CHAPTER 123: CHAPTER 120: UNWILLING TO FAIL

"I never expected this show would have so many viewers." Lai Ruoxuan said in her mature-sounding voice, which starkly contrasted her appearance, while eating chicken feet.

"We’ve gained so many fans; does this mean the show is becoming popular?" Yang Yiyi asked.

"It’s probably not at that level yet!" Lai Ruoxuan thought for a moment.

"Well, how popular is considered ’popular’ then?" Yang Yiyi tugged at her braid.

"Do you all know about ’Idol Practice,’ which just ended a few months ago?"

Lai Ruoxuan saw everyone nod and continued:

"That show is considered a hit variety program. The most popular contestants there reached over a million followers on Weibo. Our highest follower count is only in the tens of thousands."

"I know that show, but I never watched it. I do know someone named Kun Kun," Mei Zhu said softly, calmly eating, embodying quiet elegance even as she ate.

"So, we’ve only managed to gather a group of spectators, not actual fans." Meilan, holding a large teacup, commented while sipping her water.

"They’re not fans yet. They’re just paying attention to us. Only when we make them genuinely like us can they become real fans." Jiang Meixing, who had been silent until now, said with a smile.

"That sounds so hard! Isn’t liking someone supposed to last forever?" Mei Zhu asked, feeling disheartened. She realized she hardly attracted any fans on the show, as her presence had been too unremarkable.

"It’s already quite an achievement." Jiang Mengqi, who had just put another pile of fried meatballs onto her plate, said solemnly.

"Back when I was performing in theaters, even at peak attendance, there were only a little over a hundred people. Now there are tens of thousands of people paying attention to you. The real question is whether you can deliver." Jiang Mengqi continued.

Hearing Jiang Mengqi’s words, Zhang Xiaohan and the others with fewer fans felt a wave of discouragement. Some of them had fan counts in the hundreds or even just dozens.

Fan Lei’s dormitory

She and her former teammates were crying together in the restroom.

Among them, only her Weibo follower count had increased by more than ten thousand. For the rest, it was only a few dozen.

They couldn’t accept this outcome.

They had always believed they were excellent, considering they were chosen out of thousands of applicants by their former company. The company had even invested 500 million to promote them.

If they didn’t have value or potential to become popular, why would anyone spend so much money on them?

They had failed only because their company’s management wasn’t competent and cared only about cash-grabbing and exploiting them.

They believed that if given the right opportunity, they could soar to fame and stomp their most hated competitors, Galaxy, into the ground.

But, this show gave them a platform, and they still failed.

"Everyone, stop crying. The others all have companies backing them. We don’t, and that’s why we’re in this situation. We can only rely on ourselves now. We must not lose heart."

Fan Lei, the team captain, spoke up confidently to encourage her group, even though deep down she was panicking.

"Captain, do you really think we still have a shot?" asked Xiang Sixing, the youngest at just 17 years old, dressed in her F-class gray uniform with a face full of despair.

She had joined the Magic Numbers girl group at 15, and after over two years, she couldn’t imagine what life outside the group would be like.

"Captain, we can’t win." The group’s visual center, Wu Qian, had tears streaming down her face as she said this.

She didn’t know how to face reality; the harsh data had shattered her illusions.

"Captain, maybe we really aren’t cut out for this. We’re just not strong enough." Chen Yifan, who joined at 17, said, her tone filled with hopeless resignation.

A fan of strong performers herself, she had once believed that sheer ability would guarantee good outcomes. But now, the reality was slapping her in the face: they just didn’t measure up.

Liu Lixian, who had a swan-like elegant neck, was sitting silently on the cold tiled floor.

She had a strong-willed personality and a relentless drive, yet her fate with the group was unfortunate.

Fan Lei wanted to continue motivating them but found herself at a loss for words.

She was utterly spent.

When she had become captain, it was partly because she had the highest education, and partly because she was the oldest.

But in truth, her personality was somewhat timid and pessimistic, always weak in the face of adversity and unable to lead her team out of tough situations.

