Chapter 44 Huaning TV Station 4
Xia Bai came back with a blank face.
Yang Mei came over to comfort him, "I just like your performance the most."
The producer turned around with a sullen face when he heard the voice, but when he saw that one of them was the only trainee he gave an A to and the other was the trainee with the highest rating, he turned back again.
Xia Bai was only slightly sad. He was originally indifferent, and when he came back, there was nothing left. He nodded to Yang Mei and whispered, "I think my performance is also meaningful."
Yang Mei nodded vigorously, "That's why I was attracted to you at that time."
Ling Changye: “…”
There were two players left, and they quickly went up to finish their performances.
One was a volunteer, and not surprisingly, he only got an F for his mediocre violin performance.
One was the president of the Half Moon Group, You Mohan. Unexpectedly, he did not use any skills and performed a sacrificial dance that looked like an exotic sacrificial dance, but he only got an F.
There were a total of 44 players who performed on stage non-stop. They had been under high pressure for nearly three hours. It was already past one in the morning in the game. Everyone was exhausted, and their nerves were difficult to relax, and they were tense at all times.
The three judges were sitting in the front and no one knew what they were talking about. They didn't move and the players didn't dare to leave.
After about 20 minutes, the three judges stood up. The producer in the middle held up the list and said, "Based on the ratings from the first stage, we have divided you into three categories."
He said three categories, not three groups.
Then, he read out the list, "Top trainees: Yang Mei, Ling Changye, Shi Danfeng, Liu Qiang, Liao Manni, Tang Ying, Feng Sheng, a total of 7 trainees."
These 7 people are all rated non-F.
"Middle-level trainees: You Mohan, Wang Qiu, Sun Lijie... 13 trainees in total."
These 13 all received F in the initial ratings, but they are not hopeless. Many viewers gave them other ratings, and they all had one thing in common: they all looked good.
"Low-level trainees: Xia Bai, Zhong Zicang, Zhang Runyue... 24 trainees in total."
There is no need to say much about these 24 people; the word "inferior" is enough to define them.
"Top trainees are automatically grouped into top groups, middle trainees are automatically grouped into middle groups, and bottom trainees are automatically grouped into bottom groups."
The producer said, "From now on, all your activities and treatment in 404 will be based on your level, but the level is not fixed. The only thing that is fixed is your group. It doesn't matter if you are a low-level trainee this week. Don't give up and work hard to become a high-level trainee."
"Let me tell you the rules of the competition. There will be competitions and assessments every week for the next four weeks, including two individual performance assessments and two team performance competitions."
"The individual assessment will refine the trainees' grades. The first one will be on Sunday of the first week. All those with an individual assessment rating of F will be eliminated. The second individual assessment will eliminate all those with an individual assessment rating of E or below. Trainees from top groups will have one chance to perform again."
"The team performance competition is also called the category competition. The worst group will eliminate the bottom 30% of the group and at least 2 trainees. At the same time, the worst group will become the bottom trainee group. The middle group will eliminate the bottom 10% of the group and at least 1 trainee. Only the best group will not be eliminated and will become the top trainee group."
The players were caught off guard by the rules of the game.
Originally they were the Travel Management Bureau, the Holy Travel Guild and the Half Moon Group, but now the people of the three groups have been disrupted and divided into three groups again, and they will have to compete with each other for their lives in the future.
They didn't know how to play this game.
At the same time, the players in the lower group were desperate. They had seen clearly that the upper levels were almost all skilled bosses, and there were also many powerful bosses in the middle group. The president of the Half Moon Group was there.
They definitely can't beat those in the top group. Even the middle group is too difficult to beat. They have to be eliminated from their group every time. Seven people were eliminated the first time, not to mention the individual competition. How can they reach E level or above?
Producer: “Any questions about the groups and the competition?”
A player from the lower group raised his hand and asked, "Excuse me, Producer, if I get a C grade in the personal assessment rating, what is my status?"
According to his ranking on the first stage, he should be a top trainee.
