Chapter 18 Meeting
Chapter Summary: The company's decision is...
The rankings for the top 25 contestants in "Chasing the Light" have been announced, with mentor Yu Nannan serving as the host.
With only 12 spots available for advancement, half of the trainees will have to leave.
From the first episode to the current ninth episode, this is the third time the trainees have stood in the studio waiting for the rankings to be announced. Unlike before, when the tension and anxiety about the upcoming brutal elimination were written all over their faces.
Yu Nannan looked at the stage card: "Let's start announcing the trainees from the 10th ranked trainee..."
Lu E stood beside Xia Xinyan, holding her breath nervously.
On the stage of the third performance, she, like the other three trainees, played a supporting role to Xia Xinyan and had no presence at all. The team had originally arranged for her to be on the trending topics list, but without any selling points, the entries could not be pushed up and dropped in a few minutes.
She replayed the live stream video, and there were almost no comments about #LüE#.
The chances of her ranking improving this time are slim, but Lü E still holds onto hope.
"The 7th most liked person is Lü E."
When she heard that her ranking had dropped instead of risen, Lü E felt like she was going to vomit blood. She had to force out an extremely ugly smile because the camera was rolling.
"Zhang Mengyu is ranked 5th in the number of likes."
Zhang Mengyu put in a lot of effort to deliver a stunning performance for the third public performance. However, Guo An, the variety show senior who was expected to boost their group's score, was criticized by netizens for "singing love songs but showing off his skills throughout, singing his own songs with the trainees." As a result, their group's stage votes ranked second to last among the five groups.
She hasn't been sleeping well these past two days, feeling that she has disappointed the national producers who support her, and is very worried about her ranking in the likes.
Upon hearing that she had secured a debut spot, Zhang Mengyu was quite satisfied with the result and breathed a sigh of relief.
"The contestant ranked 4th in terms of likes is Zhou Jingzhu."
The live stream chat was filled with "hahaha":
"Fourth again!"
"Absolutely guaranteed!!"
"Zhou Jingzhu's performance on stage in the third round was good, but unfortunately, her opponents were too strong."
"Haha, the rankings are unchanging."
Zhou Jingzhu calmly nodded when she heard her ranking.
Next, we'll announce the contestant who ranked third in likes.
The atmosphere in the room suddenly became tense. In addition to the top 3 in popularity, there were two spots for 11th and 12th place that had not yet been announced, but most of the trainees already knew their results and were feeling very down.
Upon hearing that the third place winner was about to be announced, everyone's ears perked up.
Mu Zhi won the popularity crown for the third public performance. Will her online popularity ranking climb higher? Xia Xinyan has maintained her record of being number one in likes since the first episode. Will that be broken? It's all so intriguing.
Xia Xinyan, Liu Cai, and Mu Zhi were then invited offstage.
Yu Nannan looked at the three of them and slowly announced the answer: "The one ranked 3rd in likes is..."
"Liu Cai has received a total of 1,628,932 likes. Congratulations."
Upon hearing that Liu Cai had come in third place, Xia Xinyan's face, which was trying hard to hide her emotions, revealed a hint of nervousness.
So the second and first place rankings are between her and Mu Zhi.
Mu Zhi won the popularity award, accumulating 10,000 likes.
She has the help of generous fans who "donate to charity," and she has also accumulated 10,000 likes.
The two are on the same starting line. Judging from the previous rankings, Xia Xinyan feels that she has the advantage of accumulated popularity, but Mu Zhi's popularity has been soaring in the last two performances. She is very strong and should not be underestimated.
This was the last ranking announcement, and Xia Xinyan really didn't want to lose. She secretly prayed anxiously that she would retain her title.
Sometimes, what you fear most comes to pass.
The more you try to grasp something, the less likely you are to get it.
"The second most liked person is..." As Yu Nannan deliberately drew out her voice, the live stream camera switched back and forth between Mu Zhi and Xia Xinyan.
"Xia Xinyan!" The camera stopped on Xia Xinyan's slightly surprised face.
Meanwhile, the results of the number one ranking in likes have also been released. Following her popularity in the third performance, Mu Zhi has once again taken the number one spot in the online likes ranking!
