Amateur talent show? Top mentors are my students.

He Xu has two major flaws.

His biggest flaw is that he has a sharp tongue; he can't stand not swearing.

The meeting room was dimly lit, and three teenagers, around fifteen or sixteen years old, sat together, staring intently at the screen.

The screen showed the official direct shot of their senior, Shen Yiheng, from last year's tour.

In the brightly lit stadium with tens of thousands of seats, the top idol, now known as the "King of the Stage" by fans, opened the show with a bang to the beat of the drums. Every movement was precise and powerful, perfectly timed.

The barrage of comments drifted by densely—

"My husband is going to kill me!!!"

"This is the pinnacle of idol popularity in the Chinese entertainment industry!!!"

"If anyone says there's no stage in the Chinese entertainment industry, I'll send them this link!!!"

The boys were thrilled, their eyes gleaming with envy.

"Smack."

The video is paused.

Someone immediately realized what was happening and looked aggrieved: "Teacher, why did you pause? We haven't finished watching it yet!"

He Xu sat at the head of the conference table, leaning back in his chair, his posture casual.

The zipper of the sports jacket was only half-zipped up, and the cuffs were rolled up to the forearms, revealing a section of well-defined arms.

His facial features are very defined, with high brow bones, a straight nose, and upturned eyes.

At twenty-four, he looks younger than his actual age, yet he's also more intimidating than he actually is.

"Look, look, all you do is look! I'm here to teach you, not to let you swoon!"

He Xu's voice was very low, abnormally low, mixed with a sickly, damaged hoarseness that didn't match his face.

People who hear him speak for the first time are always stunned for a moment, a question mark flashing in their eyes—what's wrong with this person's voice?

But the boys were clearly used to it.

"It wasn't us who ordered it, you put it here yourself..." a boy sitting in the corner retorted quietly.

"I'm showing you how to break down the moves, not so you can just stand there yelling 'husband'!"

"But Heng Ge dances really well..." someone muttered.

"Good my ass!" He Xu glanced at him, impatiently complaining, and drew circles around with a laser pointer in his hand. "Hand movements, shoulders, feet, not a single one is clean—one shift of weight, and he jumped like he stepped on a toad! His core is completely scattered!"

The laser pointer's red dot forcefully poked Shen Yiheng's waist and abdomen twice on the screen.

The boys looked at each other, some wanting to laugh but not daring to.

That's Shen Yiheng, the pinnacle of singing and dancing in the Chinese entertainment industry, whose album sales have been number one for three consecutive years.

Now, in He Xu's eyes, it's worthless.

But no one dared to refute it.

"After teaching him for five years, he's only gotten worse..."

It's perfectly normal for teachers to scold students.

He Xu is a dance teacher—not the kind at a children's palace, of course.

From the age of eighteen until now, he has trained seven boy groups and four girl groups, as well as countless lead dancers and dancers.

Shen Yiheng was one of the first batch of students he taught.

I was only seventeen years old then, and I stumbled and staggered even when I was jumping on the floor. I don't know how many times He Xu scolded me until I cried.

Now look what's happened; others have debuted and become top stars, while He Xu is still stuck in the practice room teaching kids.

The world is impermanent.

"So, if you act like him, never tell anyone I'm your teacher! You'll be too ashamed!"

He Xu spoke earnestly, which finally made the boys laugh.

"Teacher, let's talk about it when we have the chance to debut like Heng Ge." These words were spoken by Yang Sheng, who was seventeen years old and had the longest training time among this group of trainees. He was also the most hardworking one.

However, hard work does not guarantee a debut.

Without opportunity, even the best ability is wasted.

When Yang Sheng said this, his tone carried the innocence and longing unique to young people.

Several children nearby nodded in agreement, their eyes sparkling.

He Xu threw the laser pointer onto the table, making a crisp sound.

"Alright, you all want to debut, right?" He leaned back in his chair, his gaze sweeping over everyone's faces, and said slowly, "Well, I happen to have some news here."

The boys immediately perked up their ears.

"Teacher, are you getting married?" someone guessed.

"roll."

"Are you changing jobs?"

"Guess again."

"You wouldn't..." Yang Sheng hesitated, cautiously observing He Xu's expression, "...go and fire us, wouldn't you?"

He Xu took a deep breath.

He picked up his phone, scrolled through it, and then turned the screen towards them.

That was an announcement from the production team of the show "Absolute Debut".

The boys crowded around to look. The content wasn't long, but the key information was clear—a big production, a joint production of seven top entertainment companies, with seven debut spots open to all trainees who hadn't yet debuted.

The meaning is self-evident.

"Absolute Debut? That 'Absolute Debut'?" Yang Sheng was the first to react, his voice changing drastically. "The one we watched online before?"

"Yeah, yeah."

"The one that all the trainees on the internet want to be in?" someone added.

"Yeah, yeah."

"Does this mean we also have a chance to participate?"

"Yeah, yeah."

The entire room fell silent.

"What's with those expressions? We're a big company that produced Shen Yiheng, right? It's normal for us to reserve a few internal referral slots for his old company after he was chosen as a PD, isn't it?"

He spoke of it so casually, as if it were nothing more than a top idol handing a few tickets to the company.

"So," He Xu stood up, stretched his neck, and his joints made a slight clicking sound, "you guys are the candidates selected by the company. The initial resume screening is over, and the recording will start in half a month. Go as far as you can."

The boys looked at each other, their eyes filled with disbelief.

Then--

"Aaaaaaaahhhhh!!!"

"Heng Ge's show!! We're going to be on Heng Ge's show!!!"

"Teacher, pinch me! Am I dreaming?!"

Several big boys huddled together, jumping and shouting, tears welling up in their eyes.

He Xu frowned and pushed away the head closest to him: "It's so noisy."

But the corners of his mouth still curled up slightly.

"Two requirements. First, don't embarrass me."

The boys nodded vigorously.

"Second, pretend you don't know me."

The boys were a little confused, but they nodded nonetheless.

What do you mean by "pretending not to know me"? Are you really that afraid of losing face?

They agreed with a laugh and immediately began preparing for their first stage performance of "Absolute Debut"—choosing songs, choreographing dances, and practicing vocals, keeping them extremely busy.

He Xu didn't bring it up again.

Life went on as usual.

Every afternoon at 2 o'clock sharp, I would go to the practice room and make those kids cry, scold them until my voice became even hoarse, and then lean against the door with an unlit cigarette in my mouth, watching them practice more.

On the day the boys set off for the recording studio, He Xu unusually refrained from swearing.

"Do your job well," he said in a low, husky voice. "Don't embarrass me—and of course, pretend you don't know me."

The boys suppressed their excitement and didn't think much about what their teacher had said.

Three hours later, they understood everything.

The person sitting in the corner of the dressing room, dressed in a black T-shirt and black pants, whose mere presence made the trainees next to him look like background figures—

Who else could it be but He Xu?!