Jiang Ye’s tone was calm, as if she were talking about the most ordinary thing in the world.

It was the staff member in the mirror who was startled.

She quickly took out the small mirror she had hidden in her pocket.

… Gosh, she really did have cakey makeup.

But how come Jiang Ye wasn't even a little flustered?

Besides the cakey makeup, at least the rest of her makeup was very realistic.

She had spent an hour applying this makeup according to the program team’s requirements, didn’t she have any self-respect?!

Jiang Ye just smiled at her.

She was not afraid, partly because she had seen many talent shows in her previous life.

So, when she saw the mirror, she recognized what kind of segment it was, and she was mentally prepared.

On the other hand, it was because she believed that she had already died once, and she had a normal attitude towards ghosts and ghouls.

So, Jiang Ye was not only unafraid, but she also calmly blinked and said, "Sister, do you need me to stay here a little longer to give you time to touch up your makeup?"

The staff member: "… No, thank you."

After all, normal trainees would have been scared out of their wits the moment they saw her.

Who would even care about cakey makeup?!

Jiang Ye stood up, and before leaving, she even waved politely, "Goodbye, sister, thanks for your hard work."

The staff member: "..."

So scary, so scary.

As expected of a top trainee, even her mental state when encountering a ghost is top-notch.

•••

When Jiang Ye walked out of the room.

Cheng Zhen, who had been waiting outside for a long time, immediately grabbed her arm and asked, "What, what, what’s inside? What is it?"

Jiang Ye thought for a moment, patted her shoulder, and told her with a solemn expression, "I think it would be really good for you to cry."

She even took out a pack of tissues from her pocket and gave it to Cheng Zhen, saying, "Here, take these tissues with you."

"Okay!"

Cheng Zhen clenched her fist, full of fighting spirit, "I’m going in then!"

The staff member who knew the inside story heard their conversation: "..."

So mean, so mean.

Ten minutes later.

Cheng Zhen ran out crying, "Wuwuwu, help! Mom, I want to go home—!"

As soon as she came out, she bumped into Jiang Ye.

Jiang Ye rubbed her head, saying in a "I told you so" tone, "Didn’t I tell you it would make you cry?"

Cheng Zhen: "… Wuwuwu, get out!!"

After the short break, the trainees were about to face a new stage challenge.

Before the finals, the trainees had another performance, the mentor collaboration stage.

This round of performances did not have audience voting, no wins or losses, and no bonus votes, so it was not a performance evaluation.

So, even the trainees who had been eliminated in the third ranking announcement could participate in this stage.

And compared to the previous performances, this stage would generally highlight the mentors’ presence.

But this doesn’t mean this performance is unimportant.

Even though the competition is nearing its end, and most of the trainees’ popularity has already been solidified, having one more stage is definitely a powerful tool for the trainees to solidify their fan base.

Especially for the top-ranked trainees, they might take advantage of this non-competitive stage to challenge themselves and give their fans a new surprise.

Plus, it's a rare opportunity to collaborate with the mentors.

So, every trainee was particularly looking forward to this stage.

Before the song selection and recording began, the trainees sat in the venue, whispering about which mentor they wanted to collaborate with.

Because the seating order was based on the order of the second ranking announcement.

So, even though Xue Zhihan had already been eliminated from the competition for a debut position, Jiang Ye and Lin Zui still had to be separated by her seat.

Lin Zui directly ignored Xue Zhihan, asking Jiang Ye nonchalantly, "Which mentor do you want to collaborate with?"

Xue Zhihan: "..."

Sure enough, she knew she shouldn’t be here.

Jiang Ye thought for a moment and said, "Teacher Jingjing."

Aside from her mentor status, Yang Jingjing herself is a very capable idol.

And during the second performance, she was in Teacher Jingjing’s group, she was taught by her, and she received her affirmation, knowing that she was a very good mentor, so she really wanted to collaborate with her again.

The mentor who came to announce the song selection task this time was Mu Xingchi.