Mu Zhi and Xia Xinyan gave each other a friendly hug in front of the camera. Mu Zhi had expected this result, but she was also pleasantly surprised. She predicted that she had a high chance of ranking second.
I never expected to win against Xia Xinyan.
It has reached the top spot in popularity.
After Xia Xin finished her speech, it was Mu Zhi's turn.
The trainees clapped and congratulated her, but the camera cut to Lü E, whose expression was blank and who didn't even bother to offer a smile. The drop in her individual ranking was more infuriating to Lü E than Mu Zhi taking first place.
"Zhizhi, would you like to share your feelings right now?"
Mu Zhi didn't know if she would have another chance to say goodbye to the stage, so she took this opportunity to thank the national producers who supported her.
"Winning first place is every trainee's goal. I never thought I could stand here. Thank you to every national producer for your likes and votes. Thank you for making my dream come true. I also want to thank the four mentors and every member of the production team."
He bowed to the camera.
Then, looking at the camera, he said, "I will remember this feeling, and I hope that in the future I can see more beautiful scenery with you all."
If this is her farewell to the show, Mu Zhi hopes that what she leaves behind is a smile.
After saying that, she flashed a bright smile.
Mu Zhi's farewell speech evoked a sense of sadness and reluctance in the other trainees. They wondered if their fans would continue to support them after leaving the stage...
After the final two spots were announced...
Thirteen trainees were eliminated from the show. They took turns giving farewell speeches, and most of them held back their tears in front of the camera. But when the recording ended, a wave of sadness washed over them, and the girls ended up crying and hugging each other in small groups.
It's not sadness, it's more of a sense of regret.
It's a pity we couldn't go all the way; it's a pity my first journey to pursue my dream ended here.
The recording of the 25-to-12 round has ended.
Zhou Jingzhu noticed that Mu Zhi was in low spirits and assumed it was because of the atmosphere surrounding the elimination of other trainees.
They proactively revealed why they were certain Mu Zhi would win first place.
He pulled out his phone from his lower back again: "The magazine we shot for Bazaar announced last night that it would be available for pre-sale this morning, so I specifically checked Weibo before the show recording. As soon as the magazine's official Weibo posted the pre-sale link at 10 o'clock sharp, it sold out in a second."
Last night's preview only showed a group photo on the cover.
After the pre-sale sold out, the magazine released a few more photos to whet the appetites of its fans.
Mu Zhi has 3 photos. The first photo is a group photo of 48 trainees. The second photo is a group photo of Mu Zhi, Liu Caixia, and Xin Yan. The third photo is a solo photo.
A fashion blogger shared a picture on Weibo, praising Mu Zhi's beautiful face and excellent posing skills, saying that the photos she took were high-quality and on a completely different level from other inexperienced trainees.
The Weibo post received tens of thousands of likes and went viral.
Mu Zhi gained another wave of followers.
The comments are all full of praise!
"Last night, the seventh episode of 'Chasing the Light Girl' was released online. Did you know that you were trending on social media because of the Aipai phone ad and this morning's magazine cover? Especially the Aipai phone model that you advertised, many people bought it because of your beauty filter. More than 10,000 units were sold last night!"
In the past two days, Mu Zhi's popularity and attention have continued to rise.
The sales figures of Aipai phones further demonstrate Muzhi's appeal and the countless supporters hidden behind her.
Therefore, Zhou Jingzhu believed that Mu Zhi could win first place!
Mu Zhi: "...My phone was taken away by the staff yesterday at noon."
They had no idea they were trending on social media.
Zhou Jingzhu sighed, realizing that Mu Zhi's professionalism in shooting covers and commercials was nothing like that of a newcomer, but she was really a newbie when it came to following the program's rules.
"I still have my phone in my dorm, can I borrow this one?"
"...Thank you, but no need."
Mu Zhi does need her phone. Yesterday, before she handed it in, her former agent, Shang Jian, called again, saying he would come over at noon today and they would contact each other then.
But she couldn't remember Shang Jian's number.
What you need is your own phone.
