Returning to his room, Ji Xing still felt somewhat dazed.
He never expected that he would actually possess He Mingchen’s mobile number.
Before he could process the thought, his phone vibrated. Startled, Ji Xing relaxed only after seeing Xiao Lin’s name flashing on the caller ID. Xiao Lin had taken the past two days off and wasn’t with the crew, but he had kept a close eye on Ji Xing’s updates and watched the entire evening broadcast live.
“Brother Ji, did you and Qin Yi get into a fight?” Xiao Lin asked from the other end of the line.
“He was looking for trouble, and I lost my temper and punched him,” Ji Xing admitted.
“I had a feeling it sounded like that when I heard the commotion on the stream. Thank goodness Teacher He arrived in time, otherwise things could have gotten out of hand and you might have ended up on the losing end.” Xiao Lin felt a lingering wave of fear just thinking about it, knowing Qin Yi was a bulky brute with plenty of strength whom Ji Xing might not easily overpower. “Why did you act so rashly?”
Right. Why had he acted so rashly?
Reviewing the sequence in his mind, Ji Xing somehow found himself recalling He Mingchen’s words. That man’s statement had unconsciously provided him with immense backing.
He Mingchen was the exact person he had spent all this time trying to avoid, yet today, that same man had somehow given him a profound sense of security.
How was he supposed to go on like this?
Meanwhile, in the suite across the hall.
He Mingchen had just stepped out of the bathroom after a shower when his assistant knocked and entered.
“Teacher He, everything has been taken care of, Hu-ge handled the negotiations personally. The five-minute footage from the training room has been completely deleted. I stayed to watch it get done myself, and the only copy left is the one I backed up.” The assistant placed a USB flash drive on the table.
“Was it smooth?” He Mingchen asked.
“Quite smooth. Hu-ge mentioned that Qin Yi’s relative who works as a producer isn’t actually close to him, and they only squeezed him in as a favor to begin with. With how obnoxious he’s been acting lately, he’s offended plenty of staff members, so even their own people are sick of him.”
Since that was the case, they were more than happy to use the situation to do He Mingchen a favor.
“Thanks for the hard work, go get some rest,” He Mingchen instructed.
“Is deleting the video enough? Do we need to do anything else?” the assistant asked.
“As long as the production team doesn’t bend the rules to protect him, Qin Yi’s lack of talent will get him eliminated in the first round anyway. We don’t need to overcomplicate things and give people gossip fodder,” He Mingchen remarked.
Nodding in agreement, the assistant said nothing further.
He Mingchen picked up the flash drive from the table, hesitated for a brief second, and then plugged it into his laptop. The video had been captured by the fixed security mount inside the training room, starting roughly two or three minutes before Ji Xing retaliated against Qin Yi.
Because the camera angle was positioned diagonally from above, it clearly showed Qin Yi deliberately driving his elbow into Ji Xing during a physical exchange. Ji Xing had stumbled back several steps and nearly fallen before the female trainee caught him.
Following that, Ji Xing strode forward and delivered a fierce punch straight to Qin Yi’s jaw.
A thoughtful look crossed He Mingchen’s face. Accustomed to seeing the soft, timid, and reserved side of Ji Xing, this marked the first time he had ever witnessed the young man unleash such a side of himself.
Truth be told, when Ji Xing displayed that bold, unrestrained edge, he looked rather fascinating.
Staring at the footage in deep contemplation for a long while, He Mingchen ultimately decided against deleting it, opting instead to safely store the flash drive away.
In case Qin Yi ever tried to twist the narrative and bite back later, this video might just come in handy.
The performance order for the following day’s reporting showcase was decided by a draw. He Mingchen’s group drew a mediocre second-to-last spot, while Pei Yun’s group fared even worse, drawing the final performance slot.
Having stayed up late the previous night and woken up bright and early today, Ji Xing looked thoroughly drained of energy. He had to rely on sheer willpower just to keep from falling asleep right there in the studio.
Right around lunchtime, it was finally time for He Mingchen’s team to take the stage.
Seated at the mentor’s table, He Mingchen maintained a remarkably relaxed posture. Whenever the camera cut to him while his trainees performed, he wore that same calm, aloof expression, looking entirely unbothered regardless of how well or poorly the participants scored.
It wasn’t until a short while later, when Pei Yun’s group stepped up to perform, that a subtle ripple flickered across He Mingchen’s eyes.
Noticing the shift, the live chat immediately flooded with humorous commentary:
[Teacher He, your own team’s performances are over, why are you suddenly waking up?]
[Because Pei Yun’s group is about to go up, obviously.]
[These two are truly great bros.]
[Emperor He actually cares this much about Teacher Pei’s team.]
[Call it brotherly love if you want, but I call it raw competitive spirit.]
While the bullet chat was heatedly debating the bromance between He Mingchen and Pei Yun, the host suddenly announced that Ji Xing would be stepping in to replace one of Pei Yun’s original group members. Since Pei Yun’s live stream the night before hadn’t clarified the situation, most viewers had assumed Ji Xing was merely acting as a backup partner again, completely unaware he would actually take the stage in someone’s place.
The moment the announcement dropped, the style of the comments shifted instantly:
[Turns out somebody wasn’t watching out for his bro after all.]
[Pour one out for Pei Yun, crying himself to sleep.]
[Look closely, Ji Xing is actually going up on stage.]
[He Mingchen leaned against that chair for hours, and now he suddenly sits straight up.]
[Tch, so you can sit up straight, mister.]
[Quick, look at someone nervously twiddling their fingers over there.]
