After returning from the convenience store, Gu Tang and Xu Piaopiao were both feeling extremely conflicted.
“What was that just now?” Xu Piaopiao patted her chest. “It was kind of interesting, but also a little weird.”
“They might be fans or something,” Gu Tang guessed. “Are the two of us really good enough to gain such genuinely devoted fans after just one episode?”
“Those are fan site photographers,” the cameraman replied while wiping his lens, since filming had not started yet. “The production team has rules saying contestants aren’t allowed to interact with fan site photographers. You two need to be careful.”
“Huh?” Gu Tang looked surprised. “You guys can actually talk?”
She had never seen them speak before.
“We’re not working right now. We’re humans too, you know. Wanting to talk is only natural.” The cameraman’s expression became somewhat complicated.
After changing into the production team’s clothes and arriving at the Group A training room, the space had been fairly manageable when there were twenty-five people. With only five people, however, it felt somewhat empty.
Xu Piaopiao did not have a particularly good relationship with Lu Yijing, so she deliberately stood at one end of the group, with Lu Yijing at the other.
Gu Tang smiled at the girl beside her, and the other girl returned the smile politely, though she did not seem particularly interested in interacting with her.
Her relationship with both Xu Piaopiao and the others had never been particularly good, but Gu Tang did not really care about it.
The three groups, A, B, and C, each had a teacher who acted like the group’s homeroom teacher, leading them in PK competitions.
According to Gu Tang, the teacher assigned to Group A would either be the strong-willed Yang Ya or the veteran teacher Liu Weiwei. She never expected Chen Xing to be the one who walked in.
It had to be admitted that Chen Xing was the most popular of the three teachers. The moment he entered, the previously silent A Group immediately burst into excitement, and the applause was especially enthusiastic.
When facing a group of female trainees alone, Chen Xing once again became embarrassed, but he also had the sense of responsibility and firmness expected of a teacher. So he coughed and said, “Hello, everyone. I’ll be leading A Group’s training for the next while.”
The applause continued.
The girl clapping the hardest made a heart gesture at him. “Teacher Xingxing, love you! Muah~”
With her taking the lead, the other girls also began making heart gestures and expressing their affection. Really, who didn’t enjoy teasing a handsome and adorable young man?
Chen Xing kept retreating, suddenly realizing a serious problem.
Oh no, he couldn’t control this group of girls!
The training during this period was much more painful and monotonous than during the first stage. The teachers’ demands had suddenly increased exponentially, and the phrase they said most often was, “Do you still want to stay?”
The tense atmosphere affected everyone, and practicing late into the night had become the norm.
As the highly watched A Group, they carried even more pressure than the others.
When Gu Tang and Xu Piaopiao arrived at the training room, Lu Yijing was already practicing, just as expected.
Gu Tang genuinely respected Lu Yijing’s work ethic and professional ability. Ever since she realized that she was inferior to Xu Piaopiao in singing, Lu Yijing had been practicing desperately and often received praise from Liu Weiwei.
Lu Yijing and Xu Piaopiao still did not have a good relationship, but now that they were in the same group, if they wanted to win, everyone naturally had to work hard together.
The moment Xu Piaopiao entered, Lu Yijing, as the group leader, immediately spoke in a commanding tone. “You two go practice the dance. Didn’t we change the formation again yesterday? Did you memorize it?”
Gu Tang and Xu Piaopiao endured it for the moment and obediently went to practice.
From a distance, Lu Yijing called out another reminder. “Remember to eat less and control your weight.”
That topic struck directly at both of their weak spots once again.
The overloaded training left Gu Tang and Xu Piaopiao, who already had big appetites, so hungry that they were practically losing their minds. They had even once discussed catching birds in the courtyard and roasting them, only to be caught red-handed by Teacher Yang Ya.
“After this show is over,” Xu Piaopiao threatened from where Lu Yijing could not see her, “I’m definitely going to find someone to put a sack over her head and beat her up.”