Producer: "Individual assessment only affects individual level, not group level. If your group is a lower level group at that time, then you will be a C-level trainee in the lower level group. If your group is a higher level group at that time, then you will be a C-level trainee in the higher level group. Starting from the next competition, trainees will be strictly divided into individual levels according to A, B, C, and D."
In other words, they are tied to the group.
Even if he is a trainee of the lowest level, as long as his group gets the best result in the group competition and becomes a top group, he will not be eliminated in the group competition.
A trainee from the middle group raised his hand and asked, "If we are eliminated, then... will we leave the 404 program team?"
He asked very uncertainly, perhaps even he himself felt it was unlikely.
All players were very concerned about this issue. The essence of the issue was player punishment, and they all looked at the three judges.
The three judges all smiled, and they all looked very similar, happy and weird. The producer just said, "No, Luoqing is not a heartless thing, why are you leaving?"
What's the meaning?
Without giving them a chance to ask more questions, the producer continued, "You may feel that the rating criteria are not clear enough. The initial stage with the participation of online audiences is indeed not that accurate. I will now explain this important issue to you again."
"If you want to debut as an idol, first you need to be good-looking, and second you need to be talented. Facial expressions are the foundation of all competitions. With these two foundations, we will add traffic and fans to the evaluation criteria for later competitions."
"I think you all know the direction of your efforts."
I know the direction, but how should I work hard? Is hard work really useful?
The producer said, "Let me introduce you to the staff of our program team."
"To my right." He pointed to the physical education teacher. She was not the only one there. "This is our physical education teacher for 404. She is responsible for the two basics, [appearance], which also includes everything related to your expression management, trainee etiquette, etc. Behind her are the members of her work team, including makeup artists, stylists, beauticians, nutritionists, etc."
"To my left." He pointed to the talent instructor. "This is your celebrity senior, and also our talent instructor for this season. She is in charge of the two basic middle [talents]. Behind her is her work group, all of whom are experts. You can consult them on any talent issues you have."
"I am the producer of 404, and the people behind me are my team members. We will pay attention to your popularity, audience popularity, traffic and fans, and other data, and we will also be responsible for your daily life."
At this point, the players thought that the night was going to end. They were already exhausted, and were bombarded with these competition rules and the clues to the gameplay behind them. They felt dizzy and needed to go back and sort them out, but they didn't expect it was not over yet.
"At the end of tonight," the producer said, "each of your three groups will select a captain to lead and manage the internal affairs of your group. Let's start with the top group."
The bald man immediately raised his hand and said, "Producer, I would like to recommend myself to be the captain."
"We disagree." Ling Changye and Shi Danfeng said at the same time.
Guang You snorted coldly and looked at them with a sneer, "Then I won't agree if any of you want to be the captain!"
“Bang!”
"ah!"
As soon as the bald man finished speaking, the whip in the physical education teacher's hand started to dance again and was swung directly at the bald man, tearing a piece of bone from his arm.
"Didn't I warn you? Is this how you talk to high-level trainees?" Her voice was sharp and piercing. "Next time if you do this, the whip won't land on your arms, but on your face. Do you understand?"
The bald man was sweating from the pain. Before the initial evaluation, he saw two players rolling on the ground after being whipped, and he thought those two players were useless. When he was actually whipped, he realized that he had no ability to fight back under the whip, and the protective props he secretly added to his body were useless.
The others were too scared to even breathe when they saw the bald man being beaten like this. They deeply realized the difference in rank between the trainees and between the trainees and the judges, the respect and inferiority wrapped in etiquette.
The trainees in the top group couldn't help but look at Yang Mei.
Yang Mei was bewildered: "Ah, you want me to be the captain? But I don't even understand the rules of the game."
“…”
Yang Mei: "I suggest that Ling Changye be the captain, is that okay?"
The bald man's blood has already pooled on the ground, who dares to say no?
As soon as Yang Mei finished speaking, the producer did not listen to other people's opinions and directly said: "The captain of the top group is Ling Changye, what about the middle group?"
