CHAPTER 155: CHAPTER 152: DIFFERENT THOUGHTS

"Yuwei, you’re amazing!"

"Yuwei, you’ve really brought us honor—our team won!"

"Yuwei, you’re so charismatic. From now on, I’m your number one fangirl."

Returning to the waiting room, Ye Yuwei was greeted warmly by her team members, as was Ju Lin’s group, who came back earlier.

"Thank you! Thank you!"

Ye Yuwei kept engaging with her teammates, maintaining a polite and humble smile on her face.

By this time, Yang Ni’s team, which was paired against Ye Yuwei’s, was already performing on stage.

Down in the audience, many people were shouting Yang Ni’s name. Hearing these cheers made her feel an urge to cry.

She hadn’t expected that due to her group member Zheng Chengcheng’s sudden withdrawal from the competition over a scripted conflict, she would completely anger Penguin Entertainment. Her original C-position was taken away and given to Li Shihan.

At the same time, the production team, wary of her conveying "attitude" during rehearsals, gave her subtle warning hints. In their subsequent song part distribution and choreography planning, her role was reduced to that of a mere prop.

Li Shihan, meanwhile, had deeply mixed feelings. She hadn’t expected the production team to replace Yang Ni’s C-position with hers. Initially, she joined this group simply to be its dance lead.

She didn’t know how to console or explain this situation.

Because no matter what she said, it might look "wrong" through Yang Ni’s eyes.

To be honest, she didn’t even want this C-position. After the second episode aired, the internet trolls had already attacked her so viciously that she was on the brink of depression.

She was truly terrified.

She wondered what kinds of storms those trolls would stir up online after this performance.

Despite her fear, she didn’t dare to refuse the production team’s arrangements, fearing that if she did, they might bury her career indefinitely. The hard-earned opportunity she’d waited for so long would vanish into thin air.

Standing in the same group, Liu Mengmeng’s eyes sparkled with the fire of ambition. Having studied international dance styles since childhood, she felt confident in her skills and appearance.

Yet in the first two episodes, the production team gave her no screen time. She had talent but no spotlight—and in the publicly released version of the group’s debut stage performance, she wasn’t featured at all.

Now with Yang Ni stripped of the C-position, Liu Mengmeng saw a glimmer of hope. If she performed exceptionally well and played along, perhaps the production team would finally notice her.

Beside her, Natasha stood in despair—she knew her time was over.

Initially, before the yogurt-throwing incident, the production team had planned to give her screen time, considering the overseas market. But now, she realized that the cameramen didn’t even bother filming her.

The choreography for this performance was completely disheartening for her. She was too tall, her dance skills were average, and she was always half a beat behind when executing the moves.

She had suggested adjustments to the choreography, but Tian Jiaxuan, their mentor, had outright rejected them.

Yet when Xu Qianhua, who was also struggling with the dance, proposed changes, her suggestions were supported.

This made Natasha realize that the production team had already decided to give up on her.

Meanwhile, the sunny and cheerful Jiang Mengqi secretly felt grateful for heaven’s blessing.

When Li Shihan joined their team, Jiang Mengqi’s world turned gray. She had assumed it was over for her this time.

Li Shihan’s arrival meant the group suddenly had three dedicated dancers.

With only six members in total, the already limited parts were spread thin, leaving even fewer opportunities for the dancers to stand out. Now that the initial C-position had joined, it seemed Jiang Mengqi would have no chance to compete.

But fate smiled on her with an unexpected turn of events. Yang Ni’s agency had sabotaged itself, leading to Yang Ni losing her C-position and Li Shihan becoming the ACE.

This left the group’s dance spotlight shared between Jiang Mengqi and Liu Mengmeng. And Liu Mengmeng didn’t have as much popularity as Jiang Mengqi. When it came to dividing the performance sections, the mentor assigned Jiang Mengqi a favorable PA segment.

The youngest chatterbox, Yin Xiren, couldn’t shake the feeling that she would be eliminated.

Despite her combativeness and willingness to fight for more vocal segments, her abilities ranked last in the group. She couldn’t sing or dance well, and her appearance was just average.

The parts assigned to her at first were already beyond her capability. After holding back the group a few times, even the rehearsal coach couldn’t stand it and subtly relegated her to a marginal role.

Overall, the group’s rehearsals went relatively smoothly since Yang Ni, Liu Mengmeng, and Li Shihan could all take on ACE roles—and each brought distinct strengths to the table.

Xu Qianhua, the professional singer, was also recognized as a standout talent within her field.

Jiang Mengqi, though her singing was somewhat coarse, excelled in dancing.

Natasha, despite being relegated to "supporting cast," was still proficient enough, whereas Yin Xiren, clearly a weaker performer, could at least blend in with the larger group for passable singing and dancing.

With their different hopes and concerns, they faced their first public performance.