“Next, let us welcome Starlight Entertainment!”
The drumbeats echoed as a group of five stepped onto the stage, instantly capturing the gaze of everyone present.
Jiang Shiyue was cool and suave, Yu Xu exuded a swaggering air, Fu Yichen was the epitome of a gentleman, Tang Tang was adorable, and Zhao Yaojin, bewitching?
Everyone widened their eyes. Why could someone perfectly blend two completely contrasting temperaments of refreshing youthful vigor and pure allure?
The gazes of the audience lingered over the five members of Starlight before ultimately being drawn entirely to Zhao Yaojin.
The clear peach-pink makeup added a touch of enchantment to his temperament, while his still-innocent face featured distinct personal traits that effectively neutralized that seductive vibe, endowing his entire presence with a contradictory sense of aesthetic beauty.
“Wow, this is high energy!”
As the performance began, the crowd exclaimed in admiration.
Starlight’s selected track, NANA, catered to market tastes while leaning heavily toward showcasing individuality. Fu Yichen served as the center dancer; he had the longest training period, as well as the most camera time and lyrics, but anyone with a discerning eye could tell he was not Starlight’s primary push.
For no other reason than that his personal traits were far too mediocre and mild. Such an unremarkable and un-eye-catching performance completely failed to attract a sufficient amount of attention.
Everyone’s gazes naturally gravitated toward Jiang Shiyue and Zhao Yaojin.
Once on stage and stimulated by the passionate atmosphere, Jiang Shiyue’s movement range unconsciously expanded a bit just as Zhao Yaojin had instructed, but he remembered his spatial positioning firmly and executed every action with clean, crisp precision.
He carried an innate aura of aloof detachment. His thin lips parted slightly amidst the intense exertion, and his lazy, relaxed movements made him appear thoroughly at ease.
It was a hip-hop track heavy on lyrics, yet only a couple of lines were assigned to Jiang Shiyue.
Li Xiaohong had hoped he would simply carve out a bloody path purely on the strength of his face.
As for Zhao Yaojin, having performed on countless stages in his past life, his gaze and facial expressions were faultless the moment his part arrived, and his camera presence was strikingly eye-catching.
The mentors discussed at length, their opinions appearing divided.
The first to receive feedback was Yu Xu. Dressed in athletic gear, he had performed exceptionally well during the martial arts display segment.
“Yu Xu, is it? Five years of training time, and your foundational dance skills are truly remarkable.”
PD Chen Yiran praised him with a smile. “Say, have you practiced martial arts before?” He noticed the young man possessed a very steady foundation in his footwork, and his entire person radiated the vibrant energy of youth.
“I trained in martial arts for a few years under a Shaolin master in my early years!” Receiving such positive feedback, Yu Xu felt immensely thrilled as he stood in the center. Though his breathing looked relatively steady, the slight heaving of his chest still betrayed his inner agitation.
“Ha, I knew it! You can just tell he comes from an orthodox martial arts school!” The PD made a joke with the surrounding dance instructors, and everyone nodded in agreement.
“You flatter me, I only learned a few clumsy three-legged tricks.” Yu Xu smiled rather shyly, the unpolished aura of youth brimming out of him.
Chen Yiran nodded affirmatively, his gaze then falling upon Fu Yichen.
“You established the foundational tone of this stage very stably, and the ending pose was designed quite well. Go spend more time on the treadmill building up your breath support, and your capabilities will be even better showcased.”
Hugging the microphone, Fu Yichen bowed.
Serving as both main dancer and main vocalist, a singing and dancing performance was inherently taxing, which explained why his breathing was slightly uneven only after the performance concluded, though absolutely none of it showed while he was actually performing.
“Next, Zhao Yaojin.”
“Present.” Clearly not expecting to be called out so abruptly, the extended eyeliner at the corners of his eyes widened along with his eyes, making it even more pronounced.
The expression made him look somewhat dazed. Coupled with his peach-flushed face from the intense physical exertion, he looked naively adorable.
“How long have you practiced dancing before?” Lama spoke up. This was her first time proactively initiating conversation with a male trainee.
Zhao Yaojin replied, “I have practiced for about six years.” Coupled with the practice time from his past life, it was well over a decade.
If he had not just woken up this very morning, he believed the stage presentation would have turned out even better.
The mentors exchanged knowing glances. “As expected.”