“Girl, hold it together. We’re on television right now!” Gu Tang was startled by her brazen behavior.
Unlike before, the second stage was being broadcast live, so every single thing they did could potentially be recorded by the cameras.
“Whatever. I already have that big-brother image anyway. I’m not afraid of anything,” Xu Piaopiao had already given up on managing her image. “I just want to beat her up within the bounds of the law.”
Gu Tang became even more nervous. “There is no such thing as a legal option for beating someone up! Turn back before it’s too late!”
From a distance, Lu Yijing saw Gu Tang and Xu Piaopiao huddled together whispering. She knew immediately that they weren’t saying anything nice about her.
“Can’t remember it? If you don’t know how, just ask. I’ll teach you!”
Xu Piaopiao immediately bristled. She lowered her voice and said to Gu Tang, who was gripping her arm and refusing to let go, “Listen to her, just listen to her. Does that sound like something a normal human being would say?”
Gu Tang tightened her grip, terrified that even as a shot-put champion she might not be able to hold her back. “Girl, hold it together. Patience brings peace.”
But Xu Piaopiao really was not someone she could restrain.
She had already straightened her back in an affected yet elegant manner and slowly replied, “That would be too much trouble. How could we possibly interfere with your singing practice? There are indeed still quite a few areas where you could improve vocally. If you don’t know something, you can always ask me.”
…There it was! The advanced art of conversation where both sides were saying something completely different between the lines!
Xu Piaopiao and Lu Yijing continued staring at each other, the atmosphere thick with the smell of gunpowder.
Girls, are you really both this aggressive? At least maintain some superficial harmony!
Teacher Yang Ya pushed open the door. Seeing Xu Piaopiao and Lu Yijing, she smiled brightly, apparently completely unaware that anything was wrong.
“As expected of A Group. You’re all so motivated first thing in the morning.”
Teacher Yang Ya, you were obviously fanning the flames and making the atmosphere even more tense.
The thing Yang Ya had taught everyone the most during this period was how to train their stage presence.
“To put it simply, it’s about looking cool and confident. Why is it that the exact same movement looks like something done by a professional dancer when someone else does it, but when you do it, you look like you’ve been attacked by a stun baton?” Yang Ya’s expression was serious. “There is a reason for that.”
Gu Tang really did have a low threshold for laughter. Even at this moment, when everyone was being extremely serious, she still couldn’t help snorting with laughter at such a ridiculous analogy.
Yang Ya met Gu Tang’s gaze, and Gu Tang immediately had a bad feeling.
“Come, come, Gu Tang, you’re a performance major. Come show everyone how you demonstrate this state,” Yang Ya said, clapping as she motioned for Gu Tang to stand at the front. “Your expression was pretty good last time. Performing on a show requires that affected and exaggerated feeling. It’s easier for the audience to put themselves into it. It’s very similar to the way you acted in that commercial.”
The moment she remembered that beverage commercial appeared every time she opened the show’s videos, and had even taken up a full twenty seconds, Gu Tang instantly stopped smiling.
Every day passed in a daze.
Gu Tang had no time to argue with Gu Fugui, nor did she have time to keep track of how things were going with Yin Fan or whether he had managed to get through his difficult period.
The show’s popularity voting on Weibo had already begun, but the vote counts remained confidential.
At first, Gu Tang would be happy whenever she gained more followers and sad whenever someone criticized her. Later, she often forgot to even log into Weibo.
Whenever she went to the little convenience store, she would still run into the older sisters who called themselves her “mothers.” They would hold up signs and shout words of encouragement, looking as though they couldn’t wait to rush over and cheer them on.
Each group chose a different song.
Earlier, the group members had parted on bad terms over what style of song they wanted. An hour before the competition, all five of them stacked their hands together, their hands trembling with nerves and slick with sweat.
As the leader of Group A, Lu Yijing looked at her teammates. “We might not be able to do the best, but we’ve already worked the hardest.”
