TL: Hua
Upon hearing this, Lin Yanran looked up at the other party in astonishment.
For a moment, he even felt as if time and space had intertwined.
The person before him was clearly Gu Siye, but he felt that his expression just now was similar to the memory of Brother Ye, who insisted he put eye drops in his eyes…
Seeing that Lin Yanran was still standing still, Gu Siye continued with a frank expression, “I can’t see well either. Give me a hand.”
Either?
Lin Yanran immediately noticed the rather abrupt use of this word.
But before he could think about it further, Gu Siye had already slightly tilted his chin up, exposing the graceful lines of his neck.
Lin Yanran glanced at the man’s tangled necklaces, took two steps forward, and stopped about twenty centimeters away from Gu Siye.
He raised both hands, slightly tilted his head to the right, and began seriously detangling the chains for the other.
However, there were some metal clasps on the two necklaces, and two of them were somehow completely jammed together.
The clasps were small, and since they were troublesome to undo, Lin Yanran had to lean his head in closer to see more clearly.
But by doing so, the distance between him and Gu Siye became very, very close.
Therefore, when Lin Yanran’s fingertip accidentally brushed the other’s Adam’s apple, he also distinctly felt the warmth of the other’s breath lightly graze his ear.
Lin Yanran’s ears and neck were relatively sensitive areas, and the brush of the other’s breath felt slightly ticklish.
“The two chains are stuck. Just wait a moment while I sort them out.”
Lin Yanran said this and instinctively adjusted his position slightly.
Gu Siye’s beautiful, expressive eyes lowered, looking at the person who was concentrating on fixing his necklace. Since there were still cameras recording, he resisted the urge to gently stroke the other’s hair.
“Okay, no rush.”
After about twenty seconds, Lin Yanran finally managed to untangle the necklaces.
“Thank you.”
The two syllables uttered by Gu Siye were finally laced with a satisfied smile.
What the two of them didn’t know, however, was that their little interlude of detangling the necklace was broadcast onto the large screen at the venue when the backstage footage was randomly switched.
Because the ticket checks had started early, the audience had all arrived by around seven o’clock.
The second public performance didn’t officially begin until eight o’clock, so for the first hour, the director played some stages from the previous week’s performance and behind-the-scenes clips to fill the time.
In the final hour, to give the live audience a little treat and surprise, they began randomly switching camera angles to show the busy situation of the guests, trainees, and staff backstage before the public performance.
And just as Lin Yanran lowered his head to fix Gu Siye’s necklace, the camera cut to them.
Thus, all the audience members saw this incredibly intimate scene.
A stunning chorus of screams erupted from the venue.
Chen Xixi, who was originally bowing her head to organize her fan merchandise, was startled and stopped what she was doing.
Then she heard the fans of two trainees next to her jump up excitedly.
“Holy sh*t, holy sh*t, holy sh*t!! Why are you two so close?!!”
“Ahhh, ahhhh, I’m shipping it, I’m shipping it! This scene is too good to ship!!!”
Just as she was about to look up to see what was happening, the guy next to her, who was also extremely agitated, happily patting her clothes. “Look, look! Yanran, it’s Yanran!!!”
Chen Xixi immediately looked up and saw the exquisite moment of interaction between Lin Yanran and Gu Siye!!!
Chen Xixi gasped, instinctively picking up her camera to take a photo of the big screen.
The young women around her had completely lost it.
“Director, quickly zoom the camera in again!! Let me see clearly what they’re doing in that corner!!”
“Yanran, what are you doing with Teacher Gu? Don’t hold back, get even closer!”
“Can Teacher Gu actually have such great CP chemistry with someone?!!”
“Hot guy X hot guy—they really look good together.”
“Am I seeing things? Teacher Gu’s expression… Is that a smile? Is that a smile?”
“Yanran is so sweet, diligently fixing Teacher Gu’s necklace.”
“Wuwuwu, this scene is too beautiful. I’m dying from the cuteness.”
The guy in front of Chen Xixi also felt a surge of excitement after seeing Lin Yanran appear.
“Yanran looks really good in this white shirt today.”
The guy was actually just complimenting his idol from a simple admirer’s perspective.
