Seeing that the situation had stabilized, Xi Ruqian handed the microphone back to Qin Bei, leaned back, and resumed his detached, hands-off demeanor.
Qin Bei, now back on track, breathed a sigh of relief and continued with the previous topic:
“This public performance will differ from the traditional sense. The performance is broadly divided into three parts:”
“Part one: group stage. Trainees will form teams of their own choosing, select their own performance songs, and decide on the stage type—pure singing, pure dancing, or singing and dancing. For singing and dancing performances, the original score will be multiplied by a coefficient of 1.2, while pure singing or pure dancing performances will be scored as is. Of course, only those who excel in singing and dancing will receive the coefficient bonus. Those who attempt singing and dancing just for the sake of it, resulting in a poor stage performance, will not receive the coefficient bonus.”
This was reasonable. Combining singing and dancing was inherently more difficult than focusing on just one aspect and tested one’s abilities more rigorously.
“The entire stage performance will feature unedited vocals with full live vocals. It is recommended that each trainee choose their performance type based on their own capabilities.”
In simpler terms, if you mess up, don’t expect the company to clean up the mess for you. If you don’t have the skill, don’t force yourself to take on a high-difficulty stage!
The contestants nodded in agreement.
“Part two: solo stage. However, this has nothing to do with most of you,” Qin Bei said bluntly. “On the official account of h-dik Entertainment, we will release a contestant voting poll. The top three trainees in popularity will receive the reward of a solo stage.”
Clearly, this was an opportunity for those who were almost certain to be debut candidates to showcase themselves and attract fans.
Qin Bei nodded and continued, “Part three: free stage. The main format will be live battles between contestants. The winner will receive three points, the loser will lose two points, and refusing a challenge will result in a one-point deduction. Each person will have one opportunity to challenge or be challenged. The stage type will be specified by the challenger. Contestants who have already performed in the second round’s solo stage may choose not to participate in this round.”
“It is recommended that each trainee prepare at least two or more performances of different types as backups to avoid having nothing to perform during a battle and wasting the opportunity.”
This was a novel segment. Although battles had occurred before, they had never been structured like this, giving everyone a chance and even dedicating a separate portion of time for challenges.
Upon hearing this, Si Chang’s eyes visibly lit up, and he laughed inwardly.
This was practically heaven helping him!
A battle, huh? That waste Gu Nanci is done for!
In an instant, he had already planned how to humiliate Gu Nanci on stage.
Aside from Si Chang, many others also began scheming, occasionally glancing at the weakest contestants in the back rows.
Gu Nanci received the most glances of all.
In a battle, the greater the contrast between one’s own excellent performance and the opponent’s poor one, the more attention it would attract and the more fans it would draw.
Unsurprisingly, the universally disliked Gu Nanci would undoubtedly become a hot commodity.
“After the public performance, only the top nine out of the 34 trainees will advance to the next round. All of you are talents the company has invested effort in cultivating. Making it this far means you have already surpassed many trainees and trial trainees who didn’t even qualify for the selection. But the reality is harsh—spots are limited. For some of you, this might even be your last performance opportunity in your lifetime.””No matter what, I hope everyone can give their all, leave no regrets, enjoy the stage, be grateful to the fans, live up to your efforts, and not waste your youth. On behalf of the company, I thank you for choosing h-dik and becoming a member of the dik family. I also thank all the fans for their continuous support. Good luck to everyone in the competition!”
The last few sentences were quite moving.
After the turmoil of the group’s failure a few years ago, those who remain now are all loyal family fans of dik.
Now, finally, they have waited for dik to debut a new group. It truly feels like watching their own child grow up bit by bit, sending it out with their own hands to face the test of the market.
【Go dik! My bias, go for it! Our baby will definitely debut!】
【What Sister Qin said moved me to tears! It really hasn’t been easy for dik to debut a group today. No need to say more—even if my little nugu ends up not making it, Fire must keep walking the flower path!】
【Go Fire! Mom fans are here to support your debut! Waiting for you to take over Hongyu Entertainment!】
【…Wait! Fire can walk the flower path! But Gu Nanci must get lost! Kneeling and begging Sister Qin and the other leaders to open their eyes and kick out the privileged contestant! (hands clasped)】
“Next, everyone can form teams on your own. After filling out the team registration form, come here for the lottery draw. Once the draw is over, you can leave to prepare your respective stages.”
After Qin Bei finished speaking, the room below erupted into noisy discussions.
Many had trained together as trainees, knew each other well, and quickly formed groups.
There were also some specially invited contestants, like Si Chang. Because of their high popularity and decent skills, whichever team they joined would undoubtedly get more screen time, so they received many enthusiastic invitations.
In a short while, most of the groups had already been formed.
Looking at the groupings, the internet was filled with wails.
【Ahhh, who’s crazy? I’m crazy! Why does Gu Nanci have to exist in this world! My long-time CP’s sweet moments together have been ruined!】
【Heh… hehe… Jiu Yang dragging along a vase, and it’s our own baby who actively chose it! I’m already beyond caring now…】
【Thankfully, the group performance only accounts for thirty points… I just hope Gu the Vase can stay quiet like a pole and not drag them down too much… (headache)】
“Which one of you has better luck?” Gu Nanci asked, turning her head after hearing about the lottery draw.
Wen Jiuyi: “…”
Cheng Yang: “…”
The air suddenly fell silent.
The three of them remained silent in perfect sync.
Gu Nanci paused for a moment, then spoke first: “…Let me state upfront, I have a special connection with the number one. If I do the draw, think carefully.”
