Suddenly

Lin Ting reviewed the general recording schedule.

After the second round of performances, twelve of the original thirty-two contestants were eliminated, leaving twenty. According to the production team, only eight people will remain in the final round.

The three guilds will eliminate eight more people and revive two. Then comes the final performance: first, a revival round with two revival spots, followed by the elimination of eight more people.

This was a simple but somewhat tedious addition and subtraction problem, Lin Ting went through it in his mind.

Although there were some recordings intermittently, the most challenging for Lin Ting were the recordings of the third and final performances. He had already gotten used to the usual recording schedule, so it was more of an adaptation.

However, before the highly anticipated third public performance, which made him nervous, a very sudden meeting took place.

Lin Ting was clueless about the content of the meeting, because the meeting had not given a theme in advance, nor any related information. It was just a schedule that appeared out of thin air, suddenly standing between the present and the three public affairs.

Lin Ting went to ask Zhao Qinfeng, thinking that the other party might not know either, but Zhao Qinfeng showed a helpless expression, indicating that he knew something.

Zhao Qinfeng said, "I haven't received any more specific information, but barring any unforeseen circumstances, this meeting may affect our subsequent scoring."

Lin Ting had a bad feeling, but he tried to think of the positive side first: "Is it about updating the scoring standards or mechanism?"

Zhao Qinfeng shook his head and said, "Some debut spots were predetermined, while others may depend on whether the trainees are willing to accept the corresponding contract terms."

Lin Ting fell silent. He recalled that during the auditions, the trainees' information included not only their alma mater/school and their talents, but also whether they were signed with an agency and, if so, which agency.

Although Lin Ting saw it, it wasn't his focus at the time, so he didn't pay attention to it afterward.

Zhao Qinfeng pulled out a statistical document from his phone and showed it to Lin Ting. "Look, of the thirty-two trainees who passed the audition, eleven have already signed with a talent agency, and twenty-one have not yet signed. Actually, the company behind this show hopes to discover some good talents from this show and recruit them into the company, which is why there are so many trainees who are not signed and are almost amateurs among the finalists."

Lin Ting felt she understood, but was still a little confused. "So what does this have to do with our scoring? What exactly is going to be discussed in this meeting?"

Zhao Qinfeng said, "Although our scoring was basically unaffected before, things may change from now on. In order to retain those students with connections and who are willing to accept the company's signing conditions, our scoring needs to be tilted towards those students as a whole."

Lin Ting closed her eyes and covered them with her hands.

Zhao Qinfeng gently put his arm around him, "It's okay, they shouldn't make things too difficult for the other trainees, and the management company behind the show will definitely prefer to sign trainees with more talent..."

“That’s different.” Lin Ting interrupted Zhao Qinfeng. He immediately realized that his tone was too harsh, so he quickly removed his hand from his eyes and opened them to look at Zhao Qinfeng, who was standing close to him.

Lin Ting didn't cry; there were no tears welling up in his eyes, but he looked very sad.

Zhao Qinfeng gently wiped Lin Ting's lower eyelid with his fingertip. Since returning, Lin Ting had maintained a very regular schedule, and her dark circles had disappeared.

Zhao Qinfeng worried that when he saw Lin Ting tomorrow, a heavy shadow would be cast beneath those beautiful eyes.

Lin Ting felt a little ticklish from Zhao Qinfeng's teasing, blinked, and reached out to grasp Zhao Qinfeng's hand. "What I mean is that being selected this way is different from being truly selected through a fair and impartial scoring process."

“I know, they are indeed different.” Zhao Qinfeng wanted to explain something more, but he understood that Lin Ting already knew all of this and didn’t need him to explain these hypocritical unspoken rules to him in detail.

Lin Ting hugged Zhao Qinfeng, "Thank you for comforting me. Actually, I should have expected these things to happen."

The person with connections who was brought to the dinner table that time, and a certain student from the creative track whose work was full of ambiguity, they had practically brought the turbulent undercurrents right to Lin Ting's doorstep, but he still didn't realize it. Lin Ting could only blame himself for being too slow-witted; he had no one else to blame.

The meeting was scheduled for the afternoon of the following day. Lin Ting, unusually, slept in late.

When Zhao Qinfeng noticed around 10 a.m. that Lin Ting hadn't sent him a "good morning" message as usual, he had a guess in his mind and sighed silently.

The cafeteria served breakfast for a long time, almost until lunchtime, so Zhao Qinfeng went to get a bowl of white porridge and two steamed buns to go, and knocked on Lin Ting's door.

The door didn't open. Zhao Qinfeng waited for a while, and just as he was about to knock again, the door opened directly.

Zhao Qinfeng pushed open the door and went in, but only saw Lin Ting's clothes disappear at the bathroom door.

Zhao Qinfeng went inside and saw Lin Ting sleeping soundly with his hair sticking up in the air. He was brushing his teeth, and there was a dark patch under his eyes, but it wasn't as thick as Zhao Qinfeng had seen before; it was just a light layer.

