Chapter 30

The scene fell silent, and everyone’s gaze subconsciously turned to the adorable Cat costume on stage.

If the person standing on stage right now had been an ordinary contestant, the audience could have made some preliminary judgments based on their facial expressions and eyes.

However, the person was wearing a headpiece, a cute one that completely covered their face, making it impossible for anyone to guess their thoughts at this moment…

Unable to guess the person’s emotions, the mentors who had selected Su Xingyao were visibly becoming more nervous, especially as the atmosphere was intensified by the background music.

But fortunately, Su Xingyao didn’t like to drag things out or keep people guessing.

He stood still, his gaze calmly fixed to the left front, and soon, he spoke softly.

“My choice is, Mentor Sheng Yan.”

The audience fell silent for a few seconds.

The words Su Xingyao uttered were like a tightly stretched string that suddenly snapped without warning.

His decision was unexpected to most people.

The contestants in the audience exchanged looks, some of them not quite believing it, and asked each other, “Did he say Sheng Yan? Did I hear that right?”

“It’s definitely Sheng Yan.”

“Why didn’t Cat choose Wen Yun? I thought he would go with Wen Yun…”

“Wen Yun’s style would suit him better… Sheng Yan’s idol-like vibe feels…”

“Maybe it’s just the big shot’s stubbornness…”

Since cameras were constantly filming, the contestants didn’t feel comfortable speaking too bluntly.

But anyone with a sharp ear could tell that what they meant was that Sheng Yan’s idol style was miles apart from Su Xingyao’s powerhouse style.

After all, traditionally, most people would have preferred the combination of a mentor and contestant with strong skills.

It wasn’t just the contestants who were surprised. Even Sheng Yan himself, hearing it, stared at Su Xingyao in disbelief, repeatedly confirming, “I didn’t mishear, did I? It’s me, right?”

Su Xingyao nodded and then bowed to both Wen Yun and Shen Huaixi, apologizing for not choosing them.

After receiving confirmation, Sheng Yan couldn’t help but smile, resting his hand on his nose.

Beside him, Wen Yun, who had seen 78 not choose him, looked regretful and slightly defeated.

“In the end, I lost to the charismatic Mentor Sheng,” he sighed.

Wen Yun’s regret came from not being able to collaborate with such an excellent singer in the future.

However, he understood that this was the contestant’s personal choice, so he quickly adjusted his mood and smiled at Su Xingyao.

“Although we won’t be in the same team, may I make one request?”

Su Xingyao politely responded, “Please go ahead.”

“Could I have a hug from you?”

Wen Yun scratched the hair at his temple, “To be honest, I’ve been eyeing that costume for a long time.”

Wen Yun’s unexpected remark immediately made the atmosphere on stage lighten, turning into something more humorous.

At the right moment, Fu Qingyan also chimed in to ease the mood.

“So, Mentor Wen, you want No. 78 to join your team because you’re really just after that fluffy costume, huh?”

Wen Yun chuckled, “You caught me.”

After speaking, Wen Yun walked off the mentor’s seat and made his way toward Su Xingyao.

Su Xingyao quickly extended his arms to hug him.

As they embraced, Wen Yun deliberately turned off his mic and leaned in close to Su Xingyao’s ear to speak softly.

“Although we didn’t manage to form a team, I still really like you. Whether it’s for the competition or after, if you ever need help, don’t hesitate to find me, as long as you don’t mind.”

Wen Yun’s words were truly heartfelt, showing how much he appreciated Su Xingyao’s voice.

After the hug, Wen Yun patted the fluffy back of Su Xingyao.

“You’re always welcome to exchange musical ideas with me.”

Since Su Xingyao hadn’t turned off his mic, he simply nodded and replied briefly, “Okay, thank you, Mentor.”

Everyone in the audience was watching the interaction between them and knew they were talking. But since Wen Yun had turned off his mic, no one could hear what he was saying.

Listening to Su Xingyao’s response, Sheng Yan teased, bringing up the earlier joke about him and Wen Yun fighting over contestants.

