"... So, after all that, the reward is just hot pot?"

Lin Zui rolled her eyes, clearly not interested, "Boring."

"Well, a talent show isn't complete without everyone having hot pot together at least once."

Cheng Zhen opened a can of Coke, raised it, and mumbled, "Cheers, to this nonsensical sense of ritual!"

Her cheeks were puffed out with food, making her look like a little hamster storing food for winter.

Jiang Ye raised an eyebrow in surprise, looking at Cheng Zhen, "I didn't expect you to be so knowledgeable."

"Of course."

Cheng Zhen nodded, swallowing her food before saying, "After all, I wasn't really a show fan before coming to this show."

She only secretly came to participate because she thought the talent show seemed fun.

But she wouldn't tell anyone that.

Jiang Ye said, "But I thought even if the other two shows had hot pot, our program team wouldn't invite us to eat."

Cheng Zhen was curious, "Why?"

Jiang Ye said realistically, "Because our program team is pretty poor."

Cheng Zhen: "..."

Jiang Ye wasn't wrong.

Because the director team originally only planned to let the winning group eat hot pot alone.

But they didn't expect that a simple relay game would be completely ruined by these little girls.

Even the mentors tried to control the situation twice, but they couldn't.

They also didn't expect these trainees to get so excited, they had broken the rules themselves, but they were still arguing that if there was a reward, shouldn't everyone share it?

The director team was furious.

But after weighing their options, they gritted their teeth and decided, okay, everyone can go.

After all, they were going to send a group of people away tomorrow after recording the first ranking release.

So, it would be better to give these little girls a big happy ending to remember in their last day.

"After all, this is also our last supper."

Lin Zui sighed, being a bit of a jerk, "So, even if the program team bleeds, they have to give everyone enough food for their last meal."

Jiang Ye was speechless, "... So much food still can't shut your mouth?"

"Don't we idols have basic body management requirements?"

Lin Zui said seriously, "If I really eat that much, I'll be fat tomorrow."

Jiang Ye thought to herself, no wonder, Lin Zui's condiment plate only had a few seafood and vegetables, no high-calorie foods at all, and she only dipped her food in clear soup.

After Lin Zui finished speaking, she glanced at Cheng Zhen's mountain of food, as if she was shocked before asking, "Aren't you afraid of getting fat?"

How could any idol eat that much?!

"No, I'm not."

Cheng Zhen ordered another plate of meat before saying, "I'm the type who can eat as much as I want and not gain weight."

Everyone at the table: "..."

They had seen people who deserved to be beaten, but they had never seen someone who deserved to be beaten like this.

The heat from the hot pot steamed everyone's faces red.

The girls chatted and ate hot pot, occasionally laughing together.

Even though the ranking release was tomorrow, it felt like a distant thing to them.

They didn't want to think about whether they would be eliminated, or what they would do if they left, they didn't even mention dreams or the future, they just enjoyed this moment of stolen happiness.

Just when everyone was finishing up, someone suddenly grabbed the microphone from the hot pot restaurant.

She stood on the empty space in a corner of the hot pot restaurant and said loudly, "Everyone, listen."

"Because time is short, many of you might not know me."

"So, let me introduce myself, my name is Zhu Li, I'm from Hua Ren Entertainment, and I'm a trainee who has been training for three years."

Even though the program team didn't give the trainees any alcoholic drinks, Zhu Li seemed drunk, her face was red, but her spirit was unusually excited,

"I'm here to announce some good news."

"I'm going to be eliminated tomorrow!"

The whole place was stunned.

Someone who seemed to be her friend suddenly said, "Don't say that! You won't leave!"

"Don't comfort me, after all, not everyone likes to live in a dream."

"There are some things I need to say now, or I won't have the chance tomorrow if I'm eliminated."

Zhu Li smiled and said, "Everyone continue eating, these are just my rambling thoughts, like background music for your meal."

"Actually, I just want to take this opportunity to thank some people."

"First, I want to thank my teammates from the same company who came to this show with me. You are all more talented and skilled than me, so you must work hard and go further. I'll come to see you two at the finals."

Her teammates were touched and frantically waved their hands, "Don't say that, we'll go all the way together."

"Then, I want to thank my captain, Xu Wen, who has been helping me with my dance. You are truly the best, best captain I've ever met!"

"Even though our group lost in the end, I believe that our 《Tiger Mouth》 Group B will always be the best!"

The captain she mentioned in the audience also had tears in her eyes, she nodded and cupped her hand to make a megaphone, shouting, "Our Tiger Mouth Group B is the best!"

"Also..."

Zhu Li suddenly paused, as if gathering all her courage, "Jiang Ye."

Jiang Ye was stunned and turned to look at her.

"Although we haven't spoken much."

Zhu Li tried to smile.

But the next second, she couldn't hold back, her voice was choked with tears, "But actually, I really wanted to perform on stage with you. I saw your performance during the first initial evaluation, and I thought you were so amazing."

