Amateur talent show? Top mentors are my students.

The final rehearsal for the second public performance took place at 9:00 AM that day.

According to the procedure, this rehearsal will go through all aspects of the actual performance—lighting, sound, camera positions, blocking, and the performers' performances—simulating everything in real life. It is also the last chance to correct any mistakes.

He Xu arrived at the studio at 7:30.

He was earlier than everyone else.

The chair behind the monitoring station has been replaced with a more comfortable one. There's a pot of hot water and a box of throat lozenges on the table, and the flowchart has been turned to the last page.

When the director arrived, He Xu had already gone through the lighting team's plan for the second time and adjusted several cue points that he felt were not right.

"Teacher He, so early?" The director walked over, yawning.

"I can't sleep." He Xu looked down and circled a line on the schedule. "The lighting for the third chorus... I went back and thought about it again after I finished adjusting it yesterday, and it still needs to be changed. The main light is too harsh; it affects the facial expressions."

The director leaned over to take a look at his revised plan, opened his mouth, then closed it again.

He wanted to say, "This has been revised four times already," but in the end he just nodded.

Because he knew that He Xu's revisions always yielded better results than before.

The contestants started arriving around 8:40.

This time, no one was surprised.

We rehearsed all day yesterday, and we've already experienced all the shocks and tears we needed to experience.

Today, everyone just glanced at the monitoring station, then silently walked to their respective waiting areas to warm up.

At 10:00 AM sharp, the final rehearsal officially began.

The first group was Qi Xunan's vocal group, and they ran into problems less than 30 seconds after going on stage.

When the chorus came in, the lead singer's position was off-center.

He was supposed to stand at a fixed point slightly to the left of the center of the stage, but when he went on stage, he took two extra steps and ended up standing right in the center.

The positioning of the three people behind him was completely disrupted, and Liu Yuxuan even stood frozen on the stage for five seconds.

He Xu stood behind the monitoring console, holding a walkie-talkie in his hand, without saying a word.

After this group finished singing, he pressed the call button, his voice flat and devoid of any emotion: "Qi Xunan, Liu Yuxuan, come up."

The two walked back from the waiting area to the center of the stage and stood there.

He Xu walked to the front of the stage, looked up at them, and there was a stage height difference between the three of them, but He Xu's aura was not suppressed at all.

What were you doing just now?

"Your positioning was off," Qi Xunan said.

"...I forgot to move around." Liu Yuxuan swallowed hard.

"reason."

"...I took a couple more steps when I went on stage."

Liu Yuxuan simply lowered his head and didn't dare to say anything, which was completely different from his usual humorous and silly personality.

"Why take a few more steps?"

Qi Xunan remained silent for a second.

"nervous."

He Xu stared at them for two seconds, then sighed.

"You're nervous? You weren't nervous yesterday, you weren't nervous the day before, why are you only getting nervous today?"

Qi Xunan remained silent.

"I'll say it again, your position is off, and the movement of the three people behind you is completely ruined. You're in the center position; wherever you stand, everyone else follows you." He Xu's voice rose a little. "If you can't stand in the right position, then don't stand in the center."

Qi Xunan pursed his lips slightly, then nodded.

"And you, how long have you been practicing?! You've already forgotten? If you're not prepared, don't go on stage!" He Xu turned to Liu Yuxuan, his attitude even fiercer.

Liu Yuxuan nodded, his eyes red-rimmed.

"Let's do it one more time."

The second round was the dance group, and this time Yang Sheng's group encountered problems.

The problem lies in the drum solo part of the second verse of the chorus.

That section required all six members of the group to gather in the center of the stage within four beats, forming a tight formation.

During rehearsal, the person on the far right was a beat too slow, causing a visible break in the entire gathering motion.

He Xu called for a stop.

"The second one from the right, what's your name?" He Xu's voice came through the walkie-talkie.

The man stood on the stage, his voice trembling slightly: "I...I'm called Chen Yi."

"Chen Yi," He Xu repeated his name, his tone devoid of warmth, "Do you know you were a step too slow?"

"……Know."

"Do you know why you're still slow?"

Chen Yi's voice became even softer: "I... I didn't finish the last part well, my legs were a little weak, and I couldn't keep up."

He Xu didn't say anything.

