The dreamy purple lights lit up.
Wearing a knee-length princess dress, Zhang Zijing walked onstage alongside senior Xu Xu, who stood an impressive 1.9 ters tall.
The audience imdiately erupted into enthusiastic cheers. Among the fans near the edge of the stage, Chen Yinghan’s supporters were particularly vocal, exclaiming, "She’s so beautiful!"
A few individuals walked behind Long Zitao, who was engrossed in reading the script. When he looked up, he realized the other party was faintly taller than him.
Because of the cara angle, the trainees waiting in the standby room broke into laughter.
"Initiator Long looks a bit tiny!"
"He totally can’t block Xu Xu; he’s so tall!"
"The height difference between the two of them is actually kind of adorable."
Hearing the girls’ chatter, Yang Xiaoyue quickly reminded Long Zitao.
It was a gesture of kindness, looking out for her teammate.
Long Zitao gave Xu Xu an awkward smile before moving to the far-left side, facing the audience.
"Is everyone ready?" Long Zitao shouted.
"Teacher, we haven’t introduced ourselves yet," Yang Ni reminded from the far right.
This drew a wave of laughter from the audience, and the trainees doubled over, laughing uncontrollably.
If this had been a program airing on traditional TV, it would have been considered a serious stage mishap.
But in a variety-show-style competition like this, it beca a funny and morable mont.
"Alright then, everyone, introduce yourselves."
At that mont, Long Zitao was extrely embarrassed, feeling as though his days of grace had co to an end.
"Hello, everyone. We are..."
"The ’I Like You’ team!"
The team’s costus were truly dazzling, and the stylists had clearly put in a lot of effort.
Zhang Zijing and Chen Yihan sparkled brilliantly onstage. Especially the latter—she was breathtakingly beautiful.
Soone once ranked the top ten "visual centers" in their universe, and she was undoubtedly among them.
Senior Xu Xu stood next to the girl, looking sowhat at a loss.
He was primarily an actor and wasn’t skilled in singing or dancing.
He had only co to increase his exposure and create so buzz, but even during their first eting, he managed to cause an embarrassing situation.
Following the program team’s direction, he rode a bicycle under a breezy tree to approach the girls for their introduction.
Yang Ni, overco with excitent, tripped and fell after seeing him.
The whole scenario was extraordinarily awkward.
Fortunately, the rehearsals went smoothly since all Xu Xu had to do was strike a few poses.
After the introductions, the lights dimd. When they ca back on, a carousel ladder had appeared center stage, with the girls seated on it.
As gentle music began to play, Xu Xu, now dressed in casual blue attire, gazed tenderly at the girls and slowly walked along with the rotating structure.
The overhead spotlights cast down, creating a beam of light that resembled sunlight filtering through the branches of a sumr tree, filling the scene with youthfulness and fantasy.
"Mmm! Mmm!"
Yang Ni’s singing wasn’t pitch-perfect, but there was a nostalgic charm to her voice, as if it captured the weathered mories of years gone by, evoking the sensation of opening a diary of youth.
She sang the first two eight-count phrases before Wei Xin descended the carousel ladder. Senior Xu Xu took her hand, as though greeting his beloved.
At that mont, the pink hearts of all the female fans in the audience seed to explode. Their sparkling eyes reflected their piercing screams.
Li Ke, however, found the whole thing sowhat baffling. What was everyone so excited about?
Wasn’t it just holding hands with a handso guy? What was the big deal?
Beside Xiao Du, Mu Yunchu was watching intently with an uncontrollable smile on her face.
Xiao Du had begun to pick up on it. It was clear this song was designed to fuel the shippers rooting for various "couples."
Despite this, the lody sounded far more appealing than it first did during rehearsals.
After all, even "Penguin" had caught on to fans’ complaints about the six songs being unpleasant to listen to.
They had gone back to the composer and requested new arrangents and instruntation.
So, while the tune itself hadn’t changed, the altered arrangent gave listeners an entirely different experience.
At this mont, everyone descended from the carousel.
Aside from Zhang Zijing, the rest of them lined up in formation and raised their arms in a single-wing flying motion in sync with the music.
anwhile, Zhang Zijing and Xu Xu recreated a classic idol-drama scene, interacting with their fingertips face-to-face.
The pure, lodic vocals reverberated across the stage like a sound from heaven, showcasing the technically challenging chorus seamlessly through Zhang Zijing’s performance.
