"Thank you so much to Xu Jiaqiao for that performance, and congratulations on successfully advancing. Next, let's welcome our second trainee to the stage. Let's look forward to his performance."
Lei Linya did her best to suppress the shock in her heart, finished her part as host with a bright smile, and moved gracefully to the seats beside the stage, trying to process the information.
Trainee number two, Bai Zhiyi, stood up when called. Everyone reflexively glanced at Shang Shujue before turning their attention to Bai Zhiyi.
Bai Zhiyi was nervous as hell. He was terrified that Shang Shujue's inner voice would suddenly ring out now. It would startle him so badly that he wouldn't be able to control his expression, and he would definitely make a fool of himself.
Everyone present who could hear the inner voice was even more nervous than Bai Zhiyi, especially Zhang Zhichen. He kept feeling that Bai Zhiyi looked far too much like him, as though they had been cast from the same mold. He was very suspicious about Bai Zhiyi's background.
"Hello, everyone. Hello, mentors. I'm Bai Zhiyi, a trainee from Shaoyang Entertainment. It's a pleasure to meet you all. My performance piece is 'Become the Wind.' I hope you enjoy it."
Not hearing Shang Shujue's inner voice, Bai Zhiyi breathed a sigh of relief. He finished speaking and struck his starting pose, but before the music could begin, Shang Shujue's inner voice rang out.
*[So he's Bai Zhiyi. Tsk, tsk, tsk... he really does look like Zhang Zhichen.*
No wonder Su Youchuan found him to be a substitute.
Speaking of which, these two look so alike. Don't they have any blood relation or anything...?
Huh? No blood relation? They just have a husband-and-husband resemblance. Oh, never mind, then...
Wait, wait, wait. What kind of resemblance did you say?
A hus... husband-and-husband resemblance? ∑(´△｀)?!
Does that mean what I think it means?
*Holy crap, his crush and his substitute got together. Wouldn't Su Youchuan be absolutely seething? Pfft, hahahahaha...]*
Everyone looked utterly bewildered. Holy shit, that's a lot to take in. Give me a second... What substitute? Whose substitute?
Zhang Zhichen? Huh? Su Youchuan has a secret crush on Zhang Zhichen, so he found Bai Zhiyi as a substitute, but Zhang Zhichen and Bai Zhiyi ended up together? Huh? ∑(❍ฺд❍ฺlll)
Zhang Zhichen stared blankly, his gaze instantly looking utterly clear. *?... ∑(´△｀)?!?!*
Bai Zhiyi's foot slipped, and he went straight into a split on the spot. He fought back a scream of pain, veins bulging on his forehead and neck.
Fuck! Ow, ow, ow... I miscalculated...
Shang Shujue, I hate you... ꐦ≖ ≖ My balls...
"Oh, dear! Are you all right? The floor really is a little slippery. An unexpected incident, just an unexpected incident. Control room, pause the livestream. Bai Zhiyi's condition is a little serious..."
Bai Zhiyi's face had gone white with pain. The mentors reacted quickly, and contestants seated closer to the front also hurried over, carefully helping Bai Zhiyi up.
The accompanying medical personnel immediately came forward to handle the situation, and the livestream feed was cut.
The livestream had barely begun before it came to an abrupt halt. The viewers and fans who had come to watch early that morning were all dumbfounded.
"Wait (੭ •_•) what's going on? How exactly did the production team prepare for this? Can you even run a livestream or not? If you can't, just switch to an edited, prerecorded show!"
"The staff are way too negligent ˃̣̣̥᷄⌓˂̣̣̥᷅ I finally found such a good-looking live variety show on my day off, and now it's over just because a contestant slipped on the floor and got hurt? I seriously can't (╥﹏╥)"
"I'm honestly speechless, guys (メ｀ロ´)/ is this crappy show ever going to get its act together? You damn director, do you think I came here for your reputation? I'm here for my male idol! Can you get your priorities straight (￣口￣)!!"
After the livestream shut down completely, the viewers and fans leaving angry comments immediately moved to the comment section of Draft's official account. The abusive comments had already piled up into three threads with over ninety-nine replies each.
Inside the recording studio, Shang Shujue stared in bewilderment at the commotion ahead. Only after a long while did he register what had happened, and he couldn't help moving closer.
[Is the floor really that slippery? Why did one person after another nearly fall? Let me try!]
Everyone: !!! We can't let him try!
