Fourth place!
Not only Anran himself, but even many contestants were stunned. Since the recording of the show, everyone knew of Anran's staggering popularity. How could he be in 4th place? If his level of popularity only gave him the 4th place… then who was the 3rd?
Fu Jinxiao was not surprised. In his heart, he knew who was more deserving of the 3rd ranking. He looked at the trembling youth beside him and said, "Jian Xingsui, your turn."
Jian Xingsui stood stiff, rooted on his spot when he was called. The envelope in his hand felt clammy, it seemed to be soaked with his sweat. When he arrived at the show, he really only wanted that 20,000 yuan consolation prize because he was desperate for money.
But… after many days of gruelling practice with everyone, after meeting such good roommates who became his genuine friends, after meeting fair mentors who actually cared for him… he became greedy. Nobody wouldn't, without an exception. He was getting good treatment now, he wasn't satisfied in getting less. It was human nature – to want a mile after getting an inch.
Jian Xingsui lowered his head and began to open the envelope. When he looked down and saw the writing on the envelope, the hand holding the envelope even trembled slightly. In the end, the buzz-cut boy's eye was reddened with tears. It dripped into hot droplets through his cheek, into the sweat-soaked envelope.
Fu Jinxiao reminded the youth: "Please read your letter out loud."
Jian Xingsui took a deep breath, trying his best to make himself look calm enough, and finally began to read: "Jian Xingsui, your ranking in this stage is the 3rd. Congratulations on entering the second stage!"
—After it was read out loud, everyone fell into a deafening silence.
Anran's expression was even uglier. He wasn't reconciled with the result! He had always been at the top of the list! But now Jian Xingsui, that insignificant nobody, who came out halfway out of nowhere, took all the limelight. His limelight.
Many trainees also couldn't believe the result. But some of them took the lead to react. They jumped up and cheered, congratulating the third place winner. Shen Xingchen even jumped three feet high and yelled excitedly, "You are promoted! You made it! Third place!!"
Jian Xingsui trembled a little when he read it himself. He couldn't believe he was promoted, much less placed as the 3rd. He tried to speak, but his lips moved without any sounds uttered out.
Seeing his bewildered look, Fu Jinxiao curled his lips, bemused, "Please move to the promotion area."
After Jian Xingsui came over, he needed to make a speech for the show. But his head was filled with fog, so he really didn't know what to say. So he just muddled through.
The thing is, he knew a little about his predicted ranking. Just after the Weibo incident happened, his ranking was 25th. It was smack-dab in the middle. Of course, he didn't expect his ranking would soar up into the 3rd after the clarification was given by the crew. It seemed that thanks to that controversy, he actually got more popular. Maybe because after his fans were abused by the malicious editing, they fought back in retaliation?
Fu Jinxiao asked him without turning his head, "How do you feel now?"
"I…" Jian Xingsui didn't know what to say, so he just told him the truth, "I'm very excited, because… uhm, I didn't expect this ranking. I thought… my best result was just… barely scraping into the promotion…"
Fu Jinxiao had never seen such a sincere, yet foolish person.
The actor's gaze darkened. After Jian Xingsui met his gaze, he knew that there was a high probability that he had said the wrong thing again, so he shrank his neck a little timidly.
Fortunately, Actor Fu did not reprimand him. Instead, he just turned around and looked at other contestants, be it those who were promoted and those who were eliminated. Some people were mired in despair and self-pity, while the other was happily chattering, radiating pure joy as they congratulated each other for being "lucky" enough.
Fu Jinxiao said into his microphone: "Who among you all, today, already predicted your current ranking?"
In the audience – more than a hundred people, no one could reply.
"Then, let me ask another question: are you satisfied with your current ranking?" Fu Jinxiao glanced at everyone, his gaze sharpened, "Is this ranking the highest you can reach? Are you satisfied with your current results? Or, are you willing to stop here?"
He was still greeted with silence.
Fu Jinxiao raised his voice a little, his patience wearing dangerously thin, "Yes or no?"
The question finally woke them all up. All the contestants replied in unison: "Not satisfied!"
Fu Jinxiao's lips upturned in a slight, amused smile, "Then I will tell you now: it's useless to be willing."
"?"
The contestants originally thought that Actor Fu was here to motivate them. Instead, he spoke like this? What does he actually mean? Everyone looked at each other for a while, stunned stupid without anything to say.
Fu Jinxiao gave them a clarification.
