[Dressing Room]
The sound of rustling clothes was picked up by the microphone. The camera suddenly zoomed out, revealing the true faces of the people in the dressing room.
"...How do I wear this?" Pei Luming wrapped a tie around his neck, but not knowing how to tie it properly, he took it off and placed it on his head, approaching his older colleagues to ask for help.
Gao Xiayu closed his eyes and took a deep breath, feeling a twinge of pain at his temple.
The makeup artist nearby couldn't help but laugh at Pei Luming's silliness. The stylist behind them rushed over and gave Pei Luming a playful slap, saying, "You don't need to wear this! Hurry up and take off the suit!"
Realizing he had been tricked, Pei Luming's face turned red with embarrassment. He charged towards Yao Shuo, shouting, "Ahhh! I'm going to kill you!"
The seated group burst into laughter, their voices sounding like honking geese. Even Yao Shuo, caught in a headlock, managed to say, "You're so gullible. So cute."
The five of them, who were supposed to be practicing, had just entered the practice room. Pei Luming hadn't even touched the floor when a staff member came in to inform them that they needed to go for an internship.
At that moment, the five of them reacted like Patrick Star with his brain eaten, "...Huh? Internship?"
Without fully understanding the situation, they were taken to the dressing room upstairs.
The scene changed. Jiang Juyou and her colleagues were standing in the elevator. She held her coat in her hand and said just before the doors opened, "Your colleagues should be waiting for you now."
As soon as she finished speaking, the elevator doors opened.
The five people outside who were talking turned their heads at the sound of the elevator—
"Mmm-mmm-mmm—" Six girls very discreetly covered their mouths as they made sounds.
Jiang Juyou stepped out and pointed at the five people standing in front, saying, "These are your colleagues." She turned back to look at the girls, "You'll be working together for the next three months."
Hearing this, Gao Xiayu quickly led his group to greet them, "Two, Three!"
"Arrived! Hello everyone, we are—"
Jiang Juyou quickly raised her hand to stop them, "You're not!"
At her words, the five young men immediately hit the brakes. Ye Xing even covered his mouth to prevent it from running too fast.
"You are the interns," Jiang Juyou said as she turned to leave, waving her hand behind her, "Come on, they've probably been waiting for a while inside."
In the post-interview room, Jiang Juyou sat in a chair, being questioned by the production team: "Why did you involve the five members of Timetrain in this?"
"Oh, that was my suggestion. Promoting the group is one aspect, but the main reason is to let them experience what it feels like to be the staff members who usually take care of them."
"If they don't engrave this feeling into their hearts during their rookie period, their future path will be difficult. The moon shines at night because there's a sun illuminating it from a place we can't see."
"The moment they put on their employee badges, their identities changed," Jiang Juyou smiled, "Today is probably the last time during the filming period that they'll have makeup artists and stylists to dress them up before work."
Jiang Juyou spread her hands, giving a preview: "Look forward to seeing what they wear to work tomorrow!"
The scene cut back. When Jiang Juyou pushed open the door, several teachers and staff members were chatting. Seeing Jiang Juyou enter, they waved and said, "We brought you fruit tea!"
"Thank you!" After saying this, Jiang Juyou turned and pointed to the young people behind her, "These are the new interns."
Yang Siyu pointed at the five confused-looking people at the back, "What's the deal with those guys?"
"Don't worry about them."
"OK!"
"I can't stop laughing, hahaha!"
"I cried so hard at the final performance, never thought I'd end up with five comedians!"
"Look how cute they are, like they've had their brains swapped."
"These expressions of wisdom are perfect for screenshots to use as emojis."
This large practice room was usually used for monthly evaluations. Gao Xiayu and his four companions had always practiced in the park area and had never been here before, so they found it extremely novel.
It was like a movie theater, with tiered seating. Various white sofas were placed on the steps, some single-seater, some multi-seater.
Jiang Juyou and the other executives and teachers sat in the front two rows, while the staff members sat behind. Seeing that the interns were feeling awkward, they actively invited them to sit together. The five who were told to "not worry about" were free to sit wherever they liked.
A staff member from the new talent department handed out folders to them, kindly explaining, "These are the trainees' profiles. The blank spaces are for writing comments after watching the performances."
Everyone in the venue was seated, and the cameras were ready. Two large screens were placed right next to Jiang Juyou's feet.
Zhao Xu, seeing that the time was about right, told the staff behind, "Send a message to the other side, they can come in now."
The trainees who were to participate in this month's evaluation were waiting in the practice room next door. They were all wearing training clothes and elaborate makeup. When they heard the staff member announce that they could go over, their hearts leapt into their throats.
Jiang Juyou, focused on preparing the boy group, hadn't checked on the company's trainees for a long time. Yang Siyu had been constantly telling her to come and see, but Jiang Juyou never had the time.
Today, it was finally arranged.
The soundproof door of the large practice room opened, and the young girls walked in one by one, like ants lining up to search for food, walking in an orderly manner.
As they entered, Jiang Juyou lowered her head to look through the folder, occasionally looking up to match the people with the information in the table.
"We're going to be filtering people this time, right?" Jiang Juyou asked Yang Siyu in a low voice.