The atmosphere in the arena reached its zenith. The girls in the audience swayed along to the music, feeling almost as though they were watching a musical.
Next, it was Qiang Yueting’s turn to shine, delivering yet another solid performance.
Five girls ford a triangular dance formation, performing two counts of eight beats under the purple and pink lights, with Zhang Zijing taking the lead at the forefront.
Xiao Du had already realized by now that this performance was designed to showcase big C-positions at every turn.
The amount of screen ti Zhang Zijing occupied as the center exceeded one-third, leaving him thrilled.
It was a potential sign that "Penguin" intended for the six C-position holders in these songs to debut together.
Otherwise, why bother dedicating so much screen ti?
The performance continued, with the central stage transitioning to Jiang ixing and Xu Xu.
However, Jiang ixing’s makeup was a bit of a miss today—a deep yellow hairstyle was far from flattering.
She already had the classical beauty of soone who looked best with black, flowing hair.
Perhaps she was aiming to surprise her fans with a different look, but it turned out to be a misstep.
Still, her interactions with Xu Xu were sweet and captivating.
Xu Xu gazed at her deeply, gently running his finger across her flower-petal-like cheeks.
Next ca Chen Yinghan’s solo mont, which dialed down the sugariness quite a bit.
She just briefly reached out to touch Xu Xu’s back as he stood facing away. He turned around and handed her a letter, as if it were a confession note written during their school days.
In the final chorus, Qiang Yueting showcased her vocal high notes.
Her skill remained impeccable, delivering the D1 to D3 pitch transitions flawlessly without a hint of strain.
It was reminiscent of her standout performance of the Suzhou and Hangzhou lody during the second round of performances.
As formations shifted once more, Zhang Zijing took the lead as the main vocalist, with two horizontal rows of support behind her.
The beautiful singing soared like white doves gliding through a clear blue sky.
Amid the harmonious backing vocals, Zhang Zijing ascended the carousel ladder alone. Senior Xu Xu was already there waiting, the pair gazing at each other like lovers in the throes of passion.
Even with her typically cool and autumn-leaf-like aura, Zhang Zijing’s intense gaze exuded a mysterious charm, like an ancient ballad hidden deep within a forest.
Gently, they drew closer, and the unspoken tension seed to burn invisibly between them.
Everyone was eagerly awaiting the climactic mont. So trainees even hugged those next to them, their suppressed teenage hearts on the verge of spilling out.
But the anticipated mont never occurred. Instead, the two rely shared a warm embrace.
Even so, the audience exploded. The sweetness in the air had already reached overwhelming levels.
Yang Xiaoyue looked at the scene, a soft smile curling at her lips.
It was an undoubtedly successful opening, a sign that all the effort had been worth it.
The only female ntor, Tian Jiaxuan, grinned so wide she couldn’t close her mouth, clapping enthusiastically.
The song and the atmosphere created were practically a dream co true for won who adored romance.
The other ntors were smiling as well, clearly fond of the performance.
After the stage, Long Zitao stepped up, interacted briefly with the ntors and senior Xu Xu, and announced loudly, "Take out your voting devices and pick your favorite girl!"
The six perforrs onstage were visibly on edge, as each saw themselves as highly popular candidates.
When a group had an overwhelming favorite, the rest of the perforrs wouldn’t feel so tense. But for teams where it was too close to call, the nerves ran high until the very last mont.
After one minute, Long Zitao revealed the na.
"It’s Zhang Zijing."
Long Zitao’s announcent brought Zhang Zijing to tears of joy. The pressure she had endured since claiming the center position had been imnse.
Her role and Lv Fangxin’s were entirely different; she needed to showcase skills that justified her position as the center.
Though the other trainees maintained smiles on their faces, their eyes betrayed traces of disappointnt.
"Please share your thoughts," Long Zitao said.
Zhang Zijing steadied her emotions before speaking.
"Thank you so much to the founders who ca here to support us today,"
"and I’m especially grateful to my teammates—we’ve created such a fantastic stage together."
"I hope that this ti, none of us will get left behind."
Her words carried a bittersweet undertone, evoking both sorrow and inspiration.
Making it this far, another elimination felt vastly different from the previous rounds.
The other five girls wore complicated smiles at this mont.
Even after delivering such a moving performance, they could only choose to trust in the beauty of it all.
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