Chapter 38

The venue was very quiet, and the audience looked at the five people on stage, still feeling a bit unsatisfied.

It wasn’t until the five of them held hands and bowed to the audience that they snapped back to reality.

The crowd erupted into an incredible scream, with everyone waving their light sticks to cheer for the group.

Amid the cheers and applause, the five of them instinctively formed a circle and put their arms around each other’s shoulders.

At this moment, the outcome no longer mattered to them.

In this frequently problematic performance, being able to unite and complete the song together had already surpassed the significance of winning or losing.

“We actually did it.”

After catching his breath, the singer-dancer in position No. 35, who had appeared very composed on stage, said this and immediately had tears in his eyes.

“I almost thought I was dreaming…”

Obviously, the unexpected situation had left a significant psychological mark on him.

The rapper, still out of breath, laughed and patted his shoulder, “Bro, what are you saying? Of course, we could finish it—our group is that awesome.”

Then, he spontaneously performed a freestyle, “So what if there’s no background music? We’re the kings of this stage!”

The lyrics were cocky and confident.

The rapper was extremely satisfied with his line and raised his eyebrows proudly after finishing the rap.

“I should’ve added that part in the middle of the interlude, what a pity.”

Upon hearing him lament, number 77 immediately made a “stop” gesture toward him, “Don’t even think about it, I don’t want to do it again.”

He laughed, “That was close!”

As the conversation inevitably circled back to the stage earlier, number 40, who had been holding back tears, could no longer control his emotions and collapsed onto Su Xingyao’s shoulder, crying loudly.

After holding everything in for so long, he finally said the words he had wanted to say to Su Xingyao.

“Thank you for helping me fix things earlier…”

Su Xingyao smiled and gently patted his shoulder to comfort him, “No need to thank me.”

“We’re a team, no one can be left behind.”

“On this stage today, we all did great!”

While comforting his shaken teammate, inside the mascot costume, Su Xingyao’s heart was still racing.

He felt the vitality of this stage, and the unwavering determination of his teammates, who had fought with everything they had.

As the five of them spoke softly to each other, the host finally spoke up.

“Now, let’s welcome the contestants from our group to the front.”

He kindly gave Su Xingyao and the team a moment to gather their emotions.

“I’m sure our contestants are feeling quite emotional right now, so let’s first invite our team’s mentor, Mr. Sheng, to say a few words.”

Hearing the host’s words, the group of five stood in line.

Sheng Yan looked at the five people on stage, and his expression couldn’t hide his excitement.

“Actually, I have so many things I want to say to this group of members, but I feel that no words can truly express the emotions I’m feeling right now.”

After saying this, Sheng Yan raised his right hand high into the air and gave the five of them a thumbs up.

Then, he spoke again, “How fortunate I am to witness tonight’s spectacular performance!”

Sheng Yan’s words immediately received a response from the entire audience.

Every person in the audience shared the same sentiment as him.

This competition had been quite unfortunate for the contestants.

But for the audience, witnessing such a performance with their own eyes was a rare stroke of luck.

Moreover, most people were acutely aware that such an outstanding performance was something they might only witness once in their lifetime.

And even if it was only once, it would be enough to amaze them for a long, long time.

The host picked up the conversation, “Indeed… there were many unexpected twists on this stage, but our five contestants were never defeated by the surprises.”

As he spoke, the host looked toward the mentor’s seat, “After watching this brilliant performance, does any of the mentors have something they’d like to say?”

Before the host could even finish his sentence, Sheng Yan, as the mentor of this group, took the microphone first.

He looked at number 40, whose eyes were still red from tears, and asked, “I’d like to ask number 40 a question.”

Sheng Yan spoke with a neutral expression, “The segment you performed with number 78, was it a deliberate design or an accidental mistake?”

Sheng Yan was referring to the part where number 40 got off rhythm, and Su Xingyao stepped in to help him recover.

Being asked by the mentor, number 40 felt a sharp pang in his heart.

That moment had always been a source of anxiety for him, and now, with the mentor specifically pointing it out, it felt like someone had tightened his chest.

Although he knew that Su Xingyao had covered for him exceptionally well, if he said it was a planned segment, he could easily get away with it.

