Amateur talent show? Top mentors are my students.

Shen Yiheng admitted that he was a little flustered at that moment.

He didn't know when Zhou Wei arrived, or whether he had overheard their conversation.

If they overheard, wouldn't their master-disciple relationship be exposed?!

But he could only pretend to be calm.

"Did Teacher Zhou need something from me?" He Xu asked first.

Zhou Wei glanced at him but did not answer immediately.

He took two steps forward and stood on the other side of the windowsill, about a meter away from He Xu.

"About the theme song audition," Zhou Wei said, his voice not as cold as it had been in the practice room, but not exactly warm either. "Your daily vocal performance score is what I gave you."

He Xu did not respond.

"Four points," Zhou Wei said calmly. "Do you know why?"

"I know," He Xu said, "because I haven't practiced vocals properly."

"You definitely didn't practice properly," Zhou Wei continued, her voice devoid of accusation. "You always left after less than half an hour of practice, flipping through a few pages of your lyric book before tossing it aside. Do you think you were taking it seriously?"

He Xu didn't say anything.

Shen Yiheng stood to the side, his lips moved as if he wanted to say something for He Xu, but in the end he said nothing.

He understood He Xu—He Xu didn't need anyone to explain for him, nor did he like anyone to explain for him.

Zhou Wei looked at He Xu's expressionless face, remained silent for a moment, and then said something that surprised Shen Yiheng.

"But then I thought about it," Zhou Wei lowered his voice, "and maybe what I said was too harsh."

He Xu turned his head slightly and glanced at him.

"I don't know the exact condition of your voice." Zhou Wei tucked the folder under his arm, put his hands in his pockets, and relaxed a little more than before. "I only see you avoiding vocal practice, so I think there's something wrong with your attitude."

"But I listened to the accompaniment you changed several times after I got back."

He paused.

"Lowering it by two octaves, rearranging the harmonic progressions, and adjusting the downbeats—this is not something someone with a questionable attitude could do."

"So what I want to tell you is," Zhou Wei's voice returned to its usual rhythm, neither fast nor slow, "I won't change the four points; that was based on your performance in practice."

"But some of what I said in the practice room that day was indeed excessive. I'm sorry."

Shen Yiheng blinked, his expression somewhat subtle.

He hadn't known Zhou Wei for very long, but he knew how stubborn the man was—meticulous in his music and not very tactful in his dealings with others.

There aren't many people who can make Zhou Wei say "sorry".

"Apologize?" He Xu said, his tone already laced with smugness. "Teacher Zhou will apologize?"

Zhou Wei's expression didn't change much, but his ears turned slightly red.

"I'm not apologizing," he said, his tone still firm. "I'm just stating the facts."

"Oh, your way of 'stating the facts' is quite unique, isn't it?" He Xu nodded.

Shen Yiheng almost burst out laughing, so he quickly covered his mouth with the back of his hand and pretended to cough twice.

Zhou Wei frowned slightly when he saw He Xu's maliciously smiling face, but he didn't react.

"You're still laughing?" he said, his tone carrying a conflicted feeling of being offended but unsure whether to be angry. "I'm talking to you nicely."

"I'm listening carefully too," He Xu shrugged, looking completely innocent. "Please continue, I'm listening."

Shen Yiheng finally couldn't help but laugh.

The laughter wasn't loud, but it could be heard clearly in the quiet corridor.

Zhou Wei's gaze immediately turned to him.

"PD also finds it funny?" His voice was neither loud nor soft, but there was a hint of danger in his tone.

Shen Yiheng immediately stopped smiling and waved his hand: "No, no, Teacher Zhou, please continue, I'm just—"

"What is it?"

"I just feel..." Shen Yiheng considered his words carefully, but the corners of his mouth still couldn't help but curve upwards, "Professor Zhou, you are usually so serious to everyone, so I was quite surprised to suddenly say 'sorry'."

Zhou Wei stared at him for two seconds, then slowly spoke.

"PD, your relationship with He Xu is quite unusual."

Shen Yiheng's smile froze on his face.

Sure enough, they heard it!

The question is, how much of it was actually heard?!

He opened his mouth, about to say something to smooth things over, but Zhou Wei spoke first.

