After Rebirth, I Ended Up with My Idol [Entertainment Circle] - Chapter 20

Song Ran kept swallowing. She couldn’t even stand properly; her legs were shaking, and she had to keep swaying from side to side just to stay steady.

Xu Xiaoye held her arm, comforting her: “Don’t be nervous. Just treat the audience below as potatoes. They’re just viewers; they don’t have a say. We see the evaluators every day, they’re easy to get along with. Don’t be nervous. This isn’t an elimination round; it’s just like turning in homework or a progress report. Relax a bit.”

Song Ran kept muttering: “I’m not nervous, I’m not nervous…”

Whether this frantic self-suggestion actually worked was anyone’s guess.

An Rong took out a chocolate and handed it to her. “Eat some. This is from Xiao Hua.”

Xia Chunhua was also busy with her own psychological self-hypnosis, so her reaction was several beats slow. It wasn’t until Song Ran had already stuffed the chocolate into her mouth that she suddenly reacted. She immediately turned to look at An Rong with displeasure, pouting her lips: “What’s with this ‘Xiao Hua’ stuff? Call me Sister.”

With the stage performance imminent, An Rong decided to humoring her for once, obediently calling out: “Xiao Hua-jie.”

Even though it was still “Xiao Hua,” the addition of “Sister” left Xia Chunhua satisfied. After all, this was the first time someone had called her Sister; she felt great inside.

In the wings, they heard the host’s voice. As soon as their group was mentioned, someone came to remind them: “Xu Xiaoye’s group, right? It’s your turn.”

The girls cheered each other on and walked onto the stage side by side. The heart-thumping anxiety they felt backstage vanished the moment they stepped onto the stage. The lights beamed down from above, and everything else was hidden in darkness. It felt as if the entire world had shrunk to this spot, with everyone’s eyes fixed on them. Every dance move and every note—honed by two weeks of intense training—was carved into their muscles and nerves. They didn’t need reminding; their bodies reacted automatically.

It wasn’t until the music ended and the lights shifted that they emerged from that mystical state. Song Ran was so moved she nearly cried, her eyes turning red. Kang Yu was much the same. Xia Chunhua beamed with a happy face, and Xu Xiaoye breathed a private sigh of relief. An Rong, however, acted as if nothing had happened; she was very calm, only smiling with pursed lips.

There was a burst of applause from the audience. The three evaluators sitting right in front had good expressions as well. Their comments were almost entirely praise, with a special mention for An Rong. Her stage presence, technique, sense of the camera, and handling of unexpected moments were as natural as if she were born for it. Compared to half a month ago, she was completely transformed. It wasn’t just a leap in progress; it was as if she were a different person.

After stepping off stage, Song Ran’s tears wouldn’t stop. She hugged Xu Xiaoye and sobbed, startling the others waiting to go on. They thought something had gone wrong.

Xu Xiaoye patted her shoulder to comfort her. “It’s okay now. See? It was very smooth, no mistakes.”

Song Ran shook her head, her tears rubbing off on Xu Xiaoye’s shoulder. She choked out: “I’m sorry. I messed up one move.”

At that moment, she had almost panicked, not knowing where to put her hands or feet, and had even dazed out for a second. But in just that second, An Rong—who was next to her—had turned and snatched a position to move behind her. Covering her mic, An Rong quickly squeezed her hand and whispered in a low voice: “Don’t panic. Keep going.”

Xu Xiaoye, who was in front with her back turned, hadn’t seen this, so she looked up at An Rong with some surprise.

An Rong took off her mic and collected Kang Yu’s and Xia Chunhua’s as well. She said calmly: “It’s okay, it didn’t affect the overall effect. Didn’t the teachers praise you for your huge progress? You have to believe in yourself. It’s no big deal.”

Though she felt sorry for her, shouldn’t this be the moment where Xu Xiaoye hugged her to offer encouragement and praise? Why did the plot feel wrong? Had the protagonist changed? An Rong gave a subtle reminder: “They need the mics over there.”

