This time, a total of seven groups of trainees were able to participate in the second season of "21 Heartbeats of Youth". Those who were too young were filtered out, leaving only candidates suitable for debut.
Their training method was completely different from that of the male trainees. Rather than focusing on group performances, they emphasized individual skills. The frequency of reshuffling and regrouping was even higher than on the boys' side, and the competition was more intense.
Under such strict selection rules, it was difficult to form genuine friendships. All the other girls who had entered the company at the same time as Pei Zhiping and her three companions had already been eliminated. The rushed training schedule made it even harder to make friends.
Especially since the four of them were considered very strong trainees, others tended to be wary of them. Sometimes when they were grouped together, they didn't necessarily get along with everyone.
The four of them, likewise, still felt a bit disjointed even after being in the same group for several months.
Han Lemi glanced at Yu Dan, who was warming up, then at Pei Zhiping, who was doing vocal exercises, and finally at Si Yanyu, who was sitting in the corner of the sofa, hugging an iPad and making a pizza.
She felt a wave of despair, realizing it was truly difficult to become close friends with these people.
"Get up and move around a bit. The weather is still a bit cool, so don't get injured when you go up there," Pei Zhiping turned and said, while adjusting the angle of her earpiece and having the staff help her reposition her microphone.
In terms of age, Pei Zhiping was the youngest of the four, with the other three being a year or two older than her. However, she acted like an older sister, serving as the acting team leader in the group.
Han Lemi and Yu Dan were easy to talk to, mainly because they understood that Pei Zhiping was the most popular one. To gain attention in this talent show, they needed to interact more with Pei Zhiping.
After Pei Zhiping spoke, Han Lemi and Yu Dan got up to stretch their wrists, while Si Yanyu remained seated on the sofa, her brows furrowed. "Wait a moment, I'm almost done here."
Han Lemi, rotating her wrists, glanced at Si Yanyu, then at Pei Zhiping, trying hard to suppress the urge to look at the camera.
Many viewers of this show were there for their four-member group, and some even said they wanted all four of them to debut together. Han Lemi herself was well aware that without Pei Zhiping and Si Yanyu, her popularity might plummet.
But she couldn't bring herself to be friends with these two strange people against her conscience.
"Hah..." After sighing, she turned to the other side and stretched her knees.
The live performance was already underway, with the waiting room screens broadcasting the situation on stage. She focused her attention on the live feed, and soon, their biggest rivals in this competition appeared.
"Xia Simiao's group is on," Han Lemi commented while watching the screen. The next second, those three walked over, their expressions more serious and focused than ever before.
Three episodes of the show had already aired, and besides their group of four, there were certainly other hidden gems discovered by the public. One of them was Xia Simiao's group, also consisting of four members, with a style similar to theirs and even comparable positioning. Apart from being slightly weaker in skills, they were practically their arch-rivals.
Because the public couldn't discern that tiny difference in ability.
Xia Simiao, whose name had been called out, stood in the center position. Her long hair reached her waist, and she had a distinctive hime cut. She turned her head to look at the lower left, ready in her opening pose.
The moment the music started, she quickly raised her eyes, locking onto the red dot in front of her, making eye contact with the camera.
Xia Simiao seemed like a born performer. Both her appearance and voice were extremely distinctive. She was from Xinjiang, beautiful like a doll, with every feature of her face seeming meticulously crafted. Her body proportions were even more incredible. Her voice and vocal technique were also very unique, clear and rounded like glass marbles.
While their group was performing, Pei Zhiping and her three teammates watched intently, scrutinizing for any mistakes like they were picking bones from eggs.
They swallowed all their critiques, only exchanging glances when they spotted an error.
After their group finished performing, Han Lemi and her team were instructed to go to the side of the stage to prepare in advance.
The girls turned away from the screen, looking at each other, their expressions noticeably more relaxed than before. The makeup artists gave them their final touch-ups, and after finishing, Pei Zhiping even said "thank you" in Korean.
As they were leaving, they ran into Xia Simiao's group who had just come off stage. They simply nodded at each other and went on their way.
During the commercial break, the big screen was playing advertisements. Jiang Juyou was hunched over the table, writing something on her iPad. Yang Siyu, sitting nearby, leaned over to take a look. "How was that last group?"
"...They were okay. Apart from Xia Simiao, the others didn't really stand out," Jiang Juyou casually commented.
Li Yao, who had been sitting for quite a while, stretched and moved around a bit. Hearing Jiang Juyou's comment, she sighed, "Indeed, it's always the pretty ones who catch the eye. I tried hard to watch the others, but I kept getting drawn to Xia Simiao."
"Is she mixed-race?"
"No, she's from Xinjiang."
