Initial Evaluation

"..."

The sudden turn of events made Lai Yudong choke.

Th-this was supposed to give me a way out, right?

He wasn't sure.

Obviously, it wasn't a problem with my vocal range at all!

Xu An: "Do you rarely use instrumental backing tracks without vocals?"

Lai Yudong: "Mm, yeah..."

Xu An: "No wonder. You came in at the wrong time, and the pitch was a little off too."

Lai Yudong: "..."

Xu An: "I recognized it as soon as the intro started, but hearing you sing made me a little unsure. Then I confirmed it from the lyrics."

Lai Yudong: "..."

Xu An: "I'm so glad I didn't get it wrong!"

Lai Yudong: "...QAQ"

Although Xu An was clearly being considerate and making excuses for him, not being sarcastic, he had still stabbed him several more times, each word piercing his heart.

Lai Yudong wanted to find a hole and bury himself in it.

After their brief exchange, Xu An didn't linger. He volunteered that Lai Yudong could come to him anytime he had questions about singing, then, wearing a satisfied smile, said goodbye to the restless Lai Yudong and headed for his own Class A area.

Before Lai Yudong could breathe a sigh of relief, an even greater trial arrived.

Liu Qichu's First Stage evaluation had ended.

Judging by the bullet comments, his personality had left a good impression on the audience, but his greatest weakness was his professional ability, so he received the lowest First Stage evaluation, Class F.

And the seat he chose was right next to Lai Yudong.

"Hello!"

A greeting full of energy came from beside him. Lai Yudong turned his head and saw a youthful, adorable face. The other person looked underage, and his puppy-like eyes were fixed on him with curiosity.

With his previous experience, Lai Yudong put on a polite smile. "Hello."

"My name is Liu Qichu. Liu, Qi, Chu." Taking the overseas contestant's language skills into account, Liu Qichu pointed to his name tag and enunciated his name clearly.

He scratched his head sheepishly. "I can't speak Japanese, and my English... uh, isn't very good either."

Lai Yudong wished everyone here couldn't speak Japanese.

"It's okay." He acted the part, feeling guilty as he forced the words out one by one. "My... Chinese is okay. I can understand you."

His Chinese was okay.

Just a Grade One, Level B certificate in Mandarin, that was all.

"That's great!" A bright smile blossomed on Liu Qichu's face. "Can I sit here?"

"Of course," Lai Yudong said.

Liu Qichu was rather quick to make himself at home. Once he sat down, he immediately started chatting with Lai Yudong about the First Stage he least wanted to remember:

"You were so nervous just now. I could see you shaking from the audience, like you were working a sewing machine—do you know what a sewing machine is? It's a machine for sewing clothes. You work it with your foot, and it goes clack-clack-clack."

He demonstrated the motion of working a sewing machine to explain.

"But it's not a big problem. You'll be fine once you get used to it." Liu Qichu patted his chest proudly. "Look at me! My performance wasn't much good, but I wasn't nervous at all! Confidence! The most important thing for an idol is confidence!"

Lai Yudong: "I-I'll take that lesson to heart..."

In his limited understanding, shouldn't looks be the most important thing for an idol? Followed by professional ability?

Ah, and personal charm.

For example, qualities that shone, like confidence, sincerity, optimism, maturity, and kindness, were all points in an idol's favor that could easily win fans.

But as for the confidence Liu Qichu mentioned, if an idol's professional ability couldn't measure up to the confidence they showed, wouldn't it have the opposite effect?

System: [Host, don't you usually look at the entertainment industry's trending searches?]

Lai Yudong: [What does that have to do with trending searches?]

System: [As long as the fans can see their professional ability, that's enough.]

Lai Yudong: [?]

Winning fans really was a mysterious thing.

Author's note:

Little Lai: I don't really understand you entertainment industry people.

Chapter 5: Initial Evaluation

Liu Qichu wasn't just quick to make himself at home; he was also a chatterbox.

From the moment he sat down, he hadn't stopped talking. He stood in stark contrast to the other trainees, who were dejected at being assigned to Class F. Lai Yudong didn't know whether he was too optimistic or simply didn't care.

Lai Yudong struggled to keep up, and every response he gave was brief and nervous.

"You Shu, look, look! Another overseas contestant! Too bad he's half Chinese and half Thai. Looks like there's no one else from your country here?"

"Uh, I don't know."

"Ah, he messed up after all. Zhou Rui picked a song that was too difficult."

"Mm."

"It's finally Qu Xincheng's turn! Do you know him? He's from the same company as Teacher Fu Hanyu. A trainee from a big company has to be amazing!"

"I think so too."

"Huh? I think that's my friend's dance teacher?"

"R-really?"

He couldn't help it. The less he said, the fewer mistakes he'd make.

After a passing reaction camera caught Liu Qichu striking up yet another conversation with Lai Yudong—or possibly talking to himself—the bullet comments finally couldn't hold back.

[This little brother talks so much]

[The question is, can You Shu understand him? 2333]

[? Why wouldn't he understand?]

[Liu Qichu is trying to liven things up, right? Can't be helped, Miura Yuki is so aloof.]

[Leaving the First Stage aside, You Shu really does have an aloof image]

[He just doesn't talk much. It's not like he's ignoring him. That's probably just his personality]

[It could also be a persona]

[An aloof pretty face? That's so tacky hahahahaha]

[What's wrong with that? I like tacky!]

Lai "aloof pretty face, tacky as hell" Yudong: ...

It seemed impossible to clear things up now.

That brought them to Lai Yudong's real personality.