The Vicious Female Supporting Character Goes Viral After Her Masks Drop During the Talent Show - Chapter 35

The audience’s eyes were sharp; as soon as the performances for “Playing” Group A and Group B aired, the difference was night and day. Whether they were hardcore idol fans or casual passersby, everyone was stunned by Group B’s stage.

The view counts for Group B’s “Pure Focus” version and individual member fancams skyrocketed, quickly creating a massive gap between them and the other groups. The show’s bullet comments and comment sections were flooded with new viewers asking for information about Group B’s Center.

Zhong Yan’s fans immediately went to work promoting her:

“Do you like novels? Then come stan Zhong Yan! She’s a web-novel mogul; satisfaction guaranteed!”

“Do you like watching dramas? Then come stan Zhong Yan! A screenwriter with a conscience, the pride of Chinese dramas!”

“Do you like the stage? Then come stan Zhong Yan! From elegant songs in cheongsams to spicy dances in red—white roses or red roses, take your pick!”

“She gains fans the moment she appears! A top-tier trainee, the ‘Zhongwei Star’ of the domestic entertainment industry—the ever-changing Little Yan is worth it!”

For a while, fans were busy promoting and passersby were busy joining the fandom; everyone had forgotten to scold Tian Jingyu. That is, until they saw the final scores for the two groups—then the cursing began anew.

Passersby were shocked and confused.

“There’s only a two-point difference between Zhong Yan and Tian Jingyu? Am I blind, or was the live audience blind?”

“The voting must be rigged. I heard that before her scandal, Tian Jingyu was Dingming Entertainment’s main push. It’s hard not to suspect Dingming and the production team of colluding behind the scenes.”

“I’ve realized Dingming really has no eye for talent. First Yu Junran, now Tian Jingyu. The Main Dancer in ‘Playing’ Group B is also from Dingming, right? Her skill is clearly better than Tian Jingyu’s, yet Dingming doesn’t promote her.”

“That dancer is named An Tao. Did you guys see the late-night chat between her and Zhong Yan in the practice room? It was so heartbreaking; her talent is just being wasted.”

“If capital won’t support her, the audience will. I’m stanning her!”

“Zhong-laoshi was so sweet in that late-night chat too. I was so moved by what she said to An Tao at the end. The girls’ friendship is so ship-worthy! I hope An Tao and Zhong-laoshi debut together and walk the ‘Flower Path’!”

“Their CP (Couple) Supertopic is already open, friends! Let’s ship them together!”

Meanwhile, Zhong Yan’s fans were angry and heartbroken.

“Zhong-laoshi’s stage was perfect. To give us her best, she even fainted from exhaustion after leaving the stage. In the end, she only got two more votes than that piece of trash Tian Jingyu? This is literally killing me!!”

“Dammit, wasn’t there a rumor that Tian Jingyu drugged someone and made them faint? Ahhhh! The one she harmed must have been Zhong-laoshi! I’m going to kill that bitch Tian Jingyu!”

“Yan-fans, we’ve been provoked! For the second public performance, we go all out! Everyone, go grab tickets for the live show! We must give Zhong-laoshi the best support for the second stage! She shouldn’t have to suffer this injustice, and neither will we!”

Two hours after the program aired, Yu Junran’s press conference began, and the last shred of hope for his fans vanished. Yu Junran wept bitterly at the conference, apologizing through tears.

“…I was immature in the past and did wrong things. I have regretted it and felt guilty all these years, reflecting on myself every day. Please forgive the ignorance and impulsiveness of a youth, and give me a chance to turn over a new leaf…”

The live stream comments cursed him even harder.

“Can this acting be any faker? It’s making me nauseous. Stop babbling and get out! Leave the industry!”

“He says he ‘regretted it for years’ but used a malicious contract to suppress Yan Shi; he says he ‘felt guilty’ but leaked fake dirt to smear Yan Shi’s name. He says he’s sorry, but please give him a chance to keep making money in the industry… Yeah, I see it now. He’s an irredeemable piece of scum. Blacklist him immediately.”

“@Dingming Entertainment, treat Yu Junran exactly how you treated Yan Shi! Failing to inform the company of personal scandals is a breach of contract. Freeze Yu Junran’s activities immediately and never let him out for the rest of his life!”

