Chapter 25

Although Tang Yue, Jiang Renbao, and the others had sung the praises of the second episode of "OSOK: Birth of a New Star," its "Military Training Special," it hadn't actually become an overnight sensation like "Deserted Island" or other phenomenon-level variety shows.

But there was a classic saying in the entertainment industry: good content could fly on its own.

Slowly, thanks to enthusiastic recommendations from bloggers and video creators, along with word of mouth among plenty of fans, the reputation of this relatively slow-paced, growth-focused internal talent show began to build. Discussion finally peaked a week later.

After the torrential rain, Pei Dahai had given all twelve trainees a short break so they could fully enjoy life there.

People like Li Xun and Hu Bin naturally seized the chance to sleep their fill, while the socially anxious little brother Bai Jike headed out three times a day.

Every day, he went to the Huixin Welfare Institute's tent area to chat with the children and elderly residents.

Qiao Huan felt that Bai Jike was probably less socially anxious only when he was around children or drinking. The former was clearly better, so he didn't tell anyone about this little secret.

Bai Jike, of course, knew perfectly well that Qiao Huan was keeping his secret. From time to time, he brought him little handicrafts made by the nursing home's children as thanks.

People said sharing a secret could make a friendship advance by leaps and bounds. Although Qiao Huan didn't think his relationship with Bai Jike had reached the point of friendship, the atmosphere between them had indeed improved considerably.

Aside from accepting the gifts, Qiao Huan didn't intrude. He simply found time to tell Qiao Tang about it.

Qiao Tang immediately replied that it was great news and told him to establish a relationship with Bai Jike as soon as possible. If the opportunity was right, recruiting him into the police force as a special hire wasn't out of the question.

Technical talent was a scarce resource everywhere.

However, although the internal talent show had slowed down, Qiao Huan's deadline for finding the other undercover agent was drawing closer.

Strangely, though, Zhuo Yang, who had previously stuck to him all the time, had lately been working out with Ye Yiwei.

Watching the two of them "paired up" and Bai Jike frequently heading out, Qiao Huan, who had always been surrounded by the three of them and unable to shake them off, suddenly felt like an empty nester.

He was still wavering over whom to set his sights on next.

A few days later, the nursing home's elderly residents and children were finally transferred somewhere safe, and Xiao Bai's nighttime outings came to an end for the time being.

Just as everyone thought this pleasant communal life was the norm, Pei Dahai gathered them together.

"Here's the thing. I hope you all still remember that you stayed here to become members of OSOK," Pei Dahai said sincerely. "To be frank, Jiang Ji and I haven't been training you like the boy groups of old, nor have we deliberately tried to guide fan culture. We just wanted you to become good young people first, then pursue a high standard of performance. The more people you meet, the more you'll understand what we intended."

"I hope you won't worry about anything else," Pei Dahai said frankly. "But the company doesn't entirely approve of our approach. To tell the truth, even we don't entirely believe in it ourselves..."

"So, after discussing it, we've decided to hold a public performance..."

A public performance?!

The trainees' eyes widened.

Although they hadn't neglected their training in the various arts, the words "public performance" still made them tense all over!

Pei Dahai's own heart was beating like a drum. "This will be your only public performance before the final group is formed. And this performance... will be held right here!"

The trainees erupted.

This was Azure Dragon Base!

Did that mean their audience would be...

"Because the previous reverse talent show went too far, all 'talent show' programs have to be careful now. You understand what I mean," Pei Dahai said with a sigh. "Although we're calling it a public performance, Azure Dragon Base happens to be holding a singing competition. You'll be guests, invited to perform. That's all."

Only then did everyone understand.

Even without phones, they knew the entire entertainment industry had been in turmoil since the Deserted Island incident. If anyone dared make a major move now, wouldn't they be courting death?

"Qinglong is requiring every unit to participate in this singing competition, whether civilian units or forest rangers, search-and-rescue workers, and the like. Your performances will be interspersed throughout. Jiang Ji negotiated this opportunity with Azure Dragon Base, and it's very precious. I hope you'll treasure it."

