Chapter 35.2

These were all trainees from the dormitory, aspiring to be in the entertainment industry. The limitless economic potential of Dream Entertainment and the best of the best, Ke Yan, were taken back by their manager for a meeting after yesterday’s ranking recording. They arrived directly at the recording location today.

The trainees who received Xu Heran’s gifts didn’t make a fuss, fearing that she might feel uncomfortable. They put the things away.

The pearl gift from Little Pearl, hoping that having a gift would make them shine just like Little Pearl.

Many trainees thought with happiness.

Morning, nine o’clock, recording began.

“Dreams take flight, stars shine bright. Welcome everyone to the Starlight Girls’ Program.” Ning Yunfei repeated the introductory words countless times, but her words changed afterward.

“This program is sponsored by Universal Entertainment, Universal TV, and Starlight Milk. For a great program, choose Universal TV. For good milk, choose Starlight Drinks. Starlight Milk, brings you a good mood for the day~”

Ning Yunfei opened her arms. On the left side, there were seven boxes of milk, each with a different flavor. On the top of each cardboard box of a different flavor, there was a poster of a girl.

“It’s me!” Sun Lingxi happily jumped and pointed at her own picture.

“You’re the orange!”

“Xin Nuo is strawberry, Little Pearl is grape, hahaha!”

The trainees chattered excitedly, their envious gazes falling on the milk cartons.

Endorsement!

First endorsement of their lives.

“Everyone can see, the trainees who won the previous stage have earned the opportunity to endorse Starlight Milk. However, this is only temporary. In the next stage, someone else will replace them, seize victory, and claim the right to endorse!” Ning Yunfei said.

Twenty-one trainees stood out from a hundred and forty people, their eyes confident and bright.

“Now, I will announce the rules for this round of advancement,” Ning Yunfei’s tone was steady. “Two weeks from now, out of the twenty-one trainees present, only fourteen will remain.”

“Ah… fourteen people.”

“After fourteen, will we debut directly? Fourteen to seven?”

“The opportunities are getting fewer.”

Xu Heran licked her lips and looked ahead. She was now standing behind Xin Nuo. She was so close she could reach out and touch her. She really liked this spot.

“The twenty-one trainees present here have gone through stage after stage to get to this point. You are all outstanding trainees,” Ning Yunfei said earnestly. “Now, I will announce two new rules.”

“First, starting from 0:00 this morning, the seven voting tickets held by the Star Maker will be reduced to one!” Ning Yunfei’s words were like stones thrown into water, and all the trainees showed shocked expressions.

“One ticket?” Sasa raised her finger. “Won’t the audience scold the director?”

“This forces everyone to vote for just one person!”

Many fans had a benevolent heart and wanted to give all the girls a home. With seven voting tickets, they would evenly distribute them among seven people. Fans like Xu Heran and Xin Nuo’s might give their girls six or five votes and the remaining one or two votes to their daughter-in-law.

“Second rule.” Ning Yunfei raised her head, looked at the camera, and a subtle, excited smile appeared on her face.

“At 0:00 today, all votes from all trainees are null and void!”

“!!!”

“Null and void?”

“What??“

“I’m super shocked!”

Xu Heran followed suit, opening her mouth and exclaiming, “Wow,” she didn’t know why she said “wow,” but everyone was surprised, so she followed suit. Xin Nuo was quietly listening to Ning Yunfei explaining the new rules. She lifted her left hand, touched the skin on her earlobe, and heard the insincere surprise behind her. She couldn’t help but smile and turned around.

“Give another ‘wow’,” Xin Nuo teased.

Xu Heran spread her arms toward the sky, “Wow.”

Xin Nuo immediately raised her hand and covered her mouth.

“Wow” turned into “Wow wow.”

Ning Yunfei left time for the trainees to be surprised and discuss. With the announcement of the new rule, all votes were null and void. This meant that all twenty-one trainees would start from scratch, and the audience would only have one voting ticket.

