Amateur talent show? Top mentors are my students.

He Xu raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised.

He looked at Zhou Wei, seemingly trying to determine how much of what he said was true and how much was false.

Xu Shutong also stopped laughing and blinked as she watched the interaction between the two.

"You think I'll just teach you like that? I'd lose face." He Xu said this, but he had already stood up from the sofa armrest and walked to Zhou Wei.

"Watch," he said.

Then he did an extremely simple movement—his hands hung naturally at his sides, and he began to relax them section by section from the top of his head.

Neck, shoulders, spine, waist, hips, knees.

My whole body felt like my bones had been removed, and I went limp.

"Can you feel it?" He Xu said, "Only when your breath sinks down can your body move."

Zhou Wei tried to imitate it once, and the movements were still stiff, but at least they felt a little more "lively" than before.

He Xu walked behind him, raised his hand, and gently patted him on the lower back.

"Start from here." He Xu's voice returned to its usual calm tone when teaching. "Let your breath go downwards, and move your body upwards. Move your hips first, then your waist, then your shoulders."

Zhou Wei tensed up at that slap, but quickly adjusted the order of his force in that direction.

He redid the wave—this time, although it wasn't very smooth, at least it had the basic shape of a "wave".

Jung Jae-won immediately clapped his hands: "Hey! You've improved!"

Xu Shutong also came over to take a look: "It's definitely much better than before! Keep it up, Teacher Zhou!"

Zhou Wei straightened up, coughed, and his ears turned bright red: "...Not bad."

He Xu stepped back onto the sofa and sat down, a slight smile playing on his lips. "Teacher Zhou, actually, you have a great physique, it's just that you've never really developed it. If you're willing, I can give you half an hour of extra help every week."

"No need," Zhou Wei said quickly, as if afraid he might take it seriously.

"That's true," He Xu nodded, "Even if you practice, you probably won't be able to practice for very long."

Zhou Wei considered the words for a moment, then realized something was off: "He Xu, are you praising me or insulting me?"

"you guess."

The lounge erupted in laughter again.

Zheng Zaiyuan, clutching his stomach, squatted on the ground: "He Xu, are you really not afraid of death? Teacher Zhou, you can still tolerate this? If it were me, I would have packed this kid up and thrown him out long ago."

Zhou Wei said expressionlessly, "He's not a child."

"Then what is he?" Jung Jae-won asked in return.

"He's a smart aleck."

"You—you're not wrong."

Jin Xian watched them playfully bickering for a while with a smile, then turned to Shen Yiheng: "Alright, enough of the fun, let's get down to business."

Shen Yiheng sat up a little straighter on the edge of the sofa and steered the conversation back on track: "Okay, while everyone's here, let's finalize He Xu's schedule first."

He took out his phone from his pocket and swiped twice: "Eight groups, every group wants you. I'm the PD, so I can't force them, but we need to have a fair distribution."

"I don't care." He Xu leaned back on the sofa, his hands crossed over his stomach. "Just let me know when you've arranged everything. I just need to show up on time. Just don't work me to death."

Xu Shutong tore a page from her notebook, pulled a pen from her pocket, and slammed it on the table: "Alright, I'll arrange them!"

Zheng Zaiyuan was the first to raise his hand: "I need both groups, at least three and a half days for each group."

"No way, if you take both groups, what about the other groups?" Xu Shutong rolled her eyes at him. "Each person can only have a maximum of two hours per day."

"My Cage Group needs it the day after tomorrow afternoon, and the Cocoon Breaking Group needs it the day after that morning."

Xu Shutong quickly wrote a line on the paper: "Okay, I've written it down."

Shen Yiheng added from the side: "My two groups will each need half a day. He Xu can just keep an eye on the choreography. He can be a great help with the positioning and coordination."

Zhou Wei was silent for two seconds: "...My group wants it too."

Xu Shutong looked up at him: "Professor Zhou, your group—are you sure?"

"I'm sure," Zhou Wei said steadily. "But it won't take too long, one or two sessions per group will be enough—mainly to help them get a feel for the overall framework, I'll take care of the rest myself."

Xu Shutong lowered her head and wrote another line: "Okay, then I'll write down the intensive schedule first, leaving you with only fragmented time."