“I knew this little fellow’s movements were so crisp and his camera presence was so powerful for a reason! Looks like he really put in hard work beforehand!”
“Your talent is exceptional,” Chen Yiran praised. He relaxed the furrowed brows he had worn throughout the performance and gave him a thumbs-up: “Your gaze is especially captivating.”
Chen Yiran chuckled lightly and joked: “Your wink almost knocked me out with electricity!”
The rap mentor chimed in from the side: “Indeed, a natural and refreshing wink is something I haven’t seen in a long time!”
He then turned back to warn the other trainees behind: “Pay attention, everyone. If you can’t pull it off as cutely as little Zhao here, don’t attempt to wink at all, otherwise I’ll have a very hard time digesting my dinner tonight!”
“Alright, we get it!”
A chorus of catcalls rose from the trainees in the back, seemingly protesting the mentors’ blatant favoritism.
Imitating something without mastering the essence would only make one look foolish; how could they be that naive?
“Thank you for the compliment, PD.” Zhao Yaojin bowed politely before returning to the formation.
He felt somewhat surprised to receive even higher praise today than he had previously. Sure enough, when a butterfly flapped its wings, everything gently shifted along with it.
The two female mentors turned off their microphones and whispered among themselves: “I’m starting to really like this little fellow. I want to go pinch his cheeks so badly!”
His deadpan seriousness while listening and trying to act like a mature adult was simply too adorable, triggering a massive surge of maternal affection.
Lama nodded: “Let’s all look forward to his subsequent performances together!”
Following the mentors’ comprehensive evaluation, Zhao Yaojin predictably received an A.
With the first A born, his teammates could not help cheering and applauding for him.
“Jiang Shiyue, what grade do you think you’ll get?” When it came to his turn, the mentors decided to build some suspense.
“Me?” Jiang Shiyue lifted his head, sweat generated by the heavy fox-fur coat trickling down his comma fringe.
He furrowed his brows slightly, his features brimming with bold masculinity.
“…A C, perhaps.” The thin lips spat out those two words with a lack of certainty.
Not only Chen Yiran, but both female mentors burst into laughter.
“Hmm? You don’t think you deserve an A? Have a little more confidence!” Looking at that excessively calm and composed face, Chen Yiran originally intended to tease him playfully, but Jiang Shiyue didn’t take the bait at all.
He stood firmly in place, waiting for the mentors to announce the result.
As his gaze swept across, even Chen Yiran felt a slight chill.
Fine then.
Chen Yiran revealed the C grading placard and offered encouragement: “Don’t be discouraged. Practice diligently, and keep working to refine your stage performance. Hard work never betrays anyone.”
“Thank you.” Jiang Shiyue delivered a bow whose politeness was beyond reproach.
Once the grades were announced, they took their seats in order.
Aside from Zhao Yaojin achieving an A, Yu Xu and Fu Yichen both fell into the B tier, while Tang Tang and Jiang Shiyue both received C’s.
After a long wait, the stage performances finally concluded.
“Everyone’s performances were truly impressive.”
Chen Yiran stood at the center of the stage with a smile. Having also served as the PD for Superstar Trainee the previous year, perhaps due to extremes meeting, after a period of relative dormancy, the overall caliber of the trainees this time had noticeably improved.
“I looked through everyone’s self-evaluations, and many children were far too modest. You need to boost your confidence and believe in yourselves. For some of you, the grade assigned by us mentors might differ slightly from your own expectations; if that’s the case, you need to reflect inward all the more to see where you fell short and where you can improve.”
“Of course, this grade evaluation does not dictate everything. We have a very long span of time from recording to the show’s broadcast, offering plenty of opportunities for a comeback. However, if you want the national producers to notice you, you must strive to stand in more conspicuous places and respect the stage beneath your feet.”
“Thank you, PD!”
“Thank you, Chen PD!”
“Thank you, PD!”
The trainees rose to their feet, crossing their hands over their chests and bowing.
Expressions of gratitude rose one after another, and a hint of a smile surfaced on Chen Yiran’s face.
Only those who were both hardworking and modest could travel further, and possessing genuine personal strength was the ultimate foundation for facing the cameras. This lesson they had learned exceptionally well.
“Now then, I will announce our first theme song mission.” Chen Yiran flipped through his cue cards.