This would be an intense competition without visible bloodshed.

All rankings were rewritten, and anyone had the chance to sit in first place.

The twenty-one trainees present had to put in a two-hundred-percent effort, showcase themselves, compete for votes, and win the audience’s favor with their stage performances.

For the trainees at the top of the rankings, this wasn’t fair, but Xin Nuo’s face didn’t show any other expression. She continued to playfully joke around with Xu Heran.

Xu Heran… she cared even less. She had climbed from 59 to 5 and now occupied the third seat. Little Pearl, who had never feared anyone on stage, had no fears!

Well, after tonight, there would be only one person getting scolded.

The dog director.

Director Liu sat behind the camera, calm-faced, with deep eyes, exhibiting an unruffled demeanor as if he could control the wind and rain.

“Did you uninstall everything like Weibo?” the assistant director asked him.

Director Liu raised his hand and gave a thumbs up.

“Alright, then I’ve blocked all those company agents and assistants from your contact list. Don’t go out this month. I’m afraid someone might kidnap you,” the assistant director instructed.

Director Liu raised his hand, touched his hair, then raised his hand again and gave a thumbs up.

“With the new rules announced, now we come to the stage segment that we, as future idols, are most concerned about,” Ning Yunfei said with a smiling expression. As she spoke about the stage, the trainees below had different emotions. They widened their eyes and stared at her eagerly, like a group of owl chicks waiting for food.

Ning Yunfei smiled to herself due to her own imaginative thoughts. She held the microphone, “Xu Heran, do you know that the Star Makers who support you really hope you’ll sing in Mandarin?”

Because of the one-sided fallout with the Pearl Beads, Xu Heran, who hadn’t posted on Weibo for a long time, blinked her eyes. Her blue-purple eyes shone brightly, and she spoke cheerfully.

“Is that so? Really? I had no idea!”

Who made her tone stray like that!

Ning Yunfei said helplessly, “Well… alright, now you know.”

“Mhm!” Xu Heran placed her hands on her hips and nodded.

Xin Nuo turned around, pointed at her arm, and Xu Heran immediately put her hands down and held them behind her back.

“I didn’t do anything, Sister Feifei!”

Ning Yunfei: “…”

Who made Sister Feifei like you? When the camera turns off, Sister Feifei tells Nuo Nuo to give you a little smack on the butt.

Ning Yunfei smiled, “The next stage will take place in seven days.”

Her tone was light and airy, and she dropped another bomb on everyone. You should know that previously, the interval between each stage was two weeks!

In other words, the stage is in seven days, followed by seven days of waiting for voting. If the top 14 make it to the top 7, then in less than a month, these seven people will debut!

This realization made many trainees who had longed for the screen, trained day after day, tremble, their hairs standing on end, and their arms covered in goosebumps from excitement.

“There will be three teams for this stage, with the twenty-one trainees divided into three teams. The song you will perform is behind the door behind me.” After Ning Yunfei finished speaking, the curtain dropped with a “swish” from a spot three meters behind her.

The plastic panels adorned with the Starlight Girls logo, Universal Entertainment, Universal TV, and Starlight Milk divided the hall in half, with a red carpeted door leading to the depths, the environment inside unclear.

“Behind me, there are three rooms, and each room represents a song. Only seven people can remain in each room. We will start by selecting a trainee, Xin Nuo,” Ning Yunfei finished speaking, and Xu Heran immediately lifted her head.

The capturing camera immediately fixed its lens on her.

“Isn’t it the top two trainees who get to choose?” Xu Heran’s eyes widened in surprise. This meant that she and Nuo Nuo might not be on the same stage! Three songs, but they could only choose one.

