The Battle of the Stars production team finally issued a timely clarification:

【During the hectic training period, contestant Gu Yi, as a cultural ambassador for Hecheng community, contributed to the team’s third-place win at the Chaoyang Cup square dance competition…】

【If they knew this all along, they should’ve explained earlier! 】

【Gu Yi is incredible. Even with less practice time, Devil’s Heart was still the best performance tonight. 】

【Casting a quiet vote for Gu Yi. That final ending pose? Killed me. 】

In the face-off between the two Devil’s Heart teams, Team A beat Team B without surprise. All five members advanced to the next round.

This episode’s popularity far outstripped the premiere. Team Soul’s performance had already been pushed by multiple marketing accounts, soaring to the top of Weibo’s trending searches. And as for Devil’s Heart—

The official Battle of the Stars video alone had racked up tens of thousands of plays.

Gu Yi’s follower count on Weibo multiplied tenfold overnight.

Climbing the ladder in the entertainment industry is never easy. When Battle of the Stars quietly aired its first episode, most viewers dismissed it as yet another flop from a third-rate network. But after the back-to-back powerhouse stages from Soul and Devil’s Heart, the show began to gather an unstoppable momentum.

That night, Jiangshi TV was the #1 most-watched channel.

Across all platforms, the show ranked fourth in total viewership.

The official clips of Soul and Devil’s Heart performances saw explosive growth in views, and both teams were now carving out names for themselves in fan circles.

It was no exaggeration to call Battle of the Stars this season’s breakout hit.

Even the management companies that had sent trainees to compete hadn’t expected this surge—nor had the production team. The show’s heat had come out of nowhere.

Gu Yi had previously trended due to fainting and that viral square dance clip. But it wasn’t until his Devil’s Heart performance that the public started recognizing him as an idol.

…

With popularity soaring post-broadcast, Jiangshi TV was immediately flooded with sponsorship proposals.

Back when the show was first soliciting sponsors, responses were bleak. If not for their long-standing partnership with a certain mobile brand, they wouldn’t have landed a title sponsor at all.

Even after the show aired, the team threw everything into making the stage look its best—but compared to other mega-hit talent shows, Battle of the Stars was still visibly strapped for cash.

Now, though, sponsor bids were rolling in—each one flashier than the last. Blueberry Mobile, the main sponsor, even threw in a major offer: they wanted to shoot a TV commercial with several of the show’s most popular contestants.

Jiangshi TV hadn’t seen this level of sponsor enthusiasm in a long time.

Among China’s video platforms, Jiangshi TV had long been second-tier. They couldn’t match heavyweights like Ocean Video, Clearwind TV, or UJoy Media—and even Greenlime TV, backed by the Greenlime Network, was ahead of them.

In recent years, they’d spent heavily trying to boost their profile—with only modest success.

This season, the platform had tried to mimic Take It Slow, Life, launching a lifestyle reality show as their main priority. They even brought in A-list celebrities—but despite the star power, ratings paled in comparison to Take It Slow.

Jiangshi had braced for another flop… until Battle of the Stars emerged as the dark horse.

“Allocate more funding to Battle of the Stars. We need to step up the marketing too.”

Jiangshi TV was hungry for the commercial goldmine that talent shows used to bring—beyond brand deals, there was also the sweet stream of membership subscriptions.

Just as execs finalized the plan to boost Battle of the Stars, a new sponsorship proposal landed on the desk of the network’s commercial director.

“Kitty Quiz?”

Even the director was puzzled at the company name.

Most of Battle of the Stars’s existing partners were in drinks, fashion, or electronics. Lifestyle brands were common collaborators for variety shows—but Kitty Quiz?

Weren’t they the ones who usually sponsored educational programs?

Was there some secret Einstein on the cast?

Worried it was a misdelivery, the commercial director dialled their contact.

Over the phone, the Kitty Quiz rep was firm:

“Yes, we’re very clear. The show we want to sponsor is Battle of the Stars.”

The director hesitated. “Uh, just a heads up… our contestants don’t exactly have high academic stats.”

Forget bachelor’s degrees—he could only promise that everyone on the show had completed compulsory education.

“We’re aware of that.”

“Even if they use your app, we can’t guarantee they’ll pass college entrance exams…”

Not exactly your target audience.

“We understand.”

Then the Kitty Quiz rep added,

“If possible, we’d like contestant Gu Yi to film our promo. Our company is expanding into the civil service exam market.”

Civil service?

