Pirates began to dominate the Chinese entertainment industry.

Chapter 101 Unexpected Advancement and Meeting with Mentor

Bai Mengyan gritted her teeth and said, "I'm hilarious..."

What broke her defenses even more was that the head judge actually nodded in agreement, then scribbled something on a piece of paper: "Anything else?"

Bai Mengyan: "I think I'm the type that grows on you the more you look at me. Give me the ticket first, you won't regret it."

The judges burst into laughter again.

The head judge, barely suppressing a laugh, said, "There are only a limited number of spots, and everyone else's talents are better than yours. What can we do?"

Bai Mengyan was speechless for a moment and couldn't say a word for a long time.

She wanted to make amends, but didn't know how to say it.

The audience fell silent, and all the judges looked at her.

An immense sense of oppression crashed down like a mountain...

Bai Mengyan, who was not yet 16 years old, finally couldn't hold back and her eyes suddenly reddened.

Her fingers were intertwined behind her back. She lowered her head, her voice nasal: "I know I'm bad at singing, bad at dancing... but I really want to be on stage. My classmates say I have no talent and yet I want to be an idol, but... I really just want to try..."

'

The judge who had laughed first in the audience was no longer laughing.

He looked at Bai Mengyan and suddenly said, "Don't be in such a hurry."

Bai Mengyan raised her eyes, her eyes brimming with tears.

"Before the auditions began, Director Ji Yun said that skill level wasn't the issue; the important thing was having the ability to act."

""

He paused, glanced down at the notes page in front of him, twirled the pen on the paper, and then looked up again: "You are indeed the only person here who could make me lose my composure even more than that Dai dance."

"?"

Bai Mengyan was confused. What did that mean? Was it a compliment?

After the judge finished speaking, he raised his sign.

9.0 points.

Bai Mengyan was stunned.

Then, "Whoa—!"

She burst into tears.

But this time it wasn't a tear of grievance, it was a loud, wailing cry of relief after surviving a disaster.

She cried and bowed repeatedly, saying "Thank you, teacher" as she bowed, turning her bowing into a set of calisthenics.

Starting tomorrow, you and 100 other girls with dreams will advance together to compete for 9 debut spots.

Please arrive at the Shanghai Studio at 8:00 AM tomorrow for the opening ceremony and the first recording session.

She took a deep breath, pressed her phone to her chest, closed her eyes, then suddenly opened them again, rolled over, pulled out an old-fashioned phone, and sent her mother a text message from the edge of the bed: "Mom, when I get my salary I'll buy you a new shopping cart. Hmm, and then I'll get you a new phone."

Then let's see if we can afford to buy a toilet in Shanghai.

She thought for a moment, then deleted the last line and replaced it with: "And by the way, let you get on TV."

She sent the text message, turned off the lights, and closed her eyes.

When the moonlight shone in, she chuckled foolishly in the darkness.

The third day after the preliminary selection ended.

At six o'clock in the morning, an announcement came over the loudspeaker in the dormitory building of the trainees at Shanghai TV station.

"All trainees, please finish washing up before 7:00 AM and proceed to the studio at 8:00 AM."

A wail filled the corridor.

"Seven o'clock? I only went to bed at two o'clock last night!"

"Who set that time? That's inhumane!"

"I heard the production crew took away all the snacks, including my spicy strips..."

'

Naza and Reba bumped into each other at the corner of the corridor, both of them yawning.

Naza rubbed his eyes and said, "Last night I dreamt I was eating braised chicken with potatoes. I had just picked up a piece when my alarm clock went off."

Dilraba's long hair was loose, and she seemed to be in good spirits. She rolled her eyes at Naza and said, "You're hopeless."

Naza, unconvinced, asked, "And you?"

Dilraba paused for two seconds: "I already finished eating in my dream."

The two looked at each other and sighed simultaneously.

This job looks really good, but it also makes me really hungry.

At 7:30, the cafeteria was packed with girls dressed in matching white training uniforms.

Bai Mengyan, carrying a tray, weaved through the crowd and finally managed to grab a boiled egg and half an ear of corn.

She had just sat down when she saw Li Yitong walk past her carrying a plate.

Bai Mengyan looked down at her corn and boiled eggs, then at the bland vegetable salad in front of Li Yitong, and paused for a moment: "You usually eat this vegetarian?"

Li Yitong forked a lettuce leaf, but before she could put it in her mouth, Bai Mengyan suddenly slapped her thigh and exclaimed, "Oh, I get it! You're on a diet, right? Afraid of not looking good on TV? Don't worry, I won't laugh at you!"

Li Yitong bit into a lettuce leaf, looking at her speechlessly, her eyes narrowing into a dangerous arc.

It was exactly 8:00 PM after dinner.

101 girls stood in a square formation in the center of the studio, their chatter almost lifting the ceiling off.

Some people were quietly exchanging first impressions, some were adding each other on QQ, some were secretly touching up their lipstick, and a few had already picked up their guitars and started improvising songs.

Bai Mengyan sat in the corner, watching Li Yitong stretch her legs, watching Dilraba practice her facial expressions, and watching Yang Ying check her makeup in a small mirror...

She suddenly felt a little dazed.

