Chapter 38
Li Jingrong started with Class F. There were a total of twenty-three people in the class. Whether it was deliberate or not, Ling Rong, the transfer student, was put in the last place.
By the time the twenty-second person was announced, the members of Class F had been promoted or stayed at the same level. Even the highest-ranked person had only moved to Class B. Consequently, all eyes were on Ling Rong.
Could he make it to Class A?
"I think he could be in Class A. I saw Ling Rong working hard, and he's improved rapidly."
"But I feel like the instructors are strict, with only five people getting Class A out of a hundred, and there is a big gap between Class F and A…"
"It must be A; otherwise, why would they keep Ling Rong as the last one so mysteriously…"
While numerous trainees were still whispering and discussing, Li Jingrong finally called out, "Ling Rong from Shengyue Entertainment, please step forward to receive your evaluation ranking."
Ling Rong went on stage and bowed to Li Jingrong, "Hello, PD."
Li Jingrong smiled slightly and asked, "Ling Rong, many people are saying that you got in through the back door. What's your take on that?"
Facing this question, Ling Rong didn't panic. She didn't argue whether she had used connections to get in; instead, she firmly stated, "That's why I've set my goal for this evaluation as Class A."
Even if she had gotten in through the back door at first, she was determined to prove herself to everyone through her abilities.
Seemingly satisfied with this response, Li Jingrong curved his lips into a smile, saying in a light tone, "You can now open and check your evaluation results."
Taking the envelope from him and looking at the results inside, Ling Rong calmly closed the card, leaving the audience guessing about her results as they could not make out anything from her expression.
"Did you check it thoroughly?" Li Jingrong asked.
"I did."
"Good. Please proceed to your designated position, then."
"Thank you, PD." Once again bowing to him, Ling Rong tightly clutched the item in her hand and walked again towards the place where all the trainees had gathered.
"Is it Class A?"
"It has to be A! If it's not A, I'm not having dinner tonight!"
Ling Rong didn't say a word, but headed towards row F first, which surprised everyone. Had her ranking not changed?
However, after embracing several people from Class F, she continued walking up the stairs.
She passed Class D, bypassed Class C, and finally reached row B.
Because Qiao Lin stood at the outermost edge, he was the first to give her a hug. Next, Ling Rong's gaze fell on Gu Ningyan. Without saying a word, Gu Ningyan also embraced her. Being a typical tall and lanky person with a height of 186 cm, Gu Ningyan made Ling Rong, who was 11 centimeters shorter than him, look even more delicate within his embrace.
If she belonged to Class B, Ling Rong could have simply stood next to Qiao Lin after hugging Gu Ningyan.
However, she didn't. Class B was not an obstacle for her to climb higher.
She continued up the steps, reaching the same level as Gao Jingxing, Hu Yue, and others.
The audience below immediately burst into enthusiastic applause. Rising to Class A, Ling Rong had really done it!
Hu Yue had already opened his arms in a welcoming gesture, "Congratulations, my young prince."
"Thank you." Ling Rong hugged him back.
Once Ling Rong had settled in, Li Jingrong also offered his congratulations, then looked at the other trainees, "Ling Rong is the first trainee to successfully advance to Class A, and from Class F at that. Tell me, can you do it too?"
"We can!"
The announcement continued, starting with Class D. There were originally 25 people in Class D. Ten rose, five fell, and the remaining ten remained unchanged, but none advanced to Class A. One person from Class C leveled up to A, while Gu Ningyan and Qiao Lin from Class B also successfully advanced to Class A. One member of Class A was demoted to Class B.
After all the changes, Class A had increased from five to seven people. Gao Jingxing, Qi Haoran, and Hu Yue from Shengyue remained unchanged along with Mo Huai from Tianxing Entertainment. Ling Rong, Gu Ningyan, and Qiao Lin were the new additions.
"Alright, after three days of training, some of you have risen, some have remained the same, and some have fallen. Therefore, you need to know that hard work truly gets noticed. Tomorrow is your first performance, and right after the performance, I'll officially announce the accumulated pick votes from the first phase to now. At that point, some of you will need to leave."
The crowd sighed in disbelief. The lively and joyous past few days had almost made them forget the harsh competition here, and that eventually someone would have to leave.
Without giving the trainees too much time to digest the shock, Li Jingrong quickly said, "Alright, everyone, you've worked hard today. Go back and rest for a while because we have a dress rehearsal tonight."
"Take care, PD!"
________________________
During dinner, Ling Rong automatically sat next to Gu Ningyan in the dormitory, elbowing him while eating, "Congratulations, Mr. Gu from Class A."
The corners of Gu Ningyan's mouth involuntarily rose in a smile, "You, too."
Thinking that they would be able to study in the same class and getting a step closer to their goals made Gu Ningyan's mood even more relaxed.
Mu Xiuyuan, who was sitting at the same table, noticed late: "Ah, big brother, I've noticed that you've been smiling a lot more lately and seem much more approachable than when you're at the company."
