Tang Ling paused for a moment, but then smiled and said, "Of course, how could I cause trouble for my sister?"

Seeing this, Qiao Xia stopped trying to persuade her. "It's good that you've thought it through yourself. I'm not worried about your abilities."

Hearing Qiao Xia's praise, Tang Ling smiled with satisfaction.

As dusk settled and the finals began, Tang Ling stayed close to Qiao Xia, never leaving her side.

Chenxi, who arrived backstage early to prepare, was restless. The previous news had a significant impact on her. Julie, her agent who had already taken over at Qiaoxia's company, advised Chenxi to take a break and avoid the limelight.

In fact, she is now in a situation where she has no roles to play, and even several brands that she previously endorsed have shown their intention to terminate their contracts, but Jolie has forcibly stopped them.

Therefore, tonight is crucial for her; whether she can continue to appear in the public eye depends entirely on how well the audience accepts her tonight.

Unable to contain her nervousness, Chenxi subconsciously searched for Qiao Xia's figure in the crowd, but her peripheral vision caught sight of Tang Ling clinging to Qiao Xia.

"Who is she?" Whether it was nervousness or something else, Chenxi's tone was somewhat accusatory.

Tang Ling smiled at her in a friendly manner and extended her hand. "Hello, my name is Tang Ling, and I am Qiao Xia's younger sister. I really like your work. Please don't take the recent online events to heart; there are still many people who support you."

Her words were polite and warm. Qiao Xia gave her an appreciative look, and Tang Ling covered her mouth and chuckled, "Don't worry, sister, I won't cause you any trouble."

Chenxi felt inexplicably annoyed by what she saw. She felt that Tang Ling was strange and not a good person. But in fact, Tang Ling only said this one sentence to her before hurriedly pulling Qiao Xia away without even leaving a defiant look.

While scolding herself for overthinking, Chenxi forced herself to focus on the script.

Qiao Xia led Tang Ling to the best viewing spot reserved in the stadium. Pingkang Town is sparsely populated.

When building the school, Qiao Xia secured the largest possible area for the campus; the gymnasium alone could accommodate tens of thousands of people.

Surrounded by screams from fans, Tang Ling clung to Qiao Xia like a rabbit, looking completely frightened.

Qiao Xia coughed and poked her head with a finger. "You've gone too far."

Tang Ling said "Oh" and sat down obediently.

The live stream officially began, and Chenxi took the lead by appearing in a lake-blue dress. This outfit was the result of Zhang Tony and Jack's four hours of hard work, showing more effort than any of the other trainees today.

Her delicate curly hair was casually draped over her shoulders, and the warm white lighting made her look even more ethereal. Like a goddess descending from the heavens, Chen Xi amazed all the audience as soon as she appeared.

The cheers were deafening, as if they were about to lift the roof off.

Receiving positive feedback, Chenxi became increasingly confident and composed. Her clear enunciation and rhythmic delivery stirred the emotions of the audience.

They slowly left the stage amidst the reluctant gazes of the crowd, leaving the stage to the true protagonists of the night.

Within just five minutes of the broadcast starting, more than ten hashtags, including "Chenxi got it done," "Chenxi the goddess," and "Chenxi's acting skills," trended on social media.

Because of her personal reasons for tonight's performance, Qiao Xia didn't arrange too many awkward interactive segments to torment the host and the audience.

The show opened with energetic singing and dancing performances by the trainees, including both group performances and individual solos.

Judging from the cheers of the audience, Mu Xiaozhe, Jiang Xiaomian, and Sun Hao are still the most popular choices so far.

Mu Xiaozhe and Jiang Xiaomian's fans are fiercely competing, each regarding the other as the strongest contender for the center position, while Sun Hao's popularity is clearly inferior to the other two.

However, judging from his solo performance, he, who has always maintained a love for the stage and practiced diligently for many years, was clearly much better than the other two.

Therefore, Mu Xiaozhe and Jiang Xiaomian may attract more casual fans because of their looks and aura, but no one will dislike Sun Hao. Some fans, seeing that their idols have no hope of debuting, even formed a group to vote for Sun Hao in order to prevent the person they dislike from becoming the center.

Even as an investor, Qiao Xia couldn't predict who the ultimate winner would be. As the announcement of the results drew closer, Qiao Xia's heart was in her throat.

Following Qiao Xia's hint, the host on stage did not deliberately keep them in suspense and announced the number of trainees one by one from back to front.

Sun Hao ultimately couldn't overcome the audience's obsession with his looks and ranked third, but his strength was undeniable, and he was voted first by the trainees. He will also serve as the captain of the boy group in the future.

Young Master Mu unfortunately came in second place. When the camera panned to him, his cold expression for a moment clearly showed that he was still somewhat dissatisfied with the result.

Jiang Xiaomian won the championship. He was quite surprised by the result. Although he and Young Master Mu were evenly matched in the early stages, he could feel that his overall popularity was not as high as his opponent's as the finals approached.

He embraced his friends who rushed up to congratulate him amidst the fluttering ribbons, but his eyes unconsciously searched through the crowd for that person's figure.

Finally, all the contestants returned to the stage to dance the theme song together. In this atmosphere, everyone laughed and cried, as if for the sweat they had shed over the past three months, and as if for an unseen future.

Even the usually arrogant young master Mu secretly shed tears, hiding from the camera, not to mention Sun Hao who had finally overcome all his hardships. In the end, Jiang Xiaomian was the most composed among the group.

Saying he was calm wasn't quite right; he was just holding the trophy and was a little dazed. It hadn't even been half a year, but drinking in a karaoke bar and dancing in a live stream felt like a lifetime ago.

But the host didn't give them time to wallow in sentimentality before hastily ushering them off the stage.

With a smile, Chen Xi said slowly, "On this celebratory day, I would like to introduce you to an old friend of mine."

Qiao Xia, sitting in the audience, straightened Qiao Zhaoxing's tie to make sure he had the correct speech before sending him onto the stage. "Go for it!"

Qiao Zhaoxing nodded emphatically and walked onto the stage with his head held high under the gaze of everyone.

Five minutes later, faced with the lengthy speech on stage, the audience below felt as if they were back in a primary or secondary school safety lecture, and were all completely bewildered.

Viewers who were used to talent show live streams going on until midnight timed their entry into the live stream room and were surprised to find themselves on the wrong channel.

【？】

【？？】

【？？？？？】

Although he didn't see any question marks floating on the screen, Qiao Zhaoxing could clearly sense that the audience below the stage was not very interested in his speech.

So he threw away his prepared speech, picked up the microphone, and said, "The reason I'm standing here today is very simple: I hope everyone will vote for me."