Midterm Exam
The night is deep, the quietest moment before dawn.
Yi Jingchen tiptoed out of the dormitory, crouched down and closed the door, fearing that the noise would be too loud and wake up Mu Gan who was sleeping soundly.
He held the mini player in his left hand and the coil notebook in his right hand.
The notebook was filled with notes made during the day, detailing the movements and positions of the theme song, as well as the key points emphasized by Instructor Gu.
When I couldn't sleep at night, I would sneak into the locker room to practice for a while.
"Host, host~" Guagua asked in confusion, "There is a practice room in the A-class dormitory, why don't you practice in there?"
The dormitory area of Class A is equivalent to that of an ordinary three-bedroom apartment. In addition to a separate area for each trainee, there are also luxuriously equipped exclusive practice rooms and cloakrooms.
Therefore, the public locker room on the Class A floor was almost not used.
Yi Jingchen followed the wall and slipped into the locker room like a secret agent, and then answered, "Because Mu Gan is sleeping in the dormitory."
Although the dormitory of Class A is luxuriously equipped, there are no partitions in the room for filming purposes.
Even if Yi Jingchen practices without accompaniment, the noise he creates should be called noise.
It's similar to the sound of renovation work coming from upstairs early in the morning on weekends.
No one wants to hear it.
"The host's roommate doesn't look like someone who is easily woken up." Guagua said confidently, "He even snores when he sleeps! The host doesn't mind!"
"It's not his intention to snore. Besides, Mu Gan agreed to let me keep a cat in the dormitory." Yi Jingchen found a good position, moved his hands and feet briefly, and said lightly, "You can't repeatedly offend the other person's sense of boundaries just because the other person is willing to be offended."
"ah?"
The Gua Gua system that was forcibly bound to Yi Jingchen had no idea what humans meant by "sense of boundaries".
Besides, before it appeared, the host was best at offending others.
——Look at the bigwigs he has interviewed, every one of them has been offended eight or ten times.
The reporter who wants to be the dark shark the most in the news circle deserves the title.
Yi Jingchen was too lazy to explain to Gua Gua. He found a place to put the mini player and opened the coiled book to review his notes.
Turning to the third page, he heard strange, rustling noises coming from the dressing room next door...
Yi Jingchen immediately pricked up his ears and moved closer.
I didn't hear any other sounds, but I did hear a strange voice.
[Will you be discovered if you do this in the middle of the night?]
[Who cares? There are no cameras in the locker room. Who would have thought it was me?]
Yi Jingchen frowned slightly as he listened.
[What to do?]
[Unexpected? There are no cameras in the locker room, but the walls have ears~]
He was extremely alert and continued to listen to the movements on the other side.
The big brother next door suddenly screamed for some reason, and then rushed out far away with hurried footsteps.
"Huh?" Yi Jingchen didn't expect that even though he was so cautious, he would still alert the enemy.
Wait, has my squatting skills deteriorated?
He walked out of his locker room and went around to the side, only to find that the room next to it was empty. The door that he had just slammed open was flickering like a fan.
Yi Jingchen observed carefully, his eyes sweeping across the ground.
Finally, in an inconspicuous corner under the clothesline, I saw a sharp object shining with light.
"A thumbtack?" Yi Jingchen squatted down, searched around, and picked up the thumbtack with a rag. Some classic scenes flashed through his mind at inappropriate times.
For example, the battle between black and white swans...
Deliberately putting nails in other people's ballet shoes or something like that...
[No way? A boy band talent show also uses such dirty tricks?]
[Do you really think that everyone doesn’t check their clothes and shoes before putting them on?]
[Also, who was the person here just now?]
There is no curfew in the "Super Idol" dormitory building, but after 12 o'clock in the evening, the dormitory manager will go upstairs at irregular intervals to check if the trainees are playing with their cell phones, sleeping naked, or doing other prohibited behaviors.
The trainees were all a little afraid of the dormitory manager, so they didn’t dare to go around the floors after midnight for fear of being caught by the manager.
Yi Jingchen initially judged that the people who had just stayed in the locker room next door were from Class A.
There are eight people left in Class A besides me.
When he left the dormitory just now, Mu Gan was still snoring inside, so he was temporarily ruled out as a suspect.
Then, the suspect is among the remaining seven people.
"Okay, there is only one truth!" Yi Jingchen lowered his head slightly, holding a thumbtack in his hand, pretending that his glasses were reflecting light.
In the deserted locker room, the classic BGM of "Detective Conan" seemed to sound.
Professional coser, get into role anytime, anywhere!
