The trainees who had left had already begun their next journey.

But those who remained had to actively prepare for the next performance.

Because time was limited, they had just said goodbye to twenty eliminated trainees in the morning.

In the afternoon, the remaining forty trainees sat in the hall according to their ranking from the first ranking release for a meeting.

This time, the mentor who came to announce the performance task was rap mentor Cui Qi.

"Our second performance evaluation task is position evaluation."

"The forty of you will be divided into three categories: vocal, dance, and rap, with eight different song groups. The order of song selection will be based on your ranking from the first ranking release."

"Previously, our show emphasized individual abilities during the initial evaluation, and this time is no different."

"Position evaluation is actually a process for you to recognize your own individual abilities."

"Different position categories determine what kind of abilities you will showcase in this performance, and your individual abilities will determine what kind of position you will hold in the team, what kind of role you will play, and all of this is what you need to show us in this performance."

Cui Qi's tone was unusually serious.

Every trainee in the audience couldn't help but look serious.

Cui Qi finished reading his cue card, looked at the audience, then smiled, "Don't be too nervous, ladies. Think about it, you'll be on stage soon, you should be happy, right?"

As he spoke, he started playing reference videos of each song for everyone.

"Oh, right, I forgot to mention, the first song in the rap group is my song."

Cui Qi paused halfway through, and said specifically, "Please make sure to take care of me when you choose. Don't let this song be the last one to be filled, I have to maintain my image, you know."

This joke lightened the heavy atmosphere in the room.

"What are you choosing?"

Lin Zui quietly asked Jiang Ye next to her, "Don't clash with me."

"Shouldn't I be saying that?"

Jiang Ye pointed at the number one ranking that had just been pasted on her name tag, her expression innocent, "I get to choose first".

"..."

Lin Zui rolled her eyes at her, "Then what are you choosing? I'll keep an eye out, don't clash with me, okay?"

"Now, please, the trainee who ranked first in the first ranking release."

Cui Qi said, "Jiang Ye, you can go and make your choice."

Jiang Ye stood up, just raised an eyebrow at Lin Zui, "Guess."

Lin Zui: "..."

Jiang Ye went out, following the staff's instructions to the door of another recording studio.

There were four long tables placed in front of the door of this recording studio, with four rows of cards on each table.

After choosing a card, you enter the recording studio, and each song corresponds to four rows of seats. After the trainees choose their song, they can go to their respective seats and sit down.

Three vocal songs, three dance songs, and two rap songs.

Jiang Ye lowered her head, her fingers resting on her chin, as if she was thinking carefully.

Her rap skills were good enough to handle the rap role in the group if there was not a dedicated rapper, but if she were to compare with professional rappers, she would definitely be overshadowed, so she could pass on that first.

Her vocals were also good.

But usually, by this round, the vocal group would be starting to play the main vocalist script, and she, a C-position contender, wouldn't go and join in the fun.

That left the dance group.

The three dance songs were actually all pretty good.

The first song was Mu Xingchi's song, she had just looked at it, the choreography was very challenging, and since it was the mentor's own song, it would definitely be specially mentioned by the mentor later, and there would be corresponding heat to bring it up.

But Jiang Ye had noticed when she was secretly using her phone that Mu Xingchi's appreciation for her had been noticed by some people after the first few episodes aired.

There were already people on Weibo secretly starting to ship the mentor x trainee couple.

Although shipping a BG couple wasn't a bad way to get some blood.

Jiang Ye didn't want her fans to be voting while also crying and cleaning up the square and washing the trending topics.

That would be terrifying.

She'd better avoid that.

The second song in the dance group, "Follow Me", had elements of puppet dance, and it also looked like it could be a standout stage.

But this song was somewhat similar to the style of her last performance, and it also collided with elements from her dance during the initial evaluation, so it was better not to repeat it.

