“You really haven’t changed, always so blunt.” Hyper hissed, laughing as he teased, “Who knows how many hearts you’ll break!”
Little assistant Zhuzhu nodded vigorously in agreement.
Hyper rubbed his stubble with one hand and tried to sling the other elbow onto Ji Song’s shoulder, but the man subtly shifted, dodging the touch.
“Sometimes I really wonder how you’ve managed to stay single all this time. If you meet someone who catches your eye on the show, why not give it a try? It’s not like you can’t break up if it doesn’t work out!”
“Of course, I’m not talking about the one who slipped the card under your door.”
Ji Song cast a cool, indifferent glance at the two, his thin lips pressed together.
His voice was calm and rational: “That’s not the act of a gentleman.”
Hyper and the assistant exchanged a look. Before Ji Song could launch into a lecture with his handsome face all stern, they made their escape, scrambling away as if their lives depended on it.
Yun Yueming had long since been unable to hide behind the billboard.
Standing there with his body tensed for so long, his legs had gone slightly numb, and his gaze had long since wandered to the convenience store across the way.
He stared longingly at the chilled yogurt and steaming-hot meat skewers on the shelves.
He licked his lips, feeling rather pathetic.
…It looked delicious.
Seeing Ji Song also turn to leave, a nimble, slender figure shot out like an arrow!
Gotta eat, gotta eat, gotta eat!
Film Emperor Ji, who had deliberately walked a few steps, detected a faint sound.
Back then, on Taoyuan Immortal Mountain, the four seasons were distinct. Countless living beings, plants, and trees were born, grew, and lived out their lives in the forests.
No sound, however slight, could escape his keen senses, honed over years as a Mountain God.
Wondering what that pretty little empty-headed one was up to now, he raised an eyebrow, silently mocking what he assumed was another foolish, transparent ploy.
—Going to follow me? Looking for trouble.
His long fingers, slender and elegant like bamboo joints, lightly pinched the room key card and brought it before his eyes.
The next second, the durable card rapidly became coated with frost, trembling and humming uncontrollably.
With a sharp crack!
It shattered into tiny pieces, turning into a small pile of icy fragments that pattered softly to the ground.
Ji Song’s gaze was colder than the frost itself.
He waited for a moment, but from behind him came neither a fearful gasp of retreat nor the cloying sound of persistent pestering.
Puzzled, the man turned his head to look—
“Hehe.” Yun Yueming was just walking out of the convenience store, happily clutching two large plastic bags full of snacks. “This should be enough for today.”
His lips were even redder, burned by the sizzling, juice-exploding grilled sausage.
“So fragrant!”
Ji Song: “…”
Yun Yueming was startled. He didn’t expect Teacher Ji to still be there, staring at him with such an indescribable expression.
It gave him the feeling of a primary school student caught eating spicy sticks by their parents.
His mind went blank for a second. He bit off the sausage, held up the remaining half, and offered it across the distance.
Sincerely inviting Ji Song to share the same food as him.
Truly, sincerity is the ultimate weapon. Ji Song’s temple throbbed violently a few times. He averted his cold gaze from Yun Yueming’s face, turned, and walked away.
Beneath his camel-colored trench coat, he wore an aloof, noble white suit. As he walked, the coat’s hem fluttered in the breeze, exuding an ethereal, otherworldly coolness.
He sighed silently, his assessment of Yun Yueming elevated to a new level.
From “pretty face, empty head” to “pretty face, empty head, and greedy too.”
Yun Yueming figured that Ji Song’s obvious disgust earlier couldn’t have been an act.
So he decided to try his best to annoy his former master, aiming for an early elimination and escape from this show!
But the most pressing matter right now was choosing a dormitory.
The 100 trainees, regardless of their grade rankings, were all shuffled randomly. They were assigned by lottery to four-person rooms, each with a bed over a desk, clean and bright windows.
This kind of ranking system was better for testing the trainees’ self-discipline.
After all, one’s mind changes with the environment.
If the overall atmosphere in a place was lazy, it was hard for anyone in it not to be affected.
Staff members distributed the training uniforms to each room.
The usual sweatshirts and sweatpants.
They were color-coded according to the initial stage grades.
A class: Pink, B class: Blue, C class: Yellow, D class: Green, F class: Gray.
Yun Yueming changed into the ginger-yellow sweatshirt. He touched the material – it felt smooth and soft against his fingers, and a flicker of emotion crossed his eyes.
He had seen similar clothes for sale in department stores before.
The fabric was just as soft, costing several hundred yuan each.
