Chapter Ninety-One: Apology + Three Rules

Meng Fanxi walked onto the stage step by step, and his teammates on stage couldn't wait to come and greet him. Han Jia, Lu Ning, Wu Jianian and others followed closely behind. Meng Fanxi hugged them one by one. Some of his friends who were familiar with him from recording spin-off variety shows also came to congratulate him. The stage was lively and bustling for a moment.

The mentors watched the scene on stage with gentle smiles.

After tidying up her outfit, Meng Fanxi solemnly stepped onto the stage. "Thank you to every fan who voted for me and to the special judges. Every step I take forward is inseparable from your support. Thank you for witnessing my growth. Please believe that I will bring you more and better performances to repay you."

"Thank you to my teammates from the Eternal Six Stars team." Meng Fanxi looked around, making eye contact with Lin Ruohe and Zhang Yang, who were smiling below the stage, as well as the other three on the stage.

"Yong Heng Six Stars," his voice was clear, like a cool spring, as he recited the name word by word, and laughed a little, "To be honest, I never thought that one day my team would be called this." The audience on and off the stage also laughed. In fact, they didn't expect that the famous Weir Company's trainee team would have such a 'down-to-earth' name.

When the laughter subsided, Meng Fanxi's voice softened, her eyes slightly red, "I never imagined that one day I would become teammates with you all."

He didn't look at his teammates' expressions anymore. There were actually very few moments when the six of them were together and expressed their true feelings, but each of them had seriously mentioned their teammates when they went on stage before, and their emotional eyes had deeply moved him.

"With you all here, I will step out of my comfort zone to challenge myself. I can honestly express that I want to be number one. Even in such a competitive program, I can feel warmth. I sincerely hope that our group will last forever and that we can persevere to the end and debut successfully."

When he looked down at the audience again, Lin Ruohe and Zhang Yang both nodded firmly, and without a doubt, the other three were equally determined.

Meng Fanxi then looked at the last row, "I met new partners during the second performance. They weren't favored, but they remained enthusiastic. Not only them, but all the participating teams created amazing performances. But today, 39 people will be leaving here..."

The atmosphere became noticeably somber, and Zhong Chu and Fan Na, standing at the back, also showed signs of melancholy in their eyes.

"Whether you stay or leave, this is just a point in your life, and it will only ever be a point. What experiences and lessons it brings depends entirely on your mindset. Everyone should be proud of themselves and believe that they are the best!"

Meng Fanxi's words resonated with everyone, and thunderous applause erupted from both the stage and the audience, with voices surging towards him like a tidal wave.

Even the mentors applauded him. Among so many trainees who went on stage, he was one of the few who could think about the plight of the eliminated trainees.

Fan Na clapped his hands vigorously, his palms already red as if he didn't notice. From the daily training of the second team, he had completely lost all other thoughts. Now, listening to Meng Fanxi's words, he felt ashamed once again.

Zhu Lou then announced the second place winner, Zhang Yang, and the first place winner, Lin Ruohe.

Both of them gave relatively simple speeches, so they focused on thanking their fans and teammates on stage. However, they singled out Meng Fanxi for praise again, which made Meng Fanxi a little embarrassed.

Yun Mengtao: "Next, please let mentor Felix reveal the trainees ranked ninth and tenth."

Under the arrangement of the program team, Zhu Lou announced two names: An Yi from Paradox and Tong Junxi from Wanxiang Seven.

Zhu Lou: "Who will be ninth?"

The background music also perfectly complements the atmosphere of the unknown.

"Congratulations to Tong Junxi, one of the Seven Sons of Wanxiang!"

"Congratulations also to Paradox's An Yi for winning tenth place."

Two trainees walked onto the stage one after the other. Meng Fanxi carefully observed their expressions and found that both of them were quite composed.

He couldn't remember if An Yi and Tong Junxi's group in his previous life was the same group as their current one, but these two were the most famous members of the group. They frequently participated in variety shows and starred in idol dramas, clearly developing their careers as actors.

Judging from their previous stage performances, they also have great ambitions for the stage. It remains to be seen whether they will take any measures to improve their rankings after this ranking is announced.

Paradox's leader, Gao Xinyi, seemed even more dissatisfied with the ranking than An Yi herself, and appeared somewhat preoccupied, all of which caught Meng Fanxi's attention.

Yun Mengtao: "Now it's time to reveal the trainees ranked 41st to 50th." The list is revealed by Yun Mengtao herself.

The trainees standing on the stage all looked nervous, worried about whether their teammates could stay.

Meng Fanxi silently prayed for Zhong Chu and Fan Na.

As the list was announced one by one, the light in the eyes of the trainees below the stage gradually dimmed.

"Congratulations, Zhong Chu, the 45th trainee!"

