GSCCO Chapter 12

Some people are destined to stay from the very beginning.

Mu Huai suppressed his expression and laughed, “What should I do? I’m a little nervous.”

Lin Zi Fei: “Come on, you’re kidding.”

A staff member wearing a mask stood outside the door, gesturing for them to leave. Mu Huai, whose seat was near the door, stood up to make way for the others.

“Why aren’t you leaving?” Lin Zi Fei asked, puzzled.

Axolotl, standing last in line, gave a cool smirk: “Is Master Huai waiting for me?”

The five of them were of similar age, so they joked more freely. Mu Huai shrugged: “I told you I’m nervous. I’m afraid if I go out and see that the grumpy Yu-ge isn’t with me, I’ll burst into tears.”

Lin Zi Fei had already taken a step forward, but upon hearing this, he stepped back: “Ah, I’m nervous too. I’m afraid if I go out and see that the grumpy Yu-ge is with me, I’ll burst into tears.”

They half-jokingly pushed and shoved for a while, finally managing to walk out of the door side by side. Mu Huai was still the last to leave the room, and before he even stepped out, he saw the four of them, each with an increasingly exaggerated expression.

Lin Zi Fei was the most dramatic, clutching his collar and hanging his head dejectedly: “What am I going to do? I’m going to be the first to choose a dorm…”

A burst of laughter erupted outside, dissipating much of the tense atmosphere. Mu Huai, on the other hand, felt a sense of relief, and his barely perceptible tension dissipated as well.

There were 150 people, averaging over 30 people per person. Mu Huai’s group had a whopping 40, and as expected, the proportion of girls was the highest among the five. Yu Yi sat in the back row, openly playing on his phone, completely oblivious to the MC’s appearance. He only looked up when Mu Huai approached.

“Looks like I’m quite popular,” Mu Huai said with a triumphant smile.

The contestants screamed and cheered.

“Before coming here, I made a bet with those guys next door.” Mu Huai walked around the stage and slowly exhaled. “Guess what it was?”

Lin Zi Fei’s pretentious performance outside was projected onto the big screen, and everyone saw it. The shouts from the dormitories continued unabated.

The person in the back row of the crowd was like the legendary figure from student days, sitting cross-legged, chin in hand, exuding an aloof detached air, seemingly just waiting for an outcome.

Mu Huai: “Yu-ge.”

Yu Yi: “…”

Suddenly meeting Mu Huai’s gaze, Yu Yi stared at him expressionlessly.

He was daydreaming. Yu Yi sighed inwardly. Because Mu Huai was dressed particularly flamboyant today, a red leather jacket over a fishnet top, Yu Yi first thought Mu Huai might be performing on this show, then other things came to mind. To prevent himself from having any beastly thoughts under the camera’s watchful eye, Yu Yi could only stare at the sponsor’s sign behind Mu Huai, thinking about programming code, thinking about skeuomorphic models.

What did Mu Huai just say?

Yu Yi and Mu Huai remained locked in a stalemate, neither moving an inch.

To Mu Huai, Yu Yi looked a bit dazed, strangely endearing. Mu Huai lazily leaned against the stage, glanced at his script, and said, “Come on up.”

Two devices were set up, broadcasting live on the screens. Mu Huai explained that they had used Yu Yi as a wager in the room, and now, to prove Yu Yi’s worthiness to stay, he needed to come up and become the champion.

After Mu Huai finished speaking, there was an eerie silence.

Yu Yi was speechless. Becoming the champion in the first round? He’d be exhausted afterward, like being relentlessly battling it out, unless Mu Huai completely approved of him and let him step down. He suspected Mu Huai was using this as a personal vendetta, but he had no proof.

Mu Huai smiled as he waited for him to come up. Yu Yi didn’t hide his speechlessness, pursing his lips and rolling his eyes. This expression instantly brightened his face, which had been cold all morning.

Mu Huai casually held the microphone, chuckled, and asked the others, “Come on, who wants to be the first to challenge?”

Who wants to? Everyone was practically spitting blood. What kind of strategy is it to put a boss up in the first round? Yu Yi is a technical player! It’s said that a certain club once had his name on their roster. Although they didn’t know why Yu Yi didn’t choose to go pro, it didn’t stop them from hearing about his reputation.

After a silence lasting more than three seconds, Mu Huai turned to the people behind him who had already hung their headphones around their necks and said, “What do we do? Nobody’s challenging you, so why don’t you pick one?”

The manager was always so irresponsible, dressed so flashy and never speaking properly. A wave of regret washed over the group; why did we even come here!

Yu Yi, unusually, seemed to connect with the group’s thinking, sticking his tongue out at his cheek.

“Me, pick one?” Yu Yi repeated.

Everyone shuddered. Dude, we didn’t ask you to pick someone to fight, be nicer!

