Chapter 88 'Grabbing' Positions
I always sleep exceptionally well the night after recording ends, without a single dream.
Meng Fanxi, unusually, did not wake up early according to his biological clock. He only opened his eyes groggily when Lin Ruohe knocked on the door outside the room.
The six of them were still reminiscing about yesterday's second performance on their way to the restaurant.
"It feels like a dream. Although we were in different groups, we both won and ranked high in our groups. Now I'm really looking forward to the latest ranking results." Lin Ruohe breathed a sigh of relief.
Xu You was beaming, his lips practically curling into a smile. "Yeah, the rest of us are captains. Those two who aren't captains should reflect on their actions."
Zhang Yang glanced at Xu You, who was so frightened that he immediately ran forward and hid next to Meng Fanxi.
Gu Huailang, however, said with maturity, "Without team members, how can your role as captain be demonstrated?"
Meng Fanxi chuckled upon hearing this, and patted Gu Huailang on the shoulder in agreement: "Indeed, our 'Wings' group owes a lot to Huailang for his help." This made Gu Huailang a little embarrassed.
Passing by the area where fans were gathered caused another round of screams, but the production team had specifically instructed them not to interact closely with fans until the day the rankings were announced, in order to avoid any factors that might cause a change in their mindset, and they also increased the number of staff around to supervise.
They waved to the fans from a distance, but the fans persisted, raising their voices to ask, "Will you guys still be in the same team? You won't always be the team for the second performance, will you?"
Meng Fanxi answered loudly, "We don't know the rules yet, but we will definitely reunite, no matter what."
This answer clearly pleased the fans, who exclaimed, "Keep it up! We'll do our best too!"
Meng Fanxi and his teammates thanked him repeatedly. He was worried that some fans might sacrifice their personal time and health to vote, so he quickly told everyone not to push themselves so hard. He said they would overcome all obstacles with their own strength, which moved the fans so much that they didn't know what to say.
The online voting channel has long since closed the vote count display, and fans are now voting blindly. They know that the closer to the deadline, the greater the changes in vote count and ranking will be, so they dare not let their guard down at all.
When there are no recording schedules, the six members of the Eternal Six Stars still discipline themselves to go to the practice room to train every day. Rather than spending all their time guessing rankings, maintaining their physical condition is the most important thing.
On the eve of the first ranking recording, not only were the fans making the most of the last few minutes, but the trainees were also so nervous that some of them had trouble sleeping.
Meng Fanxi finished his afternoon practice early and went to find Zhong Chu and Fan Na.
After the second round of performances, everyone basically returned to their respective teams. However, Zhong Chu and Fan Na's team was no longer there, and the members of the Fancy group were no longer complete. Their captain, Qi Huaiyan, was hanging out with another team and didn't have time to focus on them.
Meng Fanxi had previously invited the two of them to train with the Eternal Six Stars, but Fan Na was very stubborn about it and kept making excuses, saying it wasn't a good idea. The two of them preferred to train alone in a small practice room, so Meng Fanxi didn't press them any further.
Upon entering the practice room, the atmosphere immediately felt somewhat somber. Even in the small room, the presence of only two people made it feel rather empty. Neither of them were practicing or sitting on the sofa; instead, they were sitting on the floor against the wall, each gazing in a different direction, silent.
"What are you doing?" Meng Fanxi came in, and Gu Huailang followed, after all, he was also his teammate from the second public performance.
They came here often, so Zhong Chu and Fan Na were not surprised, but their faces did not show their usual ease.
Zhong Chu sighed softly, "The rankings will be announced tomorrow, and more than half of the people will be eliminated. I guess the two of us will be leaving, so we're thinking about what to do after we leave."
After all, according to the real-time updates from the two public announcements, they have always been listed as 'leaving,' and they have no hope of staying.
Gu Huailang didn't quite understand. "Once you're out there, you should continue training and prepare for your debut. This show can bring some fame to the contestants no matter what."
Fan Na snorted, "It's not that easy. With the group in such a disorganized state right now, do you think they can be mended after they leave?"
Meng Fanxi understood Fan Na's implication almost immediately. Although it was just a show, the Fancy group had witnessed the coldness of human relationships both inside and outside the group. They could be said to be the most severely damaged group, which was directly disbanded and had internal conflicts. Now, the nominal group leader only cared about protecting himself and completely ignored the members.
Once you leave, who can be completely without resentment?
Zhong Chu leaned against the wall, gazing up at the ceiling, lost in thought.
"With your dance skills, you'd be more than qualified to join your company's dance group." Meng Fanxi's suggestion wasn't without basis. According to his recollection, the group Fan Na was in in his previous life was more focused on dance. Zhong Chu's dance skills improved a lot under the training of this program. Although he wasn't in that group in his previous life, leaving it might not be impossible for him to get in.
Zhong Chu's eyes lit up for a moment, then dimmed again. It seemed that their company was indeed planning to form a group with outstanding dance skills. He wasn't worried about Fan Na, but he asked uncertainly, "Me? Can I do it?"
