Chapter 33: Really Bad
Life is indeed fascinating.
Koi can turn into spirits, burst out in soaring high notes on stage, and become number one in popularity.
An Zhiyan, surprisingly, can also dance. His tall stature swaying side to side, like a shaking mountain, makes a jangling noise when he moves. Even he finds it hopeless.
An Zhiyan really doesn't want to dance.
Just like a steel-like man cannot tolerate others making him wear a wig, dress, or a pink bow.
As a child, he was forced to dance in kindergarten. As a result, a group of kids made fun of him, saying he was like a zombie.
Participating in a variety show, he was forced to dance again. His fans took a screen grab and created it into an emoji, repeatedly poking fun at him.
He also doesn't understand why, as brothers, An Zhihan is great at dancing and he is not.
Indeed, An Zhihan is as straight as steel.
Yet, An Zhiyan is as twisted as an eighteen bend mountain road.
Su Jinli seems oblivious to An Zhiyan's discomfort. After watching the dance video, he can basically do the dance steps.
Now, he even has the mood to teach An Zhiyan.
Unfortunately, An Zhiyan is... extremely difficult to teach. He even doubts whether An Zhiyan can walk straight.
Having no choice, Su Jinli asked the program crew to raise the lifting platform. He then stood on a stool, positioning An Zhiyan in front of him, guiding his arms on how to sway.
Occasionally, he would grab An Zhiyan's waist and push downwards, helping him complete the movements.
An Zhiyan went through the whole process with a face of despair... it was truly bittersweet.
In the resting room, An Zhihan was laughing like a whirlwind.
Once in a while, An Zhihan kicked Wu Yu's chair, making him sway back and forth, showing a particularly helpless expression.
By the latter half of the song, Su Jinli had given up on An Zhiyan, returned to the center of the stage, and finished the dance alone.
Su Jinli's adaptation caused many movements to undergo minor changes. It didn't look weird or feminized, instead, his actions were very neat, quite eye-catching.
After Su Jinli had finished dancing, he picked up the microphone again: "Brother An's dance score is only 40, and that's already including some face-saving points. I can't give any more."
As it turned out, Su Jinli even scolded An Zhiyan at the end.
An Zhiyan used to think that Su Jinli was a fake-boy with a smile. Now, he thinks Su Jinli is a fake wine-boy.
Did he drink fake wine again?
"Very good," An Zhiyan said, then asked the audience, "Why don't you say that he's really bad?"
The fans weren't very cooperative this time, shouting, "We like it!"
"Super cute!"
An Zhiyan asked again, "Do you like me or Su Jinli?"
The answers this time were not very unified.
"I heard that you have a nickname called 'Little Koi' lately?" An Zhiyan returned to the subject and started interviewing Su Jinli.
"Yes, many people call me that, especially Chang Siyin. He always says that he has become lucky after meeting me."
"Do you think you deserve the credit?"
"Part of it, I suppose." Su Jinli certainly knew that Chang Siyin's fortunes changed because of him, so he wasn't lying. "Of course, it's also due to his own efforts. Without that, these opportunities wouldn't come."
"I also heard that you're really looking forward to being in a relationship, but you've not yet disclosed your type," An Zhiyan asked.
Fans love digging into such gossips. If Su Jinli had an ex-girlfriend, An Zhiyan probably wouldn't ask.
But as Su Jinli had never been in love, there was nothing to expose, so he asked very candidly, which the fans also enjoyed watching.
"Er... ha-ha." Su Jinli felt a bit embarrassed, laughed for a while before answering, "I want to date generally, not very specifically. Recently, I've been thinking more about practicing well and achieving good results in the competition."
"Do you plan to date after the competition?"
"Well if... someone... likes me..." Su Jinli's words were particularly shy, his eyes curved like a crescent moon, and his expression was exceptionally sweet while saying this, looking very cute.
An Zhiyan took a longer glance at Su Jinli before asking again, "I also heard that your contract does not restrict dating, and you said that if you meet someone you like, you would pursue them, right?"
After An Zhiyan finished this question, many girls in the audience became excited.
"Does the contract also restrict that?" Su Jinli asked in surprise.
"Yes."