Before summer vacation, she was still dozing off in her hometown classroom.

Now she's sitting at the recording site of the most popular talent show on the internet, surrounded by girls who are more beautiful than she ever imagined.

She's almost become so self-conscious about it.

"Hello to all trainees!"

A woman's clear voice came from the loudspeaker.

The entire room fell silent.

The host, Xie Nan, stood to the side of the stage, holding a list in her hand, a smile playing on her lips.

"The first pilot episode will be recorded today."

"I know you're nervous, but there's no use being nervous, because the director will be coming to inspect the set in person later."

"So... make sure you're in good shape, so you don't burst into tears in front of the boss."

The entire room fell silent for a second, then erupted in cheers, "Director Ji is coming?!"

"Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!"

"Where's my phone? Where's my phone?"

"He's really coming?!"

Bai Mengyan sprang to her feet and frantically grabbed Li Yitong's arm: "Did you hear that? Ji Yun is coming! The living Ji Yun!!"

Li Yitong was pulled so hard she swayed from side to side, making several "uh-huh" sounds before finally grabbing her shoulder and whispering, "Keep calm."

Bai Mengyan couldn't hold back any longer: "How can I calm down! I was watching his news yesterday!"

Li Yitong sighed helplessly and shoved her water bottle into her hand, "Drink some water, or you'll lose your voice and won't be able to speak."

Bai Mengyan took the water bottle and gulped down a mouthful, then choked and coughed.

Control room on the second floor of the studio.

Ji Yun sat in front of the monitor, with more than twenty screens in front of her, switching between different camera angles.

He crossed his legs, flipping through a list of trainees, with Huo Wenxi sitting next to him.

"How many people did you recruit in the open auditions?" he asked.

Huo Wenxi pushed a statistics sheet in front of him: "In the six major competition areas across the country, 3.2 people registered, and 101 people were ultimately selected."

The average age is 18, with the youngest being 15 and the oldest 22.

It includes people from professional schools, actors, performing arts troupes, bar singers, factory workers, models, dance teachers... and one person who was engaged in illegal work has already been replaced.

"..." Ji Yun paused for a moment while flipping through the list. "Then this show must be quite popular."

At that moment, the monitor screen showed all 101 girls standing up.

The girls stood crookedly, but their eyes held no artifice, only light.

Huo Wen looked at the densely packed heads on the screen and said, "Many of these girls are here for you and your leading lady."

Ji Yun leaned back in her chair and smiled as she looked at the monitor.

"If you have bait, the fish will come naturally."

Looking at him from the side, Huo Wenxi noticed that when he smiled, he looked more like a real person than in the photos on the posters.

"Director, Girls' Generation has arrived and is meeting with Sister Fei and the others." Gao Yuanyuan pushed open the door and came in.

Ji Yun stood up. "Let's go see our mentors."

The group walked through the corridor and entered a large lounge.

The room was packed with people, and the princess and Aaron Kwok were standing in front of the makeup mirror.

The nine members of Girls' Generation, wearing hot pants that showed off their long, white legs, stood in a row, looking very attractive, and respectfully bowed to their two seniors.

Leader Kim Tae-yeon also presented them with their new album "Baby Baby" from this year.

Ji Yun and they are actually the same age.

Ji Yun stared blankly at their youthful faces. These people had debuted too early and had been famous for more than ten years, but they were only thirty years old.

However, they have only recently become popular, and in the past two months, their group's fans had a dispute with fans of other groups over seats at a concert, which led to a boycott by fans of other groups, putting them in a difficult situation.

This time, SM gave us a 50% discount when we had the opportunity to work, and it was settled for less than one million. It seems that even within SM, they are not sure if Girls' Generation can still rise to prominence in the future.

Ji Yun pondered for a moment. Now that she was involved in a domestic girl group, should she also get involved with South Korean girl groups...?

If I don't intervene, people will definitely say I'm using resources to promote outsiders.

"Hello, Director!" At the translator's prompting, the nine girls quickly turned around and gave a deep 90-degree bow, uttering newly learned Chinese words.

Their unified and clear voices startled Ji Yun awake.

South Korea has a very strict class system. Even though there were a few girls who were a few months older than him, they still had to bow to him.

After the girls finished bowing and straightened up, they finally saw Ji Yun's face clearly. The girls were stunned for a moment, then turned to look at the translator to make sure they hadn't mistaken her for someone else. Was she really the program's director at such a young age?

The translator nodded and whispered "album".

Team leader Kim Tae-yeon realized what was happening and quickly and carefully offered it, saying nervously, "Hello, I'm Kim Tae-yeon."

Ji Yun nodded and accepted the gift. She then gestured for them to sit down, but unfortunately, no one dared to sit. They stood obediently in a row, waiting for their fate.

He had no choice but to turn around and greet the princess, whom he knew.

"Thank you, Sister Fei."

"No problem." The princess waved her hand casually and sat down with an air of nonchalance. If she hadn't sat down, the young girls wouldn't have dared to move.

"Teacher Guo, nice to meet you." Ji Yun extended her hand.

Guo Fucheng didn't dare to be arrogant and immediately shook hands with both of them: "President Ji, you're too kind. I'm good at dancing, and I'm very happy to have the opportunity to work with you."