"We'll continue dividing you by dorm, so discuss your performance style and song selections with your team leaders. Don't make them too... uh, inconsistent with core values. You understand, right?"

"We understand!"

Once Pei Dahai finished speaking, the trainees scattered to find their respective leaders and discuss what they would perform.

Li Xun, however, asked Qiao Huan to stay behind.

The two found a place where no one else was around before Li Xun spoke.

"Brother Huan, I think maybe you should ask Brother Dahai to find you another team leader!"

"Hm?" Qiao Huan hadn't expected Li Xun to bring that up and froze for a moment. "Why do you say that?"

"Look, even though we're performing at a singing competition, it's still our first public appearance onstage. It's extremely important!" Li Xun looked sincere. "It's not that Teacher Jiang Ji isn't good, but he's an artist, after all. He's strong at singing and arranging music, but in other areas, he used to follow orders. He's nowhere near as experienced as Brother Dahai and Instructor Tao!"

"Oh..."

Qiao Huan knew Li Xun meant no harm and was simply concerned.

But he didn't actually want to debut, after all, so he merely said, "I'll mention it to my roommates. Thanks."

"I just heard Yao Xiaofu from Room 402 say Instructor Tao brought in an outside choreography teacher for them," Li Xun said, leaning close to Qiao Huan and lowering his voice. "Our Brother Dahai also found an amazing arranger. You guys have to work hard too, or it'll be way too embarrassing to perform on the same stage as us!"

Qiao Huan chuckled. "Okay."

They were rivals, but not enemies. It was a rather subtle feeling.

"What are you talking about?"

Zhuo Yang had appeared behind them at some point.

"What's got you talking so happily?" Zhuo Yang put an arm around Qiao Huan's shoulders. "It's been a while since I've seen A-Huan smile."

"Nothing much," Qiao Huan said. "I'll tell you when we get back to the dorm."

"Sure."

Noticing the strange atmosphere between the two, Li Xun paused briefly.

Zhuo Yang said, "A-Huan, let's take a walk around the base. We still have an hour before we meet Jiang Ji to discuss the performance."

These past few days, he had nearly forgotten about letting Qiao Huan experience more of the place's appeal. On top of that, Qiao Huan was always hanging around Bai Jike, so he couldn't catch him.

Now that he had finally seen him today, he thought he'd make another effort.

"...Okay." Qiao Huan naturally agreed.

Li Xun immediately raised his hand. "I'm coming too!"

Zhuo Yang couldn't refuse, so the three of them wandered aimlessly around Azure Dragon Base.

New trainees were sweating out their youth all over the base, and the sounds of shouted cadences and marching filled the air.

Zhuo Yang had heard those sounds too many times to pay them any mind, but Qiao Huan listened carefully.

He didn't know what was going on with him either. It seemed that ever since the day of the torrential rain, he had been paying more attention to things unrelated to his mission.

Naturally, he also noticed some changes at Azure Dragon Base.

Perhaps because interest in Star Radiance's internal talent show was gradually rising, more entertainment companies had recently sent their artists here for training.

Li Xun also noticed quite a few formations of artists and said indignantly, "Hmph, they're all following the trend."

Zhuo Yang also looked disdainful. "What kind of training is that? It's a complete mess."

"Yeah. Brother Dahai told us that following trends is normal in the entertainment industry and told us not to pay too much attention to it," Li Xun said with a sigh. "He also warned us not to get into conflicts with anyone..."

Before he finished speaking, a figure stepped in front of the three of them.

They weren't looking for trouble with anyone, but someone had set his sights on them.

"Excuse me, you're Qiao Huan and Zhuo Yang, right?"

The person's makeup and styling gave away his identity: he was an artist.

"I'm Qian Li, leader of the AUV Boy Group," Qian Li said with a smile. "I was wondering if you two had time to train with us for a while?"

The AUV Boy Group had already debuted. Although Qiao Huan and Zhuo Yang didn't know much about them, the name was familiar. They hadn't expected them to come here to train too.

Then the two looked at the other group's formation and more or less understood what was going on.