“Alright, alright, Brother Yun. Don’t try to poach anymore…”

Wen Yun released Su Xingyao and waved at Sheng Yan. “Can’t poach anymore, don’t worry.”

Then he reached out once more and stroked the fluffy Cat fur on Su Xingyao’s arm before finally returning to his seat.

Wen Yun wasn’t petty. Even though Su Xingyao hadn’t chosen him, he wouldn’t hold a grudge or dislike him for it.

However, off to the side, Shen Huaixi, who wasn’t in the frame, immediately darkened his face after Su Xingyao made his decision.

He narrowed his eyes, staring at the Cat costume on stage, his lips tightly pressed together.

He wasn’t just angry that Su Xingyao hadn’t chosen him, it was more about how this choice made him feel utterly embarrassed at this moment.

Among the mentors present, if anyone could be considered an accomplished singer, it would be Wen Yun and Xu Beizhou. But as for himself and Sheng Yan, they were more in the category of popular stars.

Because although Sheng Yan was a singer, his fanbase was more idol-oriented, and in the public’s eye, he wasn’t much stronger than Shen Huaixi.

So, when the first two episodes aired, many viewers considered the two of them to be on the same level as mentors.

But despite being on an almost equal footing, Sheng Yan managed to successfully secure half of the four contestants who advanced.

Sheng Yan was so popular, yet Shen Huaixi ended up with nothing…

And what stung even more was that he had done everything he could to fight for No. 78.

In the end, not only did Su Xingyao not give him that courtesy, but he also chose Sheng Yan, right next to him, in a direct slap to his face.

If No. 78 had chosen Wen Yun, Shen Huaixi wouldn’t have felt this embarrassed…

The feeling of being slapped in the face publicly was really hard for Shen Huaixi to take.

Watching No. 78 interact with Sheng Yan on stage, and noticing that the camera wasn’t on him, Shen Huaixi couldn’t even muster a fake smile anymore.

On the other side, since Su Xingyao had chosen to join Sheng Yan’s team, the players already confirmed for Sheng Yan’s team were overjoyed. They wildly waved at him from their area, giving him a warm welcome for his addition.

“Alright, congratulations to 78 for joining Sheng Yan’s team,” Fu Qingyan, controlling the scene, announced the result and immediately made an inviting gesture. “Now you can join your teammates.”

After waving at his teammates on stage, Su Xingyao walked toward them.

Su Xingyao wasn’t usually an impatient person, so he walked at a normal pace toward his group.

However, someone clearly couldn’t wait and ran toward him.

This person was running in a hurry, arms wide open.

Just as everyone thought he was about to give Su Xingyao a big hug, the person abruptly stopped short.

Su Xingyao smiled and raised his right hand into the air. The other person mirrored the motion.

In the next second, No. 77’s pale, slender hand landed in the soft Cat paws, and the two completed a high-five that was completely different from anyone else’s.

Su Xingyao looked at No. 77, who had also chosen Sheng Yan, his eyes curving into a smile. “We meet again~”

No. 77 punched his left chest three times, then patted the stuffed Cat Su Xingyao had given him before speaking, “Our cute Cat duo is reunited.”

As the last contestant to choose a mentor, once Su Xingyao joined a team, all the advancing contestants had completed their team assignments.

So far, Wen Yun’s team had seven members, Sheng Yan’s team had nine, and Xu Beizhou’s team had eight.

Among all the mentors, only Shen Huaixi’s team had two members.

After Fu Qingyan announced the result, he immediately turned to look at the pitiful Shen Huaixi.

Knowing that Shen Huaixi had never been in such a humiliating position, Fu Qingyan used his superior mentor privileges to signal for a temporary pause in filming.

In reality, pauses were quite common during recording because of the many uncontrollable factors.

Since Fu Qingyan called for a break, no one thought it was a problem, and everyone took the opportunity to rest in place.

During this break, Sheng Yan also came over to his team.

