CH 70

After the host finished joking around, the camera turned towards Xie Luyu.

When they cut between the cameras, a small light on the device flickered. This segment of the program was meant to introduce the would-be mentors on stage. Then, the trainees would blindly select their mentor of choice. Revealing who the mentors were was one of the more interesting parts of the show. Usually, this wouldn’t have anything to do with the judges, even if the person in question was someone like Xie Luyu. 

Xie Luyu had originally been looking down at the table in front of him. It wasn’t clear what exactly he was thinking about. When the camera cut to him, he reacted very quickly. He swiftly adjusted his expression and smiled at the camera. However, there were quite a few people watching the stream, so some of them noticed that his mind had been wandering.

[Xie Luyu doesn’t look too good. He seemed a little distracted just now. He also hasn’t been showing up in public lately. How did he get so haggard…]

[Ahhh! Did you guys see that? His aura changed almost immediately, and his reaction was really fast. He barely even looked up. Was it instinct? He became bright and sunny within seconds. His facial management is truly perfect.]

[How come I didn’t see anything? Do y’all have 20/20 vision or something?] 

Xie Luyu didn’t actually hear what the host had said earlier, so he didn’t say anything. He simply looked at the camera and smiled. He was fairly young compared to the other judges. If you swept your eyes across them, he would definitely stand out the most.

However, Xie Luyu really was a little rundown today. He was a lot less talkative as well. Not even his makeup could cover up his tiredness. His eyes were red and bloodshot. He looked like he hadn’t slept for several days.

The host didn’t notice. He continued the conversation with Xie Luyu.

“Mr. Xie’s been keeping a low profile recently. I’m guessing that’s because he’s been preparing for his new movie that’s going to be filmed later this year. Let’s all look forward to it.”

Xie Luyu casually mentioned a few words about the movie. Then, he started bringing the topic of conversation back to the program.

“I can’t believe I’m getting this kind of treatment as a judge. This isn’t a scam, is it? The director better not come asking for advertising fees.”

The audience laughed. The host laughed as well.

“I really have to thank you for becoming an actor and not a TV host. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have a job anymore. Anyway, let’s get back to the main topic. Next up is No. 6. He’s a famous singer. As for how many works he has, he says he can’t remember, but, either way, it’s a lot. He specializes in love songs.” 

He put away his cue cards.

“The trainees have already gone through a battle. Here we have twenty-four groups of contestants. Only the top six will be able to pick a mentor. Let’s begin.”

The first few trainees had all successfully met up with their mentors.

However, when it came to this one boy group’s turn, something went wrong. They had accidentally written down the wrong number. They quickly discussed the issue with their agent for a while. Then, they tried to negotiate with the host and the program’s crew. 

The host shook his head. Finally, he explained what the problem was to the audience.

“We have a group of trainees who accidentally filled in the wrong number. The mentor that they ended up picking is an actor, but they meant to pick a singer. It’s unfortunate, but each group has already submitted their selections. It can’t be changed now.”

The trainees could pick out three choices. The highest ranking team got first pick. If all of their choices had already been picked, they would be randomly allocated a mentor. However, this was rarely the case.

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Usually, trainees would pick a mentor that matched their given field. Singers picked singers. Actors picked actors. The boy group couldn’t really find anyone that was an idol, so they picked out singers and the like.

In the past, these kinds of criss-cross combinations usually didn’t perform very well. The target audience for actors and idols was actually pretty different. It was like selling sand in a desert. No matter how smooth or soft or impressive your sand is, it’s still not going to sell. 

All five members of the boy group stood on the stage, a little crestfallen. They had just finished their first battle. Then, they had to run back and forth across the stage because of this mistake. All of them were sweating profusely, their hair sticking to their cheeks.

The chance to debut was very precious. Most of them had already been with the company for at least four years. This program may very well be their last chance.

Starlight’s program was very fair. There wasn’t any behind-the-scenes manipulation. They simply provided a platform for those trainees who had been grinding away within the company for a long time. There were restrictions regarding who could sign up for the show. Only experienced trainees could sign up, and they could only sign up once.

They had come here with the hope of debuting. They’d been full of energy and momentum. Everything had been going so smoothly. They even managed to squeeze into the top six and were allowed to pick a mentor. 

Now, because of such a trivial error, it was very likely that their previous efforts would be in vain.

The five of them stood on the stage. They had already taken off their microphones. The people off stage couldn’t hear what they were saying.

The youngest member of the team was about to cry. He’d been the one to fill out the form and hand it in.

“It’s all my fault.” 

Several other team members patted him on the shoulder, comforting him.

“We’ve been doing well so far. All of the mentors are pretty impressive. Even if we picked the wrong one, it doesn’t really matter. We just need to keep pushing. Let’s have some faith in our mentor.”

“Didn’t you hear what Wang jie said? It’s going to be fine. We still have a chance.”

However, they all knew in their hearts that it was probably going to be very difficult from now on. 

