Chapter 7 What? First Stage?

“We don’t!”

Lu Zimo was furious, "He did it himself!"

"How could he have done this himself?!" Xia Linxing had just fallen down the stairs, how could he let himself fall off the bed again? Unless Xia Linxing didn't want to live!

So the assistant lady didn't believe it at all, and even thought Lu Zimo was quibbling.

"If you don't believe me, ask him!" Lu Zimo pointed his finger at Xia Linxing lying on the ground.

Xia Linxing was still immersed in the confusion of how she had framed Shen Sibai again, when she was suddenly called by Lu Zimo and raised her head with a confused look on her face.

The assistant looked at Xia Linxing's confused face and felt even more pity for her.

Before coming here, she had heard other staff members talk about Xia Linxing entering the infirmary. Based on what other staff members said, she thought Xia Linxing was a difficult and troublesome player.

Finally saw the real person——

Rumors are misleading!

This is obviously a good little poor thing!

"Don't scare him!" She glared at Lu Zimo. Then she turned her head and immediately put on a different expression: "Xiao Xia..."

She spoke softly, her voice gentle and kind, fearing that a louder voice would scare the poor little thing in front of her. "Don't be afraid, sister will take care of it for you!"

"Did those two bully you just now?"

"Bullying?" Xia Linxing shook her head obediently, "Assistant Sister, they didn't bully me..."

Lu Zimo breathed a sigh of relief, "You see..."

Before he finished speaking, he heard Xia Linxing continue: "It was my own fault. I accidentally fell off the bed. It has nothing to do with them."

"Assistant sister, please stop blaming them..."

After saying this, not only did the assistant lady's expression change, but even Shen Sibai turned his head and looked at Xia Linxing deeply.

But Xia Linxing didn't notice. He was mentally confirming with System 999: "999...is this helpful?"

"Assistant Sister won't misunderstand them again, right?"

After learning that the assistant girl had misunderstood that Shen Sibai and Lu Zimo were bullying him, Xia Linxing became a little anxious. Although his mission was to cause trouble for Shen Sibai, Xia Linxing felt that the rumor that "Shen Sibai was colluding to bully the trainees in the same dormitory" was too damaging to the protagonist's reputation.

He's a principled villain! If the assistant lady really misunderstands the protagonist and affects the plot, it would be terrible.

So Xia Linxing asked for the opinion of System 999 and asked if he could explain it to the assistant lady.

System 999 hesitated for a few seconds and agreed, but it had a requirement - you must say it according to what it asked.

Xia Linxing looked at the lines given by the system. After reading them, he didn't think there was any problem, so he agreed very readily.

only……

Xia Linxing tilted her head and glanced at Lu Zimo.

Why did he feel...that Lu Zimo seemed even angrier after he finished explaining?

System·The Mastermind·999 Hidden Merit and Fame: Boy, this is the lethality of Little Green Tea... You still have a lot to learn...

"Oh, forget it... I'll just pretend I didn't see it this time. You guys just need to be more careful in the future." Seeing that Lu Zimo was still about to explain, the assistant girl glanced at the time and decided to skip it because Xia Linxing was not actually hurt.

Although the shots in the dormitories have to be selected before being edited into the main film, and generally some content with bad value orientation will not be edited, sometimes the program crew will do anything to attract topics and traffic.

"I'm here this time to look for Xiao Xia." The assistant finally remembered the purpose of her visit and waved towards Xia Linxing, "Come here, Xiao Xia."

Xia Linxing walked over obediently.

The assistant pulled Xia Linxing to a corner and whispered, "Your performance for the first stage hasn't been submitted yet."

The other trainees' programs had already been counted and even their accompaniments had been submitted, only "Xia Linxing"——

He was squeezed in through the back door and didn't really come here to make his debut, so "Xia Linxing" didn't care about the first stage at all and completely forgot to report his performance program.

Xia Linxing opened her eyes wide.

First stage? What first stage!

Does that mean he wants to perform?

"999!" Xia Linxing was anxious: "What should I do?" He doesn't know anything, how can he perform?

Xia Linxing only realized now what it meant to play a villain in the entertainment industry.

Not only did he want to do bad things, but he also wanted him to perform a show!

