Chapter 7

After all fifty names had been read, the entire venue fell silent.

Shan Zeyu paused before continuing, "I'm very sorry, and I regret it too, but your journey can only end here this time."

As soon as he finished speaking, Ye Zexi clearly heard the boy beside him sniffle softly. It was Xuan Quan, who had been in the same group as him.

Ye Zexi felt a little dazed. He could not help thinking of his former self.

But back then, the young man had long since had his edges worn smooth by the crushing weight of life. He had entered the chaotic entertainment industry alone and fought desperately to climb upward.

He had climbed too quickly, so quickly that back then, he had never paid attention to the postures or expressions of those he left behind.

A clean tissue appeared before Xuan Quan.

It was held by a hand with distinct knuckles, fair skin, and long fingers.

Xuan Quan froze. He subconsciously looked up, and when he realized the person before him was Ye Zexi, 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. Just look at Xuan Quan—his eyes were completely red.

Turning slightly to the side, Ye Zexi raised his right hand. His long fingers held the tissue as he gently brushed over the wet 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.

At that moment, Xuan Quan heard his own heart pounding wildly in his chest.

The next second, he cried even harder.

Ye Zexi was instantly at a loss.

Why was he crying even harder?

The commotion here was not small, and several people nearby 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 were to leave.

Xuan Quan took the tissue from Ye Zexi's hand then.

Before leaving, Ye Zexi heard Xuan Quan softly say, "Thank you," his voice thick with tears.

Ye Zexi froze for a moment, failing to notice Xuan Quan's ears, which had turned bright red beneath his hair.

Shan Zeyu, who had noticed the scene, nudged the friend beside him with his elbow and gave him a meaningful look.

He Jinyun's expression did not change, but the corners of his lips curved up slightly again.

He was even more satisfied with this casting choice.

The eliminated contestants left quickly. The remaining contestants did not even have time to feel sad before filming resumed.

Next came the announcement of the contestants' rankings for the first performance. But before announcing the rankings, Shan Zeyu first revealed the elimination rules for the second performance to the remaining contestants.

Over the next week, the remaining fifty contestants would be divided into ten groups of five, with groups competing against one another.

The top four members of each winning group would then face one another in pairs within their group. The two winners would advance directly, while the other losing contestants would enter the losers' group, producing the first ten advancing contestants.

All remaining contestants in the losers' group would compete in pairs. The live audience judges and mentors would vote, and the contestant with more votes would advance. All the rest would be eliminated.

It was worth mentioning that, aside from the group performance, every contestant would also need to prepare two additional performances for the second performance, which would be an extreme test for them. Furthermore, the elimination list for the second performance would be decided on the spot.

With the competition rules updated, the road to advancement had become even more brutal.

After hearing the rules, quite a few contestants' expressions changed slightly.

"Then how will the groups be divided?" At last, a contestant could not hold back and raised his hand to ask.

The corners of Shan Zeyu's lips lifted slightly. "Good question. Of course, the groups will not be assigned at random. Your teammates for the second performance will be directly tied to your results in the first 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 louder.

"If the first-place contestant chooses four other contestants from the top ten, wouldn't their group be unbeatable?"

Naturally, the production team had thought of what the contestants had thought of.

So there was another restriction on the selection rules: contestants in the top ten could only choose their group members from among the bottom forty.

Only then did the contestants feel reassured.

"Next, I'll begin announcing the contestants ranked from fiftieth to thirtieth." Shan Zeyu took out the list.

Now that the elimination list had already been decided, there was no longer the same tense atmosphere as before when the rankings were announced.

Until only two contestants remained whose rankings had not been announced.

Everyone's eyes gathered on Ye Zexi and Tang Jing.

He Jinyun looked at the two with a smile and picked up the microphone. "Next, I'll announce the first-place contestant of the first performance. He is—"

"Let's congratulate Ye Zexi!"

Chapter 7 [07]

Ye Zexi looked utterly bewildered. For a moment, he suspected that he had misheard. How had he become first place?

Ye Zexi was not the only one surprised. The contestants present also doubted their own ears.

Tang Jing had actually been beaten? What was going on?

He Jinyun soon cleared up their confusion. "All rankings for the first performance were determined entirely by fan votes. As of nine o'clock this morning, Ye Zexi had received 525,578 valid votes, while Tang Jing had received 508,112 valid votes."

"My God, Ye Zexi actually got more votes than Tang Jing!"

"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?"

"Exactly. I remember seeing this morning that Tang Jing's vote count was way ahead."