The little fox trying to make a living couldn’t afford it. He had stared longingly for a while, then left alone and dejected.
He touched the clothes, and suddenly felt reluctant to leave the show so easily. An inner celestial fox battle raged within him.
“—It’s not fair!”
Yang Xing from the same dorm hopped over, frowning as he looked Yun Yueming up and down: “How come you look so good in this? Broad shoulders… When I wear it, I just look like a kid!”
Yun Yueming looked at Yang Xing, who was also wearing the yellow sweatshirt, and a pitying expression gradually appeared on his face.
He finally understood why this guy had worn that fur coat when he first appeared…
That utterly unremarkable, childlike physique.
Their other dormmates included the initial A-grader and powerhouse Geng Yizhen, and Li Rang, the leader of the “Hui Gui Rua” group.
The two of them, one in pink and one in blue, seemed much more mature, quietly watching the elementary school-style bickering.
Perhaps because Yun Yueming had unintentionally encouraged Li Rang during the initial stage, Li Rang’s attitude towards him was clearly different from his attitude towards others.
He helped Yun Yueming make the bed and organize his things, intentionally or unintentionally sticking close to him.
Even though they were strangers, he was so enthusiastic.
The cameraman, who had originally been focused on Yun Yueming and Geng Yizhen, now involuntarily started filming Li Rang, who was constantly hovering near Yun Yueming.
Netizens naturally noticed this unfamiliar face, and this previously invisible person began to be discussed.
The dormitory building was a scene of noisy excitement, with people dashing in and out of different rooms.
“Hand over your phones and snacks—!”
Two merciless staff members suddenly entered the room, their small cart piled high with freshly confiscated loot.
“Hand over all contraband! No hiding anything!”
Yun Yueming, who had just crazily stockpiled snacks, was dumbfounded: “???”
Various degrees of wailing erupted in the room. Yang Xing had more than ten phones confiscated, like a set of Russian dolls.
Tears in his eyes, Yun Yueming kissed his instant noodles, yogurt, and cookies goodbye, parting with deep reluctance.
“Take care of yourselves, kids. Don’t expire before I can eat you.”
But as he stood up, a rustling sound came abruptly from his waist—the sound of a plastic bag. Yun Yueming was instantly petrified.
The staff member turned back uncertainly.
Just then, Li Rang coughed forcefully a few times. “Sorry, my throat’s a bit irritated.”
After the door closed, Yun Yueming looked at him gratefully. Like a magician performing a trick, he produced a dried duck neck to express his thanks: “Thanks, bro!”
Geng Yizhen thought the little magic trick would be perfect for a stage performance and quickly asked, “How did you do that?”
Yun Yueming looked mysteriously at the live camera, a sly curl to his lips. Suddenly, he lifted the hem of his shirt—
For that split second, the bullet comments went wild:
[Ahhh, is this something I’m allowed to see!?]
[My guess is Yue Mingdi has abs, hnnng!]
[A fox-like beauty’s waist should be slim and soft, right?]
[Whatever it is, I’m picking him!]
However, what they saw was even more unexpected than abs or a V-line.
Arrayed around Yun Yueming’s waist was a dazzling assortment of small snacks—Shark crackers, dried duck necks, and more.
A riot of colors, like some kind of acrobatic feat.
Truly, audacity comes from superb skill. He was like a mobile snack cart on a high-speed train.
Everyone: “???”
Fortunately, the little fox had plenty of experience from his street vending days.
Hiding things in his clothes meant he didn’t fear the city management officers. It worked every time!
The man squinted slyly, his stunning, handsome face close to the camera. While everyone was distracted by his looks, he left them with a piece of life philosophy.
“In life, you must always keep something up your sleeve.”
Early the next morning, all the trainees gathered on stage. Dance mentor Meng Qi announced the theme song mission.
The song was called “Pick Love”—
Upbeat and bright, catchy, and possessed earworm elements destined to go viral.
The dance part interwove difficult and easy sections, making it highly entertaining to watch.
Under this kind of visual and auditory impact, the audience could almost feel they were accompanying the trainees through four months of hard work and sweat. The afterglow was long and moving.
Yun Yueming listened, entranced, unconsciously tapping his foot to the rhythm.
As the song ended, Meng Qi picked up the microphone: “Today, I’ll first guide everyone through the dance a few times. After that, you’ll practice in groups according to your initial stage ranking.”
“In one week, there will be the theme song assessment. This is also your chance to be re-graded.”
“Good luck!”
There were no guest mentors at the very beginning of the show.
Therefore, the front-facing instruction was handled by Meng Qi, while the backing dance was demonstrated by the choreographer.
