Those in their troupe who chose to return to their hometown to take the civil service exam were more or less envious of her and Jiang Yang's performance.

"Hello everyone," Pang Li said, not deliberately trying to lose weight because Zhou Yiyang told her that being a little chubby makes her more approachable. Comedians really need to be popular. "Welcome to the semi-finals of 'The Actors Are In Place,' I'm your host, Pang Li!"

In order to avoid being recognized by the audience, Lin Xuaner and Wang Xingrui sat in the corner of the first row.

"Do you think Tangtang and Xiaoxiaosu are terribly nervous backstage right now?" Wang Xingrui whispered, "I think if it were me, I'd definitely have forgotten all my lines by now."

"Why are they so nervous?" Lin Xuan'er looked at Wang Xingrui, puzzled. "They don't have to perform live tonight. They just need to watch the show backstage like the rest of us."

"Oh, right!" Wang Xingrui finally realized, "I actually forgot about this. But I asked Tangtang last night, and she told me that she didn't think she performed well."

"Didn't Xiao Xiao Su say she didn't think she performed well?" Lin Xuan'er chuckled. "They said that on purpose. Just like how we always say we're not prepared before singing, even though we've already figured it out."

"That's not me." Wang Xingrui couldn't help laughing. "Yeah, every time Tangtang asked me, 'Ruirui, how are your preparations going?' I always said, 'Not bad.' What I'm actually thinking is, 'It's such a simple song, isn't it easy for me to sing it?'"

If Tang Yue heard their conversation, she might have lost her mind.

But now she deliberately sat between Su Yin and Luo Chen, holding a handful of melon seeds in her hand.

"Tangtang," Su Yin snatched the last candy before Tang Yue let go of her clutches. "Don't you think you should go back to your group?"

"It's not like we're going to be performing on stage anytime soon," Tang Yue even deliberately nudged Su Yin. Luo Chen's expression next to her mirrored that of the elderly man on the subway looking at his phone. "I'll sit here with you guys. It's not that stressful."

"Hmph," Su Yin looked at Tang Yue with disdain, "I despise you for your traitorous behavior!"

Luo Chen cleared his throat and quietly reminded the two: "Um, Pang Li is reading the rules, and everyone else is watching us!"

"No way." Tang Yue glanced around: "Everyone is very calm, they didn't pay any attention to us at all."

"Of those who have stayed until now," Luo Chen said seriously, "which one of them can't act?"

Only then did Tang Yue restrain herself.

Su Yin took the opportunity to snatch all the melon seeds in front of her.

"After each performance," Pang Li recited the program rules with great emotion, "the audience can vote to choose their favorite performer. Of course, if you don't like any of the performers in a group, you don't have to choose any of them."

"The top six contestants with the most votes will advance to the finals. We will also tally up the four groups' performances with the highest combined scores, and that group will be awarded the Best Short Film of the season."

Wang Xingrui raised an eyebrow: "Why is there a title for Best Short Film?"

"Given Brother Yang's personality," Lin Xuan'er said, as if she saw through Zhou Yiyang, "there must be a reason for this title. Maybe there's some special reward."

As expected, Pang Li said the next second, "The director who wins the Best Short Film can revive one of the actors they eliminated and advance to the finals. This means that we will have seven actors participating in the finals night."

This was a rule Zhou Yiyang came up with on the spur of the moment. After all, if a group performed very well and all three actors performed perfectly, but were eliminated because of split votes, it would seem unfair.

The other three directors all knew this rule, and each of them looked very confident and determined to win the title.

The audience naturally agreed. During the live recording, there were always people who were reluctant to see an actor eliminated. Of course, they were happy to see an extra spot.

"I have some good news for you all. This time, each group of directors has invited a guest performer, and they will also go on stage after the short film!"

"Then we're going to show you the short film 'Balloon' directed by Chang Tiesheng."

"Could it be about a child?" After hearing the name, the first thought that flashed through Ning Mang's mind was a children's film.

Bai Yangyu shrugged: "But Director Chang wouldn't shoot it like this, right?"