After briefly greeting his teammates, he showed no airs and sat down with everyone in a circle, pulling out his tablet and opening the show’s system.

“There’s something very important we need everyone’s help with,” Sheng Yan said.

Pointing to a contestant’s photo that appeared on the tablet screen, he drew on it with a stylus.

“Our team still needs three more members, and the next round will be the selection process. While we’re resting, let’s discuss who should fill these spots.”

The remaining contestants were the ones who hadn’t been selected during the previous round, where the mentors hadn’t written their names.

Although they hadn’t been chosen at that time, many of them were excellent and had potential, despite the limited spots.

The contestants were familiar with each other’s abilities, and those in Sheng Yan’s group were straightforward and open about their thoughts.

Now that the mentors had proactively suggested discussing things together, everyone generously offered their opinions.

Soon, the contestants had agreed on three people.

Sheng Yan quickly wrote down the three numbers.

Su Xingyao glanced at the numbers Sheng Yan had written down and then looked at the remaining contestants before speaking up to remind him.

“Since the selection for the next round hasn’t been announced by the show yet, is there a possibility that we’ll still face a situation where the mentors jointly choose a contestant?”

The possibility that Su Xingyao brought up was immediately agreed upon by everyone.

“Indeed, that’s how I was chosen before. So to prevent that from happening, we need to come up with a Plan B~”

The one who spoke was a rapper from the team, and after he said this, he directly asked Su Xingyao, “Cat, do you have any other favorites?”

The rapper was very direct with his speech, and his first reaction was to ask the strongest and most influential figure in the group for their opinion.

As a mentor, Sheng Yan didn’t find this action offensive, and he immediately turned his head to look at Su Xingyao as well.

Seeing this, the other team members also followed suit.

Under the gaze of everyone, Su Xingyao shrank his cat paws a little.

However, part of the reason for everyone’s questioning was that the choice was indeed quite difficult.

After all, several rounds had already passed, and most of the good candidates had already been chosen.

Seeing everyone in such a dilemma, Su Xingyao carefully extended his paw and quickly found six contestants on the tablet.

The six contestants Su Xingyao picked were ones that no one in the team had mentioned before.

Therefore, when they saw his list, everyone was a little surprised.

In their memory, they had very little impression of these contestants.

Seeing their confusion, Su Xingyao moved his finger to the first contestant’s photo and clicked to play a clip of their performance.

After dragging the progress bar to the part he had noticed earlier, Su Xingyao explained.

“His voice is very versatile. If placed in the team, he would be the type that can fit well with many others.”

After saying this, he clicked on the next contestant’s profile, and a very energetic intro immediately played in everyone’s ears.

Upon hearing the intro, a few contestants remembered who this person was.

“Isn’t that the one who can’t rock but still insists on singing rock?”

Su Xingyao didn’t respond. Instead, he directly dragged the progress bar to the part where the contestant was singing.

“This one has a very unique tone. The switch between head voice and chest voice is very smooth. However, the song choice might have been a problem. If she picks a slower, quieter song next time, her voice will be more captivating…”

After saying that, he moved the video to the part where the rhythm slowed down a bit at the end of the song.

When everyone heard the contestant’s voice calm down, they could indeed tell it was much better than before.

Su Xingyao spoke in a tone that was neither too fast nor too slow, but his points were extremely clear.

He only said a few brief words about each contestant.

But he grasped each person’s characteristics perfectly.

After hearing his analysis, the rapper couldn’t help but glance up at him again, his eyes filled with admiration for a true expert.

Well…

Cat is indeed very professional.

It wasn’t just the rapper who thought this way, mentor Sheng Yan did too.

Although he was a mentor, he had always been very self-aware.

While many idols tend to avoid discussing their singing abilities, Sheng Yan was as clear as day about his own shortcomings.

He had always known that his fan base didn’t come from his singing skills.

So, when it came to the professional side of singing, he didn’t feel weak, but he was humble enough to acknowledge the strengths of others.

And this contestant, No. 78, was clearly much more professional than he was.

