Dreams come true - Idol Producer Fan Chengcheng FF (RESQ SAGA PART 1)

4. Let's begin

The Grammarie boy's performance was really good and three out of four of them got B rank, which was quite nice. I also hoped I could get to meet Xiao Gui and Zhu Xingjie during the program, although Zhou Yanchen did catch my eye as well.

More trainees kept being ranked and it was already a quarter to three in the morning. We were all either asleep or in the process of falling asleep, so PD advised us to stretch.

Suddenly, Zhang PD saw Thai written on his paper and asked if anyone could speak any Thai. Everyone just said "Swasdi khrab(สวัสดีครับ)".

"Chan samart phud phasa Thai dai lek noi," I said raising my hand.

"What did you just say?" Asked PD.

"I said I can speak a little Thai." I answered.

"Didn't you say hours ago that you spoke Chinese, Korean and English? Why didn't you say Thai too?" Asked Jackson.

"I just know some simple phrases." I explained.

["So... How many languages do you actually know?" One of the girls from the staff asked.

"If we take into account basic sentences... English, Spanish, Korean, Cantonese, Mandarin, Thai, French and German." I answered. "So, eight it is."]

The trainee then came in and we all greeted him in Thai. He seemed really cheerful. As a joke they mentors were trying to speak some Thai, and Zhang PD asked for Som Tam which made me laugh.

"If you can do any better, come here!" he told me when he heard me laughing.

"You know she can," Jieqiong said, and all the trainees laughed.

"True," he said and turned back to the trainee suppressing a laugh. "Let's see you perform."

He started singing and it made us all have so much fun it was like a boost of energy for all of us. We were all up and dancing. The mentors gave him D rank, though. They had to be fair even if they made us all have fun.

Banana Entertainment, to me, had the most outstanding performance of all. They were such a full group that it looked as if though they had already debuted. Their harmonies were jaw-dropping and You Zhangjing's high notes were unbelievable.

There was something wrong, however. The dance break was too familiar but when Zhang PD asked Lin Chaoze if they had made it up, Lin Chaoze said he created most of it, so I was not worried since I was sure they had borrowed it from someone fairly popular.

I looked at Jackson and his gaze met mine. I then recognized it: Yugyeom, his groupmate, had done it. He sighed and turned back to work. He looked quite upset. I did not get why, though, as he said he created most of it and not the entire thing.

They had a really tough time ranking them because in global they all did amazing but individually there some of them were lacking power.

In the end, Lin Chaoze got A rank, You Zhangjing B and Li Ruotian, Lin Yanjun, Qiu Zhixie, Lu Dinghao, Gao Maotong, Jiang Jingzuo and Bei Honglin C. PD told Gao Maotong that he should be thankful because the others helped him pull up, which at that moment I felt like it was too cruel yet also true.

I did not quite agree with some of the decisions the mentors made for their rankings. To me, You Zhangjing and Lin Yanjun deserved to be in A rank too, but I was sure PD had his own reasons for ranking them that way.

After the rest of the trainees had finished their performances and had received their new rankings, PD summed up how many people had gotten into which rank.

"Rank A: eight people. Rank B: eighteen people. Rank C: thirty-five people. Rank D and F : twenty people," summed up Zhang PD. "The ranking evaluation ends here. You all have worked hard. Also, thank you to all mentors. You have worked hard. Please, have a short break." 

We all bowed to the mentors as they left, but PD still stood before us and took his time looking at every single one of us, almost as if he were reminiscing old times.

"Here, there's something prepared for you guys," he said and turned to the screen.

We all looked, and a really emotive video appeared on the screen. Pictures of our training life were shown. The pain and suffering: the downside to fulfilling our dream. People think it is easy to become a performer, but that is because they only see what they want to see. They do not know all the arduous work that there is behind all of the lively and happy performances that they see. Seeing all the boys going through pain made me start to tear up and, even though I tried to control it, I ended up shedding a couple of tears.

PD was once a trainee too. We shared the same dream, the same path, the same feelings. He wanted us to feel as if though nothing was impossible. If he made it, why wouldn't we?

"...The most precious time is when you are a trainee," he said in the middle of his speech.

That line really struck me hard. I had to work hard, to enjoy the time I had as I trainee before maybe becoming an idol or ending as a completely different thing. Still, I had to make sure there were no regrets.

["It doesn't matter whether you are number 101 or 1, you need to work hard; to improve every day. If you are already giving 100%, then give 120%; if you are giving 120%, give 150%, but never think it is enough." I said.]

"Citizen producers," PD said guiding our bow. "Please take care of us!"

"Now I will announce the first mission: Theme song performance." Said PD once we were all back to work. "In three days, 101 trainees will have to learn and perform the theme song. According to your performance, a ranking re-evaluation will be held. Next, let us see the song."

We all looked back again at the screen to check it. The song was really catchy, and, to me, it seemed fairly easy so I probably would not have a problem learning it.

"You will only have a chance to record," PD said and we all became nervous. "Results will be announced in three days."