SGSHE84

By two in the morning, everyone had finished their performances.

The director’s dedication to the show was evident in the trainees’ overall standard. a great deal of care had clearly gone into the production.

Aside from a few trainees who underperformed, the night’s acts were generally impressive, with Luan Xing’an and Qu Liuguang standing out as the brightest highlights.

Luan Xing’an’s original song was exceptional, the kind of track guaranteed to go viral the moment the show aired.

Although he hadn’t yet graduated, his youthful perspective on love and life offered a unique, refreshing flavor. Talent transcends age, for many, youth has no limit.

Qu Liuguang delivered a performance of korean dance-pop style, it was visually captivating, flawlessly executed, and packed a powerful punch on stage.

Jing Heguang and the other three mentors conferred on the results, and Jing Heguang stepped forward to announce the trainees’ rankings.

Jing Heguang scanned the final score sheet, then glanced over at the group of trainees.

“Your class assignments are in.”

That single, straightforward sentence acted like an adrenaline shot for the young men, who had been struggling to keep their eyes open from exhaustion, instantly snapping them to attention.

“Teacher Jing, please, announce them!”

“Hurry up, Teacher!”

Some couldn’t resist adding a bit of drama: “I’m so nervous! My heart is pounding out of my chest!”

Yet, almost without exception, the forty pairs of eyes fixed on Jing Heguang revealed a shared sense of yearning.

The difference lay in the nuance: some gazes held a mix of anxiety, while others burned with surging ambition.

Whether their future would be the culmination of a decade of hard work or a path requiring another ten years of struggle might well be decided in this fleeting moment.

It was late, and Jing Heguang saw no point in keeping them in suspense any longer.

“Fifteen Ds and fourteen Cs. The results aren’t exactly great.”

Out of forty trainees, twenty-nine had landed in classes C and D, and the very names Class C and Class D made it clear these were the bottom-tier groups. At that moment, half the people looked disappointed, some even turned pale.

Beside Luan Xing’an, a boy with yellow hair parted in a 4-6 split sniffled and burst into tears.

Luan Xing’an took out the small pack of tissues he carried with him, pulled one out, and handed it to the boy. “Don’t cry.”

The yellow-haired boy’s eyes were red from weeping. “I’m so upset, I’m definitely going to end up in Class C or D.”

Luan Xing’an felt a bit at a loss, because he had a feeling…that he was in Class A.

In his past experience, whenever he tried to comfort classmates who hadn’t performed as well as he had, they would often mistake his kindness for condescension. Over time, he had stopped trying to comfort people in situations like this.

But leaving someone to cry endlessly didn’t feel right either. After a moment’s thought, Luan Xing’an said, “Keep working hard! If you put in the effort, everyone will see it.”

Hearing this from the stage, Jing Heguang nearly laughed out loud.

Luan Xing’an was too naive. The boy crying had been laughing and chatting with others just moments ago, yet he was directing his tears specifically at Luan Xing’an now. It was clear that what the yellow-haired boy wanted wasn’t comfort, but camera time.

Jing Heguang spoke up: “The trainee down there is right, as long as you put in the effort, you will reap the rewards.”

Jing Heguang announced the results for trainees in Classes D, C, and B in reverse order, finally leaving five students for Class A.

The five who hadn’t been called yet wore expressions of relief.

Jing Heguang’s gaze swept briefly over his sweet younger brother’s face before he said, “Now, let’s welcome our five Class A trainees to the stage to reintroduce themselves. Those who excel always receive more.”

This starkly different treatment instantly ignited the trainees’ competitive spirit, a new intensity appeared in many of their eyes as they gazed fervently at the stage.

Luan Xing’an stood first in line among the five.

According to the original script, Jing Heguang was supposed to stand in the center. Upon seeing his well-behaved younger brother, Jing Heguang immediately stepped over to Luan Xing’an’s side, handed him the other microphone, and asked, “Do you want me to carry your guitar for you?”

Luan Xing’an had initially intended to decline, but with that handsome young man standing right beside him, he found himself handing the guitar over almost instinctively.