The contestants he had just mentioned had relatively low presence, but when the other person played the video and immediately cut to the key parts, the strengths and weaknesses became instantly clear.

Sheng Yan gave Su Xingyao a thumbs up and silently acknowledged his skills.

Afterward, Su Xingyao continued to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the next four contestants.

Aside from singing, he rarely spoke so much all at once.

After finishing the analysis, he twisted open a bottle of water and took a small sip.

For privacy, he had ensured that his mouth area was covered to prevent peeking.

However, when drinking or eating, there would still be a small corner exposed despite his tight protection.

Although it wasn’t enough to reveal his features, his fair skin still showed through the small gap.

Sheng Yan, who had finished writing down the six contestants’ numbers, turned around and saw the pale, delicate skin beneath the Cat headgear.

—

Later, in order to ensure he picked the right people, Sheng Yan finalized the names of twelve contestants for his team.

After making his selections, he walked over to Su Xingyao and spoke to him in a low voice.

“Earlier, with so many people around, I didn’t ask, but can I ask why you chose my team?”

Sheng Yan, off-camera, didn’t have to worry about the show’s dynamics, so he didn’t beat around the bush and went straight to the point.

“Actually, I feel like Wen Yun and Xu Beizhou’s style would suit you better.”

Su Xingyao, who had been looking for his phone in his bag, was a bit surprised that Sheng Yan would come to ask him privately.

At the time of his decision, he had been somewhat conflicted about how to respond if he were asked.

Who would have thought that instead of asking back then, Sheng Yan would ask now?

Since they were offstage, Su Xingyao decided to answer truthfully.

“I really like a song you wrote.”

As Su Xingyao spoke, a melody immediately surfaced in his mind, and he began to hum a short segment.

Sheng Yan raised an eyebrow, immediately recognizing it.

“‘Light’,” he said.

When he spoke the song’s name, there was a hint of surprised delight in his eyes.

This song was one he knew better than anyone.

It was the first song he had ever written, both lyrics and music, after debuting.

In a way, this song held great personal significance for him.

He had high hopes for it at the time.

However, the reality was that after the song was released, it didn’t gain much traction outside of his fanbase. Its popularity remained very low.

To hear that Su Xingyao had actually listened to it was a complete surprise.

Learning that Su Xingyao had chosen him because of this song made Sheng Yan genuinely happy.

But the next thing Su Xingyao said left him stunned on the spot.

After hearing Sheng Yan name the song, Su Xingyao nodded.

But his nod was a bit small, and realizing Sheng Yan couldn’t see it, he repeated himself.

“I must have listened to ‘Light’ at least a hundred times by the end of the year.”

After saying that, Su Xingyao finally found his phone in his bag. He took it out, unlocked it, and pulled up the music platform to show his yearly music summary.

He opened the link, and the platform directly displayed his annual favorite songs, with Sheng Yan’s “Light” listed second.

Su Xingyao’s earlier statement was not a lie.

He listened to a lot of songs—both foreign and domestic, rock and ancient style…

He listened to music from all kinds of artists, in all sorts of genres.

So when Sheng Yan’s album came out, he had bought it to listen to.

He found the other songs on the album to be average, but when he first heard this song, it caught his attention.

The most important thing in music is finding a connection, a resonance with it.

At that time, he had been in a state of confusion and struggle.

So, the song, which spoke of the fear of losing direction in the future, became one he would play during the many sleepless nights when he woke up in the dark hours.

After putting his phone away, Su Xingyao looked up at Sheng Yan and genuinely complimented him.

“That song is really well written, Mentor Sheng.”

Sheng Yan looked at the person in front of him, his eyes flickering with emotion, but he didn’t speak for a long time.

Half an hour later, Fu Qingyan walked back onto the stage.

After a brief introduction, he announced that the final round of selections was officially starting.

However, there was a small issue when the rules were announced.

When it came time to select the contestants, Fu Qingyan directly gave Shen Huaixi the priority to choose first.

“Next, please let Mentor Shen choose five contestants.”

