Today was the final stage of "21 Heartbeats of Youth," and contrary to online rumors, the five mbers of Titrain didn't make a surprise appearance but instead watched the broadcast like other viewers.
However, only Pei Luming was actually watching the show; the others were either on their phones or practicing dance moves.
In the practice room, Gao Xiayu lay on the couch with his phone, scrolling once for each vocabulary word he morized. Ye Xing sat beside him working on exercises on his iPad, while Yao Shuo and Chi Qiao stood in front of the mirror perfecting their dance moves.
Pei Luming watched the iPad intently, occasionally checking the voting rankings on his phone.
Unlike during their competition, the female trainees' voting period had no closing deadline, aning rankings could change at any hour of any day. This system greatly tested fans' determination and strengthened their unity.
The side effect was that it increased their fighting spirit, making them even more combative than the male trainees' fans. The fan circles had beco like battlefields with daily conflicts.
Even the most arguntative fans had to wonder how they managed to find so many things to fight about.
During the male competition, while there were many solo fans, group fans dominated the scene. Solo fans would even sotis yield to group fans to avoid friction during voting periods.
For the female trainees, there were only two types: solo fans and casual viewers, with most casual viewers supporting Pei Zhiping's group of four.
So while the competition was fierce, it was almost certain these four would debut - the only question was how many debut positions would be announced tonight.
Pei Luming checked the voting interface. Currently, the [7-mber group] option led, followed by the [9-mber group], with the [6-mber group] in third place.
"It's fascinating that the nine-mber group is in second place," Pei Luming remarked after checking the rankings.
The debut group size options ranged from four to nine mbers. When he first saw this system, he assud the nine-mber option would win, since more positions ant more chances for favorites to debut.
But the viewers weren't indiscriminate - after following the show for months, they had their preferred candidates, and those who hadn't won their hearts couldn't claim those debut spots.
The trainee popularity rankings updated every ten minutes with new positions and vote counts. Pei Zhiping had maintained first place consistently throughout.
Han Lemi and Xia Simiao competed for second place, frequently swapping positions. Ji Wensu and Si Yanyu held fourth and fifth places, occasionally trading spots, while Yu Dan fought her way up to sixth.
While the competition performances were exciting, the strategic maneuvering of various fan voting groups proved even more captivating.
Casual viewers lanted not having enough devices to follow all the developnts simultaneously.
Ten minutes before the final live broadcast began, the fan bases of Pei Zhiping, Han Lemi, Si Yanyu, and Yu Dan, along with group fans and CP fans - twenty-seven fan bases in total - released a joint announcent:
"27 Fanbase Joint '4ever' Plan Announcent"
"Hello everyone, Throughout this show, the four-mber group has received much praise from both ntors and the public. For their future developnt and the reputation of their future works, we are joining forces with the fanbases of the other three trainees, group fans, and CP fans for coordinated voting."
"The four will debut together! And only these four should debut!"
"Thank you for your support these past months. See you on tonight's battlefield!"
"[Listed in no particular order]"
The joint announcent from twenty-seven fan bases imdiately overshadowed Random Entertainnt, breaking through restrictions to trend on social dia.
"This is intense! Who's joining forces with whom?"
"Wow... is this really our Dostic Entertainnt Industry?"
"Holy cow!!"
"This would be explosive in any entertainnt industry!"
"Seeing group fans and CP fans included - I'm about to cry!"
"This should be recorded in our entertainnt industry's history..."
"Gets my blood pumping!!"
"Wow, you fans have more team spirit than the four of them combined."
This unprecedented strategy stunned both fans and non-fans alike. In all previous survival shows, internal conflicts typically intensified near the end, but here were twenty-seven fan bases uniting to ensure just these four would debut.
The announcent spread to forum groups, where people with slower internet were just discovering it. Many doubted their eyes and thought it was edited until they checked social dia to confirm it was real.
"That's class."
"Pei Zhiping's fans are gritting their teeth - hilarious. Though they hate debuting with Han Lemi, they hate Xia Simiao and Ji Wensu even more."
"No wonder Yu Dan bounced back - she almost fell out of the top ten yesterday."
"Such vision - solo fans should learn from this."
"Why though? I rember there was serious conflict between these four."
"Reply: That's exactly why it shows vision and class. Compared to the others, they prefer to debut the four who received widespread public approval. This will make it easier for casual viewers to beco fans later."