[Lmao, you can’t make this level of obsession up.]
On the live broadcast screen, Ji Xing’s group officially commenced their performance.
Because it was a live broadcast with no pauses allowed, shooting continuously for hours past lunch left everyone utterly exhausted and starved. Under those conditions, Ji Xing’s mind was entirely occupied by his ravenous stomach, leaving him completely devoid of stage fright and allowing him to perform with total relaxation.
Even the two lengthy blocks of dialogue that Pei Yun had worried he wouldn’t remember were delivered with absolute fluency.
Qin Yi, on the other hand, appeared completely distracted, perhaps rattled by recent events. He failed to catch his cues several times during the scene exchanges. Fortunately, quick reflexes from Ji Xing and the other female trainee allowed them to seamlessly cover the gaps without major incident.
Due to Qin Yi’s numerous blunders, the overall scene rating scraped by with only a C grade. During the individual scoring segment out of a possible ten points, Qin Yi managed to pull in a meager three votes, while Ji Xing and the other female participant both secured eight votes apiece.
The showcase carried a strict elimination rule where the five lowest-scoring individual participants would be cut immediately, placing Qin Yi squarely among them.
Aware of the friction between Ji Xing and Qin Yi, the host deliberately turned to Ji Xing for his thoughts after the group scores were revealed. The question carried a subtle trap, given that Ji Xing had pulled a high score while his co-star Qin Yi was headed for elimination.
If Ji Xing offered overly polished remarks, he would sound insincere, whereas saying anything harsh could easily make him look petty.
“My thoughts…” Ji Xing sighed softly and replied, “I am really hungry.”
His declaration instantly brought down the house into roars of laughter, and even the host struggled to hold back a chuckle.
Everyone had been recording while starving for the better part of the day, making Ji Xing’s words the universal sentiment of everyone present. Several playful trainees on screen even started rubbing their bellies on camera.
“Everyone is indeed very hungry, but let us bear with it just a little longer. I will have the production team add a chicken drumstick to everyone’s lunch boxes.” Choosing not to push Ji Xing any further, the host shifted the microphone over to Pei Yun for his final remarks.
“I will keep it brief so we can wrap up and eat. I want to thank Ji Xing for stepping in to save the day, otherwise our group would have lost two participants capable of pulling eight votes.” While the group’s overall rating landed at a C, Ji Xing and the other girl’s individual scores were exceptionally high. “Ji Xing is an intensely focused actor who is remarkably steady, and I love working with him. It is a pity I failed to fight harder to keep him back then, letting Teacher He snatch him instead.”
Live Chat:
[Pei Yun, you have said enough.]
[You can complain about not getting Ji Xing into your group for a solid year straight.]
[Bringing it up every single day, I am convinced you are doing it just to provoke Teacher He.]
[Hahaha, Teacher He’s expression is so subtle right now.]
[Ji Xing: The sole reason two Best Actors are turning against each other.]
“Teacher He, your trainee scored a high mark in Teacher Yun’s group, what are your thoughts on that?” The host loved stirring up drama.
“It is good.”
He Mingchen’s reply was exceptionally brief.
“Teacher He gives a remarkably concise answer, likely because he wants to spare his trainee from starving any longer.” The host intended the remark as a lighthearted joke to smooth over the actor’s curt response.
No sooner had the words left his mouth, however, than He Mingchen lowered his gaze and offered a faint smile. The smile was subtle, yet appearing on the face of the notoriously cold and aloof Best Actor, it stood out starkly.
It looked almost like he was quietly conceding to the host’s joke, or perhaps the helpless grin of someone whose true intentions had just been accidentally exposed by an outsider.
The live stream fans instantly lost their composure:
[Did my eyes deceive me? Did he just smile?]
[People say he cares about his wife, and he got shy.]
[Is it just me, or was that smile extraordinarily tender?]
[I find it deeply doting, does anyone else see it?]
[I am not even trying to ship them at this point, the principals are literally shoving the content down my throat.]
[He Mingchen, I thought you were fundamentally incapable of smiling.]
[Look at how hopelessly whipped you are, you deserve to have a wife.]
By the conclusion of the live broadcast that day, He Mingchen’s double standards trended immediately on social media.
The trending topic featured compiled screenshots comparing He Mingchen’s varying expressions toward Pei Yun versus Ji Xing. In the shots shared alongside Pei Yun, He Mingchen wore looks of cold indifference, annoyance, or outright impatience.
The final image, however, captured that exact moment He Mingchen offered his light, quiet smile.
Fans even went so far as to edit a composite banner featuring the down-gazing, smiling He Mingchen on the left and the soft, obedient Ji Xing on the right. The composition made it look as though Ji Xing was leaning straight into He Mingchen’s arms, radiating a warm and romantic atmosphere.
Xiao Lin, standing on the frontlines of gossip consumption, immediately forwarded the graphic to Ji Xing. Opening the image gave Ji Xing a sudden jolt, and right as he was rushing to exit out of it, a voice sounded directly behind him.
“What are you sneaking a peek at? Your face is red all over.” Pei Yun’s tone dripped with heavy teasing.
Feeling like a thief caught in the act, Ji Xing’s hand jerked in a panic, and his phone nearly slipped out of his grasp before a swift pair of hands caught it mid-air.
“Thank you…” Ji Xing reached out to take his device back, only to realize the person who had rescued his phone was none other than He Mingchen.
The man’s eyes rested on the composite couple image displayed on the screen, studying it for several long seconds before offering his verdict: “Not a bad edit.”
Ji Xing: ……