When he said this, how could he seem like someone just over twenty years old?

After finishing, Li Chu even straightened his clothes a bit before glancing at him, tilting his head and saying, “Why aren’t you leaving yet? Do you have anything else to say? I still have a show to record soon.”

His expression quickly reverted to that of an innocent, harmless little white rabbit.

It was only then that Shen Huai realized he hadn’t just picked a simple pawn.

Li Chu was an outright madman.

Yet, this madman seemed to trust Su Ning so much right now, despite having hated him to the bone just a few days ago. Now he was standing firmly by his side, which was simply unbelievable.

Not just Li Chu, but even someone of Liang Xiaoliang’s stature had seen him today coming in, laughing and talking with Su Ning. It was enough to confirm the industry rumors that the person who persuaded Qilin to join the competition with just one meal was indeed Su Ning.

That once worthless fool, Su Ning.

With his anger unvented, Shen Huai could only slam it onto the table. He couldn’t stay here too long, but before leaving, he threw down a harsh word.

“Just you wait.”

Wait if waiting it is, Li Chu wasn’t afraid.

He had faced much worse during the time he dropped out and returned to the country. What was Shen Huai compared to that? Many people in this circle pretend to be virtuous, but once the fire spreads to them, they lose all decency, venting their frustrations on others, even Zhou Chunqing, who is usually very kind and gentle, became unstable for a while.

Except for… the young master.

Su Ning never seemed to blame anyone else, not even now. He still thought he was just innocently implicated.

“Don’t be afraid.”

Su Ning didn’t ask for details but comforted him, and immediately started to solve the problem. He quickly called someone in to clean up and brought back the makeup artist right away.

By the time Zhou Chunqing found the accessories for his outfit and returned, the makeup room had calmed down as if nothing had happened.

“Just now, Assistant Director Liu called me over out of the blue, almost scared me to death,” the makeup artist sister ran over sweating, complaining, “Lucky you came to find me in time, or I would have been late.”

As Li Chu changed clothes, she hurriedly started to apply makeup.

Even if she was a step late, Li Chu wasn’t upset and spoke up, “Sister, don’t rush, I’m not on stage yet.” She already had a good first impression of this new little trainee, taking a close look, he was very cute with big eyes and curly lashes, his obedient demeanor indeed very likeable, so of course, it wasn’t a big deal when the foundation bottle accidentally broke. Just bring a new one over.

And she noticed that Su Ning of Guang Ying Entertainment was particularly attentive towards him, watching over him like a child, babbling from a seat behind.

“You’ll have to hand over your phone to the program staff soon, just focus on competing here, don’t worry about anything else.”

“The stage is what’s most important, don’t let anyone else disturb you.”

“I’ve got everything else handled.”

He sounded like some kind of old father.

The makeup artist sister and Zhou Chunqing, sitting beside her, silently thought so.

As for the obedient Li Chu, nodding continuously, he had a different thought in mind.

—Shen Huai still wants to bind him with an engagement, that kind of person, how could he be worthy of him? Not even the past Shen Huai was worthy, let alone now. Shen Huai doesn’t even deserve to carry the young master’s shoes.

It would be best if these things could scare him, but the young master is very clear-headed about such matters. Recently, he seemed very disgusted with Shen Huai, and probably wouldn’t be easily deceived by the Shen family.

Shen Huai had said that Guang Ying Entertainment was about to go bankrupt, Li Chu didn’t believe it completely. The company might have some problems now, but back then, the Su family was famously wealthy; it didn’t make sense that they would be ruined so suddenly.

Now, as the heir, Su Ning taking charge wasn’t too late; there was still a chance to turn things around. So, in the long run, Li Chu was more inclined to trust him.

Just as Li Chu was thinking this, someone knocked on the door and entered.

It was Shen Mingzheng.

He was here to find Su Ning: “Director Chen is calling for you, we’re finalizing the flow and the stage, it’s about to start, let’s go.”

The worried old father, Su Ning hesitated a moment, didn’t move, then looked again at Li Chu, saying, “I can’t be at ease.”

He wanted to explain further, but it wasn’t appropriate to speak openly with so many people around. However, Shen Mingzheng seemed to understand without needing him to elaborate, not minding his meddling, and immediately made a phone call. Two minutes later, he came back.