The middle group is all F-grade, unlike the upper group which has different levels, but this group has You Mohan, the president of the Half Moon Group, who is also the first person in the middle group to have his name called by the producer, so the captain of the middle group is You Mohan.
The lower group was even simpler. Volunteers had the greatest advantage in their personnel composition, and their team leader became their student union president, Zhong Zicang.
After selecting the captain, they can finally go back and rest.
The dormitory is on the second floor underground. Walking down a narrow staircase, it is even damper and darker downstairs than upstairs.
The trainees in the upper group live in single rooms, those in the middle group live in double rooms, and those in the lower group live in six-person rooms.
When they were assigning dormitories, they talked for a while. There were only four rooms in total for the lower group, but there were 9 female players and 15 male players, and there was also the problem of men and women living together.
The top group didn't have this problem, nor did the middle group. They had 13 people and 7 rooms, with one person living alone in one room. Shi Danfeng invited You Mohan to live in his room. They were already a couple, so there was no problem at all. However, some people still showed obscene expressions.
Yang Mei looked at Xia Bai eagerly, and Xia Bai quickly turned his head and pretended not to see her.
In the end, a double room was vacated by the middle group and given to the three girls from the lower group to stay in.
At this time, there is no deep sense of group hostility between them, because different groups have people from their own communities, and they will help each other.
By the time they finally got into bed, it was past three in the morning.
Not only do the trainees in the lower-level group have to squeeze six people into one room, the room is also very small, just like a hard sleeper on a train. There is a bed frame on each side of the small room. Each bed frame has an upper bunk, a middle bunk and a lower bunk. The size of the beds is also the standard for hard sleepers. Moreover, the bed frames are rusted and shaky. If one person turns over, three people will sway.
I don’t know how long the bedding has been here, and how many people have used it. It is damp and dirty. It feels heavy when I pick it up, and it smells musty.
The cheapest transparent light bulb flickered faintly on the mold-covered roof.
Needless to say, there is no balcony or toilet. You have to queue up in the public toilet outside.
"What is this!" An intern kicked the bed frame in annoyance, kicking off a few pieces of green paint.
The six people in this room had all been scolded and scared on stage, and were severely frustrated. They had also listened to a series of competition rules that were unfavorable to them, felt the level differences between the trainees, and then saw this dark, damp and narrow living room. It was really easy for them to lose control.
"Is this a place for rats to live in? Yes, we are rats! We are hated by everyone!"
Zhong Zicang said: "Don't be like this, as long as we work hard, we will definitely be able to turn things around."
"How did they turn things around? They have so many skilled players, ha, did they learn singing and dancing by practicing hard?"
"President, on the way to Quanguang City, didn't you say you would take us all back to school?"
Zhong Zicang was speechless.
The boy regretted it after he finished speaking. They all knew that the one who was most uncomfortable and under the greatest pressure was Zhong Zicang. They were originally going to leave Quanguang City and return to school, but who could have thought that they would be dragged into the game like this?
The boy at the top of the door said coldly, "Is that funny? We decided to come to the TV station on our own. We can't take our anger out on the president."
The boy who was talking glanced at Zhong Zicang and said, "I'm sorry, President Zhong, I just..."
"It's okay." Zhong Zicang smiled. Under the dim light, his face behind his glasses was very pale. He said, "Although we may not be able to surpass the top group, the middle group and we are both at the F level. We can surpass them if we work hard. This way, we can live in a spacious double room and reduce the elimination of teammates."
"But there are a few skilled players in the middle group." The boy was still very unconfident.
Zhong Zicang said: "They are still F-rank even with their skills, and Captain Ling got C-rank without using any skills. This is not a pure skill competition. As long as we think hard about our talents, we can get good results. You know, C-rank players will not be eliminated even in the second round of solos."
His words comforted the boys in the room.
All the people living in their room were volunteers from the Peace Medical College. Xia Bai lay on the bed frame opposite the door without saying a word, holding the family tree and listening to them.
Zhong Zicang: "Don't think too much. If you still have energy, think about what you want to perform as a soloist. Tomorrow you can brainstorm and see if it can be optimized."