There were more than a dozen people in the imposing entourage, with cameras at several positions, lighting staff, and people operating fans. One look showed they had come to film professionally.

"No, thank you," Qiao Huan said without betraying any emotion. "Thanks for the invitation. Also, this is Li Xun beside me. You missed him when you greeted us just now."

Disdainful though he was, he had no reason to offend them.

A warm current flowed through Li Xun's heart. He held out his hand. "Hello."

"Hel...lo." Qian Li hadn't cared about Li Xun in the first place, and when he saw that Qiao Huan and Zhuo Yang weren't paying him much attention, his face immediately fell.

But just as he was about to say something else, someone suddenly called out to him.

"Young comrade?" It was a middle-aged auntie who had come up beside them at some point. "I just heard you say you're the leader of that formation, is that right?"

Qian Li stared blankly for a moment before looking at her. "Uh, what is it?"

The auntie smoothed her hair and smiled. "Could I trouble you to move over a little? Your fan is making the people in our formation rather uncomfortable. Our joints aren't so good."

Qian Li was amused. "Auntie, you're still coming to train at your age?"

"Young comrade, that's not a nice thing to say. Why can't we train? Besides, we got here much earlier than you!" The auntie's eyebrows shot up. "And we've been training in that spot for a long time. Qinglong's rule is that each formation gets a fixed spot, so you..."

"Oh!" Qian Li interrupted her outright. He glanced at the spot she was pointing to and grinned even more broadly. "Auntie, you're not training at all. Aren't you doing square dancing?"

The auntie said, "We finished training and were taking a break..."

"Come, come, come!" Qian Li gave her no chance to finish and called his teammates and staff over. "Look at this. These uncles and aunties want to do square dancing, so they're making us move!"

One of the members was livestreaming. Seeing what was happening, he immediately swung the camera around. "Friends, I never thought we'd run into something like this too. I'd only heard of aunties taking over basketball courts for dancing and refusing to let people play. I never thought there'd be people taking over a training ground and refusing to let others train!"

The viewers in the bullet comments were old hands at sarcasm. Having already formed their assumptions, they immediately began mocking them:

"Oh, wow, uncles and aunties doing military training? What are they even doing?!"

"They should just stay home and look after the kids. Coming out here like this, aren't they just taking up space?"

"Exactly. And they're hogging the young people's training ground to dance. How embarrassing!"

What was more, the person's camera angle was extremely crafty. It showed only the uncles and aunties stretching their arms and legs, without capturing any of his own large group of staff.

Many other formations were training right behind the uncles and aunties, making an immediate contrast with their movements. The bullet comments grew even livelier, everyone thinking they held the moral high ground.

Although he couldn't see the screen clearly, Qiao Huan could already roughly guess how the bullet comments would react from the other man's tone.

The auntie was so angry that her hands shook. "How can you twist right and wrong like this... That's not what happened at all!"

"Auntie," Qiao Huan said, cutting in as she grew increasingly incoherent, "it's hot. Let's talk somewhere in the shade."

Qian Li perked up. "Qiao Huan, you have to judge this fairly for us. Tell me, isn't the training ground a place for training, not square dancing?"

Only then did the viewers in the bullet comments notice that Qiao Huan was standing there.

"Isn't that the salted fish big shot?"

"Hahaha, I watched that group variety show. He's pretty good among trainees who haven't debuted yet."

"Didn't he help the welfare institute do a good deed before? Surely he wouldn't twist right and wrong?"

Before Qiao Huan could speak, the auntie grew anxious. "No, I have to argue this out with you, young man. We were clearly here first. And even if we did want to do square dancing, that would be perfectly reasonable, wouldn't it? What rule says..."

The more she spoke, the more worked up she became.

"Brother Huan, let it go," Li Xun quietly reminded him. "AUV has already debuted, so they're our seniors in a way, and they're from a big company too. We can't afford to offend the tangled web of capital behind them."

"Hah..." The auntie had talked for so long that her mouth and throat were dry, and she finally stopped.

But to outsiders, she looked like an auntie throwing a tantrum.