The mentors only danced through it once, yet top-tier trainees like Geng Yizhen from A Class had already started figuring out the moves on the spot, nearly able to dance along with the music.
Yun Yueming was so envious that little stars seemed to twinkle in his eyes. “I bow in admiration, bro!”
He wanted to dance too, but his limbs simply refused to obey.
When he did jump around, it was just mindless imitation.
Completely lacking in visual appeal.
With a hundred people, even someone as skilled as Meng Qi couldn’t give individual attention to everyone.
Quite a few F Class trainees couldn’t keep up with the pace, and whispers of complaint began to spread.
“I just can’t learn it at all…”
“Didn’t Teacher Meng come back from South Korea as a top idol? How come she can’t even teach us properly?”
“Forget it, forget it. I’ll learn it later. I’m not dancing anymore!”
These words naturally reached Meng Qi’s ears. She maintained her professional idol expression management, but felt helpless inside. Her gaze swept across the faces of the slackers one by one.
Suddenly, she paused.
She spotted a dazzling yellow figure desperately trying to keep up with the beat.
“Yun Yueming?” Meng Qi smiled wryly as she stepped down from the stage. “You’re working hard, but you can’t just freestyle because you don’t know the moves, understand?”
Seeing his earnest but comical movements, laughter rippled around him. “He looks like a little animal…”
“Precious footage of early humans trying to tame their limbs.”
Yun Yueming felt a bit embarrassed and scratched his head.
He thought to himself, ‘Heh, guess right.’
If they knew he was actually an animal transformed, it would surely give them a hell of a scare!
Seeing that treating everyone equally hadn’t earned her the respect she deserved, Meng Qi decided to ignore the complainers and instead gave individual pointers to the hardest worker.
“OK, do it once more.” Meng Qi watched him, gesturing to start the music.
Unexpectedly, this time Yun Yueming improved rapidly, actually starting to look a bit like a real idol.
No one had anticipated such quick learning ability, and they couldn’t help shooting envious glances, wishing they could also get the teacher’s guidance.
Yun Yueming himself was shocked that his fox paws and legs could be tamed.
He raised his hand for a high-five: “Thank you, Mentor Meng!”
But as soon as his hand went up, he clearly saw Meng Qi’s pupils contract sharply, as if facing someone she was extremely afraid of. She began trembling visibly.
Sensing something wrong, Yun Yueming quickly withdrew his hand and bowed: “Thank you, teacher!”
Meng Qi forced a smile.
“It’s alright. Practice ends here. Next, Mentor Ji Song will guide you through learning the song.”
Before others could notice her abnormality, the woman quickly walked away.
Yun Yueming stared at her retreating back, his expression turning serious for a moment.
He had clearly seen just now that Meng Qi’s forehead was darkened with a murky aura.
A great calamity was imminent for her.
In the lounge, Ji Song had already heard that Yun Yueming was being exceptionally active today.
Energetic during dance practice, and sure to be the same during singing.
The man lowered his gaze and walked onto the stage. Instantly, a wave of cheers erupted from the fanboys thrilled to see the Film Emperor.
But contrary to expectations, Yun Yueming, who usually jumped at the chance to be the center of attention, was completely quiet, like a frightened chicken.
Attending Ji Song’s class seemed like undergoing some kind of torture.
Either he was singing off-key, or he was dozing off.
A vein pulsed faintly on the man’s temple, though his handsome, stoic face remained immovable. He reminded them in a deep voice: “Some students, even if you can’t sing well, try not to go so dramatically off-key.”
“I can hear everything perfectly clearly up here.”
His gaze flicked meaningfully in a certain direction, then coldly withdrew.
He wondered if that particular fidgeting pretty face had heard him or not.
The six gentlemanly arts included singing and playing musical instruments.
If this were years ago, and his disciple dared to be so flippant, they’d certainly be getting a taste of his horsetail whisk.
Just as he was about to start the next run-through, Yun Yueming suddenly raised his hand, his expression urgent and serious.
“Teacher Ji! Teacher Ji!”
It seemed the student was teachable after all. Asking questions was a good thing. Ji Song gave a slight nod: “Speak.”
Yun Yueming’s brows were tightly furrowed as he said solemnly: “This is a bit of an emergency. I need to step out and take care of something.”
Seeing his expression didn’t look like a joke, Ji Song’s heart tightened slightly.
No wonder he’d been so listless. Could he be injured from dancing?
The man asked in a low voice: “What’s wrong?”
Yun Yueming pursed his fox lips, putting on an innocent, harmless face—
“Bathroom.”