This feeling was like walking into a luxuriously decorated high-end store, where everything looks appealing - you want this, you want that. Your eyes are dazzled, and you don't want to give up on anything.
What surprised Jiang Juyou even more was that the stage presence and relaxed demeanor she had spent a fortune cultivating in male trainees by sending them to music festivals and concerts, was effortlessly visible here.
Perhaps because she hadn't witnessed their growth process, the feeling of unwrapping a gift was even more intense.
Pei Zhiping was particularly eye-catching. Both her skills and stage presence made people exclaim that she was indeed someone who had been in a debut group at a major Korean company. With her outstanding looks and exceptional talent, Jiang Juyou once again felt grateful that she had signed her.
The other three were equally outstanding. Si Yanyu was a former child star, active in TV dramas during kindergarten and elementary school. After entering middle school, she focused on her studies and didn't act much. Later, she was spotted by a talent scout from Random Entertainment after school, who persistently negotiated with her parents for several days before signing her.
The other two were also first-batch trainees who joined the company through open auditions. Han Lemi was someone Jiang Juyou knew about even without watching the monthly evaluations of female trainees. Her unique vocal tone was light and melodious like a lark, and her singing skills were remarkable. Jiang Juyou knew about her because Han Lemi had a special skill of imitating Ariana Grande's singing style, which others said was spot-on.
There was also a girl called Yu Dan, whom Jiang Juyou had heard of. She had a face suited for ballet, with every movement exuding elegance. But when she danced street dance, it was as if she became a different person. In fact, she was proficient in many dance styles, except for ballet.
With two members with such distinct personal characteristics, Han Lemi and Yu Dan were not overshadowed at all. Han Lemi's figure was a bit fuller compared to typical female idols, with a round face like a small bun, and when she smiled, her eyes would involuntarily scrunch up.
Yu Dan stood out due to her exceptional aura. Compared to the beauty of Si Yanyu and Pei Zhiping, she had her own unique recognizability on top of being a pretty girl. Her head and face were very small, with pointed and delicate ears, conforming to the current popular aesthetics.
While watching their performance, Jiang Juyou would occasionally look down at their profiles. As it neared the end, she gave Yang Siyu a thumbs up, and Yang Siyu also showed a rare expression of pride.
Indeed, only those who have been fans, experienced a company's poor management, and can point out a company's operational flaws truly understand what fans want.
Now, Jiang Juyou constantly marveled that it was fortunate she hadn't followed the industry's usual practices. If she had recruited a bunch of people who weren't fans themselves, there might have been much more chaos.
There was a rap section towards the end of the song. Pei Zhiping stood at the center position with a microphone, swaying to the rhythm. The lyrics flowing from her mouth were as natural and smooth as water from an open tap.
The other three crowded around her, helping to hype up the atmosphere. The four of them, unafraid of the stage, even waved to the audience, making eye contact with them. At the ending, they directly stood in front of Jiang Juyou, beaming with smiles unique to their age.
Ye Xing and the others looked as if they were witnessing something bizarre, leaning back slightly. Chi Qiao whispered to Yao Shuo, "I can't even imagine how terrifying it would be if we ended up dancing in front of Jiang at the end."
Just hearing about it made Yao Shuo shudder, "Don't talk about such horrifying things."
Their conversation was recorded and included in the program.
"Hahahahaha, we know you're terrified of Producer Jiang!"
"As someone who only watches the show, even I'm afraid of Jiang Juyou, let alone Pei Luming and the others. It's really hard to imagine how these four dared to... They're so brave!"
"Isn't the key point that Jiang Juyou really liked this stage? Look at her expression, she's loving it!"
"I love it too!!! Who understands! A non-fan just came to watch a variety show for fun, and ended up being kicked straight into the fandom!"
This song had a lot of interactions and harmonies. The infectiousness was strongest when the four of them sang while making eye contact, showing no signs that this was their first time performing together.
Each member had their own shine and unexpected aspects. Four completely different appearance types, which should have "clashed," instead produced an unexpected effect.
After the song ended, Jiang Juyou was the first to cheer softly and start applauding.
The girls who had just been so bold and unrestrained quickly stepped back and bowed politely to the teachers.
The five behind them: "..."
Pei Luming: "I'm going to get jealous..."
"Say it louder if you dare." Yao Shuo started encouraging him again.
Pei Luming: "...I don't dare."
Jiang Juyou picked up the microphone and began her critique, "It's a bit beyond my expectations. The lineup of your group is perfect." She flipped through the files, looking at their group information and said, "At first I thought there might be too few people, but after watching, I feel it's just right. One more or one less might have disrupted this balance."
"Producer Yang's professional skills are top-notch!" Jiang Juyou smiled and gave Yang Siyu another thumbs up.
Yang Siyu pretentiously nodded and bowed back to her, saying: "It's the collective effort of Group A2."
Random Entertainment's operation was centered around groups. Timetrain was Group A1, while the trainees Yang Siyu cultivated were Group A2. The staff for the two groups didn't overlap at all.
"I don't think there's much to say about their skills, I enjoyed the whole performance. The harmony of the four voices was very good, which was also a surprising part."
