While Quentin and the others were busy with stage rehearsals, the trainees who had been eliminated earlier received an invitation from the production team to come watch the debut night live.
This wasn’t just a free front-row ticket; more importantly, the production team wanted them to put on their blazer school uniforms and, together with their former companions, witness the outcome of this debut battle.
The trainees who received the invitation were overjoyed. They had all watched the previous season of the survival show and knew that the debut night featured all the eliminated trainees returning to send their blessings.
But that was last year. Who could guarantee that the format would remain the same this year? What if the production team was too lazy to bother and didn’t want to go through the trouble of arranging all eighty of them?
Fortunately, everything remained the same. However, the invitation arrived a bit late, with only one week until the official debut night. They had to quickly arrange their schedules and prepare in advance!
Three months ago, Sheng Yuanxu was still an ordinary content creator in the lifestyle and appearance sections. Relying on a face that was fairly photogenic, he was recommended by the forum’s officials to “NS,” along with Li He, a streamer from the gaming section.
At that time, Sheng Yuanxu only thought of himself as a small cannon fodder who would be eliminated in the first round. He could leech off popularity and then come back to continue being an unremarkable little content creator.
However, he never expected his luck to be so good. The fans he had accumulated as a content creator helped him survive the first elimination. Then, during the second public performance, he joined Quentin’s team and successfully latched onto a golden thigh.
Unfortunately, due to the show’s format, the second elimination happened before the second public performance stage officially aired, resulting in the fans he gained from that stage having no chance to vote.
Of course, these were all minor issues!
Right after he was eliminated, Sheng Yuanxu felt a deep sense of regret. Although he, a content creator who couldn’t sing or dance, had no ambition to debut, he couldn’t bear to part with this group of friends on the show who were both handsome and friendly.
Honestly, for someone like him who wasn’t in the entertainment industry, where else could he meet so many handsome guys his age after leaving “NS”? It would be great if a few of them would become content creators with him.
However, when Sheng Yuanxu got his phone back, opened the forum, and saw that the followers on his own homepage had almost quintupled, any feelings of regret and melancholy were instantly swept away.
His career drive ignited, and the content creator immediately began organizing the inspirational raw footage he had recorded during the show, preparing to film a vlog series titled ‘Braving a Boy Group Survival Show from Scratch.’
The trainees eliminated before him weren’t professional content creators. The videos they posted had average effects and poor viewership, so he was confident in becoming the number one person in this niche.
The subsequent development was as he had predicted. And he deeply understood the principle of not keeping everything to himself. Soon after his video went viral, he quickly pulled in trainees he had a good relationship with to collaborate on co-created videos.
After receiving the “NS” debut night invitation this time, Sheng Yuanxu immediately took a photo of the black card with gold embossing that the production team had mailed to him and posted it on the forum. This quickly attracted a group of eliminated trainees to do a group-building exercise in the comments section.
After replying to each of them one by one, he began looking at his private messages.
Sheng Yuanxu ignored all the other messy and random messages and directly clicked on a group chat he had pinned.
Tang Heng, Yang Siyi, Qiao Xue, Zhuang Nuo, Li He, plus himself, there were a total of six people in the group.
These six people were among the most popular of the eliminated trainees during this period. Apart from Li He, the other five had formed a bond through team collaborations during the second public performance.
Li He joined because he was a professional streamer and a friend of Sheng Yuanxu’s. He could lead everyone in live-streaming games together.
At this moment, everyone in the group chat was online, and the conversation unsurprisingly revolved around the invitation they had just received.
[Water And Soil Don’t Mix]: @everyone, is the invitation just a single ticket? What should I do if I want to bring family members? Can I ask the production team for a family ticket?]
[Actor Qiao Xue]: There should be dedicated family seats, but I don’t know how many people they can seat. The director should invite the parents of the trainees to the finals. You can ask the production team if there are any extra seats.
[Donald Duck]: I asked! There are seats! But not many! You guys quickly go ask the director to apply. First come, first served!
[.]: Ahhhhhhh I’m too late [crying][crying] Director Wang said there are no seats left. @Water And Soil Don’t Mix, Brother Zhuang, don’t bother asking either T^T
[Water And Soil Don’t Mix]: …
[Water And Soil Don’t Mix]: Ahem, I asked a bit earlier than you. I got one family ticket.
[.]: [Petrified] [Cracked]
[Lilili He]: @Euler Euler Euler, which day are your plane tickets booked for?