Seeing that they were all stable, Zhong Zicang also got on the bed. As he climbed up, he patted Xia Bai's ankle and said, "Xia Bai, today's performance was very meaningful."
Xia Bai hummed, knowing that he was afraid of being scolded by so many viewers for being depressed, and said, "I think so too, thank you senior."
Zhong Zicang was the last one to lie on the bed, and their dormitory fell silent. Each of them was thinking quietly or sadly about their own tomorrow.
The other dormitories in the lower group and the dormitories in the middle group were very similar to theirs, all of them were overwhelmed by the pressure and felt hopeless.
In the fourth dormitory of the top group, Liao Manni climbed onto the bald man's soft and wide bed like a snake and breathed into his ear coquettishly, "Brother Qiang, do you miss me?"
The bald man turned over and pressed her under him, saying hastily, "I started thinking about you when you were dancing on the stage. Come and help me relieve the pain."
In the third dormitory of the top group, You Mohan and Shi Danfeng had washed up. You Mohan made a bed on the floor beside the bed. Before going to sleep, he looked up at Shi Danfeng and said with a smile, "Ah Feng, good night."
Shi Danfeng was also smiling at him. Maybe thin people tend to look older. Her fleshless face had obvious wrinkles when she smiled, but those wrinkles gave her a gentle feeling of age. She said, "Good night."
After saying that, she reached down and You Mohan reached up at the same time. They held hands together and caressed each other. It was very intimate, with their fingers intertwined, but there was no eroticism.
"We're going to get out, right?"
"Yes, let's go out and continue looking for Yueyue."
In the second room of the upper class group, Ling Changye had already fallen asleep.
In the first room of the superior group, Yang Mei was still struggling over what to say so that Xia Bai would come and live with him.
This night, there are different emotions in different rooms, just like different lives.
“Ding-ling-ling!——”
Xia Bai felt like he hadn't slept for long when he was woken up by the ringing of the phone.
He vaguely heard someone swear, "It's only fucking five o'clock!"
At five in the morning, the bell rang and called them to get up and prepare for the first week's solos.
The trainees were cursing one after another, but none of them stayed in bed. They all knew that the individual assessment was a matter of life and death, and no one would slack off. In fact, some of them set the alarm for five o'clock.
The room for top trainees was closest to the stairs. When Xia Bai walked there, he just happened to see Ling Changye and Yang Mei walking out of their rooms.
"Good morning." Ling Changye said, "Yesterday's performance was good."
Xia Bai: “…”
Ling Changye glanced at his dumbfounded and stiff face and said, "I'm serious. You were also testing me, weren't you? And you tested me out."
Xia Bai raised his eyes, and his round almond-shaped eyes focused all their light on him, "You know?"
Ling Changye: "When you were performing, many audience members asked you to stop. I even saw a comment that said [Waste of natural resources]."
Xia Bai looked at him for a few more seconds and said nothing.
Yang Mei was confused, "What are you talking about? What are you testing?"
Why does he feel like he's not on the same wavelength as them?
Ling Changye said: "Ghosts all want a home."
He was right. Xia Bai's performance yesterday had the purpose of popularizing science, and also had the function of testing. There are many folk legends similar to the legend of being possessed by ghosts. One of them is that the ghost scares away or destroys the soul of a person, snatches away the body of the person, and lives in the world instead of him.
There is something similar in the corpse-carrying that his grandfather told him. The corpse driver must always be careful to make sure his god of joy is not "taken over" by wandering ghosts.
Many ghosts are very greedy for intact corpses. Ling Changye used a very vivid expression to say that ghosts who have been wandering in the form of souls for a long time really want a home and want to experience the life that they have been missing for a long time in a physical way.
This corpse is to them what a house is to a human being, with perhaps a car and some emotions thrown in. It can be said to be their deepest desire.
If this is true, and starting from this desire, the performances produced will certainly be no worse than those performed by ordinary happy ghost audiences.
Yang Mei still didn't understand, "What do you mean? Are we going to perform a ghost house show? But I can only choose one identity card per game, and the captain can only have two ghost identities if he copies one."
