[Here it comes, here it comes! Finally, I’ve been waiting!]
[Ahhh, I heard this episode is Xue-Que’s double rap! I’ve been waiting for today since the second public performance ended! Excited!!]
As soon as the fifth main episode went online, layers upon layers of barrages surged like a massive army, uniformly filling half the screen.
It wasn’t until the nearly two-minute-long sponsor advertisement finished playing at the start of the show that the explosive surge in barrages subsided slightly, showing just how high the excited and anticipatory emotions of the audience waiting outside were.
Continuing from the end of the first public performance in the fourth episode, this episode first used the second public performance grouping as its starting point.
The top ten trainees from the first round ranking announcement automatically became the ten team leaders for the second public performance. Under the guidance of the production team, they went up to the third floor and learned from mentor Yang Xu the rules for this public performance’s group battle competition.
[Original composition? All ten groups are doing original songs? Are you serious?]
[Out of these ten team leaders, only a few know how to write songs… No wonder they say the most awesome stage in the second public performance was Quentin’s team. Turns out it was because they took advantage of original songs.]
[Are you blind? Quite a few people know how to write songs. Most team leaders have original works. The worst off is still Qi Yang. That guy’s popularity really screwed him.]
[What kind of song can you write in such a short time? Am I on the wrong show? Are you sure this is a boy group survival show? The production team of the music variety show next door isn’t this insane.]
The barrage was quite controversial about the competition rules.
The previous season of the survival show didn’t value the trainees’ original songwriting ability this much. In the current idol market, “original” isn’t that important for idol groups; at best, it serves as an extra point to attract fans.
Neither passersby nor fans consider “original” as a necessary standard to evaluate and judge whether a boy group is excellent or not.
After all, in the public’s perception, professional matters should be left to professionals.
Originality is the responsibility of musicians. A boy group just needs to digest existing works well and present the best stage for the audience.
Although in the previous episode of “NS,” Yang Xu had said they hoped to select a boy group with original abilities, both inside and outside the show, including Yang Xu himself who said this, no one took it seriously.
Having original songwriting ability doesn’t equal excellent original songwriting ability. It’s too difficult to write a hit song these days. If someone had that kind of talent, why join a boy group? Wouldn’t it be better to just be an original musician?
The audience outside the show subconsciously didn’t think the songwriting ability of boy group trainees was very reliable. Even Quentin, who initially became popular in the first stage with an original foreign language song, was seen by the audience as just a young man with a little talent, worlds apart from the musicians with countless hits on the light music app.
Boy group idols rely on looks, singing, dancing, and stages. No one has ever said idols need to rely on originality. This kind of all-rounder is too rare; one or two special cases can’t influence the judgment of the entire market.
Therefore, to the many viewers familiar with and who had followed boy groups, the second public performance rules announced by Yang Xu seemed to be just gimmicks promoted by the production team, just minor drama within the scripted setting.
Even if some team leaders didn’t understand originality at all, it didn’t matter; the omnipotent music teachers would lend a hand. As for whether this counted as cheating, since it was off-camera, who would care?
However, the thousand viewers who had watched the second public performance live were only now realizing that…the ten songs performed back then were freely created by the trainees based on a demo no longer than 20 seconds?
Some songs were indeed not very good, but…but was that “Fire Seed” also an original by these trainees?
They swallowed nervously, their eyes falling on the green-eyed young man quietly listening to the rules on screen, thinking, “…No way.”
The lively barrage didn’t affect the show’s progress. After the group battle rules were announced, the ten team leaders selected demos in order of ranking.
Honestly, to the audience, these five demos all sounded quite similar. Some had a faster rhythm, some were slower and more melodious. There wasn’t much difference between good and bad; the choice was purely based on preference.
[Quentin vs Bi Xiao? Why does it feel like the other team leaders deliberately avoided the demo Quentin chose…]
[I’d avoid Quentin too if I were them. This is a competition; it’s about winning or losing. Who wants to lose?]
[Quentin really is the final boss!]
[Bi Xiao’s expression looks weird. He seems both relieved and aggrieved. Is it my imagination?]
[Actually, you can tell that among the five demos, this one sounds the most suitable for Bi Xiao’s style of rap. I suspect he originally intended to choose this one, but since Quentin picked it first, and everyone else didn’t want to compete with Quentin, did Bi Xiao, being in the top ten, just smoothly get this leftover?]
[The person above, you’ve hit the truth.]
As the ten team leaders began writing keywords on paper, the camera shifted to the trainees waiting in the practice room downstairs.
The first to go upstairs was Xue Mingzhu.
Ten keywords were posted on ten different door numbers. As Xue Mingzhu walked along the corridor, observing one by one, the audience also got to see what keywords each team leader had submitted.
[It’s hard to choose, you don’t even know who the team leader is, and the keywords were written by the team leaders themselves, unrelated to the demo. It’s just the team leader’s personal idea.]
[Xue Mingzhu wants to be in a group with Quentin, he’s been talking about it since the last episode.]
[Quentin already agreed to be in a group with him before. Who would have thought the production team would pull this?]
[Ah? That’s it? He decided so quickly? This group battle is a rematch, right? The final result will be compared with the other teams with the same demo. There’s absolutely no suspense in this group battle, this guy is so lucky.]
[…What happened? Why did he choose so fast?]
Xue Mingzhu stopped without hesitation in front of a white wooden door, his eyes fixed intently on the door number sign written on it.
