The entire venue erupted in thunderous applause.
More overwhelming than the applause for any previous ranking announcement, it surged towards Quentin.
But the boy under the spotlight remained exceptionally calm. He took the microphone handed to him by Chen Shiyu without changing his expression, and even remembered to nod in thanks to the smiling mentor.
He raised his eyes, meeting the row of pitch-black camera lenses not far away.
Only when the applause gradually subsided did Quentin grasp the microphone.
“First of all, thank you very much to all the viewers who supported me and voted for me. Whether you like me as a person, or my songs, I am very honored to receive your farvor.”
Perhaps because this filming session had lasted too long, and Quentin had stood below the stage for too long, his voice sounded hoarser than usual, with a distinct grainy feeling, but his enunciation was clear and pleasant.
His unhurried pace of speech gave his words a lazy, casual and natural conversational feel, as if he was talking to an old friend he hadn’t seen for a long time.
He didn’t seem moved by the millions of votes, nor did he show the slightest sign of feeling overly honored.
The calm and steady temperament that surpassed his actual age was displayed to the fullest at this moment, forming a sharp contrast with the youthful excitement of the young trainees who had taken the stage before him.
But this did not affect his sincere gratitude. His bright green eyes looked intently at the camera. Under his deep eye sockets, his light golden eyelashes trembled slightly. They seemed capable of speech, slowly conveying emotions not put into words to the audience in front of their screens.
“This is the first time in my life standing on a stage like this, the first time rehearsing and presenting a complete performance as one-seventh of a group. I am certain this is a path I want to try, and I am very grateful for fate’s arrangement, giving me such a rare opportunity.”
The system was moved to the point of sobbing in Quentin’s mind. Quentin paused, then lowered his gaze and continued: “Actually, there’s no need to say too much, because this is just a beginning.”
He smiled and looked back at the camera, saying: “No matter what, thank you for your hard work. Being able to meet you all is the greatest fortune in my life.”
……
After speaking, Quentin returned the microphone to the mentor, then turned and walked to the center position on the first tier of the steps.
Whether it was the trainees already promoted on the tiers, or the contestants still standing in the square awaiting their fate’s judgment, or even the production staff surrounding both sides of the square…
Inside and out, countless people found their gazes involuntarily drawn to Quentin.
The thoughts of the program crew were written on their faces.
What the hell, it’s just the first ranking announcement without even a proper set. How is it that… after Quentin stood there and spoke…it instantly elevated the entire scene’s style to something like an international top-level awards ceremony?
He had only changed his clothes, still the same white shirt and black suit as the other trainees, without even any makeup or styling. His slightly messy hair from the wind, set against that face, looked like a hairstyle carefully blown and styled by a stylist just for him.
And those famous green eyes beat all makeup embellishments in a second. With a bare face and simple style, he slayed the entire scene.
So there really are people who can rely on just their face and aura to make the entire place shine brilliantly…
The trainees’ thoughts were more direct.
He smiled he smiled he smiled he smiled he smiled he smiled…. Quentin smiled ah ah ah! And also,
“Being able to meet you all is the greatest fortune in my life…?”
This sentence turned over several times in their minds before they finally concluded: Tch, whatever, if it’s not specified, I’ll just assume it’s meant for me!
Being able to meet Quentin in “NS” was also the greatest blessing in life for them.
Chen Shiyu withdrew her gaze and sighed silently in her heart, increasingly convinced to seize the time to sign Quentin into Xinda Media.
It was a pity that she had had some disagreements with the company recently over the matter of taking on a disciple.
Even Xiao Wen had been implicated by her, missing out on resources for another music variety show, and had to follow the company’s arrangement to participate in this boy group survival show.
If she were to propose signing Quentin to the company, she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to help Quentin get a contract and benefits that matched his qualifications.
As for Lin Qifeng… sigh, Old Lin was clumsy with his words and straightforward, he was not exactly reliable.
Could it be that their Xinda was destined to miss out on such a promising young seedling with a boundless future?