“With a thousand-yuan scratch card, I didn’t win a single yuan,” Cheng Yang recalled the past, expressionless.
“…Suddenly, I feel like rolling three twos on a twenty-sided die for a comparison isn’t that unlucky after all!” Wen Jiuyi’s eyes lit up.
After the misery competition ended, Wen Jiuyi temporarily emerged victorious and was pushed onto the stage to draw the lot.
Cheng Yang moved to sit next to Gu Nanci.
The gentle, smiling mask he wore around others was stripped away. Cheng Yang looked at Wen Jiuyi on the stage and suddenly spoke frankly, laying his cards on the table:
“I’m not like Wen Jiuyi, whose compassion blinds him. You’re a smart person. Let’s each get what we need.”
You help me shake off Si Chang, and we’ll take you as a teammate. As for whether you can advance, don’t naively rely on hope—rely on your own abilities.
Naturally understanding the implication, Gu Nanci raised an eyebrow, finding Cheng Yang quite interesting.
On the surface, he was all smiles, appearing gentle and considerate to everyone.In truth, she was a calm, rational, and extremely goal-oriented individual driven by self-interest.
The reason she could team up with him was simply to get rid of Si Chang, coupled with his immense confidence in his own abilities—he didn’t believe that someone widely regarded as a useless flower vase would actually affect his performance.
“Of course,” Gu Nanci replied calmly. Besides, who would be relying on whom was still uncertain. She then asked, “Have you decided on the group song?”
For trainees like Wen Jiuyi and Cheng Yang, who were the top two from the same company, it was almost certain they had long prepared to team up for the group stage, even practicing their performance song in advance.
Cheng Yang’s eyes, usually devoid of genuine emotion, flickered with rare surprise. He thought to himself, She really is clever. “Yes, Qi Mo’s ‘Punishment.’ I’ll send you the song later. Listen to it and record any lines you think you can sing for me. If it works, I’ll assign you a part.”
“I’ll record a breakdown video of the dance later. You can start learning it, and once I finish making adjustments tomorrow, we’ll have a joint rehearsal.”
After a pause, Cheng Yang added, “Of course, if you still want to play the useless ornament role, I have no objections.” Just let me know in advance, and I’ll give you a side position so no one’s time is wasted.”
“Just assign me normally. However, I can’t do any intense dance moves for the next couple of days, so the joint rehearsal might have to wait,” Gu Nanci said calmly.
Cheng Yang turned his head, his expression visibly shifting from surprise to complexity.
He had specifically looked up Gu Nanci online last night, and the most common criticisms were about her slacking off, lack of ambition, and being a useless.
If it weren’t for last night’s incident where the company subtly protected her while also undermining her, he might have instinctively assumed that Gu Nanci’s words were just an excuse to delay and avoid work.
Cheng Yang fell silent. Having personally learned a social lesson yesterday, he decided not to jump to conclusions too quickly.
However, he certainly wasn’t going to be a bleeding heart and put everything on hold for Gu Nanci!
They were merely cooperating. Whether Gu Nanci advanced or what her future held had nothing to do with him.
Cheng Yang replied casually, “Alright, then Wen Jiuyi and I will rehearse together first, and you can join in later. Is there anything else you specifically need for the stage?”
“Well… your comfort zone is in the mid-range, so any high notes you can’t hit can be given to me. Don’t expect much from me in dance—with only a week, I’ll probably only manage simple moves,” Gu Nanci answered frankly.
Cheng Yang: “…”
For a moment, Cheng Yang doubted his own ears.
Just as he was about to call her an overconfident little brat, Wen Jiuyi’s excited voice came running over.
“Three! I drew number three!”
Cheng Yang: “…”
He felt a bit like he’d been shot twice.
In competitions, earlier rankings were actually disadvantageous. Judges tended to be stricter and harsher with their scoring at the beginning, and performances that came earlier were also forgotten sooner. By the time audience voting rolled around, the earlier acts were mostly forgotten, and their scores would suffer.
He had just checked—out of 34 contestants forming teams freely, most groups had three to five members, making a total of eight groups. Drawing number three didn’t seem like a good lottery draw by any measure.
So why was he so happy, acting like a complete idiot?!
Beside him, Gu Nanci suddenly exclaimed with delight:
“Three? Wow, you’re amazing! That’s just perfect!…”
Her stream of praises successfully made Wen Jiuyi lose himself, immersed in the inflated feeling of being the luckiest person alive, a reincarnation of the God of Gamblers.
Meanwhile, Gu Nanci, the one offering the compliments, secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Great! From now on, I won’t have to worry about drawing lots—I’ve got a willing scapegoat!
Watching the three of them walk away, Si Chang clenched his fist.
A sinister gaze swept over the group before settling on Gu Nanci, the easiest target to manipulate.
Hah! Did they really think that by cozying up to Wen Jiuyi and Cheng Yang, they could rest easy?
Just wait until the public performance—I’ll make sure you taste what it feels like to fall hard from a great height!
And those two blind fools, choosing Gu Nanci over me?
Just wait! I’ll make them realize how utterly absurd and laughable their decision was!
After drawing his lot, Si Chang glanced around, turned away from the camera, located a certain group in eighth place, and under a threatening glare, forced someone to swap lots with him. Then, hiding in a corner, he made a call.
“Hello? Help me buy a song. Money isn’t an issue—it just has to be a hit. And the key point is, the copyright must allow my name to be added…”