Zhao Xu flipped through some papers and noticed that the next group was Pei Zhiping's. She suddenly became interested, "The next group is Pei Zhiping's team!"
"They left a deep impression on me during last month's evaluation," Jiang Juyou recalled.
"Looking forward to it!"
Just as they finished speaking, the commercial ended, and the screen displayed the entrance animation. The previously chatting audience began to cheer, especially when they saw Pei Zhiping's team come up. The screams from the live audience grew even louder.
Jiang Juyou and her colleagues sat up straight and put on their headphones, ready to listen to their live performance.
As the introductory dialogue began, Jiang Juyou immediately recognized the song. It was Ariana Grande's "Bloodline".
Songs that combined singing and dancing were their specialty, and the syncopated beats in the chorus particularly showcased their strengths. In terms of stage design, their concept was set at a big party, with a long table on stage adorned with model food. The four of them stood on the table, dancing to the rhythm of the music.
That sense of having everything under control was very eye-catching, especially during Pei Zhiping's parts. She was incredibly charismatic; a simple wink could capture a group of girls in the audience.
Unlike the previous group where only one person stood out, in this group, while not everyone was a visual standout, they were all eye-catching. Their expression management was textbook level, varied yet infectious, without seeming exaggerated.
During the bridge section, they hit every beat with each word. The backup dancers held the stairs as the four main performers descended from the table, walking while executing hand dance moves. Throughout these steps, none of them looked down at the stairs – this part couldn't be performed without muscle memory.
Their charm, bursting from the stage, swept through the entire venue. The fans in the audience looked up, their eyes sparkling, not wanting to blink.
Jiang Juyou's expression was once again captured by the live broadcast. She had a constant smile on her face, her head nodding to the rhythm of the music.
"Look, she loves it!"
"Pei Luming must be crying in the bathroom."
"The male trainees would call this a horror story."
"Haha, the male trainees must be biting their handkerchiefs in frustration right now."
As the three-minute-plus stage performance ended, the four stood at the front of the stage in their ending pose. But none of them stuck to the stereotypical ending. Instead, they looked at the audience, waving to those in the far second floor, making eye contact with them one by one. Finally, they didn't forget to look at the camera, greeting the viewers watching the live broadcast.
"Doubt Jiang Juyou, understand Jiang Juyou, become Jiang Juyou."
"If idols don't pander to fans, they shouldn't debut! The more they pander, the better! Love to see it!"
"Ahhhhh I really love these four!"
"Can't stand you Pei family members, how are you all so good at this?"
When it came time for the evaluation, the four of them huddled together looking at the judges' panel in the distance. Jiang Juyou, who was the first to pick up the microphone, still had a smile on her face as she said, "I'm still very surprised. I thought what we saw in last month's evaluation was a one-time phenomenon, but I didn't expect to see such an impressive stage performance again this time. It's really—" She gave a thumbs up as she spoke.
Jiang Juyou looked at her notes and evaluated each person individually, "Your breath control and volume for each line were just right. Pei Zhiping's opening introduction was really fantastic, transitioning into the main part very naturally. It's rare to see someone hit the right notes from the first line without needing a guide vocal. It was really good."
"The harmony part was done by Han Lemi and Si Yanyu, right? This part can easily become jarring, like someone suddenly coming in and shouting while others are singing, but you didn't do that. It was really very natural. I'm sorry, I've used the word 'natural' too many times, but making a live performance feel natural is a very difficult thing to do."
Jiang Juyou glanced at her notes and continued, "Yu Dan is also a member who surprised me. The stereotype is that dance-focused members usually aren't very good vocally, just passing level, but that dolphin note you just did scared me. It was such a pleasant surprise."
"Your group is really a hexagonal warrior."
Jiang Juyou gave a very high evaluation this time as well. The bullet comments, apart from joking that this scene was like seeing a ghost, also had many people agreeing with Jiang Juyou.
After all five judges had given their evaluations, the four of them bowed and left the stage. In this small gap, the director switched the camera to the judges' panel.
They heard Jiang Juyou say to the person next to her: "Do you know why their group shines so brightly?"
She smiled and said, "The ambition in their eyes is about to burst out. That kind of aura of wanting to turn everyone in the audience into their fans is very attractive."
"Ahhhhh yes!!! That's exactly the feeling!"
"Really, the reason why each of them stands out is because of that ambition!"
"As a career-oriented fan, I'm in love. Falling straight into their fandom."
"Yes, yes! They've drawn me in!"
Even without Jiang Juyou's comments pointing it out, online viewers who saw the video could feel it too. That emotion churning in their hearts, and after watching the performance, they urgently wanted to know more about them. So the stage performance from a month ago at the end-of-month evaluation was also dug up.