"I'm in one of the data teams... let explain a bit. Looking at the senior group, you can see that sjyl is a company focused on idol developnt. They won't allow individual activities anyti soon, so our complaints won't matter. For my bias, debuting with these four is the best option because it will attract many casual viewers. We've all seen how well they perform together on stage, so..."
"Living long enough to witness everything."
"This really should go down in history... truly magnificent."
"Whoever ca up with this first is really brilliant."
"So smart - it unified the fan circles and attracted casual viewers. In just ten minutes, their super topic follower count increased by over nine thousand."
This unexpected strategy erged like an army appearing suddenly on a battlefield, sweeping all before it.
With this strategy unveiled, fans barely had ti to watch the show, busy voting and defending against potential counter-attacks. Yu Dan and Si Yanyu's rankings rose rapidly, while Han Lemi's second place position stabilized.
This alliance of the four wouldn't have been possible without Xia Simiao's fans constantly attacking Pei Zhiping, and Ji Wensu's fans marketing their candidate as an overlooked talent.
Though the four fan bases didn't particularly like each other, they could negotiate anything as long as it ant not debuting with Xia Simiao and Ji Wensu's group.
So for tonight's finale, the voting interface for debut group size attracted more attention than the actual performances.
The twenty-seven allied fan bases pushed for the [4-mber group] option, while other trainees' fans attacked the [9-mber group] option, essentially trying to spite the four.
"Group Na: 4ever Plan Group 79"
"Could Pei Zhiping's fans please unblock ? I can't like or comnt on anything."
"Zhipi, Lepi, Yanpi, and Danpi are forever sisters!"
"...Not forever, just for tonight."
"So annoying! Xia Simiao's fans switched to voting for the nine-mber group - can we beat them down?"
"How many more random clicks do we need to reach first place?"
"Currently seven million behind."
"Sharing codes, I'll contribute 500,000 votes."
"Hubby! I'm your lost love from the bread family!"
"Pei family, I'm in!"
"What's with all the shouting? Don't you have your own idols?"
After the announcent, data teams quickly created chat groups, with solo fans and group fans joining. This caused so confusion as many had previously blocked each other, preventing them from joining groups or liking and comnting.
The atmosphere in the groups beca more jovial, with no ntion of previous conflicts. Group fans and CP fans lurked in the chats, amazed by the unprecedented scene.
Just yesterday, so fan leaders had been cursing each other's entire families, but today their terms of address had completely changed. It was as remarkable as seeing the sun rise in the west and draw a heart in the sky - absolutely extraordinary.
It was already certain that Pei Zhiping's group of four would debut. An hour and a half into the broadcast, they occupied the top four positions, gradually widening the gap with those below.
However, the [4-mber group] option had only risen two places, let alone challenge the towering obstacle of the [9-mber group] option ahead.
The audience watching the show was caught up in the atmosphere on Weibo, frequently checking the trending topics to see what was happening with them.
Even the stage performance had lost so of its appeal.
Jiang Juyou, who was present at the venue, kept a close eye on the ranking changes. She only knew that Yu Dan and Si Yanyu had suddenly surged up in rankings but didn't know why.
During the comrcial break, a staff mber ca over and quietly inford her about the situation.
"The group of four?" Jiang Juyou raised an eyebrow, taking the phone to look at the trending topic on social dia.
As she scrolled through, she discovered they had even created a super topic dedicated to tonight's voting. Besides fans of each contestant, there were also many actor fans who had joined to watch the excitent.
Jiang Juyou returned the phone and asked, "How are the group rankings now?"
"Currently, the nine-mber group is first, seven-mber group second, and four-mber group third," the staff mber replied.
Jiang Juyou glanced at the ending comrcial and nodded, "Alright, I understand."
Tonight's final performance had reached its closing stages, with only three full-group stages remaining before the ranking announcent.
Aliali: 673eba99c4f3f33ac4ee9836It was uncertain whether they could achieve their goal in the remaining hour.
The trainees preparing backstage were unaware of what was happening outside; they were focused on making the most of their final opportunity tonight.
Pei Zhiping stood by the stairs, taking a deep breath. Xia Simiao, who was behind her, patted her shoulder and encouraged her, "You can do it."
She turned around with a bitter smile, "...You too." She squeezed Xia Simiao's arm to boost her morale.
Their fierce competition was evident to outsiders, but after competing together for so long, their feelings toward each other had changed significantly from the beginning.
If possible, they all hoped for as many debut positions as possible.
Fans of the four-mber group: Family, we're gaining montum!
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