He has no preparation at all!

"Don't panic, dear!" System 999 was calm and composed.

In the original novel, Xia Linxing is a royal who can't sing or dance at all. He only made it to the finals thanks to money-making. If the final debut spot didn't involve the transfer and exchange of resources between participating entertainment companies, as well as some commercial games, Xia Linxing might have been able to debut with money alone.

——This is also the reason why System 999 is not worried at all that Xia Linxing will not be able to do the job.

After all, the original body is a pure amateur with no experience. No matter how bad the assigned host is, it will not be much worse than the original body.

"You just need to sing casually..." Anyway, before Xia Linxing came, the original body had already bribed the relevant staff to do the editing and audio adjustment when it was broadcast.

Xia Linxing breathed a sigh of relief.

"However..." System 999 changed the subject, "The selection of the first stage is still a bit particular."

Xia Linxing pricked up his ears again.

"Wait, dear..." System 999 began to flip through the plot, "Ah, I found it! I was right—"

"Baby, according to the plot, we have to mess with the protagonist during the first stage."

"Yeah." Xia Linxing listened attentively.

"Let me see—" System 999 sighed. "The plot says that Xia Linxing harbored resentment towards the protagonist because of a previous fall down the stairs. So before the first stage, he bribed the staff and learned the protagonist's performance repertoire in advance, and then—"

"Then?" Xia Linxing held his breath unconsciously.

"Tsk tsk..." System 999 sighed, "He asked the staff to switch his performance order to the one before the protagonist, and then—"

“He performed the exact same piece as the main character.”

Generally speaking, during their first performance, trainees would choose different songs to perform, fearing they would be bumped into by others. After all, no one could be so confident that they could outperform other trainees in performing the same song.

What’s more, “Xia Linxing” deliberately changed the order of his performance to be before Shen Sibai.

This is not because "Xia Linxing" is very confident and thinks that his performance can beat Shen Sibai, but because when it comes to two identical songs, both other trainees and mentors will feel aesthetic fatigue when the latter trainee performs.

In particular, Shen Sibai's performance order was relatively late. At this time, whether it was the staff or the trainees and instructors in front of the camera, they were all very tired.

So in the original work, this seemingly simple and vicious little trick actually had a certain impact on the protagonist's initial rating, causing the protagonist who could originally enter Class A to fall into Class B.

Now, the original performance order had already been changed by bribed staff before Xia Linxing arrived, and the only thing left was to report the repertoire.

Unfortunately, System 999 only had a brief plot related to "Xia Linxing" in the original novel. It only knew that "Xia Linxing" chose the same song as Shen Sibai, but did not write the specific song name.

so……

“My boy…” System 999 said earnestly, “You still have to find a way to get the song that Shen Sibai will perform first.”

…

"Has Xia Linxing's debut song been decided?"

The assistant had just returned to the office when she heard the coordinator ask, "All the other trainees have already signed up, and he's the only one missing..."

"Not yet..." The assistant lady showed a slightly embarrassed expression, "Xia Linxing said he hasn't made a final decision yet, so let's wait for him one more night. He will definitely announce the program tomorrow - ah, Teacher Xie is here too!"

The assistant then saw Xie Tinglan sitting in front of the director in the office, seemingly chatting about something, so she quickly greeted him.

Xie Tinglan nodded at her.

The coordinator frowned. "Why hasn't he decided yet? The official recording starts the day after tomorrow. Doesn't he need to practice?"

"There must be a reason..." The assistant lady couldn't help but speak up for Xia Linxing, "Didn't he fall down the stairs earlier? Maybe he couldn't perform the program he had prepared due to physical reasons, so he had to temporarily change it."

"He's quite pitiful..." The assistant sighed, "When I went to see him just now, he was arguing with his two roommates... He looked so pitiful, sitting alone on the ground like such a small kid..."

"With whom?" someone gossiped.

“It seems to be Shen Sibai and Lu Zimo…”

"Wow, aren't these the two trainees who happened to be there when he fell down the stairs?"

"Is it so exciting?"

…

The other staff members started chatting at once.

And in a place where no one was paying attention, Xie Tinglan showed a thoughtful look.