After seeing Jiang Juyou's comments, everyone understood more clearly why these four were so captivating.
The newcomers who were attracted thought this was a new girl group prepared by Random Entertainment, but after digging a little deeper, they found out that this was actually an ongoing girl group selection, and the final lineup hadn't been determined yet.
"How is this not determined yet? Who else besides these four can give off this kind of feeling?"
"Add Xia Simiao and Ji Wensu, and you six can debut together."
"I escaped the boy group, but couldn't escape the girl group... Damn, I've become Random Entertainment's leek after all!"
"After Pei Zhiping debuts, she'll probably be a top star like her brother. The siblings might as well split the entertainment industry between them."
The three most popular groups were arranged together. After Xia Simiao's group performed, it was Pei Zhiping's group, followed by Ji Wensu's group.
After getting off stage, Pei Zhiping and her group didn't go far at all, instead standing right at the edge of the stage watching the staff's monitor screens.
During their trainee period, the competition among these six was very intense. There were no ties in the monthly evaluations, only high and low rankings. The top six positions were basically monopolized by these six, with Pei Zhiping even holding a record of ranking first for six consecutive months. She was basically always either first or second.
Xia Simiao and Ji Wensu never got first place, but they stayed in second and third positions for a long time.
In the words of other junior trainees, just these six standing together created sparks. It felt like if you weren't careful, the next second there would be crackling electricity.
The show had actually established from the beginning that these six were rivals. Basically after this performance ended, the rankings from one to six would be theirs.
The audience found it very interesting. Every time they saw these few in the same space, they felt undercurrents surging. There were even quite a few comments in the bullet screen egging them on to fight.
After all seven groups had performed, the rankings were decided by the five judges. During this gap while deciding the rankings, a wave of advertisements was inserted.
While advertisements were playing on the big screen, Jiang Juyou and the other four were in the backstage waiting room, discussing the rankings.
The rankings for each performance were always decided by the judges, and they only selected first to seventh place, with no rankings for the rest. After they had mostly decided, the judges returned to their seats.
Chen Xi stood on stage, looking frail in her haute couture gown as she stood center stage, holding the ranking information that had just been handed to her by the show's staff.
Based on the average scores from the five judges, the rankings were announced from seventh to first.
"Seventh place - Shi Yusheng."
When this name was called, Xia Simiao let out a shriek and immediately hugged the person next to her. Shi Yusheng was a trainee in her group.
"Sixth place, Yu Dan."
When Yu Dan's name was called, the other three in her group all showed surprised expressions. They hadn't expected Yu Dan to rank so low.
Fifth place was Ji Wensu, fourth place was Xia Simiao, and the top three don't need to be said - Pei Zhiping's group took them all, with Pei Zhiping first, Han Lemi second, and Si Yanyu third.
The group with the best expressions was definitely Pei Zhiping's.
"Alright, just these seven, debut directly, don't bother selecting anymore. I haven't recovered from the bad news at the beginning of the year yet."
"I'm a bit scared of seven now... reminds me of some unpleasant memories."
"They're not going to do a seven to five elimination later, are they?"
"No, they haven't decided on the debut number yet, we have to vote ourselves [lights cigarette]"
After announcing the top seven rankings, the next step was selecting team members, done on the spot, right under everyone's gaze.
While Chen Xi was still explaining the show's rules at the front, Pei Zhiping turned her head to Si Yanyu and the others behind her and said, "Do you trust me?"
"...Huh?" Han Lemi was confused after hearing this, not sure what she meant by trust or not trust.
Pei Zhiping turned around, with her back to the audience, and pulled the others close, forming a small circle. "If the four of us stay as one group, we'll definitely debut in the end."
This was something all four of them understood very clearly. Hadn't they seen how Ji Wensu and Xia Simiao, who could have ranked second or third, dropped several places due to their teammates dragging them down?
Han Lemi steadied herself and looked at Pei Zhiping with furrowed brows, "You mean..."
"I'm going to choose you guys later... of course, if you don't want to, you can tell me," Pei Zhiping said directly.
"Okay, I'm with you," Han Lemi agreed without even thinking about it.
Si Yanyu turned back and said, "Just the four of us, don't add anyone else."
"Then I'm okay with it too," Yu Dan said with a smile.
Nothing is more solid than a team with a common goal.
They had the same goal and the same ambition.
The four turned back to stand properly. Staff members at the edge of the stage came running over with armfuls of microphones, distributing one to each of the seven who had rankings.
Chen Xi had also finished explaining the rules and walked to one side, holding up her dress.
The first to start choosing was Pei Zhiping.