However, the young woman next to him, who was already so excited from the sugar provided by Lin Yanran and Gu Siye’s interaction that she was incoherent, immediately interjected, “The white shirt looks good on him, but it looks even better paired with Teacher Gu’s black shirt! Black and white couple outfits are the best, always!”
Chen Xixi, who wasn’t much of a shipper, took a closer look after hearing this. Well, now. One was in a black shirt, and the other was in a white shirt.
Sexy and suave X Elegant and reserved.
The sight of the two of them in the same frame truly did have the feel of a couple’s outfit.
However, this scene, full of CP chemistry, only lasted for a few dozen seconds.
As soon as Lin Yanran finished fixing Gu Siye’s necklace, the director switched the camera to the busy backstage corridor.
Screams erupted once more throughout the venue.
But this time, everyone was shouting, “Quickly switch it back!!!”
This segment of footage that the director cut to instantly brought the atmosphere to a small climax. The audience had gotten a taste of sweetness and was now even more excited for tonight’s performance.
The countdown reached one hour, half an hour, ten minutes, one minute.
Finally, all the audience members held up their light sticks and rhythmically waved them, counting down with the host’s voice.
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two…
One!!!!
“Let’s welcome all the mentors tonight with the most enthusiastic screams and applause!!!”
The host’s voice ignited the entire audience.
Amidst the flash of stage fireworks, the five mentors appeared on the stage in unison.
In the center of the stage was Gu Siye, dressed in his sexy, cool attire.
Upon taking the stage, he immediately took over the host’s duties. After a brief interaction to hype up the crowd, he proceeded to introduce the four mentors one by one according to the program.
After introducing the first three, Gu Siye, from across Han Zhe, slightly turned and looked at Lin Yanran, who was standing on the far end, with a smile.
The sight of the two making eye contact once again triggered screams from the entire venue.
Lin Yanran looked at the sudden increase in cheers from the audience below. Unaware of what had happened, he was momentarily surprised.
He then took a closer look and discovered that in the audience, quite a few people were holding light boards with the name “Yanran” written on them.
Compared to the cold reception of the first public performance, where almost no one cheered for him, this time, many fans had come to support him.
He was no longer alone.
After the mentor introductions were complete, everyone took their seats.
Then, a five-minute VCR quickly played on the large screen in the center of the stage. After a brief review of the contestant selection and group assignments from the last episode, it proceeded to play individual interviews for each trainee in each group.
Everyone was asked the same two questions:
[Do you think you can stay this time?]
[What do you plan to do if you are eliminated?]
The trainees’ answers to the two questions flashed across the screen one by one.
Qin Jun: I haven’t thought about it.
Li Yuan: I think I can.
Zhu Mingming: This might be my last stage.
Gao Yu: To be honest, I have no regrets staying until now. I actually thought I should have been eliminated last time.
Jin Letian: If I get eliminated, I might want to have hot pot first and then prepare more fully for the next time I step onto a stage.
Xuan Yihan: If I get eliminated, I want to go home and have a good reunion with my parents, then go abroad to continue my graduate studies.
Ji Shuai: I’m relatively older among the trainees. If I really get eliminated, I’ll go back to being an ordinary person. Staying on my dream stage for this long is worth it.
This part was filmed in a rather sentimental way, with the trainees smiling and describing the scenes after being eliminated, accompanied by soothing BGM, which made many of the trainees’ fans cry.
However, even though the production team clearly intended to stir emotions, they eventually returned to keeping the audience in suspense.
For the next few dozen seconds, the BGM changed from its previous sadness to become cheerful.
Ye Xiyuan: I think I’ll stay; our stage is really awesome.
Xia Xingxing: Even if you don’t believe me, you have to believe my idol’s judgment! Of course I’ll stay!
Qiao Ye: I can. I believe in Teacher Yanran.
Staff Member: Huh? Teacher Yanran?
Qiao Ye: The stage he helped us arrange this time is explosive.
Qiao Ye: So I have a lot of confidence in everyone in our group.
If anyone else had said this, the audience might have thought they were a little too arrogant.
But when the person who said it was Qiao Ye, it successfully piqued everyone’s interest.
[Ahhhh, baby is right, you are so excellent, you definitely won’t be eliminated!]