"Mr. Shang! You've got a phone call!"
Just as everyone was panicking and frantically searching for an excuse to stop Shang Shujue, Chen Ruijia appeared at the studio entrance like a god descending from heaven and bellowed.
Shang Shujue already had half a foot over the stage. At the shout, he instinctively pulled it back. Only when he turned and saw Chen Ruijia did he come back to his senses.
He had thought it was his manager from his previous life catching him doing something bad. Fortunately, it wasn't. He breathed a sigh of relief, noticed everyone around him looking at the young woman, and hurriedly raised a hand in apology before turning and heading over.
[Ugh, this silly girl. Why's she shouting so loudly? Afraid my obnoxious persona isn't firmly established enough? Let me see who on earth is calling.]
Everyone: If we couldn't hear your inner voice, that behavior just now really would have been pretty annoying. But it worked...
"Jiajia, who called me?"
"Um... well..."
Shang Shujue walked up to Chen Ruijia and took the phone from her, unable to resist asking before unlocking it. She turned her head away guiltily, unable to give him an answer.
Seeing her like this, Shang Shujue involuntarily raised his eyebrows. He was just about to open his notes to check when a call happened to come in. The saved contact name was "Song Yanqing."
At the sight of that name, Shang Shujue immediately pictured his sworn rival Song Yanqing's flawlessly handsome face, along with that damned look he always wore, keeping his face stiff to act cold and aloof.
It was already established that this book's world was a fanfic written by his anti-fan, and he was a brainless cannon-fodder villain in it.
That meant his sworn rival Song Yanqing was the heaven-favored chosen one who seemed to have divine assistance.
Shang Shujue didn't know whether that bastard Song Yanqing had transmigrated too, but he didn't want to answer that dog's call in the slightest. Apparently, he was even one of that dog's pursuers.
꒰꒪꒫꒪⌯꒱ Ugh, what rotten luck... fuck! Ծ‸Ծ
"What? If you've got something to say, spit it out. If you've got a fart, let it rip!"
Despite his complaints, Shang Shujue answered Song Yanqing's call and slowly walked out of the studio. The tense studio finally regained a brief moment of peace.
On the other end, Song Yanqing, who had just transmigrated, heard Shang Shujue's tone once the call connected. His pupils trembled involuntarily, and his fingers turned white around his phone.
"You looked really awful after that car accident!"
Song Yanqing struggled to control the trembling in his voice. As he said those words, he still maintained his cool, restrained composure.
But his amber eyes were already wet with tears, blurring the heartache and joy of regaining what he had lost within them.
Shang Shujue stopped walking. He looked at the yellow-groove bamboo in the corner, where a little bird perched on a joint, fluttering its wings. Its little head was tilted, as if wondering why he had suddenly stopped.
"When did you die?"
Shang Shujue lowered his eyes, his lashes trembling slightly. His fingertips went white with force, and his teeth nearly sank into the tender flesh inside his cheek, yet his tone was perfectly calm.
"Heh." Song Yanqing couldn't help loosening his fingers and covering his eyelids with his hand. The corners of his lips curled, revealing a hint of bitter self-mockery, but his tone was mocking.
"How could I possibly die? I was dragged into this world for no reason at all. Shang Shujue, you really are an unlucky, irritating bastard!"
Song Yanqing's words landed softly on Shang Shujue's heart. Before he had any chance to react, the call ended with a click.
Shang Shujue stared at the dark phone screen, feeling a little incredulous and so frustrated that he lost his composure.
"Fuck! What the hell is wrong with him? That damned bastard! Who's the unlucky one here? I seriously regret answering that call! I'm blocking you! Right this instant!"
Furious, Shang Shujue navigated to the blocklist and angrily added Song Yanqing's contact information. Less than two minutes later, he unblocked him.
"No! I'm a gorgeous, kindhearted, cultured, refined top star. Why should I stoop to arguing with an idiot like him? Hmph! I can't be bothered with him! Lunatic! (ꐦ°᷄д°᷅)"
Shang Shujue spun around angrily and walked off. Halfway there, he realized he was going the wrong way and headed in another direction. He went straight back to the studio, where he was told the livestream had been suspended completely for corrective measures.
So Shang Shujue turned around and headed for the trainee dorms. He had to take a peek. Maybe he would run into Yu Zeqi or Xu Jiaqiao? Those two were his walking merit points...