The camera focused on her, and her face appeared on the big screen. The audience below was buzzing with speculation about who she would choose.
Pei Zhiping gripped the microphone tightly, looking slightly nervous, but quickly composed herself. She said, "...I choose to maintain the current team."
"Huh?"
"Can she do that?"
"That's not allowed, right? She's taken all the top ones, how are the others supposed to form teams?"
Jiang Juyou on the judges' panel was also surprised for a moment. The staff and Chen Xi on stage all looked a bit lost, turning their gazes towards Jiang Juyou.
Jiang Juyou picked up the microphone, about to speak, when she suddenly remembered this was Yang Siyu's group. So she used eye contact to ask, and after Yang Siyu nodded, she finally said, "It's allowed."
Pei Zhiping's move completely disrupted Xia Simiao's plans. She had already decided who to choose, but after this, Xia Simiao hesitated again.
The choice now fell to Xia Simiao. She gripped the microphone tightly, hesitated for a moment, and then decided to change things up a bit.
"I choose... Shi Yusheng--" She selected Shi Yusheng, who was ranked seventh, along with a few other trainees she got along well with and who had decent skills, for a total of seven people.
Shi Yusheng, who had been chosen, picked up the microphone as if to say something, but then put it down again. Chen Xi, seeing this, added that the first seven trainees chosen had the right to refuse.
Shi Yusheng shook her head, "I don't refuse."
Xia Simiao heard this and grinned at her.
In the end, only Ji Wensu was left. She held the microphone, her face full of disbelief. Originally, following the format of the top seven forming their own teams, she had prepared her own strategy. Now, all of that had been thrown into disarray.
Xia Simiao had even taken away her potential team members and the people she wanted to choose. With no other option, she picked and chose from among those who were left.
"What a chaotic move, even catching Jiang Juyou off guard."
"Indeed, they're true siblings, with identical thought processes. Pei Luming did the same thing."
"Great! Those four are definitely going to debut together. I was worried they might be split up."
"I've been a solo stan all my life, but now I'm a group fan for the first time. You four better debut together!"
"Zhizhi, mommy will make sure you're the center! The final center! The stable center! We're going to be the top group!"
"If those seven end up being formed into a group, won't it be chaotic? It's clear there's no team spirit."
"I hope we can see a stage with the top six before it ends. I want to see what it's like when those six perform together."
"There's this inexplicable feeling... like those six will debut together."
Initially, there were concerns that the female trainees' side wouldn't generate enough buzz, but from the first episode, the topic has been trending non-stop.
If the male trainees' survival show was a wolf pack, then the female side was a jungle of wild beasts, each more ferocious than the last.
At the end, Pei Zhiping stood in the center position, and the camera lingered on her face for a long time. Somehow, she managed to find the camera dozens of meters away and just kept staring at it.
The ambition in her eyes was palpable. She was like a leopard crouching, waiting for its prey, fixed in place, intensely focused on her target.
These final few seconds of footage sent Pei Zhiping straight to the top of the trending topics.
#Ambition Overflowing from the Screen#
In the GIFs and videos, Pei Zhiping was like a poisonous flower in a tropical rainforest, with a striking, bewitching appearance and a deadly, dangerous aura.
The more you look, the more captivating she becomes.
Pei Luming had also watched today's livestream and saw all those comments in the danmu.
He saw everything, including comments about how if the Pei siblings turned into animals, Pei Zhiping could kill Pei Luming with a bite.
He also saw comments calling Pei Zhiping the wolf king and saying he was like a husky fawning for scraps beside her.
"..."
Angered, Pei Luming got up from his bed and went to find Gao Xiayu to complain.
He banged on the door with a "bang bang," and Gao Xiayu shouted from inside, "Just come in!"
Pei Luming entered the passcode and wandered in, still holding his phone. "Bro-- They're talking about me!"
Gao Xiayu, who was on the bed, put down his phone and sat up, making room for him. He brushed his hair back in exasperation, "Why don't you just ignore the haters? You're deliberately searching for it to read!"
"No, it's not that!" Pei Luming found the screenshots he had taken while watching the livestream and showed them to him. "They're making fun of me."
Then he asked Gao Xiayu, "I think I'm pretty fierce on stage, don't you think, bro?"
Gao Xiayu took his phone and scrolled through the screenshots. The comments teasing Pei Luming came one after another, making even Gao Xiayu laugh.
He cleared his throat, "Well... I think they're pretty spot on."
After saying this, he glanced at Pei Zhiping in the screenshot again, then held the phone up next to Pei Luming's face to compare. "Your sister definitely has a stronger presence than you."
Pei Luming: "..."
Wounded once again.
Pei Luming: I'll bite bite bite bite bite--