[Baby, Mommy has borrowed ten ID numbers to vote for you!]
[Everyone is saying the stage is explosive, hurry up and move to the next part, I want to see the performance!]
[Already starting to look forward to Qiao Ye’s look and stage performance tonight; it’s definitely going to be amazingly cool.]
[Everyone in Yanran’s group is so confident. Director, be smart and let us see the performance already!]
[Yanran’s last concept stage was something else. I’m really looking forward to what new tricks he’ll bring this time!]
It has to be said that Song Yingming is very good at manipulating the audience’s emotions.
When he wants the audience to cry, he makes you cry with him, and as soon as you’re done crying, he immediately arranges something else to fiercely whet everyone’s appetite again.
So, after the VCR finished playing, the audience at the venue and those watching the livestream were already clamoring to see the second public performance immediately.
Gu Siye, on stage, held a cue card and asked Song Yingming, “The audience is really looking forward to the performance, Director Song, aren’t you going to arrange the drawing of lots yet?”
Anyone who has watched the previous few episodes of Super Idol knows that this director, who loves to stir up trouble, most enjoys drawing lots.
Hearing that Gu Siye actually brought up this topic, helping to voice what everyone was thinking, all the audience members couldn’t help but laugh and secretly give Gu Siye a thumbs-up.
Teacher Gu did a great job.
The cameraman also playfully cut the screen to Song Yingming on the left side of the stage.
Song Yingming quickly waved his hand to dodge the camera, saying, “No drawing lots.”
Tangtang immediately took over, “Then what order will we perform in?”
Song Yingming pointed to the large screen behind him.
Then, the screen suddenly went black, and with a “bang” sound effect, the names of the four groups were displayed on it. The corresponding bar charts for each group were constantly jumping up and down with numbers.
Lin Yanran looked at the stage and realized that the production team was actually displaying the audience anticipation values for all four groups right at the start.
Although the numbers were still jumping and not yet showing the actual ranking of anticipation for each group, one could imagine what the situation would be like when the results were finally announced.
Sure enough, the audience members who had developed PTSD from this anticipation value during the last public performance immediately felt their hearts race.
[This director really knows how to play games.]
[I thought he had exhausted all his tricks in the last episode, but I didn’t expect him to pull out a new one this time.]
[Last time he only revealed them group by group, but this time he’s revealing them all at once.]
[Excuse me, I’m already getting nervous.]
Before the audience could chat for long, there were a few more “bangs,” and the jumping numbers stopped.
Then the anticipation values for all four groups were announced.
Tangtang’s Group: 22.3%
Han Zhe’s Group: 19.8%
Pei Luo’s Group: 27.6%
Yanran’s Group: 30.3%
The entire venue erupted in an uproar after the four sets of data were presented.
Especially when they saw that Lin Yanran’s group had actually secured the number one anticipation value, many people felt particularly surprised.
[Holy cow, their group was in last place for anticipation in the last public performance, and now they’ve actually counterattacked to first place!!!]
[I remember, I remember, they only had 6% anticipation back then, and Pei Luo’s group had 48%.]
[6% has actually reversed to 30.3%! And they surpassed Pei Luo’s group to take first place!!!!]
[Yanran is amazing.]
[Honestly, Yanran’s stage really deserves the number one anticipation value. After watching his last one, I was really looking forward to what he came up with this time!]
Seeing this data, Lin Yanran’s fans couldn’t help but burst into tears.
After all, both old and newly joined fans had seen the replay of the first public performance’s livestream.
At that time, Lin Yanran had a very famous quote: “Even if no one expects you to succeed, you should still strive to be your own hero.”
He had said it at the time to encourage and comfort the trainees in his group.
But everyone understood the situation back then: the reason their group’s anticipation value was so low wasn’t just that the audience had low expectations for the trainees, but more so, it was a denial and lack of anticipation for his ability as a mentor.
That 6% anticipation value was actually for the trainees. The audience’s remaining 0% anticipation was for him.
In just half a month, with only one stage performance, he successfully achieved a perfect reversal in the audience’s hearts.
He proved himself to all the audience members through his persistence and hard work.
But he had suffered too many misunderstandings and criticisms before; if he had done even one small thing not so well, this reversal wouldn’t have been possible today.