It had to be said that Lu Yijing was a very competent leader. She had greatly improved both the team’s overall abilities and their sense of unity.
Dressed in their performance outfits, they sat in the waiting room. There was a television there broadcasting the show live for the contestants.
In addition to Huo Ziyan, the host lineup included Xie Yang, a veteran host from the entertainment industry.
Xie Yang’s appearance drew the same astonished exclamation from all the contestants preparing backstage. “Wow, it’s Teacher Xie!”
“Even Xie Yang is here,” Xu Piaopiao quietly remarked. “ZE Entertainment really spent a lot of money this time. Why do I feel like the biggest flaw in this show is our group of contestants?”
“To create the buzz of fulfilling the dreams of nine hundred million girls,” Gu Tang lowered her voice as well, “we’re obviously relatable enough. That’s a good thing.”
Compared to the hosts, who were organized and completely unhurried, backstage was a total mess.
“Group A, get ready! You’re up first!” the assistant director busily instructed. “Just like during rehearsal, don’t run around!”
They stood at their positions on the lift platform in advance. It was strangely stuffy.
From where they stood, they could hear Xie Yang shouting, “Next, let’s hand the stage over to the girls!”
The fans screamed their names at the top of their lungs.
Gu Tang could hear her own name among them. It was a very strange and wonderful feeling.
The music started, and the lift platform slowly rose, bringing them into the center of the stage.
Blue and white lights alternated across the air like shattered starlight.
The explosive music and deafening screams filled her ears.
Yet at that moment, Gu Tang felt exceptionally clear-headed.
Gu Tang narrowed her eyes. From her position, she could see a man in a suit with a beer belly holding up an enormous pink light sign, looking completely out of place among the other audience members.
His mouth was open in a cheerful grin as he frantically waved the sign, as though afraid Gu Tang would not see him. A rather incongruous ring of roses had been attached around the sign, and every time he shook it, three of them fell off.
Gu Tang’s mother had left home shortly after she was born. Back then, the family had been poor, and Gu Fugui had to raise a child while earning a living.
Gu Fugui came from a small town. In pursuit of better educational resources, he had brought Gu Tang to this city, which seemed like a huge metropolis to him, and struggled to build a life here. Simply staying alive was already difficult enough.
He had missed many moments in Gu Tang’s life. The first time she learned to dress herself, the first time she walked home alone from the kindergarten entrance, the first parent-teacher meeting.
Later, when their quality of life improved, Gu Fugui became busy again. Extremely busy.
Gu Tang had always been easy to raise. Even without anyone looking after her, she could grow up happily on her own.
She had never thought about how other people’s parents loved and cared for their children.
Gu Tang had thought that Gu Fugui did not care about such things, and she had thought that she did not care either.
The music, the lights, the screams, the mist hanging in the air.
Everything became a chaotic backdrop.
The teenage Gu Tang once ran through the rain with her schoolbag clutched in her arms. Her eyes had wandered over the adults passing by, wondering whether one of them might be looking for her under an umbrella, until she finally returned to an empty home.
I thought you were still rushing ahead, and I never imagined that you would stop, that you would turn back and look at me here.
The rain stopped. The sun appeared, and the mist was scattered by the sunlight. On the stage, I was fortunate enough to be reflected in your eyes.
This was an incomparable surprise.
When the spotlight fell on Gu Tang, Gu Fugui shouted her name louder than anyone else.
Author’s Note:
A little scene:
Gu Tang: “What’s with this ring of roses…?”
Gu Fugui: “That neon sign didn’t look expensive enough, so I added a few rings of funeral wreaths.”
Gu Tang: “Wait, say that again. What exactly did you say you were holding up??? Explain yourself!”
Xu Piaopiao: “May your blessings flow like the waters of the Eastern Sea, and may you live as long as the Southern Mountains.”
Gu Tang: “Would you shut up already!”