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Given Tang Shi and Lu Hengzhi's current abilities, they were honestly still far from being as outstanding as the former. So they had to do everything possible to avoid becoming the latter. That meant maintaining enough humility and restraint without losing their pride, and being sincere and friendly in social interactions without losing their individuality.

It sounded troublesome, but Tang Shi and Lu Hengzhi had already mastered the essence of keeping a low profile while quietly showing off during their many years as students. Thus, a small circle quickly formed around them backstage. Everyone chatted and laughed, imagining the future, until this center of attention inadvertently stirred up a small commotion. Such a lively atmosphere only made certain people dislike them even more.

After catching up with everyone, Tang Shi still remembered Lin Zhaoran and Song Lijia, from whom there had been no news. With an apologetic expression, he said, "Sorry, I need to make a call, so I'll be leaving first. I wish you all steady performances and a smooth advance."

The other contestants assumed Tang Shi and Lu Hengzhi were calling home to share the good news, so they nodded understandingly and made way for them. Tang Shi and Lu Hengzhi then squeezed through the crowded backstage area, left it, and found somewhere quiet to make their calls.

Once... twice... three times...

The calls went through, but nobody answered. After a brief yet agonizing wait, Tang Shi turned to Lu Hengzhi and said, "I can't reach them."

Lu Hengzhi helplessly scratched his hair and shook his head. "Then forget it. We've done all we can."

Tang Shi had nothing to say either. He called home to share the good news with his parents. The parents from both families and their other partner were gathered together, discussing where to build the food factory. When they heard the news, Lu's father slapped his thigh and immediately suggested booking a table at a hotel to celebrate. The other end of the line instantly became noisy with excited chatter. But clearly, food thousands of miles away had nothing to do with Tang Shi and Lu Hengzhi. All they could do was hang up, take Cui Yujin—who had also been hiding off to the side making a mysterious phone call—and leave the television station building to get themselves a good meal.

By coincidence, just as they reached the main entrance, they ran into Lin Zhaoran, drenched in sweat as he rushed inside. Before Tang Shi could speak, Lin Zhaoran grabbed his arm and urgently asked, "Tang Shi, can you lend me one hundred thousand yuan? I can write you an IOU. I swear I'll definitely pay you back someday."

Tang Shi was completely baffled by Lin Zhaoran's behavior. He quickly asked, "What do you need the money for? Where's Song Lijia? Why didn't he come back with you? Are you two still taking part in the Qualifier Round?"

Hearing Tang Shi's questions, Lin Zhaoran shook his head with a bitter smile. He gathered his thoughts before finally saying, "Didn't I take a call backstage? It was my grandmother. She said my mother was hit by a car while buying groceries. The driver fled the scene, and some kind-hearted passerby took my mother to the hospital. The hospital said the surgery requires two hundred thousand yuan upfront. But how could I possibly have that much money? My family can't gather that much either... Song Lijia went back to his home to ask whether his parents would be willing to lend me some money..."

Tang Shi and Lu Hengzhi exchanged looks. It seemed unbelievable, yet also perfectly understandable. No wonder Lin Zhaoran and Song Lijia hadn't participated in the fifty-to-thirty Qualifier Round in their previous lives...

Cui Yujin could not help asking from the side, "Then are you two still competing?"

Lin Zhaoran froze for a moment, then said bitterly, "At a time like this, how could I possibly be in the mood—"

"How about this? A life is at stake. Since you came to us, we won't refuse to help. Isn't it just two hundred thousand yuan? We can lend it to you. But I still think you should take part in this competition. First, you two have put a great deal into it. Second, you should give the production team an explanation. Third, while you're competing, you can talk about this on television and see whether you can call on society to donate. You can also ask the public for help finding the vehicle that caused the accident... Besides, if you two compete and are fortunate enough to make it into the national top three, you'll receive prize money. Then two hundred thousand yuan won't be such a big deal."

After saying that, Tang Shi also told Lin Zhaoran about how he had suggested changing the competition order to the production team. In other words, if Song Lijia could return within an hour, they still had a chance to compete and qualify.

Lin Zhaoran was left dumbfounded by Tang Shi's words. His mind had been a mess. His mother had been in an accident—how could he still compete? He should be at the hospital taking care of her. Yet after hearing Tang Shi out, he felt that Tang Shi was right too.

Tang Shi did not know that in his previous life, Lin Zhaoran had not competed because of that very thought. Later, in order to repay the surgery fees, he had no choice but to give up dancing and work elsewhere. It took him seven or eight grueling years to pay off the debt. As for Song Lijia, in order to borrow money for Lin Zhaoran, he had agreed to his father's demand that he give up dancing and return home to take over the family business. That was why Tang Shi had never heard of either of them.

In this life, after hearing Tang Shi's advice, Lin Zhaoran naturally began considering Tang Shi's suggestion. Taking advantage of the moment, Tang Shi quickly contacted Li Mei and explained Lin Zhaoran's situation from beginning to end.

The directing team had originally been very dissatisfied with Lin Zhaoran and Song Lijia for leaving without permission. Now that they knew the reason, with a life hanging in the balance, they could no longer say much. Besides, just as Tang Shi had told Lin Zhaoran, if the production team was willing, they could turn this sudden tragedy into something compelling enough to attract viewers. The moment Li Mei heard the news, no fewer than three marketing plans ran through her mind—ideas that could help Lin Zhaoran while also boosting ratings, a win-win situation.

By this point, Lin Zhaoran had no room to refuse again. He contacted Song Lijia as quickly as possible and explained the situation. Tang Shi and Lu Hengzhi immediately withdrew the two hundred thousand yuan from their card and handed it to Lin Zhaoran. Since time was short, Li Mei even arranged for a production staff member to drive the money to the hospital, ensuring that Lin's mother could undergo surgery in time. Meanwhile, Li Mei discussed matters in detail with the production team. In the end, they decided that when Lin Zhaoran and Song Lijia went onstage, the television station would temporarily launch a public fundraising campaign in its name...