Because he always had a strict image among the trainees, when he walked in, the trainees who had been discussing enthusiastically all shut up.

"Everyone already knows about the task this time, it’s the mentor collaboration stage."

"There are five mentors, each leading a stage, so there are five stages in total."

"But when choosing songs, you won't know which mentor it is, you have to guess for yourself."

Mu Xingchi said, glancing at the audience, a smile playing on his lips, "I hope every trainee will eventually be able to collaborate with the mentor they like."

After he finished speaking, he started playing five songs.

After the five songs finished playing, Jiang Ye had her own judgment.

Although they only gave the songs, they didn't tell them which mentor it was, and these songs weren’t all the mentors' own works, but their styles were very obvious.

The only song with rap was undoubtedly Mentor Cui Qi’s song.

"Early Spring Heartbeat" and "Clouds" were two songs with different styles, one was more relaxed and lively, while the other was more lyrical, but the vocal parts were both dominant, they should be the songs of the two vocal mentors.

So, that left the last two songs.

"Crush You" was a slightly obscure girl group song. Although the lyrics were about love, the entire song was dominated by a sexy style.

"I Want to Be Free" was originally sung by a male artist, and the song style was more energetic.

So, between these two songs, one was Teacher Jingjing’s, and the other was Teacher Xingchi’s.

Jiang Ye didn’t hesitate for too long, and she immediately chose the former as her first choice.

Firstly, because she felt that the style of the former was more like Yang Jingjing’s choice.

Another reason was that she thought back to her previous performances, she hadn’t challenged a sexy style yet.

And a sexy style is always a killer move for idol performances.

After the song selections finished playing, Mu Xingchi said, "Now please go to the corresponding practice rooms according to the order of the second ranking announcement."

Jiang Ye, as the first, stood up and pushed open the door to leave.

Just like last time, the corridor led to five different practice rooms.

And the names of the songs were written at the entrance to the practice rooms.

Jiang Ye walked into the "Crush You" practice room, then leaned against the door, poked her head out, and looked curiously at the outside.

Unlike the last song selection, where confidentiality was required, the rules for this performance weren’t as strict.

So, she could openly and honestly wait for her teammates to arrive.

The second person to come in was Xue Zhihan.

She seemed like she wanted to go to "Crush You," but after seeing Jiang Ye, she hesitated for a moment, then walked towards the "I Want to Be Free" practice room.

Jiang Ye: "..."

Good, good.

She finally had some self-awareness after her downfall.

After Xue Zhihan, the next trainee to come in was Lin Zui.

Jiang Ye’s eyes lit up, and she quickly waved to Lin Zui.

Lin Zui waved back to her, walking towards her—

Then she passed by her and walked towards the "Early Spring Heartbeat" practice room further inside.

Jiang Ye: "?"

Jiang Ye couldn’t help but question what she saw, "You’re choosing that song?"

Lin Zui nodded, "I’ve always liked the original singer of this song."

Before entering the room, she gave Jiang Ye a thumbs-up, "Good luck getting to be in a group with Teacher Jingjing."

Jiang Ye: "..."

She was a little frustrated for a moment, continuing to wait for the next trainee.

The fourth person to come in was Cheng Zhen.

She also greeted Jiang Ye, then passed by her without stopping, heading straight for the "Clouds" room.

The fifth trainee was Liang Yu.

Needless to say, her choice of direction hadn't changed from the beginning, she went straight to the song with rap.

Jiang Ye: "..."

She was squatting here, being passed by everyone, feeling like a fool.

She sighed, then turned her head to look at the camera in the hallway, waving to it, "Hello, can you not broadcast this part? I’m too embarrassed."

As soon as Jiang Ye finished speaking, the door to the hallway was pushed open again.

Tan Meng walked towards her, hesitated for a moment, then asked, "… Did you choose this song?"

Jiang Ye: "Isn’t it obvious?"

Tan Meng’s lips curved slightly, then she just said, "Oh."

