Amateur talent show? Top mentors are my students.

The follow-up appointment was around 10 a.m., at the same hospital, in the same corridor, and with that familiar smell of disinfectant.

He Xu sat on a plastic chair outside the clinic, his legs stretched out long, his posture much more relaxed than the previous times he had come.

Han Yu leaned against the wall next to him, hands in his pockets, his gaze fixed on the window at the end of the corridor: "You don't seem nervous today."

"I wasn't nervous at all," He Xu said.

"The first two times you came for follow-up appointments, you didn't say anything because you were nervous."

"I'm too lazy to explain, is that not allowed?"

Han Yu glanced at him but didn't expose him.

The door to the examination room opened, and the nurse poked her head out: "He Xu, come in."

He Xu stood up and walked into the consultation room.

The doctor was still the same man in his fifties, wearing silver-rimmed glasses, and his expression was much more relaxed than before.

He Xu noticed that the two waveforms on the report in front of him were almost overlapping.

"Sit down," the doctor said, pointing to a chair.

He Xu sat down, placed his hands on his knees, and waited for him to speak.

The doctor glanced at the report in front of him, adjusted his glasses, then looked up at him with a very faint smile: "Congratulations, you've recovered very well."

He Xu's eyelashes twitched.

"The high-frequency hearing threshold has returned to the normal range, and the recovery speed is much faster than we expected." The doctor pointed to the waveform on the report. "Look, the comparison between this time and last time—there is no difference at all above 4000 Hz."

He Xu looked down at the picture, remaining silent for several seconds: "...So, it's all healed?"

"You're completely healed," the doctor said confidently. "Your hearing in your left ear has returned to the same level as your right ear, with no residual damage."

He Xu leaned back in his chair, stared at the fluorescent light on the ceiling for two seconds, and then curled the corners of his mouth into a smile.

It was very light, but it felt more genuine than any of his previous laughs.

"What about the medicine?" he asked.

"You can stop now," the doctor said. "You don't need to take it anymore. You also don't need to go to the hyperbaric oxygen chamber anymore. Just avoid prolonged exposure to extremely high decibel levels, and you can live a normal life from now on."

He Xu nodded and stood up from his chair.

"Thank you, doctor," he said.

The doctor looked at him and smiled, a rare occurrence for him: "You're welcome. You should thank yourself and your friend—for your timely check-ups, medication, and not pushing yourself too hard, you've recovered so quickly."

He Xu didn't reply and turned to walk out.

When I opened the door, the lights in the hallway brightened by one degree.

Han Yu stood at the door, and the two looked at each other.

He Xu didn't speak, but the smile on his lips didn't fade.

Han Yu understood his expression: "All done?"

"Okay," He Xu said calmly.

But Han Yu noticed that he was walking a little faster than usual.

He couldn't help but smile.

-

At 2 p.m., He Xu pushed open the door to the dance studio on the third floor of Aurora Media.

All seven people have arrived. Some are stretching their legs, some are moving their wrists, and some are doing planks on the yoga mats—their postures aren't quite right yet.

When He Xu walked in, all seven people looked up at him at the same time.

They immediately noticed something—He Xu didn't swear today.

He didn't even check their warm-up.

He simply walked to the center of the practice room, took off his jacket and threw it in the corner, then turned around and looked at them, saying something that stunned everyone: "Class will end early later."

Jiang Yang's plank position collapsed instantly: "...What?"

"I said, get out of class is ending early today," He Xu repeated, his tone carrying an undisguised elation. "I'll let you go at four o'clock."

The seven people looked at each other, none of them daring to move.

Li Bufan cautiously raised his hand: "Brother He Xu... are you serious?"

"When have I ever joked with you guys?"

"You said the same thing last time, and then you made us practice for an extra hour."

"That time was that time, and this time is this time." He Xu walked to the speaker, connected his phone to Bluetooth, and said, "I'm in a good mood today, so I'm giving you guys a day off."

Yang Sheng glanced at him in the mirror: "Teacher He, have the results of your ear re-examination come back?"

He Xu turned her head and glanced at him: "How did you know?"

"Just a guess," Yang Sheng said. "You look a little different than usual today."

