IDEI Ch11

“Whoa, whoa, who is this?”

“So handsome ahhhh!!!”

The audience at the scene exclaimed, and the livestream comments were no less intense.

As Wei Mingzhe took the stage, the comments began to scroll rapidly. When his part ended, the comments exploded even more.

[Who is this? Too ridiculously handsome!]

[So wild, so cool, so badass]

[Wow, what a majestic face]

[Explosively AHHHHH]

[Red hair! YYDS! (Forever the God)]

[Is this Wei Mingzhe?]

[Who, the ethereal Wei Mingzhe? Isn’t he supposed to have a cold, melancholic vibe?]

The audience behind the screen wanted to keep discussing, but the stage performance continued.

The chorus began, and the five performers stood in a line, with Wei Mingzhe moving to the center.

The audience was surprised to find that the red in the group’s costumes connected to form the shape of a flame, with the tip of the flame being Wei Mingzhe’s hair, which resembled a blazing fire!

They all leaped high into the air—

The heavy beat accompanied their movements as the big screen behind them displayed fiery effects!

In this exhilarating music, the five people moved in large, synchronized motions, making the audience feel even more energized.

[Damn, this feels amazing!]

[Such skill! I’ve got goosebumps!]

[Wei Mingzhe’s dance skills are so strong!]

[So handsome, so handsome, so handsome, so handsome]

[!!!!!!!]

The audience swayed and screamed with the music, fully immersed in this audiovisual feast.

Everyone’s face was full of excitement, and their pupils reflected the intense movements of the five trainees on stage.

The music gradually reached its climax, and then—

It stopped abruptly!

The five performers froze in place, and the fiery red background screen instantly turned to a pale blue, highlighting each person’s silhouette even more.

The camera swept over each of the five.

Finally, it focused on Wei Mingzhe’s face.

He looked straight into the camera, and after two seconds, he smiled.

His smile carried a mischievous pride, with a sharp little tiger tooth pressing against his lip, making his lips look even redder and his teeth whiter.

The audience at the scene couldn’t fully appreciate the charm of the ending up close, so they just screamed and shouted the names of the trainees.

But the viewers watching the livestream received the full impact.

[Mom, someone is bullying me with their beauty!!]

[Help, he’s so handsome I can’t breathe…]

[Wei Mingzhe! Is this beauty even real?]

[Tiger tooth! %￥＠…＃]

As soon as the ending finished, countless comments exploded, with most being meaningless “ahhhhhh” and gibberish, all praising Wei Mingzhe and his group’s performance.

At this moment, Group B of “Darkage” had finished their introductions. The comments began to vary more widely.

[Bai Yan is such a strong guy! Both handsome and strong]

[Lin Xinyang

Small body, big energy, let mom give you a kiss!]

[Luo Gu has such long legs, such a long person hhhhhh]

After the introductions, Group A also took the stage, waiting for the votes of both groups to be announced. The host was cueing the trainees with simple questions, and the commenters were already having fun chatting.

[So far, this song has the best performance.]

[Yeah, the makeup and styling for both groups were perfect, unified yet highlighting individual features.]

[The death blush in the last song made me laugh, like straight guys awkwardly trying to act flirty ahhhhhh]

[Wei Mingzhe’s makeup and styling were absolutely genius! Simply incredible]

[Whoever dyed his hair red, I forbid anyone from defying you!]

……

As the comments continued to chat idly, the vote results quickly appeared.

422 votes VS 476 votes. Wei Mingzhe’s Group B won.

When the audience saw the numbers, there was an uproar.

The vote count for this performance was composed of one vote per audience member and twenty votes per mentor, with a total pool of 520 votes. There were ten groups in total, and each person could vote six times. The highest vote count for any group so far had been 405 votes.

No one expected that both of these groups would surpass all previous ones in votes.

Moreover, in Group B’s 476 votes, Wei Mingzhe alone received 230!

Both Group A and Group B were surprised by the result, but soon, they smiled.

The director sensibly cut the camera back to Wei Mingzhe’s face.

A moment ago, Wei Mingzhe had been all firepower, both cool and wild, but now, he was slightly pursing his lips, smiling shyly, and even his ears were turning red.

