CHAPTER 162: CHAPTER 157: CHOOSE A TEAM

Chen Afang was overwhelmed with emotion and tears streamed down her face when she realized she had won. It was a stark contrast to her usual public persona.

She couldn’t understand why, despite being Gao Hua, having the most fame here, and such strong abilities, the production team treated her so unfairly.

Since arriving in Shanghai, everyone she met admired her greatly.

For a time, she thought the production team was about to abandon her, but to her surprise, she won today’s competition. Could it be that the production team had come to their senses?

Finally understanding her significance, she excitedly ran to the opposite stage to embrace her former teammate, Li Zimeng.

In her view, Li Zimeng was also Gao Hua, even though she was from that remote, insignificant place in Thailand, their statuses were somewhat similar.

Li Zimeng watched as the other party, tears streaming, rushed toward her, and reluctantly responded.

Though she was young, her family background endowed her with wisdom far beyond her peers.

She clearly understood what kind of person Chen Afang was and knew what she truly thought deep down. However, in public, she couldn’t say anything about it.

Besides, she couldn’t understand why her team had lost; it made no sense.

Their performance was undoubtedly better than the other team’s, yet they lost. She was suppressing sadness, but had no choice but to comfort this woman who was sobbing like a witch from a haunted forest.

The other team members were also unhappy, but there was nothing they could do.

In the waiting room, Hu Binbin’s team of trainees erupted with cheers. They had no idea what kind of person Chen Afang truly was.

They were still loudly cheering for her, basking in reflected glory, with Wu Zixuan even shedding tears.

After losing the previous match, Wu Zixuan had blamed herself deeply, knowing how pivotal it was. Having Chen Afang win this time, the weight on her shoulders was finally alleviated.

If they had lost again, she knew she wouldn’t have been able to eat or sleep.

Onstage, Wu Meixiang stuck out her tongue, unable to comprehend this result. They lost? How could this happen? And Chen Afang—she always felt there was something off about her.

At this moment, Yang Xiaoyue spoke to the mentors to offer words of comfort to the girls, primarily to show a deep sisterly bond.

Yang Xiaoyue’s goal was to help Li Zimeng establish a gentle, empathetic, and understanding image.

"Seeing you all like this on stage, I actually feel very happy. Because onstage, you’re competitors, but offstage, you’re good sisters. Yes, this is exactly how it should be—deep love and unity," Hu Binbin said, holding the microphone.

Tian Jiaxuan added, "Actually, you’ve already done exceptionally well, amazing even, because you’ve surpassed yourselves. Onstage, all of you shine the brightest."

Long Zitao stepped up onto the stage after they exited: "Now, I’m going to randomly pick a man in the audience and ask him which of these six groups of girls they like the most."

As soon as Long Zitao finished speaking, the audience and waiting room exploded with excitement.

Everyone’s curiosity and competitive spirit were immediately ignited.

Each trainee held their breath, straightened their backs, and stared at the big screen in front of them, eager to know which girls the men truly favored.

For these trainees, a hundred women’s praise didn’t hold a candle to one man’s approval.

Although they verbally dismissed the importance of men’s opinions, deep down, they cared a lot.

This wasn’t surprising—just imagine if ten women said a girl’s outfit was ugly, but one man said it looked great.

In most cases, that girl wouldn’t change her outfit.

Over there, Zhang Wei joked, "Who’s the man here?"

Several trainees raised their hands immediately, but when the camera focused on Meng Meixuan, there was an awkward realization: despite her "big sis," "tomboy" persona, she hadn’t raised her hand.

When confronted with the camera, she laughed and said, "I’m not a man; I’m the big sis."

Sitting behind her, Ye Yuwei stifled a laugh, knowing that despite Meng Meixuan’s usual tough-girl, streetwise attitude, she was actually soft-hearted, like a fluffy ball—purely submissive.

Over on the other side, Lin Jiayi proclaimed that she was basically a dude.

Long Zitao had been joking earlier, but the unexpectedly good response prompted Yang Xiaoyue to urge him to follow through.

Long Zitao had no choice but to step to the edge of the stage, crouching low and asking, "The men are too far away from me, so I’ll just ask the girls instead!"

In the waiting room, the trainees who had been full of excitement moments earlier all let out a collective sigh and slumped back into their chairs.

However, the nearest audience members to the stage were thrilled, frantically calling for Long Zitao to ask them questions.

"Out of the three performances earlier, which group and individual did you like the most?" Long Zitao didn’t pass the microphone to the audience, not wanting anyone’s competitiveness to dull so soon.

Anything said onstage had the potential to be amplified tremendously.

At this point, the trainees’ curiosity was reignited. Even if there were no men involved, hearing feedback from female fans was still worthwhile.

"Alright, I know who you all like the most—you like me the most." As he said this, Long Zitao dashed back to the middle of the stage, afraid of getting hit.

Sure enough, disappointed voices filled the audience, and the waiting room erupted in collective groans of frustration.

"Alright, now I’ll hand the stage over to the mentors to determine the next group to perform." Long Zitao’s sudden transition left the four mentors momentarily stunned.

Yang Xiaoyue’s voice broke the silence, prompting Tian Jiaxuan to speak first.

"...As per the competition rules, since our team just lost that match, we get to choose the next team." After two sentences, Tian Jiaxuan’s words finally flowed more naturally.

"We’re sending out the ’Fu Xiaoyu’ team."

Tian Jiaxuan’s announcement sent Fu Xiaoyu’s team into jubilant celebration. They had grown impatient waiting for their turn and were eager to display their charm on the glamorous stage.

Hu Binbin took the microphone at this point: "Every member of Fu Xiaoyu’s team has one defining characteristic—they’re all incredibly beautiful."

This wasn’t an exaggeration by Hu Binbin. Aside from Lele and Wang Mohan, who represented the livestream quotas, the rest were the group’s beauty leads, and even Wang Mohan herself was quite attractive.

After the team formations were completed, their motto became: "As long as I’m alive, I’ll always be prettier than anyone else." Naturally, this earned them boos from all the other girls.

"Not only are they gorgeous, but their skills are remarkable too. Combining the two amplifies their impact dramatically."

Hearing how elaborately Hu Binbin praised them, Luo Junxiang couldn’t help but twitch his nose, a faint smirk of disdain playing on his lips.

Tian Jiaxuan added, "So we’re really looking forward to their performance, and we hope the audience will cheer loudly and support them, alright?"

"Alright!" The majority of the audience chimed in enthusiastically.

But Mu Yunchu curled her lips slightly. She wasn’t fond of Fu Xiaoyu, thinking this girl was ambitious to a fault. However, since Fu Xiaoyu’s screen time had decreased after being dethroned, Mu Yunchu’s dislike had softened.

Other audience members, though, still had strong impressions of Fu Xiaoyu. Without the added filters, she was considered not only beautiful but bold in expressing herself.