After handing over the guitar, Luan Xing’an held the microphone and introduced himself: “Hello everyone, I’m Luan Xing’an. Luan as in the golden rain tree, Xing as in the star and moonlight, and An as in peace and well-being. It’s a pleasure to meet you all, and I hope you enjoy my songs!”

Having finished his introduction, Luan Xing’an passed the microphone to Qu Liuguang, who was standing beside him.

Qu Liuguang’s silver ear stud glinted as he smiled confidently: “I’m Qu Liuguang. I aim to be the chosen one that Mentor Jing spoke of.”

That single sentence drew gasps of astonishment from many of the trainees in the audience.

It was an incredibly bold statement!

At the same time, Qu Liuguang glanced at Jing Heguang. His gazes held a smile, and he showed no signs of awkwardness, an air of bold confidence was written all over his face.

Qu Liuguang was confident that he was far more eye-catching than Luan Xing’an. By comparison, the cautious, timid vibe Luan Xing’an exuded seemed dull and lackluster.

Even though there was someone standing between them, Qu Liuguang acted as if Luan Xing’an didn’t exist.

And indeed, that was where everyone’s attention was focused.

Even Chu Chu, a veteran of talent shows, had to admire him: this kid really had guts!

Jing Heguang smiled. “Student Qu Liuguang wants to be the Chosen One, how about the rest of you?”

The trainees from Classes B, C, and D howled in response, “We do!”

“I want the center spot!”

“I want to enter Class A!”

“Class A, just you wait!”

Qu Liuguang was momentarily taken aback. How had he suddenly become the target of everyone’s rivalry? Still, he refused to believe that anyone participating in the show lacked ambition.

***

Backstage, the director marveled, “Jing Heguang really knows how to work the crowd! He fired up the atmosphere instantly!”

A young assistant looked bewildered. “Director, pitting the two sides against each other like that…isn’t it a bit too intense?”

“What do you know?” The director smiled and rubbed his head. “That’s the unique appeal of talent shows, the thrill of the unexpected, the feeling that anything could happen to anyone! Sure, climbing steadily to the top is fine, but nothing beats the rush of a dramatic, against-the-odds comeback!”

***

Out on stage, Qu Liuguang realized he had inadvertently stoked some serious rivalry. Three members of Class A were now glaring at him with visible displeasure.

That displeasure was subtle, but Qu Liuguang had been observant of people’s reactions since childhood, so he was certain of what he saw.

Qu Liuguang gritted his teeth slightly, annoyed that Jing Heguang didn’t know how to play the game.

If Jing Heguang had just praised him right then, it would have cemented his status as the undisputed leader of Class A.

With the self-introductions of the five trainees concluded, the day’s filming schedule finally wrapped up. The trainees breathed a sigh of relief, and so did the mentors. The recording session, which had stretched from afternoon into the evening, had finally come to an end.

Jing Heguang was the only one who remained full of energy. He added, “I said earlier that outstanding people gain a lot. But there’s a second half to that statement, they also need to put in a lot of effort.”

“I’ll be staying with the Class A trainees tonight and answering one quick question for each of them.”

Without waiting for the uproar from the young men below to die down, Jing Heguang spoke directly into the microphone: “Alright, the initial stage auditions are now over! You’ve all worked hard. You can go back and rest. Remember to gather in your respective class training rooms at ten o’clock tomorrow.”

The director backstage: ???

Since when was there a segment where the head mentor stays with the trainees?!

After the trainees returned to their dorms, the director sought out Jing Heguang.

Having lost the energy boost he got from cuddling his ‘good little brother’, Jing Heguang was flagging now. He let out a yawn that was somehow still incredibly stylish. “I thought of it on the spur of the moment, the evening felt a bit flat. When you edit it, just mute the words ‘Class A trainees’ from that sentence and slot the clip in at the end of the first episode.”

Muting ‘Class A trainees’ would make it sound like…”I’ll be staying with…tonight”?

The director: !!!

The director hesitated, wanting to say something but stopping himself.

