Chapter 35

They had to make the most of this opportunity, but it was also a shame they might never get to perform on such a big stage again.

Gu Zhijing felt a little wistful.

Ultimately, whether it was a stage or any other opportunity, most of it came down to popularity.

And if Color4 hadn't had a group of fans supporting them, they wouldn't have made it this far either.

After a brief bout of sadness, the four winning groups began choosing their preferred partners in descending order of votes.

The group that had placed first in the previous round was a girl group called Light.

Every member of Light had a mature, commanding style, and their leader was a beautiful young woman with a particularly sharp, confident presence.

With everyone watching in anticipation, she picked up the microphone, smiled at the camera, and said, "I choose Color4."

Gu Zhijing: "!"

Because of the rule, everyone had instinctively assumed the winning groups would choose partners from the eight remaining groups that had lost.

But that wasn't actually the case.

And the implications were obvious. If the winning groups could join forces with one another,

what chance did anyone else have?!

After a brief stir, the other groups immediately caught on.

Beside her, the leader of Comet, who had placed second, raised his hand. "I want to choose Color4 too!"

The leader of the fourth-place Amontillado immediately followed. "Do we still have a chance to compete? We want to choose Color4 too!"

All of Color4: "...?"

The author had something to say: Gu Zhijing: Well, I never in a million years expected our group to get the beloved darlings everyone adores script?

-

Too tired. I'll revise it tomorrow. (Lies flat like a salted fish.)

-

Thanks to the little angel who sent land mines: T#T*^O^*, 2;

Thanks to the little angels who watered with nutrient solution: Miaosi Gaoerfusiji, 38 bottles; Abai, 18; Chang'an Yijiu, 8; Honghong, 5; Yufeng peace and QAQ, 2 each; Shuimu and Tangcuyu, 1 each;

Smooches to everyone.

Chapter 36

The spectators in the livestream, who were only too happy to see the fun, immediately got excited.

[What's going on?! Is Color4 really this popular!?]

[Our Color4: Heh, there's no way our seniors wouldn't love us.jpg]

[After welcoming fifteen groups that had debuted years ago in a row, Starlight Show has finally welcomed the rookie group Color4. In response, the show's producers ordered everyone: Spoil them. Spoil them rotten!]

[Damn, this is so exciting! Anyone writing fanfic? Hurry up and let me read it!]

[As long as we live, we'll never stop selling Vegetable! Seniors and passersby, anyone curious? If you are, come stan our little Vegetable group Color4. You'll never regret investing in them!]

The spectators outside were enjoying the show.

But the people onstage were dumbfounded.

The host froze for a full two seconds before saying, "O-okay. Then, according to our rules, we'll now move on to Color4's turn to choose."

"Also, since Color4 is one of the winning groups, you also have the right to turn them down and choose a partner from the other eight remaining groups."

The cameras immediately turned to the four members of Color4.

Sheng Chi stood at the front. After a brief pause, he said, "May I hear why each of you seniors wants to choose us?"

The host joked, "Are we having all three groups campaign at once? All right, we can do that. Let's start with Light's leader."

Light's leader smiled, her eyes curving. "As your senior, I'd really like to see what sparks would fly if we collaborated with Color4, who only debuted this year but have tremendous potential."

She glanced at the other two groups and added with a smile, twisting the knife, "Besides, as one of the few girl groups here, I'm sure our collaboration would really shine."

That was true.

A collaboration between a boy group and a girl group had a natural advantage when it came to generating buzz.

Seeing this, Comet's leader immediately stepped forward and smiled politely, though his stance was clear and firm. "While a collaboration between a boy group and a girl group would certainly draw attention, I believe Color4 would be more interested in trying a collaboration with us, whose overall style is more compatible with theirs."

He blinked and added, "And I think we might be a better fit in terms of numbers, too."

That was right. Comet had only five members, whose respective roles were ace, vocal, rap, dance, and visual.

Whether it came to dividing parts or collaborating, they were a better match for Color4.

Not to be outdone, Amontillado's leader played his trump card. "We'll perform an unreleased new song on our collaboration stage."

"If you join us, you'll also be among the original creators of the song. Doesn't that tempt you?"

All three idol groups were big names in the idol world.

Yet here they were, fighting tooth and nail over a rookie group that had debuted only two months ago.

And looking at the other idol groups who hadn't been chosen,

not only were they not envious, jealous, or resentful, they looked eager to give it a try, as though hoping Color4 would turn down the invitations from the three powerhouse groups and choose them instead.

If a passerby who didn't know what had happened saw this, they would surely have one thing to say.

The world had gone mad.

But anyone who had watched the first two episodes would understand.

Their choice was the right one.

For no other reason than that Color4 really was talented.

When their in-ear monitors had malfunctioned during the first performance, they had still held the stage together and earned special recognition from a guest.

And right afterward, their fans had proven that not only did their idols deliver, but they themselves were a force to be reckoned with.

Up against Shooter, whose popularity was at its peak, they had actually managed to turn a hopeless situation into a win.

They had only just debuted, yet they were already at this level.

Clearly, Color4's future was practically limitless.

Of course they had to move quickly while they had the chance to collaborate now.

Otherwise, once Color4 blew up and became a top group, it would be hard to get a chance to work with them.

Besides, the idols in these groups had been in the industry for so long that they were highly sensitive to the slightest sign of change.

Color4's fans were formidable but didn't like causing trouble. Instead, their favorite thing to do every day was promote their idols.

Putting on a collaboration stage with them was guaranteed to be a profitable deal.

Amid the chaos of the three sides taking turns to compete for them, the host finally said, caught between laughter and tears, "So, Color4, have you made your decision?"