He Xu didn't reply, but the smile on his lips widened even more: "Alright, enough nonsense. Let's go through the routine we practiced yesterday. If you can do it well, we'll let you go early today. If you can't, you'll have to practice until six o'clock."

The seven people immediately took their positions, their movements as fast as if they had been fast-forwarded.

When the music started, the seven people were in much better spirits than yesterday.

Yang Sheng's movements were clean and efficient, Qi Xunan's rhythm was as precise as ever, and Wang Yijun's facial expressions were unusually relaxed.

Song Yingwen finally loosened up his range of motion, and Jiang Yang regained his resilience from falling down and getting back up.

Although Li Bufan was still a bit wild, at least he didn't rush the beat, and Lu Yiming's positioning was so steady that it didn't seem like he was a vocalist.

He Xu leaned against the wall and read the whole thing without stopping.

Two hours later, as the last note faded, the seven people stood there panting, waiting for him to speak.

He Xu paused for two seconds, then said, "That's fine."

The eyes of all seven people lit up at the same time.

"That's it for today, four o'clock. Pack your things." He Xu walked over and picked up his coat. "I'll send next week's training schedule to the group. Listen to the demo of the new song before Wednesday and get a feel for the framework of the verses."

Yang Sheng nodded: "Understood, Teacher He."

He Xu walked to the door, turned his head to glance at the seven people still standing there: "Aren't you leaving?"

The seven people then seemed to wake up from their daze and began to pack their things.

He Xu didn't leave immediately; he leaned against the door frame and waited for them to finish packing.

Li Bufan was the first to walk over with his bag on his back, stopping in front of him with a somewhat subtle expression: "Brother He Xu, you seem to be in a really good mood today."

"As I said, the results of the follow-up examination are in."

"So... will you still scold us like this in the future?"

He Xu glanced at him: "You want me to scold you?"

"No, it's not that." Li Bufan scratched his head. "It's just... you were really strict with us before, but we did dance much better after you did. Now that you've stopped, I'm starting to panic."

He Xu looked at him, reached out and patted him on the back of the head lightly: "Okay, two extra hours of practice tomorrow."

Li Bufan's expression instantly changed from touched to horrified: "Brother He Xu, I was just kidding—"

"I'm serious."

Li Bufan let out a wail and ran out of the dance studio with his backpack.

Laughter came from behind me.

He Xu stood at the door, watching the seven boys walk out of the dance studio in twos and threes. Some were still playing around with each other, while others were looking down at their phones.

"Teacher He." Yang Sheng walked up to him and stopped.

"Um."

Yang Sheng looked at him, his lips moved slightly, as if he were considering something: "Now that your hearing is better, are you leaving?"

He Xu paused slightly.

He turned his head to look at Yang Sheng, whose young face, under the corridor lights, carried a composure beyond his years.

"Who told you that?"

"I'm guessing," Yang Sheng said. "You've been working on the contract and finishing up the choreography for the past few days, as well as choreographing Han Yu's new song. You've been rushing to get things moving. You used to be very efficient, but you never rushed to meet deadlines."

He Xu paused for a moment, then reached out and patted Yang Sheng on the shoulder: "...You guessed right."

Yang Sheng's eyelashes fluttered: "So where are you going?"

"The United States," He Xu said, "to get treatment for my throat. Jiang Yanbai helped me contact a specialist; maybe there's still a chance."

Yang Sheng remained silent for a long time before finally saying, "...Will he come back?"

"We'll see." He Xu withdrew his hand and put it in his pocket. "If he's cured, of course I'll come back. If he's not cured—"

Even if he's not cured, he'll come back.

He Xu glanced at him: "You seem more certain than I am."

"Because you still have things to finish," Yang Sheng said. "You've only just started leading NOVA's choreography, and you haven't finished choreographing Han Yu's new song yet. So many people in China are waiting for you, how could you not come back?"

He Xu looked at him, and the corners of his mouth slowly curved into a smile: "...Okay, you know me better than I know myself."

Yang Sheng didn't laugh, but looked at He Xu and said seriously, "Teacher He, when you come back, we will be even stronger."

He Xu looked at him, remained silent for a few seconds, then reached out and patted him on the back of the head: "Alright, stop being so sentimental, go back to practicing your singing."