To be honest, listening to Quentin sing, the meaning of the specific lyrics coming out of his mouth didn’t matter at all.
The audience’s attention span was limited. The catchy melody, the captivating voice, plus the image of the handsome blonde-haired, green-eyed young man on the large screen raising an eyebrow and smiling softly were enough to leave them unable to spare any mental focus for anything else.
After Quentin’s part ended and the large screen camera shifted to others, some audience members who had watched the MV of “Senior Sister, No” beforehand finally came back to their senses in a daze…
Wait a minute, wasn’t the rebellious boy in the MV a pure-hearted junior with high offense but low defense?
This…this level of charm, what part of that is pure-hearted?!
The subsequent appearances of the other trainees, though different, all had them showing off every trick in the book like peacocks spreading their tails in front of the camera.
Fang Xu was impeccably dressed in his school uniform jacket, collar turned up, zipper pulled all the way to the top, looking exactly like a standard model student.
Unlike a certain blonde-haired rebellious boy who arrogantly climbed out the window, as the “shy young man who likes to write love poems,” he discreetly pushed open the back door of the classroom and carefully poked his head out.
The glance he unintentionally cast toward the camera carried a hint of probing, as harmless as a herbivore.
Even though Fang Xu was not good at acting, and his appearance did not have much to do with being a “shy boy,” making it hard for him to show the “shy with a hint of timidity” that his teammates had analyzed and summarized, he had still tried his best to embody the context of the lyrics.
Because no one in their team matched the shy, introverted persona, after much deliberation, they ended up crudely matching Fang Xu, the seemingly gloomy, autistic, and withdrawn “male ghost”.
Regarding this, Xue Mingzhu commented sharply, “Xiao Fang’s face is as white as a ghost, and he has such heavy dark circles. The first time I saw you, I felt you were all cold and chilly. Tsk, thinking about it now, pale face, heavy dark circles, you’re not suffering from kidney deficiency, are you!”
Fang Xu: “…” My fists are itchy, what do I do, urgent!
Putting these behind the scenes details aside, Fang Xu’s performance on the large screen was very surprising.
The audience, still distracted by Quentin’s drastically changed style the previous second, was then startled by the obedient and well-behaved model student Fang Xu, and were unable to help rubbing their eyes.
Strange, let me look again… Hmm, oh right, it’s still Xiao Fang, the way he stares at the senior sister is still sinister, only the tips of his ears are a bit red. Eh, it’s actually kind of captivating, wow.
The third male contestant to appear was naturally our “oblivious nerd classmate,” the glasses-wearing, backpack-carrying classmate Qi Yang!
The rebellious bad boy climbed through the window, the low-key obedient student went through the back door, and the nerd classmate naturally walked through the front door with dignity.
As a professional actor, Qi Yang was also the only one among the seven trainees who had a direct face-to-face scene with Zhang Fu. Who said his singing and dancing were not okay? He and Zhang Fu both graduated from performance schools, so Quentin simply put the two of them together to compete in acting skills.
As Qi Yang and Zhang Fu stood facing each other in the center of the stage, the curtain of another window was also pulled open. Xue Mingzhu stood behind the window, wearing a white T-shirt, his school uniform jacket tied around his waist, a microphone in his hand, and when he opened his mouth, an excellent rap came out.
His original rap lyrics were like describing the campus love story of the male and female protagonists, connecting with the end of the previous verse seamlessly. At the same time, matching the style of this stage, he gave up his usual explosive style of rap and switched to a slower, more lyrical rap.
Cui Yan, who had somehow come to stand at the front door of the classroom, leaned idly against the doorframe, smiling and humming low harmonies for him.
Quentin stood with one foot on the skateboard, hands in his pockets. A figure also appeared in the window behind him.
A young man with a charming appearance wore his school uniform jacket over one shoulder, his hair casually styled, messy yet carefree.
Although it was not yet his part, he reached out and patted Quentin’s shoulder, looked at Quentin, who was looking back, winked, motioned toward Zhang Fu standing with Qi Yang in the corridor, and gave a mischievous smile.