Gua Gua was successfully infected by the host's middle school aura and excitedly asked who it was!
It urgently wants to know how the host can identify the suspect with limited information?
"We don't know yet." Yi Jingchen raised his head and carefully put away the thumbtack. "I'll give it to the staff later and we'll know after comparing the fingerprints. There are only seven people, so it's easy to check."
"Ah..." Guagua was obviously disappointed, "Host, is this how you solve the case?"
"What else?" Yi Jingchen complained mercilessly, "Reality is not anime. It's the 21st century. How can there be no surveillance, no fingerprints, and no biometric information every time?"
"Uh." Guagua was inexplicably relieved that Yi Jingchen was not bound by the two-dimensional detective system.
If this useless cat was allowed to solve the case, how could the anime last more than a thousand episodes?
After Yi Jingchen handed the thumbtack he picked up to the staff, the program team responded that they would handle it with caution and try to minimize the impact.
Yi Jingchen was not at all surprised by the capital's response.
For the next two days, the entire recording base was peaceful and nothing happened.
However, contestant Lingqiu, who got an A grade in the first stage, was called over by the leader for a talk.
After coming back, the originally scheduled mid-insert commercial was assigned to another Class B contestant, You Mo.
The program team did not announce the specific reason. All the trainees remained calm on the surface, but secretly cast their expectant eyes towards Yi Jingchen.
[Melon King! Please give melon!]
Before the competition, Ling Qiu was definitely the most popular trainee by the program team and the original company, no doubt about it.
Ling Qiu's father is a movie emperor and his mother is a senior executive in a film and television company.
He was born with stardom and just after entering the entertainment industry, he already had top film and television resources in his hands.
Unfortunately, acting skills are not inherited genetically.
Ling Qiu has filmed several idol dramas one after another, with ratings ranging from 2.2 to 5.4.
Seeing that his acting career wasn't feasible, his parents sent him to a talent show, intending to make him a new star through marketing.
In order to achieve this goal, they specially invited the best teachers and practiced hard for half a year.
He also made special arrangements and used good relationships with the program crew to allow Ling Qiu to get into Class A on the first stage.
And You Mo, who snatched Lingqiu’s interstitial advertisement, is Lingqiu’s old rival.
They are both actors who debuted almost at the same time. You Mo has played supporting roles for Ling Qiu twice, once as the fifth male lead and once as the second male lead.
When he played the fifth male lead, his Douban score was only 3 points, and the audience said, "Give one more point to the fifth male lead."
Later, You Mo became the second male lead, and his ratings rose to 5.4 points. He actually became a little famous with this bad movie and got the script for the first male lead.
Ling Qiu was so angry that he brought money into the crew and snatched You Mo's script. He got the lowest score in his career with that work and was blacklisted by the entire Internet.
Similar things happened several times. You Mo had no background and could not compete with the second-generation stars, so he could not survive in the film and television industry.
You Mo didn't want to become unknown and disappoint those who liked him, so he chose to change his career path.
But I didn't expect that I would meet Ling Qiu as soon as I arrived at the recording base.
Ling Qiu was so angry that his eyes were about to burst into flames!
Yi Jingchen figured out the whole story and was slightly shocked.
[Otherwise, why do we say that enemies often meet on narrow roads?]
[You Mo certainly didn't expect that when he was dreaming, Ling Qiu was planning to put thumbtacks in his shoes to prevent him from dancing to the theme song.]
[He is a second-generation star with capital and connections. Can he be more clever in his means of revenge?]
Ling Qiu walked past Yi Jingchen with a face full of resentment, and glared at You Mo who was smug and triumphant after shooting the mid-roll commercial.
You know, in the early stages of a talent show, the commercials are either selected by the sponsors themselves or reserved for the most popular and sought-after trainees of the year.
If there was no Yi Jingchen, how could You Mo get this opportunity?
You Mo obviously understood the reason and thanked Yi Jingchen excitedly.
"You're welcome." Enthusiastic citizen Yi Jingchen grabbed his wrist and took the opportunity to ask, "Dance square dance with me."
"Okay!" You Mo agreed readily.
Over the past two days, almost half of the people in the square danced to the theme song together.
Those who were originally on the sidelines saw them dancing more and more vigorously.
The audience and the fans who were waiting there also accepted this matter imperceptibly.
Gradually, the originally hesitant trainees came closer and closer, and were slowly developed into the "downline" of square dancing.
As a regular user of the square, Yi Jingchen's ranking is getting closer and closer to the central area.
On the fourth night, Yi Jingchen was able to perform the entire dance completely and coherently.