Zhong Chu was somewhat stunned, not expecting this, until Fan Na excitedly hugged him from the side, and he finally felt it was real.

Meng Fanxi clapped excitedly, and after Zhong Chu walked onto the stage, she went to hug him first and whispered to him, "Go on, now is your time."

After calming his breathing on the ranking stage, Zhong Chu stammered, "Thank you, thank you to all the fans who voted for me. I really didn't expect to stay, because the status displayed in real time was always 'left'."

His eyes were red. "When I was first separated from my group, I really wanted to quit, but after making so many trainee friends and experiencing the charm of performing, I really, really wanted to stay. Thank you all."

"I want to thank Fanxi for choosing me. I really felt the cohesion in the Wings team. Every day was tiring but joyful. Just like you said, even if I am eliminated, this experience will be my experience and confidence to face any challenge in the future."

Hearing these words, Meng Fanxi felt a sense of satisfaction, like watching her child grow up.

Although he initially noticed Zhong Chu because he thought they were somewhat similar, after getting to know him, he discovered that Zhong Chu was more insecure than he had imagined, so he built a protective wall around himself, preventing anyone from getting close.

Zhong Chu's progress is partly due to his hard work, but more importantly, it is due to his willingness to open himself up and embrace new challenges.

Zhong Chu is radiating light now, and Meng Fanxi is very happy for him.

The rankings were announced one after another, and one trainee after another walked onto the stage with joy and excitement. Fan Na, in the last row, seemed to have accepted reality and had a calm expression.

Yun Mengtao: "The last trainee to stay in 'Team-Based Training' is—"

Congratulations, Fan Na!

The vote count displayed on the screen indicated that he was originally in the elimination range, but the extra votes after the victory in the second round saved him, and he narrowly secured 50th place.

For the first time, Fan Na felt his name was so unfamiliar, and he stood there stunned.

Although the trainees who had already been eliminated were disappointed, they still applauded and congratulated Fan Na. Zhong Chu covered his mouth in surprise.

Reminded by Yun Mengtao, Fan Na finally stood up and walked stiffly onto the stage.

His Wings teammates went up to congratulate him.

When Fan Na stood on the ranking stage, he was still somewhat dazed. His body was trembling slightly, and he could no longer control his emotions, as if he was about to cry.

"I...I really didn't expect this...I thought I was going to be eliminated..."

This was the first time Meng Fanxi had seen Fan Na show such a vulnerable expression, and he looked at Fan Na with some concern.

Yun Mengtao guided Fan Na's emotions from the side, preventing him from having an emotional breakdown.

Fan Na wiped her face and stared straight at the camera: "Thank you to everyone who voted for me. Thank you all. When I thought I was going to be eliminated, I thought a lot. I realized I have too many shortcomings. I am arrogant and talkative. I thought if I was eliminated, I must do one thing. Now that I am here, I must do that thing again."

He looked at Meng Fanxi: "Fanxi, I want to apologize to you. I've been waiting for a formal apology from you."

Fan Na's eyes were firm yet full of apology.

Meng Fanxi smiled and shook his head, indicating that there was nothing to apologize for.

Fan Na said, "I must apologize to you and hope you can forgive my rude behavior after the initial stage performance. In fact, you have already reached a height that I could not see. After being in the same group with you, I have learned a lot from you. The team stage should not highlight one person, but requires everyone to cooperate and contribute to achieve a perfect score. I finally understand this principle."

He said earnestly, "I'm sorry, and thank you."

Meng Fanxi walked up to him, hugged him, and said in a voice only the two of them could hear: "Everything is over. From now on, look forward."

Initially, Meng Fanxi used reverse psychology to keep Fan Na from leaving the show, hoping it would benefit him. However, after spending some time with him, he genuinely felt that Fan Na had exceptional talent and hoped that he could continue to grow.

He no longer cared about those things from before.

Jiang Xunzhen looked at the heartwarming scene on the screen and proudly raised an eyebrow at Cen Qi beside her, "See? I didn't misjudge you, did I?"

Cen Qi drew out his words, "Yes, Director Jiang really has a good eye!"

After the touching moments, the studio finally came to say goodbye.

The 39 trainees in the audience all had a premonition that they might be eliminated, so their expressions were relatively calm.

Unlike the previous eliminations, the production team did not immediately send them away. Yun Mengtao said a few words of encouragement to the mentors and then gave the remaining time to the trainees.

Everyone can say goodbye to this stage in a few words.

There were laughter and tears, and a complex sense of parting filled the studio. Finally, a little time was given for the trainees on and off the stage to say goodbye.

Finally, the moment of parting was made full of warmth.

After the eliminated trainees left the show, the production team summarized the situation of the remaining trainees.