Upon hearing this, Sheng Yan immediately raised his hand to interrupt Fu Qingyan.

“Sorry, Mentor Fu, please allow me to interrupt.”

Sheng Yan waved the process card he was holding at Fu Qingyan. “The rules I received fifteen minutes ago clearly stated that the selection would be done by drawing lots. Why has the rule changed now?”

After speaking, he glanced toward the director, looking puzzled.

It wasn’t just Sheng Yan who was confused—Wen Yun looked equally puzzled.

He weakly raised his hand, “It’s the same on my end too…”

The director, sitting below the stage, awkwardly smiled and gestured for everyone to ask Fu Qingyan, who had good relations with the investors.

Fu Qingyan didn’t try to shift the blame and directly explained the reason to the mentors.

“This is because, considering the balance of team strengths, I took the initiative to discuss this matter with the director.”

He looked toward Shen Huaixi. “Mentor Shen currently has fewer contestants.”

Fu Qingyan spoke in a slightly conciliatory tone toward the other three mentors. “The rule hasn’t actually changed, it’s just that we’ll let him fill his team with seven members first, and we’ll proceed with the drawing later. Is that okay?”

As Fu Qingyan spoke, Shen Huaixi gave a helpless and pitiful smile, then made a gesture of pleading toward the others.

Xu Beizhou was the first to agree, he wouldn’t make things difficult for Shen Huaixi.

Wen Yun quickly agreed as well.

Although he felt that Fu Qingyan was being a bit unfair by changing the rules without consulting everyone, seeing Shen Huaixi’s pitiful expression, he kept quiet and didn’t say anything.

It was Sheng Yan, however, who remained silent for the moment.

Having come from a survival competition himself, where he had fought through all sorts of harsh rules and brutal systems, Sheng Yan despised this sort of rule-bending, clearly biased decision-making.

Back in their own competition, there were also such “royal” contestants, and the production team would always try to let them have the advantage.

They were always asked to let the others have the spotlight, the high points… In short, whoever was weaker always had the right to ask for accommodations.

However, Sheng Yan wasn’t the type to make a scene in front of everyone.

Although he was uncomfortable with it, he didn’t argue with Fu Qingyan. He simply nodded silently in agreement.

What Sheng Yan didn’t expect, however, was that agreeing to Fu Qingyan’s change of rules for Shen Huaixi would end up hurting him the most.

Because all five contestants that Shen Huaixi chose to fill his team were from Sheng Yan’s own list.

Later, during the drawing, Sheng Yan ended up being very unlucky and drew the last pick.

The remaining six contestants, which Su Xingyao had previously chosen for him, had already been noticed by professionals like Xu Beizhou and Wen Yun.

So by the time it was Sheng Yan’s turn, they had already selected two from the pool.

After two rounds, Sheng Yan had only managed to pick two out of the six contestants, and the last one, the one he had firmly chosen, was also snatched away by Shen Huaixi.

So, despite preparing twelve names, he ended up only picking two.

However, his quota wasn’t filled, so in the end, he had to make a last-minute choice of a relatively weaker contestant.

Fu Qingyan’s actions had balanced Shen Huaixi’s team, but they had left Sheng Yan feeling extremely frustrated.

The contestants in Sheng Yan’s team were also quite speechless.

It wasn’t that they had issues with the last contestant picked, but they simply couldn’t stand how biased Fu Qingyan was toward Shen Huaixi.

“Fu Qingyan must be really close to Shen Huaixi, right? I heard someone caught them having a meal together recently.”

“Well, what can you do? They’ve publicly acknowledged they’re childhood friends.”

Upon hearing these words, Contestant No. 77 didn’t say anything, but his eyes were practically rolling to the heavens.

Seeing him getting angry, Su Xingyao reached over and patted his arm.

No. 77 took the chance to grab Su Xingyao’s cat paw and whispered, “Why are you so calm, Cat?”

Su Xingyao looked up at Fu Qingyan, who was quietly talking to Shen Huaixi.

“Because I’ve gotten used to it.”