"I see... Don't always talk about this," Su Jinli looked a bit embarrassed.
"So, what would you like to talk about? After all, this is your welfare time now."
"We can talk about food and my teammates."
"Okay, now let's have our young friend Su Jinli announce the top ten list."
The top ten have all been revealed.
Su Jinli merely needs to read them out by their names, then the other nine in the top ten successively step onto the stage. At this moment, Su Jinli consciously makes way and hands out the microphone.
Among the top ten, there are Su Jinli, Wu Yu, An Zhihan, Zhou Wenyuan, and others.
Chang Siyin did not make it into the top ten. To everyone's surprise, Fan Qianting also didn't enter and was left in the pending zone.
Apparently, Fan Qianting did have the skills, but his popularity ranking was not high. It's unknown whether it's because his screen time got cut out.
The competition results have ended, and the final summary was made, the public performance for today had come to an end.
Su Jinli tiredly steps off the stage, thinking about removing his makeup only increased his fatigue.
He was already drained, only hoping to rest for a while while waiting in line, but upon reaching the door of the makeup room, he finds no places left.
When An Zhiyan steps off the stage, he can be said to be crowded with handlers, assistants handing him water, people helping him remove his gear, and Lily taking An Zhiyan's jacket from him.
As he was walking past a player's area, he saw Su Jinli actually sitting at the doorway to the makeup room, leaning against the wall closing his eyes to rest. His heart suddenly clenched and he unknowingly stopped in his tracks.
Su Jinli was truly tired. For the past few days, he had been through intensive training, day-long rehearsals, and was practicing right before going on stage.
He was the most popular contestant and had a performance at the end, making him more exhausted than the rest.
An Zhiyan knew that many eyes were watching them. He did not stop for long. He took a bottle of water from an assistant's hand, tossed it to Su Jinli, and then left.
Su Jinli turned his head only to see the vast silhouette of An Zhiyan's team leaving.
He twisted the bottle cap open, took a sip, then holding the bottle, continued to lean against the wall to rest.
________________________
After the competition ended, they finally had a moment to catch their breath.
The next day, they were congregating only at noon, allowing the players some time to rest.
Once the players arrived at the hall, the results of the off-site votes were announced, followed by the announcement of the next task.
In the next round, the top ten contestants from the third round would become judges, waiting to be challenged by other players.
The pending players had to go through another round of competition. After this concluded, there would only be thirty people left.
The announcers for the voting results were Cang Ai and Gu Ju, as An Zhiyan had another schedule today, so he had to be replaced.
These two standing together truly made for a handsome man and a beautiful woman duo.
Cang Ai preferred to keep people in suspense, but he was relatively amenable. Holding the card, he announced the rankings.
The final results were as follows:
- An Zhihan
- Wu Yu
- Wei Jiayu
- Zhou Wenyuan
- Su Jinli
......
- Chang Siyin
......
- Fan Qianting
- Qiao Nuo
......
35. Zhang Caini
Fan Qianting stood among the crowd. Although he didn't show any outward signs, you could tell he was disappointed.
Many people had guessed by now that Fan Qianting's footage had been cut. This caused his ranking to fall from third place drastically.
And Zhang Caini, who also had fewer appearances, secured her rare votes on account of her impressive image.
After the announcement of the votes, the names of the 15 eliminated members were confirmed, leaving the stage in disappointment.
Su Jinli was not close with them, but their departure did create a sense of poignancy. Watching them leave, he too felt a tinge of sadness.
These individuals all poured their effort into the program. Some were eliminated due to their skills, while others due to the program edit decisions.
With limited airtime, they were just the unfortunate ones.
In the next round, the top ten contestants do not have assignments. They only need to solidify their practice and improve upon themselves.
The remaining contestants continue to prepare for their performances.
After the event, a few of them gathered. An Zhihan found a quiet place, leaning on Fan Qianting's shoulder, saying, "I'll talk with my brother to see if we can get you more airtime. Otherwise, you'll be at a disadvantage."
Fan Qianting wanted to refuse, to say he could rely on himself.
But... he was afraid that if he genuinely rejected the offer, he would miss out on the competition.
So he replied, chuckling, "I'll stick around with you all in the coming episodes. Perhaps, I'll get some screen time."