Quentin narrowed his eyes, looking slightly and subtly annoyed and displeased. This little emotion was especially vivid on his face. The moment his green eyes made eye contact with the camera, a hint of sharpness leaked out, making people’s hearts tremble and want to avoid but could not.
Although Yan Qiao was not a performance major, his facial expression changes here were very substantial. Appearing in the same frame as Quentin on the large screen, he was not compared unfavorably. Instead, there was a sense of matching each other well, bringing out the best in each other.
The audience’s eyes were completely unable to keep up. Should they look at Xiao Xue rapping, or Cui Yan smiling by the front door, or the charming and dashing Brother Qiao, or the team leader who was so handsome he stunned people.
“Ahhh they are so expressive!! Being in the same frame is so captivating wuuu!!”
“Yan Qiao is playing Quentin’s love strategist, right? Hahaha, feels like a bad advisor…”
“Hey? I feel like he corresponds to Quentin’s inner devil. Look at this, blonde Quentin is the little angel, black-haired Yan Qiao is the little devil. The two of them standing together is like simulating the angel and devil fighting in your mind!”
“Whatever the analysis, just being handsome is right!”
When the “senior sister” appeared in the original song, the atmosphere was completely different from the previous group.
From the perspective of transforming lyrics into characters, each member’s solo part in Quentin’s team seemed similar in design to Cheng Shaozi’s team. They both used props, stage settings, and a few interactions to enrich the picture. However, there were essential differences in the design philosophies of the two teams.
To put it simply, one team focused more on the “sweetness” of the sweet song, while the other team focused more on the “romance” aspect of the love song.
When the audience watched Cheng Shaozi’s team’s stage, almost all of them were cupping their faces, saying so-and-so was so cute, with mom fans doing sit-ups and resurrecting on the spot.
But when they watched Quentin’s team’s stage, they realized…
Needless to say, a sweet little love song shouldn’t just be sweet, it should also be a love song!
How can a love song lack a sense of being in love!
Of course, all this would be discussed later. The performance was still continuing. The verse part where the trainees appeared one by one had ended. Wen Xinyi walked out from behind the wall, responsible for singing the transitional bridge. This section was also when the team members changed formation.
Yan Qiao and Cui Yan walked toward the center C position. The former raised a hand to push Qi Yang away, standing between Qi Yang and Zhang Fu like a door god, while the latter naturally took the position to Zhang Fu’s right.
The two blocked the other trainees, one on the left and one on the right. Fang Xu tried to approach the senior sister from behind but was fiercely blocked by Xue Mingzhu with his arms crossed, glaring fiercely.
Wen Xinyi, who had been playing the “narrator” role all along, walked forward while singing. Soon the audience noticed that the three junior students who had emotional entanglements with the senior sister in the lyrics were all isolated on the outside, while Yan Qiao and the others, playing the roles of fellow students, strictly prevented the senior sister from falling into romance.
Even when Zhang Fu looked eagerly toward Qi Yang and the others, reaching out her hand, the people on both sides would raise their hands to form an X, stopping her.
This silent scene, without any dialogue, was performed quite humorously, but it did not stop the clever audience from realizing what this team was trying to express.
Aurora’s fans were probably the fastest to grasp the intention behind Quentin’s team’s design. Just from watching the verse part, they had been disappointed that “Senior Sister, No” had been adapted into a common little love song.
But looking now, hey? Quentin’s team really understood!
As the formation changed, the audience sitting in the front row suddenly emitted exclamations.
“Quentin! Look at Quentin!”
“Holy shit, Quentin can skateboard?! And he’s so skilled, clearly not a beginner!”
“What? Where? Where is he?”
“I can’t see him at all, he’s blocked. Director, quickly cut to the large screen! Where’s the cameraman? Did you get it?”
The audience in the back rows vaguely heard their exclamations and questions, then hurriedly looked up to find Quentin on the stage, but only saw a blonde figure darting past like the wind from the back of the stage.
Behind the scenes, where the vast majority of the audience could not see, Quentin stood on the skateboard, first doing a cross step, then a ghost step, and finally switching to a ghost kick.