Only then did Song Ran let go, turning to hug An Rong and thank her.

An Rong was caught off guard by the embrace. She froze for a moment but didn’t push her away. Over Song Ran’s shoulder, she smiled at Xu Xiaoye.

Even though they had finished their performance, they didn’t leave. They crowded backstage to listen to the action up front. When it was Wang Yunshui’s group’s turn, the segment was noticeably longer.

Backstage, they could hear Shen Ri’an asking: “Is your foot okay? It’s truly impressive that you managed to dance through it today.”

Xia Chunhua curled her lip. Seeing this, An Rong smiled and brushed her finger against the back of Xia Chunhua’s hand, signaling her not to be so obvious. Backstage was a chaotic place with many eyes and cameras; if she was maliciously edited later, there would be no way to explain it.

Almost everyone in the dormitory knew that Wang Yunshui had faked her sprained foot. Her acting wasn’t convincing to begin with, and she was blatantly perfunctory, banking on the fact that the show would be edited later.

But it was obvious that the PR and directing teams planned to use the “sprained foot” as a selling point to hype up the show. Wang Yunshui was very cooperative, spending yesterday and today specifically filming extra shots for it.

However, since she had to pretend her foot was sprained, she naturally couldn’t dance the same way they had rehearsed. Yesterday, they had to change the choreography last minute. She became the lead singer and only performed simple movements, while the other four became supporting acts. She was the captain, and since the company tacitly approved this hype, her four teammates had no choice but to cooperate.

With the choreography changed last minute, the stage effect naturally fell short of expectations. But Wang Yunshui herself got plenty of screen time. When she came out, she held her chin high with pride, looking utterly self-satisfied. Passing by Xu Xiaoye, she even glanced at her with a look of deep contempt and disdain.

Xu Xiaoye gave a good-natured smile and said: “Congratulations.”

With so many people watching, Xu Xiaoye maintained a good attitude. Wang Yunshui couldn’t easily lose her temper, but she remembered how Xu Xiaoye had snubbed her last time. She was bursting with the urge to mock her, but restricted by the crowd, she had to endure it. Her face looked quite sour as she gave a fake smile: “Captain Xu isn’t bad either. After toiling for three years, you’ve finally managed to become a captain. Keep it up.”

“Captain or not, we’re all members of a team. I don’t care about that… Um, does your foot still hurt? Maybe you should go rest first.”

Xu Xiaoye pushed back neither too hard nor too light. Though she didn’t humiliate Wang Yunshui, she couldn’t help but sigh in her heart. She truly didn’t want to clash with Wang Yunshui; TS’s internal relationships were complex, and they might actually end up in a group together. There was no need to make things too ugly, as it would make it hard to get along or work together later.

Right now, she wanted to step back, but it depended on what Wang Yunshui actually intended to do.

Once all four groups finished their performances, about half an hour of footage had been recorded. It was still very early. Everyone felt somewhat uneasy and curious, wanting to know what was on the scoring sheets in the teachers’ hands, what their approximate scores were, and if they were in danger.

After all the audience members had left, someone suddenly came to tell them all to go back to the studio.

Everyone was confused. They asked around, but no one knew what was going on. They could only head inside in anxious groups. The three evaluators were still sitting below. The girls crowded together, standing in a line on the stage.

Qin Yun once again took on the role of host. She was relatively satisfied with their performances today, so her expression wasn’t too harsh. She even wore a slight smile, but her words weren’t quite as pleasant.

“Everyone performed well today; the progress is significant. This round of evaluation has officially ended. I believe that over these past two weeks, you should have become very familiar with one another. Therefore, for the next round of evaluation, we will be regrouping.”

This statement was like a stone causing a thousand ripples. The stage went silent for a second, then immediately buzzed with uneasy, whispered discussions.

“Regrouping? How?”

