Chapter 26

"If it's Amontillado."

Gu Zhijing: "Please..."

He didn't know many idol groups either, so he could only say, "Please don't let it be any group more popular than us. Please don't let Color4 get knocked out in the first round. This believer is willing to eat... This believer is willing to let Jiang Yu eat vegetarian for a week."

Jiang Yu bristled at once. "Your wishes have to be sincere to come true! The Bodhisattva won't listen to wishes like that!"

"It's fine."

Gu Zhijing made the sign of the cross over his chest. "I'm praying to God. Amen."

Sheng Chi: "..."

Xu Linyuan: "..."

Xu Linyuan smiled and changed the subject. "So here's the question: who's going to draw lots?"

Jiang Yu looked at Sheng Chi. "Isn't this usually the captain's job?! Go on, our Pika Chi!"

Sheng Chi: "..."

He shook his head and declined. "I have bad luck. I can't."

Jiang Yu clapped his hands. "Who isn't an African here?"

Xu Linyuan nodded with feeling. "True. Me too."

Having reached an agreement, the three Africans all turned their gazes to the group's youngest member, who was still praying earnestly.

Gu Zhijing opened his eyes and found himself staring straight into the gazes of his three teammates.

Gu Zhijing: "...?"

With the hopes of his three teammates resting on him, Gu Zhijing set off.

Though he felt his teammates might have some misunderstanding about his luck.

But for the glory of the team, he was willing to give it a shot.

This time, the lots were drawn in a manner similar to picking blind boxes.

The organizers had placed a blind box machine in the center of the recording plaza. Each group sent one person to pick a box from the machine and open it. Those who drew matching items would be paired together for the first round of the competition.

Gu Zhijing stood in front of the blind box machine.

He had arrived late, and six boxes had already been taken. He figured they were probably already looking everywhere for their opponents and having friendly pre-match exchanges.

Gu Zhijing could only pick through what remained. He chose box number four and opened it right away.

Inside was a finely made little toy microphone.

He squeezed it. It felt pretty nice.

Gu Zhijing put the microphone away and was about to take it upstairs to show his teammates when he suddenly heard a voice behind him. "What a coincidence."

Gu Zhijing turned and looked up.

He knew this person: Chen Bei, the captain of Shooter.

They had once had a very, very brief encounter on Music Show.

Of course, that encounter had consisted of Shooter changing their plans at the last minute, causing Color4's recording to be delayed by several hours.

Afterward, when Shooter came out, Color4 had watched them being seen off by their fans in the cold wind. With no one there for them, Color4 had gotten a real taste of the bitterness of being flops.

He hadn't expected to run into him again here.

Shooter was one of the favorites to win this competition and had been listed by Jiang Yu as the opponent he least wanted to face, so Gu Zhijing knew a little about them.

The one who had left the deepest impression on him was their captain, Chen Bei.

For no other reason than that he was tall-a full 1.9 meters.

This time, he had also dyed his hair a new shade of red, making him quite eye-catching.

He was practically the brightest torch in the crowd.

Gu Zhijing replied politely, "Hello."

At first, he hadn't quite understood what Chen Bei meant by "what a coincidence," but then he glanced down and saw a somewhat familiar little microphone in his hand too.

Gu Zhijing: "..."

It was as if four huge words had slammed into his forehead.

The draw of death.

His expression stiffened at once, but then he heard Chen Bei speak.

"I'm really looking forward to seeing how you perform as our opponents."

As Chen Bei spoke, his gaze swept past Gu Zhijing's ear. Suddenly, he gave another quiet laugh. "See you next time."

Author's note: Just a heads-up, since the story's going on the recommendation feature, there won't be an update tomorrow QAQ (Look, I wrote a little extra today especially for you!

So the next update will be at 6 p.m. on Monday, July 27! After that, updates should be at 6 p.m. too, barring any surprises!

The show was inspired by We Are Blazing.

But for various reasons, I didn't finish watching We Are Blazing either, so I just made things up. Any similarities are purely coincidental (x)

Thank you to the little angels who threw landmines: You Are Handsome and Suave and Qi Zui, 1 each;

Thank you to the little angels who watered me with nutrient solution: Qi Zui, 10 bottles; Fenggu Zui Pingsheng, 5 bottles; Songjing Zhengyun, 4 bottles; Zhongyuan Wenye, 3 bottles; Sweet and Sour Fish and You Are Handsome and Suave, 1 bottle each;

Smooches to all you darlings!

Chapter 28

Third floor, Color4's private lounge.

Inside the lounge was a live screen showing two camera feeds of the drawing in the hall.

So when Jiang Yu saw Gu Zhijing come face-to-face with Chen Bei, his face immediately turned deathly pale. He collapsed onto the sofa and said, "How about we pack our things and get ready to go home?"

Xu Linyuan couldn't help laughing beside him. "Who was it that said Color4 would definitely make it to the end?"

"That's different!"

Jiang Yu covered his head with a cushion and wailed, "That's Shooter! Shooter!! The hugely popular Shooter who can easily take first place on a music show even without showing up, whose fans can do whatever they want in the domestic entertainment industry!"

He struggled back up and said with his last breath, "Where are the rules for the elimination revival round? Let me see. We'd better start preparing."

Sheng Chi ignored his teammate's wailing and watched the two people talking on the screen. After a long while, he lifted his eyelids. "What's the deal with that redhead?"

Jiang Yu glanced over. "Isn't that Chen Bei? Shooter's captain and center. Brother Chi, you don't know him?"

"I do."

Sheng Chi stared at the screen. "But don't you think-"

He paused, suddenly remembering the cameras in the room. He rubbed his thumb and changed what he was going to say. "Never mind."