Sheng Yuanxu finished reading the message history, remembered that both he and Li He lived in Nancheng, and typed his reply.
[Euler Euler Euler]: Early tomorrow morning. I just booked it. I plan to arrive early to film some vlog material, want to go together?
[Lilili He]: Yeah
[.]: Early morning tickets?? You’ve already been eliminated, no need to be so intense. From Nancheng to Yanhai takes several hours, you know.
[.]: Oh, right, you guys better check hotels first. The nearby hotels are all fully booked. If you can’t get one, you can stay at my place. I’m going to film a vlog too, hehe. Learning from Brother Sheng [salute]
[Euler Euler Euler]: Okay, I’ll stock up on more material. Let’s release them together [thumbs up]
[Donald Duck]: I want to go backstage too… I want to film Quentin…
[Water And Soil Don’t Mix]: The simp persona is still standing firm without collapsing?
[Donald Duck]: I clearly treat Quentin as my idol! Ahhhh, after Quentin finishes the show and gets his phone back, you’re going to make my idol think I have bad intentions, netizens are too bullying [heartbroken]
[.]: Pfft. Well, a real man is straightforward and honest. What’s there to be afraid of?
[Donald Duck]: A single slip can cause everlasting regret.
[Donald Duck]: Never mind. I don’t want to talk to anyone who hasn’t received a response to their confession from Quentin. 😀
Sheng Yuanxu looked at this message, the corners of his mouth twitching. He could already imagine Tang Heng’s stubborn expression.
But then again, he also wanted to go backstage and take a look. If he could get Quentin to appear in his vlog, that would be great…
He had been eliminated earlier than Tang Heng and hadn’t even seen Quentin’s blonde look live. He could only watch videos online, repost, like, and then blow rainbow farts.
Given Quentin’s current popularity, for eliminated trainees like them, even being associated with him was considered reaching above their level.
The posts where he praised Quentin received significantly more likes than his normal posts. As for those who kept mentioning Quentin, whether openly or covertly, the benefits they gained were even greater. Even if some of Quentin’s fans disapproved, getting cursed at by each person could still make them achieve notoriety and popularity.
But in fact, after elimination, many trainees mentioned Quentin on public platforms. Almost every time a trainee started a live stream, there would always be questions about Quentin in the barrage.
Most people were very happy to respond a few times. Among the trainees from “NS,” there might be people who didn’t like Quentin, but absolutely no one didn’t admire him.
Other popular trainees were also talked about, but the discerning eyes of the vast netizens began to take effect. They could see that the trainees’ attitudes when mentioning Quentin were completely different from when they mentioned others.
Heartfelt sighs, endless praise, ambiguous silence, hesitant melancholy…
The fact that he could make so many trainees show such complex emotions showed how deep an impression Quentin had left in their hearts.
“I wonder how Quentin and the others are doing with their finals rehearsals…”
Sheng Yuanxu thought to himself, “Even if I can’t go backstage, just sitting in the front row to watch the performances would be good.”
He hadn’t experienced the audience’s perspective from below the stage yet.
[Lilili He]: Episode 9 of “NS” is out. Have you watched it?
[.]: What? It’s out? So fast?
[Water And Soil Don’t Mix]: you’re still not used to the rhythm of catching up on variety shows after being eliminated? It was updated just half an hour ago. I’m watching it right now. Li He is probably watching it too.
[Lilili He]: Yeah. I’ve watched the growth movie.
[Water And Soil Don’t Mix]: I saw the part where they were eating hotpot… They’re living the good life.
[Actor Qiao Xue]: I’m just about to watch it [anticipation]
[Euler Euler Euler]: I haven’t had time to watch yet. I got delayed by the invitation.
[Euler Euler Euler]: But I saw on trending topics that they ate hotpot and watched a movie or something. Why didn’t they arrange these kinds of team-building activities when we were still there? [worry]
[Lilili He]: The hotpot wasn’t the main point. The movie is quite surprising.
[Euler Euler Euler]: What do you mean?
[Lilili He]: Go watch it first. We’ll talk after you watch. Spoilers aren’t interesting.
[Actor Qiao Xue]: Actually, it’s not really spoilers. Siyi and Xiao Tang both recorded episode 9, right? Was the hotpot good? [curious]
[Donald Duck]: It was delicious! On “NS,” aside from the cafeteria, what isn’t delicious!
[Water And Soil Don’t Mix]: I can tell. You really ate with gusto. [screenshot.jpg]
[.]: Hey? I suddenly have an idea. Have you guys considered recording a reaction video? I just searched. No trainee has recorded one yet!
