Esports world champion, debuted as the center of a talent show

The professional choreography and performance coaching team invited by the program team was divided into two groups to assist Group A ("Sailing") and Group B ("Igniting") in refining their stage performances.

After all the members of Group A arrived, the door to the training room was pushed open from the outside, and the two choreography and performance instructors in charge of this group walked in one after the other.

One of the choreographers who led Group A was surnamed Zhou and named Zhou Ran, someone Jiang Zhiyu knew very well.

Before he officially entered the closed recording of "Shining Project", he had a whole month to prepare his first stage performance, "I Destroy, I Live".

During that period, Zhou Ran accompanied me one-on-one to refine every physical movement, adjust the emotional fluctuations and facial expressions on stage, and we became very familiar with each other.

As soon as Zhou Ran stepped into the training room, he spotted Jiang Zhiyu, who was muttering to himself in the crowd. The moment their eyes met, he raised his hand and waved to Jiang Zhiyu as a greeting.

[One of the unsolved mysteries of Shining: How did Jiang Zhiyu, a former internet addict, become so familiar with Zhou Ran, a choreography master?]

[But didn't Xiao Jiang practice for a month before joining "Shining Project"? Maybe they became familiar with each other then?]

[Neither of them seemed inclined to share how they met, so we can only guess and speculate 555]

【Yay! Let the whole world be Jiang Jiang's best friend! Modo modo!】

Zhou Ran raised his hand and patted the printed movement exercise board in his hand, raising his voice to signal everyone to gather together.

"Today we need to practice the stage movements for the whole song until we understand them perfectly. Everyone, get ready according to your opening positions."

Zhou Ran is always down-to-earth and honest in his work and life. He is a well-known senior choreographer in the industry. He does the work that is paid for and is always low-key, never causing any trouble.

The other assistant choreographer, Wang Hongduan, came from a different dance studio than Zhou Ran, and his personality was completely opposite to Zhou Ran's.

Wang Hongduan was extremely obsequious in front of the camera and popular trainees, constantly praising and flattering them, saying things like "Xiao Jiang has a bright future" and "He's number one in popularity across the entire internet."

[Wang Hongduan's blatant harassment is making me physically uncomfortable...]

[This teacher seems quite approachable and easy to talk to; I like this kind of gentle and polite teacher!]

[Zhou Ran is better; he seems reliable and honest, a true choreographer.]

[Zhou Ran and Wang Hongduan are completely different types of people in the industry. Zhou Ran's professional skills are much stronger, while Wang Hongduan's main strength lies in the successful management of his dance studio, which has earned him many prestigious and authoritative awards in China.]

They're just unimportant people; their roles are similar to staff members. Let's not give them unnecessary attention...

Although he spoke eloquently, his private actions revealed a lack of professionalism and were somewhat unsavory.

During the break in training, after practicing the high-intensity group dance for more than two hours, the ten people dispersed and went to different parts of the practice room to drink water and relax.

Jiang Zhiyu casually placed his phone, which had been switched off, in the corner of the bench, turned around and walked to the full-length mirror to stretch and loosen his sore shoulders and neck.

Everyone's attention was focused on chatting with each other or stretching and relaxing; no one noticed the bench.

Using the crowd as cover, Wang Hongduan quietly slipped to the bench, grabbed Jiang Zhiyu's phone, and forcibly turned it on by pressing and holding the power button.

After a brief power-on screen display ended, a series of unfamiliar text message pop-ups received during the shutdown period appeared one after another, densely covering the lock screen.

He tapped the screen and started browsing the contents on his own.

The text messages were mostly filled with probing and questioning. Some were entirely accusatory against Jiang Zhiyu himself, while others were extremely controlling and deliberately tried to sow discord between him and the other nine members of the "Sailing" team.

One message was particularly jarring: "[Jiang Zhiyu, how's your 'Sailing' training going? How are your teammates, who are just a burden to you? Why don't you just go solo sooner or later?]"

Wang Hongduan's eyes flashed, and he walked to the center of the practice room with his phone in hand. He deliberately raised his voice and read the entire text message aloud in front of everyone, pretending to be unintentional and slightly embarrassed.

"Xiao Jiang, I just happened to see a text message on your phone from a friend... asking how your group stage practice is going, and saying your teammates are a burden, uh—" He paused deliberately for half a second, then waved his hand in feigned embarrassment, trying to smooth things over, "It's nothing, it's just something an outsider said casually. You can reply to them yourself when you have time."