"Now that we've drawn our lot, we can't change it. There's only one thing for us to do."

Sheng Chi looked at the screen, his face cold, and said word by word, "Beat them."

Gu Zhijing had thought that after drawing them into this group of death, he would definitely get pinned down and beaten up by his three older brothers when he got back.

He hadn't expected them to be fired up with renewed fighting spirit instead.

Especially his Brother Chi.

Since that time he had bet against Qi Wang during the end-of-July evaluation, Gu Zhijing hadn't seen him so determined to win.

It was pretty interesting.

After everyone had finished drawing lots, the show read out the competition rules once again.

The first round was a team one-on-one battle.

Each idol group would perform its own song and battle according to the draw, reducing sixteen teams to eight. Afterward, they would be divided into a winners' group and a losers' group for a second PK.

The four teams in the losers' group that lost a second time would be eliminated, while the four teams in the winners' group that won a second time would have first choice of partners for the next stage: the team collaboration round.

After recording the preview episode and returning, Color4 held a short meeting.

"Let me make sure I understand?"

Gu Zhijing asked, "Even if we lose the first match, we won't necessarily be eliminated. At most, we'll enter the losers' group and compete again, right?"

Sheng Chi nodded.

Gu Zhijing immediately breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good."

The guilt weighing on him instantly eased considerably.

Jiang Yu grew excited again too. "Then what's the team collaboration round?"

"The team collaboration round won't happen until at least three episodes from now. There's no need to worry about it."

Sheng Chi handed out the materials he was holding. "What we need to consider now is the opponent we'll have to face directly in the live broadcast two weeks from now."

As the saying went, knowing yourself and knowing your enemy meant never fearing the outcome of a hundred battles. So before they joined Starlight Show, Fei Yue had already looked up information on every idol group and given it all to Sheng Chi to study.

Among them, Shooter, as a hugely popular group, had been a key subject of analysis from the start.

Sheng Chi put cards up on the practice room's whiteboard one by one. "Shooter debuted last year and has released three albums and sixteen songs so far. Their third album came out not long ago, right when we ran into them while promoting on Music Show."

"I'm inclined to think they'll perform one of the five songs from their third album onstage this time."

"And if I were them, I might choose this one-"

Sheng Chi circled one of the cards.

"On my way."

The title track of Shooter's third album was an explosive R&B song that could easily get the crowd fired up. It was also the song that had won them first place during promotions.

Xu Linyuan frowned slightly. "That's going to be tricky."

He had seen their promotional performances. The song came across very well onstage and had received high praise from both fans and the general public.

Gu Zhijing chuckled and joked, "Looks like we'd better start thinking about what to dance to in the revival round."

"I know it's hard."

Sheng Chi paused, his tone calm but firm. "But I still want to win."

After he said that, the room fell quiet for a moment.

Then Jiang Yu was the first to slam his hand against the floor. As he blew on it, he yelled, "Who doesn't want to win?! Let's fucking win!"

"Beating Shooter would give us something to brag about in the show circle for at least two years!! Aren't you guys tempted?!"

Why couldn't they do it?

Why assume Shooter was bound to win?

Why admit defeat before they had even begun?

Everyone's fighting spirit seemed to ignite in an instant, and they immediately began talking over one another.

Xu Linyuan: "I heard Shooter's New Year's Eve performance last year. They're not good live with their mics fully on. That could be a serious weakness."

Gu Zhijing: "And the songs on their third album have been out for a while. The audience should be getting tired of them by now."

Jiang Yu: "Exactly. It's time for the old waves to be beaten onto the beach by the new."

The other three: "..."

Sheng Chi couldn't help curving his lips, then nodded. "So it's not like we have no chance at all."

"If we want to beat them, I suggest choosing a song from our unreleased first album. It'll be fresher."

"As it happens, the first album will also come out the day after the first episode airs."

"So we have two goals."

Sheng Chi said, "First, do our best to win."

"Second, make this a good performance, promote the release of our first album, and get more people to hear Color4's songs."

Their goal wasn't just to win a single match.

It was to use the show to attract a wave of new fans and reach a higher level.

Drawing Shooter could be called bad luck, but it could also be said to have indirectly created an opportunity for them.

As the opponents of a hugely popular group, they would inevitably receive more attention too.

This was a valuable stepping stone, and they had to seize it.

Gu Zhijing pondered for a moment.

The six songs on their first album had different styles. Two were fairly similar in style to the songs on Shooter's third album, so it would be best to avoid those. Of the others, one was upbeat and one was a ballad, and either would very likely be overshadowed in a live performance.

Counting them up that way-

He looked up and blinked. "How about 'Tonight'?"

Ever since its official announcement, Starlight Show had sparked a huge wave of discussion on Weibo and fan forums.

After all, there were few shows that could bring together so many domestic idol groups.

And for domestic entertainment shippers, this was a perfect chance to enjoy performances and make cross-group pairings at the same time, killing two birds with one stone.

Thus, Color4, a rookie group that had only just entered the public eye, also became a prime choice for such pairings.

All four members of Color4 were good-looking, with distinct personalities and clear top and bottom vibes.

The group's youngest member, Gu Zhijing, was especially beautiful. Since their debut, he had even been called the visual peak of the domestic idol scene, making him the first choice for fans pairing up bottoms.

More importantly, the pairings within Color4 had yet to become set in stone.

Although Shengjing had temporarily secured the top spot in the fandom thanks to the duo rap and the first episode of the group's variety show, there was still too little old content to dig through. Its fanbase hadn't pulled far ahead, leaving plenty of room for another pairing to break it up and overtake it.

After all, Sheng Chi had joined the company late.

So