Chapter 21

When he said this, he didn't look like a young man in his early twenties.

After finishing speaking, Li Chu straightened his clothes a little, glanced at him one last time, tilted his head and said, "Why aren't you leaving yet? Do you have anything else to say? I still have to record a show later."

The expression on his face quickly returned to that of a pure and innocent little white rabbit, looking very harmless.

Only then did Shen Huai realize that he had found more than just an extraordinary person to be used as a pawn.

Li Chu is a complete lunatic.

But it is simply unbelievable that such a madman would trust Su Ning so much at this moment. He hated him to the core just a few days ago, but now he stands firmly on his side.

Not only Li Chu, but also someone of Liang Xiaoliang's status, when he came in today, he saw him and Su Ning standing there chatting and laughing, which was enough to prove the rumor in the industry that it was indeed Su Ning who persuaded Qilin to participate in the competition after just a meal.

It was that fool Su Ning who was once good for nothing.

In the end, Shen Huai, who was full of anger, could only vent it on the table. He couldn't stay here for too long, and he said something harsh before leaving.

"You wait."

Just wait, Li Chu is not afraid.

He had experienced many ups and downs in his life, so what was Shen Huai? During the time when his family fell into poverty and he dropped out of school and returned to China, he had seen even more vicious faces.

Many people in this circle are like this. They usually pretend to be so righteous, but once the fire burns on themselves, they lose all their dignity and vent their emotions to others. Even Zhou Chunqing, who has a very good and gentle personality, became emotionally unstable for a long time.

Except... Young Master.

Su Ning seemed to have never blamed anyone else, and even at the moment he had no suspicion, and still felt that he was just implicated innocently.

"Don't be afraid."

Su Ning didn't ask any more questions and comforted him. He immediately started to solve the problem, quickly asked someone to come in and clean up, and immediately called the makeup artist back.

By the time Zhou Chunqing found the accessories on her clothes and came back, everything in the dressing room had calmed down, as if nothing had happened.

"Just now, that team leader Liu called me over for no apparent reason and said something that made me so anxious," the makeup artist complained as she ran over with sweat on her forehead, "Luckily you came to find me in time, otherwise I would have missed it."

After Li Chu changed her clothes, she quickly started to put on makeup.

Even though she was a step late, Li Chu didn't get angry and didn't say anything. She said, "Sister, don't worry, I won't be on stage that soon." She had a very good first impression of this little newcomer. He was very cute, with big eyes and curly eyelashes. His obedient look was really likable. So she said that it was no big deal if the foundation was accidentally broken, and she could just get a new bottle.

Moreover, the young master who she watched from the light and shadow entertainment center was also particularly attentive to him, just like he was taking care of a child, and would chatter to him while sitting in a chair at the back.

"The production team will collect your phone soon. Just focus on the competition and don't worry about anything else."

"The stage is the most important thing. Don't let anyone else disturb you."

"I'll take care of the outside stuff."

He seems to be some old father.

The makeup artist and Zhou Chunqing who was sitting next to her thought silently.

As for Li Chu, who kept nodding obediently, he had another idea in his mind.

——Shen Huai still wants to tie him down with an engagement. How can a person like that be worthy of him? Even if he wasn't worthy of her before, let alone now, Shen Huai is not even worthy of carrying the shoes of the young master.

It would be best if these things could scare him now, but the young master is very clear-headed about this kind of thing, and he seems to dislike Shen Huai very much during this period. He should not be easily fooled by someone like that from the Shen family.

As for what Shen Huai said about Guangying Entertainment being about to go bankrupt, Li Chu did not completely believe it. The company might have some problems now, he could see it with his own eyes, but the old Mr. Su's family was famous for being wealthy, it did not make sense for it to lose all of its money all of a sudden.

It is not too late for the heir Su Ning to step up now, and there will be a chance to turn the tide, so in the long run, Li Chu is now more inclined to trust him.

Li Chu was just thinking about it when someone knocked on the door the next second.

It’s Shen Mingzheng.

He came in just to find Su Ning: "Director Chen is calling you. We need to finalize the process and stage. It's almost time to start. Let's go."

The worried old father Su Ning hesitated for a moment, but did not move. He glanced at Li Chu again and said, "I can't let it go."

He originally wanted to explain, but it was difficult to open his mouth with so many people around. However, Shen Mingzheng seemed to not need him to say more. He understood with just one glance at Li Chu. He didn't think he was troublesome. He turned around and made a phone call and came back two minutes later.