“That’s right. As a reward for being one of the debut positions, one trainee, Xin Nuo, can listen to the songs behind the doors if she’s unfamiliar with them and then make her choice. Trainees ranked second to seventh can only choose one song to audition, while the rest of the trainees can only choose blindly,” Ning Yunfei said, “Of course, those without the right to audition might have known this song before, so don’t be nervous.”

“Alright, then please, the first trainee, make your choice.”

In the hall, the main camera turned to Xin Nuo. She walked toward the red carpet, her expression calm, a faint smile playing on her lips. Just as she was about to step through the door, she suddenly turned around.

“Xu Heran,” Xin Nuo said with a smile, “Give it a try.”

“Oh~”

A strange chorus of sounds erupted from the trainees in the audience, with Haya’s voice being the loudest.

Xu Heran leaned back a bit, knowing she wouldn’t be able to hear, but she still perked up her ears, facing the direction of the red carpet. Other trainees also perked up their ears, some even placing both hands beside their ears.

“I can’t hear anything.”

“I’m so curious!”

A group of owl-like expressions stared intently, heads tilted to the side, completely focused.

Ning Yunfei turned her head, covering her mouth as she laughed.

After about five minutes, a gesture from the staff signaled the next move. The second trainee, Tan Yutong, nervously walked onto the red carpet.

Three seconds later, a girl’s panicked scream of “Ah—” startled the curious trainees.

“Isn’t that a bad scream?”

“There’s no suitable song for her? Tan Yutong is pretty talented.”

“Ugh…”

In the back row, Jiang Qiong stuck her head out, “Do we still have any choices?”

“It doesn’t matter. Anything will do. Being anxious won’t help~” Haya said with a sly smile.

Song Fenghua nodded, expressionless, her tone cold, “Whatever.”

Caught in the middle, Ke Yan: “…”

Was that Song Fenghua speaking just now? A bit terrifying!

Why does Haya have a different accent every day? These people are so strange!

Three minutes later, it was Xu Heran’s turn.

“Friends, I’m off!” Xu Heran declared with a sense of righteousness, her face indifferent.

“Xu Xu, take care, Xu Xu!” Jiang Qiong reached out her hand. The bond of the Woof Woof Squad is deeper than the ocean. Jiang Xiaoqiong bid farewell to Little Pearl, tears staining the red carpet.

“Hahaha!”

The originally tense atmosphere was once again shattered, and the host helplessly waved her hand.

Off you go, off you go.

A disdainful expression was written on her face.

At that moment, Xu Heran took a breath, her slightly nervous hands clasped together in a solemn gesture as she walked onto the red carpet with caution and entered the door.

“Um~”

Behind the door were three rooms, each with a song’s name posted on it. In front of each room was a table, and a staff member wearing a mask stood behind it, holding an MP4 connected to headphones.

“Nuo Nuo!” Xu Heran suddenly shouted.

Behind the three doors, silence fell. Xu Heran immediately rushed forward, grabbing the staff member’s hand angrily, her voice furious, “Quick, tell me, where have you taken Nuo Nuo? Give her back to me!”

“What are you yammering about! What did you do to her!”

The staff member swayed along with her force, raising the headphones, “Hear it?”

“Wait a moment.” After Xu Heran’s tantrum ended, she walked around the three doors with her hands behind her back.

The first room had the song 《Play Me》

The second room had the song 《Startling Beauty》

The third room had the song 《Love You》

Xu Heran: “…”

Ah!

Why did she have absolutely no recollection in her mind?

Little Pearl frowned. Why did she feel like she had heard these three songs before?

Xu Xu scratched her head.

Xu Heran stood behind the table. The playful expression on her face vanished. She furrowed her brow slightly, and her pink tongue licked her lips as she pondered seriously. The staff member behind the table looked at Xu Heran with surprise, rarely seeing her wear such an expression.

“I’d like to hear the second song,” she whispered. The names of the three songs already gave her a certain feeling, and now it was time to confirm that feeling.

The staff member quickly played the song for her.

Not even thirty seconds into the song, Xu Heran sighed.