Upon hearing these words, Jiang Zhiyu paused, twisting his waist while maintaining his stretched posture, and glanced indifferently at the familiar phone in Wang Hongduan's hand. He tightened his lips as the other party tentatively waved.

"Teacher Wang, I remember turning off my phone." His voice was somewhat cold.

As soon as he finished speaking, Wang Hongduan's face instantly showed embarrassment. He hurriedly tried to brush it off with a laugh: "I don't know either. The screen just lit up by itself when I picked it up."

[Could this teacher please reduce her dramatic moments? She keeps adding so much drama to her role every day!]

Why are you touching other people's phones? Don't you have any sense of boundaries... Zhou Ran is so much better...

[Could it be Wang Hongduan who turned on the phone? If so, we need to re-examine his motives.]

[I remember Wang Hongduan was the head instructor at Chengxu Dance Studio under Shangcheng Entertainment. How could he be so unprofessional?]

Why do I feel like I'm seeing the name "Shangcheng Entertainment" so often lately? Is Shangcheng Entertainment planning to exit the show at the end? Or are they simply trying to sign one of the trainees from the show?

Wang Hongduan paid no attention to the discussions in the live stream. Right now, he was focused on Jiang Zhiyu, who was silent with his lips pursed, while secretly glancing at the other nine trainees in the room, hoping that someone would develop a grudge based on the content of the text message.

Unfortunately, what he hoped for did not happen; instead, things developed in a direction he had never imagined.

The anticipated suspicions and arguments did not materialize at all.

Mi Lan was the first to frown, stepping forward and speaking bluntly, "Teacher, isn't it inappropriate to look at someone else's phone?"

Wei Shuang stood to the side and added casually, "They've crossed the line."

The others also spoke up, and no one could fail to see their obvious intentions and deliberate provocation.

No one suspected Jiang Zhiyu based on his words; instead, they subconsciously distanced themselves from this eccentric choreography instructor, secretly harboring resentment and defensiveness.

Even Yao Wei smiled but said meaningfully, "Brother Jiang, your phone can turn on by itself."

Jiang Zhiyu calmly stepped forward, took his phone back from the other person, quickly locked the screen, put it in his pocket, and said casually, "No trouble at all."

His tone was flat, carrying a sense of detachment that did not allow others to infringe upon his boundaries.

[So cool... hiss-hiss-hiss-hiss-]

[There must be someone in my life who could possibly provoke Jiang Zhiyu's dislike. How terrible must they be to make someone as good-tempered as Jiang Zhiyu uncomfortable?]

[I'm dying of laughter! I used to think Yao Wei was just a comedian, but now I realize he's incredibly sarcastic!]

[Hmm, Jiang Jiang is pampered by her friends like this, while others are treated like: "Don't even try to get involved!"]

Wang Hongduan vividly illustrates what it means to try to steal a chicken but end up losing the rice instead, hahaha!

A hint of embarrassment flashed across Wang Hongduan's face, but he forced a smile and tried to smooth things over: "I was just looking around, I didn't mean anything by it."

Jiang Zhiyu was too lazy to say anything more. He turned around and walked back to the full-length mirror to continue the stretching he hadn't finished, leaving him standing there.

Zhou Ran watched the whole thing from the side, then quietly approached and whispered to Jiang Zhiyu, "This guy always likes to do these little tricks in private. From now on, try to carry your phone with you at all times and don't leave it lying around unattended, lest he use it to make trouble again."

"I understand." Jiang Zhiyu nodded slightly.

During daily training, there wasn't much time to interact with Wang Hongduan, and the production team hired by the program didn't need to appear on camera much either.

Having just been humiliated in public, Wang Hongduan felt awkward and distanced himself from the crowd. He only reluctantly offered guidance when it was necessary to talk about positioning adjustments, no longer actively approaching to flatter or secretly find fault, thus giving Jiang Zhiyu a lot of quiet training space.

Life proceeded smoothly in a repetitive cycle between the dormitory, canteen, and training room, until a special day slowly approached.

In the past few days, Lin Sen and Mi Lan, Jiang Zhiyu's roommates, could clearly sense that he was becoming increasingly agitated, but no matter how they asked, Jiang Zhiyu remained silent.

Even when his inner thoughts were not at peace, Jiang Zhiyu never brought his personal emotions into the group training, completely separating his physical and mental feelings.

Despite Jiang Zhiyu's subtle resistance, time marched on, and the date inevitably arrived—the eve of August 16th.

That will be Jiang Zhiyu's 18th birthday, and also the day he officially declares himself an adult.