It was simply because this move was so audacious, it was something even he hadn’t thought of.

Jing Heguang said, “Director, is everything set? I’m heading to the dorms now. See you tomorrow and get some good rest.”

After seeing Jing Heguang off, the director buried his head in the evening’s footage, feeling like he was tearing his hair out.

Good rest was out of the question. He had to organize the night’s material, double-check the script for the next day, and do a rough cut of the footage.

***

Jing Heguang parted ways with the director and dragged his suitcase toward Class A dormitory.

On the way, he ran into trainees from other classes in the dormitory area who stared at him in stunned silence. Jing Heguang smiled, greeted them, and urged them to go get some rest early. Then, Jing Heguang knocked on the door of Class A dormitory.

The person who opened the door was one of the five A’s, a cool guy with a buzz cut known for his distinctive rap style and soulful lyrics.

Upon seeing Jing Heguang, the buzz-cut guy’s eyes widened in sheer shock: “Teacher Jing, you actually came?!”

It wasn’t just him, the trainees from Classes B, C, and D who had encountered Jing Heguang on the way had reacted with the same astonishment.

Given Jing Heguang’s status, he could easily have demanded an entire building to himself. It was obvious to anyone, even without thinking hard, that he wouldn’t possibly be staying in a shared dormitory with them.

They had assumed the ‘staying together’ arrangement was just a publicity stunt by the production team.

Yet, here Jing Heguang was, in the flesh!

The room was a six-person dorm, with five trainees already there, exactly one empty bed remained.

Three of the trainees occupied the beds on one side, while Luan Xing’an and Qu Liuguang were on the other, leaving the middle spot open.

Qu Liuguang, who occupied the bed nearest the door, turned around and greeted Jing Heguang and the camera from his elevated position.

“Hello, Teacher Jing! There’s an empty spot right next to me. Come on over.”

Although Qu Liuguang found Jing Heguang’s lack of social savvy annoying, he knew the importance of winning over such a major mentor.

Unfortunately, Jing Heguang merely nodded at him before his gaze shifted to a bare foot dangling down from one of the beds.

Luan Xing’an had one leg bent while the other hung naturally off the edge of the bed.

He had fair skin, and his feet, areas rarely exposed to the sun, were especially pale and clean. Luan Xing’an had a small frame, so his feet were petite, and his calves were slender and long.

Wearing headphones, Luan Xing’an was busy sketching in a notebook.

Up close, one could clearly see that he was drawing a pair of little lemons. Beside the lemons were the lyrics to the song he had first sung for Jing Heguang. Jing Heguang set his things down, so the five people in the room crowded around him, only then did Luan Xing’an, who had been up on his bunk, finally poke his head out.

“T-Teacher Jing, you’re here?!” Luan Xing’an had nearly blurted out brother Jing.

Beneath the six bunks stood their respective desks, and Jing Heguang had already made his way to the space just in front of Luan Xing’an’s bed.

Jing Heguang dragged his suitcase to the side. “I told you I was coming, didn’t I? You all act as if my showing up is some kind of strange occurrence.”

The cool guy with the buzz cut gave an awkward smile, his gaze darting around the room.

His eyes happened to land on Jing Heguang’s suitcase, then shifted to Luan Xing’an’s. The two cases looked remarkably alike!

A thought cross the cool guy with the buzz cut mind, and after taking another look, he remarked, “Teacher Jing’s suitcase and Xing’an’s are the same model, aren’t they? Just one is bigger and the other is smaller.”

The three trainees who had been browsing online immediately spotted the suitcases, and the looks they cast at Luan Xing’an were filled with envy. Just look at his boss, coming straight onto the show to personally look after his artist!

Jing Heguang was very pleased, thinking to himself: He’s got a much better eye for things than Xiao Chen, I’ll give him an A+ next time.

Luan Xing’an had just tucked his feet away when he heard brother Jing speak.

“We bought them together, the second one was half price!” There was a hint of smug pride in his tone.

Author’s Note: Jing ‘Frugal and Thrifty’ Heguang.