Amateur talent show? Top mentors are my students.

He Xu never thought he was this unlucky.

Even when he was poisoned by a crazed fan, he thought it was just an accident.

But he couldn't find any words to describe what happened today.

Could it be that God really wanted him to be deaf and mute?

The emergency room lights were still the same, blindingly white.

He Xu sat in the examination room chair. The doctor was a man in his fifties, wearing silver-rimmed glasses, with a serious expression.

He took the otoscope and circled it inside He Xu's left ear canal, his brows furrowing more and more tightly.

"Tympanic membrane congestion with a slight tear." The doctor put down the otoscope and wrote a few lines in the patient's medical record. "Inner ear concussion caused by electric shock; the ossicles may also be affected."

"A hearing test is needed to determine the extent of the damage."

He Xu leaned back in his chair, his expression unchanged.

"Will I go deaf?" he asked.

The doctor glanced at him: "It's hard to say right now. A mild injury should recover in about a week with rest, but moderate to severe injuries—we'll need to see the test results."

He Xu nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

"Go get a hearing test first." The doctor tore off a form and handed it to him. "Come back after you're done, and I'll prescribe your medication."

He Xu took the order and stood up.

When I walked out of the examination room, the lights in the corridor were a shade dimmer than those in the room.

Xiao Chen, the selection manager, was leaning against the wall making a phone call. His voice was very low, but his tone was urgent.

"Yes, in the emergency room... The doctor said I need a hearing test... I know, I'll be there the whole time... Assistant Director, you're coming in person? Okay, okay..."

She hung up the phone, turned around and saw He Xu, her expression somewhat complicated.

"He Xu," she walked over, her voice much softer than usual, "the assistant director is on his way. He asked me to accompany you to the check-up first."

He Xu glanced at her.

"Assistant director?" His voice was still hoarse, his tone flat. "What's he here for?"

"I just... came to see you." Xiao Chen avoided his gaze. "The production team takes your injury very seriously."

He Xu didn't ask any more questions.

He certainly knew why the assistant director had come.

After his role as the last-minute choreographer for "Blade," his identity was no secret to the show's executives.

The hearing test room was at the end of the corridor. The door was open, and inside was a machine that looked like an electrocardiograph, with a pair of noise-canceling headphones hanging next to it.

The technician was a young girl. When she saw He Xu come in, her gaze lingered on his face for a moment before quickly looking away and focusing on the work order in her hand.

"He Xu, right? Sit here." She pointed to the chair in the middle. "Put on the left earphone, you don't need the right one."

He Xu sat down and put the earphone on his left ear.

The sound insulation is excellent; the moment you put it on, it's as if someone is covering up the outside noise with their hand.

The technician walked into the control room next door and gave him an "OK" sign through the glass window.

He Xu nodded.

The test has begun.

A monotonous "beep-beep-beep" sound came from the headphones, each frequency lasting for a few seconds before switching to the next frequency.

He Xu held a button in his hand and pressed it whenever he heard a sound.

He can still hear low frequencies.

However, as the frequency increases from 1000 Hz, the sound begins to become blurred.

2000 Hz, faintly.

4000 Hz, almost inaudible.

8000 Hz—he can't hear anything.

The button wasn't pressed even once.

The technician frowned in the control room, adjusted the parameters, and measured it again.

I still can't hear it.

The test took about fifteen minutes.

The technician looked unwell when he came out of the control room.

"The test is done." She took the earphone off He Xu's head. "Go back to the examination room and wait for the doctor. The report will be ready soon."

He Xu stood up, and when he reached the door, he paused for a moment.

"How is it?" he asked.

The technician opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but then swallowed it back.

"Wait for the doctor to tell you," she said.

He Xu glanced at her but didn't ask any more questions.

When I pushed open the door, there was another person in the hallway.

The assistant director's surname was Liu, he was in his early forties, wore gold-rimmed glasses, and his hair was neatly combed.

When he usually appears at the training base, he is always dressed in a suit and tie with a serious expression, and the athletes avoid him.

But now, standing under the corridor lights, with his suit jacket draped over his arm and shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows, he seemed less distant than usual.

"He Xu." Assistant Director Liu walked over, his voice much lower than usual, "Is the check-up finished?"

"Um."

"How did it go?"

"Wait for the doctor."

Assistant Director Liu nodded, his gaze lingering on He Xu's face for a moment.

"The production team is responsible for what happened today," he said, speaking slowly and deliberately, each word carefully chosen. "The equipment safety check was inadequate, which led to your injury."

"The company is already investigating and holding those responsible accountable, and the relevant technical personnel will handle it."

He Xu did not respond.

"The production team will cover all your medical expenses," Assistant Director Liu continued. "If you need to rest and recuperate afterward, the production team will also make arrangements. Also, you don't need to worry about the performance; it's already been arranged."

"I know you don't like these polite words." Assistant Director Liu finally shifted his gaze from He Xu to the white wall at the end of the corridor. "But I still have to say what needs to be said."

He paused.

"What PD Shen said in the meeting room that day—we already know your identity internally."

"But don't worry, it won't be made public. The production team will respect your wishes. You decide when and how you want to make it public."

