IDEI Ch12

[“I Am the Light”! So good!]

[The theme song is truly the soul of a talent show]

[So synchronized! Way more than the other group!]

…

On the screen, viewers marveled at the synchronization of this stage, while the live audience was already in a frenzy.

Watching a performance live feels completely different. The vitality of a hundred people dancing together surged like a tidal wave, bringing an inexplicable sense of emotion.

The trainees sincerely and desperately poured all their hopes for the future into their dance, and the overwhelming energy felt like it could set the venue on fire!

Their voices broke through the backing track and accompaniment. The raw sound quality flowed like water into the ears of every audience member.

The chat slowed down.

Everyone was fully immersed, enjoying the pleasure brought by the performance.

[Such a heartfelt stage…]

A comment floated across the screen, and many silently agreed.

Yes, such a heartfelt stage — real singing, real dancing, with plain and simple camera work, but it highlighted the trainees’ hard work and talent to the greatest extent.

So wonderful.

Isn’t this the true meaning of a talent show?

＊

This performance ended quickly amidst the audience’s reluctance. The official edited version of the show wouldn’t be released until the next day, but Your Star‘s first public performance was already trending on the hot searches.

#YourStarFirstPerformance#

#XiaoYingyi#

#WeiMingzheSoHandsome#

#YourStarDarkageStage#

#YourStarXiaoYingyiInjured#

…

It was a Saturday night, and there weren’t any major entertainment industry events happening, so Your Star completely dominated the entertainment rankings, with only an old variety show as its competitor.

Under the trending topics, fans and viewers were having intense discussions.

@XingChengEntertainment: #YourStarFirstPerformance# Tonight, the first public performance of Your Star aired live. Which group’s performance did you like best?

The voting results showed the Darkage B group in a clear lead, with most of the comments from casual viewers mentioning this group as well.

Since Your Star had only recently gained popularity, the fanbases of the trainees hadn’t yet fully organized, so there wasn’t much coordinated control over the commentary, giving regular viewers a rare chance to express their opinions freely.

[No objections, Wei Mingzhe’s group was the best tonight!]

[Both Darkage groups were amazing, and the styling was perfect. But Wei Mingzhe! My heart is racing!]

[Wei Mingzhe looks like a senior straight out of a shonen anime!]

[Wei Mingzhe! Such a handsome face—what was he doing with it before?]

[Yeah, his previous styling didn’t suit him at all, made him look so fake. Every time I saw him, I wanted to punch him!]

[The red hair! The tiger teeth! The headband! Too good, I’m telling you.]

[Give the stylist a drumstick! No, give them a whole chicken! A whole family bucket!]

…

Yu Zhi was a junior at A University and a gossip enthusiast. However, she had recently joined a professor’s research project, and the intense workload left her no time for gossip. Finally getting a break tonight, she curled up in bed with a milk tea, opened StarBlog, and checked the entertainment rankings.

She frowned.

“Why is it all about Your Star? Hasn’t this awful show flopped yet?” she muttered to herself.

With curiosity, she clicked on the top hashtag, #YourStarFirstPerformance.

The Darkage stage video was pinned at the top.

“The thumbnail looks decent…” Yu Zhi casually clicked on the video.

Ten seconds later, she set down her milk tea.

Half a minute later, she straightened up.

A minute later, her eyes were shining.

“Holy crap, does the domestic entertainment scene even have this level of stage quality?!”

“Does the domestic entertainment scene even deserve this styling?!”

“Wei Mingzhe is way too handsome!”

As she exclaimed in awe, she unhesitatingly dragged the progress bar of the now-finished stage video back to the beginning and started watching again.

It wasn’t until she had watched it five times in a row that Yu Zhi reluctantly stopped replaying the video.

“This stage is so good, the other stages shouldn’t be too bad either, right…” With this hope in mind, Yu Zhi clicked on the other stage videos.

After one stage, she was stunned. After three stages, she understood.

It turned out, Darkage was the highest standard, not the average one.

It wasn’t that the other stages were terrible—after all, the trainees were skilled, and they performed decently.

The problem lay with the styling. After learning from the previous stylist’s mistakes, the current show’s stylists weren’t particularly outstanding, but at least they didn’t make major blunders.

However, standard styling and styling that maximizes the trainees’ individual appeal while maintaining harmony among the group were clearly different things.

The difference lies between “Oh, good skills” and “Wow, what a fantastic stage!”

Mediocre styling doesn’t leave you wanting to watch again, even if the trainees’ skills are solid.

Thus, after watching the other stages once, Yu Zhi returned to the Darkage stage again.

After watching the stages of both Group A and Group B two more times, she started replaying Group B’s performance on a loop.

While countless people were captivated by Wei Mingzhe’s stage, Xiao Yingyi’s hashtag was also stirring up strong reactions.

@EntertainmentNewsLetMeSee: #XiaoYingyiInjured# Did anyone notice the wounds on Xiao Yingyi’s face and neck? When he left the stage after the group performance, they weren’t there. He must have gotten injured during the costume change!

[What is Your Star doing? In just a few minutes, the face of the center gets hurt?]

[Is Your Star not taking Xiao Yingyi seriously?!]

[What is the production team even doing, letting an idol injure his face!]

Amidst the furious comments from Xiao Yingyi’s fans, some people’s focus took an unexpected turn.

@HandsomeDoYouHaveAGirlfriend: #XiaoYingyiInjured# Oh my god, if I didn’t see Xiao Yingyi’s blood flowing, I would’ve thought it was battle damage makeup! So sexy, I swear, my saliva could disinfect it—let me lick it!

The comment section went wild.