"I can't be concerned about others, but you, ranking third, this shouldn't happen. Look at Zhang Caini making waves. You should also find a strategy."
Fan Qianting swallowed his pride, stuffing his grievances deep down.
To say he wasn't disheartened would be false - it was painful. All he could do was hope for a comeback.
His expression flinched for a moment before looking at An Zhihan, "As long as I continue to work hard, they'll notice me one day."
"Right.'” agreed An Zhihan.
________________________
Following this, the production team returned their phones.
They seemed eager to shoot a video showing they could finally contact their families, but Su Jinli didn't have anyone to call, other than his manager. Therefore, there was nothing good to record, so he let others do it.
Returning to his bedroom with the phone, he dialed Hou Yong's number.
"Little Koi, you can make calls now?" Hou Yong asked excitedly.
"Yes. They suddenly returned our phones, probably because they announced the votes and deemed it safe."
"I'm on a high-speed train right now. I've been invited by the staff of Sejia Legend. They're offering to reimburse my expenses for the trip to discuss your contract."
"What do you think about this?"
"Large companies aren't necessarily suitable for you. There are many talented people there. They're willing to sign you now because you have some popularity. But if your fame fades, you could be completely buried. Also, there are a lot of internal intrigues in such companies. I don’t want you to get attacked."
"Oh..."
"However, I will still go and talk to them, see what terms they offer. If the conditions are sufficiently superior, everything else can be overlooked."
"Okay, sounds good."
Later, Hou Yong asked a lot more questions, such as how he was getting along with the other contestants and if there had been any unpleasant incidents with the program crew.
Then, Su Jinli learned something new, "Ah, so I need to give a gift in return when someone gives me one?"
"Yes, reciprocity is expected. Who sent you something?"
"An Zhihan and An Zhiyan both gave me gifts."
"They both treat you well; it seems they had intentions of bringing you into the company early on."
"So that's how it is..."
After hanging up the phone, Su Jinli had nothing else to do. He saw that Brother Hao kept sending him transfers, but he didn't accept them, so they had expired.
He immediately chatted with Brother Hao for a while.
Brother Hao: I thought you'd become famous and not bother with me anymore.
Su Jinli: No, I left you messages. My phone was confiscated.
Brother Hao: Hahaha, just kidding.
Brother Hao: [Transfer]
Su Jinli immediately accepted the payment.
Later on, he saw Xiao Mi posting that she had encountered danger but fortunately escaped it.
Yura campaigned for Su Jinli and even followed An Zhihan in the process. Wu Na and her group quieted down a lot.
Huasen Entertainment has been trying to maintain a friendly relationship with Sejia Legend. They are probably under pressure from higher-ups.
While looking at these messages, An Zhihan suddenly started to roar and began pacing back and forth around the room.
Seeing An Zhihan's explosive demeanor, Su Jinli couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong with you?"
An Zhihan nervously turned off the bedroom camera and closed the bedroom door.
"My three girlfriends have set up a discussion group and pulled me into it. They are suggesting we chat together," An Zhihan replied.
"You guys must have a good relationship," Su Jinli admired.
Fan Qianting, who was originally sulking on the upper bunk, laughed at Su Jinli's comment, sounding like he was letting out a fart.
Wu Yu must have been pretending to sleep. Upon hearing Su Jinli's words, he turned over, his shoulders shaking as he tried to hold back his laughter.
An Zhihan was speechless...
How should he explain that he had been cheating, and his three girlfriends caught him red-handed?
"Yes, our relationship is quite good; the three of them even went shopping together and took a group photo for me," An Zhihan responded despairingly.
"Let me see what your girlfriends look like," Fan Qianting leaned over.
An Zhihan pulled out his phone and showed Fan Qianting the photo.
"Hmm... Internet celebrity faces, normally quite flamboyant. I didn't expect your aesthetic taste to be so straight-guy,” Fan Qianting commented.
Su Jinli also leaned in to take a look, asking, "Are they triplets?"
"No…" An Zhihan responded, rolling his eyes.
Wu Yu finally couldn't hold back his laughter.