But at this moment, he still chose to honestly tell everyone the truth.

“I missed the beat, and when Maomao noticed, he helped me recover.”

Sheng Yan nodded. As the mentor of this group, he already knew.

But he also understood that many viewers, both on-site and online, had doubts about that segment.

Some even thought it was a deliberately designed twist, trying to create some mystery.

That’s why he decided to ask directly in front of everyone, to make sure everyone knew what actually happened.

After number 40 admitted his mistake, he turned to Su Xingyao, his eyes full of gratitude, “I was really nervous before going on stage, but Maomao told me that if anything went wrong, he’d cover for me.”

“And he really did…”

After hearing number 40’s explanation, many of the viewers in the live stream, who hadn’t noticed before, were left stunned.

【Holy crap… it really was a mistake!】

【Although I knew there was an issue with the BGM, I thought it was just a problem with the BGM itself. I didn’t expect that the coordination between Maomao and number 40 would be so seamless, I thought they must have rehearsed it beforehand…】

【The reality is, they didn’t rehearse at all. It was all thanks to Maomao’s quick thinking and his ability to help his teammate recover on the spot.】

【The key is, the part he saved perfectly matched the rhythm of the music.】

【Ahhhhhh, this is amazing! What kind of god is Maomao?!】

【Wuwuwu, did you hear what number 40 said? Maomao is such a teammate you can trust with all your heart.】

【He says what he does, strong and reliable, yet gentle—how can anyone not love someone like Maomao?】

Sheng Yan, who had been trying to hold back his expression despite wanting to praise his contestant, smiled at number 40 after hearing his response.

This time, he finally confessed his intention.

“I’m not saying this to criticize you.”

On the contrary, he wanted to comfort him.

“I’m telling you, you guys are amazing. Although this was a mistake, it was still better in terms of depth and effect than your usual singing with the right timing…” Sheng Yan made a gesture, “Much, much better.”

Sheng Yan looked into his eyes seriously, “You’ve probably heard this saying.”

“Mistakes create classics.”

After saying this, Sheng Yan turned to look at Su Xingyao, his face full of pride and satisfaction.

“I think after this performance airs, tomorrow, many people will watch this part over and over again, and all the feedback will be praise.”

At first, the viewers in the live stream thought Sheng Yan had changed, but once they heard the rest, they couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

【Hahahaha, Sheng Yan is so cunning!】

【That proud little look in his eyes… he can’t hide it at all!】

【Sheng Yan’s face basically says, “Look, my team is amazing! Even when they get the rhythm wrong, they can still perform so excellently. Come on, praise them! Keep praising them!”】

【Praise, praise, praise. To be honest, it was really amazing, hahahaha.】

【It was so amazing that if number 40 said it was planned, I would totally believe him, hahahaha.】

【Sheng Yan didn’t compliment Maomao directly, but why do I feel like every word he says is a compliment to him, hahahaha.】

【This is hilarious.】

After Sheng Yan cleverly praised his contestants, Wen Yun, who had been waiting to speak, quickly grabbed the microphone.

However, he was a step too late, as Xu Beizhou spoke first.

Xu Beizhou’s question was simple but to the point.

“How did you come up with the idea to handle the final segment with an a cappella arrangement?”

After Xu Beizhou asked, the other four teammates all looked toward Su Xingyao.

At first, Su Xingyao was waiting for his teammates to answer, but upon seeing their gazes, he finally realized and opened the mic.

“At that moment, everyone was confused by the ^[1]“Schrödinger’s BGM” refers to a playful reference to Schrödinger’s cat, a famous thought experiment in quantum mechanics, where a cat can be both alive and dead until … Continue readingSchrodinger’s BGM, so we discussed it and decided to just go without it, taking control of the stage ourselves.”

The inorganic, mechanical tone brought a hint of coldness.

But with these words, it became unbelievably cool.