So, this number one anticipation value truly didn’t come easily.
Gu Siye, on the stage, looked at Lin Yanran, a slight smile playing on his lips. “Teacher Yanran, your group has the highest anticipation value this time; do you feel any pressure?”
Lin Yanran turned on his microphone, his expression still calm and unperturbed.
“I don’t feel any pressure. This anticipation value is the audience’s recognition of every trainee in our group, and I hope their final performance will not let down everyone’s expectations.”
Lin Yanran didn’t take the credit, attributing the anticipation value to the trainees in his group, and he wasn’t arrogant, leaving a way out for everyone.
The trainees’ fans couldn’t help but exclaim once again that Lin Yanran was an “angel mentor” after hearing their exchange.
After the two finished speaking, the production team announced the performance order for the evening.
This time, the performance order would be directly based on the anticipation value, from lowest to highest.
Therefore, Han Zhe’s group, which had the lowest anticipation value among the four, was scheduled to go first, followed by Tangtang’s group in second place.
And Pei Luo’s and Lin Yanran’s groups coincidentally met again, performing one after the other.
While the trainees from Han Zhe’s group were preparing in the side-stage waiting area, the production team played another video.
Due to the selection process for the second public performance, each of the four mentors only had ten slots, so five trainees did not qualify to perform on tonight’s stage.
Not being able to perform was too cruel for them.
So, the production team allowed them to appear in the form of a VCR.
In the video, the five trainees didn’t have a dazzling stage or beautiful performance outfits; they could only wear their usual trainee clothes, standing alone in a cramped practice room to complete a performance.
Watching the five people, without a stage but working hard to nail every movement with sparkling light in their eyes, many audience members were emotionally moved and distraught.
But such is the nature of survival shows: cruel and real.
It wasn’t just those five trainees who couldn’t get on stage.
The trainees who were able to perform—who among them hadn’t poured countless amounts of sweat and tears into their dream stage?
Everyone wanted to stay on this stage and shine brightly.
But in the end, the decision of whether they stayed or left rested with the two thousand audience members below the stage and the millions of netizens in front of their screens.
Because the number of votes was restricted for each person in this round, every audience member’s vote felt particularly precious.
Therefore, the fans of each group tightly held onto their votes, preparing only to cast them for the person they liked the most.
Soon, after the performance videos of the five trainees finished playing, the trainees from Han Zhe’s group took the stage.
Han Zhe’s group maintained their cool and stylish demeanor, but the stage was completely different from last time.
The choreography had improved significantly, and the atmosphere was perfectly created.
However, the most surprising thing was that for this stage, he actually followed in Lin Yanran’s footsteps and also created a suspense-concept performance.
[Why do I feel like Han Zhe’s stage has a little bit of the flavor of Yanran’s group last time?]
[Did he do a Werewolf/Mafia-themed deduction concept? But the storyline seems a bit weak…]
[First, let me state that this is not meant to be belittling: Teacher Han Zhe’s stage is quite good, but having watched Not Me, it feels a bit less amazing.]
[Agree. You can tell Han Zhe’s group worked very hard, but the choreography and plot are somewhat detached from the song. While it is innovative, it should still be based on the song’s content.]
[To be honest, after watching “Kill,” I only now realized how incredible “Not Me” really was.]
Since both stages were in the suspense and deduction genre, they were inevitably compared by the audience.
Because Lin Yanran’s group’s Not Me from the first public performance was a brilliant example that came first, Han Zhe’s stage this time, being slightly inferior in choreography, arrangement, and plot, did not give the audience many surprises.
After watching the stage, the audience’s consensus was that the overall feeling was good, but there was still a big gap if they wanted to catch up to Not Me.
Han Zhe’s fans and the fans of the trainees in his group anxiously posted comments:
[Why did Han Zhe follow the trend to do this? He can’t compare to others.]
[Exactly, the contrast immediately makes it feel weaker.]
After the performance, Han Zhe gave the audience his reason.
Holding the microphone, he looked at Lin Yanran and slowly said, “I’m not afraid of being laughed at for saying this.”
“After watching Teacher Yanran’s stage last time, my heart was itching to try something similar.”