Yang Xu standing beside him was as surprised as the audience outside the show. Everyone thought he would seriously think and hesitate for a while. Yang Xu was even mentally prepared to be probed with questions, but how could this kid choose so decisively?
“Star Fire…isn’t that a burning candle flame? Isn’t this direction too obvious!”
The young man wearing the red hairband grinned at the camera, his brows and eyes full of arrogance, yet his smile was exceptionally bright.
He said frankly and confidently: “This keyword was prepared for me, so of course I’m choosing him.”
Xue Mingzhu couldn’t hide his emotions. That smug, joyful energy practically burst through the screen. He was practically writing “This is definitely the hint Quentin left for me” on his face.
[Dude, you’re a bit too confident…]
[Really? I’m starting to believe it. You Xue Mingzhu… tsk tsk tsk.]
[Openly and honestly passing secret signals, Quentin, don’t spoil him too much.]
[Ahem, for those who watched the public performance, I can’t say for sure if it’s a secret signal, but these keywords are indeed all related to the stage.]
[The door is opening, the door is opening!]
[Holy crap, it really is Quentin!]
Viewers familiar with Quentin recognized the back view of the figure on screen wearing a white T-shirt and red pants at a glance. That navy blue cap was practically etched into the DNA of Quentin’s fans.
During this period, countless fans had silently added similar caps to their shopping carts. Although they didn’t know the brand of Quentin’s cap, it wasn’t a luxury item; buying one of roughly the same color wasn’t a problem.
Before the barrage could get excited for long, a certain young man who couldn’t wait to push the door open suddenly started sprinting towards Quentin in the practice room, his speed increasing rapidly.
Finally, he pushed off the ground with his feet, jumped up with a thud, and leaped abruptly onto Quentin’s back.
The barrage froze for a moment, then exploded instantly.
[???]
[What the…]
[What the hell? Xue Mingzhu, you just jump on him like that?! Who told you to jump on Quentin’s back? Ahhh, I’m a Xue-Que shipper!!!]
[Little Chicken, you really… Why are you shouting so loud? People downstairs can hear you [laughing crying]]
[No way… My CP XP got boosted by the actual people themselves? QAQ]
[Little Xue is really happy, both legs are wrapped around QT’s waist.]
[Quentin’s core strength is so strong. Xue Mingzhu even had a running start, yet he still caught him steadily! His abs weren’t trained in vain.]
[Hee hee, so today is a victory for the Que-Xue shippers, right?]
[Que-Xue rises!!! Who exactly is making Quentin, a final boss radiating this much dominant energy, the bottom?!]
[No need to make a fuss, what’s wrong with a piggyback ride? The “husband” in the relationship is just this clingy, lying on his beautiful “wife’s” back acting spoiled for a bit. Who’s reversing anything? Heh heh.]
[Ah, stop fighting. Xue-Que is reversible but not separable. We’re all one family~ I have a feeling that after this episode airs, 3A will become a thing of the past. Our Xue-Que is the true ultimate OTP!]
Seeing Xue Mingzhu and Quentin reunited, CP fans instantly filled the screen. Topics mixed chaotically, noisier than a vegetable market. Fans of just one of them were drowned out by the squealing CP fans.
Actually, physical contact like hugging between boys isn’t a big deal at all. Even if Xue Mingzhu hugged tightly, happily clinging around Quentin’s neck, his movements were open and natural, and not shy or pretentious at all. It was clearly just two good brothers with a close bond.
—What’s so interesting about good brothers being affectionate?
The two involved didn’t think there was any problem at all. Unfortunately, they were both good looking and their demeanor was fresh, both vibrant and spirited young men.
They wore T-shirts and sweatpants of the same style, and no matter how intimate their interactions were, it didn’t come across as off-putting, nor did it seem like they were deliberately trying to create a romantic pairing.
This kind of clean, pure, youthful, and explosive CP was too rare in the entertainment industry, where artificial romantic pairings were rampant. They were like a pure lotus flower emerging from the mud!
The more natural they were, the more CP fans loved them, and the more intense the barrage became. It wasn’t until more and more trainees went upstairs one after another to choose keywords that the CP fans fixated on that brief moment gradually restrained themselves.
To CP fans, these excited barrages were like a lively gathering of many fellow fans. But to fans of other trainees, they felt like provocation, which was quite unpleasant.
This displeasure didn’t stem from a dislike of the “Xue-Que” CP, but from the frustration of seeing the obvious gap in popularity presented in the barrage.
Quentin and Xue Mingzhu simply hugged, and got such a fervent response. No matter how much other trainees hesitated or agonized, not many people paid attention. A few scattered barrages were often drowned out in the enthusiastic discussions about others…
The few bits of attention they did receive were all related to popular trainees.
[The 8th one… I didn’t miscount, right? This is the 8th trainee asking which door Quentin is behind.]
[I’m really speechless. So the online talk about “everyone is a fanboy” wasn’t just fans exaggerating? Is this kind of scene even possible in a survival show? Everyone wants to be in the same group as Quentin. Even a script wouldn’t dare write something like this!]
[It’s not everyone though…]
[Regardless of whether it’s everyone or not, isn’t it still exaggerated that 8 people have actively asked now?]
[Oh my God, it feels crazier than a dating show. At most, a dating show has one person choosing from four. Our NS has one person choosing from eight!]
[Now it’s one from nine.]
[Quentin is truly the god for those who admire strength. Who wouldn’t want to latch onto his thigh?]
[The reputation of everyone being a fanboy is truly well-deserved.]
