Life countdown begins, ice queen bursts into security room

It's 11:40 PM.

It was drizzling in Shenzhen.

A black minivan was parked in front of the Penguin Hotel.

Yang Lele got out of the car first and opened an umbrella, while Xu Qingya, wearing sunglasses, got out as well.

Even after a three-hour flight, her black suit remained perfectly wrinkle-free.

Sister Chen had already completed the check-in procedures.

"Only three mentors reside on the entire thirteenth floor, each in a suite. The room keys are here."

Xu Qingya didn't say anything and walked straight into the elevator.

Xu Qingya walked into apartment 1301, her gaze sweeping around. Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows was the night view of Pengcheng Bay.

Yang Lele pushed her suitcase into the dressing room.

"Qingya, go and rest. We have rehearsal tomorrow."

Yang Lele quietly left the room.

The suite fell silent.

Xu Qingya sat on the edge of the bed, picked up her phone and scrolled through the video of the bar singer.

Just one floor below her, the light in room 1208 was still on.

Jiang Fan sat on the edge of the bed, tuning the guitar.

The same night view of Pengcheng Bay outside the window, only from a lower angle.

The next morning at 10:00 AM.

The meeting room for the star mentors is located on the third floor of Block B in the Penguin Building.

Xue Zhiheng arrived the earliest.

He was wearing a black custom-made suit with a pair of silver musical notes on his cufflinks, and a cup of Americano was beside him.

The door was pushed open, and Hua Xingyu walked in.

She wore a bright red suit and had long hair that went past her shoulders, with the ends dyed purple.

He was like a walking flame.

He glanced around the room and nodded slightly to Xue Zhiheng.

"Teacher Xue."

Xue Zhiheng, holding a coffee cup, smiled and said, "Your suit is quite eye-catching."

Hua Xingyu twitched the corner of her mouth but didn't reply.

He pulled out a chair, sat down, crossed his legs, and took out a pair of gold-rimmed glasses from his pocket, placing them on the bridge of his nose.

The two remained silent for a few minutes.

Xue Zhiheng was drinking coffee, while Hua Xingyu was playing on her phone.

The sound of high heels hitting the floor came from the end of the corridor, at a moderate pace.

Xu Qingya pushed open the door and entered.

A black cashmere coat paired with a denim mini skirt, her long legs encased in black stockings, slender and straight.

Her long hair was casually tied up on the left side, revealing a section of her neatly defined jawline.

As soon as she entered, Xue Zhiheng put down his coffee cup and stood up: "Teacher Qingya."

Hua Xingyu was a step behind him.

He had been leaning back in his chair with his legs crossed, but the moment he saw Xu Qingya come in, he put his legs down, stood up, and greeted her.

"Hello, Teacher Xu."

The air of disdain for all living beings in his tone had vanished.

Xu Qingya smiled politely at both of them and sat down in the innermost seat.

"I heard there are a few trainees from South Korea among the contestants who are quite good?"

Xue Zhiheng was the first to break the silence.

Hua Xingyu added, "There are Korean trainees everywhere now. Whether they can succeed or not will depend on their performance on stage."

"Oh?" Xue Zhiheng laughed. "Last season, during your championship show, three female fans in the audience fainted from crying. I still can't figure out if they were moved or scared."

Hua Xingyu's expression changed, but she didn't react. "Teacher Xue is really humorous."

Xu Qingya remained silent. She picked up the bottled water on the table, unscrewed it, and slowly took a sip.

The door opened again.

Director Liang Boyuan walked in with his assistant Lin Xiaoqing.

"Teachers, thank you for waiting."

Liang Boyuan got straight to the point, without any unnecessary pleasantries.

Lin Xiaoqing stepped forward and placed a folder in front of each mentor.

"This is the list of participants and their basic information for each of your tracks."

Xue Zhiheng opened the list of contestants on the Duxiu track.

The first page features Zhao Tianyu. His photo, resume, and fan data are neatly printed.