The nearby cameraman immediately approached.

“If I’m not mistaken…” Xu Heran pointed at the table, tapped it with her finger, crossed her arms, and looked serious.

Now, should she ask Xin Nuo?

The girl’s blue and purple eyes moved back and forth between the two doors. In the black lens, the girl’s profile was sharp, like a stroke of ink falling, with dense ink and clear eyes. Her eyebrows and eyes were lightly and artistically drawn, with just a few strokes, exuding an inexplicable charm.

The photographer who had been taking pictures of her for nearly two months was stunned.

Hey, is it because we’ve been together often that she seems to have changed so much? Little Pearl seems quite different.

After a while, Xu Heran’s gaze gradually became determined. She had made up her mind.

“There’s no other way. Although I really want to be with Sister Nuo Nuo, I feel that the second song isn’t suitable for me right now,” Xu Heran touched her pink head and smiled at the camera, saying, “What should I do? I’ll be competing against Sister Nuo Nuo.”

“Squeak.”

The door creaked open, and Xin Nuo, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, raised an eyebrow, chuckled, and her clear image was captured by the camera placed on the floor beside her.

In the room separated by a wall, Xu Heran raised her hand, pressed against the wall, and let out a deep sigh.

Minutes passed without seeing Nuo Nuo, and she missed her.

Then, she raised her hand and pulled out a black walkie-talkie from her back pocket.

“Hello? Anyone there? Hole two, hole three, four, five, six, hello?”

In the hall, a staff member bent down and whispered something in Director Liu’s ear. Director Liu stood up abruptly and looked at the trainees.

In the back row, both Haya and Jiang Qiong reached into their pockets for walkie-talkies, but the staff members who suddenly rushed over confiscated them.

“You’re not allowed to exchange answers!” The staff member hurriedly said.

“I just wanted to express my sadness!” Xu Heran lay on the floor, holding the walkie-talkie, her legs and idle arm paddling on the ground as if rowing a boat. “It’s so cold here, my heart feels so chilly! Ah, this feeling of being worlds apart, this sound of rupture, could it be that my heart is broken? Could this be what longing feels like?”

She raised both hands and shook them. “What’s longing anyway? No one cared long ago~”

“Xu Heran, close your little mouth. I’m going to beat you up,” Xin Nuo from the neighboring room said with a laugh.

“Come on, come on~” Xu Heran excitedly shouted, “Hit me, hit me~”

Come and beat me!

“Please keep quiet. The next trainee is about to come in,” the staff member reminded.

Xu Heran shook her head and pretended to be dead on the floor.

After a while, Sun Lingxi, full of excitement and curiosity, opened the door to Room 3. She was startled when she saw Tan Yutong inside.

“Why did you choose 《Love You》! This is 《Love You》!”

A sweet love song, you’re a cold beauty!

Tan Yutong smiled, “I think Xin Nuo will go to Room 2.”

Going to Room 2 meant that while competing with the other two pairs, she would also have to outshine Xin Nuo to shine in Team Two. But, that was Xin Nuo… the only trainee with over ten million votes.

Her ranking was nearly two million votes behind Xin Nuo this time. She had no confidence in shining in Team Two, and besides… her previous stage performance of 《Call Me Maybe》had a good stage effect. She believed she could handle 《Love You》

Why not go to Room 1?

Tan Yutong touched her hair. She had no confidence in competing against Xin Nuo, and of course, she had no confidence in facing the stage demon king, Xu Heran.

The title of “stage demon king” was something everyone casually used, but it encompassed everyone’s attitude towards Xu Heran’s stage prowess.

In Room 1, the stage demon king rolled on the floor, her face pressed against the clean surface, staring at the tightly closed door pensively.

Where are people?

People!

Where is everyone!

The stage demon king rolled over again, her belly facing upward, hands resting on her stomach.

“Squeak.”

