The songs displayed on the big screen were all ones Rong Yu quite liked.
In her era, there were very few songs, and people listened to the same ones over and over. It wasn’t like now, where you could open a music app and find thousands of tracks—more than anyone could ever finish listening to.
The ones that got picked out here must have been truly outstanding.
"Ugh, 'Lover’s Grass' is already full?!"
"No way, my second choice is gone too?"
Rong Yu couldn’t help but laugh. "Stop complaining. Our ranking’s too low—we don’t get to choose."
Sure enough, by the time the 72nd place rolled around, only one group remained—the third group, led by He Qiqi. After so many rounds of selections, this group had only ever had one member: the leader herself.
The reason? It was an English song.
The lyrics were packed with complex vocabulary, and the tempo was insanely fast. Even if it were in Chinese, it’d be hard to sing clearly, let alone in English.
But the real kicker? The fast rhythm meant the dance moves were just as intense—almost entirely high-difficulty from start to finish…
He Qiqi’s expression was stiff.
She had been the third to pick, deliberately choosing this ultra-challenging song. The harder it was, the more rewarding the challenge, right?
If she could lead her team to pull off this toughest song, they’d undoubtedly be the best performance of the night.
But she never expected that no one would want to join her.
In the end, the last nine stragglers were automatically assigned to her team.
Beside her, Lisa quietly let out a sigh of relief.
This English song was clearly meant for someone like her, a foreigner. She would’ve chosen it, but the choreography was just too difficult. With ten people in a group, executing such complex and rapid moves in sync was nearly impossible. Too many weak links, too easy to end up dead last…
She couldn’t carry them alone.
Rong Yu was automatically placed in this group.
The song? UnStOppablePUlse.
The live stream was buzzing.
"He Qiqi, a total pro, stuck with nine amateurs tackling the hardest dance in idol show history? Oh man, this is gonna be good."
"All their popularity rankings are at the bottom. This group’s definitely getting wiped in the second elimination round. My advice? Just lie down and accept it, lol."
"Look at He Qiqi’s face—she’s totally regretting picking this song now."
"He Qiqi’s a dance major, and she choreographs too. Let’s see how she turns this around…"
"..."
He Qiqi stood there, seething.
But with cameras rolling, no matter how furious she was, she couldn’t lose it. Forcing a smile, she said, "There’s a mini-evaluation tonight at nine. We’re pressed for time, so let’s focus on learning the vocals this morning. Everyone’s studied English before, right?"
The production team was ruthless—they hadn’t even provided vocal or dance coaches, leaving the contestants to figure things out on their own. After all, that was part of the show’s appeal.
Su Tian raised her hand timidly. "I studied it… but I forgot everything. Now I only remember 'hello.'"
"I went to an arts school in middle school—barely any English there."
"Same here…"
He Qiqi felt her vision darken.
No wonder their popularity rankings were rock bottom—they couldn’t even speak English.
Taking a deep breath, she said, "My English isn’t great either, so I can’t teach you. I’ll go ask production to find us an English coach."
With that, she walked out.
The moment she stepped outside, the cameras caught her silently crying.
"This is brutal."
"Dragged down by a bunch of dead weight."
"My heart breaks for Qiqi—I’m voting for her no matter what…"
He Qiqi stayed outside, crying for a long time.
Back in the practice room, the remaining nine girls stared at each other, clueless.
"The leader’s gone—what do we do now?"
"Didn’t she say she’d get an English teacher? Let’s just wait."
"How long’s that gonna take?"
Rong Yu picked up the lyric sheet and quietly read through it. The words themselves weren’t that hard—it was just the speed that made it tricky.
After finishing, she looked up. "Who here has a good ear for pitch? Can someone teach me the melody?"
A petite girl hurried over and sat beside her, humming softly.
She hummed a line.
Rong Yu sang it back.
Her English pronunciation was flawless.
By the time they finished the song, the entire room was stunned.
"Whoa, your English is this good?!" Su Tian’s eyes sparkled. "Quick, teach us!"
Rong Yu stood up and wrote the lyrics on the board. "Let’s start with the chorus for tonight’s evaluation. Word by word—repeat after me: UnStOppable—"
"UnStOppable—"
The girls echoed in unison.
Most of the show’s viewers were in Rong Ruoyao or Lisa’s streams, leaving this one with barely a thousand people.
"Feels like I’m back in high school English class. Rong Yu’s got serious teacher vibes."
"Gotta say, her pronunciation is ridiculously good—that’s a legit London accent. Now I finally get what that means."
"Wait, isn’t Rong Yu being sneaky? He Qiqi asked who knew English earlier, and she stayed quiet. Now that He Qiqi’s gone, she pulls this?"
"Uh, He Qiqi didn’t even wait for everyone to answer before storming out. That’s on her."
"Rong Ruoyao’s group is already practicing the dance, and this team’s still stuck on the lyrics. Are they seriously just gonna sit around waiting for an English teacher?"
"Stop arguing—just watch. I’m actually learning some advanced vocab from Rong Yu…"
"Watching these rookies struggle with English is weirdly relaxing…"
The stream’s viewer count slowly climbed from a thousand to over five thousand.
When He Qiqi finally returned with the English coach over an hour later, she was met with an unexpected sight: the nine girls were singing the song line by line in perfect harmony, nailing both the melody and the pronunciation…
He Qiqi was dumbfounded.
What the hell happened in the last hour?
Just then, one of the girls walked up to Rong Yu. "Yu-jie, I can say these two words fine, but when I try to sing them together at speed, it sounds off. What am I doing wrong?"
Rong Yu patiently guided her.
Several others gathered around, watching intently.
He Qiqi pressed her lips together.
Seriously?
She’d only been gone a short while, and someone was already trying to take her place as leader?
Was it because Rong Yu could afford designer bags, so they were sucking up to her?
Clearing her throat, He Qiqi called out, "Everyone, gather up. Our English vocal coach is here. Let’s have her lead us through the song first."
The room quieted as they followed the teacher’s instruction.
When they finished, the teacher gave a thumbs-up. "Great job, everyone! Only Qiqi—this word, your pronunciation’s too rigid…"
He Qiqi’s face flushed.
Struggling, she repeated the word over and over under the teacher’s correction.
The morning’s vocal session ended, and the afternoon was dedicated to dance.
He Qiqi had trained in dance since childhood—her foundation was solid, her skills sharp. After watching the routine twice, she had it down.
"Alright, everyone, follow me for the first two eight-counts…"
The group mimicked her movements, but their execution was awkward and stiff.
They kept missing the beat.
The more she taught, the more her patience wore thin.
And yet, they kept crowding around, asking for corrections, wasting precious time.
She was on the verge of breaking down, suppressing her emotions as she said, "I still need to work on the later moves. You guys familiarize yourselves with the first few beats first."
With that, she pushed the door open and left.
Finding a secluded spot—still within the cameras' view—she quietly began practicing the dance alone.
"Qiqi is working so hard."
"After just an hour, she can already perform it this smoothly. Her dance skills are probably the strongest in the entire show."
"Too bad she’s stuck with a bunch of amateurs. They’re going to drag her down."
"..."