Ever since that big fire, Fu Qingyan had been like this—always showing favoritism toward Shen Huaixi.

To him, Shen Huaixi was his principle. It wasn’t surprising at all that he’d change the rules for him.

After five hours of recording, the mentor selection segment of the day finally came to an end.

The production team handed out boxed lunches, but they didn’t let anyone go home yet.

After finishing their meals, everyone learned that there was still another task to complete.

That task was to divide the contestants into groups for the first PK stage.

Upon hearing about this important task, the contestants quickly got themselves back into the zone and continued recording.

Su Xingyao followed Sheng Yan to the area designated for his team and stood in place.

Since there were so many people, Sheng Yan was arranged to stand at the center of the team, while the other contestants found their spots one by one.

Not one to enjoy the crowd, Su Xingyao quietly found a secluded corner in the second row.

Just as he settled in, No. 77 moved up beside him.

He winked at Su Xingyao and, taking advantage of the recording break, started chatting.

“How will the groups be divided? Can I apply to be in your group, Cat?”

After saying this, he seemed worried that Su Xingyao might refuse, so he quickly reassured him, “I can do other styles too. When I’m serious, I’m really serious~”

Su Xingyao couldn’t help but laugh and played along, “It’s fine, I can be not serious too.”

Although it was a joke, it was also true.

He wasn’t just limited to the style he performed on the initial stage.

Rock, folk, classical, country music, and so on—he’s tried them all… even opera…

After all, one of his invincible and all-around roommates is a music fanatic. During their study abroad years, when his roommate was pushing his own boundaries, he often dragged Su Xingyao into trying things out too.

While Su Xingyao was talking to No. 77, a little girl standing in front of him overheard their conversation.

She looked at Su Xingyao with wide eyes and carefully asked, “Can I join too?”

Su Xingyao was recognized as the strongest contestant among all the participants.

Not only was he strong in terms of ability, but his discussions online were also very active.

Such a popular contestant made everyone eager to team up with him for the first group assignment.

However, it was only when Fu Qingyan announced the rules that everyone realized they had been a bit naive in their hopes.

On stage, Fu Qingyan appeared in front of everyone holding a box.

“This time, the team formation is going to be interesting.”

He shook the box in his hand with a smile.

“Each mentor’s team will be divided into four groups.”

Fu Qingyan paused for a moment, building suspense, before continuing, “And the members of each group will be assigned by the other mentors.”

Upon hearing this rule, the contestants couldn’t help but glance at their teammates, their faces showing panic.

Not only the contestants, but the mentors were also flustered.

Honest and straightforward, Wen Yun immediately bowed to the other three mentors, saying, “Please, everyone, go easy on me. Be gentle when assigning the teams.”

Wen Yun’s words were humble, but it was clear he was politely negotiating, asking everyone not to make things difficult for each other.

Sheng Yan and Xu Beizhou understood his intent and immediately smiled and agreed.

The central figure, Shen Huaixi, also smiled sincerely and adorably, following Wen Yun’s lead and asking, “Please, everyone, go easy on me~”

After exchanging pleasantries, the mentors began the first round of team formation.

Fu Qingyan placed the box he had been holding on the table, and the staff brought up three identical boxes, placing name cards inside them.

Each mentor had a box corresponding to the names of the other three mentors inside.

The mentors took turns drawing a name card, and whoever’s name they drew, they would assign to that mentor’s group.

The first to draw was Wen Yun, and he drew Xu Beizhou’s name.

Sticking to the “peace & love” principle, he grouped Xu Beizhou with three creative-type singers.

Xu Beizhou then drew Shen Huaixi’s name.

Since most of the contestants in Shen Huaixi’s team were selected based on his suggestions, Xu Beizhou was very familiar with their styles. He created a well-matched group of three for a fresh, light, and airy vibe.

The third to draw was Sheng Yan, and just like Xu Beizhou, he drew Shen Huaixi’s team.

