CHAPTER 167: CHAPTER 162: THE CRAB MAKES ITS ENTRANCE

"Can I say something?"

To everyone’s surprise, the tearful Meng Meixuan asked to speak.

Long Zitao’s earpiece immediately transmitted Yang Xiaoyue’s voice: "Let her speak."

"Of course." Long Zitao gave a gentle smile.

"They have worked so hard and are truly amazing. Some of them aren’t actually suited for this style, but they still practiced relentlessly. So please give us a like, thank you everyone, thank you so much." At this moment, Meng Meixuan was overwhelmed with emotion, her voice shaking as tears streamed down her cheeks.

Her group instantly felt awkward. Meng Meixuan’s words were meant to rally votes for the group, but no matter how they listened, they couldn’t help feeling uncomfortable.

"Some of us aren’t suited for this kind of dance style—doesn’t that basically mean some of us performed poorly?"

Ye Yuwei couldn’t understand Meng Meixuan’s perplexing comment either. What was this supposed to mean? Reaping the rewards but staying humble? Her performance dominated two-thirds of the stage already, what more did she need?

Even if someone danced poorly or sang off-key, as the C-position, you were supposed to take full responsibility for everything. Not throw shade by saying some teammates weren’t suited to this song and dance.

Yang Xiaoyue was also annoyed by Meng Meixuan’s remarks. Was this not ruining the atmosphere? While the crowd might not overthink it in the heat of the moment, what about later?

She immediately signaled Tian Jiaxuan to smooth things over.

"I know every girl here has worked so hard and given their all. You’re all amazing, so don’t lose heart."

Fu Xiaoyu was deeply touched upon hearing Tian Jiaxuan’s words, causing her to shed silent tears.

Her tears weren’t of pain or defeat, but a cold, restrained cry. She didn’t want anyone to see her vulnerability.

Back in the waiting room, she couldn’t hold herself together any longer and collapsed into her close friend Qiang Yueting’s arms, crying her heart out. The other girls in her group also found comfort with their companions and cried out their sadness.

On the other side, Meng Meixuan’s group was also in tears, though their reasons for crying were different.

Over there, Yin Xiren suddenly hugged Wang Tingting and asked why she was crying.

Meanwhile, Wu Zixuan and Meng Meixuan were putting on a display of "sisterly love."

"Ah! Thank goodness for you! Otherwise, I wouldn’t even know what to do." Wu Zixuan wore a pitiful expression, indirectly blaming herself for losing the previous round.

Meng Meixuan didn’t know how to respond for a moment, so she simply buried herself in Wu Zixuan’s shoulder, crying.

"I know, you’ve got this," Wu Zixuan said, continuing to comfort her.

At this moment, Meng Meixuan lifted her head from Wu Zixuan’s shoulder, looking at her seriously: "Don’t cry, my little princess. A princess isn’t supposed to cry."

This nearly made Wu Zixuan explode with anger, but what could she do? The other party had won, she had lost, and the victor rules the day. She could only swallow her feelings and joke bitterly: "I seriously couldn’t hold back earlier."

Seeing that her purpose was fulfilled, Meng Meixuan didn’t keep the act going, lowering her head and admitting: "Actually, my tears had already dried up earlier."

At this moment, Ye Yuwei walked over and, with a smile, said: "Meixuan, congratulations."

"Yuwei, you’re amazing, too." Meng Meixuan’s face instantly lit up with excitement, and she grabbed Ye Yuwei’s hand.

"The next round is about to start. Let’s send them our blessings!" Ye Yuwei said with a smile.

Realizing they were still at the recording site, Meng Meixuan reluctantly let go of her hand.

On stage, Long Zitao worked on setting the mood: "Now it’s tied at 2 to 2, so the next four mentors really need to choose carefully."

Over there, Hu Binbin and Tian Jiaxuan were earnestly discussing, while Zhang Wei carefully examined the selection screen. Luo Junxiang, meanwhile, stood up, tilting his ear to try and eavesdrop on their conversation.

At this moment, Tian Jiaxuan caught sight of him and couldn’t help but roll her eyes dramatically.

Luo Junxiang, on the other hand, smugly grinned and bared his teeth at her.

Tian Jiaxuan chose to ignore him and focused on selecting her own team.

"The next girl who’s going to take the stage is very unique. I wonder if everyone remembers her—she has a laugh that’s ridiculously infectious."

In the waiting room, Zhu Riri’s group stood up, and everyone clapped for them politely.