"Be confident!" Meng Fanxi encouraged him. "Our 'Wings' beat 'Night Dance'! There are so many amazing dancers in that group!"
Zhong Chu thought about it and realized that was true. It was precisely because the opponents of "Night Dance" were very strong that they faced increased pressure during that period, but fortunately they managed to pull through.
Seeing that Zhong Chu's expression had softened, Meng Fanxi comforted him, "You've already given a perfect performance on the Wings stage, what difficulties can't you overcome?" He paused, "Besides, you're not necessarily going to be eliminated."
He just had a gut feeling that these two wouldn't stop here, he didn't know why.
Fan Na waved his hand, "That estimate is really not going to work."
On the day of the recording, the gloomy weather seemed to foreshadow an exceptionally heavy day.
The production team didn't specify how many people would be eliminated, but they had previously indicated that it would be close to half. Everyone had a heavy expression on their face, and even the fans waiting outside the fence were affected by the atmosphere, whispering words of encouragement.
The studio was rearranged, with the stage decorated in a solemn and serious color scheme. Rows of orderly black chairs were placed below the stage, with each team seated in a designated area.
Eternal Six Stars and WONE sat in the first row. According to the program team's instructions, from left to right, the first to sixth positions were Eternal Six Stars, and the seventh position and the next positions were WONE.
The production team only roughly arranged which row each team would sit in and how many seats they would occupy; they did not arrange who would sit in which seat within each team.
As luck would have it, Jin Ziran sat in the seventh seat, right next to the six eternal stars.
This means that one of the six of them will be sitting next to Jin Ziran...
The game of subtle communication has officially begun.
The camera was filming, and the six people stood frozen in place. Then, in an instant, as if a switch had been flipped, the usually united and friendly team suddenly started scrambling for the first four spots.
Lin Ruohe, who usually doesn't exert pressure as the team leader, sat down neatly in the first seat. "As the team leader, it's not unreasonable for me to sit in the first seat, is it?" Her eyes were full of ease at being the first to sit down.
Zhang Yang quickly sat down in the second seat, saying calmly, "You know, I'm not really suited to sit over there."
Xu You pulled Ren Yuchen behind him to block Meng Fanxi and Gu Huailang, and sat in the third seat. Meng Fanxi was surprised; he hadn't seen Xu You with such strength when the proxy photographer provoked him.
Xu You sighed and said softly, "I'll be furious if I sit down there."
Ren Yuchen coughed, then nimbly pulled Meng Fanxi around and sat down in the fourth seat, saying, "It's not suitable." He and Jin Ziran had also had quite a few grudges.
Gu Huailang watched helplessly as Meng Fanxi sat down in the fifth seat. Meng Fanxi coughed, covered his lips, and said in a low voice, "I'm not really suited for this either." He was the one who exposed Jin Ziran's use of the phone and also let him know that he was the one who discovered the damaged CD. He instinctively disliked sitting next to Jin Ziran.
As the only person who seemed to have no connection with Jin Ziran, Gu Huailang naturally sat in the sixth seat, while Jin Ziran seemed oblivious to everything that was happening.
Before the recording started, the five mentors arrived. While they were setting up the recording equipment on stage, they chatted with the trainees about some interesting things unrelated to the competition. The atmosphere in the room was much more relaxed, but also a bit noisy.
Jin Ziran suddenly blurted out, "Qu Liangze is currently at a boarding school in the suburbs. Because of you, he can no longer be a trainee."
It was clearly meant for Gu Huailang's ears.
Gu Huailang was stunned. Meng Fanxi, who was on his other side, was paying special attention to the commotion on Jin Ziran's side, and naturally heard it all clearly.
Gu Huailang was a little dazed when he heard Qu Liangze's name again, but Meng Fanxi had already learned about Jin Ziran's conspiracy during the previous cell phone incident. He didn't expect that Jin Ziran would still provoke him here despite the punishment from the program team. He leaned over and said in Jin Ziran's direction, "He just received the punishment he deserved. Not everyone can be a trainee. It's the right thing to do is to receive a proper education."
Jin Ziran stopped talking.
Meng Fanxi comforted Gu Huailang, "He's trying to sway your mindset, don't take those words to heart." When they discovered that Jin Ziran was using his phone to contact the outside world and was planning to smear Gu Huailang, he and Ren Yuchen didn't tell Gu Huailang the details of the matter. In order to prevent him from being disturbed by these external factors, they only said that Jin Ziran had a phone and was planning to do something bad. They didn't expect that this person would openly cause trouble on the set of the show.
Gu Huailang hummed in agreement.
Meng Fanxi was no longer going to tolerate it; he remembered that Jin Ziran had already received a yellow card warning.
Two offenses will result in a red card.
He suppressed the contemplation in his eyes.
The recording officially began, and all five mentors were dressed in formal attire, looking serious. There were also an unusually large number of cameras in the room, as if they wanted to capture everyone's reactions from every angle.
After a brief opening, Yun Mengtao got straight to the point: "Now, I announce the first official ranking announcement for 'Team-Based Campaign'. Let's begin."
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