Mu Huai had a vague premonition and chuckled, “Just kidding…”

Yu Yi: “You go.”

Mu Huai: “…” Little brat.

The contestants were stunned for a moment, then erupted in a chorus of “Oh!”

Mu Huai, of course, wouldn’t compete with him.

The first to step up was a girl. Perhaps knowing she wasn’t strong enough to stay, she went first to make an impression on Mu Huai. Unfortunately, she lost rather badly.

The girl’s shoulders shrugged, her beautiful eyes practically glued to Mu Huai, perhaps still hoping Yu Yi would go easy on her… When she left the stage, Mu Huai wondered if Yu Yi had even recognized her gender.

Yu Yi stood guard for all five rounds, maintaining his arrogant demeanor from beginning to end. He received his team badge from Mu Huai and, as the only one to be eliminated early, sat on the stage.

Mu Huai didn’t even want to look back at him.

With forty people eliminating thirty, the pressure was immense. None of these people were necessarily willing to submit to anyone else. After the process, Mu Huai already had a general idea of ​​his choices, with only a few spots remaining undecided.

Yu Yi suddenly tapped the microphone and said, “The girl with the pigtails and the girl with the short hair, come up and do one round with the two guys in red.”

He had just picked the people Mu Huai was agonizing over.

It was a show, and Mu Huai was there for fun, but he didn’t intend to rush through this round. The perks offered by the show were opportunities for everyone on stage, potentially impacting their careers and even their lives. The girl with the pigtails and the girl with the short hair were both people Mu Huai favored. But with only twenty girls out of 150 participants, taking in two at once would cause gossip, and both the remaining and non-remaining contestants would feel resentful.

Mu Huai simply shoved the script into Yu Yi’s hand, saying. “He is the new team leader, and everyone had no choice but to listen.”

Since the four of them weren’t competing in the same round, now that they were all upstairs refining their strategies, some obvious and subtle strengths, and even their weaknesses were exposed.

The girl with the pigtails was small and cute, but her skills were fierce and precise. The short-haired girl played the same character, less aggressive than the twin-tailed girl, but very persistent. Once you faced her, it was impossible to escape immediately. In contrast, while the other two played very well, their overall usefulness to the team’s existing roster was minimal; it was obvious who should stay.

It wasn’t until all five teams had finished their selections that Yu Yi understood the purpose of Mu Huai’s fishnet shirt. Everyone gathered at the center, and the manager, meant to liven things up, asked for a talent performance.

Unlike the atmosphere on and off stage, they sat cross-legged on the ground in a circle, on the same level as the five MCs. There were far fewer people, making it feel more like sitting together on a school playground watching someone perform—the intimacy was definitely much higher.

This time, Yu Yi was pushed to the front, though he actually thought the view from the back might be better.

Mu Huai might be some kind of demon reincarnation. Offstage, he was usually lazy and cunning, but once the floor beneath his feet became the stage, his arrogant aura instantly transformed him. Regardless of whether one liked this style or not, everyone on stage got excited and moved to his rhythm.

When Mu Huai pulled off his red leather jacket, Yu Yi clearly heard a collective gasp behind him, even though they were all grown men.

Lin Zi Fei joined Mu Huai, keeping time with the rhythm, and the contestants cheered enthusiastically, even standing up in their excitement. Yu Yi sighed, glancing indifferently at the direction of the camera lens.

They had a half day to go back and pack their things. The next day, each team would move into the dormitories prepared by the production team for three months.

The dormitory area was near the recording location. Mu Huai and the other four MCs chose their dormitories that day and moved in. They were all two-story villas, not much different except for their location.

When team members moved in, the managers would usually get up to greet them. Lin Zi Fei woke up with difficulty. Looking out from his balcony, he saw Shi Shaoqian leading the earlier-arriving team members into the residential area.

After packing, Lin Zi Fei stood at the door and saw that every window of his former teammate’s room across the hall was tightly closed. They were clearly still asleep. A boy stood at the door, his back view elegant and refined, with two large suitcases beside him. Stood facing the door for a moment, he then bent down and lifted the doormat, picking up the key, before calmly opening the door.

Lin Zi Fei: “…” This familiar feeling.

Just then, the boy opened the door, turned around, picked up his suitcase, and politely nodded to Lin Zi Fei, who was standing there dumbfounded. He acted as if he had always owned the house.

Manager Mu Huai had no intention of receiving the team members; he didn’t even set an alarm and woke up naturally.

There were quite a few missed calls.

Mu Huai relaxed his neck muscles, thinking to himself, “Wasn’t the key stuck under the rug on the door? Surely none of the team members chosen yesterday were blind?”

Amidst these random thoughts, someone gently knocked twice on the door. Presumably not getting a response, the person outside quietly pushed the door open and entered.

Their eyes met in the dim light.

Yu Yi: “… Your manager told me to wake you up.”