Amateur talent show? Top mentors are my students.

At 7 a.m. on the day of the recording, the backstage dressing room was already in complete chaos.

The lights were blindingly white, and dozens of makeup mirrors were lit up at the same time, reflecting tired faces.

The sounds of powder puffs patting faces, hair dryers whirring, and the footsteps of the selection officer running back and forth with a walkie-talkie all blended together, like the prelude to some kind of large-scale symphony.

When He Xu pushed the door open, he was almost shoved out by a smell that was a mixture of hairspray and foundation.

He stood at the doorway and scanned the area, his gaze landing precisely on the corner where makeup artists were crammed together—

Shen Yiheng was sitting there with his eyes closed, letting the makeup artist apply makeup to his face.

He Xu strolled over slowly, sat down on the empty chair next to Shen Yiheng, crossed his legs, and tilted his head to look at him for a few seconds.

"You drew well today."

Shen Yiheng opened one eye, his expression wary: "...What are you doing?"

"Nothing, just praising you." He Xu's tone was particularly sincere. "Your eyeliner is really well done, much better than what you usually do yourself."

Shen Yiheng's brow twitched slightly: "I'm usually quite good at drawing too."

"I can't even be bothered to comment on the eyeliner you did yourself last time." He Xu leaned back in his chair, his gaze sweeping over Shen Yiheng's makeup in the mirror. "This makeup today makes you look younger, like you're twenty. It suits you perfectly."

"I'm actually twenty-three."

"Oh, that makes you look three years younger, which means the makeup artist is quite skilled."

Shen Yiheng took a deep breath and swallowed back the rebuttal that was on the tip of his tongue.

The person sitting next to me, Xu Shutong, is getting her hair done.

Her hair was curled into individual strands with a curling iron, and the makeup artist was spraying it with setting spray.

She heard He Xu and Shen Yiheng's conversation and a smile crept onto her face.

He Xu turned his head and glanced at her: "Teacher Xu looks quite beautiful today too."

Xu Shutong met his gaze in the mirror: "What you're saying sounds like you're cursing."

"When did I swear?" He Xu looked utterly innocent. "Saying you're pretty is swearing? What kind of misunderstanding do you have about yourself?"

Xu Shutong opened her mouth, but found that she couldn't refute him, so she could only glare at him in the mirror.

He Xu has already shifted his target.

His gaze fell on another makeup chair in the corner—Jung Jae-won was sitting there, and the makeup artist was applying foundation to him.

He wore a dark red stage jacket today, with sequins at the collar, which looked quite glamorous.

"Teacher Zheng," He Xu said, "your clothes are very festive."

Jung Jae-won looked at himself in the mirror and was quite satisfied: "Right? I think so too, it makes me look healthier."

"It makes you look radiant and is perfect for shining on stage. However, if your jacket were any brighter, you could be used as a traffic light."

Jung Jae-won's smile froze, and he almost dropped the powder compact on the table: "Are you praising me or insulting me?"

"you guess."

Zheng Zaiyuan's lips twitched, then he put the powder compact on the table, turned around and looked at him: "He Xu, do you believe I'll do your makeup right now and make you look good on camera today?"

"I don't believe you," He Xu said. "My makeup is natural and doesn't need any artifice."

A muffled laugh, barely suppressed, came from the side.

Zhou Wei sat a little further away, already having finished her makeup.

He wore a navy blue stand-up collar jacket today, and looked more energetic than usual. He was composed, dignified, and had a commanding presence.

He Xu stood up, slowly strolled over to him, and bent down to take a look at his makeup.

"Teacher Zhou is alright today too."

Zhou Wei turned his head and glanced at him: "You'd better not say anything more sarcastic."

"I wasn't being sarcastic," He Xu said. "Really, your makeup looks like it was carefully done—you look especially presentable today."

Zhou Wei frowned: "Are you insulting me or praising me?"

"I'm praising you." He Xu straightened up and patted him on the shoulder. "You looked especially stage-ready today. Remember to maintain that presence when you go on stage later."

Zhou Wei looked at him expressionlessly: "He Xu, do you believe I'll throw you out of this window?"

Just as He Xu was about to reply, the door to the dressing room was suddenly pushed open.

A young girl wearing a name tag peeked halfway in, her face covered in a thin layer of sweat.

Her gaze swept quickly across the room full of people, finally settling precisely on He Xu.

"Teacher He! The sound system team says there's still a phase problem with the main speakers. They didn't save the parameter you adjusted before, and now it's about to explode—"

He Xu's expression immediately changed.

He straightened up from Zhou Wei's dressing chair, turned around, and walked out.

As he passed by Shen Yiheng, he didn't even stop, only saying, "PD, you go ahead and do your work, I'm going to get to work."

As he reached the door, he turned his head and waved to everyone in the room: "Keep doing your makeup, make sure you look nice, don't embarrass me on stage later."

After he finished speaking, the door closed, and the sound of his footsteps fading away and the little girl running after him echoed in the corridor.

There was a two-second silence in the dressing room.

Jung Jae-won was the first to burst out laughing, shaking his head as he did so: "He messed with everyone and then ran away."

Xu Shutong looked at the closed door in the mirror, a smirk creeping onto her lips: "Was he walking so fast because he was afraid someone would stop him?"

Shen Yiheng closed his eyes and the corners of his mouth curved slightly, but he still insisted, "He went to work, so stop lining up for him over there."

"PD, isn't it a bit late for you to defend your own now?" Jung Jae-won leaned back in his chair. "He just insulted you from head to toe and you didn't say a word."

"I was just being lenient with him." Shen Yiheng opened one eye, his tone carrying a kind of indulgence that he himself didn't realize. "Otherwise, it would make me seem petty."

"When have you ever not been stingy?"

"Teacher Zheng, could you say that again?"

The dressing room was filled with laughter.

-

By 6:30 p.m., the studio was 90% full.

The lights weren't completely off yet, and warm-up music echoed softly in the hall, mixed with the buzzing of thousands of people talking at the same time.

He Xu stood behind the monitoring station, with four split screens in front of him lit up simultaneously, displaying real-time footage of the audience from various angles.

He was looking down, inserting the earbud into his left ear, his fingers pinching the light gray silicone edge to make sure it was firmly in place.

He heard footsteps behind him, unhurried and with a familiar nonchalant air.

He Xu did not turn around.

"What are you doing here?" he asked flatly, his gaze still fixed on the monitor screen. "Aren't there enough seats for you?"

Han Yu sat down in the chair next to him, crossed his legs, and held a cup of hot coffee that he'd somehow gotten his hands on: "Audience seats, my foot! You have no idea how popular your show is; tickets are impossible to get!"