When he was suddenly paired up by the company with Gu Ningyan to participate in "Cheer Up, Idol!" show, he was worried for quite some time. After all, Gu Ningyan was, in a way, his senior, and the latter's constant silent and reserved demeanor made him afraid to speak up during training.
Gu Ningyan shot him a casual glance: "You talk too much, just eat."
After a while, Gu Ningyan remembered that he was his junior and that he had successfully moved up to Class C that day. Thus, he personally picked up a piece of meat for him and praised him, "You’ve done well these days, keep it up and don’t slack off."
Mu Xiuyuan's eyes instantly lit up: "Thank you, big brother!"
The dress rehearsal in the evening started at eight. The trainees, now in their new class uniforms, were assigned to different positions on the stage according to their classes. The seven members of Class A naturally had the most prominent position at the front.
However, when it came to deciding who will be in the center position (C-position) on stage, Li Jingrong was again in a dilemma. In his view, all the Class A trainees had their strengths, and they all had high popularity levels. But there’s only one C-position, who should he assign it to?
In the end, Li Jingrong let the seven members of Class A make an internal vote. Soon, Gao Jingxing and Gu Ningyan were nominated.
Between two choices, Li Jingrong decided to let their abilities speak for themselves. "You two, stand left and right and dance for me, then I'll make a decision."
Both of them readily agreed.
After completing nearly four minutes of dance, Li Jingrong looked from left to right and ultimately chose Gao Jingxing.
He didn't forget to point out what he thought were Gu Ningyan’s issues: "You're actually a great dancer, and I can hardly find any flaw in your movements. There's just one thing you could improve: your facial expression management. You are performing to an audience; no one wants to see a cold face. You need to learn to smile."
Li Jingrong hit straight to the point. Gu Ningyan did indeed have a shortfall when it came to facial expressions, which of course ties in with his past experiences.
"I understand, thank you, PD." After catching his breath, Gu Ningyan thanked him. He was well aware that Li Jingrong had rightly identified his greatest shortcoming.
The center position was eventually assigned to Gao Jingxing. Ling Rong, who had voted for him, casually patted his shoulder and said, "It's okay, there will be more opportunities."
"Okay," Gu Ningyan responded seriously. Next time, he was determined to be the center of the group, even if only to fulfill Ling Rong's expectations of him.
The public performance officially started the next day. The sight of the audience filled with enthusiastic cheers got even Gu Ningyan, who has been in the industry for five years, excited. This grand and ceremonial stage was indeed a first for him.
He must to do perform at his best and leave no room for regret.
As the intro to the opening dance, "Give Me Love," started playing, a hundred trainees, dressed in white uniforms resembling Western-style school uniforms seen in comics, initiated their dance. Their youthful vigor accompanied by lively music instantly triggered the audience’s cheers. The excitement reached its peak during the climax.
"Ling Rong! Ling Rong! Mommy loves you!"
"Gao Jingxing! Gao Jingxing, you're the best!"
Fans in the audience screamed excitedly for their chosen "brothers", frantically waving their light signs, hoping to catch the attention of their idols.
So, this is what a stage feels like. No wonder countless people are willing to go through so much just to make it in the entertainment industry.
After the music ended, Li Jingrong, as the host, announced the start of the on-site voting. Thinking about the ranking results to be disclosed next, all trainees couldn't help but feel their hearts pound rapidly.
"Five, four, three, two, one, voting ends!"
The first public performance officially came to a close. The hundred trainees once again returned to the platform where they stood the day before. But today, the number of seats facing them has reduced from a hundred to fifty.
"You all performed brilliantly today. However, some of you will unfortunately have to leave. After two rounds of online voting and today's offline voting, only fifty out of a hundred people will remain. Now, let's announce the fiftieth rank."
From the fiftieth to the tenth rank, everyone seemed to be undergoing extreme emotional distress. Those whose names were called were already excitedly seated in their positions while those yet to be called couldn't help but begin to feel disheartened.
The ninth to sixth ranks were finally announced, but Ling Rong, who was previously ranked last at a hundredth, was still not called.
Gu Ningyan, who was previously ranked sixth, also hadn't been called yet. But what worried him more in his heart was whether Ling Rong could carry on.
Debuting together and experiencing successful progress was a promise they made while staying together in a dormitory.
"Now, the announcement for the fifth-ranked trainee... from Shengyue Entertainment Media, Qi Haoran! Congratulations."
Despite dropping from the third position to the fifth, Qi Haoran did not show any surprise. He graciously accepted his ranking and made his way to the stage.
Another slot was taken, only four were left now.
After Qi Haoran shared his thoughts, Li Jingrong began announcing the fourth rank.
"He's very beautiful and has been recognized by all trainees across all studios for his high appearance value."
As Li Jingrong described the fourth-ranked trainee, a group of people suddenly started calling out the names of Hu Yue and Ling Rong.
No longer keeping everyone in suspense, Li Jingrong announced with a smile, "The fourth place goes to..."
"Ling Rong!"
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