She flattened her lips and said, "It seems like we’re finally going to collaborate."

Jiang Ye: "!!!"

Jiang Ye, who had been passed by so many times, felt like the world had suddenly brightened!

She had always admired Tan Meng’s skills and wanted to collaborate with her on a stage.

But it wasn’t meant to be in the previous three performances, they never got together.

Finally, there was a chance.

Jiang Ye opened the door, tiptoed, and made a gesture of putting an invisible crown on her head, "Congratulations! You’re the first person to choose me today."

Tan Meng awkwardly took two steps back, then looked at Jiang Ye, who was still leaning against the door, "What are you still doing?"

Jiang Ye said very matter-of-factly, "Giving my future partner the warmest welcome."

Tan Meng: "..."

She commented, "You’re so silly."

Two minutes later,

The other trainees who came over saw Jiang Ye and Tan Meng standing at the practice room door, looking around.

"..."

Gosh.

Is this the new era of double-door?

Jiang Ye felt that the popularity of this song shouldn’t be too low.

She and Tan Meng waited for a while, but they were constantly being passed by trainees, and no one joined them.

Jiang Ye: "..."

Where are all the people who said they wanted to collaborate with her?

They couldn’t have all been eliminated in the first two ranking announcements, right?

Tan Meng probably saw her frustration and said, "It’s normal. Although the mentor collaboration stage isn’t that important, it’s still a performance stage."

"So, in this performance stage, the mentor is definitely the undisputed C position."

"And besides her, she’ll definitely want to choose a trainee who interacts with her the most."

"But with you in this group, other trainees probably think it’s hard to stand out under the mentor and you, so they might choose another group where they can perform better."

Jiang Ye thought her analysis made sense.

Then she tilted her head and looked at Tan Meng, smiling, "So you’re still choosing me? You’re not afraid?"

Tan Meng subconsciously retorted, "Of course not! Why would I be afraid of you?!"

But she was also nervous.

Honestly, when she saw Jiang Ye, she had hesitated for a moment, wondering whether to be in the same group as her.

After all, she had always been afraid of being overshadowed by Jiang Ye’s aura.

She was afraid that no one would see her, from the same company as Jiang Ye, and they might even label her as Jiang Ye’s accompanying trainee.

So, she tried her best to avoid appearing with Jiang Ye, just to avoid being affected by her brilliance.

At first, some people even wondered quietly.

Are those two trainees from Shengrui Entertainment not getting along?

But now, she was no longer afraid to stand next to Jiang Ye.

Even if Jiang Ye’s brilliance was even stronger, she still believed that someone could see her, shining next to Jiang Ye.

As she was speaking, the next trainee appeared from the hallway.

Jiang Ye quickly glanced over.

It was Shen Zhiyi.

When Shen Zhiyi walked closer, Jiang Ye immediately offered her an olive branch, "I’ll give you a reason why you have to choose me."

Shen Zhiyi smiled and asked, "What is it?"

Jiang Ye: "Xue Zhihan is in the practice room across from this one."

Shen Zhiyi: "..."

I have to say, that was a good reason for her.

After Shen Zhiyi, two more trainees chose to join them.

And they were both trainees who had collaborated with Jiang Ye before.

Yu Chenchen from the first performance, and Lu Xiaowan from the third performance.

After all the trainees in the group were gathered, they all sat in the practice room waiting for the mentor to arrive.

Lu Xiaowan sat cross-legged, softly asking, "Do you think the mentor for our group is…"

"Do we need to guess?"

Jiang Ye said, "I think based on the style of the song, it must be Teacher Jingjing."

She clasped her hands together in prayer, "Please, please, I really want to collaborate with her once, let me fulfill my dream—"

The door to the practice room suddenly swung open.

But it was a man’s voice that rang out, "Collaborate with who?"

Jiang Ye turned around and saw Mu Xingchi: "???"

No way, no way, no way?

Did he go to the wrong room, or did she go to the wrong room?