Each mentor had twelve contestants to divide into four teams, so Sheng Yan thoughtfully assigned three people with similar styles to form a group. This way, the distribution of teams worked out perfectly.

After the three mentors had made their assignments, everyone let out a slight sigh of relief.

They all understood the logic behind the way people were assigned: the teams were being grouped by similar styles, so the contestants would have an easier time adjusting and working together.

Just when the contestants thought they could relax, they didn’t expect the harmony among the mentors to be disrupted when it came time to form Shen Huaixi’s team.

The last one to draw was Shen Huaixi, and he drew Sheng Yan’s team.

After taking the microphone, he exaggeratedly said how difficult the task was, but then turned to Sheng Yan and cheekily asked him,

“Mentor Sheng… I want to assign five people to your team… Is that okay?”

Sheng Yan felt a sudden sense of discomfort but still responded politely, “Five people?”

Shen Huaixi nodded seriously.

Upon hearing the number, Sheng Yan’s contestants felt a tingling sensation on the back of their necks.

In a singing competition, everyone knows that five people in a group is a bit too many.

Especially in this kind of competitive show, five people would end up sharing so few lyrics that there wouldn’t be much for each person to sing solo.

Earlier, the other mentors had assigned their contestants into groups of three, which allowed each contestant more opportunity for individual performance.

But who would have expected Shen Huaixi to suddenly suggest a five-person group?

The contestants had their doubts, and so did Sheng Yan.

He clearly disagreed with Shen Huaixi’s approach.

But the rules set by the program stipulated that it was up to the other mentors to decide the groupings.

The rules didn’t specify that teams had to be made up of three people.

What the other mentors had done earlier was simply their own voluntary decision.

So, even though Sheng Yan was unhappy and uncomfortable with Shen Huaixi’s change, he could only gentlemanly nod and say,

“Go ahead, form your team.”

Those three words were already his limit. He couldn’t bring himself to say “It’s okay.”

As soon as Sheng Yan finished speaking, the whimsical Shen Huaixi casually walked over to the contestant area of Sheng Yan’s team as if nothing had happened.

He grinned as he first picked a main rapper from the group, followed by a singer-dancer who had previously been rejected.

After a moment’s hesitation, for the third pick, he selected the ancient-style internet celebrity who was added last-minute by Sheng Yan—a contestant of fairly average skill.

Then, Shen Huaixi’s gaze locked onto No. 77, who had a similar style to his own.

“No. 77, you’re so cute, of course, I have to pick you.”

Upon hearing this, No. 77 expressionlessly stepped forward, his face showing little emotion.

However, while No. 77 appeared indifferent, as soon as he stepped out, many of the people in the crowd couldn’t hide their complicated expressions.

The reason was that, looking at the four contestants Shen Huaixi had picked so far, one could immediately see a rapper with a cool and tough image, an idol-type singer-dancer, an ancient-style internet celebrity, and a cute, fresh-faced singer.

To put it kindly, these contestants each had their own unique characteristics.

But in reality, if they were grouped together, they would be completely mismatched and out of place!

Shen Huaixi, however, acted as if nothing was wrong. He clapped his hands and proudly looked at his creation, justifying it to himself with, “I’m really looking forward to this clash of different styles. It’s going to be so exciting.”

After selecting the four, Shen Huaixi finally turned his gaze to Su Xingyao, the contestant he had been meaning to pick from the start.

He squinted his eyes and looked at him.

“Cat, you and No. 77 are inseparable, I don’t want to separate you two, what should I do~?”

As soon as he finished speaking, Shen Huaixi flashed a knowing smile.

He walked toward Su Xingyao and reached out to grab him.

“How about… you two join together this time?”

The more Shen Huaixi spoke, the bigger the smile on his face.

Hearing his sudden cue, Su Xingyao looked up.

He met Shen Huaixi’s gaze with a calm yet firm stance, gently avoiding the hand that was trying to grab his arm.

Shen Huaixi was unbothered by the rejection, just watching him through his headgear, his eyes filled with calculation.

“Cat, is there something you want to say while looking at me like that?”