There are still seven complete teams that exist: Eternal Six Stars, WONE, Seven Sons of All Things, Zero Degree, Paradox, Five Grains Abundance, and Kangjin Boys, totaling 38 people. There are also 12 trainees whose teams are no longer complete.

The program team immediately announced that for the third performance, these scattered 12 trainees will form a group, and there will be 8 teams competing in the third performance.

After a brief stage reset, the trainees returned to their seats, which were now much more spacious than before.

Before they could even calm down from their emotional rollercoaster, they were faced with the competition rules for the third round.

Yun Mengtao announced directly: "The third performance will be a collaboration stage with the mentors."

Meng Fanxi and the others had overheard the mentors talking about this during the theme song evaluation, so they weren't surprised now.

Yun Mengtao then asked, "Does everyone remember the announcement for the third public performance?"

Scattered responses came from the audience: "Get out of Mushroom Park."

Yes, how can we connect the stage outside of Mushroom Park with the stage where we collaborate with our mentors?

Yun Mengtao didn't leave everyone wondering for long. She smiled and said, "This means that each team will perform in an unknown area with their cooperating mentors. There will be voting machines on site, and the real-time performance votes will be included in your final score."

Meng Fanxi and the others exchanged glances. So, the live votes would be counted in the final votes? If it were an offline performance, the most popular singers could mobilize around 100,000 people for a single concert. If the votes were calculated on a one-to-one basis, the number of votes for this performance would be a drop in the ocean compared to the current pool of millions of votes.

They huddled together and discussed in hushed tones. Ren Yuchen guessed, "Although it wasn't explicitly stated, the calculation might be scaled up to a ratio of 1:5 or 1:10."

Meng Fanxi nodded in agreement. Given the show's tendency to be somewhat secretive, it was indeed a possibility.

He also put forward another idea: "Even if it is a 1:1 ratio, even if the number of votes in the performance does not have a big impact on the vote pool, the public stage is equivalent to a warm-up for the final. Countless eyes are watching our live performance. If the performance is good, the impact will definitely drive the increase in online votes."

The final of "Team Up" will be broadcast live, but the third performance will take place in an unknown area before the recording venue. The video of the performance might be all over the place after the show, and if the performance is good, it could definitely become a hit again.

What Yun Mengtao said next once again attracted a lot of attention among the trainees.

"The songs for the third competition will be decided by each team and their mentors, and the performance venue will also be determined based on the mentors' actual situation."

The fact that the competition songs were decided by the trainees themselves was like an unexpected surprise that suddenly fell on everyone's heads. The great freedom in song selection seemed to indicate that the trainees could choose songs that suited them for the third public performance without any restrictions and give full play to their talents.

So now there's only one question to focus on: which mentor to collaborate with?

The statement "the performance location will also be determined based on the actual situation of the mentors" is worth analyzing carefully; I feel there's a trap in it.

Meng Fanxi's gaze swept back and forth between the five mentors. These five mentors were all pillars of their respective fields in the Chinese entertainment industry, and it was an honor for their trainees to work with any one of them.

His guess was that the performance location was likely to be one of the locations that the mentors' upcoming schedule might involve.

Although he was not clear about the mentors' schedules, judging from the usual patterns, Tan Yi and Yun Mengtao, as singers, would definitely hold concerts, Ye Ni would probably be on a film set, Zhu Lou would either be at an outdoor music festival or a live house, and Fu Hanfei would probably be at a theater or similar venue.

Judging from the number of audience members that can be mobilized, Tan Yi, Yun Mengtao, and Zhu Lou are the three mentors who should be given priority consideration.

The trainees each had their own considerations, but the production team completely deviated from the expected script.

Yun Mengtao then announced that the mentors and teams would be paired up by drawing lots. Based on prior communication with the mentors, Tan Yi, Yun Mengtao, and Zhu Lou would each lead two teams, while Ye Ni and Fu Hanfei would each lead one team.

The production crew quickly carried three tables onto the stage and arranged them in a row. On the tables were transparent, oval-shaped objects that looked like fish tanks, containing eight small balls of the same color.

The mentors will draw lots one by one.

Choose whichever team you want; it's simple and straightforward.

Meng Fanxi and his team had no advantage as the only complete team among the debut positions, and could only helplessly watch the draw on stage, hoping to be selected by their preferred mentor.

The trainees were extremely anxious as they watched the mentors draw lots on stage.

On the forum, a list of onlookers, seemingly from the first ranking, has also attracted a lot of attention.

The poster is a person who has verified his achievements many times, so all the fans and spectators believe the ranking in the post.

The poster did not release the full rankings, but mainly posted the list of the top ten, using nicknames for each person, but everyone on the forum could understand it.

The poster also thoughtfully added at the end: "The final vote difference between these ten people is not large, anything is possible."

It was this phrase, "Anything is possible," that ignited the anger of Will's fans, the eternal six-star group fans, and the individual fans of the six members.

