The song "Full Fire" has a very fast tempo, making it a great fit for street dance.
Gu Zhen had performed it before during commercial gigs, though it wasn't her absolute specialty. Fortunately, she drew a relatively late number, allowing her to take the stage later on. This put her much more at ease. Watching the other groups perform, Gu Zhen noticed that most contestants didn't have exceptionally strong stage presence. Only a handful of individuals, blessed with rich experience and high talent, managed to score big.
As she watched, Gu Zhen found herself losing her nervousness entirely. She even came up with a brilliant idea. Who said "Full Fire" had to be strictly modern dance? Adding a few classical dance elements would work just as well!
When Chen Weiwei took the stage, Gu Zhen watched and studied her intently. She had to admit that Chen Weiwei truly lived up to her status as a top-tier trending star; her stage presence was formidable, and her expression management was top-notch.
Gu Zhen silently pumped herself up—she wasn't bad either! She was a web-famous blogger with hundreds of thousands of followers, after all! She had even performed on the grand stage of the Lantern Festival Gala!
With the little flame in her heart burning fiercely, Gu Zhen stepped onto the stage full of spirit and confidence.
The showdown between the two of them drew a tremendous amount of attention. One was a popular trending star at the height of her fame, while the other was a rising web celebrity. Most importantly, many people noticed that the two of them looked strikingly alike!
Gu Zhen tried her best to ignore the heckling from the surrounding contestants. Nodding to signal the music to begin, she started with a conventional set of street dance footwork. Just as the judges and fellow contestants assumed she would dance this way all the way through, her steps suddenly shifted.
Abruptly rising from a floor movement, Gu Zhen executed a series of high kicks and spins, followed by leaps with sweeping sleeves. Every single movement hit the musical beats with pinpoint precision.
One had to understand that "Full Fire" was an extremely fast-paced song; keeping up with the rhythm alone was already quite a feat, let alone attempting such high-difficulty jumps and spins.
As Gu Zhen landed, thunderous applause erupted across the entire venue. She had blended modern and classical dance to absolute perfection.
The judges awarded her three 9s and one 10. Gu Zhen looked over at Fu Jingchuan, who was holding up a big fat 10.
With a total score of 39, she had beaten Chen Weiwei by a single point! Clenching her small fists happily, Gu Zhen went and found a seat with a beaming smile.
Surrounding contestants crowded around to talk to her, praising her solid foundation and clever choreography. Gu Zhen offered a shy smile, her adorable, well-behaved demeanor making many of the seniors instantly fond of her.
Only Chen Weiwei and Xu Shan, not far away, looked displeased. Chen Weiwei was simply too confident in herself, which was why she had just casually tossed off her routine. Xu Shan, on the other hand, was eaten up with jealousy because her score wasn't particularly high.
*I never expected Gu Zhen to actually have some tricks up her sleeve,* Chen Weiwei thought, crossing her arms as she stood to the side, lost in thought.
After weighing her options repeatedly, Xu Shan couldn't help but sidle up to Chen Weiwei. "Miss Chen, I think you danced a lot better than Gu Zhen."
Chen Weiwei frowned, glanced at Xu Shan, and remained silent.
"But in competitions like this, everything is rigged anyway. Who can blame it when Gu Zhen has someone powerful backing her? It's no surprise she won." Xu Shan continued stirring the pot. "Since Miss Chen is with Xingchen Entertainment, you must know about the relationship between President Han and Gu Zhen, right?"
Chen Weiwei's heart skipped a beat as she realized the main event had arrived. "What are you getting at?"
Xu Shan smiled with an air of innocence. "Gu Zhen used to be President Han's ex, you know. Everyone in our dance troupe knows about it."
Chen Weiwei fell into deep thought. She *had* heard rumors that President Han used to chase after a certain dancer, but she never imagined it was Gu Zhen. Connecting this to their similar appearances, Chen Weiwei was suddenly struck by an ominous premonition. Could things really be as she suspected? Was Han Tang looking for a substitute? Would a playboy like President Han actually obsess over a single woman and never let go?