She collected her thoughts, stopped overthinking, and looked back at the remaining 39 trainees in the square.
Among these 39 boys, one lucky person would stand out and secure the last promotion slot.
Chen Shiyu finished reading the scripted lines from the teleprompter with a smile, her gaze towards the stage gentle and regretful, perfectly soothing the trainees’ tense and sorrowful emotions.
She said: “Then, let us congratulate the final trainee advancing to the second round of eliminations.”
“He is, the Class C trainee who obtained 72nd place in the first round ranking announcement with 275,894 votes….Tang! Heng!”
All eyes converged towards a certain lucky person in the corner of the lineup below the stage.
And this “lucky person” had a look of blank panic as he glanced around left and right.
Wait! Did he hear that right? The name just called was his?!
He wasn’t eliminated in the first round?
The blankness on his face was soon replaced by surprise. The boy quickly stepped out from the crowd and almost jogged onto the stage, his face tense as he looked at Chen Shiyu.
When he made eye contact with the mentor, he stammered: “Hello, teacher, I, I am Tang Heng.”
Chen Shiyu looked at the boy’s silly and dazed appearance and couldn’t hold back a laugh: “Hello, congratulations. If you have anything you want to say to everyone, you can start now.”
“Um, okay, I… I know, I’ll start now.…” Tang Heng nervously took the microphone and turned to face the camera.
After stammering through some words of thanks, he fell silent for two seconds, then suddenly changed the subject.
“Actually, I know, for a ranking like mine……the votes for 72nd, 73rd, 74th are all quite similar. Being able to stand here now relies on just a bit of luck.”
When a person stands in a high position and looks back at where they came from, they see countless faces not much different from their past self.
Disappointment, melancholy, grievance, unwillingness, indignation…
Similar expressions appeared on the faces of classmates he had spent over half a month with day and night. It was just a small gap, yet it was like an insurmountable chasm, separating them on two sides.
The emotion surfacing in Tang Heng’s heart at this moment was only relief. He couldn’t even spare much mental energy to empathize with the trainees below the stage, holding the microphone and speaking on his own: “I have never been a lucky person since I was a child. When participating in draws, I was always the denominator. When buying blind boxes, I never got the popular models. When doing gacha in games, I was the unluckiest of the unlucky…”
“Before Teacher Chen announced the ranking, I didn’t dare to daydream that the miracle of 72nd place could fall upon me.”
“During the ten-minute break earlier, I was still complaining to Zhuang Nao and the others, lamenting my fate of being eliminated in the first round, sighing how time passed so quickly and how this moment came so suddenly.”
As he spoke, he turned his head to look at the 71 promoted trainees standing on the wooden tiers, and exchanged a smile with Zhuang Nao in the crowd at the back, who generously gave him a thumbs-up.
Tang Heng shifted his gaze downward, landing on the boy in the center of the first row, his expression somewhat complicated: “At that time, when I saw the few Class A big bosses sitting not far away, my heart was full of envy, only thinking, they are so good, even if their names aren’t called, they don’t have to worry about being eliminated……”
“And then Zhuang Nao said to me, ‘Of course, that’s Quentin. Quentin only needs to consider whether he can make the top five.'” The boy laughed, “I subconsciously refuted him, saying Quentin only needs to consider whether he can get first place!”
He had now completely turned around. The position of the podium happened to be directly facing where Quentin was standing, so he also happened to be facing Quentin directly.
To the extent that the following words didn’t seem to be addressed to everyone else present or the audience outside the show, but more like a one-on-one confession to Quentin.
“Zhuang Nao said I was Quentin’s little fanboy. I denied it at the time, because age-wise, I’m three years older than Quentin… but what if we set aside age?”
From the moment Tang Heng shifted the topic to these heartfelt words, the looks in everyone’s eyes present gradually changed from heavy and serious to “wow!”.
Everyone’s eyes kept shifting back and forth between Tang Heng and Quentin. Even the 38 trainees below the stage facing elimination couldn’t help but crane their necks to watch.
