Initial Evaluation (continued)

In Liu Qichu's eyes, Lai Yudong's image instantly became that of a simple, naïve Imported Little Fool who knew nothing of the entertainment industry's bloody storms.

Now fully awake, Lai Yudong obediently shut his mouth and returned an innocent, well-behaved smile.

From now on, his motto would be "watch your words and act with caution."

Just then, Liang Zhisheng was told to head to the backstage lounge to prepare for his performance, and the topic naturally dropped.

"Go for it!" Liu Qichu energetically struck an encouraging pose, offering his sincerest wishes to the dear brother he had met only a few hours ago. "Aim for A, settle for F!"

"That's a bit of a range, isn't it?" Liang Zhisheng remarked.

"It means I don't want to put too much pressure on you!" Liu Qichu nudged Lai Yudong with his elbow. "You Shu, hurry up, say something too."

Not wanting to cause another livestream mishap, Lai Yudong, who had already crashed and burned several times, had not intended to take part. He had tried hard to make himself invisible for quite a while, but the trick didn't work on Liu Qichu.

Under the other man's expectant, urging gaze, he had no choice but to make a fist and give Liang Zhisheng a small gesture of encouragement. "Go for it."

"Doesn't really matter whether I go for it or not..." Liang Zhisheng muttered, then smiled. "But thanks anyway."

Unfortunately, Liang Zhisheng lived up perfectly to his accurate assessment of himself. He had neither the dazzling professional skills of Class A nor the comedic talent that made Class F such great television.

Objectively speaking, it was a complete performance with a few flaws.

His dancing showed a solid foundation, with attention paid to both overall form and details; it wasn't a level one could reach after just a year or two of practice. His singing was a little weaker, but still considerably better than karaoke level.

If he had played to his strengths and avoided his weaknesses, he could have reached an above-average standard, but the goal he had set for himself seemed to be merely a passing grade.

His song choice and choreography were both on the easy side, and he clearly hadn't put enough thought into them. He was like an unlucky student forced by the class monitor to sign up for a school variety show, giving the impression that he had made an effort, but not a full one. From head to toe, he radiated the perfunctory air of someone forced to perform.

He was like a

Salty fish

fitted with a pacemaker: capable of flopping around, but with no need to.

With an initial stage this devoid of highlights, he might get five or six seconds of screen time in the edited recording if he was lucky. If he wasn't, he would be cut entirely.

Even so, the mentors' opinions differed. While they discussed with their microphones off, the sharp-eyed Lai Yudong, who was sitting relatively close to the mentors' seats, saw that their whiteboards covered three ratings: B, C, and F, a range as wide as Liu Qichu's well-wishes.

It sounded absurd at first, but in fact, they were considering attitude as one of the factors.

For idols, whose profession was selling dreams, giving their all was how they showed respect for the stage. Otherwise, they were trampling on that passion.

Liang Zhisheng's problem wasn't particularly serious, though. Simple was simple, and a lack of effort was a lack of effort, but leaving emotional factors aside, his performance was at least better than some of the wild dances of demons. Its completeness was there for all to see, though it was undoubtedly a mark against him.

Zhu Xiuming, who gave him a "B," was a veteran actor and placed greater importance on professional skills. Li Ke, who gave him an "F," was a forthright rapper and placed greater importance on attitude toward one's work. Wu Xihe and Fu Hanyu fell between the two and offered a compromise: "C."

After some discussion, Liang Zhisheng ultimately entered Class C.

[Class C is a little low. A few people in Class B aren't as good as him.]

[Think about the difference in difficulty. Is scoring 60 in the last year of high school the same as scoring 90 in first grade?]

[You're right, but the full score in the last year of high school is 150.]

[Ah! I just realized Liang Zhisheng might be a blogger I follow!]

[Who?]

[A small-time blogger with a little over a hundred thousand followers. It says so if you open the trainee introduction pop-up.]

[So obscure. Nobody cares.]

—A streamer?

Lai Yudong looked curiously at the brown-haired young man walking down from the stage at an unhurried pace. He didn't seem to care about his rating at all; instead, he had the relaxed air of someone who had successfully finished an assignment.

Passing the Class F section, Liang Zhisheng deliberately stopped beside Lai Yudong and Liu Qichu. Smiling, he pointed upward. "Well, I'll head over there first?"

"How mean! You came all the way over to show off in front of the two of us in Class F!" Liu Qichu shouted, though he didn't actually take it to heart. He was still hung up on Liang Zhisheng's rating. "Ah, what a shame. I thought you'd be in Class B."

Liang Zhisheng shrugged. "It's fine. Class C isn't bad either."

Lai Yudong watched Liang Zhisheng silently. Only after the other man turned and left did he slowly look away.

This sense of déjà vu, like he's being forced to perform... isn't that just like me?

Lai Yudong: [Am I the only tasker?]

System: [How many do you think would be more appropriate? We can make adjustments based on your feedback.]

Lai Yudong: [...One, thank you.]

System: [I'm glad the host accepts his identity as a tasker.]

Lai Yudong: [?]

Could they have sent him back if he'd answered zero!?

Lai Yudong gave up wasting his breath on the unscrupulous system, which came out with something startling at every turn, lest he find himself unable to say anything except a string of speechless ellipses. Fighting off the drowsiness washing over him again, he focused his attention on the stage.

After enduring for a while longer, it was finally the last group of trainees' turn.

Up to this point, several groups had performed in succession without producing an eighth Class A rating. Everyone pinned their hopes for a battle on the final group, looking forward to some adrenaline-pumping scenes.

The last group was a five-member team. If the Web Drama Team had professional skills good enough to debut, then this group had an air comparable to a boy band's. Just standing there, they made people wonder, "Are they idols?"

To put it in professional terms, they had Star Quality.

At a glance, all five of them were above average or better in looks even among idols. Their styles were very different, so there was no awkward situation where they were good-looking but their faces were impossible to remember.

However, the strongest visual impact came not from their pleasing looks, but from the sudden dip in their heights.