Finally, the door of Room 1 opened, and six trainees entered with Sasa.

“Ah…” Sasa exclaimed in misery, kneeling on the ground, “Your Highness, why are you here, Your Highness?”

“Sasa!” Xu Heran reached out her hand. “If I’m not here, where else can I be?”

Sasa shook her head. She was mentally prepared, betting whether Xu Heran chose 《Play Me》 or 《Startling Beauty》 Well, she bet wrong.

“It’s not right, Little Pearl. You abandoned Nuo Nuo,” Sasa incited, trying to stir up emotions.

Little Pearl couldn’t stand hearing this. “We call it not putting all our eggs in one basket!”

“If I’m first, Nuo Nuo will be first. If Nuo Nuo is first, I’ll be first. This way, we’ll have a two-thirds chance of winning. Do you understand probability?” Xu Heran scorned her.

Sasa: “…”

Never mind whether I understand probability or not, are you willing to let me guess the probability like this?

Two people crouched in the corner, silent.

Silence, silence was the theme of Room 1 tonight.

Twenty minutes passed. Xu Heran even managed to take a brief nap. Room 1 remained deserted, and they perked up their ears to listen to the cheers from the neighboring rooms and the rooms adjacent to the neighboring rooms.

The festivity was all happening elsewhere.

“What’s going on?” Xu Heran tapped her finger, seeking revenge. “Is it because someone has a debuff on them, making them unpopular?”

Sasa immediately countered, “They can’t guess I’m in Room 1, but they can guess you are. So, who’s the one that’s unpopular?”

Little Pearl refused to admit, turning her head. “Nonsense, I’m definitely popular.”

“Ah, right, right,” Sasa deliberately said.

The two of them quarreled like elementary school students. Just as Jing Teng walked in, she chuckled awkwardly, “Carry on, carry on.”

Before she could finish, Laurel entered with her blonde hair, her cold gaze falling on the room.

“Flower! Your Highness!” Xu Heran rushed over like a child meeting a parent. Standing behind the girl who was about 165 cm tall with her own 170-something cm height, she pointed at Sasa. “She bullied me! She said I’m unpopular!”

Laurel’s gaze slowly landed on Sasa.

Sasa: “…”

“I was wrong!” Sasa kneeled in a split second, accusing Xu Heran. “Little Pearl, you can’t handle losing!”

Xu Heran immediately agreed, “Ah, right, right.”

Finally, after Xu Heran solemnly swore not to employ “Your Highness” prematurely, the two of them resumed their battle. Just as they started, the captain of the previous stage’s Team 1 entered.

“Hey, Sister Ran, why didn’t you go to Room 2?” Sasa asked.

Xu Heran quickly chimed in, “Sister Ran, I can go wherever I want.”

“You little brat!”

Lin Ran smiled, squinting. “I wanted to try a different style.”

Xu Heran and Laurel had been in the same team before and understood that Lin Ran was indeed bold in challenging styles that were completely different from her own. Room 3 had become a place for those willing to challenge themselves.

Sun Lingxi: “…”

“Sister Yueyin, wake up! Sister Yueyin, what’s wrong with you!”

Jian Yueyin sat among a group of adorable girls. “I’ve been interested in sweet songs lately. I want to give it a try.”

Aren’t you usually into complex and deep emotions?

Sun Lingxi shook her head repeatedly, but Jian Yueyin was very talented. Her singing skills, along with Xu Heran’s, were widely recognized as the top two in the entire camp. There was no need for anyone else to worry. When 17 Luo Xi entered Room 3, it was full.

In Room 2, Xin Nuo sat quietly, her gaze fixed on the wall. She seemed to be lost in thought, a natural smile playing on her lips. Other trainees whispered among themselves, sneaking admiring glances at Xin Nuo. For some people, they were like a landscape to be admired from a distance, not approached.