“Afterward, I discussed it with everyone: how about we try one too? Since the theme this time is ‘Reversal and Breakthrough,’ our group also hoped to step out of our comfort zone and challenge ourselves for a subversion. So, we arranged this Werewolf/Mafia stage to present to everyone.”
After speaking, Han Zhe bowed to everyone, saying, “Please forgive the poor effort; I hope everyone enjoys it. Thank you to all the trainees for your hard work; you performed really well.”
After hearing Han Zhe’s explanation, everyone felt more relieved.
After all, daring to break through and challenge oneself indeed requires a lot of courage.
And honestly, if the audience hadn’t watched Not Me, his stage just now would have still been quite brilliant.
Especially the climaxing rap section in the middle was truly stunning.
The production team did not announce the scores immediately this time but planned to announce the four groups’ scores together at the end.
So, after Han Zhe’s group finished, it was the turn of Tangtang’s group and Pei Luo’s group.
Both groups had improved significantly compared to their last performance.
Pei Luo, in particular, completely refocused this time, leveraging his idol strengths, playing to his advantages and avoiding his weaknesses, and rearranging a cute and energetic song into something sexy and dominant.
The dance moves were beautiful and fluid, and the stage design and costumes were more refined and cool.
However, the most unexpected thing about Pei Luo this time was not the stage performance itself.
It was…
He didn’t continue to be “blind” this time; he gave the center position directly to the strongest member, Li Yuan, and the distribution of the choreography also became relatively fairer.
Xuan Yihan, who had previously been criticized for being “undeserving of his position,” no longer dominated the entire stage; when he performed, except for his own solo part, his positions were arranged toward the back by Pei Luo, and his presence was quite subdued.
Xuan Yihan’s fans were furious after watching, immediately starting to tear into Pei Luo in the bullet comments.
[My Hanhann trusted you so much during the trainee selection, and this is how you repay him?]
[During the second mutual selection, he was the one in your group who firmly stayed and chose you, and this is what he gets in return?]
[Pei Luo is truly disgusting. Last time he used Xuan Yihan as a shield for criticism, and this time he directly marginalized him.]
[Hanhann, leave next time, don’t stay in this group, it’s meaningless.]
Pei Luo’s fans, upon hearing the blatant taunts from Xuan Yihan’s fans, could not tolerate it.
They had silently held a grudge since the first public performance when Pei Luo was viciously criticized because of Xuan Yihan, assuming that the mentor and trainee had a good relationship.
However, when Xuan Yihan’s fans started causing trouble first, how could they tolerate it?
[Some trainees’ fans, are you trying to burn the bridge after crossing the river?]
[LOL, please, please don’t come to our Pei Luo’s side next time, that way he can be criticized less.]
[Are some fans suffering from C-position cancer? If he’s not standing in the center, does that mean he is ‘marginalized’?]
[I was originally planning to cast some votes for you, but forget it, I don’t care if you’re eliminated, and neither does my idol.]
Since the competition involved four groups, the mentor’s votes were also tied to the trainees.
Pei Luo’s fans had originally planned to cast votes for all the trainees in his group out of respect for their idol.
But seeing how ungrateful Xuan Yihan’s fans were, they immediately lost interest in voting for that particular person.
Combining the performance, interaction, and some behind-the-scenes clips for each group, roughly two hours had passed after the three groups performed.
Compared to the rushed first public performance, the audience could clearly feel that whether it was the individual skill of the trainees or the overall staging tonight, everything was much more refined, detailed, and improved compared to the first round.
Although the three groups’ styles were still different and each had its own strengths and weaknesses, they all delivered a relatively satisfactory answer sheet to their respective fans.
And after watching the high-quality performances of the three groups, all eyes naturally turned to Lin Yanran’s group, as they were the most anticipated.
Last time’s Not Me firmly captured everyone’s attention with its extremely unique and novel form.
Even in this episode, many people were still talking about it, comparing it to Han Zhe’s group’s stage, and it continued to receive extremely high praise.
Therefore, everyone was eager to know what kind of surprise Lin Yanran would bring to the stage and choreography this time, now that his team members had been reorganized.
Amidst the high-decibel cheers of the live audience, it was finally Lin Yanran’s group’s turn to appear.
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