Although Lin Shi had already informed Hong Liu that Jiang Zhiyu didn't want to celebrate his birthday, the fans wouldn't let this grand coming-of-age ceremony fall through, and had planned offline support well in advance.

As midnight approached on the 15th, the trainees of Group A finished their training as usual, walked out of the training base in groups and returned to their dormitory building, walking side by side in twos and threes on the roads inside the base.

A hushed gasp suddenly came from the front of the group, instantly drawing everyone's attention.

Yu Wen raised his arm, pointing his finger towards the fence surrounding the base, his eyes filled with shock.

Everyone looked in the direction he was pointing, and they all held their breath, their eyes filled with shock and emotion.

The area outside the fence was bustling with people. In order not to be driven away by the increasingly strict security, they held back all the screams that were about to burst out when they saw a figure. They stood quietly in place, staring wide-eyed, trying to see clearly who was coming out of the base.

Some people in the group were talking quietly, suppressing their excitement, their voices so low that only their immediate companions could hear them.

"Ahhh, is that Jiang Jiang in the back?"

"It seems so? It looks a bit like it?"

"It's him, it's him!"

"Wow, what a coincidence! I thought they wouldn't come out until after midnight."

"Is this what fate is...?"

The area, teeming with people, was kept very quiet, with hushed conversations fading into the evening breeze.

And so, in the pitch-black night, under the starry sky, blue light gradually began to illuminate the area outside the base.

Jiang Zhiyu gradually stopped walking and looked at the familiar, breathtaking blue lake.

The crowd still didn't make any noise that would warrant security intervention for "disturbing the peace." Even when they were excited, they just shook their companions' hands vigorously and made various gestures while keeping their mouths tightly shut.

Countless blue light signs lit up one after another, scattered in clusters, slowly intertwining and spreading out, transforming into an endless, luminous blue sea of ​​flowers, so large that it was breathtaking at first glance.

Lu Shanshan stood in the crowd, steadily carrying her telephoto camera, aiming the lens at Jiang Zhiyu, who was surrounded by people.

This boy, who is about to come of age, has endless blue light reflected in his eyes. He stands facing the wind with a smile on his face, still dazzling in the night and easily becoming the center of attention.

She turned the heavy lens, slowly zooming in to gradually see Jiang Zhiyu's face clearly.

Immediately, her breath caught in her throat.

In this familiar place, she once took the iconic photo of herself leaving her debut stage, which became known as "Jiangmen's Number One Divine Photo." Now, against the same backdrop, she felt she was seeing a soul completely different from the one she had seen before.

Despite having the same superior bone structure and exquisite features, the same captivating eyes, and the same aloof and outstanding temperament, Lu Shanshan felt that Jiang Zhiyu seemed to have changed in some way.

Perhaps it's the gradually brightening look in his eyes, perhaps it's the greater release of emotions, perhaps it's the difference between his solitary figure surrounded by people on his debut stage night and the present, but now Jiang Zhiyu exudes a more vibrant and authentic youthful energy, seemingly more "human."

Lu Shanshan couldn't pinpoint exactly which detail had changed about him, but she knew she was particularly fond of him at this moment, especially of the youthful spirit and gentleness that had slowly grown after all the ups and downs.

The boy's eyes, filled with blue light, turned towards the direction of her camera, and the night made the blue of the lake in his eyes even clearer and brighter.

A breeze picked up, lifting Jiang Zhiyu's hair, and Lu Shanshan almost instinctively pressed the shutter.

click-

A snapshot capturing Jiang Zhiyu's final moments at age seventeen—a moment marked by hardship, ups and downs, and brilliance—was captured in the camera lens surrounded by the blue of the lake.

Due to the show's rising popularity and Jiang Zhiyu's special status, the production team no longer allows trainees to linger near the fence to avoid unnecessary chaos and safety hazards.

Jiang Zhiyu couldn't stop and linger, but he walked forward very slowly, his gaze always lingering on the crowd outside the base.

The fans, who had been waiting for almost a day, knew the program's rules and didn't insist on a response. They held up their support lights high, watching the boy slowly approach and then slowly walk away without blinking.

It wasn't until Jiang Zhiyu reached a certain angle and glanced back that the scene he saw made him slightly stunned.

The vast expanse of blue lake water against the night sky formed several large characters: Happy Birthday.

As the minute hand ticked toward midnight, several voices, though not in unison, sounded harmonious around Jiang Zhiyu:

"Happy birthday."

"Jiang Jiang! Happy birthday."

Be the adult you want to be.