Qiao Huan shifted sideways to shield Li Xun from the camera before speaking. "Those really aren't the rules here. If you think the light is good over there and it's suitable for filming, you can ask the auntie's formation directly to swap places."

Qian Li snorted. "I thought you knew right from wrong."

There was more than one meaning behind those words, and the bullet comments quickly picked up on them.

"Yeah, who do Qiao Huan and his lot think they are? They're just little trainees. Do they think they're so great?"

"With values that twisted, he'd better do some good deeds, or he'll never make it."

"Maybe he's untalented and has a bad character, so he chose this route to whitewash himself. Think about it: what kind of decent person would be in the same batch as Shi Xingzhou?"

"Forget it," the auntie said, calming down.

Zhuo Yang, however, grew even angrier. "Seriously? You brought lighting staff and a fan and this huge entourage. What the hell are you putting on airs for?!"

Unexpectedly, that remark backfired. The bullet comments began mocking Zhuo Yang and his lot as tacky, saying they were all here to film a variety show, so what was wrong with making it look nicer?

"Young man! Could you help us adjust this sound system?"

"Yes, come give us a hand!"

The two shouts from behind broke the frozen scene.

Qiao Huan and Zhuo Yang paused for half a second before realizing that people from the auntie's formation were calling them, clearly trying to get them out of the situation.

"Sure!" Neither of them was interested in winning a war of words. They left with the auntie and returned to the front of the formation.

Qian Li watched them with a somewhat gloating smile.

The grudge was now set.

"Let's keep training!" Qian Li called loudly. "Make sure you train hard!"

"Yes!"

Several dozen meters away.

Only when Qiao Huan and Zhuo Yang reached the formation did they discover that everyone in it was of the uncle-and-auntie generation.

They were all wearing training uniforms too!

Seeing that the auntie had calmed down, Zhuo Yang's anger also faded considerably. As he helped them connect the sound system, he asked, "Are all of you here to train?"

"Ah, we've retired and can't sit still at home!" the elderly man at the head of the formation answered. "Are you forest rangers?"

"No, no!" Zhuo Yang shook his head. "We're trainees from Starlight Entertainment, here for military training!"

"Starlight Entertainment..." The elderly man turned around. "Old Yang! Isn't that your girl's company?"

By the time they finished speaking, the two had helped set up the equipment. They looked up to see an elderly man with thick hair and a full beard standing in front of them.

Uncle Yang looked up, studied Zhuo Yang for a moment, then gave him a hearty smile. "You're Zhuo Yang, aren't you? I know you!"

Zhuo Yang was startled. "What?"

Uncle Yang said, "My girl is a life coordinator at Star Radiance. I heard her say this place was good, so I brought my old coworkers here to stretch our limbs. Haven't you been helping her out a lot?"

"Yes, yes. Hello!" Zhuo Yang answered and finally understood what was going on.

He had come to Star Radiance as an undercover agent at the old captain's request. Before she died, the old captain's daughter had been a life coordinator at Star Radiance.

But after he joined Star Radiance, the life coordinator he dealt with hadn't known the old captain's daughter. As it happened, Jin Xiaopeng had taken them to Between Life and Death, hadn't he? Zhuo Yang had used the opportunity to give Pei Dahai feedback, and Pei Dahai had promptly assigned them a new life coordinator, Yang Yang.

Not only was Yang Yang one of the old captain's daughter's friends, she was also evidently the daughter of Uncle Yang standing before him.

Smiling, Uncle Yang introduced him to his old coworkers. "This young man is a really good person! His daily training as a trainee is already hard enough, but he still helps my Yang Yang handle the trainees' daily-life matters every day. Making charts, handing things out—he's meticulous and gets things done!"

With a group of uncles and aunties staring at him, Zhuo Yang felt a little embarrassed and scratched his head. "It's nothing, really. We're all from the same company, so I help when I can..." Not to mention it was part of his mission.

"Coming back to what happened earlier, don't be angry, young man. We may be old, but we know about the twists and turns in your industry," Uncle Yang said. "My daughter told me that in your industry, right or wrong doesn't matter. Whoever has more fans and a higher status naturally gets a say, right?"