He stood behind the monitoring station, clutching a walkie-talkie, and remained silent for about three seconds.

In those three seconds, Chen Yi's back was covered in sweat.

Then He Xu spoke up: "Your problem is that you did the floor work at the wrong angle in the previous section. When your knees landed, your center of gravity was off, so you couldn't stand steadily."

Chen Yi stood there, stunned, on the stage.

"A meniscus tear in the knee. If you want to stay in this industry for a few more years, you need to change your power generation method."

Chen Yi's lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but He Xu had already changed the subject: "Yang Sheng, when you spread out your formation, give him half a step more space."

Yang Sheng stood in the center of the stage and nodded.

"Let's do it one more time."

Next up is the rapper group.

Li Bufan stood in the center position, jumping the highest, speaking the loudest, and expressing the most emotion on stage—but his rhythm was off.

He was half a beat ahead when the chorus started.

It was so obvious that even He Xu could hear it with his left ear.

"Li Bufan," He Xu picked up the walkie-talkie, "you took the picture too early."

Li Bufan stood on the stage, opened his mouth, and said, "...I didn't—"

"You do," He Xu interrupted him, "You're half a beat ahead on the fourth line of the chorus."

Li Bufan swallowed the rest of his words, lowered his head, and his dirty orange hair stood out starkly under the stage lights.

"This is your own part. How can others follow if you rush the beat?" He Xu's voice finally rose a little. "If you feel you can't hold your own in this position, let someone else take it."

Li Bufan gripped the microphone tightly.

"Again."

Every group has problems.

Each round presents new challenges.

Some people went off-center, some lost control of their facial expressions, some forgot their lyrics, some sang off-key, and some almost fell to the ground when they landed on the floor.

He Xu cursed for the entire morning.

He yelled at them even more fiercely than he yelled at students in the practice room.

Because he is no longer a teacher, but a stage manager, his responsibility is to ensure that there are no problems with the performance.

"What are you doing?!"

"Where's your facial expression control? The camera's right in your face and you're still expressionless?!"

"Let's start the positioning again! Fourth chorus, let's start again!"

"If your voice cracks, go practice! Who are you trying to impress by singing off-key on stage?!"

……

The staff members standing below the stage exchanged bewildered glances, and someone whispered, "Teacher He is so fierce today..."

The person next to him chimed in, "He was pretty fierce yesterday too..."

"It's even fiercer today."

"……Too."

Only Jung Jae-won stood to the side of the stage, watching He Xu finish criticizing one group and then the next, a slight smile curving his lips.

Xu Shutong noticed his expression and leaned closer to ask in a low voice, "What's Teacher Zheng laughing at?"

Jung Jae-won shook his head: "Don't you think... the way he swears looks strangely familiar?"

Xu Shutong was stunned for a moment, then followed his gaze to He Xu behind the monitoring console.

He was writing something on a flowchart with his head down, a throat lozenge dangling from his mouth.

"...You mean PD Shen?" Xu Shutong asked in a low voice.

Jung Jae-won nodded: "Exactly the same."

Looking at He Xu's profile as he wrote with his head down behind the monitoring station, Xu Shutong suddenly realized that when He Xu cursed, he was exactly the same as his students.

After berating the last group, He Xu picked up the walkie-talkie and changed the channel: "Lighting team, sound team, camera team—all the problems are marked in red on the process sheet. Get everything fixed by 2 PM this afternoon. I won't check it a second time."

There was a moment of silence on the channel.

"receive."

"receive."

"receive."

He Xu turned off the walkie-talkie, sat in the chair behind the monitoring console, looked up, and stared at the row of lights on the studio ceiling.

My throat is so hoarse it's unbearable.

He reached for the thermos, unscrewed the lid, and took a sip. The warm honey water slid down his throat, and a stinging sensation came belatedly.

He frowned and took another sip.

-

7 p.m., in the studio.

Audiences have already begun to enter, with long queues forming outside the venue and a noisy atmosphere.

The athletes are making their final preparations in the waiting area.

Some people practiced facial expressions in front of the mirror, some stretched their joints, some hummed melodies softly, and some clasped their hands together, closed their eyes, and prayed silently.

The atmosphere was so tense it felt like it was about to freeze.

Jiang Yang squatted in the corner, clutching the lyric book in his hand, his knuckles turning white.

