Xue Zhihan, unable to get through to her manager, ultimately decided to return to the practice room.

After all, it wasn’t the end yet, and she didn’t want to give up so soon.

Xue Zhihan pushed open the practice room door.

It was still nap time, and only Shen Zhiyi was in the room, reviewing the dance.

Xue Zhihan felt a sudden pang in her heart.

Shen Zhiyi was truly different now.

Before, even if she was given the C position, she would be filled with a sense of fear that she wouldn’t be able to do it well.

But now, she not only dared to actively compete, but she could also excel in the role.

Standing there, even without deliberately showing anything, she seemed like a natural winner.

Standing at the practice room door, Xue Zhihan suddenly felt like a clown.

Shen Zhiyi heard the sound, turned her head and looked back, her expression didn’t change much.

She simply said politely, “If you’re coming in, please close the door.”

“… You know, right?”

Xue Zhihan closed the door, staring at her, and suddenly said, “Did you know this day would come?”

“Did the company tell you something, making you suddenly change?”

“Did they tell you that they’ve decided to give up on me, that you have a chance?”

Shen Zhiyi: “?”

She was baffled, but she still said politely, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

She wasn’t lying, she hadn’t been checking her phone and didn’t know what had happened in the past few hours.

But the more calm she was, the more Xue Zhihan felt like a fishbone stuck in her throat.

Xue Zhihan had once hated herself, hated her name.

So, when she decided to enter the entertainment industry, she changed her name, choosing the character “Han” for herself, as if she had always been a girl from a wealthy family, with good upbringing.

She envied Shen Zhiyi, envied Lin Zui, envied Cheng Zhen, envied the natural aura that their families had cultivated.

Later, she envied Jiang Ye.

She envied her growing up in that kind of environment, still being able to confidently raise her head and have her eyes sparkle when she stood on stage.

Unlike her, who had lost herself in imitation.

Her name was changed, her face was adjusted, her persona was created, her stage was rehearsed in advance, and her speeches were written by the company.

She had come this far, and looking back, nothing seemed to truly belong to her.

Xue Zhihan gripped the doorknob, feeling like all her strength was suddenly drained.

“… Although I don’t know what happened.”

Shen Zhiyi suddenly said, “But the performance is in two days, and I still hope you can adjust your state as soon as possible and finish this performance.”

Xue Zhihan suddenly looked up at her.

Shen Zhiyi still had that good-tempered look, and her gaze was calm.

Xue Zhihan suddenly burst into tears.

She had once deliberately suppressed Shen Zhiyi, not only wanting to make her lose confidence, but also wanting her to forget that she had surpassed her by learning from her.

During the time when Shen Zhiyi was down, Xue Zhihan had thought that she was nothing special.

But only at this moment did Xue Zhihan realize that she had lost completely.

Shen Zhiyi was always light.

She was the humble shadow.

In the whole show, Jiang Ye was probably the last one to know about Xue Zhihan’s downfall.

She had been up all night practicing these past two days, her mind full of the performance. She didn’t have time to check her phone, let alone eat or sleep.

Finally, she wanted to take a nap during the break when the cameras were off, but she heard a quiet discussion from the trainees in her group.

“Is that Xue Zhihan thing true?”

“I think so, I saw a lot of real stuff online.”

“She really faked her tragic story to gain sympathy? That’s too——”

Jiang Ye closed her eyes, thinking, “Oh, they’re not talking about me, it’s fine”.

After a moment, Jiang Ye realized and suddenly opened her eyes, “Wait, what are you talking about?”.

Five minutes later, Jiang Ye finally got the whole story.

Jiang Ye: "..."

Well, what can I say?

If someone else did this, she might be surprised.

But if it was Xue Zhihan, she wasn’t surprised at all. After all, she had known from the beginning that Xue Zhihan was the kind of person who would do anything to achieve her goals.

Liang Yu had just heard this hot gossip, and she was speechless for a moment.

After a while, she speculated, “She should withdraw from the show, right?”

“It’s unlikely.”

The trainee who had switched from the ‘Wonder’ group said, “If it’s not a matter of principle, the program team usually doesn’t force anyone to withdraw. It’s up to the trainees to choose whether to leave or not. But she’s very strong-willed, she’s not the kind of person who would easily quit on her own.”

Liang Yu chuckled, “Was Zhen Jia not strong-willed?”

The other trainees quickly fell silent, glancing at Jiang Ye’s position.

Jiang Ye didn’t mind them mentioning this.

But she also thought that Xue Zhihan probably wouldn’t withdraw.

Her situation was different from Zhen Jia’s.

Zhen Jia had to leave because she spread rumors about the program team’s unfairness, so the program team immediately kicked her out.

Xue Zhihan’s situation, to put it simply, is that she used someone else’s story to gain sympathy and got caught.

She might be boycotted by angry viewers, but it’s unlikely she’ll be forced to withdraw.

The program team would be happy if she left, but if she insisted on staying, they probably wouldn’t kick her out.

Besides, her company is still behind her.

And unlike Zhen Jia, Xue Zhihan has fans.

Although her fan group will definitely lose a lot of fans this time, they won’t all leave at once.

After all, there will always be fools in this world who unconditionally believe in their idols.

But whether she withdraws or not, at this point, she’s definitely not going to debut.