"If I could stay for another round, if I could stay for another round..."

Zhu Li seemed like she was about to cry, her words caught in her throat, and she couldn't continue.

Jiang Ye stopped her chopsticks.

She looked seriously at Zhu Li.

She had a slight impression of Zhu Li, but not a deep one.

She remembered that her two performances were both average in all aspects, she wasn't particularly bad, but she wasn't particularly outstanding either, like a student who always just got 60 points on every test.

This kind of person in a talent show was the easiest to be drowned out.

They participate in a talent show once, then leave, almost no one remembers them, and even those who do remember them, few will remember their names.

Their existence might not even be considered a supporting role.

If you had to say, they were like dewdrops on a leaf, quietly coming and quietly disappearing.

In Jiang Ye's impression, Zhu Li had voted for her twice when choosing the theme song C-position.

She had raised her hand when choosing teammates for the performance.

And she had still said her name when choosing the trainee she most wanted to collaborate with.

So, she wasn't lying, and she wasn't trying to gain sympathy.

She really wanted to collaborate with her.

Jiang Ye suddenly put down her chopsticks.

She stood up from her seat, walked straight over, and took the microphone from Zhu Li's hand, saying, "Don't just say you want to do things, do them."

"I'm standing here now, you can invite me to collaborate with you directly."

"What do you want to sing, or what do you want to dance, I can do it with you now."

All the trainees were stunned.

Zhu Li was also stunned, "... Jiang Ye?"

"I know, you actually have many dreams you want to do, dreams you want to achieve, and I can't help you with those."

"But there's just this one, maybe I can make it not become your regret."

After Jiang Ye finished speaking, she looked at the hot pot restaurant staff, politely asking, "Excuse me, can the restaurant play music?"

The staff immediately said, "Yes, I'll just adjust the playlist."

Jiang Ye nodded, then looked at Zhu Li and smiled, "What do you want to dance?"

•••

Zhu Li said the name of a very famous domestic girl group dance.

This song wasn't difficult, it was a song she practiced often when she was training, and now her mind was blank, so she just said the name of the song she was most familiar with.

Jiang Ye agreed to dance with her.

All the trainees stopped eating hot pot and watched their performance.

The hot pot restaurant even adjusted the lighting for them.

Many staff members also came to watch.

Jiang Ye knew this song, it wasn't difficult, but she hadn't practiced it many times, so she couldn't show her full potential.

But because of that, it was just right for her to cooperate with Zhu Li, who was more familiar with the song.

Jiang Ye even forgot some of the exact dance steps, so she improvised two interactive segments, and Zhu Li, who had practiced this song countless times and had a very accurate sense of rhythm, was able to keep up.

Zhu Li's vocals weren't very good, and her singing and dancing would shake when she got to the chorus, so Jiang Ye would harmonize with her.

The two of them were so in sync.

This was the first time Zhu Li felt that she and Jiang Ye were so compatible, and maybe one day, she could really reach Jiang Ye's level.

The song ended.

All the trainees and staff members applauded for them.

Zhu Li's friend was teary-eyed, shouting her name from below, "You're the best! You're my one pick!"

Zhu Li wiped her tears with the back of her hand and whispered to Jiang Ye, "Thank you."

"You don't need to thank me, you danced very well."

Jiang Ye said, "I don't know if you'll stay for the next round, I hope you will, and I hope you think you will too."

"But if you've tried your best and it still doesn't work out, then I hope you don't give up on your dream."

"Everyone says that dreams are shining."

"But I think, in the process of chasing dreams, whether you achieve them or not, the person chasing the dream is also shining."

Jiang Ye scanned the audience, then smiled, "Look, everyone is watching. You are the queen of the stage tonight."

After Zhu Li and Jiang Ye's collaboration ended, some of the other trainees were also inspired.

Several trainees who also felt like they were about to be eliminated took the microphone and spoke.

Some trainees said, "I was too nervous during the initial evaluation, I was off-key, now I'm going to sing it again for everyone."

Others said, "Don't look at my ranking, I'm really good, don't believe me? I'll show you a performance right now."

Everyone gave the trainees who dared to speak tonight the warmest applause and cheers.

They might be leaving soon.

But they had been here, they had left something behind, and that was enough.

•••

In any case, it was almost midnight after they finished eating hot pot.

All the trainees took the bus back.

Jiang Ye kept looking out the window the whole time.

In the dark and quiet night, some white crystals were slowly falling from the sky.

Jiang Ye whispered, "It seems like it's snowing."

Cheng Zhen was leaning on her shoulder, sleeping soundly, she hummed in response.

She thought for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Is the ranking release recording tomorrow?"

Jiang Ye glanced at the time on her watch and said, "To be precise, it should be today."

On the day of the first snow.

They were about to face the first farewell in this show.