Zhuo Yang said helplessly, "Right."

"Let's talk about something happy—a major life event! Are you married, young man?" Uncle Yang abruptly changed the subject. "Do you need me to introduce you to someone? Quite a few of us old folks have children around your age..."

Zhuo Yang was so embarrassed he nearly dug a whole new Azure Dragon Base out of the ground. He waved his hands so fast they left afterimages. "Thank you, but there's really no need..."

"Old Yang, that's where you're wrong. I have to criticize you!" the auntie from earlier chided. "He's an artist. How can he date?"

Uncle Yang slapped his forehead. "Oh, right! Silly old me..."

Zhuo Yang was just about to thank the auntie for rescuing him when she said, "I watched your variety show with my child too. It was called something like Birth of a New Egg, right? You mainly train in dancing, don't you?"

"Yes, but, huh?" Zhuo Yang felt that the conversation seemed to be heading in the wrong direction...

"Perfect timing, come dance with us!" The auntie's smile was especially enthusiastic. "We've just finished eating and were about to dance in the square to help our food go down. Little Zhuo, you're such a nice young man, you wouldn't turn us down, would you?"

It was clear the auntie must have been a social butterfly in her youth. With just one sentence, she had put Zhuo Yang in a position where he couldn't refuse.

As the old saying went, people two generations apart were closest. The uncles and aunties nearby looked at the upright young man who had just stood up for them and kindly fixed their sound system, and all extended invitations.

Zhuo Yang looked at Uncle Yang, thinking he ought to get along with the mission target's family. He gritted his teeth. "All right!"

Li Xun panicked. "Hey! Brother Zhuo, those AUV guys are still livestreaming!"

They would look so embarrassing by comparison!

"These two young men are handsome too. Come join us! You can loosen up a little!" the auntie added.

It took Qiao Huan a moment to realize she was talking about him. "Huh?"

He and Li Xun had been enjoying the show. How had they gotten dragged into it?!

Li Xun gritted his teeth. "Fine, let's do it!"

If they were going to embarrass themselves, they would do it together!

But then he checked the time. It was almost time for his dorm to gather and practice, and he found himself in a dilemma.

After spending so much time together, Qiao Huan already knew their schedule, so he patted him on the shoulder. "Go practice with your dormmates first. Don't hold things up."

"...Okay." Li Xun took a step toward the exit, then looked back, torn in every possible way.

But in the end, he ran off.

Zhuo Yang could "let Li Xun off," but he certainly wasn't going to give his good brother a chance to stay out of it. "These are seniors who have contributed to society, and elders we respect. A-Huan, you can't turn them down, can you?"

Qiao Huan: ???

Whatever else one might say, Zhuo Yang was a quick learner. He had taken the auntie's spiel and used it himself!

And so.

In broad daylight, under the bright open sky.

The two trainees, Qiao Huan and Zhuo Yang, had yet to debut as a group, but had already become honorary members of the Green Pines and Emerald Cypresses, the middle-aged and elderly square-dancing supergroup led by Old Yang.

While Qiao Huan and Zhuo Yang danced, the livestream was buzzing.

"Hahahaha, sure enough, these artists came out of a village. They're already dancing with the aunties!"

"I knew it. Star Radiance's whole growth thing really doesn't work. Look, this is the kind of artist they train."

"Artists can keep their feet on the ground, but they don't have to sleep on the floor!"

"Ridiculous, ridiculous. Boy band members dancing in the square, hhh."

But as time went on, the bullet comments gradually began to notice something was off.

The two already had a solid foundation in dance, and with their long arms and legs, their movements were expansive. After dancing for a while, they picked it up and were promptly invited by the aunties to lead.

What was more, these uncles and aunties had unusual taste. Rather than playing one of those thump-thump, vapid pop songs, they had put on a fairly obscure dance track that seemed to be arranged with traditional instruments.

The rhythm was catchy and infectious without being tacky, and the choreography was interesting too. There were faint traces of folk dance in the uncles' and aunties' every gesture.