The eyes of the production team were even more subtle.
Director Wang’s face practically had the words “interesting” written on it. The assistant director and screenwriter, seemed to have thought of something, and had eyes brighter than anyone else’s. The executive director standing nearby sighed sincerely.
‘I don’t know why, but every time something involves Quentin, it becomes interesting.’
From their perspective, this kind of program effect was much more interesting than the stereotypical speeches.
And Tang Heng was still looking at Quentin, his eyes as firm as his tone: “Setting aside age, I can frankly admit that I really like Quentin. It’s the liking of an ordinary person for a big boss, and also the liking of a fan for an idol.”
“Just over half an hour ago, I swore in my heart that if I wasn’t eliminated in this ranking announcement, for the next performance, I must give it my all to get into Quentin’s team!”
The surroundings were completely silent. Everyone silently watched Quentin’s reaction, but they couldn’t discern any clues from the boy’s calm face.
“Oh, right, I’m not saying these things to force Quentin to give me an answer. That would be too lame, no need.”
After saying those words, Tang Heng’s tone became much lighter. He shrugged and smiled at Quentin: “I’m just stating my determination. I want Quentin to know that there is a trainee with not much presence who really likes you and really wants to be on your team. Although you might not have much impression of him, it’s okay, he will work hard to make you remember his name.”
“Ahem, then let me reintroduce myself. I am Tang Heng, 21 years old this year, from Class C, living in dorm 207. My second major in university is French minor. I like hiphop for dancing, and R&B for listening to music…..”
The other trainees found this increasingly strange, and their initial mindset of watching the fun gradually disappeared.
Wait, why is this guy so talkative? Wasn’t he supposed to be the unsuccessful licking dog?!
Originally, they thought a little nobody like the 72nd placer inviting Quentin and confessing to him at such a critical moment was just a tactic to show off and attract Quentin’s attention. There was no way Quentin would agree just because of a few short sentences.
But the more they listened… things seemed to become strange.
Damn it, we misjudged him. This guy isn’t silly and naive; he’s clearly a smooth-tongued, scheming fox!
As for Zhuang Nao, his inner journey was even more dramatic than the others.
One moment he was feeling relieved and blessing his good brother’s last minute advancement, even feeling a bit touched that the other party mentioned him in his speech.
But now……
Hello? This isn’t right, brother?
You started early on by stepping on me to get Quentin’s attention? This isn’t how you chase after your goddess, okay!
Under everyone’s gaze, Tang Heng’s smile grew increasingly bright as he solemnly concluded this part of his speech: “The above is my promotion speech. Thank you, everyone!”
Amidst the sparse applause, he handed the microphone back to the beaming mentor, then jogged towards the tiers.
Clearly, his path to the fifth row didn’t require passing by Quentin, but he deliberately took a detour, slowed down in front of Quentin, and under the prickling gazes from all sides, whispered: “Quentin, are you okay with what I just said?”
That entire speech was completely a momentary impulse on stage. Only after finishing did he realize that Quentin might not like such attention-grabbing confessions.
In fact, coming over openly in front of the camera to ask like this wasn’t great either. But the two events of “being promoted unexpectedly” and “boldly confessing to his idol” happening simultaneously had indeed somewhat fried his brain. His every move right now was driven by surging emotions.
It was indeed very unfair and unreasonable, but Quentin didn’t dislike it.
The black-haired, green-eyed boy shook his head, his gaze calmly meeting the boy’s eyes. The latter’s ears visibly began to turn red.
Quentin didn’t pay attention to this detail. Considering the other party’s sincere and heartfelt confession, he thought for a moment and said: “If there’s a chance, let’s be on the same team for the second performance.”
Tang Heng: “…?”
Tang Heng: “!!!!!”
Tang Heng almost cried from joy, nodding fiercely, his voice cracking a bit: “Okay! I, I will definitely work hard!!”
The surrounding trainees who were watching their movements the whole time: ……WTF?
Fuck, no way….this guy actually managed to lick successfully?!
Ahahaha is very fun