"I've said hello to the people here and asked a team of security guards to come and watch over the dressing room. The show is about to start recording, so there won't be any idle people waiting here. Chen Tao is also here to help watch over it, so nothing will go wrong," Shen Mingzheng said, "Do you have any other questions?"

Su Ning: “No more.”

Mr. Shen is really reliable.

He stood up and left. Li Chu wanted to say something, but as he had important business to attend to, he just watched Shen Mingzheng leave with his men.

He didn't know if it was an illusion, but he always felt that Shen Mingzheng looked at him again when he led his people away, as if he saw through something but just didn't say it out loud.

Li Chu intuitively felt that this so-called Mr. Shen was no ordinary person.

Although he had helped me and my sister, he was a member of the Shen family after all, so it was hard to say whether he was good or bad.

The most important thing is that this person took the young master away as soon as he appeared.

Su Ning was quite chattering when he was here, but now his voice was gone. Zhou Chunqing was afraid that he would be recognized because his voice was too young and didn't match his attire, so he kept silent. The whole dressing room became quiet, and Li Chu was a little uncomfortable again.

It would be a lie to say that he wasn't nervous; he really wanted Su Ning to be with him.

Su Ning didn't have any extra thoughts. He watched the program schedule outside and found no problems. It was only when the instructor was rehearsing the program that Shen Huai appeared. The scene was a little quiet. His face looked normal and there was no sign of anything unusual.

The other instructors were also veterans, and it seemed as if they had no idea what was happening online. All interactions were normal, at least on the surface.

The first part of the qualifying round recorded today roughly followed the scoring and selection process of the first episode of the show, where students entered one by one, then began their individual performances, and then the mentor team gave different levels of evaluation such as S, A, and B.

There are only two Ss among the ten people. The contestants with higher evaluations will have more choices in the next stage, the performance, including choosing songs, teammates, and even greater competitiveness for the C position in the performance.

The mentor team consists of seven people, not all of them are stars. In addition to scoring in the first episode, they mainly provide guidance in the three professional areas of vocal, dance, and rapper.

Su Ning guessed that Shen Huai might have a subjective influence on the system of this link, but he could not change it at will because of his own preference. Although he was the representative of the investor, it was reasonable to replicate the preliminary process, and according to the contract, the program team could not fire Shen Huai or deprive him of his scoring rights because of the scandal.

However, even if Shen Huai's scoring has an impact, it will not play a decisive role in the seven-person tutor team, and it is even more impossible for him to act arbitrarily and blatantly engage in unfairness.

Besides, the audience also has eyes. If the mentor's evaluation does not match the performance on stage, some audience members will speak up for the contestants. The final qualification is still decided by the public vote, and the mentor's partiality will not have any effect.

When the tutors were ready and the media were gradually seated in the audience, Su Ning saw Jiang Chenfeng among them.

Young Master Jiang hadn't fully recovered from the broken bones he sustained last time, and he had a sullen face and seemed to be in a very bad mood. It was not until before the recording started that he exchanged glances with Shen Huai, who was standing in the instructor's seat nearby, that his expression improved a little.

Su Ning brought Zhou Chunqing, who was dressed in a dress, and sat behind director Chen Yuan's monitor with Shen Mingzheng. He stared at several shots and soon discovered their little exchange.

Just as he expected, it should be a real collaboration, but under so many cameras, these two people...can't do anything, right?

uncertain.

Thinking of what happened in the dressing room, Su Ning frowned.

He lowered his head to think for a while, then looked at the time. Twenty minutes before the official start of the program, he lowered his head and walked over to talk to Chen Yuan and Shen Mingzheng.

The three of them were seated in a small triangle, so only the two of them could hear what Su Ning said after he walked over. After hearing what he said, Chen Yuan looked a little surprised, and then asked, "...Are you really going to do this? So urgent? The recording is about to start."

"It's okay. I think there's enough time. It won't affect this." Su Ning saw Chen Yuan hesitated and immediately appealed to Shen Mingzheng for an alliance. "I just think that the show will be better if we do it this way. What do you think, Mr. Shen?"

Shen Mingzheng looked at him: "You came up with this idea on a whim. Even if I deny it now, you won't give up in the remaining time, right?"

Su Ning: “Yes.”

"Then let's try his idea," Shen Mingzheng said, "There's still time. I'll go find someone."

After he made the decision, Chen Yuan had nothing to say, so she nodded and took out her cell phone to make a few calls.