In a talent show, if you're a trainee who is actually 70-80 points, you should play it safe, always do your best in your strongest area, this way you can attract a stable fan base, and maybe even get a chance to debut because of that.

But it's different for trainees like her who are aiming for the C-position.

She not only needs fans, but she needs all kinds of fans.

Correspondingly, she also needs to show different possibilities.

Jiang Ye hesitated for a moment, and finally chose the last song, "Listen to the Night Rain".

The reason Jiang Ye hesitated was because this was a Chinese-style song.

Chinese style is a stage style that has a certain selling point and audience, but it is also very easy to cause controversy.

The most important problem is that it is very difficult to dance well.

If the stage performance is not good, it will look very awkward and out of place.

However, Jiang Ye was somewhat confident in her abilities.

If the members were willing to cooperate, she could even modify the original dance a bit, blending the original classical dance with modern dance characteristics, it would definitely be a great stage.

•••

While Jiang Ye was making her choice, the trainees in the recording studio were still discussing.

"What do you think Jiang Ye chose?"

"She's good at singing, dancing, and rapping, she's not one-sided, I have no idea."

"Oh my god, please, please let her choose vocal, I really want to try being in a group with her."

Because this song selection was blind, all the trainees didn't know what the people in front of them had chosen, they could only guess based on speculation.

But some trainees would secretly make arrangements beforehand.

Because for them, it didn't really matter what song they chose, what mattered was whether they could stay together with their teammates.

•••

When Lin Zui entered the recording studio after choosing her song, Jiang Ye was not sitting in the corresponding seat for her song.

She opened the door for her and gestured for her to take a seat, "Welcome, what song did you choose?"

Lin Zui: "..."

She didn't see Jiang Ye's song selection card, and a bad feeling arose in her heart, "Tell me what you chose first."

She had originally guessed that Jiang Ye would be either in the vocal group or the dance group.

Because position evaluation was different from group competition, the final result was based on the votes within the group, she didn't want to face Jiang Ye again, so she gritted her teeth and went to the rap group.

Her rap was weak, so this could be considered a challenge for her.

But seeing Jiang Ye's expression now, she was unsure, "You didn't choose rap, did you?"

"What do you mean?"

Jiang Ye was a little surprised, "Did you choose rap?"

Lin Zui didn't have time to argue with her, she directly went to find her song selection card from her pocket.

After seeing the song name on it, she rolled her eyes, "You scared me."

"It turns out you went to the rap group to avoid clashing with me."

Jiang Ye exaggeratedly covered her mouth, "No way, are you that afraid of my existence?"

"... Stop flattering yourself, okay? I just want to sing rap myself."

Lin Zui said, "Besides, there are extra votes for each category this time, haven't you learned your lesson from last time?"

Not only can't they be in the same group, they should even be in different categories.

This way, they have a chance to get extra votes from both sides.

Jiang Ye nodded, then smiled, "In the end, you're still afraid of me."

Lin Zui: "..."

As they were chatting, the door suddenly opened.

Xue Zhihan, who was in third place, walked in.

Lin Zui and Jiang Ye closed their mouths in unison.

Xue Zhihan chose Mu Xingchi's song in the dance group, sat in the seat one row away from Jiang Ye, and greeted Jiang Ye.

Jiang Ye reluctantly returned a greeting, secretly relieved in her heart that she wasn't in the same group as her.

The trainees who came in after that almost all avoided Jiang Ye's song choice.

Jiang Ye's heart had already evolved from "It's good that I avoided these people in the circle" to "Is my taste really that bad?".

She began to question her life, "No way, is my song choice that unpopular?"

Tan Meng chose "Follow Me" from the group next to hers, there were already three people in her group.

She comforted Jiang Ye, "After all, the other two songs in the dance group are more in line with the idol style."

"And I guess the other trainees who wanted to be in the same group as you thought you'd choose one of those two."

Tan Meng glanced meaningfully at her own back.

