After all fifty names were read, the entire venue fell silent.
Shan Zeyu paused before continuing, "I'm very sorry, and it's regrettable, but your journey can only end here."
As soon as he finished speaking, Ye Zexi clearly heard the boy beside him softly choke back a sob. It was Xuan Quan, who was in his group.
Ye Zexi felt a little dazed, unable to stop himself from thinking of his younger self.
But back then, that young man had long since had all his edges worn away by the crushing weight of life. He had entered the murky entertainment industry alone and fought desperately to climb upward.
He had climbed too fast. So fast that, at the time, he had never noticed what those he left behind looked like.
A clean tissue appeared in front of Xuan Quan.
It was held by a hand with distinct knuckles, fair skin, and long fingers.
Xuan Quan froze. He instinctively looked up, and when he saw that it was Ye Zexi standing before him, he was stunned on the spot.
"Life is a journey. Era Idol is only your starting point, not your destination." Ye Zexi's voice was calm.
Xuan Quan stared blankly at Ye Zexi.
Seeing Xuan Quan's stunned expression, Ye Zexi sighed softly to himself.
What he could not stand most was seeing handsome young men cry. Look at Xuan Quan—his eyes had turned completely red.
Leaning slightly closer, Ye Zexi extended his right hand. Holding the tissue between his long fingers, he gently brushed it across the damp corner of Xuan Quan's eye.
His manner was as though he were handling some precious work of art. "Don't cry."
Ye Zexi's voice was very soft.
Like a feather that had grown feet, it lightly brushed across Xuan Quan's heart.
In that instant, Xuan Quan heard his heart pounding wildly in his chest.
The next second, his tears fell even harder.
Ye Zexi was immediately at a loss.
Why was he crying even more?
The commotion here was not small, and several people around them looked over.
Just as Ye Zexi was racking his brains for something comforting to say, the director went onstage and announced that all eliminated contestants should leave.
It was then that Xuan Quan took the tissue from Ye Zexi's hand.
Before leaving, Ye Zexi heard Xuan Quan softly say, with a nasal voice, "Thank you."
Ye Zexi was briefly stunned and failed to notice how red Xuan Quan's ears had become beneath his hair.
Shan Zeyu, who had noticed the scene, nudged the friend beside him with his elbow and shot him a look.
He Jinyun's expression did not change, but the corner of his mouth curved up slightly again.
He was even more satisfied with this casting choice.
The eliminated contestants left quickly. Before the remaining contestants even had time to feel sad, filming resumed.
Next, it was time to announce the contestants' rankings for the first public performance. But before that, Shan Zeyu first revealed the elimination rules for the second public performance to the remaining contestants.
Over the coming week, the remaining fifty contestants would be divided into ten groups of five, with the groups competing against one another.
Within each winning group, the top four members would face off in pairs. The two winners would advance directly, while the other losing contestants would enter the losing pool, producing the first ten advancing contestants.
All remaining contestants in the losing pool would compete in pairs. The live public judges and mentors would vote, with those receiving more votes advancing and all other contestants being eliminated.
It was worth mentioning that, aside from the group performance, every contestant also had to prepare two additional performances for the second public performance, which would be an extreme test. Furthermore, the elimination list for the second public performance would be decided directly on-site.
With the rules updated, the road to advancement had become even crueler.
After hearing the rules, quite a few contestants' expressions changed slightly.
"Then how will we be grouped?" At last, a contestant could not hold back any longer and raised his hand to ask.
The corner of Shan Zeyu's mouth lifted slightly. "Good question. Of course the groups won't be assigned randomly. Your teammates for the second public performance will be directly tied to your results in the first public performance."
"What does that mean?"
Qu Xiao smiled and took over. "It means that only the top ten contestants can decide who their teammates will be. Everyone else can only be chosen."
As soon as she finished speaking, the discussion in the venue grew even louder.
"If the first-place contestant picks four other contestants from the top ten, wouldn't their group be unbeatable?"
Naturally, the production team had thought of what the contestants were thinking.
So there was another restriction on selecting teammates: contestants in the top ten could only choose from among the bottom forty.
Only then did the contestants feel at ease.
"Next, I'll begin announcing the contestants ranked from fiftieth to thirtieth." Shan Zeyu took out the list.
With the elimination list already decided, there was naturally none of the previous tense atmosphere when the rankings were announced.
Until only two contestants remained whose rankings had not been revealed.
Everyone's eyes focused on Ye Zexi and Tang Jing.
He Jinyun smiled at the two of them and picked up the microphone. "Next, I will announce the first-place contestant from the first public performance. He is—"
"Let's congratulate Ye Zexi!"
Chapter 7
Ye Zexi looked utterly bewildered. For a moment, he suspected he had misheard. How had he become first place?
Ye Zexi was not the only one surprised. The contestants present were also questioning their ears.
Tang Jing had actually been surpassed. What was going on?
He Jinyun quickly explained, "All rankings for the first public performance were determined by fan votes. As of nine this morning, Ye Zexi received a total of 525,578 valid votes, while Tang Jing received 508,112 valid votes."
"My God, Ye Zexi's votes actually beat Tang Jing's!"
"That's normal, isn't it? Ye Zexi was trending for so long yesterday. He must have gained a lot of fans."
"I'm genuinely shocked. Doesn't Tang Jing have nearly a million followers on Weibo?"
"Yeah, I remember seeing this morning that Tang Jing had been far ahead in votes."