Although the real-time voting count on the Starlight Video APP has been turned off for several days, everyone remembers the previous vote count. The top-ranked members of the Eternal Six Stars group clearly had a significant lead, a gap that could not be closed in just a few days.

Now it's been glossed over with a simple "the difference isn't that big," who wouldn't be angry?

From the fans' perspective, this is the show's producers deliberately leaking information to lower their standards, so that vote rigging can be done smoothly later, and the show might just take away the eternal six-star debut spot!

The fans felt increasingly uneasy and threatened, especially given the uncertainty surrounding the addition of a special judging panel to the program.

Given the controversies surrounding the appearance of special judges in previous episodes, and their unusually lukewarm response to the brilliant performances of the six eternal stars, fans are understandably outraged.

Not long after, a post titled "A Closer Look at the Special Invited Judges on YTWY" suddenly appeared.

The post is detailed and the evidence is clear and compelling. It exposes the companies and profit-sharing chains behind many of the invited judges. To make it easier for casual readers to understand, a simplified summary is also provided, dividing the invited judges into the Baihe faction, Xingyu faction, Weihe faction, Xilingniao faction, Shensha faction, and the clean faction, which has no faction but only a handful of members.

To avoid being smeared and accused of bias by other fans, they used Qiu Lü as an example to prove that the post was completely fair. Although Qiu Lü had targeted trainee Will, a thorough investigation revealed that she had no connection with other entertainment companies, and Qiu Lü was considered clean.

Once the post was published, fans of Will, whether they were group fans or solo fans, worked together to boost the post, making it a regular feature on the homepage and it was then shared on various forums, quickly attracting various marketing accounts to repost it.

After the show gained popularity, passersby began to watch, not only uncovering the unfairness of the invited judges, but also revealing that many people who were completely unqualified to be judges were allowed to serve as judges without any real qualifications. Passersby and fans alike questioned whether the "Team-Based Camp" program was engaging in fraud.

The authority of a competitive talent show has been questioned in such a way. Naturally, "Team-Based Camp" immediately began public relations efforts. On the one hand, they apologized to the public and announced solutions. On the other hand, they contacted various companies to return the special guest judges they had previously hired and recruit a new batch of judges with stronger professionalism and less connection with the companies.

The major companies still harbored wishful thinking, not understanding why they were the ones who managed to get their own people in. They didn't believe that Will Company wouldn't arrange for a few special judges to be sent in for their own trainees.

They accused the production team of blindly believing the content of that post and said they should investigate it thoroughly and remove everything, especially the people from Weier Company Security!

To their surprise, the production team solemnly replied that Weir Company had indeed not placed any judges in the program.

Even the person Wei contacted didn't help them with anything.

All the companies were shocked. How could Weier trust his trainees so much? How could he sit still?

Whether they liked it or not, all the so-called special judges with backgrounds in various companies were kicked out of the show.

Jiang Xunzhen looked at the current result with satisfaction. Thanks to timely public relations, the popularity of the trending topic had also been reduced. They had handled the situation well.

Cen Qi still disagreed with her approach: "It may suit your wishes by getting rid of those people, but the show's popularity and image will also be damaged to some extent. Is it worth it?"

Jiang Xunzhen glanced at him and said firmly, "It's worth it. If we don't find a legitimate reason to get rid of those people now, it will be even more troublesome if they cause trouble during the most crucial period of the competition."

The fans were half right; the ranking information was indeed leaked by the production team. However, it wasn't to test the fans' limits, but rather to use the fans' power to eliminate factors that might interfere with the show's fair ranking.

Wei also watched the whole process and had some guesses about the program team's ideas, but not many of them involved the Eternal Six Stars. So he just watched the situation develop quietly. He also had some clues about the forces outside the program targeting Meng Fanxi and his group. All the clues actually pointed to the Will Company.

He planned to seize the right opportunity to strike decisively, but the enemy couldn't hold back and started stirring up trouble on the forum again.

This time the content was more direct and intense, with no attempt to conceal the malice in the language.

"The Eternal Six Stars should stop flaunting their name under the Will name. They are clearly Will's discarded pawns, and the Will Company doesn't even care about them."

When fans of Weil saw this post, their hearts skipped a beat and they clicked on the content.

The post compared how Will and other companies treated their participating teams, and also included screenshots of Eternal Six Stars' repeated requests for a group debut on the show.

"It's obviously more impressive and prestigious to debut from Weir Company, but they're here competing with teams from other companies for debut spots. Haven't you ever thought about the reason?"

"Because without this show, they would have no chance of debuting at all."

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A note from the author:

After the third round of competition, there will be the second ranking, followed by the grand finale. I might briefly describe the second ranking, as the grand finale ranking is the most important.