Yang Siyu leaned over and nodded, "Yes, we only need about three groups."
At this time in the practice room, based on their costume styles, there seemed to be about eight groups. Some groups had four people, some had seven, and the ages varied greatly. Some were sixteen or seventeen and in high school, while others looked as young and naive as elementary school students.
"I thought Jiang Juyou was the only ruthless one at Random Entertainment, turns out there's another!"
"Cutting down from eight groups to three, you can't get into Random Entertainment if you're not heartless, huh?"
"Which one is Pei Luming's sister? I can't see anyone who looks like him."
"Now that the female trainees have appeared, can the male trainees be far behind? Wuwu, my Chen Wusang Mo!"
Pei Luming, sitting up high, pressed his lips together and fell silent. He had spotted his sister.
The production team gave Pei Luming a shot, then gave his sister a shot, and everyone knew what this meant.
Unlike Pei Luming's image of a sunny and outgoing boy, Pei Zhiping was like a beautiful Siamese cat, slender and delicate, and very tall. Her high ponytail still reached her waist, smooth and shiny. Her back was straight, as if she was being pulled up by a string, giving her an excellent posture.
Not just her, but the other three in her group were also very eye-catching. Next to Pei Zhiping stood a girl as tall as her, but her appearance gave a completely different impression from Pei Zhiping's noble cat-like look. Whether it was her hairstyle or facial features, they were all extremely outstanding. She didn't have the highly recognizable idol look, but rather the face of an actress with a sense of story, a very classic beauty.
"This is the first time I've so directly felt what 'star quality' means!"
"Wow! Their group is really eye-catching. You can immediately spot the four of them among the crowd!"
"Just pick them, no need to choose anymore. My heart can't take it."
"Si Yanyu!! It's actually Si Yanyu!! I was wondering why I hadn't seen her in any dramas these past few years!"
Yang Siyu, from her seat, also said, "These groups are currently the most highly evaluated." She pointed to several groups on the form.
From the view of Jiang Juyou looking up in the frame, it was clear that Pei Zhiping's group was among the highly evaluated groups.
Jiang Juyou nodded, placed the folder on her lap, and said to the staff member by the computer, "Then let's begin... First group up, the others please sit at the back and wait."
As soon as she spoke, the girls standing in the venue immediately dispersed, finding seats according to their groups.
The first group was Pei Zhiping's group, which only had four members.
Jiang Juyou lowered her head to look at the physical conditions of the four of them, "No wonder they're all the same height."
The form stated that all four of them were 171 cm tall.
"All four members of this group have received first place in monthly evaluations before. It's precisely because of this that I put them together as a group. This should be their first time collaborating."
After hearing Yang Siyu's words, Jiang Juyou raised an eyebrow and smiled, "Well, I'm looking forward to it then."
The month-end evaluation consisted of several segments, including both group and individual performances, further divided into dance and vocal performances. Due to the extensive content, it was quite time-consuming.
After the four of them had taken their positions, Jiang Juyou suddenly picked up the microphone and said, "Today's month-end evaluation is a bit different. Only those whose names I call out will have the chance to perform. I hope everyone will do their best and not waste this opportunity to showcase their talents."
After saying this, she looked back at the four people on stage who had their backs turned and asked, "Are you ready?"
Seeing them nod, Jiang Juyou then turned to the staff member at the computer, "Let's begin."
As the intro music gradually started, Gao Xiayu and the others immediately recognized the song - it was Ed Sheeran's "South of the Border." They had sung it before during a month-end evaluation when they were training in Korea.
As soon as the music began, the four of them turned around with their hands on their hips. The beat of the music was prominent, but even more noticeable was how in sync the four of them were. Whether it was turning or doing a side wave, their movements were identical, even seeming to match in intensity.
Pei Zhiping opened with the first line. Holding the microphone, she curled one corner of her mouth and raised an eyebrow, looking relaxed and at ease. Her seasoned demeanor once again surprised Jiang Juyou.
Following the rhythm of the music, Jiang Juyou nodded her head. She shifted her gaze to the others and noticed that the three dancing in the back hadn't forgotten about their facial expressions. Their confident and bold looks were truly eye-catching.
"Wow--"
"I'm getting goosebumps, who can relate?"
"Ahhhhh I'm going to become a fan, help!"
"Look at Jiang Juyou's expression, it's unprecedented surprise!"
A confident performance can easily go overboard and come across as cheesy. Even though this stage broke all the taboos Jiang Juyou had when training boy groups, it couldn't overshadow the dazzling light emanating from them.
When she was teaching male trainees, she had told them to learn to be the supporting actors, to learn to sacrifice. But now, none of the four on stage were hiding their brilliance, and the effect was unexpectedly good. There was no sense of them competing with each other, nor did anyone seem overshadowed.
This was the first time in a long while that Jiang Juyou felt a thrill while watching a performance. That exhilarating feeling, like taking a big gulp of an ice-cold soda, was something she had never experienced before.
It was hard to believe this was their first time collaborating.
Pei Zhiping: If possible, I really don't want to admit that Pei Luming is my brother [smile]