“I don’t want to regroup. I think we’re doing fine as we are. Why change?”

“If we regroup, you have to pick me! Your score is high, you’ll definitely be ahead of me. Pick me, pick me, pick me!”

“Fine, if you’re ahead of me, then you pick me.”

Qin Yun pressed her hands down, and the whispered talk on stage ceased.

The corners of Qin Yun’s mouth turned up slightly. Looking at this group of anxious, green girls, her voice turned soft and slightly more cheerful: “Are you wondering why we’re regrouping? It’s simple. Because out of the twenty of you, only five will eventually be chosen to debut as a group. We don’t yet know who those five will be. Right now, you are not a fixed group. We need to shuffle and regroup to see if bringing different people together creates a different chemical reaction.”

In short, the goal was one: to select the best five individuals.

Shen Ri’an and Zhou Rui sat by to watch the show, leaving this “dirty work” to Qin Yun. After all, the girls all seemed quite afraid of her.

Qin Yun looked at the paper on her desk and said: “Will the four students who ranked lowest in the last elimination round please step forward.”

No one had expected this method of selection. There was a small commotion on stage. An Rong took a step forward. Song Ran also stepped out, standing to her right. The bottom two were out, and the other two followed, naturally lining up according to their ranking.

Among the several nervous, cowering girls, An Rong suddenly appeared remarkably composed, standing out from the rest.

Qin Yun smiled habitually and said: “Then let’s begin. Starting with Song Ran. You four are now captains. Choose the teammates you want.”

Song Ran hadn’t expected to suddenly have priority in choosing. She hesitated for a moment and asked hopefully: “Can I choose my previous teammates?”

The meaning was clear: she wanted Xu Xiaoye. After all, she and Xu Xiaoye were opposites; they both held selection priority, unlike the others.

Qin Yun turned her head. Shen Ri’an gave an “OK” gesture. Although Zhou Rui frowned, he also nodded.

Once the rules were set, they had to be followed regardless of exceptions.

Song Ran got her wish and was overjoyed: “I want Xu Xiaoye.”

It was An Rong’s turn. An Rong was calm and said without hesitation: “Xiao Yu.”

Both Xu Xiaoye and Xiao Yu turned to look at her.

The girl in the nineteenth spot acted as if she were afraid someone would steal her pick. As soon as An Rong finished, she immediately said: “Yang Pei.”

Only the eighteenth spot remained. She hesitated for a while, but didn’t call Wang Yunshui; she picked someone else.

Now, out of the former top four, only Wang Yunshui was left unpicked. No one chose her. Everyone knew exactly what was going on, and because they were so aware, the atmosphere instantly became eerily silent. No one dared to whisper anymore.

There were only sixteen people to choose from. After three rounds of selection, Wang Yunshui still hadn’t been picked.

Everyone held their breath. The three others who had already picked were also starting to panic, their eyes darting around. They were silently praying that someone else would take Wang Yunshui first; otherwise, if no one wanted her at the end, she would automatically be assigned to the last team that had to pick.

An Rong didn’t care. Her “small temple” couldn’t house a “great god” like that. Even if her team was short one person, she wouldn’t take Wang Yunshui.

Wang Yunshui, standing in the middle of the stage, was livid. She gritted her teeth and endured, but seeing that she had become a “hot potato” that no one wanted to pick was too much!

Just as the atmosphere was becoming unbearable, Wang Yunshui turned around without a word and walked off. Her footsteps thundered against the stage floor as she left the group with a resentful back, as if she had suffered a great humiliation.

The door in the back was slammed shut with a loud bang that echoed through the room.

The girl in nineteenth place was so scared she physically jolted, her face turning pale. She had originally been on Wang Yunshui’s team. When Song Ran happily took Xu Xiaoye back, she had felt a bit panicked but had gritted her teeth and refused to pick Wang Yunshui. Now that Wang Yunshui had run off, many people were looking at her as if she were the one who had driven her away.

An Rong: Heh!