"The top trainee of Times Media, with 800,000 followers on Weibo."

Xue Zhiheng looked at the photo and said, "He is quite handsome."

He continued flipping through the pages, looking at each one one by one. Most of them were trainees and music academy students.

His hand stopped when he turned to the last page.

The photo shows a young man wearing a black shirt.

His facial features were deep-set, and his eyes were indifferent.

The resume section only contains four words.

An amateur, original work.

Xue Zhiheng looked up at Liang Boyuan and pointed to Jiang Fan's information.

"Who is this person? Why is their resume blank?"

"Recommended by Li Cheng."

Liang Boyuan only said five words.

Xue Zhiheng raised his eyebrows.

Li Cheng, formerly a top agent in the industry.

Now the music director of Tomorrow's Star.

Amateurs who can be personally recommended by him.

They're definitely not just here to make up the numbers.

Xu Qingya also opened the folder in front of her that listed the "Appearance Track".

The "Appearance" category, page one.

Lu Ming.

Sheng Hai Entertainment, a former member of SM Entertainment in South Korea, trained for two and a half years and is excellent in both singing and dancing.

The boy in the photo has a clean face.

Xu Qingya turned the pages expressionlessly, reading them one by one.

After reading everything, I turned back to the first page.

Sheng Hai Entertainment.

Her gaze lingered on the company name for two seconds.

The mentor meeting didn't last very long.

Liang Boyuan completed the process in twenty minutes.

The initial stage features twelve contestants from each track, each performing one song. Judges score the contestants, while live viewers vote in real time. The bottom three contestants are eliminated based on their combined ranking.

There is no revival round, and no waiting area.

"The contestants will gather at 4 PM tomorrow, and the broadcast will start promptly at 8 PM."

Liang Boyuan closed the folder. "Teachers, get some rest."

Xue Zhiheng stood up and stretched his neck: "Okay, let's go back and study these kids."

On the way back to the hotel, Yang Lele kept reporting the itinerary for tomorrow.

Xu Qingya leaned back in the back seat of the van, occasionally letting out a soft "hmm".

"Sister Qingya."

Yang Lele suddenly lowered her voice.

"What's wrong?"

"Your complexion..." Yang Lele hesitated for a moment, "is it getting worse compared to a few days ago?"

Xu Qingya did not answer.

Yang Lele bit her lip: "When I touched up your makeup today, I noticed that the condition you had a few days ago was completely—"

That's enough.

Xu Qingya interrupted her, her tone not harsh, but Yang Lele immediately shut up.

Friday has finally arrived.

The weather in Shenzhen was hot and humid, with a thin layer of moisture in the air.

3:50 PM, Penguin Hotel lobby.

Thirty-six contestants emerged from the elevator one after another, and the lobby instantly became noisy.

Most people were dressed up carefully, and the smell of hairspray and perfume mixed together was quite pungent.

Several trainees huddled together for a selfie, with flashes going off one after another.

Three buses were parked in front of the hotel.

Staff members held up the list and began calling out names and assigning vehicles.

Zhao Tianyu was the third to board the bus.

He was wearing a limited-edition printed T-shirt.

After boarding the bus, I sat in the second row by the aisle, and two or three people immediately surrounded me, chatting and laughing in hushed tones.

The contestants boarded the bus in twos and threes, with Jiang Fan being the last to get off.

He was wearing a simple black shirt and carrying a guitar.

Compared to the group of contestants around him who wanted to show off their entire outfits, he appeared excessively plain.

Nobody spoke to him.

He didn't intend to talk to anyone.

I walked to the last row and sat down by the window, placing the guitar upright beside my legs.

The system panel flashed briefly in the corner of my field of vision.

[Remaining lifespan: 4 days]

Four days.

Jiang Fan closed his eyes.

The bus started and headed towards the recording base of Tencent Video.

The spotlight on the debut stage is ready.