"But, she can’t sing, she can’t dance, yet she tries very hard."

Clearly, even Tian Jiaxuan couldn’t hide her disdain for Zhu Riri’s "self-destructive selfishness."

"Her C-position was earned purely through effort."

At this moment, Zhu Riri was as excited as a monkey, stretching her arms out and hollering to hype herself up, leaving the entire group visibly awkward.

Lin Jiayi was already so annoyed by her that she was speechless, silently vowing to never be grouped with her in the next round.

She chuckled inwardly—this Zhu Riri probably wouldn’t even make it to the next stage, so why was she worried?

As an A-Class member, Lin Jiayi didn’t have the word "elimination" in her vocabulary.

Over there, Luo Junxiang discussed with Zhang Wei before deciding to send out Liu Feiyu’s group.

This was the weakest of the remaining four groups, but in Luo Junxiang’s eyes, they were more than capable of crushing the "crazy Zhu" group.

Upon hearing she would be competing against Zhu Riri, Liu Feiyu couldn’t help but feel a pang of disappointment and sadness. With her high emotional intelligence, she could easily infer the mentor’s intention.

The group’s entry featured a reversed triangle formation, with Zhu Riri at the forefront.

Their outfits were also adorable: pleated skirts in pale gray or baby blue, evoking the charm of old Shanghai’s student aesthetics from the 1950s and 60s.

As the music hit the first beat, Zhu Riri twisted her waist and spun around, trying to make a "stunning impression" on the audience. But her silicone-face expression was so out of place, it broke the immersion.

Especially when she smiled—that set of teeth looked like bamboo shoots forcefully inserted into a blood-red maw, strikingly grotesque.

The prelude continued, and while Zhu Riri stood still, the other six performers centered around her, moving with the rhythm through a series of intricate positional transitions.

The triangle formation shifted into two side pairs flanking three in the middle, with all six members swapping positions entirely.

This opening tableau was preserved thanks to Lin Jiayi and Gao Yingxi’s insistence.

But Zhu Riri cried for over three hours because of this, until mentor Tian Jiaxuan angrily reprimanded her—only then did she stop throwing a tantrum.

From the audience’s perspective, the result looked great—visually pleasing, especially with the light frolicking skirts which enhanced the youthful charm of the girls.

Next came another positional transition, evolving from a single-file serpent shape into scattered diagonal pairs.

Lin Jiayi moved up to the center position, instinctively picking up the microphone, prompting fans in the audience to shout, "Jiayi, you’re so cute!"

Lin Jiayi felt a surge of strength hearing this—some of her fans had truly shown up.

Unfortunately, the first vocal section didn’t belong to her. As the formation shifted, Gao Yingxi took over the C-position and began the opening verse.

Her skill level could only be described as "keeping in tune." Six girls continued repositioning themselves in sync. At this point, Zhu Riri stood far to the back right corner facing the audience, completely stationary.

The highlight was Gao Yingxi’s prop reveal—she brought out a pink paper heart, instantly electrifying the crowd; nobody had expected her to be this adorable.

Next came Ren Zhen and Liu Niyi, with Liu Niyi’s singing standing out as the only audible performance among the four singers thus far.

The other three girls admittedly went off-key, strangely dropping the pitch together.

Then another formation shift brought the group back into a reversed triangle pattern, with Zhu Riri returning to the front for her solo section, which lacked any standout features as she willingly lowered the pitch by a full degree.

The group’s movements next encircled Lin Jiayi, rolling out a "stars surround the moon" arrangement.

Truly, Lin Jiayi was the member with the most stage experience among the idols, consistently maintaining excellent facial expressions.

Her chubby cheeks added to the charm, her smile adorned with two dimples, her big eyes resembling a porcelain doll.

Her voice carried a somewhat babyish tone, but these two measures were delivered perfectly—staying on-pitch and maintaining accuracy.

Next came Fan Lei from the "Magic Numbers" girl group. Her singing was even worse than Zhu Riri’s, but her hairstyle was uniquely eye-catching—an upright heart shape.

Many people were curious how such soft hair had been styled to stand on end like that.

This led into a synchronized group dance sequence and chorus, which was passable; Zhu Riri noticeably skimped on participation, neither singing nor hitting the dance cues properly.

With skirts twirling and faces aglow with youthful smiles, Lin Jiayi wrapped up the song’s final section, with the group adopting individual cute poses for the finishing touch.

Overall, the stage performance was average in terms of completion. The movements, while intricate, lacked challenging dance elements, and the vocal performance was middling at best.