[.]: @Euler Euler Euler, Brother Sheng, you’re a professional content creator, right? How could you miss such a basic yet popular theme? The six of us in our group could have an online meeting and watch it together!
Sheng Yuanxu narrowed his eyes and immediately understood the brilliance of this idea.
But Yang Siyi’s suggestion came too late. There was only one week until the finals. Even if they recorded the reaction video for episode 9 right now, by the time they finished editing and released it, the popularity for episode 9 would have long been overshadowed by the final live broadcast.
He thought for a moment and sent a message.
[Euler Euler Euler]: There probably won’t be enough time to record a video. How about just live streaming? Connect via voice during the livestream, and the few of us can watch together.
[Lilili He]: I have no objection.
[.]: +1+1+1! Live streaming is great! I’ve never live-streamed before. Big boss, please take me along!!
[Water And Soil Don’t Mix]: You really want to live stream? Then I won’t watch now. I’ll wait for all of you.
[Donald Duck]: I’ve never done this kind of live stream before [dazed]. What’s the difference from the broadcast arranged by Director Wang on the show? We can see the barrage, right? Do we need to prepare anything in advance? What time does it start? Should we post a live stream announcement on the forum?
[Euler Euler Euler]: Having a computer and a camera at home is enough. If everyone is free right now, we can start streaming directly.
[Lilili He]: Start it. I’m still a bit short on my live streaming hours for this month. This will be a good way to pad them.
…
Seeing the positive responses from everyone in the group chat, Sheng Yuanxu walked to his bedroom, turned on his computer, adjusted the angle of the camera, made sure his appearance on camera was fine, then decisively started his live stream.
The notification that he was going live appeared on his forum homepage, and soon fans came rushing in after hearing the news.
[What’s going on? Suddenly starting a livestream?]
[No need, anchor. Isn’t it just receiving the “NS” invitation? Isn’t it just being able to sit in the front row to watch the final stage? Taking a photo and posting it on the forum was already offensive enough. Do you need to deliberately open a live stream to show off? (twisted) (frustrated) (crawling in the shadows)]
[It’s Sunday today. Anchor, stream for a while longer!]
[ Lili next door also started streaming. Are you two going to live stream games in the middle of the day?]
[Hehe, my takeout just arrived. I’ll watch the live stream while I eat.]
“I’m not playing games today. I called a few more friends to come watch a variety show together.”
Sheng Yuanxu clicked on Youth TV while responding to the barrage. “What variety show? Do you even need to ask? I can’t be the only one who knows episode 9 of ‘NS’ was updated, right?”
“I’m going to change my stream title. Let’s keep it simple… we’ll call it ‘Watching Episode 9 of NS Together’. Who’s coming? They’re quite a few, actually. More than during usual livestreams. Guess who?”
[Is Zhuang Nuo coming? Zhuang Nuo hasn’t streamed in a long time.]
[Anchor, Lili already sold you out. He said he sent an invitation to your stream!]
[Coming from Qiao Xue’s place. Brother Qiao also said he’s watching ‘NS’.]
[So many people.]
Sheng Yuanxu accepted the invitation messages sent by his friends one by one. Not long after, the live stream screen split into two parts. In the top left corner was the playback page for episode 9 of “NS.” The other part was evenly divided into six small windows, each window corresponding to the camera feed of each of the six anchors.
“Yo, hello everyone. Tang Heng, Yang Siyi, long time no see. You two haven’t changed much, huh.” He greeted cheerfully. “Your complexions look much better than on the show though. The food must have been pretty good these past few days.”
As soon as Tang Heng heard that, he couldn’t help but touch his stomach and said embarrassedly, “I have been eating a bit too much.”
Yang Siyi was still fumbling with the various functions of the live stream. The special effects on his face changed again and again, but they couldn’t hide his speechless expression. “What do you mean, long time no see? How long has it been? Half a month at most. How much could have changed?”
As he spoke, he urged impatiently, “Brother Sheng, don’t waste any more time. Just start watching! I haven’t seen our show yet. Brother Sheng, have you all finished watching? How is it? What fun things happened that we don’t know about?”
Sheng Yuanxu held the mouse and clicked the play button for episode 9, casually saying, “Lots of things. Including the extra footage and those spin off programs, they’re all very interesting. I can’t explain it all in a short time.”