Chen Weiwei snorted, not entirely buying what Xu Shan was selling. "Oh, and what does that have to do with me? You're in the same dance troupe as Gu Zhen—aren't you guys on bad terms? Trying to use my hands to deal with Gu Zhen? That's quite a calculation you've got there."
Having her motives exposed, Xu Shan looked rather awkward and shut her mouth with a dejected expression. Still, she didn't expect Chen Weiwei to actually do anything; planting a thorn in her heart was enough.
...
After the first round of competition, 16 contestants were eliminated. Everyone rested for a night before drawing lots for the next round of grouping.
This time, the opponent Gu Zhen drew was a guy named Zhang Ming, who specialized in Latin dance. Before the start of the second round, each group was given a week of preparation time. During this period, they would focus on creating their choreography, while the production team gradually released previously edited episodes online.
Gu Zhen and Zhang Ming finalized their dance content in just half a day. They decided to go with the Latin dance that Zhang Ming excelled at. The original host had learned it as a child and had even joined the Latin dance club back in school, so it wasn't unfamiliar territory.
For the second round, Gu Zhen intended to play it safe—she wasn't aiming for first place, only to avoid elimination.
Zhang Ming was a lively and cheerful young man, and he was thrilled to be paired with Gu Zhen. However, Gu Zhen was somewhat shy and easily embarrassed; judging purely by her temperament, she didn't seem suited for the passionate and uninhibited style of Latin dance. The two of them still had plenty of grinding to do.
Little did they know that online, things had already blown up completely.
The show "Dance Star" had always enjoyed massive popularity, not to mention the participation of Fu Jingchuan and Chen Weiwei this time around. The showdown between Chen Weiwei and Gu Zhen had even been edited into the promotional trailers.
For a top-tier trending star to lose the first round to an unknown newcomer like Gu Zhen—such a topic was bound to blow up instantly.
Chen Weiwei's fans rushed online to clear her name, claiming that Gu Zhen's dancing was subpar and that she must have had some sort of backstage backing. At the same time, sharp-eyed observers pointed out that Gu Zhen danced far better than Chen Weiwei, praising the creative fusion of modern and classical dance.
Others stepped forward to note how much the two women looked alike, accusing the production team of deliberately stirring up drama by putting them in the same group.
Once someone pointed it out, it really did seem that way. The internet immediately descended into a noisy uproar once again. Fans accused Gu Zhen of clout-chasing, while casual netizens declared Gu Zhen far more beautiful than Chen Weiwei.
Gu Zhen's Weibo follower count skyrocketed overnight from three hundred thousand to a million. Her comment section also filled up with quite a few haters, cursing her as a copycat and a clout-chaser.
Things got even worse when rumors claimed that Gu Zhen was cozying up to the Best Actor, asking how else Fu Jingchuan could have possibly given Gu Zhen a score of 10 while everyone else missed out. Fu Jingchuan's fans quickly stepped forward, telling people not to mention him and asserting that their idol stood alone.
When Gu Zhen finished her rehearsal that evening, she found her phone practically frozen from an overwhelming flood of notifications.
In the family chat group, Gu Chaosheng and Liang Meixia firmly expressed their belief that their daughter had completely crushed Chen Weiwei. Among other relatives and friends, some offered words of comfort, while others begged for the Best Actor's autograph. Gu Zhen ignored most of them.
Over on Weibo, however, things were far more exciting.
To her shock, Gu Zhen discovered she was trending on the hot search list again.
#PureBloggerSuspectedOfBeingKept#
#HanGroupPoursMassiveWealthIntoPushingGuZhen#
Some insider had even posted intimate photos of Gu Zhen and Han Tang from the past. Though it was only an embrace, it was enough to tell the whole story.
Almost everyone firmly believed that Gu Zhen was being kept by Han Tang, and that her victory over Chen Weiwei in this competition was simply bought and paid for with Han Tang's money.