【Taking control of the stage!!! Wuwuwu, Maomao’s words are so cool.】

【Only absolute kings can dominate the stage. No wonder he’s King Maomao!!】

【King Maomao? What the heck, hahaha.】

【Schrodinger’s BGM, hahahaha, Maomao you really know how to describe it.】

【Wait, how did they discuss that on stage? I didn’t see them discuss anything.】

【They all did the “OK” gesture together, really cool and decisive.】

【By the way, what happened with the BGM? How could there have been two major stage accidents with the same song?】

【Song Yingming is a very experienced director, so this shouldn’t have happened…】

The audience was impressed by Su Xingyao’s coolness, but the very curious Xu Beizhou was clearly not satisfied and eager to know more of the truth. He pressed Su Xingyao with another question.

“That a cappella section was really seamless. So, did all five of you have previous experience with a cappella singing, or did you practice specifically for this in the past few days?”

Xu Beizhou’s question came through the video, and the live stream viewers were also intrigued.

【I’m really curious too!!】

【That a cappella section was amazing.】

【How did they practice that?!】

Everyone curiously looked at Su Xingyao, who was wearing a cute dog costume, wanting to hear his explanation.

However, just as everyone was leaning in, ready to hear the truth, they saw the dog costume shake its head.

“Director Song said we’ll show it in tomorrow’s extended episode.”

【??????】

【You’re going to tell me tomorrow!!!】

【Song Yingming really knows how to attract viewers!!】

【Maomao, don’t follow Song Yingming’s bad example!!!】

【Hahahahahaha, Maomao advertising for the show is so cute.】

“It’s my turn, it’s my turn!!”

Wen Yun, who had been holding in his words but couldn’t get a chance to speak, quickly took the opportunity to speak up.

“No more nonsense, I just want to know about the rap section in the middle.”

Wen Yun turned his gaze to the five of them. “If I’m not mistaken, that part should have been an instrumental section in the original song.”

Since the BGM had stopped midway, many viewers who hadn’t heard the original version had no idea that the section where Su Xingyao and number 77 were harmonizing, while the singer-dancer and the rapper recited their lines, was actually something they had added on the spot.

Originally, they thought this part was part of the original song. But after hearing Wen Yun mention it, they were surprised and realized the truth.

【Holy crap!!】

【Don’t tell me this part was also improvised???】

【Oh my gosh, I really loved that part, it was so warm and fun, and now it turns out it wasn’t even planned???】

【No way, no way!! They’re that amazing?】

As the audience was filled with shock, the singer-dancer nodded.

“That part was actually something I came up with when we got the costumes and the plush toys yesterday afternoon. I saw those little animals and just casually started singing.”

He then pointed to the corresponding little plush toys on each of their outfits.

“That instrumental break was actually pretty long. At that point, the music suddenly stopped, and we didn’t dare to sing randomly because we were worried the music might come back suddenly like before…”

The singer-dancer smiled helplessly.

“But we couldn’t just leave everyone hanging. We were all anxious, thinking about how to fill the awkward silence.”

He then used his little dinosaur plush to nudge Su Xingyao’s little dog plush, reenacting what had happened on stage.

“In the end, Maomao came over to me and nudged the plush toys… At first, I didn’t understand what he was doing, but then when I heard him and number 77 sing the chorus, I realized he was having me use the animal-themed rap we did yesterday to save the scene…”

After hearing the full story from the singer-dancer, everyone looked at Su Xingyao in disbelief.

【Maomao is so amazing, I’m tired of saying it!!!】

【In such a tight situation, with such little time… they were able to come up with such a perfect solution!!】

【If it were me, I would’ve already fainted from nerves and blanked out, but Maomao was able to think so much and even remind his teammate!】

【The best part is, this was a rap they just casually came up with yesterday!!!】

【Wuwu, another day of silently crying over the perfect chemistry of the group.】

【The plush toy nudge was so cute, I also want to nudge plushies with Maomao.】

Wen Yun, after hearing this, gave a thumbs up to the five of them and then looked eagerly at rapper number 62.

“Number 62, your spoken lines today got a lot of praise. It’s really different from your usual style, and I think it’s great. You should try this kind of style more in the future.”

The rapper humbly bent down and thanked him, then added, “The lyrics for that part were actually written by Maomao, and he also helped design this format.”

Wen Yun raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Including that ^[2]“Su Zha Tian” (苏炸天) is likely a nickname or phrase that refers to something dramatic or impressive, particularly in a humorous or exaggerated way. “炸天” (zhà tiān) … Continue reading‘Su Zha Tian’ laugh?”