"Don't be nervous." Zhou Wei's tone remained calm, but the corners of his mouth curved slightly. "I'm not here to find fault with you."

Shen Yiheng: "..."

"What you're saying, Teacher Zhou," He Xu said calmly, "what could we possibly have to do with each other?"

Zhou Wei glanced at him.

"Oh? Is that so?"

"What about all those things you just said, like 'teacher,' 'student,' 'used to be my student, now they're my PD'—"

Shen Yiheng's expression changed.

He Xu's expression didn't change much, but he straightened up slightly while leaning against the windowsill.

Seeing their reactions, Zhou Wei finally couldn't help but laugh.

"I didn't hear anything," he said.

Then he turned around and left.

The footsteps faded away slowly at the end of the corridor.

"...He heard it," Shen Yiheng said, his voice carrying a sense of exhaustion from surviving a disaster. "He heard everything."

"Mm," He Xu said.

He said he didn't hear anything.

"Um."

"What are you 'humming' about?! He heard you!"

He Xu turned his head and glanced at him, his eyes filled with a look of disdain that seemed to say, "Are you sure you don't care?"

"So what if he heard?" He Xu said, his voice hoarse and low. "He says he didn't hear, which means he won't tell anyone. Don't you know Zhou Wei?"

Shen Yiheng opened his mouth, then closed it again.

He truly understood Zhou Wei—stubborn, meticulous, and unapproachable, but a man of his word.

"But--"

"What a load of bull! Are you ever going to shut up?" He Xu didn't give him a chance to continue. "I'm leaving."

"Back to the dorm?"

"Okay, time to sleep."

"The rating results will be announced in a few hours."

"Just announce it. B isn't going to run away on its own."

Shen Yiheng's expression paused for a moment.

"You knew it was B?"

He Xu turned his head and glanced at him, his expression conveying a sense of entitlement, as if to say, "Who do you take me for?"

"I changed the key, so Zhou Wei can't possibly give me an A. Just look at the vocal section, and I'll get a B overall; it's easy to calculate."

"Teacher, if all trainees were like you, wouldn't all our efforts to maintain secrecy be wasted?"

"So be it if it's all for nothing."

-

7 p.m., in the studio.

The re-rating has been announced.

One hundred white chairs were rearranged neatly, and the lighting was softer than on the first stage, but the tension in the air was more than twice as strong.

The contestants entered the venue one after another. Some looked expectant, some tried to remain calm, and some had already begun to mentally prepare themselves.

When He Xu walked into the studio, all eyes turned to him.

In the past two days, the name "He Xu" has spread among the contestants.

His outstanding looks, his stunning performance on his first stage, and his choreography instruction in Class A all contributed to his fame.

The white chairs in the studio were still arranged according to the initial rankings, with Class A in the front row, right next to the stage.

When He Xu walked over, Class A was already mostly occupied.

Yang Sheng was sitting in the second row on the left. When he saw He Xu walking over, he subconsciously moved to the side to make room for him in the aisle.

He stopped halfway through the action, a hint of guilt flashing across his face as if to say, "Am I being too obvious?"

He Xu glanced at him, ignored his gesture, and went straight to sit down in the empty seat on the right side of the first row.

There are only a dozen or so people in Class A. They've been spending all their time in the practice room these past few days, seeing each other all the time, and they've become quite familiar with each other.

But now, nobody's in the mood for small talk; a nod to each other is enough of a polite greeting.

Once everyone was seated, all the ambient lights in the studio went out.

Only a spotlight remained in the very center of the stage, shining on the spot where the host was about to stand.

The commotion in the players' stands completely subsided, and everyone's eyes were focused on that beam of light.

One hundred people, one hundred different breathing sounds, all suppressed to the lowest level at this moment.

A figure walked out from the passageway on the side of the stage.

It's Shen Yiheng.

He wore a white striped shirt and gold-rimmed glasses, exuding an ascetic style. He walked to the center of the stage with a measured pace and stood still.

The spotlight shone on him, stretching his shadow long and projecting it onto the giant screen behind him.

Shen Yiheng's gaze swept across the entire contestant's bench, and he gave the camera a standard PD-style smile.

"The first re-rating of 'Absolute Debut' will begin now."