How can you ascend to heaven when you are a star?

Chapter 462 Living in the Shadows

As expected, the Super Trainee finale became a trending topic.

However, the focus of everyone's discussion was not how exciting the final was, nor how outstanding the nine members who formed the 'Super Girl' group were. On the contrary, almost everyone was frantically complaining about how outrageous the voting results were and how poorly the members performed.

Some netizens even created a "Compilation of Finals Mistakes" video, which garnered millions of views in just 10 minutes.

In the video, Jiang Lanqing's dance moves were stiff, Bai Yuyan's singing was off-key, and Lin Xi forgot the lyrics halfway through... In short, all nine members made mistakes to varying degrees.

There's no worst, only worse.

The comments section below the video was filled with mockery of the Super Girl group.

"What kind of rubbish is that? It's not even as good as the square dancing aunties near my house."

"Didn't they say the minimum practice time was two years? And this is the level you're at?"

"To win even if you forget your lyrics, sing off-key, or go out of tune—are they treating the audience like idiots?"

"I used to think they were very talented, but now I realize this is their true level."

"If the show wasn't rigged, I'll livestream myself eating shit while doing a handstand!"

"With this level of talent, they think they can debut? They might as well disband right now." This comment garnered over 5 likes, clearly showing that netizens have no confidence in the Super Girl group, and could even be described as disdainful and disgusted.

At the same time, thanks to the contrast with Super Girl, the topic of Future Girls has gained another surge in popularity. Everyone is comparing the Super Girls group with Future Girls, and the final result is universally acknowledged online: they are simply incomparable.

Seeing the rising popularity of the future girl group, Feng Xinghai, who was standing backstage, kicked over the trash can next to him.

He had expected the trainees to make mistakes on the final stage, but he didn't expect to receive so much criticism.

Where are the fans who usually support these trainees? Where are the members of their fan clubs? Hurry up and stand up for your trainees! Why aren't you speaking up? Are you out of data?
Chen Peng stood aside, not daring to speak. Besides not wanting to be the next one to be kicked, he felt mostly frustrated and helpless.

If it weren't for President Feng's insistence on eliminating Chen Silu and others, the Super Trainee program wouldn't have become an object of universal contempt.

He just checked the Douban rating, which has dropped from 6.9 a few days ago to 6.2. He can foresee that after this overnight fermentation, it will definitely drop below 6 points tomorrow, or even lower.

Chen Peng secretly glanced at Feng Xinghai. For those few minutes, he had ruined the entire program. Feng Xinghai, you are the real sinner.

Perhaps sensing the hostile gaze, Feng Xinghai suddenly turned to look at Chen Peng, staring intently at him, and demanded sharply, "Director Chen, explain to me what exactly happened tonight?"

Chen Peng shuddered, thinking: Isn't it all because of you?
Eliminating the best trainees is one thing, but they still insist on promoting these nepotism hires. Can a bunch of rotten fish be stewed into a good soup?

However, he didn't voice these thoughts. The payment for his services hadn't been settled yet, and he didn't want to lose both his reputation and the money.

"Mr. Feng." Chen Peng swallowed, trying to make his voice sound steady. "It's probably because the trainees were too nervous, plus the popularity of Future Girls is too high, which has caused the show's reputation to get a little out of control."

He absolved himself of all responsibility, shifting all blame onto the trainees and the future girl, thus escaping unscathed.

Upon hearing this, Feng Xinghai's lips twitched involuntarily. He had pre-selected the nine trainees who would ultimately win, and he had ordered the elimination of the five trainees from Future Girls. Now, by shifting the blame onto these people, wouldn't that be tantamount to saying that it was his responsibility?

Mudd!

They're trying to shift the blame onto me.

Feng Xinghai was furious; he was the vice president!

"Out of control?" Feng Xinghai sneered, glaring at Chen Peng. "What kind of director are you? Isn't your job to plan and control things?"

After saying that, he pointed to the nine trainees next to him and continued, "They've trained for so long and rehearsed so many times, and you're telling me they're nervous? Isn't that your problem?"

Chen Peng was completely stunned.

Knowing it was the trainee's fault, why blame him?

That's not how you shift the blame.

"President Feng, I've done my best. We rehearsed repeatedly before the competition, and they all performed well. But who knew that something would go wrong during the live broadcast?" Chen Peng explained in a low voice.

"Trying your best? What a fine 'trying your best'!" Feng Xinghai sneered. "If this is your level, then let's not work together anymore. You don't even have a backup plan. What kind of variety show director are you?"

"No, Mr. Feng, I prepared a contingency plan, but it didn't work." Chen Peng was anxious. In the end, he had no choice but to blame Zhang Wen directly. "It's all that guy surnamed Zhang's fault. If he hadn't set the release date of Future Girls' album tonight, so many people wouldn't have caused trouble."

He became more and more agitated as he spoke, as if Zhang Wen was truly the mastermind behind it all, and that he and Feng Xinghai were both victims.

Feng Xinghai frowned, his fingers clenching into a tight fist. How could he not know that Chen Peng was trying to shift the blame? But those words hit him where it hurt.