It must have been Sister Mei who instructed the staff that Mu Zhi was able to get her phone back smoothly and had reported it to the staff member in charge of her.
At noon, Mu Zhi went out alone to meet her agent, Shang Jian, with her phone in her pocket.
The meeting place was a coffee shop.
It takes Mu Zhi 20 minutes to get here by taxi, so she found a seat.
After waiting for 10 minutes.
A man around 40 years old, with his hair dyed a granny gray, wearing sunglasses and carrying a handbag, walked over.
Shang Jian sat down in the seat opposite him, took off his glasses and placed them on the table, and began to look Mu Zhi up and down.
He almost didn't recognize me after just over two months.
When Xinghe Culture signed Mu Zhi to manage the company, Shang Jian agreed after meeting her; Mu Zhi's face was such a great advantage.
He felt that with proper nurturing, it would be a promising seedling that could become a money-making machine.
Various courses were arranged, but after a month of training and testing, disappointment was inevitable. "Muzhi" had no talent for acting, no sense of pitch, and although she had a foundation in folk dance as a child, she couldn't even dance a girl group dance well after a month of dance classes.
Tests on emotional intelligence and communication skills were also poor; the individual was introverted, not good at socializing, and did not know how to express themselves.
He put pressure on Mu Zhi, but instead of becoming more resilient, he only lost confidence due to his own setbacks, and his ability to withstand pressure was also very weak.
Shang Jian manages three artists and a new boy group. The company attaches great importance to this year's talent show season. After careful consideration, they have temporarily given up on Mu Zhi and focused on the boy group that Xinghe Culture has been developing for a year, as well as the careers of artists such as Lin Xuan, the top female artist.
Mu Zhi trained for two months and mastered a girl group dance. She and another girl were sent to participate in "Chasing the Light Girl". Shang Jian thought that he would make it to as many episodes as possible, just to show his face, gain some fans and attention.
We'll consider how to plan Muzhi's development later.
After the broadcast of the show "Chasing the Light Girl", from the first episode to the fourth episode, the online public opinion surrounding Mu Zhi followed the trend that Shang Jian had predicted, and he stopped paying attention to it after that.
The woman sitting in front of him now was so beautiful that she was impossible to ignore. It wasn't just her superficial beauty, but also a kind of inner and outer charm.
His eyes were no longer naive, but sparkling with confidence and determination.
Shang Jian sighed inwardly, realizing that he had also misjudged someone: "Mu Zhi, congratulations on taking the number 1 spot in the likes ranking for 'Chasing the Light Girl'. You have indeed lived up to the company's careful cultivation of you."
"Let's have a small celebration first. What would you like to eat? Order whatever you like, it's on me."
After his last phone call with Mu Zhi, Shang Jian watched the second performance of "Chasing the Light Girl" the next day, which shook his perception of Mu Zhi. The trainees were in seclusion for rehearsals and their phones were confiscated, making it difficult to contact them.
I watched the live stream of the third performance the day before yesterday, waiting for Mu Zhi to contact me, but she didn't.
As an agent, he also had his own pride, until yesterday when he received a call from Mu Zhi discussing the cooperation with the Owl platform.
Today, she once again topped the popularity rankings in terms of likes, becoming a hot candidate for debuting in the center position.
Shang Jian dared not be negligent towards Mu Zhi any longer.
Mu Zhi didn't have a good impression of her agent, Shang Jian, who was a typical businessman who focused on profits.
She patiently exchanged a few pleasantries with the other party.
He then proactively inquired, "Mr. Shang, what is the company's decision regarding the cooperation proposal from the Owl platform? Can I sign the contract?"
Sitting opposite him, Shang Jian had a deep look on his face, as if he was considering how to start the conversation.
After a long silence, he slowly said, "It's like this, the company's senior management held a meeting for an entire afternoon to discuss your matter. After weighing various factors and careful consideration, they decided on this contract with the Owl platform for your long-term development..."
"We cannot sign."
This decision was exactly what Mu Zhi wanted.
But he didn't show his displeasure on his face, and asked urgently, feigning ignorance, "President Shang, why can't we sign?"
"If I don't sign, can I still debut as part of the group?"
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