Tang Shi's guess had indeed been correct.

All Lin Zhaoran had to do was notify Song Lijia to return for the competition as soon as possible. Upon receiving the call, Song Lijia looked at his parents, who had demanded that he give up dancing as the condition for lending money, and coldly waved the phone in his hand. In a frigid, mocking voice, he said, "We don't need you anymore. The television station agreed to advance Lin Zhaoran's surgery fees, and they said they'll introduce Zhaoran's family situation when we go onstage to call for donations... Even strangers are better than coldhearted parents like you."

After saying that, Song Lijia ignored his parents calling after him and left without looking back.

Among the fifty dancers in the Southern Division, Lin Zhaoran and Song Lijia might not have been as handsome and sunny as Tang Shi and Lu Hengzhi, with features as picturesque as a painting, but they could still barely be considered a refined young man and a steady, masculine type. Moreover, because their dance fundamentals were solid and they had already achieved results considered excellent in their field, they had their own share of fans.

In terms of fundamentals, they were a more promising prospect in the eyes of the directing team than the unconventional Sugar Juice Duo.

Unfortunately, life was unpredictable. First came the incident in which the Sugar Juice Duo won the lucky draw, stunned a diva with one dance, and were invited to make an MV. Then came the chaos caused by Lin Zhaoran and Song Lijia disobeying instructions and leaving without permission, which made the production team harbor some resentment toward them.

Even after learning that Lin Zhaoran had left because something had happened at home, quite a few staff members still grumbled inwardly—no matter how serious it was, he should have had time to make a phone call and notify them. Throwing aside the recording without a word and running off like that—what kind of behavior was that?

Fortunately, Tang Shi acted as the middleman and resolved this minor trouble in time. Then, with a sudden idea, he persuaded Lin Zhaoran and Song Lijia to return to the competition. Not only could it solve Lin Zhaoran's current predicament, but it could also raise Dance Miracle's ratings and even its social influence.

With profit leading the way, the small rift between the production team and Lin Zhaoran and Song Lijia no longer mattered.

After all the commotion, it was nearly six in the evening. Most of the contestants before them had already gone onstage. Only the final duo remained. After the host droned through a long list of sponsor names and introduced the three judges as the opening remarks, Lin Zhaoran and Song Lijia, who were scheduled last, took the stage.

In Tang Shi's memories, he had no impression of Lin Zhaoran and Song Lijia. As for their dancing, he only vaguely knew that they had once won professional awards and should be very good. But aside from occasionally catching a glimpse or two during practice, he had no particular sense of how good they truly were.

Not until he watched them take the stage with his own eyes. The instant the music began, accompanied by dazzling beams of light, every leap, every raised hand, and every turn by Lin Zhaoran and Song Lijia was powerful and fervent. On the dim stage under the glaring lights, the sweat flung out by their intense movements reflected with crystalline brilliance.

Since Tang Shi and the others were standing backstage, their view was poor. They could not face Lin Zhaoran and Song Lijia's dance directly or fully feel Lin Zhaoran's charisma. Yet from their agile, energetic backs and profiles, from the deafening cheers and screams below, and from how they themselves unconsciously moved to the beat until their mouths went dry with excitement, it was clear that the two men's reputation was well deserved.

After three minutes of dancing, Lin Zhaoran stopped amid the wild screams from below the stage. Panting heavily, he introduced himself. Following a brief evaluation from the judges, Lin Zhaoran successfully earned qualification. Then, with the host's special introduction, the judges and audience learned of the misfortune that had befallen him.

Two hundred thousand yuan was a huge sum for ordinary people, whether more than a decade ago or more than a decade later. But for stars like Qiao Lin, it was not even enough to produce a single EP.

As Lin Zhaoran described his emotional journey while holding back tears, the three judges were already in tears themselves. After hearing the host explain the fundraising campaign, each of them donated fifty thousand yuan on the spot. They encouraged Lin Zhaoran to stay strong and persevere on his chosen path, so that his mother could be proud of him. They also praised Song Lijia's loyalty, while criticizing the domineering authoritarianism of certain parents in modern society. They hoped more parents would respect their children's dreams and allow them to strive and fight for their own futures, rather than placing every kind of obstacle in their way and hindering their development...

In later terms, a program filled with both emotional manipulation and surprises was naturally beloved by viewers, and its rise in ratings was beyond doubt. The public response after the broadcast also pleasantly surprised the production team. Even the city's legal affairs program rebroadcast and commented on the incident, preparing an episode on traffic laws. It called on the public to help find the hit-and-run driver and urged the owner of the vehicle to come forward and surrender...

But those were matters for later and need not be mentioned for now. Tang Shi and Lu Hengzhi had fallen into new trouble. The day after the program aired, the local entertainment newspaper's Headline exposed Dance Miracle for having shady dealings, even dragging the Sugar Juice Duo into it.

The report claimed that the Sugar Juice Duo had changed their competition order not because something had happened to Lin Zhaoran's family, as the broadcast said, but because the directing team wanted to promote contestants they favored. They had altered the performance order and forcefully suppressed Lin Zhaoran and Song Lijia. Lin Zhaoran had left in anger because he resented the production team's arrangements. The trouble at home had only happened afterward. It also claimed that the Lin-Song Duo and the Sugar Juice Duo were not as close as the show portrayed. The popular Sugar Juice Duo supposedly relied on their powerful backing to bully the other contestants, while the Lin-Song Duo and Sugar Juice Duo had clashed as early as the Auditions and had even gotten into a fight in the waiting hall...