Although his progress was slow, he practiced from morning to night without skipping a beat every day, and he had the most energy among everyone.
The players around who were feeling cold and tired and were starting to back off found it hard not to be infected by Yi Jingchen's energy every time they saw him, and they dragged their tired bodies into a new round of practice.
By the fifth day, he was already standing behind Du Xingwei.
It's only one step away from the 'core area' where the best jumps are performed.
The theme song stage of "Super Idol" only lasted eight days in total.
By the fifth day, which meant that the training time was halfway through, the program team arranged three professional instructors to give them a mid-term test.
Although midterm exams do not directly determine the final rating, they can give us a general idea of the contestants' situation.
Moreover, the atmosphere of the midterm exam is more relaxed, and there are still opportunities to start over if you make mistakes.
When it comes to the final evaluation, if the contestant makes mistakes or makes significant progress, the mentors will also consider the evaluation as appropriate.
"What should I do? I haven't learned "Super pick" yet..."
"Me too, I can't remember the movements for the interlude at all."
"It shouldn't matter, it's just a small test. There are still three days left, we just need to work harder." After saying this, he secretly rejoiced:
[In fact, I have already learned it. When the time comes, the teacher's impression score for me will definitely be higher than yours!]
While waiting for the quiz to begin, the empty area in the auditorium was clearly divided into two camps.
Square dance camp and non-square dance camp.
The non-square dance camp appears to be comforting each other, but in fact they all have their own ulterior motives, hoping that the other side will fail so that they can perform exceptionally well.
The square dance camp, separated by a barrier of air, does not have those empty consolations.
Several contestants who had been dancing on the periphery these past two days and were not very proficient in the movements were surrounded by several big dance leaders and were receiving emergency coaching.
"Perform well later and don't embarrass our dance troupe."
"And you, Yi Jingchen!" Cen Hao patted Yi Jingchen on the shoulder and encouraged him, "This quiz is based on class units. You have to take it together with the other students in Class A. Don't feel any psychological pressure."
Everyone has seen Yi Jingchen's progress in recent days.
But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't reach the level of Class A players in a short period of time.
Anyone who has taken an exam knows that the most anxiety-provoking thing about an exam is not that you don’t know the answer.
It’s just that I don’t know how to do it, and there’s a top student next to me who handed in his paper early and got full marks, and the pressure is about to reach its peak.
“Okay, okay,” Yi Jingchen responded several times in a row, smiling, “I will do my best and respect the stage.”
Mu Gan looked left and right, then pointed at himself and asked, "Why is no one comforting me?"
If compared with the contestants from Class A, his strength is far inferior to Yi Jingchen.
Don’t rappers have human rights?
"Naigan, do you still need comfort?" The trainee next to him handed over a bottle of Wangzai milk, "Here, drink some milk to calm your nerves."
Mu Gan took it and felt better all over.
The quiz began, and Gu Sijun, Wei Mi, and Mobb Z walked into the auditorium one by one, each holding an assessment form with their name printed on it.
The trainee who had been trying hard to brainwash himself into thinking that the test was unimportant suddenly panicked.
Why did we say that the final exam was the main thing? Why do we still have to grade the quizzes?
[Hahahahaha!]
[The trainees who are surprised now must not have experienced the beatings in college!]
Yi Jingchen was not surprised by the 'quiz score' and laughed wildly.
[The professor also told us that the roll call was 'just to get to know everyone.']
[As the semester came to an end, our performance scores were severely deducted!]
After hearing Yi Jingchen's complaints, many college students who had their grades deducted at the end of the semester cursed at him across the screen.
That day, college students recalled the fear of being dominated by name.
The dead memories attacked them madly.
"Hi!" Wei Mi greeted cheerfully, "I haven't seen you for a few days. How are you guys doing?"
“…Okay.” The poor trainee faced the reality and answered weakly.
"Okay, let's get started." Mobb Z was too lazy to go through the motions, so he turned around and sat in his seat, flipped open the assessment form, and asked, "Who starts first?"
"This..." Everyone pushed and shoved, no one wanted to be the first to go up.
Gu Sijun had been staying at the recording base for the past few days. He knew the trainees best and made the decision for them. "Class A will go first to set an example for everyone. Ling Qiu, Shu Lang, and..."
Gu Sijun checked the list and called out five names.
The trainees whose names were called knew they couldn't escape, so they resigned themselves to their fate and walked in front of the three mentors and stood in a row.
As we all know, 'A' represents the highest level of the draft.
The contestant who got an A on the first stage had a very high opinion of himself and looked down on those who were dancing square dance outside.