“I’ve spoken with the staff here; I’ve called a security team to watch over this makeup area. The program is about to start recording, and no unauthorized personnel will come this way, Chen Tao is also here helping to keep an eye on things, it should be fine,” Shen Mingzheng said, “Do you have any other concerns?”

Su Ning: “No.”

Reliable little President Shen.

He stood up to leave, and Li Chu wanted to say something, but with business pressing, he just watched as Shen Mingzheng led people away.

He couldn’t help but feel it was an illusion, but he thought Shen Mingzheng gave him one more look as they left, as if he saw through something, yet said nothing.

This so-called little President Shen wasn’t a simple character, Li Chu felt instinctively.

Although he had helped him and his sister, he was still a Shen, and it was hard to say if he was good or bad.

The most important thing was, this man took the young master away.

With Su Ning around, there had been some comforting chatter, now suddenly without that sound, Zhou Chunqing also didn’t speak, fearing her voice too tender and not matching her disguise, the makeup room quieted down, and Li Chu felt a bit uneasy.

To say he wasn’t nervous would be false; he really hoped Su Ning would stay by his side.

Su Ning, however, had no such extra thoughts. After checking the program flow outside, there seemed to be no problems. It was only during the mentor rehearsal that Shen Huai appeared, the scene got slightly quiet, but his face remained as usual, showing no signs of disturbance.

The rest of the mentors were old hands at this, acting as if they knew nothing of the online commotion, all interactions appearing normal at least on the surface.

Today’s recording of the replacement competition followed the scoring selection process of the first episode, with contestants entering one by one, then starting their individual performances, followed by the mentor team giving S, A, B, and other grades.

Out of ten people, only two received an S, earning higher grades meant greater choice in the next stage of the public performance, including song selection, choosing teammates, and even competing for the center position.

The mentor team consisted of seven people, not all celebrities, apart from the initial scoring, mainly providing guidance in vocal, dance, and rapper specialties.

Regarding this segment’s system, Su Ning suspected there might be subjective influences from Shen Huai, but he couldn’t arbitrarily change it due to his own bias. Although he represented the investors, replicating the initial competition process indeed had its rationale, and according to the contract, the program team couldn’t just fire Shen Huai or strip his scoring rights due to scandal.

However, Shen Huai’s scoring, even if influenced, couldn’t play a decisive role in the seven-member mentor team, nor could he act blatantly unfair.

After all, the audience has eyes. If the mentor’s rating doesn’t match the stage performance, the audience will naturally defend the contestants, and the final advancement slots are still determined by public voting, a mentor’s bias wouldn’t have much effect.

Once the mentor team was ready on one side, and the media in the audience seats gradually settled, Su Ning saw Jiang Chenfeng inside.

The young master Jiang’s previous injury hadn’t fully healed yet, his face sullen, looking in a bad mood, only adjusting a bit after exchanging a look with Shen Huai standing at the mentor’s seat before the recording started.

Su Ning, along with Zhou Chunqing in disguise, sat behind Director Chen Yuan’s monitor, watching through several cameras, quickly noticing their small exchange.

As he expected, they probably had solid cooperation, but under so many cameras, these two… couldn’t do much, right?

Not necessarily.

Remembering the makeup room incident, Su Ning frowned.

He thought for a moment, then looked at the time. With twenty minutes before the official start, he leaned over and whispered a few words to Chen Yuan and Shen Mingzheng.

Their seats formed a small triangle, and after Su Ning leaned in, only the two of them could hear him. After clarifying what he said, Chen Yuan looked a bit surprised, then asked, “…are you really going to do this? So urgently? It’s about to start recording.”

“It’s fine, I think there’s enough time, it won’t affect here,” seeing Chen Yuan hesitant, Su Ning immediately turned to reliable Shen Mingzheng for alliance, “I just think it will make the program effect better, what does little President Shen think?”

Shen Mingzheng looked at him, “You thought of this on the fly, even if I disagree now, you won’t give up in the remaining time, right?”

Su Ning: “Right.”

“Then let’s try it his way,” Shen Mingzheng said, “There’s still time, I’ll go find someone.”

With his approval, Chen Yuan had nothing else to say, nodded, and took out her phone to make several calls.