"I brought you breakfast," Zhao Qinfeng said, placing the congee and steamed buns on the table.

Then he saw a hand reach out from the bathroom and give a thumbs-up.

Zhao Qinfeng sat in the chair and waited silently.

After Lin Ting finished washing up and walked out of the bathroom, she saw Zhao Qinfeng staring at her, looking at her wherever she went.

"I'll change my clothes," Lin Ting said to Zhao Qinfeng. He had just gotten up and was still wearing his pajamas.

Zhao Qinfeng said "Oh," but his eyes remained fixed on Lin Ting, seemingly with no intention of turning around.

Seeing that Zhao Qinfeng didn't turn around, Lin Ting turned around herself, took off her pajamas, and started putting on her sweatshirt and trousers one by one.

There was someone openly peeping at him from behind, their gaze almost tangible, sliding across his body like silk threads.

Lin Ting changed her clothes and turned around, only to see that Zhao Qinfeng had already turned around and was looking at his phone. His body language was extremely calm, as if he hadn't been peeking at her at all.

Lin Ting walked over and pinched Zhao Qinfeng's bright red ear, chuckling softly, "Stop pretending, is it really that serious..."

Zhao Qinfeng stood up without a word and gave up his seat so that Lin Ting could have breakfast at the table.

Lin Ting turned her head to look at Zhao Qinfeng's face and found that not only were his ears red, but his cheeks were also flushed.

He turned around, smiling as he untied the plastic bag containing the packed breakfast, making a rustling sound.

Lin Ting sensed Zhao Qinfeng moving closer to him, so he turned to look at him. Just as he was about to ask what was wrong, Zhao Qinfeng captured his lips, pried open the door, and quickly took advantage of the inside of his mouth.

The culprit gently pinched Lin Ting's cheek as their lips parted, seemingly as revenge for Lin Ting pinching his ear earlier.

Lin Ting's face turned red, but he still ate his breakfast first.

When the meeting started in the afternoon, Lin Ting arrived at the conference room on time. Wang Qiong had arrived earlier and greeted Lin Ting with, "Teacher Lin, over here!"

The seats were all arranged, and there were nameplates on the tables displaying everyone's names.

Lin Ting naturally sat with Wang Qiong.

After everyone arrived one after another, the meeting began. As Zhao Qinfeng had expected, the content was indeed about the scoring requirements.

After listening to the meeting, Lin Ting already knew that those people would stay on stage until the very end.

Perhaps because he had heard Zhao Qinfeng mention it beforehand, Lin Ting showed no reaction at this moment, even appearing unusually calm. He even began to think about whether he should try to act as realistically as possible in the future.

As Lin Ting walked out after the meeting, he heard Wang Qiong ask him, "After knowing about this, will you regret coming to this program?"

Lin Ting didn't hesitate on this issue. He shook his head and said, "At least before this meeting, I was genuinely and seriously involved in this process with them. Although the subsequent scores will inevitably be affected, I will still continue to watch them work hard."

Wang Qiong smiled and said, "I think you're actually quite suitable to stay."

Lin Ting knew that Wang Qiong was referring to the question he had asked Wang Qiong earlier, about the future and about staying or leaving.

"Thank you, I will think about it carefully." Lin Ting returned the smile.

The third performance seemed to slip through his fingers. Lin Ting remembered the program he saw that day and the score he gave, but this performance was only a fleeting moment in his memory. All the negative emotions and complicated entanglements were condensed in that one moment, as if as long as he let go, they would really not bother him anymore.

But he insisted on slowly dissecting the three public performances, reflecting on them bit by bit, examining the people on stage, and also examining his own heart.

During this process, Lin Ting suddenly remembered Chen Taining, whom he thought highly of.

Chen Taining's ranking during the Three Dukes' Tournament was not bad, but this might not mean much, Lin Ting thought somewhat indifferently.

According to the meeting, Chen Taining will not stay until the end; he will be eliminated in the final stage.

Perhaps the production team has already spoken with Chen Taining, but Chen Taining did not accept?

It's also possible that the production team never considered Chen Taining, since she was eliminated first and then brought back into the spotlight during the initial audition phase.

Lin Ting remembered that Chen Taining was in good form during the third performance, singing even better than in the second, and the piece she presented was truly amazing. He had originally intended to ask Chen Taining directly, but after thinking about it, he decided against it.

Zhao Qinfeng is even busier now, but this time he's not busy with business trips. He's always in the practice room, listening to the students' performances over and over again, telling them how to improve. Zhao Qinfeng isn't the only one doing this; another guest from the songwriting track is also doing it.

In fact, Lin Ting understood that this wasn't something Zhao Qinfeng had to do. The production team wouldn't expect the mentors to watch over everyone like a homeroom teacher supervising evening self-study sessions, but Zhao Qinfeng and the other mentor still did it, even though they knew perfectly well that the outcome of everyone's journey was already predetermined.