Amateur talent show? Top mentors are my students.

Life continued to roll on in a delicate balance.

The lights in the practice building turn on and off precisely on time every day, and the music in the corridor changes from morning to night without repeating itself.

Occasionally, a group gets stuck on a certain eight beats, and you can hear hushed arguments coming from inside, which are quickly drowned out by new accompaniment.

He Xu still spends his days moving between different practice rooms.

His frequency of swearing has indeed decreased, but his efficiency hasn't.

Because he changed his approach—

Instead of saying "What kind of crap are you doing?", they simply grab the person, lift them to the correct position, say "Here," and leave.

After several rounds, the trainees gradually figured out the pattern of He Xu's "gentle mode": he talked less, made more movements, and acted faster than he spoke.

After the incident with Liu Xinyang, He Xu no longer specifically targeted and criticized him when he joined the "Breaking the Cocoon" team, but he never missed a single corrective action.

At first, Liu Xinyang hunched his neck and waited for him to speak, but later he realized that He Xu simply reached out and straightened his knees, leveled his shoulders, and raised his chin to the correct height.

Then, with a blank expression, he turned to look at the next person.

He actually practiced more diligently.

There are five days left until the third round of competition.

That evening at 8 PM, the new episode of "Absolute Debut" was simultaneously released on major platforms.

This episode features clips of the three teams being divided into groups and their first practice room session after the group division.

As usual, the athletes did not have cell phones, but the TVs in the base cafeteria were lit up from eight o'clock, showing live broadcasts.

He Xu originally didn't want to go.

He had been in the practice building all day, and his throat was a little sore; all he wanted to do was go back to his room and lie down.

But as he passed by the cafeteria entrance, he heard a huge roar coming from inside—the screams and cheers of the trainees.

He paused for a moment, then pushed open the door and went inside.

The cafeteria was almost full of people.

Forty contestants, along with a dozen or so staff members, crowded the area in front of the television.

Some people were standing, some were sitting, and some were leaning on the back of their chairs. Everyone's eyes were focused on the screen.

The TV is showing clips of the three-way group division.

The moment the screen appeared, a barrage of comments flooded in, white text drifting in from the right, layered densely.

"Jung Jae-won is leading the team!!! He's so dedicated!!!"

"The 'Cage' choreography seems a bit difficult? It looks very complex."

"Wait, who's that person watching from the wall—He Xu???"

"He Xu!!! He's back!!! He's really back!!!"

He Xu: I withdrew from the athlete track, but I did not withdraw from the competition.

"It's hilarious. Look at his position. He's standing right between the mentors' seats and the contestants' seats—everyone here is my student."

"Is there really no one speaking up for PD Shen? His teacher was standing next to him watching him record the show. If I were him, my legs would go weak."

When the scene cut to He Xu walking into the practice room, the density of comments doubled again.

"Teacher He is finally back at work!!!"

"Did you guys see him swear? He didn't seem to be swearing? Maybe this group's dancing was pretty good?"

"It's not that he didn't criticize, it's just that this group hasn't reached his threshold for criticism yet, hahaha—"

Laughter and chatter filled the cafeteria.

Li Bufan sat in the front row, a lollipop in his mouth, and mumbled, "...What do you mean by 'not yet at his level of insult'? The comments section knows him too well."

He Xu stood at the entrance of the cafeteria, listening to the laughter, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously curved into a smile.

-

The next morning at seven o'clock, the cafeteria TV was on again.

This time, the screen wasn't showing a new episode, but rather a behind-the-scenes clip produced overnight by the production team.

The title was displayed in the center of the screen, with flashy font and a ring of star effects.

"The animal sculptures from 'Absolute Debut' have been revealed!!!"

In the cafeteria, some people were drinking porridge, some were munching on steamed buns, and some were yawning.

Everyone was stunned.

What is that?

Animal sculptures?

The screen paused for two seconds, then began playing the first name.

"Shen Yiheng - Golden Retriever"

The scene cuts to an unreleased clip of Shen Yiheng in the practice room—he is squatting on the ground helping a player tie knee pads, his movements are serious, and he is muttering the key points of positioning.

The caption read: "Loyal, clingy, prone to crying, but incredibly strong."

The cafeteria erupted in chaos.

"Golden Retriever, hahahahahaha!!!"

"PD is a golden retriever!! I can picture it in my mind!"

"Wait a minute, look at that 'crybaby' guy—did someone secretly leak this in the comments?"

Shen Yiheng stood at the entrance of the cafeteria, holding a coffee cup, completely frozen in place.

Before he could even open his mouth to defend himself, the screen had already switched to the next person.

"He Xu - Leopard Cat"

The comments and voice-over appeared simultaneously: "Aloof, protective, sharp-tongued, soft-hearted."

The video shows He Xu watching someone dance in a corner of the practice room with his arms crossed, wearing a white shirt and black pants, with a cold expression.

The next second, the scene cuts to a close-up of him squatting down to help a contestant adjust their movements. His expression is still impatient, but his finger movements are very light.

The noise level in the cafeteria rose another notch.

"Leopard Cat!! Great post!!"

"Brother He Xu is truly like a leopard cat! He appears aloof and has an incredibly sharp tongue, but he's incredibly soft-hearted!"

"They didn't say it, but they did it all!"

He Xu stood at the edge of the crowd, stared at the screen expressionlessly for three seconds, and then turned to leave.

Then someone grabbed the hem of his clothes.

He turned around and met Li Bufan's bright eyes, which seemed to say, "Brother He Xu, don't go."

"Brother He Xu, did you see that?! You're a leopard cat!"

"open."

"You're not allowed to leave until you finish reading!"

He Xu looked down at Li Bufan's fingers gripping his clothes, then looked up at the screen, his expression threatening.

Li Bufan did not let go.

He Xu didn't actually leave; he just leaned against the wall expressionlessly, crossed his arms, and looked back at the screen.

The third one is Yang Sheng – Little Tiger.

The caption reads, "Mature beyond his years, a champion of responsibility."

The video shows him leading his group in dance practice. The seventeen-year-old boy stands in front of a mirror with a serious expression, going over the synchronized dance moves for the chorus again and again.

Sweat dripped down his jawline, but he didn't care.

"Tiger!! Well deserved!!"

"Yang Sheng is a little tiger!!"

"At seventeen, carrying the entire group on his shoulders—what else could he be but a tiger?"

Yang Sheng sat at the dining table, his chopsticks paused for a moment, his ears turned slightly red, but his expression did not change much.

Then there's Jiang Yang—a Samoyed.

"Sunny, prone to crying, and a happy-go-lucky person."

The video shows him crouching in a corner crying, then cuts a few seconds later to him smiling through his tears.

Jiang Yang's face flushed bright red, and he sprang up from his chair as if a switch had been flipped: "Why am I a Samoyed?!"

"Because you can laugh, cry, and even act cute!" a trainee next to him shouted.

"I wasn't being cute!!"

"After you got scolded by the election official last time, calling her 'sister' in the hallway wasn't considered acting cute?"

Jiang Yang opened his mouth, then closed it again.

The screen continues to scroll down.

Song Yingwen – Border Shepherd.

"Intelligent, steady, support role."

The scene shows him standing to the side and behind Yang Sheng, slowly adjusting the spacing of the formation. He doesn't say anything extra, but every movement is just right.

He Xu straightened up a bit from the wall, his gaze lingering on Song Yingwen's image for a moment longer, and the corners of his mouth curved slightly.