Sometime unknown, this little President Shen always seemed to stand by Su Ning’s side.

Their discussion was very soft, not a word leaked out, Zhou Chunqing sitting on the side didn’t hear clearly, but she herself wasn’t too concerned about this, definitely not interfering or speaking out, after all, in her eyes, the most important thing was Li Chu’s stage. After the program started recording smoothly, she breathed a sigh of relief.

The first camera shot was the hallway door being pushed open, the contestants entering for the replacement competition, naturally led by the three holding revival slots, came in together.

These three were familiar with the camera, not strangers, still able to greet and chat a few words, especially since the replacement competition scene and stage replicated the look of the first competition, making the three contestants feel a touch of emotion the moment they entered.

“When I came in just now, wow, it felt like I returned to a few months ago,” said the one walking in the front, ranked twenty-first, named Ding Xi, sighing, “When I left, I never thought I’d have a day to come back.”

Unlike the initial hundred spots, this time the steps arranged in a triangular shape had the rest temporarily removed, leaving only ten spots for them to sit.

Among them, the most shining was of course the spotlight gathered at the very top spot representing the center position.

The ranking changes in Idol Star Map were frequent during the competition; these three had all hovered around the debut positions before, especially Ding Xi, who once ranked third, but couldn’t compete with loyal fans and fell back later.

If there was no desire to win, he wouldn’t have returned to compete, especially seeing the program’s setup upon entering, the once unreachable throne seemed to have come back within his reach again.

Under the scene’s stimulation, the three revived trainees’ opening performances truly didn’t disappoint, Ding Xi didn’t hesitate, went straight for the first place, and then sat down.

The two contestants below were also timely surprised, laughing and teasing, “Brother Xi is brave, it’s lonely at the top.”

“It’s okay, I’m not afraid,” laughed Ding Xi, “The first time I came in, I wanted to pick this spot, but hesitated for a long time and didn’t dare, now I can’t leave myself any regrets.”

This made the opening of the program very effective.

The competitive spirit of young trainees at this moment wasn’t annoying, instead, it was full of energy and drive, just what was needed.

Then came two internet celebrities who had recently signed with idol companies and had some fame online, their entrance sequence consistent with their silhouetted sequence, the company names displayed upon their appearance, even their online fan counts shown, making the three revived trainees’ reactions upon seeing their entrance quite rich.

“Wow, it really is him.”

“Quite a momentum.”

“So many fans, huh? I seem to only have a third of theirs now.”

The fourth to enter was an online ID called Fishman in the Sea, real name Song Yu, a singer, and following him, another platform personality named Li Zi, a broadcaster, who looked a bit like each other, both recently popular for their pure desire looks.

Compared, Song Yu was recently a sensation online, rapidly gaining fans in the past few months, his tone also very distinct, much more prominent than Li Zi.

He was also more extroverted by nature, Li Zi upon entering just casually picked a spot to sit, greeted everyone present and introduced himself, while Song Yu headed straight for the center spot.

His intention was clear, he was here to take a seat.

It hadn’t been long since the start.

It appeared, this replacement competition was even more fiery than the initial contest, all trainees understood there was no need to hide their skills in such a short time, showing all their ambition and abilities, hence they were all full of vigor.

After Song Yu, the seat-snatching hadn’t stopped.

Next up were two trainees with over two years of experience, contestants from the rival program Boiling Youth, clearly knew how to make a show effect, both aiming for the top spot as soon as they entered.

Their method of competing evolved from initially somewhat reserved and polite rock-paper-scissors to arm wrestling, and finally to a high note pk, singing the hardest high note part of Idol Star Map’s theme song of the season, eventually having the already present trainees vote on the spot.

At this juncture, the two previously unparticipated contestants adeptly sang the hardest and most memorable lyrics of Idol Star Map’s theme song, Chen Yuan watching behind the monitors felt somewhat thrilled, more convinced that Su Ning’s idea was good.

Variety shows, frankly, are about observing interpersonal relationships and interactions in different situations, needing stimulating elements, this type of fierce competition itself was very eye-catching.

Soon, as the eighth participant, Li Chu made his entrance.

At first glance, he seemed to lack a “stimulating point.”