Han Lemi's vocal tone was unique, and Jiang Juyou had thought she might overshadow the others, but the four of them perfectly covered high and low ranges. Pei Zhiping's vocal part was mid-range, followed by Han Lemi's thin high voice, then came Si Yanyu's mid-range, and Yu Dan's voice and singing style were crisp and clear like a knife, high-pitched while also having its own characteristics.
"Let these four debut directly, I'll foot the bill!"
"I feel Pei Zhiping will definitely be the most popular in the future. There are few with such kitten-like features in China. She's beautiful and highly recognizable at the same time."
"I love them so much, debut quickly, can't wait!"
"Their star quality hits you right in the crown of your head. I usually have difficulty recognizing people, but this time I remembered all four of them in three minutes."
"Not good, this time our domestic entertainment industry is really going to rise. I'd like to see who still says Random Entertainment producing a successful boy group was a fluke! Here's another one!"
"Why choose? Just go with this one, I want this!"
The public's reaction was much better than Jiang Juyou had anticipated. She was also watching along when the show aired, not missing a single comment in the bullet screen reviews.
When she was sitting in the audience at the time, Jiang Juyou had also suggested to Yang Siyu that they could polish up the girls and debut them directly. But it's worth noting that in the domestic entertainment environment where there's no idol market, debuting without prior exposure to gain fans could easily fizzle out.
During the second stage performance, Jiang Juyou also watched attentively for a while, but her reaction wasn't as strong as before. This was mainly because this group was younger, around 11 or 12 years old, looking completely like children.
Jiang Juyou's comments after watching were also very gentle, which made Pei Luming, who was sitting behind, look as if he'd seen a ghost.
"When I was thirteen, Producer Jiang didn't give me such gentle comments... I'm going to make a fuss, I'm really going to make a fuss!"
"Say it loud, let Producer Jiang hear you." Yao Shuo started encouraging him again.
"..."
"Are you two doing a comedy routine back there?"
"Yao Shuo, stop encouraging him!!! What if he really dares! It'll be Gao Xiayu who gets the headache!"
"Pei Luming: What's worse than Jiang praising others is her praising my sister."
"Saw Pei Luming and Pei Zhiping rolling their eyes at each other hahahahaha real siblings!"
There were eight groups in total, and Jiang Juyou only watched half of them, plus two or three solo stages. Since these were groups under other people, she didn't say anything too harsh in her comments.
When everyone else had left, Jiang Juyou's suggestion to Yang Siyu was, "I think we should still leave the choice to the public. Sometimes what we like isn't necessarily what the public likes."
"You can negotiate the competition format with the production team again. The company fully supports you, and I trust your judgment," Jiang Juyou said while patting Yang Siyu's shoulder.
"...?"
"Jiang Juyou, if you really listened to the public, you wouldn't have cried like that at the final performance!"
"Jiang Juyou, do you hear what you're saying?"
"You'd better really listen to the public this time!"
The dozen or so rookie interns followed the other staff members of the A2 group to the fifth floor to prepare for lunch.
While waiting for the elevator, Ling Cheng still felt a bit dazed. When she received the interview pass a week ago, she already felt it was unreal. Now that she was here, the feeling of unreality intensified.
At this moment, she was standing on the floor of the company she most wanted to join, with her idols right beside her. They were so close that she could even hear them whispering to each other.
Ling Cheng was so happy she felt like she might faint.
But she quickly came to her senses. To protect her idols' privacy, she moved a bit to the side until she could no longer hear their conversation.
Meanwhile, Pei Luming and the others were saying:
"Oh my god! We're having steak for lunch!"
"You should eat less. Your manager told you to watch your diet. We still have schedules to run in the future, and we won't have as much exercise. If you eat too much, be careful not to gain weight. If you get fat, fans won't like you anymore," Gao Xiayu said, genuinely concerned for Pei Luming. Pei Luming always had a big appetite, and after discovering he didn't gain weight easily during training, he became even more unrestrained.
Yao Shuo, hands in his pockets, watched the elevator numbers while chiming in, "That's right. Which idol eats twenty buns for breakfast? You're really frightening."
Chi Qiao, who had also eaten twenty buns that day, looked at him: "..."
Ye Xing gave him a thumbs up, "One sentence, two gluttons struck down."
The subtitle team thoughtfully labeled the two with titles: [Tall Glutton] [Short Glutton]
"Hahahahahaha!"
"Glutton is fine, but why call him short? Pei Luming, jump up and strike back!"
"Short glutton hahahahahaha!"
Gao Xiayu felt another headache coming on. These four were really hard to manage!
Just then, the elevator arrived. The five of them let the other staff enter first, planning to take the next one. At that moment, several of the rookies' phones rang with a message from Jiang Juyou.
"Executive Producer Jiang Juyou: Take a rest after lunch. Another tough battle awaits in the afternoon. We need to meet with the merchandise team and the album planning team."
The eyes of all eleven people lit up, and the bullet comments became excited too.
"Are we finally going to see how the photo cards are made?"
"Please, I beg you, I want an SSR!"
"I'm really curious about how albums are produced."
"Let me tell you something scary, look at the progress bar."
Yao Shuo: Isn't eating twenty buns for breakfast scary enough?
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