"Hello everyone, my name is Wang Hanxu!"
"Ever since I was a child, my mother told me that the children of the poor must shoulder family responsibilities early... Driven by my dream, I have come to this stage."
Hearing that he had to introduce himself, Li Mubai started putting on an act.
Down in the audience, more than ninety trainees instantly burst into laughter, and even the judges were amused.
Looking at the laughter filling the venue, Li Mubai remained quite calm, thinking to himself: Is my acting not good enough? Is this persona of a tragic yet hardworking underdog not portrayed well enough?
At this moment, Naixiao clutched her slightly aching stomach from laughing and asked, "Aren't you called Li Mubai? Why did you suddenly change your name to Wang Hanxu?"
Hearing this, Li Mubai instantly realized he had been exposed. With a slightly awkward smile, he offered a serious explanation:
"I heard from others that if you want to become famous on a talent show like this, you have to play the sympathy card. This is my first time, so I'm not quite prepared yet and lack practice. I'll be better at it next time!"
Zhang Yixing quickly smiled and said, "No, no, don't do that next time, otherwise the show won't be able to go on!"
Li Mubai nodded, and only then did he give a serious self-introduction:
"Hello everyone, my name is Li Mubai, an independent trainee with half a year of training experience."
"Being able to participate in this show this time is thanks to the suggestions of the fans in my livestream room. Of course, to have successfully made it onto the show, I must thank the top benefactor in my livestream room. If she hadn't invested in this show, I probably wouldn't have been able to get in!"
In this room, Li Mubai appeared exceptionally sincere.
After all, he really had only earned the qualification to participate, and there were no shady behind-the-scenes dealings involved.
Besides, given his own strength, if he couldn't win the championship on this show, it would definitely be rigged.
As for why Li Mubai could be so outstanding, aside from his own relentless efforts, the most important factor was the contrast provided by his peers!
Listening to Li Mubai's remarkably sincere self-introduction, several mentors were left completely stunned.
Having participated in shows for so many years, this was the first time they had ever seen someone on a talent show openly admit to being backed by investors.
Yet, considering Li Mubai's performance just moments before, backed by that kind of strength, he certainly had no fear of gossip from others.
After Li Mubai stepped down, the dozen or so trainees who followed finished their performances one after another, and the grouping process began.
In the entire lounge, one hundred trainees anxiously awaited their final rankings, and many gathered together to chat.
At that moment, a trainee walked up to Li Mubai and praised, "Dude, that song of yours just now was absolute perfection. I feel like I won't be able to get that melody out of my head for days!"
"I never expected this show would have a monster like you!"
With that, the trainee extended a hand to Li Mubai and said, "Let's get acquainted. Fan Chengcheng, a Hua Yu trainee."
"Li Mubai!" Li Mubai reached out and shook his hand.
In Li Mubai's view, compared to those other second-generation kids, Fan Chengcheng was clearly much more polite.
Before coming to the show, Li Mubai had heard from Wang Xin that out of the hundred trainees, most were sons of real estate tycoons, and there were even quite a few celebrity offspring among them.
One could say they all had formidable backgrounds, leaving him as the only pure outsider.
"The piece you played earlier sounded quite pleasant," Li Mubai replied politely, acknowledging Fan Chengcheng's praise.
Hearing this, a trace of shyness appeared on Fan Chengcheng's face as he awkwardly said, "Actually, this is my first time on a show like this too. I was too nervous just now, otherwise I could have done even better!"
The two chatted briefly.
"Which group do you think we'll be assigned to?" After a long while, with the grouping results still unannounced, Li Mubai asked with curiosity.
Fan Chengcheng told Li Mubai with great confidence, "Don't worry, you'll definitely be assigned to Group A. My performance was just average, so it's hard to say for me!"
"That's really hard to say." Li Mubai gave a self-deprecating smile. Judging by his own strength, being placed in Group A was certainly not a problem, but the trainees competing against him all had resources, after all.
Seemingly seeing through Li Mubai's thoughts, Fan Chengcheng smiled and explained, "This show needs to be broadcast nationwide after all. Even if there are some discrepancies, given the ability you displayed, the discrepancy won't be too huge!"
To put it bluntly, Fan Chengcheng was confident that with Li Mubai's performance in the first round, even if there was corruption, they wouldn't dare push it too far.
Otherwise, when the show aired nationwide, it would be the director and producers losing face.
"Following the mentors' deliberations, the grouping results for all trainees are out. Please look at the big screen!"
Ten minutes later, as the broadcast echoed through the lounge, everyone's nervous anticipation was stirred up.
Soon, the large screen in front of everyone displayed the results of this grouping.
Li Mubai saw that he had indeed been assigned to Group A, and Fan Chengcheng was in Group A as well.
The rest fell within a reasonable range, though what somewhat surprised Li Mubai was that the trainee who went on stage first and performed as a zombie had also made it into Group A.
Once the grouping results were out, some were overjoyed while others worried.
Seeing his own result, Fan Chengcheng clearly found it somewhat unexpected and looked very happy.
At that moment, the broadcast continued to announce:
"Next, the trainees in each group will find other trainees to rehearse a program together. One week from now will be our show's first public performance!"
"Scores will be given to each trainee based on the overall rehearsal results!"
As the broadcast ended, all the trainees immediately started moving around the lounge.
Many began chatting with one another.
Li Mubai also walked slowly around the lounge, observing the contestants assigned to Group A.
To be honest, Li Mubai didn't want to team up with these people; given their strength, they would undoubtedly drag down his scores.
However, according to the production team's arrangement, this public performance had to be completed in teams, so Li Mubai now had to choose a partner.
"Hello, your dance earlier was pretty good, we can..."
Li Mubai spotted a rather arrogant-looking trainee and stepped forward to ask.
That trainee glanced at Li Mubai with utter disdain. "Sorry, I've already formed a team!"
"A mere livestreamer, as if you're worthy of teaming up with me!"
Even as he walked away, the trainee muttered a few words under his breath.
"So what if their families have money and backing? What is there to show off about! On this show, I'll make all of you know what a real center debut looks like!"
Li Mubai noted down every single person who had rejected him.
Half an hour passed just like that, and Li Mubai still hadn't formed a team.
"Li Mubai, can we team up together?"