Yang Siyi wanted to ask more questions, but the next second, his attention was drawn away by the theme song that began the official opening of episode 9: “Woo woo woo…!”
[Where did this big rooster crowing at noon come from?]
[This reaction shows he really hasn’t watched the show.]
[I have to say, the ‘NS’ theme song MV is really well made. Top-tier aesthetics.]
[The key is there are many handsome guys b(￣▽￣)d]
Episode 9 was two hours long. The first thirty minutes focused on the trainees’ hotpot gathering. Yang Siyi and Tang Heng saw themselves on the show for the first time and suddenly didn’t know what to say.
“…Did I really eat that much?” Tang Heng’s face looked conflicted.
Yang Siyi grabbed his hair and comforted him, “It’s fine, a minor issue. Look, no one else is any better.”
Everyone was frantically scooping food out of the pot to eat. The vegetarian options didn’t affect their love for hotpot in the slightest. They ate quickly and in large quantities.
The post-production editing even specially gave several shots of the clock on the wall, marking that they had eaten for nearly an hour. The staff had refilled the soup base for each table at least three times. There was almost no food left from what the production team had prepared. The young men, who carried out the ‘Clean Plate Campaign’ to the end, had swept through everything and eaten it all like a whirlwind.
This behavior of eating and drinking heartily was a far cry from their numb, robotic eating during “NS Live Studio.” The live stream was filled with “hahaha” in the barrage.
Tang Heng felt a bit frustrated looking at the barrage. Yang Siyi was thicker-skinned than him and still had the heart to keep people in suspense, praising the upcoming growth movie as the best thing under heaven, unparalleled on earth, even vividly describing their reactions when they watched the movie together.
“This movie is over three hours long. There’s no way the full version will air in the main episode. I wonder what they’ll cut out. If you ask me, these three-plus hours are all highlights. Not a single second should be cut!”
Yang Siyi’s eyes darted around. “Hey, Tang Heng, I remember this thing was played by vote count. Your video should have played first, right?”
Tang Heng curled his lip. “You remembered wrong. The first was Qi Yang. Didn’t he withdraw?”
As soon as Qi Yang’s withdrawal was mentioned, the barrage, which had been discussing hotpot and the movie, instantly boiled over.
[Did you guys already know Qi Yang was withdrawing?]
[Why did Qi Yang withdraw? I still don’t understand. It was so sudden.]
[Isn’t Qi Yang live streaming? I want to see Qi Yang’s reaction.]
[He definitely wouldn’t dare live stream right now. It’s uncertain whether he’ll even come to watch the finals.]
Sheng Yuanxu noticed the change in the live stream’s barrage and shifted the topic without changing his expression. “It’s a coming of age movie, why are you talking about ‘your videos”? You guys filmed a movie?”
“No… How is that possible? The director contacted my parents and asked for videos of me when I was little. It’s probably the same for everyone else. Using these videos as raw footage to edit a movie is more than enough.” Yang Siyi calculated on his fingers. “Each person probably takes up about four minutes of screentime.”
Qiao Xue smiled naturally. “So we’ll get to see you as kids? You must have been very cute.”
Tang Heng thought of his own video, his face darkened, and he said stubbornly, “Don’t all kids look about the same…”
Yang Siyi grinned. “Actually, most of it is embarrassing history. You’ll see later.”
[Dang dang dang dang, 4K high-definition embarrassing history broadcast!]
[I watched it at 2x speed. There really is a lot of embarrassing history. hhh Comedic guys are cultivated from a young age. [funny]]
[To be honest, setting aside the brats, most kids are actually very sensible. Much more well-behaved than I was as a kid.]
[The videos were to be edited into the show’s video, there’s no way they’d show you the bad side of a child. What are you thinking?]
[After watching the movie, you’ll know why certain trainees have high rankings. It makes sense. Ambitious parents, striving children, and exceptionally gifted geniuses.]
[Wu~I’ve stumbled on the celestial family~]
As the movie began, the six in the live stream chatted casually, occasionally bursting into laughter. The barrage remained very lively. They say you can tell what someone will be like at 3 years old, and fans are very good at finding highlights in their idols’ childhood videos and then showering them with praise.
The further they got, the higher the popularity of the video’s main character, and the more intense the discussion in the barrage became.
For example, the family circumstances revealed in Fang Xu’s video attracted netizens eating melons to start digging.
In the current entertainment industry, labels like ‘young master of a wealthy family’ are no longer as popular as they used to be.
