I keep getting dragged into fierce competition while struggling in survival show

Chapter 3

How to Avoid Getting Cut in the Initial Stage Without Support from the Company?

When Gu Ye Ning and his two teammates went on stage, they happened to run into trainees from the previous company, who had just finished their initial ratings and were coming down. All the trainees from that group had "B" ratings stuck to their chests.

The first "A" rating still hadn't been given. No surprise there—Gu Ye Ning remembered who received the first "A" in his previous life.

After a few steps, Sheng Fan, who was at the front, turned back to look.

"Wow! Look over there!"

"What is it?" Gu Ye Ning was getting a headache from Sheng Fan's sudden exclamation.

"That guy is really handsome."

Gu Ye Ning turned back upon hearing this, and the group they had just brushed past also turned to look at them.

To create a cinematic effect for their entrance, the lighting in the passageway from the waiting room to the stage gradually brightened from dark to light. In midair, Gu Ye Ning's gaze met the eyes of someone looking at him. The person was standing at the boundary between light and shadow, turning around as if in a slow-motion scene from a movie, frame by frame, quiet and silent, breathtakingly beautiful.

It was Guan Feng Xian from Quansheng Entertainment.

In his previous life, among the 200 trainees who participated in the internal vote for "Top Visual of Starry Brilliance," he ranked second, just one vote behind Gu Ye Ning. The show's editors even borrowed a line from Sanmao(1) to describe him: "Half bathed in the shade, half in sunlight. Very silent, very proud, never relying, never searching."(2)

"Alright, stop staring." Coming back to his senses, Gu Ye Ning raised his hand and pinched Sheng Fan's neck, pulling him back as if grabbing his cat by the scruff of its neck.

But as he turned around, he saw Ye Cong Ming trip on the step, his left foot catching on his right, almost falling.

Gu Ye Ning quickly grabbed his wrist and pulled him back. The three of them stumbled onto the stage.

"Hahahahaha—"

The trainees from other companies seated below, as well as the show's PD Shen Lian and several mentors, burst into laughter. The large space instantly filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

"What happened? Are you nervous?" Shen Lian finally stopped laughing and raised the microphone to ask. His face was thin, his eyes deep and somber. He was once a legendary singer-songwriter who had transitioned into a music producer. It wasn't easy to make him laugh, given his reserved personality.

This hadn't happened in his previous life, so naturally, Shen Lian wouldn't have asked such a question.

"Reporting to PD, we just bumped into the previous company, and there was someone particularly handsome among them. Maybe he got stunned," Sheng Fan said, eager to stir up trouble.

Ye Cong Ming gloomily shoved him.

Gu Ye Ning, however, decided to shift the blame: "That's right, Sheng Fan almost whistled at him."

Sheng Fan: "..."

Sheng Fan felt his sexual orientation was once again in danger. "No, I'm straight, I'm not—I didn't."

Before he could explain further, Shen Lian picked up the microphone amidst the laughter.

"You're all very handsome," Shen Lian said warmly. "I hope your performance will also make us exclaim 'handsome.'"