"Captain, we have just one way left to debut." Liu Lixian suddenly spoke.

The others immediately stopped crying and looked at her.

"The only way is to secure support from the company."

Fan Lei deflated upon hearing this: "Our theater is gone, and the company is generous enough to let us participate in this final announcement. Why would they spend resources on us again?"

"They dismantled the theater and disbanded us because we no longer had commercial value." Liu Lixian stood up, her long, narrow eyes ablaze with fiery ambition.

"But if even one of us debuts or two of us break into the top 22, it could revive our group’s reputation. After that, we could return to bring financial returns to the company." Liu Lixian grabbed Fan Lei’s shoulder firmly as she shared her plan.

Fan Lei and the others froze in place. They felt that Liu Lixian, always decisive, was making a lot of sense with her proposal.

"Captain, write to the company and explain our plan. I believe they’ll agree." Liu Lixian said, her confidence unwavering.

"Yes, captain, give it a try! We can even renegotiate our contract with the company if needed." Wu Qian agreed enthusiastically, and the other two looked at Fan Lei with hopeful eyes.

Fan Lei took a deep breath and said, "Alright, I’ll give it a shot. Things can’t possibly get any worse."

Dance Studio

Jiang Xijie, Lin Jiayi, Zhang Xinjie, Ju Lin, Luo Qijia, and Li Tiange were rehearsing their dance and songs.

They were among the overlooked contestants, with extremely low follower counts. However, they were also fighters who refused to give up.

They hoped to turn the tide with their own efforts. They believed that if they performed well enough onstage, the audience and production team would take notice.

Among them, Lin Jiayi trained the hardest. As a former A-class contestant, she had the fewest followers, with less than 300.

The disparity weighed heavily on her mind. She knew her biggest disadvantage: her height.

But this was also the source of her determination. As a child, her height had made her the target of ridicule and discouragement, so she trained as if her life depended on it.

She wanted to prove one thing: Even if the heavens didn’t grant her stature, her talent would make up for it.

At this moment, Ye Yuwei was sitting cross-legged on the rooftop, her thermos cup beside her.

She didn’t expect the show’s live comments wouldn’t attack her with abusive words.

Lu Bingbing received overwhelming praise, with comments exceeding tens of thousands.

Those comments had an intriguing split:

One portion purely praised Lu Bingbing.

Another implied the show was mediocre and no better than Galaxy’s small-scale theater, claiming they only watched because of Lu Bingbing, with an air of superiority.

However, Ye Yuwei knew these people were masters of hypocrisy and switching allegiances.

She noticed that on Galaxy fans’ favorite discussion platform, Zhihu, nearly every notable "essayist" had written articles.

Although they were praising and promoting Lu Bingbing, they didn’t hesitate to compliment others they liked too.

Yet conspicuously, Ye Yuwei’s name was absent, as if she were a forbidden subject in Galaxy discussions, a name that couldn’t even be mentioned.

Still, Ye Yuwei had garnered over ten thousand followers thanks to her "nation-ravishing beauty" and an impressive solo dance performance.

She also noticed one detail: Penguin’s handling of her and Lu Bingbing.

Both of their initial appearances and solo performances were showcased without any edits.

But in her performance, the cutaway shots showed mentors and trainees reacting indifferently.

When Lu Bingbing performed solo, however, the contrasting shots told the opposite story.

These obvious setups essentially implied her performance wasn’t enjoyable while Lu Bingbing’s was warmly received.

Moreover, she and Lu Bingbing barely had any screen time outside their appearances and performances.

They weren’t given personality-exposing footage, unlike Gao Ziyi and the others.

The same unfortunate treatment applied to Milky Way Girl, though Wu and Meng got featured in mid-episode advertisements.

"Why is this? Why did Penguin arrange it like this?"

Ye Yuwei agonized over the reasoning behind it. Both Galaxy and Milky Way Girl had substantial fanbases. Giving them so little screen time—how could their fans be mobilized to vote?