Wen Yun then imitated the laugh.

The rapper nodded. “Yes, that too.”

Wen Yun smiled and nodded. “So he really studied your vocal tone…”

After listening to several mentors ask questions, the audience realized that the name mentioned the most in this group was Su Xingyao.

He was the one coming up with ideas for teammates, the one saving the scene for them, and even the one leading the team to recover when the instrumental break was lost…

【Maomao is amazing!!!】

【Maomao, why are you so talented!!!】

【With such skill and quick reactions, I wouldn’t be surprised if you became a mentor!】

【Agree, replace the one next door who even has to sneak a peek at the script for feedback.】

【Sneaking a peek at the script? What’s that about???】

After the three mentors finished speaking, the host spoke up again.

Something seemed to have happened backstage, and he suddenly received instructions from the director to stall for time.

According to the schedule, he was supposed to cue the next mentor, Shen Huaixi.

However, just as he was about to speak, he noticed that Shen Huaixi didn’t look too well and seemed to be spacing out. Worried that something might go wrong again, the host decided to cover for him and spoke up himself.

“Can I ask a question too?”

The host walked over to Su Xingyao and stood next to him.

“I’d like to ask our little cat—oh no, today it’s a dog.”

“Last time it was the cat plushie costume, and today it’s the dog plushie costume. Number 78, are you planning to change into a different plushie costume for every competition?”

Su Xingyao didn’t answer directly. “Maybe, but I’ve only prepared these two costumes for now.”

“Only two costumes? That’s not enough! For the next competition, I want to see other little animals!”

After joking with Su Xingyao, the host gently patted the soft triangular ears of the dog plushie costume.

“Since you’re wearing the dog plushie costume today, can you tell us a little about it?”

Su Xingyao wasn’t sure what the host wanted him to say, so he raised his hand and patted the face of the costume.

“Its name is Sunset Dog.”

The host misunderstood what Su Xingyao meant and didn’t think he was talking about a real dog, but instead asked him, “Sunset Dog? Is that the name of your plushie costume?”

Su Xingyao thought that sounded okay, so he nodded. “Yes.”

The host, clearly quick on the uptake, continued to ask, “What about the previous cat plushie costume? Did it have a name too?”

For some reason, when asked about the name of the cat plushie costume, the first image that popped into Su Xingyao’s mind was when Lu Jiuxu first came to pick him up and gave the costume a name.

Remembering his surprise when he first heard that name, Su Xingyao couldn’t help but smile.

“Well… it’s called Coral Cat.”

After hearing Su Xingyao’s introduction of his plushie costumes, the audience was already in stitches.

【Hahahaha, help, how can number 78 be so cute!!】

【Coral Cat, Sunset Dog, the names of each plushie costume are so interesting.】

【Hey, if you reverse the name, it’s Sunset Coral, isn’t it?】

【Wow!!!】

The host had done his best to interact and stall for time.

But he couldn’t keep awkwardly chatting with the five contestants, so he finally prepared to cue the quiet Shen Huaixi.

“Where’s Mentor Shen?”

Suddenly hearing his name, Shen Huaixi’s heart skipped a beat in guilt.

Ever since Su Xingyao and his group flawlessly handled the stage accident, Shen Huaixi had been feeling uneasy, his palms sweating uncontrollably.

Each time the mentors praised the group’s ability to deal with the stage mishaps, his heart felt like it was being twisted painfully.

The only reason he dared to come today was to clear his name after the performance of this controversial five-member group, who had been criticized and roasted by netizens.

After all, the simplest way to shift the blame was to let these contestants fail on their own.

As long as an unexpected event occurred, and they didn’t perform well today—sang poorly, messed up the whole performance, and were consequently eliminated—it would naturally lead to a shift in the target of the netizens’ criticisms.

Then, with a little help from the online army, the topic would be directed toward blaming the contestants for their lack of skill and inability to adapt.

No one would question his group assignment, and instead, people would be relieved that these types of contestants didn’t ruin the chances of others.

His agent had assured him that everything was prepared on their end.

As a way of getting back at the five for all the grievances they had caused him, Shen Huaixi was eager to witness their failure and elimination in person.