"Do you know that we're famous now?" An Zhihan suddenly brought up this topic. The change in subject was so abrupt that it confused everyone.
After the staff gave them their phones back, Wu Yu didn't even turn it on; he went directly back to bed for rest and recovery.
He's always been calm and steady, not prideful nor impatient, and doesn't care about other things.
After Fan Qianting called his parents, he decided to take a nap. Afterwards, he would have to prepare for the fourth round of competition. He also did not look at his messages, fearing that he would be upset upon seeing no footage of him in the show.
And Su Jinli, he first contacted his friends after receiving his phone, and likewise didn't have time to check the headlines.
An Zhihan, however, opened Weibo and was stunned by the number of his followers. He then looked up some news, visited some video websites, and followed Su Jinli and Fan Qianting on Weibo in the process.
After all these, he came back to WeChat and found his "harem" was on fire.
"Su Jinli and I have made the headlines on Weibo, and Wu Yu has made it to the trending list. My Weibo followers are about to hit one million, and Su Jinli's followers are also at 800,000 now," said An Zhihan. After he explained the general situation, Su Jinli nervously took out his phone.
Then, Su Jinli handed his phone to An Zhihan and said, "I can't log in to this. It needs a verification code."
An Zhihan took Su Jinli's phone, helped him log into Weibo, and immediately after, he watched as Su Jinli naively scrolled through his own Weibo posts. He was reading every single comment, his eyes growing sore.
"S-someone likes me! They like me!" Su Jinli exclaimed excitedly.
"Mhm," An Zhihan replied indifferently.
"And someone called me 'husband', should I marry her?"
"No, you won't be able to handle her."
"But… she's already calling me that. It's hard to turn down such goodwill."
An Zhihan sighed helplessly and said: "This kid is so excited."
Su Jinli stopped speaking and continued reading the comments.
"I'm just afraid they're plotting something together and will smear my reputation, ruining me," An Zhihan continued.
"Serves you right. Who asked you to engage in such activities?" Wu Yu asked.
"At most, they're steady hookups. I don't have much contact with them usually, and our chat is mostly about when to meet up, which hotel to pick. Or, it's about buying them things they fancy, what we call smash and buy," said An Zhihan. He felt particularly annoyed after his response.
"So the experienced driver has crashed?" Wu Yu continued teasing, still finding An Zhihan deserved everything that happens.
"I wouldn't care normally, but right now I'm in the spotlight. If something happens, I'm done."
An Zhihan brooded for a moment, then turned to them skeptically, asking, "You guys wouldn't let this slip out, would you?"
Fan Qianting replied, "I'm short of limelight, anyway. Why don't I expose you on Weibo?"
"......" An Zhihan was dumbstruck again.
Wu Yu shrugged, "I'm not interested in unveiling these things. Moreover, without solid proof, it's useless. Besides, as for Su Jinli, he probably still doesn't understand why you're so worried if your harem is harmonious."
An Zhihan paced around the room a bit before suddenly having an idea, "Are you guys close?"
"Don't tell me you're planning to split your girlfriend amongst us?" Fan Qianting asked curiously.
"I'll ask them to come out to have a talk. Will you accompany me to skip dorm?"
Ignoring them, Wu Yu lifted the quilt and crawled in, prepared to sleep.
Fan Qianting shook his head, "I can't. I have a task in the fourth round, will be leaving soon."
An Zhihan turned his gaze to Su Jinli.
Engrossed, Su Jinli was staring at his mobile screen, scrolling through the comments very carefully, probably afraid to accidentally touch something wrong.
"Su Jinli, are you my younger brother?" An Zhihan asked again.
Su Jinli shook his head, "No."
"But you called me Brother An before?"
"Oh... why do you ask?" Su Jinli was still not fully present.
"Come with me for a while. I'll get a leave slip. There's an occasion where we can gather today, it's safer. We both can head there."
"I won't go. I want to sleep."
"You might encounter Shen Cheng, or I can find a way to get you Shen Cheng's contact!"
"Alright, I'll go," Su Jinli immediately agreed.
________________________
Author's note:
Fans of An Zhiyan: Don't bully Su Jinli!
An Zhiyan: ???
(Note: Initiating manual removal from fan club)
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