His eyes, looking at the audience, sparkled like they were full of stars.

The contrast between his flamboyant appearance and his bashful expression caused another explosion of comments.

[Damn, my XP is overloaded.]

[Ah, the glorious new beauty era]

[He suddenly turned from a husband into a wife, and it’s even better.]

[I used to feel the same way, but back then I just wanted to say, ‘Damn green tea (manipulative person).’ Now… this is clearly a younger puppy type!]

[Damn, this guy’s makeup and styling are killing it!]

……

When they returned to the waiting room, the other trainees immediately surrounded them.

“Wei-ge! You looked insanely handsome!”

“That was so explosive, it got me hyped!”

“Ge, you were way too cool! The red hair suits you perfectly!”

Wei Mingzhe initially intended to remain silent and smile, sticking to his usual persona, but suddenly, the meaningful look from Qi Yanning flashed through his mind.

His eyes flickered, as if making a decision.

“I also think I’m super handsome!” He lifted his chin and gave the crowd a deliberately playful, devilish look, then smiled again, showing all eight of his teeth.

The surrounding trainees were stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.

They hadn’t expected Wei Mingzhe to have this kind of personality!

Before, when he was acting aloof and cold, many people thought he was putting on an act, but now, this felt much more genuine.

……

The stage continued, and up next was the group styled by A-Qing, performing “Let’s Disco.” Xiao Yingyi, who was the initial center, was in Group B for this song.

This song had a strong retro vibe, almost transporting people back to the 1980s. A-Qing’s styling perfectly matched the style of the song, with bold colors and retro hair and makeup, creating just the right atmosphere for the performance.

Moreover, the makeup he did for them was very fitting, complementing their personal looks and enhancing their appearance to the fullest.

It was clear that A-Qing wasn’t just arrogant; he did have a certain level of skill.

But…

Qi Yanning’s eyes narrowed slightly.

He was too impatient, unwilling to take the proper path.

In order to beat Qi Yanning, A-Qing used a childish and underhanded method—throwing almost every possible accessory onto the trainees. It was such a low-level tactic that Qi Yanning couldn’t even be bothered to react.

Although A-Qing had painstakingly arranged all the accessories on the trainees in a way that didn’t look out of place, he overlooked one important detail…

Qi Yanning remained silent, watching the stage from the side.

The stage lights shone brightly, catching the audience’s attention, and the comments started to roll in rapidly.

[This group looks so handsome too!]

[Bold color choices, the effect looks amazing!]

[So retro, I feel like my dad must’ve looked like this when he was young ahhhhh]

The trainees began to sing and dance to the music. The choreography for this song was also quite complex, with frequent formation changes.

As the music played, the various accessories clashed together, creating a unique sense of rhythm.

During the early part of the stage, everyone was fully focused. But as the performance went on and the trainees’ stamina began to wear out, their movements became slightly looser—

That’s when the accident happened!

With the elaborate musical variation, there was supposed to be a “killing part” where two trainees brushed past each other, but as they crossed paths, the chains on their waists got tangled together!

The sudden mishap left the trainees, who lacked extensive stage experience, not knowing what to do. They froze in place, frantically trying to untangle the chains. But the more they panicked, the worse it got, and the complex chains tangled even tighter as they moved.

The audience let out gasps and murmurs, while the other trainees on stage also started to panic.

The dreadlocked trainee in the lead furrowed his brows and jumped out of formation, casually swaying to the rap lyrics, his deep and fast-paced rap spilling from his mouth. He stepped forward, blocking the two entangled trainees from view.

The other two teammates quickly caught on and moved forward as well. As the chorus started, the three exchanged glances, then sang the lyrics together in unison, trying to draw all attention back to themselves.

The commotion in the audience gradually died down, but the atmosphere was far less enthusiastic than before.

The dreadlocked trainee and his two teammates continued to push through, but the slight tremor in their voices betrayed their nervousness.

Finally, as the chorus reached the second section, the two entangled trainees managed to untangle the chains. The performance could finally continue.

However, even though the two quickly regained their composure and resumed the performance, the previously lively atmosphere had dissipated. As they left the stage, the five trainees wore expressions of frustration and regret.