"The variety show 'Starlight' is a live broadcast. Your every move was displayed for them to see and judge. There might be an edited version, but the audience could still see your every choreography mistake, every off-tune singing, and such. It's easy to disappoint them, and it's even possible to make your fellow competitor look good in comparison."
"And so, now that the first stage is over, you say that you are not satisfied. Tell me, is it useful?" Fu Jinxiao's stern gaze swept over everyone, "Will your useless words be able to win back the hearts of fans? Or, can you correct your previous mistake? Am I wrong to say this?"
It was like a wake-up call, harshly knocking on everyone's hearts.
Just when everyone was deep in thought, Fu Jinxiao changed the subject again, "However, everyone makes mistakes."
"In 2005, I participated in a singing competition. I remember that my instructor at that time asked me to sing another song as an extra test. I made a horrible mistake and it resulted in me failing the audition. That instructor… he questioned my sheer unprofessionalism. What kind of singer can't sing on the spot? Even some of my fans were disappointed and left me. At that time, only one loyal fan kept sending me comments on my Weibo to cheer me up. They asked me to keep moving forward, to not let this one mistake discourage me, and keep working hard towards my goal." Fu Jinxiao explained slowly, a hint of fondness in his deep, melodic voice.
This kind of past failure was unknown to most people, and it made everyone laugh.
Only Jian Xingsui in the back, who didn't smile.
As Fu Jinxiao's loyal fan… of course he intimately knew of that event. It made him somber thinking about it.
Fu Jinxiao had a panoramic view of everyone's expressions. He then brought the topic back, "Some of you may be eliminated today like me at that time, but I want to tell you that a mistake does not determine your life. In return, for those who were promoted, the current success does not mean that you will not make mistakes in the future. If this time, you get through because of sheer luck, and think that with your fluke mentality you can do it again, you will find that it's absolutely impossible to succeed in the end. Understand?"
The trainees were still stunned silly.
Fu Jinxiao frowned slightly. He didn't yell loudly, but asked again in a lower tone, "Understand?"
After that, all of the trainees spoke loudly in unison, "Understand!!"
Those simple words stabilized the hearts of the trainees who were originally in complicated moods. Especially for Jian Xingsui, who was standing closest to the actor.
With that speech, he could feel Fu Jinxiao's overall planning ability and sheer charisma. This man had that leader-like quality. He could easily control the overall situation by observing his surroundings. He grasped everyone's heart by his story, and made everyone follow the pace he set.
Again, Fu Jinxiao sneaked a glance at Jian Xingsui.
Jian Xingsui could feel the stare, so he suddenly answered the actor face-to-face, all timid like a primary school student who was pointed by his teacher. "U-understand!"
Hearing his answer, Fu Jinxiao raised his eyebrow, speaking in a casual tone to his microphone, "Do you still want to run away with that 20,000 yuan?"
Thinking about it, the audience didn't expect that Fu Jinxiao would use this event as an example. But with just a simple joke, he neutralized the previous serious atmosphere. At the same time, he gave his favorite contestant another shot. Truly, Actor Fu's ability to direct the limelight on the field was top-notch.
Jian Xingsui's earlobes instantly turned red, and he murmured, "I don't want to."
Fu Jinxiao said, "Are you sure?"
This time, he didn't need Actor Fu's guidance. Jian Xingsui took a deep breath, and solemnly said into the microphone: "I'm sure!"
"Very good," A faint smile appeared on Fu Jinxiao's handsome face, and he waved his hand slowly. When chatting with the youth, he was a little more casual and intimate. He continued his teasing, "Then go back to your ranking position, my third place."
The sexy and lazy voice made his ears numb. Jian Xingsui felt that if he stayed longer, his hands and feet would pathetically become limp and out of sync. Wanting his dignity to be intact, he quickly returned to his teammates as if he was running away. After he sat beside the second-place Shen Xingchen, he finally could let out the breath he held.
Jian Xingsui knew that his current ranking was the result of many, many factors intertwining.
It's clear one of them was because of Shen Xingchen — this brash, bold, talented young master who kept tagging alongside Jian Xingsui. In contrast, Jian Xingsui was very naive, and the viewers loved this kind of gap between the two friends. Another factor was the special attention of the two instructors: Fu Jinxiao and Tuya. The two of them, and also other instructors, liked this honest and hard-working kid. Of course, the last factor was his own work, but that one was a given.
Combining all of these, it's clear that his ranking would be sky-high.