Today, the popularity of Future Girls is indeed like a mountain pressing down on "Super Trainee," making it hard for them to breathe. It is precisely because Future Girls' new album is so popular that the trainees' performance in the finals looks like garbage.

'That bastard, don't ever fall into my hands again, or I'll make you pay!'

Feng Xinghai thought to himself.

He ignored Chen Peng and turned to the nine trainees, saying, "I don't care how you perform on the final stage, but now that you are all members of Super Girl, you must discipline and motivate yourselves according to the requirements of a new group, and live up to my expectations. Do you understand?"

"I heard it." "Yes, I heard it."

The responses were quiet and disjointed, with some people not even opening their mouths.

When Feng Xinghai saw this, he was so angry that he gritted his teeth. He had hoped that this group could surpass Future Girls to prove that his decision was correct and that there was no shady dealing in the finals. But it seems that it was all wishful thinking on his part.

If it were any other trainee, he would definitely have given them a good scolding without hesitation. But these nine trainees all have sugar daddies behind them. He can't hit them or scold them. Otherwise, how will he ask his sugar daddies for money in the future?
"Clap clap clap!"

Feng Xinghai clapped his hands vigorously and encouraged loudly, "Cheer up, everyone! Believe in yourselves and believe in the company. The company has already tailored a debut song for you, and we will also release an album for you later. I know you are feeling very disappointed right now, so you should work even harder to prove yourselves and defeat Future Girls. Do you have the confidence?"

"Have."

"Have!"

One voice responded after another. Although it wasn't in unison this time, at least everyone opened their mouths, and their voices were louder than before, which could be considered a sign of encouragement.

"Alright, go back on stage now, take a few photos, then go home and rest. Report to iQiyi tomorrow," Feng Xinghai said.

For Supergirl's new album, he not only gathered all the elites from iQiyi's music section, but also invited many famous musicians. He was determined to annihilate the future girl group.

Behind Future Girls is only one person surnamed Zhang, while behind Super Girls is not only iQiyi Video, but also the entertainment company to which they belong.

He didn't believe that so many people couldn't defeat one person. To put it bluntly, even if each person just spat at him, they could drown that guy surnamed Zhang.

"You just wait, you surnamed Zhang, this isn't over!"

Upon hearing what President Feng said, Chen Peng secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He then immediately led the nine trainees to the stage and arranged for a photographer to take pictures of them.

Soon after, the official Weibo account of "Super Trainee" posted a set of nine photos.

In the photo, nine trainees are striking various poses on the stage of the finals, with a huge, bright screen in the background displaying the words: Super Girl.

The caption reads: We've formed a group!
The group photo attracted countless netizens as soon as it was released. In just over ten minutes, the number of comments exceeded 10,000, but they were all criticisms of the Super Girl group.

"Holy crap, they actually have the nerve to announce their group debut! How shameless can they be?!"

"No matter how well the styling is done, it can't hide the fact that the professional skills are poor. They're not even good-looking, and they'll be eliminated by the market sooner or later."

"What Super Girl? Just call it the weakest girl group."

"From today onwards, I am leaving all fan clubs and support groups related to Super Girl and turning from a fan to a hater."

Some people even turned the mistakes of the nine trainees into memes and posted them in the comments section, which quickly garnered countless likes from netizens.

Chen Peng had already seen too many negative comments tonight and had developed an immunity to them. However, for the sake of the show's reputation and the future of the girl, he still arranged for the publicity department to control the comments.

As a result, negative comments in the comment section quietly decreased, while comments supporting the Super Girl group gradually increased.

"Support Super Girls, and look forward to their works."

"Sisters, don't listen to the barking dogs, believe in yourselves, you are the best."

"No one is perfect, and everyone makes mistakes. I believe you can become better."

However, these comments were met with backlash from netizens as soon as they surfaced.

"The brainless fans need to take their medication. Let your idol dance and sing well first."

"Looking forward to their work? What if they release an album that doesn't even reach a fraction of Future Girls' popularity!"

"I don't know if things will get better, but your sister is really in a bad state right now."

As the criticism grew, the topic "Super Girls, the weakest girl group in history" quietly climbed to the top of the trending searches. Clicking on it revealed compilations of mistakes made by netizens, and some even created numerous parody videos using these mistakes as material to satirize the show's alleged behind-the-scenes manipulation and pre-selection of members.

Just then, the official Weibo account of Future Girls also made a move.

Although there is only one picture, the content written on it is quite explosive: "The Best of Us" has sold over 120 million copies.

Actually, it had already been broken long ago, but Zhang Wen just wanted to annoy the "Super Trainee" program team at this time.

As the old saying goes: A gentleman takes revenge even after ten years.

On such an important day as the finale of "Super Trainee", he had to interfere and vent his anger.

The comments section below this Weibo post was filled with congratulatory messages like "Congratulations" and "Applause," a stark contrast to the comments on the "Super Girl" page.

Chen Peng also saw this Weibo post and was so angry that he gritted his teeth. He felt like the other party was a leech that he couldn't shake off no matter what he did. However, the thought that the 'Super Girls' would have to live in the shadow of 'Future Girls' made him panic. It was a fear of being controlled.

……

(End of this chapter)