Amateur talent show? Top mentors are my students.

The dirty orange head that He Xu had complained about countless times was now staring intently at He Xu with red eyes, as if it were aggrieved on his behalf.

He Xu was silent for two seconds, then reached out and patted Li Bufan on the shoulder.

The force was a bit too much.

"Alright," he said. "No one's going to die from B."

Li Bufan sniffed and rubbed his face.

Shen Yiheng stood on the stage, his gaze sweeping across the entire studio.

He knew some people were not satisfied.

He knew this rating would be controversial.

He even knew what the comments and bullet screen would explode with after the show aired.

But he couldn't explain it.

Not at least not now.

"Quiet." Shen Yiheng's voice resonated throughout the studio through the speakers, steady and powerful. "I know some people have questions about the rating results, but please remember—the re-rating is just the beginning, not the end."

Shen Yiheng stood on the stage, turning a page of the cue card in his hand.

"Next is about the recording of the theme song."

The players' seats fell silent, and everyone pricked up their ears.

"The day after tomorrow morning, everyone will record the stage video for 'Uncharted' together." Shen Yiheng turned to the side and pointed to the giant screen behind him.

The screen displayed a stage positioning diagram—one hundred white dots were densely distributed on the tiered stage, with Class A's position in the front row, consisting of nine dots arranged in a horizontal line.

"The positions have been decided, arranged according to the re-evaluation level," Shen Yiheng said. "Class A is in the top row, Class B is in the second row, and so on."

The contestants looked at each other, and some had already started mentally calculating their position.

"but--"

Shen Yiheng deliberately dragged out the last syllable.

"The center position in Class A has not yet been decided."

The entire room was silent for half a second, followed by a low commotion.

"The center position?" someone blurted out, "The center position during the theme song recording?"

"Yes." Shen Yiheng nodded, a slight smile playing on his lips. "The middle seat in Class A, the one directly facing the camera—Class A decides who stands there."

His gaze swept over Class A, then he continued speaking.

"The rules are as follows: There are nine people in Class A. Each person has sixty minutes to prepare and make their own adaptation of the chorus of the theme song."

"The form of adaptation is not limited—it can be adapted into dance, vocals, or both."

"In sixty minutes, return to this stage, and each person will have sixty seconds to showcase their talents."

"After the performance, all members of classes A through F will vote on the spot. Each person will have one vote and no abstention is allowed. The person with the most votes will be the center of the theme song recording."

The nine students in Class A stood in the front row, and their expressions varied after listening—some were eager to try, some frowned, and some had already begun to consider the direction of the adaptation.

He Xu stood in Section B, hands in his pockets, expression indifferent.

He never really had any interest in being in the center position.

Or rather, he simply wasn't interested in the idea of ​​"standing in the middle and having the camera zoom in on his face."

Now, it's all gone; he doesn't even get a chance to compete for the center position.

"Contestants from Class A, please stay and prepare. Other contestants may leave now," a staff member announced over a megaphone. "Return to the studio in one hour to watch the presentations and vote."

The contestants began to walk out.

He Xu also turned and walked towards the exit. He had only taken two steps when he heard a series of hurried footsteps behind him.

"He Xu, the production team needs you to do a backup interview." A staff member stopped him. "It's about the re-evaluation, it'll be quick, in about half an hour."

He Xu shoved the training uniform bag into Li Bufan's hand: "Take this back for me."

"Hey? Brother He Xu—"

"Don't lose it."

After saying that, he left with the staff.

-

The preparation room was on the second floor of another building. It wasn't big; it contained a chair, a fill light, and a camera.

He Xu had his back to the wall with the program's logo printed on it, and the interview director was sitting opposite him.

Everyone was already very familiar with the interview preparation process; this was the third time He Xu had been called in.

"Don't be nervous, we're just chatting."

He Xu sat down in the chair, his posture casual, showing no intention of "standing up straight".

He squinted slightly when the fill light came on.

"He Xu, tell me how you feel right now?" the director asked. "The re-evaluation results came out, and you went from A to B. How do you feel?"

He Xu leaned back in his chair and thought for a moment.

"I don't feel anything."

The director waited two seconds, made sure he didn't have anything to add, then looked down and crossed out a line on the question card, changing the question.

Are you surprised by this result?

"Not surprising."

Why?

"I changed the key." He Xu's voice was hoarse and low, his tone as calm as if he were talking about what he ate today. "I can't sing it in the original key, so I lowered it by two octaves. Teacher Zhou Wei won't give me a high score, so overall it's a B."

"Will this result cause you to change your strategy? For example, will you spend more time on vocal training?"

He Xu turned his head and glanced at her.

There was a scrutinizing look in his eyes that seemed to ask, "Are you serious?"

"That's just how my voice is," he said, his voice not loud, but every word clear. "No matter how much time I put in, I can't sing in the original key. Instead of torturing myself, I'd rather do what I can do well."

"What can I do—you mean dancing?"

"Um."

"Do you feel that's unfair?" The director finally asked the question he'd wanted to ask since the beginning. "Your dancing skills are top-notch among everyone, but your vocals were downgraded to a B. Don't you feel wronged?"

He Xu looked at her, and the corners of his mouth curved slightly.

There was no bitterness or pretense in that smile.

"The world is inherently unfair," he said. "I understood that when I was twenty."

The director opened his mouth, wanting to ask, "What happened when you were twenty?", but he had no reason to ask, so he changed his approach.

"Let's talk about the center position competition. What are your thoughts on the battle for the center position in Class A?"

"It has nothing to do with me," He Xu said. "I'm in Class B."

"But—I mean, if you had the chance to participate, would you fight for the center position?"

There are no "ifs".

director:"……"

She took a deep breath and mentally prepared herself – this contestant really had a hard time speaking.

"Okay, let's look at it from another angle. Do you have any favorites among the Class A contestants? Who do you think is most likely to get the center position?"

This time, He Xu didn't give a perfunctory answer and thought about it seriously.

"Yang Sheng has solid fundamentals and stable overall strength."

"Anything else?"

"Wang Yijun has a distinctive dance style, but her vocals are relatively weak, so she is unlikely to be in the center position."

"Is there anything else?"

He Xu thought about it again.

"Qi Xunan."

The director's eyes lit up.

Why do you think highly of him?

"I didn't pay much attention to him during his first stage performance," He Xu said in a low, husky voice. "He's from a big company, has formal training, and has a good foundation in both dance and vocals. But his performance on the first stage was just average, and he only got a B."

"Being promoted to Class A this time shows that you have good learning ability. It's probably because you didn't perform well on your first stage performance."

He paused, then added, "And he doesn't talk much. People like that are usually holding back something big."

The director couldn't help but chuckle.

"So you think he has a chance of winning?"

"Yes," He Xu said, "but whether I'm optimistic about it or not is not important, it's not my decision."

The director then asked a few more standard questions—your initial motivation for coming to the show, your expectations for yourself, and what you want to say to the audience.

He Xu's answer was as concise as ever; he would never use two words if one could solve the problem in one.

When the interview was over, the director turned off the recorder, watched him stand up and walk out, and suddenly said, "He Xu."

He turned around.

"You just said, 'The world is inherently unfair'—is that because of something that happened in the past?"

"The interview is over," He Xu said, his tone neither too loud nor too soft. "This question isn't on the question card."

After saying that, he opened the door and went out.