Ling Changye: "Based on your IQ, this question is indeed difficult for you. Just let yourself go."
“…”
There are house numbers on the doors of the practice rooms on the underground first floor, which are divided into [Upper Group], [Middle Group] and [Lower Group]. The other one is a public practice room.
【Please all trainees come to the studio for a morning meeting. 】
The studio had also changed its appearance, with a brand new set of seats, but there were only 20 of them. There were seven red single sofas in the first row and thirteen purple chairs in the second row. It was obvious that the first row was for top trainees, the second row for middle trainees, and the bottom trainees could only stand and listen.
This show really reminds us of the differences in trainee status everywhere.
On the stage, three judges were already sitting there.
"Please take your seats, trainees," said the producer.
When you see the top and middle trainees sitting down while the bottom trainees can only stand, it's hard not to feel disappointed, especially after sleeping on a hard, damp and small iron bed for a night.
The second-rate trainees sitting in the crowded and stiff seats might feel disappointed when they see the top-rate trainees sitting on the soft and comfortable sofas in front of them.
It was only the second day and they already felt an imbalance.
The producer said, "Today is Monday, let's talk about this week's tasks. Of course, I briefly mentioned last night that this Sunday we will be performing a solo assessment performance."
"Just like the first stage, our individual assessment performance will also be broadcast live online. This is the first competition performance, there will be more audiences, and our scoring will be stricter and more standardized. Now I will announce the scoring criteria."
"The judges and the audience will rate each trainee on stage based on their appearance and talent, with appearance accounting for 60% and talent accounting for 40%. The audience rating will account for 90% of the final score, and the judges' rating will account for 10% of the final score."
The players were surprised to hear that the appearance of this performance was 20% higher than the talent, some were happy and some were sad.
The physical education teacher seemed to see through their thoughts. She asked sharply, "What's wrong? Isn't this very realistic?"
It's true. Damn ironic reality.
Even her laughter was sharp. "Some trainees shouldn't be too happy too soon. Not many of you are good-looking. I'm in my office on the third floor underground. If you have any aesthetic questions, feel free to come and see me."
"Also, I remind you that it's best to practice your expression management at all times. Don't be so jumpy. This is a very important aspect of appearance. The audience doesn't like to see a bitter face. Learn from your excellent senior sisters."
The trainees immediately looked at the talent instructor, who had just been informed that the talent she was responsible for only accounted for 40%. She still maintained a happy and standard smile, as if she had no emotions of her own, looking eerie and chilling.
Many of them subconsciously stretched their lips like they did last night.
The talent show instructor said, "I'm also in the office on the third floor below ground. If you have any questions about talent shows, you can come and ask me."
"Yes." The producer said, "You will practice freely in the corresponding practice rooms this week. The judges will not give you any tasks. They will just wait for you in the office downstairs and answer your questions and solve your problems when you have any questions or difficulties."
"Well, everyone go practice and look forward to your performances this weekend. Remember, all those rated F will be eliminated this time, so you must have a breakthrough performance."
The trainees returned to their respective practice rooms.
The pressure of soloing is too great this time. According to the last rating, 37 people will be eliminated. The rating this time may be stricter, and they may not be able to reach the mark even if they try their best.
In the practice room of the lower-level group, a group of people discussed over and over again but couldn't find any good ideas, and the atmosphere became increasingly anxious.
Zhong Zicang saw that Xia Bai had not spoken and didn't know what he was thinking. He knew that Xia Bai was a player who had played the game before and was not as stupid as he looked. He asked him, "Xia Bai, what are you thinking about?"
Xia Bai: "I'm wondering what this program is going to turn us into. Do we have to become like the talent teachers to pass the level?"
They suddenly realized that there was a correct ultimate direction and a successful case right beside them - an outstanding graduate talent coach.
Thinking back to her appearance, Xia Bai murmured, "Was she like this at the beginning? What did she go through? What did she perform on the stage where she became the champion?"
The author has something to say:
Yang Mei: Is it just because of IQ that I’m not on the same channel with them?
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