As they brushed past Group B of “Let’s Disco,” the dreadlocked trainee whispered, “Xiao-ge, be careful with those accessories, they’re too cumbersome!”

Xiao Yingyi frowned. He had, of course, noticed what had just happened, but there was no time to remove the accessories now, so they had no choice but to grit their teeth and perform.

With the caution learned from Group A’s mishap, Group B’s five trainees were extra careful, and as a result, they managed to complete the performance relatively smoothly.

However, because of their caution, the stage energy was somewhat diminished, and their votes were bound to be affected.

As expected.

Despite having Xiao Yingyi, the most famous trainee in the show so far, their group only ended up with 408 votes.

They didn’t even surpass Group A from “Darkage.”

Xiao Yingyi pursed his lips, maintaining a polite smile as he led his teammates quickly off the stage.

They didn’t have much time left. In five minutes, all the trainees had to be back on stage to perform the theme song.

Xiao Yingyi’s group had to hurry and change backstage. The noisy backstage area echoed with the host’s voice transitioning between acts, while a production coordinator loudly urged them to move faster.

They needed to put on their uniforms as quickly as possible and return to the stage for the theme song performance. This was the first live stage of the theme song, and the director placed great importance on it.

As a result, the last group of five had six makeup and styling assistants helping with their outfit change.

But what the director didn’t expect was that, even with this level of attention, things could still go wrong!

The intricate and delicate accessories were extremely difficult to remove, and everyone was sweating from the effort.

The control room had already sent out two reminders, and the host had started interacting with the audience to buy time, following instructions. But just at this critical moment, Xiao Yingyi’s necklace couldn’t be taken off!

During the intense stage performance earlier, the necklace had become deformed, and now it was stuck on Xiao Yingyi’s neck.

The other trainees had already gone to the side of the stage to prepare, as instructed by the coordinator, leaving only Xiao Yingyi struggling with the necklace.

If the gold necklace hadn’t clashed so badly with the theme song uniform, Xiao Yingyi would have just gone on stage wearing it!

The makeup assistants were stomping their feet in frustration, but there was nothing they could do.

Xiao Yingyi frowned, his voice low but urgent, “I’ll pay for it!”

Then, before anyone could react, he yanked the necklace off!

Gold links and small gemstones scattered across the floor, but Xiao Yingyi didn’t have time to worry about that.

All ninety-nine trainees were waiting on him alone, and he couldn’t delay any longer!

He turned and quickly walked toward the stage entrance.

“Wait.” A pleasant male voice sounded.

Before Xiao Yingyi could frown and look back, he felt a piece of fabric wrap around his neck.

“There’s a cut here.” The man’s cold fingers lightly touched the side of his neck, and then, with quick and practiced hands, tied a ribbon, the same color as the suit, around his neck. A delicate bow perfectly covered his wound.

“There’s more on your face.” This time, it was a handkerchief. Xiao Yingyi followed the hand with distinct joints and looked at the owner of the handkerchief—it was that stylist with the strong sense of aesthetics and an inexplicably powerful presence! The standout styling from the theme song recording had been modified based on his suggestions.

For this stage, the stylist for their group had initially insisted on giving Xiao Yingyi a new look, but after several failed attempts, they had sullenly reverted to a style similar to what he had during the theme song recording.

On one corner of the handkerchief, there was a simple and delicate embroidered design—a cluster of floating water plants. As the handkerchief neared Xiao Yingyi, he caught a faint yet domineering scent mixed with an undertone of coldness.

“Tsk.” Qi Yanning frowned, “I can only wipe off the blood for now. Get on stage quickly; we’ll deal with it properly afterward.”

“Alright.” Xiao Yingyi nodded, turned, and swiftly walked toward the stage, where the other ninety-nine trainees were waiting for him in the center.

Qi Yanning leaned against the stage entrance, while the other makeup assistants crouched behind him, peeking out like chicks hiding behind their mother hen.

On stage, the opening notes of “I Am the Light” played, and the lights blazed on—

Amidst the screams and cheers, one hundred trainees smiled and, in perfect sync, began dancing to the music!