Amateur talent show? Top mentors are my students.

The celebration after the final lasted for nearly half an hour.

Golden ribbons were still scattered all over the ground. Someone squatted at the edge of the stage, picked up two ribbons, and stuffed them into his pocket, saying he wanted to take them back and frame them.

The election officials walked through the crowd with walkie-talkies, shouting, "Everyone, move backstage!" and "The car is already waiting at the door!" but no one listened.

The contestants hugged each other, some crying and some laughing. The photographer carried his equipment and chased after them for more than 20 minutes, producing enough footage to edit three episodes of behind-the-scenes footage.

He Xu took advantage of the chaos and slipped away from the side of the stage.

He intended to go straight back to his dorm to shower and sleep, but as soon as he reached the corner of the corridor, a hand grabbed his jacket hood from behind.

"Why are you running away?" Jiang Yanbai's voice came from above. "The celebration banquet is at the hotel next door. The cars are all arranged. The director was shouting on stage for ages, 'Everyone must be there'—didn't you hear him?"

He Xu was pulled back half a step, turned her head and glared at him: "...I'm tired."

"You have to go even if you're tired." Jiang Yanbai loosened his hat, then put his arm around his shoulder and led him to the other end of the corridor without further ado. "You're the most amazing person here tonight, how could you not go?"

"I'm not a contestant—"

"Then you're also a specially invited mentor," Jiang Yanbai interrupted him. "Besides, you were dancing like that just now, everyone was looking for you, how could you let those kids wait for you?"

He Xu was silent for two seconds, recalling Li Bufan waving at him with red eyes, and Jiang Yang making a heart shape with his hands when he was in sixth place.

"...Fine, fine, I'll go, I'll go." He reluctantly followed Jiang Yanbai out, "But let go of me, I can walk by myself."

Jiang Yanbai held on for two more seconds before letting go, a smile playing on his lips.

-

The celebration banquet was more than twice as grand as He Xu had imagined.

A huge crystal chandelier hangs in the center of the hotel banquet hall, its warm golden light shining down from above, illuminating the entire space as if it were daytime.

The long table was covered with a dark gray tablecloth and was filled with drinks and food—not the assembly-line style of a buffet, but the proper kind where each dish was presented with a platter.

He Xu stood at the entrance of the banquet hall, glanced around, and then turned to the director beside him: "Did your production team win the lottery?"

The director, who was clinking glasses with the producer, turned around upon hearing this: "What's wrong?"

"This table of food," He Xu gestured with his chin towards the long table, "and this crystal chandelier, this champagne tower—you guys were so poor before you couldn't even afford the copyright fees, and now you're going all out like this?"

The director opened his mouth, but Jin Xian, who had appeared out of nowhere, walked over with a wine glass and said, "Tonight's guests are from the Qi family."

He Xu paused for a moment, then turned his head to look at Jin Xian.

Jin Xian picked up her wine glass and took a sip: "Qi Xunan's family invested in the show, and now that he's debuted, the Qi family is so happy that they booked the entire celebration banquet."

He Xu opened his mouth, looked at the beautifully plated dishes and the champagne tower that was almost half a person tall, and remained silent for two seconds: "...It's so good to be rich."

Jin Xian chuckled and turned to walk away.

As more and more people filled the banquet hall, the mentors were invited to sit at the head table, while the contestants gathered in small groups.

Some people were carrying juice, while others were secretly pouring champagne into their glasses—only to be glared at by the election official.

He Xu found a corner to sit down, with a glass of warm water in front of him, and watched the people making a ruckus.

Jiang Yanbai pulled out a bottle of champagne from somewhere, sat down next to him, and naturally poured himself a glass.

"Aren't you going to drink?" Jiang Yanbai asked.

"I can't drink it." He Xu picked up his warm water and took a sip. "My throat is still recovering, so I'll skip the alcohol."

Jiang Yanbai glanced at him, didn't try to persuade him, picked up the champagne glass and drank half of it himself.

Jiang Yanbai finished the half glass of champagne, put the glass on the table, and tilted his head towards He Xu.

The gesture wasn't large, but the meaning was clear—"Come here for a moment."

He Xu glanced at him, picked up his warm water cup, slowly stood up, and followed him to the terrace on the side of the banquet hall.

The terrace was small, with two wrought iron chairs and a small potted plant that looked half-dead.

The early autumn night breeze blew across the river, carrying a damp chill that instantly dissipated most of the aroma of champagne and hot dishes from the banquet hall.

Jiang Yanbai leaned against the railing, turning her head to look at him: "What have you thought about the trip to America I told you about?"