[And the ribbon around his neck! I originally thought it was some kind of special center costume bonus, because the positioning was just too perfect! It covered half his Adam’s apple, half-hidden, half-revealed, making it look so white, and his neck seemed so big…]

[“His neck seemed so big,” what the hell hahaha, but the way he later grabbed the unraveling ribbon and wrapped it around his hand… phew! All I can say is, I’m struggling. Brother Xiao, tie… help me!]

[I want to cover his eyes with the ribbon.]

[The little beads of blood seeping from the wound on his face are so… it makes me want to bandage him up, but also add a few more scratches hahaha.]

[Honestly, Xiao Yingyi’s aura is usually so righteous that I shrink back every time I see him. But today, that wound was just too fitting! It instantly brought out a sense of vulnerability.]

[What’s this? Battle-damaged Brother Xiao! Let me hit on him! What’s this? Battle-damaged Brother Xiao! Let me hit on him! What’s this? Battle-damaged Brother Xiao! Let me hit on him! What’s this? Battle-damaged Brother Xiao! Let me hit on him!]

…

Because of Wei Mingzhe’s performance and Xiao Yingyi’s injury going viral, the car crash that was Let’s Disco’s Group A performance didn’t get much attention, much to the director’s simultaneous relief and fury.

Such a stage incident counted as a major mistake!

However, it was clearly unrelated to the trainees—it was the fault of the stylists…

Director Lin, who was rather plump, squinted his eyes, no longer appearing as kind and amiable as usual.

Seeing that the online discussion had stabilized, he gave final instructions to the publicity team to keep monitoring the situation, then turned and headed towards the styling department.

At this moment, the styling office was quiet.

Well, not entirely quiet.

Because Qi Yanning was leaning on a small sofa in the office, discussing the season’s high-end fashion shows with a few stylists and assistants.

The other stylists were busy with their own tasks, barely interacting with each other. Especially Li Qing and Lin He, who were huddled in a corner, occasionally shooting envious, resentful glances at Qi Yanning.

Qi Yanning could feel the hostile stares but chose to ignore them. The fate of these two was already sealed, and Qi Yanning had no interest in kicking them while they were down.

The director stood at the door, pondering with narrowed eyes.

“Director Lin.” Qi Yanning tilted his head and saw the director, nodding slightly in greeting.

“Mm.” Hearing Qi Yanning’s voice, the director paused his thoughts and stepped into the styling office.

All the stylists stood up to greet him, with Li Qing and Lin He shrinking to the back of the group. Li Qing bit his lip tightly, casting anxious and resentful looks at Qi Yanning.

“Li Qing,” the director called out.

Li Qing flinched. His face turned pale as he stepped out of the line. “Director, you were looking for me?”

“You nearly ruined the show today.” Director Lin’s voice wasn’t loud but rather calm, as if the matter wasn’t that serious.

“I’m sorry, Director. I focused too much on the matching and neglected the stage effect. I’ll definitely improve in future work. Please give me another chance…” Li Qing bowed deeply, looking defeated. The once proud Li Qing had never lost face like this in front of so many people. But now, he had no choice but to swallow his pride for the sake of his job.

“Another chance? I gave you a chance—who’s going to give the trainees a chance? Who’s going to give the production team a chance?” Director Lin’s tone gradually rose, pressing down on Li Qing like a boulder, making him bow even lower.

“Before the performance, it was you who came to me, asking to be in charge of different stages separately. Since you’ve been with the team for a while, I agreed. I knew you were dissatisfied with Qi Yanning, but I didn’t expect your methods to be so petty…”

“Li Qing, I’ll give you one chance: resign.”

Director Lin’s disappointed words struck a heavy blow to Li Qing’s heart.

He understood that he had no room left to fight.

Straightening up, he looked even more despondent than before. Although the director had given him some dignity, being kicked out of the team at this point made it obvious to any sharp industry insider what had happened.

For the sake of his pride, he had ruined most of his future prospects.

But it was too late for regrets. He packed his things in a daze and headed towards the door.

“Wait.” Qi Yanning’s voice sounded.

Li Qing’s body trembled as he turned to Qi Yanning, a mixture of hope and fear in his eyes.

His rational mind told him Qi Yanning wouldn’t plead for him, but a sliver of inappropriate hope still lingered.

“And Lin He,” Qi Yanning said coldly, “Lin He, what about you?”

Lin He shook visibly.

The other stylists stepped aside, revealing Lin He, who had been hidden in the crowd.

“I… I…” Lin He stammered, nervously wringing the hem of his clothes.

“In my book, mediocrity is just as unforgivable,” Qi Yanning said with a mocking smile, raising an eyebrow as he looked at Lin He.

“Li Qing made a mistake, but his styling ideas are excellent.”

Hearing this, Li Qing, who had not yet left, suddenly looked up at Qi Yanning, his expression extremely complicated.

Qi Yanning turned his gaze back to Lin He’s direction, calm and collected.

“And you? Using a large area of blush with a white shirt… Ignoring the contestant’s features and the compatibility with the stage, blindly copying makeup styles from other popular shows…”

“It’s pathetic. And to top it off, that look was only a half-finished product.”

Qi Yanning shook his head lightly.

Lin He’s temple veins bulged as he looked up sharply, his eyes filled with resentment toward Qi Yanning.

“What do you know?! That look took someone who was on the verge of elimination and pushed them into the top ranks. A makeup look that perfect, and you call it a half-finished product?!”

“You’re just jealous! Jealous of that master stylist’s skills!”

Lin He shouted hysterically.

“Admit it, Qi Yanning! You’re just as jealous as I am!”

Qi Yanning tilted his head and looked at him.

After a long moment, he chuckled softly.