Now even more confused, the director hung up and took a closer look at the proposal—Kitty Quiz was offering a generous promotional budget, plus a personal endorsement fee for Gu Yi.

Still baffled, he turned to his assistant.

The assistant said quietly, “Manager Zhang, Gu Yi is kind of a big deal among civil service test takers.”

“Explain.”

The assistant pulled up Battle of the Stars’ official Weibo page. After the most recent episode aired, the comments section had turned into total chaos: fans of eliminated contestants were crying, fans of popular ones were hyping, and then… there was this third group.

A very peculiar third group.

【No way! Teacher Gu actually made it to the next round? 】

【We need you back in the civil service world, sir! The future bureau chief depends on you! 】

【How dare Battle of the Stars steal our Mr. Gu! 】

The assistant shrugged. “That’s what I mean.”

The director: “…Our contestants are really multi-talented, huh.”

…

Round two eliminated nearly half the contestants, whittling them down to 54. In the next round, another 24 would be cut, leaving just 30 to advance.

From that point forward, it’d be all about stage power and popularity.

At the end of this episode, the host stood holding an envelope—inside were the latest popularity rankings.

Gu Yi had already changed into his contestant uniform. When he saw Ji Chi and the others seated, he quickly slid into the group.

The camera zoomed in on Gu Yi.

In Devil’s Heart makeup, he’d looked cold and intense. His striking features were somewhat masked by the dark styling. But now, in everyday attire, his face was fully revealed—

[Who just sniped my heart?!!]

[I swear I just saw an angel!]

[He’s too handsome—too handsome—I’m losing my mind!]

Ji Chi patted Gu Yi and handed him a piece of candy. “Hungry?”

“Starving.”

Gu Yi took it—then, in full view of the group, reached into the inner lining of his contestant jacket… and pulled out a banana. “Want one?”

Ji Chi, Yao Junyan, Yi Shuo, Yue Miao: “…”

It’s always moments like this.

Gu Yi had this way of constantly keeping them off balance—sometimes cool to the point of being untouchable, other times just… completely unserious.

Yao Junyan asked, “How’d you even stuff that in there?”

Gu Yi started unbuttoning his top to show him.

Yao quickly waved him off. “Never mind.”

It was the show’s final segment anyway, with a long block of ads between. No cameras on them for now. Might as well eat in peace.

The viewers watching this unfold: “…”

Gu Yi—Battle of the Stars’s one and only monkey.

[They’re about to reveal the rankings, right? Get serious!]

The host began reading from #54, slowly working up to the top 30.

Gu Yi figured he’d climbed a bit in rank, but didn’t expect anything drastic—so he stayed relaxed.

“How high do you think you got?” Yi Shuo asked.

“Maybe 20th?”

In their team, Gu Yi had the lowest popularity. Aside from Ji Chi, who was a solid #1, the others had all been in the top 20.

“You’re going to rank higher,” Yi Shuo said confidently.

On stage, the host reached the top 25—and none of their group had been named yet.

“…#21, Qin Feixing.”
“#20, Luo Tian.”
“Next up, #19 is—”
“Gu Yi? I bet it’s Gu Yi.”
“Tong Yu, from Lianyin Media.”

Still not Gu Yi.

#18 wasn’t him either. Nor was #17. #16, #15, #14…

Every time a name was read, someone guessed it might be Gu Yi.

But even after the #10 spot was announced—still no sign of him.

Last week, he’d been the lowest-ranked among the remaining contestants.

“#8, Lei Yuxiang, Yuanzi Entertainment.”
“#7, Wu Jie, Zhongsheng Entertainment.”

“Did Gu Yi just make top 6?!”

Not just the audience—contestants were buzzing too.

There were only 6 debut seats in Battle of the Stars. Even though this round’s rankings didn’t decide final debuts, Gu Yi’s rise was shocking.

From below #20 to top 6!

All from a single performance.

“And #6 is—”

Before the host could finish, the camera had already cut to Gu Yi.

“Xingyao Entertainment, Gu Yi!”

Ever since the top 15 weren’t announced, Gu Yi had been uneasy. With every name called, he grew more tense.

#6?

That didn’t suit him at all.

How did he rank so high? Who on earth was voting for him?

[Gu Yi Nation.]
[Gu Yi Nation.]
[Retweet this Gu Yi, and you too can go from 28th last week to 6th this week.]
[Is this the power of the civil service god?]
[LOL—everyone else has accepted it, but Teacher Gu himself can’t.]