He kept taking deep breaths, but his chest still felt terribly tight, as if something was stuck in his throat, unable to come up or go down.

"Jiang Yang." A voice came from behind.

Jiang Yang suddenly turned around.

He Xu stood at the entrance of the waiting area, holding a cup of steaming water in his hand.

He was wearing a staff badge around his neck, and his hair looked a bit longer than when he withdrew from the competition, with stray hairs falling over his brow bone.

"Teacher He...?" Jiang Yang's voice was a little dry. "Why are you here?"

"I'm here to see you embarrass yourselves," He Xu said matter-of-factly, then walked over to him and sat down in the empty seat next to him.

Several people in the waiting area turned around at the same time, their eyes all falling on him.

"Don't be so nervous," He Xu said. "It's not like this is your first time on stage."

"I know, but—"

"But what?"

Jiang Yang opened his mouth, wanting to say, "But this is my first official performance since I was promoted," wanting to say, "What if I mess it up?" wanting to say, "I don't want everyone to think I'm not good enough."

But when the words reached his lips, he found himself unable to speak.

Because He Xu was looking at him.

"Listen, you were promoted because you deserved it," He Xu said. "You got an A on your initial stage performance and an A on the theme song. You were eliminated because of bad luck, not because you weren't good enough."

Jiang Yang's lips moved slightly.

"I'm not here to comfort you," He Xu added. "I'm here to tell you that if you mess up the jump tonight, I'll scold you tomorrow."

Jiang Yang paused for two seconds, then smiled.

"Teacher He, could you please use a nicer phrase?"

"cannot."

Jiang Yang chuckled again.

He Xu stood up, dusted off his pants, and scanned the faces of everyone in the waiting area.

Li Bufan stood in front of the mirror, his hair already soaked with sweat and plastered to his forehead.

His lips were moving, silently reciting the lyrics.

He Xu walked over and patted him on the shoulder. Li Bufan turned around.

"If you rush the shot," He Xu said, "then it's not me scolding you."

Li Bufan was taken aback: "Then who insulted me?"

"The audience is criticizing you." He Xu said, then turned and left.

Li Bufan opened his mouth, watching He Xu's figure disappear into the shadows at the entrance of the waiting area, and the corners of his mouth slowly curved up.

At the entrance to the corridor, Yang Sheng sat in a folding chair in the corner, stretching his wrists.

He Xu walked up to him and paused for a moment.

"nervous?"

Yang Sheng looked up, nodded, and then shook his head.

"It's normal to be nervous," He Xu said. "It would be abnormal not to be nervous."

"But you're the captain," he continued, "and if you're nervous, your teammates will be even more nervous."

Yang Sheng's fingers curled slightly, then slowly relaxed.

"It's okay to be nervous, just don't let anyone see it."

Yang Sheng was silent for a moment, then nodded.

"understood."

He Xu withdrew his hand and turned to walk towards the door.

He paused for a moment as he passed by Wang Yijun.

"Smile," He Xu said.

Wang Yijun's expression froze for a moment.

"If you don't smile when you go on stage, the audience will feel like you owe them money when the camera focuses on you," He Xu said before leaving.

As He Xu walked out of the waiting area, he bumped into Shen Yiheng, who was walking quickly towards him.

Shen Yiheng was dressed in a formal PD suit, with his tie tied meticulously.

"Did you go to the waiting area?" Shen Yiheng asked.

"Um."

"Where did you go?"

He Xu glanced at him: "Loosen the strings for them."

Shen Yiheng didn't ask "Song what string" because he had already guessed it.

He Xu is that kind of person—he's fiercest when he's cursing, but he'll also appear silently behind you after he's done cursing.

"I'm leaving." He Xu raised his hand and waved casually. "I'm going back to the monitoring station."

He took two steps, and then Shen Yiheng's voice came from behind him: "He Xu."

He Xu turned his head away.

"Tonight..." Shen Yiheng wanted to say something, but he couldn't quite put his finger on how to express it.

"We want you to witness our growth along the way, and we want you to see that the people you've taught have ultimately not disappointed you."

In the end, it just boiled down to four words: "...Watch carefully."

He Xu looked at him without saying a word.

But the smile on his face was very light and genuine.

"Yes," he said, "I'm watching."