Among the five people, only Shulang belongs to the square dance troupe camp.
The rest stayed in the spacious and bright training building, undergoing men's group training.
Wei Mi: "Class A should dance the best. I'm looking forward to it. Let's get started."
After confirming that all the trainees were ready, the staff began playing the accompaniment of "Super pick".
When the first few syllables sounded, Shu Lang was obviously panicked for a few seconds.
——After getting used to listening to "Hi, Get Enough", it's a little hard to get used to dancing to the theme song with the original accompaniment.
Fortunately, he reacted quickly and adjusted himself quickly.
Even so, there was still a clear sneer from the side, with a sense of gloating.
The four people who did not join the square dance camp secretly congratulated themselves for making a wise move.
[Shu Lang is such a fool. Who made him hang out with that bunch of rubbish?]
[Serves you right! Who uses square dancing to learn the theme song? This is karma!]
Yi Jingtchen, who was reviewing the movements with his head down, raised his head and gave them a puzzled look.
[What's so funny?]
[You know nothing about power!]
Sure enough, the subsequent development was just as Yi Jingchen said.
They soon stopped laughing.
Shu Lang has solid basic skills, and after a little adjustment, he quickly caught up with the original accompaniment of "Super pick".
In addition, he had performed the dance over and over again in the past few days. Every time he turned his back to the trainees and faced the fans, he had gotten used to being watched from all sides and was not at all stage frightened during the assessment.
However, some people nearby found that Shu Lang's dance was several levels more perfect than theirs, and they immediately panicked.
One student accidentally jumped in the wrong direction and suddenly came face to face with another contestant.
The other contestant was stunned for a moment and turned to the other side, causing confusion among the contestants next to him.
Throughout the second half, except for Shu Lang, the other contestants in Class A danced terribly.
Standing together, there is no feeling of being a group at all.
[Help, our boy band seems to be finished! ]
[I can’t imagine them dancing together as a group]
[@Superidol, is this the highest standard of your show? ]
[Don’t sink together, Shu Lang was defeated in seconds. If he had played “Hi Enough” just now, he wouldn’t have made the mistake in the beginning.]
After the first group of Class A finished their performance, the scene fell into a long silence.
Mobb Z said nothing and just lowered his head to fill out the assessment form.
Wei Mi nudged Gu Sijun with her arm, signaling him to comment quickly.
“That… is my fault.” Gu Sijun sighed vaguely and looked away, “I shouldn’t have let Class A do the proofing first.”
Now, the fight is going on and the style is gone.
If everyone thinks that this is the highest standard of "Super Idol", how will the rest of the show go?
Gu Sijun learned from his mistakes and made adjustments on the spot, moving the second group of Class A to the back to give them enough time to prepare.
Let classes B, C, D, and F start the assessment first.
I thought that since Class A danced like that, there wouldn’t be much to look forward to later.
Unexpectedly, there were several groups that came up later who danced quite well.
His movements are generally smooth, his facial expressions are well managed, and he has the vitality that a boy band should have.
The strange thing is that most of the contestants who dance well have one thing in common: when they hear the prelude of "Super pick", they always hesitate tactically for a few seconds.
Wei Mi and Mobb Z, who were not aware of the situation, thought it was some kind of choreography.
The audience who knew the mystery were laughing like crazy.
Keep having fun!
Have fun!
While the contestants from other classes were taking the test, Yi Jingchen quietly found a corner and practiced his dance moves.
Recently, every time I danced, Gu Sijun's words kept echoing in my mind:
If you want to stand in the center, you can't always look at other people's backs.
In order to avoid seeing the back of the person in front of him, Yi Jingchen would occasionally close his eyes and completely immerse himself in his own world.
Next to him, Tian Xitu, who had also come to review the moves, watched him jump closer and closer to the wall... almost hitting it.
"Hey, stop!" Tian Xitu quickly reached out and stood between him and the wall.
Yi Jingchen immediately opened his eyes, saw the hand blocking in front of him, and along the arm he saw Tian Xitu.
"Super Idol" has been recorded for 7 days, and Yi Jingchen and Tian Xitu have spoken no more than five sentences.
It's not that Tian Xitu is difficult to get along with, because after the theme song stage began, Yi Jingchen danced square dance outside every day. Tian Xitu had to go to other classes, find the scattered members of the 48th department, and teach them to dance one by one, otherwise he would be punished by the company.
The 48 series focuses on "seniority". When facing Tian Xitu, who has only been in the company for two years, the Feiyangyang boy group always acts like a senior and orders him around like a cow or a horse.