Viewers of Best Girls noticed that as soon as Yu Junran’s press conference started, the production team replaced the video source. In the newly uploaded version, Yu Junran and Tian Jingyu had been edited out completely—not a shadow of them remained.

Everyone was puzzled: Did the production team just finish editing this in the last two hours? If so, why didn’t they just delay the episode’s release by two hours?

Zhang Jing sat happily watching the skyrocketing popularity curve of this episode. Just as he was chuckling to himself, his phone vibrated. It was a message from Xu You.

Zhang Jing opened it to see just four words: “You old, crafty fox.”

Zhang Jing laughed even harder. It seemed someone understood him after all.

The edited version had actually been ready for a long time. Releasing the unedited version first was a deliberate move to spark controversy and draw in passersby to watch the drama. And look—while watching the drama, those passersby became fans! It was essentially a way to pull a massive wave of new viewers into the show.

This episode featured Zhong Yan’s dominant first performance. Zhang Jing had great confidence in her and had to utilize her to the fullest to reap the ratings. Once Yu Junran’s press conference started, he swapped in the edited version. He got the buzz, and he got to show the “correct” stance. Mission accomplished.

Zhang Jing felt his calculation was the work of a genius!

“The pure see purity, and the dark see darkness.”

Hehe, the fact that the kid Xu You could see through it proved that he was an “old, crafty fox” too.

With the first performance aired, the storm surrounding Yan Shi and Yu Junran finally came to an end. Because he had received word early from Li Xing, Zhang Jing had activated emergency protocols ahead of time—appeasing sponsors and contacting a new mentor to replace Yu Junran. Everything proceeded in an orderly fashion, so the filming schedule was unaffected.

The day after the broadcast, the first ranking announcement was recorded on schedule. The results were mostly within Zhong Yan’s expectations.

She took first place by a landslide. Without Tian Jingyu, the vote gap between her and the second-place trainee was even larger, making any real competition almost impossible. As long as nothing went wrong later, Zhong Yan’s position as the Final Center was secure.

As for the other members of “Playing” Group B, Jin Li entered the debut lineup just as the original script had written, currently ranking 7th.

An Tao, however, had changed her fate. In the original script, she had always hovered around 16th or 17th place, never entering the debut circle. Now, An Tao finally sat in a coveted “sofa seat,” currently ranked 6th.

The other two members of Group B, who were originally on the verge of elimination in the 50s and 60s, rose to the top 20 thanks to the first performance. Both were safe and thrilled.

Aside from her teammates, Zhong Yan paid extra attention to the female lead, Xia Meng. Xia Meng also made it into the debut lineup, but compared to the original script, her rank had dropped by two spots to 8th. Xia Meng didn’t look very energetic; it was unclear if she was unhappy with her rank or if she simply hadn’t moved on from the Yu Junran scandal.

As the competition moved toward the second public performance, the filming schedule became tighter. After the rankings were announced, the trainees immediately began selecting songs that same evening.

The theme for the second performance was “Position Evaluation.”

Members of an idol group have different roles: Vocal, Dance, and Rap. For this task, there were four songs under each category. Each trainee would choose a song in their best area to form a group. Groups within the same category would compete against each other.

Since everyone had clear rankings now, the selection followed the order of rank. Once a song was full, it could no longer be chosen.

As the 1st place trainee, Zhong Yan had priority. Having already showcased her dancing in the first stage, she planned to return to her strongest suit, Vocal, to fully utilize her advantages.

Among the four Vocal songs, Zhong Yan immediately chose the classical-style song, “Pipa’s Wish.”

“Pipa’s Wish” was a new song that had become very popular online this year, especially in the ACG (Anime, Comic, Games) and “Gu-feng” (ancient style) circles. The song was adapted from the poem “The Song of the Pipa Player,” singing of a pipa girl’s sorrows in this life and her wishes for the next from her perspective.

Zhong Yan chose this song for three reasons:

It was the most difficult of the four, requiring high notes and Peking Opera-style singing—a perfect test of professional skill.

She felt there was an opportunity to incorporate an actual instrument into the performance to showcase a new skill.

