novelraw Chapter 229 - 222: The Mentor’s Deep Affection
Chapter 229 - 222: The Mentor’s Deep Affection
"Come here, come here," Hu Binbin’s voice was full of anger.
"Let me be honest with you, out of all the groups we’ve run through, you’re the worst." Hu Binbin’s words made everyone lower their heads.
The emotionally fragile Lu Peiqin immediately began to cry, and Lv Fangxin felt equally despondent.
Hu Binbin was fully aware of the reasons, but he couldn’t show a shred of sympathy. The public performance was tomorrow, and no audience would care to hear excuses.
Hu Binbin continued, "Your song is pretty good, but if you can’t bring it to life on stage, what’s the point? You’ve truly disappointed me."
"Lv Fangxin, as the team leader, your performance happens to be the worst of all."
Hu Yanbin’s critique was like a knife to her heart, but Lv Fangxin couldn’t refute him.
"For many of you, this might be your last time on this stage. Is this how you want to perform?"
Tears silently streamed down the faces of the group members. They felt hopeless—not because they hadn’t worked hard, but because this seemed to be the best they could achieve despite all their effort.
"It’s already late. Everyone, wrap it up. All the instructors, thank you for today." Hu Binbin decided not to continue the rehearsal, knowing further delays would accomplish nothing.
As Hu Binbin walked away, Lv Fangxin could no longer hold back and began crying with her head bowed. She quickly forced herself to stop, shielding her face with her hands.
She simply couldn’t let others see her breaking down.
Chen Yinghan gently pulled her to the sidelines and began tidying her slightly disheveled hair.
"Yinghan, I just can’t get this rhythm down," she said in despair.
"Fangxin, we’re all feeling awful right now. I don’t even know how to comfort you."
Chen Yinghan shared Fangxin’s sense of helplessness; the situation truly felt bleak.
With heavy hearts, the group returned to the practice room to continue rehearsing.
Their spirits were crushed, but the harsh reality forced them to keep going regardless.
"Like this—and it’s simple. Keep to this rhythm: one, two, three, four." Chen Yinghan held Lv Fangxin’s hand, teaching her step by step.
But Fangxin, naturally tone-deaf, struggled to hit the cues no matter how hard she tried.
It was already 11 PM by now.
As the group was practicing out of sheer habit, the door suddenly opened. Unexpectedly, Hu Binbin walked in wearing a hat.
"Ah!"
Everyone gasped in surprise, and for just a moment, a warm wave of emotion swept through them. His arrival filled them with renewed courage and hope.
"Good evening, teacher," Lv Fangxin said, eyes brimming with tears as she bowed deeply to Hu Binbin. She had never felt such heartfelt gratitude toward anyone before.
"So," he asked, "have you sorted it out?" His smile carried encouragement.
After storming out, Hu Binbin had grown increasingly uneasy, his conscience weighing on him. He felt guilty for walking away from these girls, who had poured all their sweat and heart into their dreams only to see him abandon them.
Once, he had been just like them—yearning for success and recognition.
And so, he came back, knowing full well that his return might not improve the group’s faltering performance. But what he could give them was something pivotal: "the hope to carry on."
Sure enough, he saw a renewed spark of light rekindle in each of their eyes.
Hu Binbin began reorganizing their entire performance, making reasonable adjustments to the particularly challenging moves, substituting them with other details wherever possible.
"...Fangxin, don’t stop! Sing with me," Binbin encouraged as he stood directly in front of her, clapping the rhythm and guiding her over and over again.
Though naturally tone-deaf, Fangxin had a decent memory. With repeated practice, she eventually managed to hit the cues correctly.
By 4 AM, the group finally nailed their performance.
When Li Ke arrived punctually that afternoon, he had no idea how hard Lv Fangxin had worked the previous night.
Li Ke had his own troubles; he had been scammed. The ticket seller who swindled him for 15,000 yuan had disappeared without a trace.
Fortunately, however, the tickets Li Ke had applied for were approved.
The venue was the same, but this time, the fan support was significantly greater.
Aside from Meng Meixuan’s fans, Liu Feiyu, Qi Ziyue, and Zhang Zijing each had their own cheering squads as well.
Outside the studio, flags fluttered in the wind, and the aroma of pastries filled the air. This time, instead of a makeshift A4 support banner, Li Ke carried a professionally printed one.
What enraged him, however, was that Lv Fangxin’s company hadn’t bothered to organize any fan support for her.
"Damn that ’Shou’," Li Ke muttered as he made his way toward the auditorium.
Xiao Du and Mu Yunchu were also carrying lightboards as they walked inside.
Their application for a fan support spot had gone unusually smoothly this time, and the production team had allotted them the largest, most prominent section.
Xiao Du had his suspicions but wasn’t yet sure of anything. He planned to confirm things after the performance was over by meeting Lv Fangxin on her way out.
As he stepped into the studio, Xiao Du noticed that the crowd was even larger than last time.
In fact, this time the production team had arranged for an audience of 1,000 people, compared to just over 500 the previous round.
Waves of colorful neon signs and glowing sticks filled the venue. Although the show hadn’t started yet, the energy in the room was already electrifying.
In the waiting room, Meng Meixuan appeared relaxed, but inside, she was unbearably tense.
Their grueling days of rehearsal had yielded acceptable results, even managing to bring the struggling Jiang Meixing up to speed with the choreography.
Unexpectedly, Jiang Meixing’s striking looks had garnered a surprising number of fans who had even paired her with Meng Meixuan in a fan-created "couple."
Meixuan’s company was willing to encourage this kind of hype. If Lv Fangxin was the beloved rural sweetheart who effortlessly attracted wealthy sponsors,
then Meng Meixuan was the "big boss" who drew admirers like a magnet, particularly beautiful women.
Fu Xiaoyu, on the other hand, adjusted her hair absentmindedly. The bitterness of her last failure fueled her determination to "turn the tables" this time.
With the added stakes of a possible "like king" rescue, her group prepared to give it their all.
Former members of the disbanded girl group Magical Numbers, Liu Lixian and Fan Lei, were busy doing breathing exercises.
Liu Lixian, who initially had other plans, reconsidered after seeing how successful the show had become; she wanted more exposure for herself.
Fan Lei, however, was single-minded in her pursuit: forming a girl group and debuting was her ultimate goal, no matter how slim her chances seemed.
It wasn’t entirely hopeless, though. In recent days, fans had started visiting her during commutes to work. They said her signature heart-shaped pigtails left the deepest impression.
So she continued to sport the hairstyle, fearing her fans might forget her otherwise.
Though she tried her hardest to grab some screen time, the lack of company backing meant she wasn’t given many shots by the production team.
Her strategy was to participate in as many of the team’s interviews as possible since at least half of those segments would make it into the final broadcast.
The more popular contestants weren’t keen on these interviews, preferring to rest after their exhausting practices. To them, the additional airtime didn’t make much of a difference.
At this moment, Lu Bingbing felt disheartened. Watching from the waiting room screens, she noticed that Ye Yuwei’s support lightboards were overwhelmingly numerous, while hers were sparse.
By now, she understood that the production team was deliberately suppressing her group, Galaxy.
What made her even more dejected was that her company, despite promising to rally fans for voting, hadn’t achieved satisfactory results.
She also realized that casual supporters who weren’t her loyal fans were unlikely to sacrifice their votes for their favorite idols during the general elections to help her.