“I’ll go and chat with our quiet sister.” Haya spoke and descended the steps backstage, entering the room. She didn’t bother listening to the song, scanning the title and heading straight into Room 1.

“You’ve come to stir up trouble!” Xu Heran greeted her like a close relative. “My sister!”

“I have indeed come!”

The two tall figures exchanged a tearful look.

“Go for it, Fenghua~” Jiang Qiong smiled at Song Fenghua.

“Sure.” Song Fenghua took a deep breath, straightened her posture, lifted her chin, cast a deep look at the camera, and walked onto the red carpet.

Ning Yunfei received a message from the production team through her earpiece. She smiled and addressed the remaining two trainees on stage. “Now, there is only one vacancy each in Rooms 1 and 2. Both of you, please enter the room behind you and make your choice.”

Seeing no room for choice, Jiang Qiong watched Ke Yan enter Room 2 and shrugged.

“Jiang Xiaoqiong!”

“Xu Pearl!”

“Jiang Xiaoqiong!”

“Haha, Haya!”

Jiang Qiong looked at Laurel.

Well, forget it.

Anyway, it’s the Woof Woof Team!

With that, all the trainees had made their choices, and everyone walked out of the rooms according to their teams.

Xu Heran poked her head out and locked eyes with Xin Nuo from Room 2.

“Wow, someone abandoned Little Pearl. I won’t say who!” Xu Heran pouted.

Xin Nuo stood beside her and countered, “Did I abandon her?”

“Some Little Pearls have grown round, can’t be controlled anymore, want to run away,” Xin Nuo reached out, flicking her chin, “Or is it that we don’t have any understanding?”

Xu Heran held onto her hand, smiling, “Where’s there no understanding? Don’t you know, when I hear the song, your image appears in my mind.”

“For a song like this, of course, it needs Sister Nuo Nuo to perform it,” Xu Heran proudly declared, “You’re definitely in Room 2.”

Hearing her say that, Xin Nuo wasn’t about to let her off easily, “Since you know, why did you choose Room 1?”

“Some Little Pearls have grown bold, don’t want a sister.”

“How could that be? Some sisters simply don’t understand. Such a great opportunity, of course, you’d want to sit in the audience.” Xu Heran smiled slyly, raising her hand to touch her chin, her tone becoming more seductive.

“Of course, I wanted to see the charming Xin Nuo with my own eyes.”

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The author has something to say:

Secretly raising Xin Nuo’s favorability to fifty, as well as the hidden growth of Ran Ran when facing her sister.

【Posting the advancing trainees and team assignments】

42-21 Names Company Team

1-1 Xin Nuo (Individual) Room 2

9-2 Tan Yutong (Dream Entertainment) Room 3

5-3 Xu Heran (Universal Economics) Room 1

8-4 Sun Lingxi (Fish Harmony) Room 3

7-5 Lin Weining (Angel Entertainment) Room 2

4-6 Sasa (Angel Entertainment) Room 1

10-7 Jing Rui (Falling in Love Entertainment) Room 3

2-8 Mu Yueliang (Fish Harmony) Room 3

18-9 Liu Yueming (Dream Entertainment) Room 2

3-10 Youyou (Best Entertainment) Room 3

6-11 Sang Shiyi (Thunder Economics) Room 2

16-12 Jing Teng (Infinite Economics) Room 1

25-13 Laurel (Unique Voice) Room 1

17-14 Lin Ran (KPP Entertainment) Room 1

26-15 Jian Yueyin (Angel Entertainment) Room 3

13-16 Shu Yuemeng (Fish Harmony) Room 2

22-17 Luo Xi (Thunder Economics) Room 3

20-18 Haya (Blast Entertainment) Room 1

12-19 Song Fenghua (Years of Work Studio) Room 2

15-20 Ke Yan (Best Economics) Room 2

42-21 Jiang Qiong (Fantasy Economics) Room 1

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Translator: Glariosa
Editor: Sinensis

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