"Thank you." Yi Jingchen took a step back and took the initiative to give Tian Xitu a good guy card.
"You're welcome." Tian Xitu immediately retracted his hand and distanced himself from him, looking cold and distant.
Yi Jingchen didn't care about his indifference and quietly observed Tian Xitu.
[This kid must have been persecuted a lot by his 'teammates' at the company, so he is so alert.]
[It's so pitiful. Look at what kind of people his teammates are? Top players who rely on their bodies to get to the top, seniors who boss him around out of jealousy, and leaders who use contracts to suppress him...]
[So the real Hell Factory is not Mushroom Senior’s company, but your company, right?]
When Tian Xitu came to "Super Idol", he was originally wary of everyone, especially those from his own company.
After hearing Yi Jingchen's comments, the invisible fortress seemed to collapse for a moment.
"Well, your beat was wrong just now." Tian Xitu thought for a moment, took a step forward, and said with a slightly awkward expression, "The prelude to 'Super Pick' is a little different from the square dance you guys do. It should be 1 (space) 234, not 12 (space) 34."
"Is there any difference?" Yi Jingchen's face was full of confusion, and he couldn't understand the rhythm at all.
"You, you dance to my beat." Seeing that he didn't understand, Tian Xitu took the initiative to teach him.
Yi Jingchen followed him and danced twice before he figured out the tiny gap between the beats.
"Thank you, you are really good at teaching dance!" Yi Jingchen was quite impressed. He looked at Tian Xitu again and shook his head with regret.
[Poor kid, how did you get tricked into joining a duck-raising boy band?]
Tian Xitu: I feel so wronged!
After a while, the other classes finished their assessments and the instructors called over the remaining four people from Class A.
"Mu Gan, Tian Xitu, Yi Jingchen, Du Xingwei, there are only four of you left."
"Okay~" Senior Mushroom was waiting so long that he almost grew mushrooms. When he heard his name, he immediately rushed over.
Mu Gan threw the milk can into the trash can, put his hands in his pockets, and leaned over lazily.
They both found it incredible when they found Tian Xitu and Yi Jingchen coming from another direction.
Isn’t Tian Xitu the most difficult cool guy to get along with in the entire “Super Idol”?
How did he become so close to Yi Jingchen in just a few minutes?
Tian Xitu walked in front of the instructor and asked Yi Jingchen, "Are you better with your left hand or your right hand?"
"Right hand."
"Then I'll stand on your left." According to Tian Xitu's experience in participating in theater performances, it is easy for novice dancers to turn in the wrong direction, fail to grasp the distance, and hit the person next to them.
Tian Xitu was beaten too many times and developed a good habit of avoiding risks in advance.
"Well..." Yi Jingchen smiled at him and said embarrassedly, "Actually, I can use my left hand, too. Because I used to be left-handed, and then I was forcibly corrected."
Tian Xitu was silent for a few seconds and whispered that it was okay.
[Even if it was corrected later, the left hand should still be weaker, right?]
Yi Jingchen added 'kindly', "Also, I have practiced martial arts for two years and once won a fighting championship."
Tian Xitu: ...
【Ha ha ha ha! 】
[Tutu: I think you just want to beat me to death! ]
【Melon King 6】
Gu Sijun saw Tian Xitu's concerns, and when he saw these people coming up, he deliberately adjusted the formation.
"Du Xingwei, Tian Xitu, you two step forward."
"Mu Gan, take a step back and stand behind Du Xingwei to the right."
"Yi Jingchen, you also take a step back and stand behind Tian Xitu's left."
"Okay." Yi Jingchen did not complain at all when Gu Sijun adjusted his position for the second time, and he obediently retreated to the designated position.
Instead, it made Tian Xitu feel a little embarrassed.
He was indeed afraid that Yi Jingchen had no experience and would hit him with his hands while dancing, but he never thought of driving him so far away.
Tian Xitu opened his mouth and was about to speak.
Gu Sijun spoke first, looking directly at Yi Jingchen, and pointed to the position between Tian Xitu and Du Xingwei, which was closer to the front.
"Your goal is to find a way to jump here from there. Do you understand?"
Before Yi Jingchen responded, the people around him gasped.
You know, Du Xingwei, who spent six years in the Hell Factory, and Tian Xitu, who reached the 48th place in the God Seven just by his own strength, represent the pinnacle of strength in this year's "Super Idol".
Gu Sijun asked Yi Jingchen to set his target in front of them, which meant——
"Understood." Yi Jingchen looked at that position with a sharp gaze, "I will do my best!"
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