"To tell the truth, I think these aunties and uncles have some real skills."

"Yeah! I haven't seen square dancing this good in ages!"

"Hhhh, come on, don't we all watch middle-aged and elderly people dancing downstairs every day? Who are we kidding?"

"Am I the only one who thinks Qiao Huan and Zhuo Yang are dancing pretty well? There's nothing wrong with how they're getting along with the uncles and aunties either!"

"Replying to the person above, you really don't understand boy bands..."

The smile of victory was still on Qian Li's lips when he turned his head and saw that, in the middle of the song, the uncles and aunties had actually found time to arrange themselves into a formation.

Qiao Huan and Zhuo Yang couldn't make it out from inside it, but Qian Li saw it from a distance, and his face turned green.

Wasn't that the damn character "呔"—"halt"?

Together with the uncles' and aunties' expressive faces, the meaning was crystal clear: "Halt! Once I have a moment to spare, I'll deal with you!"

"Hahahahaha."

"I'm dying, the uncles and aunties are so cute."

"Ding-dong, the square-dancing supergroup has challenged you to a dance battle."

"That's a blatant provocation. Qian Li, can you take that lying down?"

Of course Qian Li couldn't take it lying down.

So he made a snap decision and led the AUV members in a boy band dance they knew like the backs of their hands.

But unexpectedly, the uncles and aunties on the other side were even more impressive.

An uncle in the front row suddenly dropped into a backbend, giving Zhuo Yang such a fright that he nearly reached out to catch him.

Qiao Huan got a bit of a scare too, because the auntie from earlier had just performed a sparrowhawk flip.

Whether it was popping or jazz, AUV had already been dancing halfheartedly under the blazing sun. In the face of those two theatrical moves, they looked like children playing house!

Anyone with eyes could see the uncles and aunties had put serious hard work into their technique!

The bullet comments were instantly flooded with "666."

"Holy crap, these aren't ordinary uncles and aunties!"

"Girls, I just checked Qinglong's official website. The people training here are retired uncles and aunties from the Folk Performance Association! They're the national team!"

"I checked too. Qinglong really does have a rule that each formation gets its own spot. The auntie was right just now..."

The seniority sticklers who had just been dissing Qiao Huan and the others for disrespecting their AUV seniors didn't dare make a peep now. After all, these people, who were deeply versed in the nation's traditional arts, were the real seniors...

Over here, the uncles and aunties weren't ready to stop. While the music was still playing, they began teaching Qiao Huan and Zhuo Yang hand over hand.

Both were the sort who couldn't wait until tomorrow to get revenge, and both were talented. In less than a few minutes, they had learned the two classic moves and performed them beautifully.

Zhuo Yang in particular still wasn't satisfied after following the backbend with a sparrowhawk flip. He leaped straight into the air and performed a somersault, looking valiant and handsome in the setting sun, like a martial opera hero in training fatigues. The uncles and aunties showered him with applause.

Qian Li couldn't hold out any longer. He wasn't stupid either. While the bullet comments were focused on the square-dancing supergroup, he hurried over, apologized to the auntie and admitted his mistake.

The viewers didn't pursue the matter. They even praised him as a polite young man and put everything down to a misunderstanding. Only then was the matter barely put behind them.

But as AUV left, Qian Li still looked back and gave Qiao Huan a long, meaningful glance. Its meaning was obvious too—this wasn't over!

Seeing the other side run off with their tails between their legs just as the song ended, Uncle Yang finally showed mercy and turned off the sound system, then handed the two honorary members bottles of mineral water.

"Hahaha, it's thanks to you two." Uncle Yang wiped his sweat. "If you two young fellows hadn't been standing nearby, we wouldn't really have dared to do moves like those!"

The auntie felt she had vented her anger too. She spat fiercely. "Those little brats haven't put in the hard work of training through the bitterest winter and the hottest summer, yet they dare come here and act up!"

From "young comrades" to "young men" to "little brats," it went without saying how many ranks the auntie had demoted AUV in her mind.