Her three teammates, looking at Jiang Ye's song choice, looked like they wanted to eat their song selection cards in regret.

Jiang Ye: "..."

Finally, when her neighboring group was almost full, Jiang Ye gradually welcomed her few teammates.

They were all mid-ranking contestants, she didn't know them very well, she just said a simple hello and left it at that.

The last one to join their group was Shen Zhiyi.

Shen Zhiyi's ranking was a bit more optimistic than she had expected, she advanced with a ranking of thirty-third.

It should be because she performed well in the performance, and she was in the same dorm as Lin Zui, so she got some screen time, plus she was pretty, and many people called for her to be saved during the performance voting.

After all the trainees had chosen their songs, they had to go to their corresponding practice rooms.

Except for Shen Zhiyi, Jiang Ye wasn't very familiar with the other few.

Jiang Ye only knew that they weren't from the same company, but they seemed to be in the same dorm, they were also together during the first performance, and their rankings were quite close.

In the practice room.

Jiang Ye handed out the lyric sheets, "Let's divide the parts."

"I'll say it first, I want the C-position, anyone else want it?"

Someone raised their hand, "I... also want to try."

"Okay."

Jiang Ye admired trainees who could fight for screen time and opportunities, "What about the others? If not, then it's just you and me battling, and the other three vote?"

"Can I say something before the battle?"

The trainee who raised her hand, named Zhen Jia, hesitated for a moment before speaking, "Actually, I danced in the Chinese style during the initial evaluation, so I think I'm quite suitable for this song."

"And if I'm the C-position, I will incorporate some of my knowledge into this song, which should be helpful for our stage."

Jiang Ye looked at her with a smile, waiting for her to finish before saying, "I can do that too."

Zhen Jia: "... What?"

Jiang Ye: "I can do everything you said, you don't have to worry about that. Can we start the battle now?"

Zhen Jia paused, then said softly, "But, I know you're very good, Jiang Ye, so can you give me a chance?"

"I.. I wasn't the C-position during the first performance, and I might be eliminated next round, so I'm really scared, I hope everyone can see me."

Jiang Ye: "..."

Is she trying to use the "poor me" tactic to get the C-position from her?

No, sis, does it matter to me whether you get eliminated or not?

Don't think that just because I often comfort eliminated trainees that I'm playing the saintly script, okay?

Jiang Ye held back, trying to make her tone sound calm, "So, you mean you don't need to battle, you just want to be the C-position, right?"

"... That's not what I meant."

Zhen Jia quickly glanced at the people next to her.

"That... actually, if we were to choose, I think Zhen Jia would be a good C-position."

The person next to her chimed in, "Of course, Jiang Ye, it's not that you're not suitable, I've seen your stage, you're also amazing, but we feel like Zhen Jia has experience with Chinese-style stages, so she might be more suitable."

Another silent trainee next to her nodded.

"We".

Jiang Ye noticed this word and raised an eyebrow slightly.

The trainee was startled by her gaze and paused.

Perhaps because she was nervous, she said something very thoughtless, "After all, you can't just assume that because you're number one, the C-position is yours, right? We, who are not ranked as high, should also have a chance, right?"

Jiang Ye: "..."

Jiang Ye had never seen such a low-level player.

No way, no way, no way, it's the second performance and someone is still thinking about ganging up in front of the camera.

She searched her memory.

These three people were together during the first performance.

And in the main show she watched, the practice room segment didn't seem to show the C-position selection.

She didn't know if they decided directly or if the program team deleted it for their own good.

Jiang Ye wasn't afraid, she even sneered in her heart.

Just right.

Usually, the top players would play the famous "beautiful, strong, and miserable" persona.

It's just that Jiang Ye felt that her journey had been pretty smooth.

All her misery was in her last life, she couldn't bring it up, she was just thinking about how to shape her persona.

She didn't expect to find this long-lost piece of the puzzle.

Someone had handed it to her.