He Xu listened from the side without interrupting.

Xu Shutong pushed the prepared temporary schedule to the center of the table and glanced around: "Everyone, take a look and see if there's anything that needs to be adjusted."

Jung Jae-won leaned over and glanced at it: "Both of my groups are in the first half, OK."

Shen Yiheng had no objection: "Sure."

Zhou Wei glanced at it and nodded.

Jin Xian remained silent, picked up her coffee cup, took a sip, and glanced at the schedule before her gaze fell on He Xu.

"That's all arranged," she said. "Now, let's move on to something else."

The atmosphere in the lounge fell subtly quiet for a moment.

He Xu leaned back on the sofa and noticed the gaze falling on him.

He turned his head and glanced at Jin Xian again: "Anything else?"

Jin Xian did not answer directly.

She leaned forward slightly, her gaze falling on He Xu's left ear.

"Your ears," Jin Xian said, "we've wanted to ask about them for a long time."

Zheng Zaiyuan's smile faded slightly, Xu Shutong's fingers holding the pen stopped, and Zhou Wei's gaze also fell on He Xu's left ear.

He Xu paused for a moment, then raised his hand and touched his ear.

"Mouth-blocking earplugs," he said, sounding much more relaxed than before. "The doctor said I'm still in the recovery period, and the high-frequency bands are gradually returning to normal. They're more comfortable to wear for now, but after a while, I might not need them anymore."

"It's recovering?" Xu Shutong's voice rose slightly. "So—there won't be any permanent damage?"

"The doctor said it's highly unlikely," He Xu said. "The follow-up test results were better than expected; my high-frequency hearing threshold has been steadily improving. With a little more medication, I should be able to recover almost completely."

Zheng Zaiyuan let out a long sigh and leaned back on the sofa: "You should have said so earlier! None of us dared to mention it these past few days, afraid of upsetting you."

"What's there for me to be upset about?" He Xu said calmly. "It's not like I can't get better."

Shen Yiheng sat at the other end of the sofa without saying a word.

His gaze fell on He Xu's left ear, his knuckles turning slightly white.

Jin Xian noticed his expression, but said nothing.

"Then why did you come to work?" Zheng Zaiyuan was the first to break the silence, his tone carrying a hint of his characteristic straightforwardness. "You came back before your ear was fully healed. What if something else goes wrong?"

"What could possibly go wrong?" He Xu retorted. "I'm not dancing on stage; I'm just sitting behind the monitoring console, giving a few instructions. It's not like it'll kill me."

"You sat behind the monitoring station all night last week," Jung Jae-won retorted, "and your voice was so hoarse, do you think we didn't know?"

He Xu opened his mouth, then closed it again.

Xu Shutong put down her pen: "Teacher He...we are really worried about you."

He Xu leaned back on the sofa, his gaze sweeping across everyone's faces.

Jin Xian spoke last, her voice calm but each word carrying weight: "He Xu, we are so glad you're back."

"But you need to know—you came back because they need you here, not because you need to prove anything."

He Xu's eyelashes trembled slightly.

He lowered his eyes, staring at his fingers resting on his knees, and remained silent for a long time.

"...Understood." He Xu finally spoke, his voice still hoarse, but softer than before. "I'll be careful."

The air in the lounge seemed to be slowly dissolving as if something was melting away.

Xu Shutong was the first to laugh, tears still glistening in the corners of her eyes: "Then remember what you said."

"I'll do my best," He Xu said.

Zheng Zaiyuan stood up from his chair, walked over to He Xu, and patted him on the shoulder: "Welcome back, Teacher He."

He Xu looked up at him, and the corners of his mouth slowly curved into a smile.

"Alright, alright," he pushed Jung Jae-won's hand away, "Don't make it sound like some kind of ceremony. I'm back to work, not to get sentimental with you guys."

Xu Shutong stood up from the sofa, picked up the water glass on the table, and held it up: "No matter what, welcome back."

Jung Jae-won also picked up his cup: "Welcome back."

Zhou Wei paused for a moment, then picked up the water glass on the table: "...Welcome back."

Jin Xian picked up her coffee cup and raised it towards him.

Shen Yiheng was the last to stand up, holding the transparent glass in his hand, his gaze fixed on He Xu.

"Welcome back," he said.