I don't know when it started, but this Mr. Shen always seems to be on Su Ning's side.

The three of them discussed in a very low voice, and nothing they said was revealed. Zhou Chunqing, who was sitting next to them, didn't hear it clearly. But she didn't care much about it and never said anything or got involved. After all, the most important thing in her eyes was Li Chu's stage. When the show started recording smoothly after the time came, she was already relieved.

The first shot shows the door to the hallway being pushed open, and the first students to come out for the qualifying round are of course the three who have received the resurrection spots, and they come in together.

The three of them were familiar with the routine and the camera, and they were able to greet each other and exchange a few words. In particular, the scene and stage used for the replacement match were a replica of the first competition, so that even though the three trainees were well prepared when they entered, they still felt a little touched when they entered the studio.

"When I first came in, I felt like I was back in time a few months ago," said Ding Xi, the person walking in front of us, who was ranked 21st. "When I left, I never thought that I would be able to come back again."

But unlike the 100 seats at that time, the rest of the seats on the stairs that were arranged in a triangle shape were temporarily removed, leaving only ten seats for them to sit.

The most dazzling one among them is, of course, the one at the top of the spotlight collection representing the C position.

The rankings of the top four changed frequently during the competition. These three had been hovering around the debut position, especially Ding Xi, whose best ranking was third. However, he couldn't compete with his die-hard fans, so he fell behind.

If I didn't have the desire to win, I wouldn't come back to compete, especially once I came in and saw the arrangements made by the program crew, the throne that I once had no chance of winning seemed to be back within my reach.

Inspired by the scene, the opening performances of these three resurrected trainees did not disappoint. Ding Xi did not hesitate and went straight to the first place and then sat down.

The two players below were also surprised and laughed and joked: "Brother Xi, it's lonely at the top."

"It's okay, I'm not afraid," Ding Xi smiled, "I wanted to choose this position when I first came in, but I hesitated for a long time and didn't dare to do it. Now I can't leave myself with regrets anymore."

This makes the opening show very effective.

The young trainees' desire to win is not annoying at this time. Instead, it looks very aggressive and competitive. This is what we want.

Next came two internet celebrities who had recently signed with an idol company and had gained some fame online. The order in which they appeared was the same as the order in which the silhouettes were shown at the time. When they appeared, not only were the names of their companies mentioned, but the number of fans of the two on the Internet was also added, so that the three trainees in the resurrection position had very rich reactions when they saw them appear.

"Wow, it's really him."

"It's coming with great force."

"Do you have so many fans? I think I only have one-third of them now."

The fourth person to come on stage was a singer whose online ID was Sea Fishman and whose real name was Song Yu. He looked a bit like the next anchor from another platform named Li Zi, both of whom had the sensual look that was very popular on the Internet recently.

In comparison, Song Yu has become a recent internet sensation, with a crazy increase in fans in the past few months. Her voice is also very distinctive, and her fame is much greater than that of Li Zi.

His personality was also obviously more outspoken. After Li Zi entered the venue, he just found a seat and sat down, greeted and introduced everyone present, and Song Yu went straight to the C position.

The meaning is obvious: he wants to grab a seat.

It hasn't been long since the show started.

It seems that this qualifying round is even more exciting than the initial round. All the trainees know that there is no need to hide their shortcomings in such a short time. They must show all their ambitions and abilities, so they all put in their best efforts.

After Song Yu, the competition for seats did not stop.

The next two people who came up were both trainees with more than two years of training experience. They were contestants of the rival show Boiling Youth. They obviously knew how to create a show effect, and they both went for the No. 1 seat as soon as they entered the venue.

The way of competing for the spot changed from the slightly reserved and polite rock-paper-scissors at the beginning, to arm wrestling, and finally to the high-pitched competition. The one they sang was the high-pitched part of the theme song of this season of Idol 4, which is recognized as the most difficult. In the end, the trainees who were already present raised their hands to vote on the spot.

At this juncture, when two contestants who had not participated in the competition before skillfully sang the most difficult and memorable lyrics of the fourth theme song of Idol, Chen Yuan felt a surge of emotion watching behind the monitor, and she felt that Su Ning's idea was a good one.

To put it bluntly, variety shows are about watching how people interact and relate to each other in different situations. They need some excitement, and this kind of competition itself is eye-catching.

Soon, Li Chu, the eighth one, came on stage.

At first glance, he doesn't seem to have much "exciting points".