Chapter 114 Playing the victim?

The next day, Jiang Ning and Du Ying arrived at the recording location of "Men's Group 101" and were warmly invited in by the staff. After signing the contract, they went to the dressing room to do their styling and read the script.

At this time, the trainees who were preparing for tonight's stage in the practice room were well-informed that a new mentor would be coming today. During their breaks, they were curious to know who this new mentor was.

"Hasn't the mentors for the show already been decided? Those mentors are among the best in the industry. Now someone's inserted into the show midway? Could it be that they saw our show was so popular and are trying to take advantage of it?"

"It's possible. She has connections, and we trainees can't control her. We'd be thankful if she didn't take advantage of her position as a mentor and make random comments that would affect everyone else's rankings."

There was a trainee whose ranking was in danger and who was worried about being eliminated. Upon hearing this, he couldn't help but get worried and patted the person next to him to inquire about the news.

"Zheng Zibin, don't you have a relationship with the assistant director? Do you know who this new instructor is? Will she give us random grades?"

These trainees who are not signed by big companies are worried that someone who knows nothing will come and be randomly evaluated, or that they will be lured by big companies and helped to advance through the back door.

Zheng Zibin, who was called, also shook his head in annoyance.

"I don't know. The mentor was invited by the director. Her identity seems to be a bit special. The production team is keeping her identity very secret. It may not be revealed until after the live broadcast. The assistant director doesn't know either."

His ranking was in a more precarious position than most of the trainees in this A-level practice room, and he only made it to the third performance with the help of the assistant director. He didn't want any changes in the program to affect his advancement.

Seeing that even Zheng Zibin, a person with connections, didn't know who the mentor was, the people who were paying attention to this side intentionally or unintentionally became discouraged. They stopped thinking about it, got up, took a few sips of water, and continued to dig up the details.

Zheng Zibin looked at the trainees who were trying hard to copy the dance, especially the one in the corner who was practicing the most seriously and in the most standard way, and snorted in disdain in his heart.

There is no need to work so hard to debut. He has summarized the talent shows in previous years. As long as he has a good personality, looks decent, has a good background, and the votes are adjusted, he will definitely have a debut position.

However, looking at Zhao Zhengyu's outstanding appearance, Zheng Zibin still felt a little gloomy in his heart.

Although Zhao Zhengyu did not have a few seconds of screen time in the first two performances because he was a trainee, he was not noticed by a few fans.

But Zheng Zibin understood that Zhao Zhengyu's ability could rank among the top three trainees. With just a few more shots, it was only a matter of time before he became the dark horse for the debut position.

Zheng Zibin feels uneasy with such a strong opponent. If Zhao Zhengyu had withdrawn from the program earlier, perhaps his chances of becoming one of the debut candidates would have been much greater.

Zheng Zibin held the bottle and called one of Zhao Zhengyu's roommates. In the other's frightened eyes, he hugged the person and went to the bathroom.

After locking the door, Zheng Zibin patted Huang Chuan on the shoulder and asked with a smile.

"Didn't Zhao Zhengyu have an allergic reaction to something a few days ago? What was it that he was allergic to? I can ask my brother to go to the cafeteria and ask them to remove it from the menu."

Zheng Zibin's words sounded nice, but all the trainees in their group had seen him targeting Zhao Zhengyu. How could he be so kind and considerate of others?

"I don't know." Huang Chuan's pupils trembled, and he didn't dare to look at Zheng Zibin.

"You really don't know? Or do you really regard that poor boy who came out of some small mountain village as your good brother?" Zheng Zibin slapped Huang Chuan's face as if to humiliate him, and said in a seductive tone.

"Think it over. If you answer this question, I'll let you have more scenes, and maybe even get you a debut spot. Are you sure you want to give up this bright future for a brother you've only known for a few days?"

Huang Chuan clenched his fingers, and when Zheng Zibin was getting impatient and was about to stuff the head into the toilet, Huang Chuan whispered a few words.

"This is what a smart person does." Zheng Zibin said with satisfaction.

Then he whistled and went out to do his business.

In the evening, when the live broadcast of "Boy Group 101" started, Jiang Ning and the other three mentors sat in the mentor seats, watching the performance of the first group of trainees amid the cheers of fans in the audience.

Jiang Ning thought the first group's performance was good, except for a certain pretty trainee who stole the spotlight.

The other mentors obviously thought so too. After commenting on the trainees one by one, their tone changed when it came to the trainee who stole the spotlight.

"Xu Can, I remember you performed really well in your first performance. You were the most proficient dancer among the trainees. I thought you'd impress me this time, but I didn't expect you to not only rush the camera but also get your positioning wrong."

The person who said this was Tang Xinwen, who was on the hot search for a day, because the quarrel between netizens and fans under Jiang Ning’s Weibo was amplified a lot after being reposted by marketing accounts.

Many people are wondering whether Tang Xinwen has any black material, and whether he will be targeted by Jiang Ning, the new entertainment industry supervisor, and whether he will be the first to be the supervisor of artistic ethics in the entertainment industry.

Xu Can didn't seem to expect his tutor to speak so directly. He was stunned for a moment before he apologized with a wry smile.

"I was so worried about holding my teammates back these past few days that I stayed up late practicing. I didn't expect to overwork myself and develop a fever. I'm not in the right shape, and my performance was terrible. I failed to live up to Coach Tang's expectations."

He spoke sincerely, and with the unnatural blush on Xu Can's face, it was obvious that he was performing while sick, which made his disappointed fans send words of encouragement and comfort in the live broadcast room.

[Cancan didn't get sick on purpose, he just tried too hard!]

[It doesn’t matter, we didn’t perform well here, we’ll come back next time.]

[Uh, as someone who's been following the show, I just want to say, aren't the fans' filters a bit too strong? Have you ever considered that this is Xu Can's true ability? Is he deliberately making himself sick because he's afraid of being eliminated?]

[The above person is making up stories, what kind of sour chicken fans are they? Our Xu Can has always been talented, okay? Otherwise, how could he have won first place in the first performance?]

[Here comes the first controversial point. I wonder if Jiang Ning will comment on Xu Can. Is he really working hard or just pretending to be talented? Let's wait and see!]

On the stage, Tang Xinwen knew that Jiang Ning might be watching him, and there were countless people watching him in the live broadcast room. He did not comment gently like in the previous episodes. After hearing Xu Can's words, he spoke sternly.

"You don't need to apologize to me. It's your teammates and your fans who should apologize!"

Xu Can held the microphone tightly, as if frightened by Tang Xinwen's tone, with helplessness in his eyes.

He apologized dryly to his teammates and fans, and bowed sincerely with tears in his eyes.

"I didn't give everyone a good stage. It's my fault. I hope everyone can give me a chance. I..."

Before Xu Can finished canvassing for votes, Jiang Ning's inner voice echoed in the ears of everyone and the audience in the live broadcast room.

"It's your fault in the first place. If you're not strong enough, then so be it. Don't try to play these pitiful tricks to gain sympathy and votes."

[Also, how did he get first place in the first performance? Others don't know, but how could he, who got the video and practiced a month in advance, not know?]

Guagua also gave another melon to the instructor who was relaxing.

[Host, Xu Can was playing a goblin fight with his mentor, the sponsor, on the balcony last night. He was really exhausted from working so hard that he got a fever. I'm not acting at all.]