This entire series of actions happened within ten seconds, executed so smoothly, his expression unchanged, as if he had simply skated from the classroom window to another corner of the stage.
Only his dedicated cameraman fully observed and recorded this scene.
The nearly thirty-year-old cameraman, while internally cursing that Quentin had successfully shown off again, still could not help but sigh, this kid is really handsome!
A certain camera operator carrying a Steadicam, responsible for filming the idol’s interactions with the camera, had originally been half-squatting in front of Zhang Fu, concentrating on recording the interaction between Zhang Fu and the trainees on both sides.
Then, while he was completely focused, a golden figure flashed past behind his camera.
Cameraman: …?
What the hell just darted past?
His eyes unconsciously followed the young man’s back outside the camera, and he then remembered that during rehearsal, Quentin had mentioned that for the first movement, he would use the skateboard to go around to his position.
Among the seven team members, Quentin was the farthest from his own position, almost needing to cross the diagonal of the stage.
If he honestly walked such a long distance, not only would it be slow, but it would also be a bit dull.
Using the skateboard was more in line with the character design. Even if no audience noticed, it didn’t matter. He happened to know how to skate, and he happened to have a skateboard in hand, so why not do it?
In fact, Quentin had used these three skateboard moves during rehearsals, but he skated a bit slower during rehearsal, looking like he was just casually playing around. The staff who did not understand skateboarding did not pay much attention.
As long as he could skate normally to his position, they didn’t care what he did, as long as he did not miss the synchronized singing and dancing.
Just as Quentin finished skating halfway, the interaction with Zhang Fu also happened to end. The cameraman, who had originally planned to move back and wait for the synchronized dance part, had a flash of inspiration and moved a few steps sideways toward the corner of the stage, standing right in front of Quentin’s target position.
However, his movement also happened to completely block the lens of Quentin’s dedicated cameraman.
The dedicated cameraman was full of question marks, cursing in his heart. A perfectly good shot was blocked like this, a killing part had probably been missed. What was this guy doing?
Fortunately, Quentin was sensitive enough to the camera and reacted quickly enough.
He narrowed his eyes, looking directly at the camera without flinching. At this point, he was already very close to this camera. Logically, the safest move would be to do a basic board catch to end.
But Quentin noticed the indicator light on the camera, which meant the large screen camera had already focused on him. At the same time, he could faintly hear the screams offstage penetrating his earpiece.
‘Not good,’ he thought. If he just picked up the skateboard, that would be too simple, and the effect would not be enough. Since it was the large screen, he might as well make it a bit more handsome.
These thoughts quickly flashed through his mind, and his body moved faster than his brain.
He popped the board with his front foot, then used the momentum of his back foot to send the skateboard into the air, while he himself leaped into the air with the skateboard.
The colorfully graffiti covered skateboard spun twice in the air, like a dart shooting straight toward the camera.
Obviously, this was a perfect nollie big spin 720, a relatively difficult skateboard trick. Beginners definitely could not do it well, and even veterans might not do it handsomely.
Performing this trick on the smooth floor of a stage was even more risky, especially since Quentin and the cameraman were very close. The slightest mistake could cause a crash.
The cameraman was almost scared into leaning back with the camera to dodge. Thanks to his professionalism and survival instinct, he judged the landing distance of the skateboard in an instant, expecting that at worst it would crash into his leg if it couldn’t stop, and it would not damage the machine anyway.
So he forcibly stopped his legs that wanted to run, rooted himself to the spot, and stared straight at the small screen behind the camera.
Quentin never did anything he was not sure of. The skateboard crashing into someone or something was absolutely out of the question.
Within the two seconds he stepped across, the black and yellow plaid shirt tied around his waist spread out like wings.
The young man’s limbs stretched out, his cool-white arms rose up, his slender, beautiful fingers slightly curved, as if pressing against the air to support his body. His strong core control allowed him to briefly create a sense of hanging in the air.
Even his blonde hair seemed to float up strand by strand, coated with a thin layer of white light, soft and light, like feathers.