Everyone held their breath in anticipation.
“Please have the trainees complete the theme song stage performance within one week. The phones issued to you by the production team contain dance instruction videos for this performance track. Spend the first day learning and familiarizing yourselves independently while adjusting and resting. Afterward, a weekly schedule will be distributed to you. All five classes from A to F have scheduled classes, so please locate your respective classrooms and attend on time.”
Chen Yiran’s clear voice grew slightly hoarse from the day’s high-intensity evaluations. Seeing the trainees looking exhausted yet forcing themselves to perk up, he felt a twinge of sympathy.
Softening his tone, he said, “Alright, everyone is tired as well. After taking a group photo, go to the backstage area to collect your class uniforms, and then you can head to the dormitories to rest.”
“Everyone has worked hard!” Chen PD bowed toward the trainees.
“You’ve worked hard, PD!”
Watching the cameramen begin packing up their equipment, the trainees finally relaxed to a certain extent.
Passing through a light-colored mirrored corridor, everyone arrived at a simply decorated room.
A long table displayed five colors in sequence: peach pink, orange-yellow, pale cyan, sky blue, and deep purple.
Everyone swarmed toward the long table, reaching out to touch and inspect the garments.
“The uniform colors are different!” a trainee exclaimed in surprise.
“Are these all free size? I prefer a looser fit!” Another trainee bypassed him to look for his specific class uniform, flipping through the size tags.
“Class A is pink, it looks both good and eye-catching.”
“I’m in B, and I think the pale cyan looks pretty nice too, hahaha.”
Zhao Yaojin excitedly grabbed his pink outfit.
Yu Xu sauntered lazily behind Zhao Yaojin. Catching sight of the color of Zhao Yaojin’s training uniform, he furrowed his brow and muttered a soft complaint: “No matter how I look at it, your color gives off a bit of a gay vibe. Good thing mine is orange-yellow!”
Zhao Yaojin examined it. Really? He thought it looked great!
“Let’s go, let’s go draw for our dormitories!”
Stepping outside, a long queue had already formed at the luggage storage counter. Everyone jostled together, taking turns shaking the bamboo cylinder to draw their dormitory assignments.
Seeing the winding line at the draw station, Zhao Yaojin felt a headache coming on just looking at it.
“Hurry up over here!” Yu Xu waved to signal them over. Jiang Shiyue glanced at the lengthy queue and trudged with a sour expression to the very back of the line.
Gazing at the pale, fish-belly white streaks appearing in the eastern sky, having pulled an all-nighter, Jiang Shiyue felt that if he didn’t get some sleep right away, he was going to drop dead from exhaustion.
Zhao Yaojin was also thoroughly fatigued after the full day’s ordeal, feeling an aching pain radiating all the way from his tailbone up along his spine.
Fortunately, though the line was long, it moved swiftly. Inch by inch, they finally reached the front of the queue.
“Hello, I’m here to collect my suitcase.” Arriving at the storage area, an older female attendant who had stayed up alongside everyone else until now looked rather impatient.
“Draw your lot!” Glancing at the endless tail of the queue behind them, the plump woman rolled her eyes, her facial muscles twitching as she irritably shoved the bamboo cylinder forward.
This segment was mandated by the production team, with the objective of mixing up teammates from the same agency to spark new dynamics and viewing points among the various boys.
He shook his hand randomly inside the cylinder, instantly feeling a wave of nervous tension.
Flipping open his drawn number tag: Room 303.
“Key.” The woman handed him the key and hurried him along.
With his teammates waiting behind him, Zhao Yaojin tugged on the rope of his suitcase and waited on the spacious nearby lawn for their results.
Two of the wooden tags hanging from the five keys actually shared the exact same number.
Zhao Yaojin lifted his gaze, locking eyes with Jiang Shiyue’s pitch-black pupils:
“We’re roommates?” Zhao Yaojin felt a surge of cheerful excitement.
This was yet another event that had never happened before!
“Mmm.” Jiang Shiyue curved the corners of his lips, lifting his gaze to look at him with a pair of phoenix eyes shimmering with sparse amusement: “You unwilling?”
“Not at all!” How could Zhao Yaojin possibly be unwilling? After all, they used to be that close.
He hurriedly took two steps forward to help his future good roommate drag his suitcase along, his tone light and brisk: “Let’s go!”