Jiang Ye felt slightly relieved.

After all, she really didn’t want to be Xue Zhihan’s teammate in the future.

She tilted her head and stared blankly, suddenly remembering the building blocks Lin Zui had built.

It looked so tall, but the foundation was unstable.

So what if it was built high?

It would only make the collapse more embarrassing.

•••

Eating gossip was eating gossip.

Jiang Ye didn’t neglect her actual work either.

Now, there were two trainees in the group who had no rap experience, and she needed to bring them up to the level where they could perform on stage in two days. That was the top priority.

As for Xue Zhihan, since she wasn’t going to debut anyway, Jiang Ye didn’t care much about her.

Jiang Ye was indeed very infectious.

Specifically, as long as she was leading, whether it was dancing or rapping, it felt like they wouldn’t get tired.

After a while, they looked up at the clock and it was already 3 am.

Jiang Ye finally said, “Everyone, take a break.”

Since they had boasted about pulling all-nighters, they weren’t going back to the dorm. They would just turn off the lights and take a nap in the practice room.

The trainees collapsed one after another.

Actually, Luo Xuan didn’t have to stay up all night, since she had already practiced everything, she just needed to adjust the formations a bit.

But since the whole group was staying up, she had to stay with them.

She was so sleepy, she was practically asleep the moment her head hit the floor.

Jiang Ye turned off the lights and went back to check on Liang Yu.

She had sat down, but she didn’t seem to be planning to rest.

Jiang Ye: “You should take a nap too.”

“I told you before.”

Liang Yu said, “I don’t really need sleep.”

“I used to run underground competitions and music festivals, it was much more tiring than this, and I often had to work day and night, I’m used to it.”

Jiang Ye asked curiously, “Then why did you decide to participate in Chasing Light Girls? You were doing pretty well before.”

“The company arranged it, otherwise I wouldn’t have wanted to come.”

Liang Yu hugged her knees, shrinking into a small ball, a bit dejected. “The company said my popularity wasn’t enough, and I couldn’t make much money running music festivals, so they said I should participate in a talent show to gain some attention.”

Jiang Ye: "..."

So straightforward.

Although many people use talent shows as a springboard.

But few people would say it so directly like Liang Yu.

Liang Yu looked at Jiang Ye and continued, “Honestly, before, I thought you girls who did idol groups just sang and danced on stage, there wasn’t much difficulty.”

Jiang Ye wanted to argue with her, but after thinking about Liang Yu’s singing and dancing skills, she decided to shut up.

Liang Yu was good at being good at things, even if she didn’t like them.

Getting an A in the ranking and winning first place in the first performance proved that.

But looking at her now, she probably genuinely didn’t want to dance when she said it before.

Jiang Ye asked curiously, “What about now?”

According to the usual plot development, it’s always the same: they don’t like it at first, then they immediately change their minds.

Liang Yu said directly, “I still don’t like it.”

Jiang Ye: "..."

“But.”

Liang Yu propped her chin up, “I guess I’ve changed my opinion about idol groups a bit.”

Jiang Ye nodded, “Then it seems our show is doing a good job.”

“It’s not really related to our show.”

Liang Yu looked at Jiang Ye, “It’s mainly because of you.”

Jiang Ye was slightly taken aback.

“I’ve seen your performances, they’ve overturned my previous image of idols.”

“And what’s even more incredible is that you’re also pretty good at rapping.”

“You made me realize that idols aren’t what I thought they were, people who just sing and dance on stage to please fans, and then people are willing to spend money on them.”

“And I can’t imagine what it’s like to bring a sense of strength to someone else.”

“But when I was in the same group as you, I really felt that because you were there, whether it was a group of eight or a group of five, it was a cohesive team.”

Jiang Ye chuckled softly, just about to say thank you for the compliment, when she heard Liang Yu’s next sentence.

“Of course, at first, I did think you were a bit pretentious.”

Liang Yu was still very direct, “And you like to give trainees strange and weird pep talks.”

“What’s with all this stuff about dreams and believing? Does that really mean anything?”

Liang Yu was from the rap scene, and before a competition, she would be lucky to not just curse out her opponents.

How could she possibly hype herself up?

That would make her opponents look down on her, right?

So, at first, she didn’t think much of Jiang Ye’s approach.

Jiang Ye: "..."

“But it’s strange, they seem to really buy into your approach.”

Liang Yu tilted her head, “And what’s even stranger is that I’m starting to believe what you say too.”

The practice room lights were off, and their voices were quiet.

It was like the kind of reconciling late-night chats that often happen in girls’ dorms.

Jiang Ye thought for a moment, “Should I say thank you for the compliment?”

“No, it’s weird. And I’m not complimenting you, I’m just being honest.”

Liang Yu paused, “Yesterday, you said we’d definitely have a perfect performance. I didn’t argue with you, but I actually think the few of us aren’t good enough yet, so I don’t have high expectations for this performance.”

“But I’m willing to try and believe you this time.”

Liang Yu took off her hat and turned it around, as if talking to herself, “Maybe we really will have a pretty good performance?”

The practice room curtains were not drawn, and it was 3 am outside.

Jiang Ye looked at the starry sky and nodded, “Yeah, we will.”

“Our performance will be a success.”