Everything seemed to fall into slow motion.
“Bang!!”
The sound of the skateboard hitting the ground merged with the sound of him stepping back onto it.
On the large screen, that face, so handsome it made people’s throats tighten, suddenly approached, his expression indifferent, but his eyebrow raised.
Perhaps because of the cameraman’s panic and the continuous shouts from the offstage audience, a hint of delight at a successful prank appeared in his eyes.
It was hard to tell whether this hint of delight belonged to Quentin or to the rebellious boy he was playing, but there was no doubt that this fleeting three-second shot won the most enthusiastic feedback of the entire stage from the audience.
And this was despite the fact that many audience members missed the moment as it was so short and fast.
“What happened, what happened? What are they shouting about?”
“What’s wrong with the large screen? Isn’t it showing the panoramic view now? What could make them scream so loud?”
“Oh my god… Now I understand why Quentin’s popularity can be such a high level. You really have to see a live performance once to fully feel Team Leader Quentin’s charm.”
“The cameraman is a genius. This shot is so divine! Quentin’s camera sense is also amazing! I bet these three seconds will become popular! The production team must put this part into the final cut! I’m waiting to use it as footage for editing!”
“The scene where Quentin just approached is perfect for a screenshot as a wallpaper… So handsome and cool!”
“What exactly happened? I just drank some water. You guys are praising it so exaggeratedly it makes me very uncomfortable inside!”
After reaching his position, Quentin cleanly caught the board, then kicked it into the corner without even looking down, making sure the skateboard would not block their movement.
After the bridge ended, the chorus quickly followed. The synchronized dance, repeatedly revised and designed by Yan Qiao and the choreography teacher, was finally displayed before the audience.
Finally having multiple teammates who could keep up with his rhythm, Yan Qiao did not hold back his abilities in this choreography, adding in all the complex movements and formations.
Xue Mingzhu, Wen Xinyi, and Qi Yang, whose dance skills were average, quietly retreated to both sides after one round of movement. When encountering moves they really could not handle, the other four teammates subtly blocked them by staggering their positions.
In a survival show, this was unavoidable. Everyone had their own strengths and weaknesses, so they could only do their best to magnify strengths and avoid weaknesses.
Zhang Fu’s dance skills were also average, so the choreography given to her was quite unique.
She did not need to participate in the synchronized dance. After the interaction ended, following the beat of the drum beats, she moved back to the classroom wall, occasionally looking back at everyone in front of the stage and hesitantly walked into the classroom.
Then, following the rehearsal plan, she looked out from behind the two windows and propped her chin in thought.
As the song neared its end, Qi Yang separated from the group, walked toward the classroom, and reached out his hand toward Zhang Fu leaning by the window, as if silently inviting and confessing.
At this moment, the lights suddenly dimmed, with only two bright spotlights shining on the “male and female leads.”
The large screen split into two parts like a comic panel. The two looking at each other from a distance both looked handsome and beautiful, with affection in their eyes, involuntarily reminding people of the elopement scene of Romeo and Juliet.
But Zhang Fu in the picture was dazed for a moment. As the music faded, the hesitation in her eyes gradually faded. Looking at Qi Yang, she slowly but firmly shook her head.
The camera did not show Qi Yang’s expression, instead focusing on that lonely hand hanging in mid-air.
As the last piano key sound fell, the large screen suddenly dimmed. Words like END did not appear on the screen, perhaps meaning the story was to be continued and youth had just begun.
After the live venue was silent for a few seconds, a tidal wave of applause engulfed the stage.
“Thank you to Cheng Shaozi’s team and Quentin’s team for bringing us wonderful stages. Now, please, dear audience friends, cast your precious votes for the team you support!”
The host, holding a microphone in one hand and lifting her skirt with the other, smiled and walked toward the center of the stage, “The voting countdown has begun. Also, allow me to invite the two teams of trainees to return to the stage. The voting results will be announced shortly. Next up is the game session everyone has been looking forward to. I wonder what games they will draw this time? Let us wait and see.”