It was an excellent “cross-over” song to attract fans from different subcultures.

After Zhong Yan, the other trainees began their selections. Among the top 9, most were Dance or Rap-oriented. Aside from Zhong Yan, the only top trainee specializing in Vocal was Xia Meng.

Though the trainees ahead of her wanted to “ride Zhong-laoshi’s coattails,” their positions didn’t match. Forcing themselves into the hardest Vocal group would only drag the team down and fail to show their own strengths. Being rational, they chose songs in their own expertise.

An Tao and Jin Li chose Dance and Rap songs, respectively. Zhong Yan hoped they could both shine. Finally, it was Xia Meng’s turn.

Xia Meng walked toward the Vocal area. Facing the four songs, she didn’t hesitate for a second and walked straight to Zhong Yan, joining the “Pipa’s Wish” group.

Zhong Yan was surprised. In the original script, Xia Meng hadn’t chosen “Pipa’s Wish”; she had chosen a sweet, modern pop love song.

From the perspective of personal strengths, Xia Meng had a sweet tone but a narrow range; she was expressive but lacked technical skill. Clearly, the love song suited her better than the technical demands of “Pipa’s Wish.”

The other trainees were also surprised. “Wow, why did Xia Meng pick this? It doesn’t seem to fit her style. Is she trying to challenge herself?” “Maybe she just wants to stick close to Zhong-laoshi, haha!”

Standing beside Zhong Yan, Xia Meng gave her a smile. Zhong Yan couldn’t quite describe the feeling that smile gave her—a bit fawning, a bit stiff, as if she had a secret, and a bit worried. It was just… strange. Zhong Yan could only return a polite smile.

The next day, the four members of the “Pipa’s Wish” group gathered in the practice room. Before training, they had to assign parts: Main Vocal 1, Main Vocal 2, Sub-Vocal 1, and Sub-Vocal 2.

Main Vocal 1 was responsible for the high notes in the chorus, while Main Vocal 2 handled the opera-style segments. The Sub-Vocals handled more of the verses.

Following the principle of fairness, Zhong Yan suggested they choose freely. The two other teammates quickly chose the Sub-Vocal positions. Zhong Yan then looked at Xia Meng. Zhong Yan could handle either Main Vocal part, so she waited for Xia Meng to pick first.

However, Xia Meng just looked at her with a fawning smile: “I’m fine with either. You choose first, Zhong-laoshi.”

Zhong Yan blinked, confused. She asked tactfully, “Are you sure you’re fine with either?”

To be honest, Zhong Yan still didn’t know why Xia Meng had picked this song. The high notes were beyond her range, and she had never heard Xia Meng sing opera style. Zhong Yan assumed Xia Meng might have some hidden talent she wanted to reveal.

“Xia Meng, there’s no need to be overly modest,” Zhong Yan said gently but firmly. “The whole group will perform better if everyone chooses the part they are best at.”

Sensing Zhong Yan’s slight disapproval, Xia Meng panicked slightly and stammered, “Ah… I-I’m sorry. Then… I’ll take the Main Vocal 1 part…”

The high notes would be a struggle, but it was better than the opera part which she couldn’t do at all. After speaking, she cautiously peeked at Zhong Yan’s expression.

Zhong Yan simply nodded. “Fine, then I’ll take Main Vocal 2.”

Seeing that Zhong Yan wasn’t angry, Xia Meng breathed a small sigh of relief. They then quickly assigned Zhong Yan as the Center and Leader. Although the outcome was expected, seeing Xia Meng clap so enthusiastically felt odd.

That strange feeling lasted all day. Xia Meng seemed to be deliberately trying to please her, clumsily attempting to get close, yet constantly hesitating as if she wanted to say something. Her mind clearly wasn’t on the training.

As the leader, Zhong Yan felt this would affect the group’s performance. After training ended that night, she asked Xia Meng to stay behind.

Zhong Yan got straight to the point and asked if something was on her mind. Xia Meng lowered her head and stammered for a while before finally summoning the courage to look up.

“Zhong-laoshi,” she said cautiously, “could I ask you… for a small favor?”

“What is it?”

“…Could you please help plead Yu Junran’s case… in front of President Lu?”