The uncles and aunties nearby had all given it everything just now. Steam rising from their bodies, they gathered around:

"What fine young men! The tall one looks like he has the foundation to be an acrobatic martial-role performer!"

"The shorter lad is nimble too, and his voice is bright. What a shame, what a shame he didn't start learning Shanghai Opera's banqiang singing style earlier!"

"It's fine. The most important thing is that both young men are good people. Good people can make their mark in any line of work!"

"Old Li has a point!"

Faced with a mountain-toppling, sea-overturning flood of praise, Qiao Huan and Zhuo Yang really couldn't take it. They drank water desperately, trying to hide their expressions.

The uncles and aunties "sang their praises" for a while longer, and the two had nearly emptied their bottles.

Uncle Yang suddenly crouched down and, without warning, felt Zhuo Yang's calf. He clicked his tongue. "Young man, you've torn your Achilles tendon before, haven't you? Such a serious injury—were you a soldier or practicing martial arts?"

"Pfft—!"

Both of them sprayed water all over the ground, looking utterly undignified.

"No, Uncle!" Zhuo Yang nearly choked. "I... how could you tell?"

Qiao Huan looked at Zhuo Yang in puzzlement.

Uncle Yang waved a hand. "I could tell just now from the way you moved. Well? My eyes haven't gone bad yet, have they?"

Zhuo Yang thought to himself, Your eyes certainly haven't gone bad. I've done both.

But with Qiao Huan staring at him, Zhuo Yang could only admit to half of it. "I used to attend a martial arts school."

"No wonder you joined the entertainment industry." Regret showed on Uncle Yang's face. "It looks like you've been injured for several years, hasn't it? It looks pretty serious."

Zhuo Yang nodded helplessly.

In fact, he had only been injured for a year. But because he had injured it before, and this time the injury had been so severe, even the doctor who had treated him during rehabilitation had thought it was an old injury that kept recurring. No wonder Uncle Yang couldn't tell.

Qiao Huan went on drinking his water, looking calm and unconcerned by the little incident, but doubts suddenly arose in his heart.

If Bai Jike wasn't the undercover agent who had written that note, then it had to be either Zhuo Yang or Ye Yiwei, right?

But given Zhuo Yang's age, if he had injured his Achilles tendon several years ago, he clearly didn't meet the requirements.

As he was thinking, Qiao Huan's gaze was suddenly drawn to a figure not far away.

—Ye Yiwei.

The Sunset Red Formation was already dancing in a relatively remote part of the training grounds, but farther off, Ye Yiwei hurried past.

The only thing in that direction was the instructors' dormitory building.

Back at Star Radiance, Qiao Huan had thought it suspicious that Ye Yiwei was always going in and out of Tao Zhenting's office. Could he be going to see Tao Zhenting now too?

Besides, given Tao Zhenting's background, if the coded note used an internal method of communication from a long time ago, then judging by their ages, Tao Zhenting was clearly more likely to know it.

Then Qiao Huan turned back and found Zhuo Yang looking at him nervously.

He seemed to want to know how Qiao Huan reacted to his injury.

Qiao Huan quickly made a decision and said to Uncle Yang:

"Brother Zhuo Yang is very talented, and he's the team's main dancer. It's just that he's shy and too embarrassed to say he wants to learn from you all."

The retirees instantly perked up, their voices rising an octave. "Really? Come on, come on! We've got plenty of energy! Hardly anyone wants to learn our stuff these days!"

Uncle Yang was so delighted his beard practically flew. "That's wonderful! With your injury, exercise that's too intense won't do, but a little dancing is no problem!"

Qiao Huan looked at Zhuo Yang and said in a quiet, meaningful tone, "The uncles and aunties are all so enthusiastic. Brother Zhuo, you wouldn't turn them down, would you?"

Zhuo Yang: ...

Pfft. He spat a mouthful of pent-up blood in his heart and watched helplessly as Qiao Huan ran off.

He had thought he himself was pretty good at holding grudges, but he hadn't expected A-Huan to be even more scheming!

Wasn't that the very same spiel he had just used to trick A-Huan into dancing in the square with him?