪ)
Ansiosa por mais, obrigado pelo trabalho duro.