Luckily, Guan Yu seemingly wasn’t deliberately mocking her, as she shifted her gaze to look at the others after saying that.
"Lin Lian, how come you’re so unlucky too, out of all these cards, none is above five points."
"Oh my! Xu Cheng, how did you get such a high score??"
"Brother Huai, what about yours? What does it mean to hide them? Are you afraid of embarrassment?"
"Hahaha, Shu Ran, you’re almost the same! Three letter cards and two four-pointers!"
"Li Yang, you actually have two eights!"
"No, how come all your scores are higher than mine?"
She murmured around and finally, to her distress, discovered that her score seemed to be the lowest.
Mu Qiu let out a ruthless laugh: "Your idea, your responsibility, your misfortune; it’s an all-in-one service package, isn’t that great."
Guan Yu was so distraught that she wouldn’t give up and asked Shi Yuhuai: "Quickly, Brother Huai, show yours, maybe you’re the lowest, yours are fewer than mine."
Shi Yuhuai didn’t budge: "Just tell me, what’s your score?"
"Eight."
He smirked: "Mine is two points higher than yours."
"...The heavens are against me!"
The final result turned out that Xu Cheng, Jiang Zhufeng, and Mu Qiu made it to the top three, earning free professional dance lessons.
After this incident, Guan Yu lost the desire to stir things up and directly cued the process.
She picked up the microphone and shouted outside: "Director! Is it time for the next step?!"
Bai Shu: "...You’re shouting like that?"
"It’s convenient," she shouted again, "Director! Director, are you there?! Dear director!"
The director, just out from the control room and approaching the lakeside, didn’t want to pay her any mind, covering his ears and not speaking.
Guan Yu spotted him, saw he wasn’t answering, and yelled again: "Director! Director!"
The director was quite annoyed: "...Here!"
Not wanting to hear that voice anymore, he grabbed the electronic mic and immediately spoke to drown out her imminent next words.
"Everyone’s performance just now was amazing, and the audience gave high praise. But I still have to say that some guests should not casually replace the show’s promises with impractical conditions; that’s basically cheating, and no amount of crying will help."
Guan Yu acted as if she were deaf, yawned, and continued listening.
"Later, we’ll confirm each person’s score and announce the final game results. Then, based on the score data, we’ll determine the ranking and the team situation for tomorrow’s stage performance.
Tomorrow’s performance will be held at the Hai City Art Center, with eight thousand audience seats available for free, and now the audience selection for all eight thousand spots has been confirmed. After ten in the morning, they’ll gradually enter, and the performance will start at two in the afternoon tomorrow..."
"Wait a minute!"
The classic three-word interruption appeared again, and this time it was Li Yang who called for a halt.
"Director, what did you say? Fans will come to watch live?!"
The director nodded: "Just now, all eight thousand spots were taken in seconds; I didn’t even get a ticket."
"Then why talk about slacking on stage to win points!" He spun in place, "Embarrassing yourself in front of fans? I can’t do it!"
"Just asking who can do it now?" Guan Yu looked painfully in the director’s direction: "I’ve said, why are the rules so lax and uncontrollable this episode? So you already planned it!"
With fans seated below, could they slack off deliberately and perform worse than the other team? Of course not!
So, they could only rely on real skills.
Meaning, hidden within the director’s previously announced rules was an added condition: everyone must genuinely compete, not slack off.
The show crew were indeed crafty.
"Eight thousand spectators?" Shu Ran asked nervously, "Eight thousand? Are you sure it’s not eight hundred?"
Director: "Eight thousand."
"Oh my goodness!"
For actors like them, they’ve never experienced performing a singing and dancing routine before eight thousand spectators!
Among these twelve people, counting thoroughly, only a few like Li Yang and Bai Shu have stage performance experience, and if talking about stages with more than eight thousand people, probably only Li Yang has been through it.
What should they do?
From tonight until tomorrow noon, there’s only half a day to practice songs and dances, not enough time, and they don’t want to embarrass themselves, so what to do?
For a moment, everyone fell into tension and anxiety.
Mu Qiu felt his hands going numb.
Eight thousand people, looking down from the stage would surely be a sea of heads, right?
They’d be shouting loud, calling their idols’ names, waving support items, unrestrainedly critiquing the performers’ acts on stage.
The biggest crowd she has faced was just explaining her university project to two or three hundred people.
Eight thousand people—she couldn’t imagine, probably wouldn’t dare to look directly below then.
"Don’t be nervous," Cheng Zhirang whispered beside her, "Besides Li Yang, everyone lacks experience. We’re starting similarly, and you even have more time to practice dance with the teacher."
She couldn’t respond with "not nervous."
She’s fundamentally different from the others seated here.
First, she’s a complete newcomer, totally inexperienced in singing or dancing practice, unlike other actors like Cheng Zhirang, who at least through acting may have touched upon singing or dancing due to their roles, but she has none.
Second, she doesn’t intend to advance in the entertainment industry in the future, so this stage isn’t some "opportunity to be seen by more people;" she has no goal.
Unlike Xu Cheng or Bai Shu, whose nervousness springs from the excitement of being able to showcase their abilities.
Additionally, due to her connection with Cheng Zhirang, she’s in the spotlight, and it’s not hard to imagine many Cheng Zhi fans will be present tomorrow, and if they think her performance is poor...
Phew—
Even if the performance is bad, it can’t be helped, she’ll try her best; no one’s saying everything must be impeccable.
She did a self-analysis, simultaneously overturning every point she deduced, rationally examining each source of her tension and panic, conducting self-soothing.
Finally, taking a deep breath, says: "Just accept fate, if the performance is bad, hope everyone understands. When will we eat hotpot and choose songs? We need to prepare the broth beforehand."
Just as Cheng Zhirang was about to reassure her further: "......"
His girlfriend’s self-healing ability is too strong, leaving him useless.
Observing everyone tense to the point of discomfort, the director then spoke to suppress the unending chatter:
"So now, we need to confirm tomorrow’s stage arrangements, then we can select songs as teams based on everyone’s scores from the games."
He gestured to the site staff behind the camera, who, when the main camera wasn’t directed at the shell house, neatly and swiftly set up, prepared the hotpot base, added water, and started the fire.
The director, casually pulling out a piece of paper from his pocket, unfolded it and leaned in to read: "After three rounds of games, the current scores are—
Li Yang, 62 points.
Shu Ran, 47 points.
Bai Shu, 36 points.
Mu Qiu, 30 points.
Lin Lian, 26 points.
Cheng Zhirang, 24 points.
Guan Yu, 23 points.
Jiang Zhufeng and Xu Cheng tied at 16 points.
Chuchu and Zhang Li tied at 5 points.
Shi Yuhuai, -2 points."