"We just want you to focus on the competition."

He Xu looked at him and remained silent for two seconds.

"I understand," he said.

Assistant Director Liu nodded, said nothing more, turned around and walked to the other end of the corridor, picked up his phone and started making a call.

He Xu leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed.

The sounds of footsteps, voices, and the rumble of cart wheels rolling over the floor in the corridor all came in through my right ear, while my left ear was a blurry, muffled blank.

It was like half of his head had been submerged in water.

After waiting for about ten minutes, the door to the examination room opened.

The doctor came out with the report, his expression more relaxed than before, but his brows were still slightly furrowed.

"He Xu, come in."

He Xu stood up and walked into the examination room.

The doctor placed the report on the table and pushed it in front of him.

"Hearing loss in the left ear, with more significant loss in the mid-to-high frequency range." The doctor pointed to the graph on the report, "Above 4000 Hz, the hearing threshold is around 40 decibels."

He Xu looked at the picture without saying a word.

"What do you mean?" The doctor took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "It's mild sensorineural hearing loss. Not serious, but not exactly good either."

"A minor tear in the eardrum can heal on its own, in about one to two weeks. But the vibrations in the ossicles and inner ear need time to recover."

"How much can be restored?" He Xu asked.

The doctor glanced at him.

"It's hard to say right now." He lowered his voice. "Most people can recover to near-normal levels, but the high-frequency bands may leave some permanent damage."

He Xu nodded.

"Also," the doctor paused, "your left ear will be more sensitive than normal in the future. Noisy environments, prolonged use of headphones, and head injuries—these can all trigger recurring symptoms."

"You injured your throat before?" The doctor flipped through the medical record and frowned.

"Um."

"You had an old vocal cord injury, and now your left ear is injured too." The doctor's tone carried a hint of regret. "Your health... you should take good care of yourself."

He Xu did not respond.

"I'll prescribe some nerve-nourishing medication and some to improve circulation," the doctor wrote quickly in the patient's medical record. "Go home and take the medication on time, get plenty of rest, and use your headphones less. Come back for a follow-up appointment in a week."

"If you experience dizziness, nausea, or worsening tinnitus within a week, come immediately."

He Xu took the medical record and prescription and stood up.

"Thank you, doctor," he said.

When I walked out of the examination room, Deputy Director Liu had already hung up the phone and was coming over.

"How is it?"

"Mild hearing loss." He Xu handed him the report. "It should recover in one to two weeks of rest."

Deputy Director Liu took the report, glanced at it, frowned slightly, but said nothing.

"Go back to the base and rest first." He folded the report and put it in his suit pocket. "Don't worry about the performance. Your stage performance has already been recorded, and the audience voting is over. The production team will notify you when the results are in."

He Xu nodded.

Xiao Chen walked over from the side, holding a bag of medicine in his hand.

"He Xu, the medicine is ready." She handed me the bag. "Take it three times a day after meals. The doctor said to get plenty of rest and use headphones less."

"understood."

High-frequency bands may leave some permanent damage.

My throat is damaged, and my ears are damaged too.

He chuckled softly, a hint of self-deprecation in his voice.

Fine, I'll just change my name to He "Disabled" from now on.

He Xu followed the selection officer onto the car.

-

At the same time, at the performance venue.

Shen Yiheng stood in the shadows to the side of the stage, clutching the script card in his hand, his knuckles turning white.

On stage was the performance of "Blade" by Group B. Yang Sheng's voice exploded from the speakers, and the screams from the audience rose in waves.

But he didn't hear a word he said.

Ten minutes ago, he heard the news on the walkie-talkie: "He Xu can't hear in his left ear and needs to go to the hospital."

He was introducing the next group of contestants at the time, and the smile on his face didn't even change.

His well-trained muscle memory allowed him to complete that hosting segment, but his steps faltered the moment he stepped off the stage.

He wanted to go with them.

He wanted to get in the car, go to the hospital, and wait outside the examination room to hear the doctor say, "It's nothing."

But he can't leave.

The performances continued, the cameras were still recording, and there were still ten contestants' names waiting for him to read from the script.

He is the PD, the anchor of this stage, he cannot leave.

Shen Yiheng leaned against the wall, tilted his head back, and stared at the glaring light on the ceiling.

He recalled how He Xu looked when he walked off the stage—his face was deathly pale, his left hand was pressed against his ear, and his legs were weak as he walked.

But that person actually waved to the audience with a smile on his face.

Installed.

All you do is pretend.

The walkie-talkie crackled with another message: "Deputy Director Liu has arrived and is accompanying He Xu for his check-up."

Shen Yiheng closed his eyes, suppressing the surging emotions.

He couldn't afford to be distracted at this time, and he couldn't let anyone notice anything unusual about him.

On stage, Group B's performance has ended.

He took a deep breath, loosened his clenched, white fingers, put on his standard PD smile, and strode to the center of the stage.

"Thank you to Team B for the wonderful performance of 'Blade'!"

His voice was steady, his smile was appropriate, and there wasn't a single flaw.

Only he knew that the hand holding the notebook card was trembling slightly.