But who would have thought…

The BGM mishap aside, these five managed to perform so calmly and confidently!

They not only performed exceptionally but received unanimous praise from the audience!

Shen Huaixi, who had originally been prepared to enjoy the drama, was caught completely off guard by this turn of events.

When asked to speak, he hastily glanced down at the script his agent had prepared for him.

It was filled with lines on how to clear his name and guide the audience’s opinion after the group failed.

They hadn’t prepared for this situation at all, nor had they anticipated such a scenario…

Staring at the useless script in his hands, Shen Huaixi felt an unprecedented sense of panic and frustration.

But just at this moment, the host insisted he say something.

With a conflicted and complicated expression on his face, Shen Huaixi couldn’t fake a good mood.

He desperately wanted this group to be eliminated already and couldn’t muster the energy to say anything good about them.

But the camera kept pointing at him.

Under the pressure of the live broadcast, Shen Huaixi could only force a smile, realizing he couldn’t rely on stepping on the group to clear his name today. Instead, he would have to improvise and try to rationalize his previous malicious team division.

Putting on his best innocent act, he looked at the five contestants with a naive expression and said, “I’m very glad to see you all present such an excellent performance today.”

As someone with a deep connection to this group, and knowing about his malicious division, the audience was initially curious if he had suddenly had a change of heart or softened due to the online backlash when he said his first line.

However, his next sentence immediately made the audience roll their eyes.

“Seeing you all give your best on stage today, I believe this is the ultimate meaning behind why I decided to group you together.”

After the stunning performance of Su Xingyao and his group, most of the audience had already lost interest in Shen Huaixi.

But as soon as he spoke, the bullet comments flooded in.

【Stop flattering yourself.】

【What meaning? The meaning behind maliciously grouping them?】

【Hahaha, without your shady grouping operation, this group might not have been so unlucky tonight.】

【I’m dying, how can you even say that? You don’t need to be so shameless to whitewash yourself, thanks.】

【Their success tonight is because of themselves, not you, Shen Huaixi.】

【So this is how you steal the contestants’ credit? Got it, really shameless, pfft.】

Not only the netizens, but the live audience also rolled their eyes at Shen Huaixi’s self-righteous comments.

It wasn’t clear who started it, but some people began booing him.

Shen Huaixi felt like his head was about to explode. He had never been so humiliated before, and the frustration was unbearable.

After the mentors finished speaking, it was time for the voting session, where the mentors would select the best team from the ^[3]“PK groups” refers to groups that are competing against each other in a performance or contest, where “PK” stands for “Player Kill” or “Player … Continue readingPK groups.

According to the rules, after each round of performances, the four mentors would vote for the best combination within the group.

The best team would directly advance to the next round.

However, this was only possible if the team received unanimous votes from all four mentors.

In the previous three rounds, the mentors couldn’t agree on any one team because the contestants each had their strengths, so no group advanced.

This was the final round.

The four teams that had just performed would now have the chance for the mentors to vote.

The host invited the nine contestants who had performed earlier onto the stage, and Su Xingyao and his group joined them.

The sharp beats of the drums filled the air, and the four mentors lowered their heads to write down their choices on their cards.

The first mentor to reveal their vote was Sheng Yan.

He proudly raised his card high.

Written on it was “animals.”

The second to reveal their vote was Wen Yun.

He wrote “cat.”

At the host’s reminder, he quickly corrected it to “dog.”

But it didn’t matter, as everyone knew he was referring to the “Sunset Dog” team.

The third mentor to flip their card was Xu Beizhou.

Compared to the other two mentors, he was much more formal.

He wrote the contestants’ numbers: 35, 40, 62, 77, 78.

Although each mentor wrote something different, everyone knew that all three had voted for the same team.

Out of the sixteen teams that performed today, this was the first team to receive recognition from three mentors.

Su Xingyao’s team had earned the mentors’ approval, and both the contestants and the audience fully agreed with their recognition.

With three mentors already on board, it was now down to the final mentor for the team to advance.

The camera in the main live broadcast room zoomed in on Shen Huaixi.

All eyes were on him, waiting for him to announce the first team to advance.