He Xu leaned against the railing on the other side, placed the warm water cup on the railing surface, and put both hands into his coat pockets: "...I've thought it over."

Jiang Yanbai raised an eyebrow: "So?"

"Go," He Xu said, "but not now."

Jiang Yanbai paused for a moment, then asked, "Why?"

"There are still a few contracts left to finish." He Xu's voice was a little weak in the night wind, but every word was clear. "The contract for the special dance instructor for 'Absolute Debut' is signed on a quarterly basis. Although the finale has been recorded, there are still choreography to be done after the new group debuts. I can't just walk away."

He paused, as if taking stock of his tasks: "There's also the dance I promised to choreograph for Han Yu. It's only halfway done. I can't leave until it's finished. My ear also needs another check-up. I can't just fly to America before the check-up."

Jiang Yanbai listened without interrupting him, waiting until he finished before asking, "Approximately how long will this take?"

"Half a month," He Xu said, "at most a month."

Jiang Yanbai nodded, his expression unreadable: "Alright, I'll schedule the expert's appointment for you a month from now. If you haven't finished by then, I'll just tie you to a plane."

He Xu glanced at him: "You dare?"

"You try and see if I dare." Jiang Yanbai's lips curved slightly, his smile carrying a hint of unpredictable seriousness in the night.

The two of them stood on the terrace for a while without saying a word.

A night breeze blew from the river, carrying the scent of water, making the faint music coming from the banquet hall seem to come and go.

Jiang Yanbai broke the silence first: "Are you going to tell Shen Yiheng?"

He Xu tapped his fingers lightly on the railing: "...Let's talk about it after he's done with this busy period. The group has just been formed, and he has a lot to do."

Jiang Yanbai didn't press further, but simply nodded: "You decide what to do."

The glass door to the terrace was pushed open at that moment.

Li Bufan poked his head out, his dingy orange hair standing out starkly under the terrace lights: "Brother He Xu! What are you doing hiding here—come in quickly! We've released the phones, and the trending topics are exploding!"

Before He Xu could react, Li Bufan had already pulled his head back, closed the door, and his footsteps faded into the distance.

He Xu and Jiang Yanbai exchanged a glance.

"...Let's go." He Xu straightened up from the railing, picked up the glass of warm water he hadn't finished drinking, and said, "Let's go back and see what kind of trouble they've caused this time."

When he pushed open the door and walked back into the banquet hall, he found that the whole place had completely changed.

The contestants, who had been sitting upright just moments before, now seemed to have been unleashed from their inhibitions.

Twenty people, each with a cell phone, formed several small circles, and everyone had a similar expression—mouths agape, eyes wide, and fingers frantically swiping across the screen.

Jiang Yang's voice echoed across half the banquet hall: "Holy crap—!!! Teacher He's performance is trending at number one!!!"

He rushed towards He Xu with his phone in hand, nearly knocking over a waiter carrying a fruit platter.

"Teacher He, look!!" Jiang Yang shoved his phone in front of He Xu, where the Weibo trending topics list was neatly arranged.

The first entry is followed by a purple "爆" (explosive) character, and the hashtag is #何旭Ouroboros台台# (He Xu Ouroboros Stage). It is followed by a line of small gray text: "Special guest mentor's solo stage in the finals, achieving overnight fame."

Before He Xu could even see what was on the screen, his phone was snatched away by another hand reaching out from the side—Li Bufan had somehow joined in, grabbed Jiang Yang's phone, and muttered, "Let me see, let me see," before his voice suddenly stopped.

"…Holy crap." Li Bufan's voice changed tone. "Brother He Xu, look at this—look at this—"

He handed the phone back to He Xu, his finger pointing to a Weibo post in the middle of the screen.

That was a post from a verified account, with the blue V badge reading "Park Do-hyun Official Account"—

Park Do-hyun, a three-time world street dance champion, is the Korean known in the dance world as the "human metronome".

He Xu's gaze fell on that Weibo post, and his fingers unconsciously stopped.

Park Do-hyun's Weibo post is in Korean, and the software automatically translated it into Chinese:

"I've watched the choreography for 'Ouroboros' ten times. The transition between the continuous spins and spinal waves in the third chorus is the cleanest I've seen in the last two years. The dancers' body control, their understanding of the musical structure, and the emotional construction of the entire dance—all are top-notch. I look forward to the opportunity to collaborate."

The number of reposts has already exceeded five figures, and the top comments section is full of comments like "Even Teacher Park has spoken," "What a dream collaboration!" and "He Xu, how many more surprises do you have in store?"

He Xu stared at the Weibo post for several seconds before moving his finger away from the screen: "...Oh."