Fans like to praise their idols for their noble appearance and temperament, their big-brand items, their fashionable and tasteful clothing… all of these can contribute to an idol’s “rich young master” persona.
But a real young master is different. This type of idol is more likely to attract the wealthy-hating passersby or be used as a target for black fans. If the idol’s own conditions don’t match the public’s imagination of a wealthy young master, they’ll be mocked.
[Who would have guessed Fang Xu’s family is this wealthy. Is this a hidden tycoon?]
[Emm… Fang Xu really doesn’t seem like a kid from a wealthy family. Since his family is this rich, why does he always give people a gloomy and insecure feeling?]
[A Fang Xu fan here, let me explain. Fang Xu signed with his company in high school. He either lived in the company dorm or rented a place outside. He didn’t spend much time with his family. His daily expenses are also very simple. Not at all the young master lifestyle everyone imagines.]
[You can see that Cui Yan and Fang Xu were middle and high school classmates. Are Fang Xu’s parents partial? In the video, Fang Xu’s siblings all attended international middle schools. Only he was different.]
These comments were digging too deep. Sheng Yuanxu and the others didn’t dare to follow the barrage and chat too much. They weren’t familiar with Fang Xu. How could they feel comfortable talking about his family behind his back?
But they could say a few words about Cui Yan’s video, which was next.
“Brother Cui Yan really had a tough time as a kid. I feel like he had no childhood.” Yang Siyi sighed.
Sheng Yuanxu hadn’t expected Cui Yan to have grown up like that. He couldn’t help but sigh. “Cui Yan’s personality is really good. My parents were also strict with me when I was little, but I was rebellious, not as sensible as Cui Yan.”
Li He snorted. “The fact that he wasn’t driven crazy is already amazing.”
Qiao Xue hesitated. “You can’t say that… His parents also worked very hard. They probably placed too many hopes on Cui Yan.”
Zhuang Nuo evaluated objectively. “Hope is not the same as transferring pressure. There was too much negative energy in Cui Yan’s home. Look at Cheng Shaozhi’s parents, they also placed high hopes on him. He was completely different from Cui Yan as a child.”
[Brother Cui Yan’s family was so oppressive I couldn’t bear to watch. Xiao Cheng’s family was so happy I didn’t dare to watch T^T]
[The production team is too ruthless. Putting those two together, was it to make the audience feel the disparity in Chinese-style education?]
[It feels like the movie is trying to elevate its value. The beginning was all funny and embarrassing history. Now they’re starting with this stuff.]
[It’s not to that extent. At most, there are some minor issues in Cui Yan’s family. His parents still love him very much.]
If Cheng Shaozhi’s family had deep roots, then Xue Mingzhu’s parents were even more optimistic and open-minded than imaginable. At least 50% of the liveliness in his videos could be credited to his parents.
And compared to Cheng Shaozhi, Xue Mingzhu’s family circumstances were very average. But his parents understood their child’s ideals and were willing to tolerate their child’s rebelliousness.
A child raised in this type of family is always full of vitality and fearlessness. No wonder Xue Mingzhu was so popular with mom fans a few years ago.
While Xue Mingzhu’s videos were playing, the barrage was quite cheerful. But when it came to Lu Kui, who followed closely behind, the barrage instantly changed its tone.
If you compared Lu Kui’s video to the forty trainees, it was average, not a big problem. But if placed among the top ten trainees, it seemed a bit out of place.
Because Lu Kui’s past neither reflected strong-willed discipline, self-discipline, and an upward drive, nor was it related to academic excellence, outstanding singing and dancing, or any particular skill.
Simply put, he had no highlights worth praising. His growth was too ordinary. He couldn’t compare to the other popular trainees who won the hearts of most viewers.
You know, a trainee needs highlights first, then they can be liked by people, and thus receive so many votes.
But Lu Kui, who had unexpectedly broken into the debut group, yet did not have matching highlights, would inevitably face the scrutiny and doubt of the audience.
Sheng Yuanxu and the others had some understanding of the most recently announced rankings on “NS.” But a few days ago, the controversy over “Qi Yang’s withdrawal” was still at the forefront. The audience had not yet had the energy to focus on Lu Kui’s ranking.
Therefore, there weren’t many analysis posts about Lu Kui on the forum. Sheng Yuanxu also hadn’t expected this matter to blow up.
The sudden surge in the barrage caught the young men in the live stream somewhat off guard. Fortunately, Lu Kui’s segment was only three minutes long, and they quickly muddled through it. But the questions still remained.