The atmosphere was rather grave.

The host simply expressed his regret and encouragement. Then, he continued with the program.

“Next up, we have No. 5.”

After a burst of music, the curtain slowly rose. 

Due to the sudden mishap, the previous atmosphere had dissipated a lot. Even the applause from the audience was sparse.

No. 5 was Gu Qingchi. He didn’t know about what had just happened on stage. All of his attention was placed on the white fog that spewed onto the stage as the curtain was lifted. This was the first time he’d seen anything like it. It was really somewhat of a novel experience.

By the time the curtain was raised, Gu Qingchi was still surrounded by white fog.

Gu Qingchi had seen this course of events before. Once the curtain went up, he would need to head on stage. White fog was still being spewed onto the stage, so he made a little detour around it. 

Generally, the more experienced seniors would wait until the fog machine had stopped. Then, they would head onto the stage. Gu Qingchi was the first to go around the fog. There were a couple of laughs from the audience.

The host quipped.

“You can just tell he’s an actor.”

Once Gu Qingchi walked out of the white fog, his figure appeared on the big screen. All the laughter in the audience paused. Then, there was a long burst of cheers and applause. 

The host didn’t have the chance to interrupt them even if he wanted to.

This was the first time Gu Qingchi had been on a stage like this. It was also the first time he’d appeared in front of so many people. This could be regarded as his first public appearance.

His face appeared on the screen. His every move was being recorded.

Many of the viewers might not have known about Gu Qingchi. They might have never seen him before. However, at this moment, all they needed to do was scream. 

Gu Qingchi wore the same uniform as the previous mentors, the black jacket and cargo pants. The audience had complained several times about the uniform before, but, when it came to him, the uniform suddenly didn’t seem all that bad.

It was very lively. The downcast mood brought on by the previous mishap was instantly swept away.

The comment barrage was also very active.

[Ahhhh! It’s my idol!] 

[Who is this? Am I out of the loop? I’m seriously confused here. Why hasn’t he become famous if he’s got looks like that?]

[Is the standard for celebrities this high nowadays? Although, if you ask me, these newer celebrities aren’t really that impressive. This is just my opinion, but there were a lot of beautiful celebrities within Xie Luyu’s generation. Each one was better than the next. These newer generations of celebrities just seem to be getting worse.]

[My idol is very low-key. He’s an actor. He made his debut not too long ago, and he doesn’t have a lot of works released yet. Everyone, please check him out!]

[What the hell was that previous comment? My idol’s only going to get better and better, okay? I bet the only celebrity you know about is Xie Luyu. You people are always dragging him out to put others down. Don’t be ridiculous. There’s only one Xie Luyu. Don’t talk shit about my idol if you don’t know what you’re talking about.] 

[This generation has Chi Chi. Besides, Xie Luyu can be divided into both this generation or the previous generation depending on how you categorize it.]

Once Gu Qingchi appeared, the camera instantly became fixed upon him.

He walked to the stage amid cheers and stood next to the host. The big screen displayed each and every one of his expressions.

Over on the judging panel, Xie Luyu had already straightened up in his seat. 

The applause gradually subsided. The host continued.

“I’ve been a host for a very long time. However, this was the first time I found myself unable to get a word in.”

He deliberately put a very sour look on his face, his hands behind his back.

“Does our friendship mean nothing to you people? I’ve never seen any of you give me applause like that.” 

The audience laughed and gave him a wave of cheers and applause.

“What a bunch of hypocrites. Alright, let’s continue. No. 5 is Gu Qingchi, an actor. He was picked by NewLight, a boy group. They will be the third to perform.”

The mentors and trainees needed to prepare for a period of time. Then, the program would be quickly released. Mentors also needed to participate within the program. After all, the trainees were relatively unknown. Most of the audience was coming for the mentors.

Then, audience members could vote. There were many different channels through which the audience could vote. Afterwards, the numbers would be calculated, and the team that came out on top would be able to debut. 

Next up was the segment between the mentors and the trainees. There would be cameras following them during this segment as well. The other mentors were either giving their trainees acting advice or helping their trainees compose music.

The camera turned to Gu Qingchi and NewLight as the six of them looked at each other.

This program wasn’t actually that demanding of the mentors. After all, it was a very short period of time. They probably wouldn’t be able to teach the trainees much of anything. In the end, it all boiled down to the ability of the trainees themselves.

What the mentors needed to do was bring some of their popularity to the trainees. They were basically just there to bring in votes. Talent shows like this one were often like this. The mentors just needed to offer a little bit of advice or maybe even perform with the trainees. 

Ye Li had already given him a heads up before coming here. He told Gu Qingchi to just treat the job like a cameo.

However, NewLight’s next performance was going to be a fast-paced song. It was all live vocals, and it was accompanied with choreography.

Gu Qingchi, who’d come here to mentor, suddenly found that, not only did he have nothing to teach, he also needed to learn how to sing and dance with his juniors.