Countless pairs of eyes turned toward them at once.

Sheng Chi paused briefly and said, "We'll discuss it."

The host agreed. "All right, we'll give Color4 two minutes."

The four turned their backs to the cameras, switched off their mics for the moment, and began their group discussion.

Sheng Chi said, "Go on. What do you think?"

Jiang Yu and Xu Linyuan said in unison, "Light."

Jiang Yu quickly gave his reason. "Without a doubt, a collaboration between a boy group and a girl group is the biggest selling point. We're counting on this to break out again."

Xu Linyuan followed, "And given Light's standing, we'd be reaching above ourselves to collaborate with them. We'd definitely come out ahead."

Light was a long-established top girl group in the country. They had debuted years ago and had remained firmly in the position of the number one girl group in the Chinese entertainment industry.

Although their longtime fans had become more laid-back and less active in boosting numbers and voting in recent years, as the members had debuted so long ago and had more individual engagements, the group still took first place almost every time they released a song.

They had a good reputation, talent, and widespread public recognition. By any measure, they were a near-perfect collaboration partner.

Only Gu Zhijing hesitated for a moment before saying softly, "But won't the fans get jealous?"

This was a collaboration stage between a boy group and a girl group.

If the production team wanted to stir things up, they could hype up a male-female CP in no time.

They were seniors? No problem. They'd immediately hype it up as an older-sister-and-younger-puppy-boy pairing.

He put himself in the shoes of a girlfriend fan.

Crying while promoting them and saying how handsome gege was.

He wanted to die.

Jiang Yu thought about it and quickly said, "They won't."

He patted Gu Zhijing on the shoulder. "Do you really think we've blown up into the number one top group in the universe? Of course the fans will put breaking out first."

Gu Zhijing: "..."

True. Color4's fans were all career fans.

Xu Linyuan added, "Besides, Light has a great reputation. They've worked with lots of boy groups and have always been known for not hyping up rumors or CPs. It shouldn't be a problem."

Gu Zhijing thought it over. That did make sense. He nodded. "All right."

He quickly glanced at Sheng Chi.

Sheng Chi also seemed quite satisfied with the outcome of the discussion. "Then it's decided."

The group discussion ended, and the lights and cameras turned back on them.

As everyone held their breath,

Sheng Chi took the mic and said, "We discussed it, and we felt it wouldn't be very nice to turn down the girls."

The whole room froze, then cheers and teasing cries erupted, loud enough to lift the roof.

Sheng Chi said unhurriedly, "So our choice is Light."

Standing beside him, Gu Zhijing suddenly blinked.

Perhaps the lights in the room had been shining in his eyes for too long, making them sting a little.

He let out a small puff of air.

Put himself in a fan's shoes?

Why would he need to do that?

Wasn't he already the head of Sheng Chi's girlfriend fans?

Now that Color4 had made their choice,

the other two groups could only let out long sighs. After expressing their disappointment, they said that if there was a chance in the future, they could still collaborate.

And even more people were enjoying the show in the bullet comments.

[Wow! So young guys these days really do like the older-sister type?]

[I deserve to die for this, but I'm shipping it. The aloof leader was so alluring when he said with a completely calm face that it wouldn't be nice to turn down the girls. Is anyone doing the two-leaders setup?!]

[Passerby here, interviewing the fans: Are you jealous?]

[Hehe, this fan isn't jealous at all! Looking forward to the collaboration with our seniors! But don't randomly pair them up in male-female CPs! We're boys, so we don't mind, but it's not good for our seniors either!]

[Fruit Jam's mom fan is here! Not only am I not jealous, I really want to see my baby interact with the older sisters. I'm signing a blood petition for the production team to release the backstage footage!]

[Two signatures in blood! I want to see the older sisters tease♪ Fruit Jam! Can we have that? Can we?!]

Meanwhile, in the actual backstage lounge,

Color4 sat upright, extremely nervous.

The members of Light looked at the four of them with smiles and spoke all at once.

"Don't be nervous. We're not going to eat you. Come on, let's just chat. You can ask us anything."

"But not our weight."

"And no gossip either."

Color4: "..."

Jiang Yu hurriedly raised a hand, then immediately lowered it a moment later. He was so nervous that even his tone was much more well-behaved than usual. "I want to hear the real reason you older sisters chose us!"

Light's leader was named Xu Yin. Early on, her company had given her the persona of a beautiful, sharp, and cool-faced little queen.

In private, however, she was actually very easygoing. Smiling, she said, "I already told you. I really am looking forward to seeing what sparks we can create onstage with our rookie juniors."

Her round eyes darted about, and she added, "Besides, I believe that if we're on a team with you, we definitely won't lose the vote."

After all, they were the people who had beaten Shooter.

Once before, Light and Shooter had met head-on in a fan voting event.

So they had experienced firsthand just how formidable the fans of a limited-time group could be.

Boy group fans were already stronger at voting and boosting numbers than girl group fans, and the solo stans of a limited-time group were especially fired up. They had thought Shooter would have no rivals in the Chinese entertainment industry when it came to voting and boosting numbers.

They had never expected Shooter to stumble against this rookie boy group.

And as a rising group with such high popularity, reliable stage performances, and a company that didn't like pulling shady moves, they were a rarity in the idol world.

Who wouldn't like them?

After chatting a little and breaking the awkward, stiff atmosphere, Xu Yin was the first to speak up and move on to the stage design.

"I've worked it out. We're very pressed for time right now. Once we exclude rehearsals and the times we can't all get together, we'll have at most three days to get in sync for this collaboration stage."