Chapter 312. Cooperation

When she heard Xiao Zhao mention the Mysterious X, Ding Shan's relaxed body suddenly tensed up. She said in an unnatural tone, "Is that so?"

"Of course! How much more would he become when the show was broadcast if he could gain such high popularity from a poster? Mysterious X is the biggest dark horse in this variety show." Xiao Zhao analyzed in an excited tone.

...
Just as Ding Shan was at a loss on how to respond to Xiao Zhao, Xiao Zhao's phone suddenly rang. After she picked up the phone, she was stunned for a moment, then her expression turned into disbelief, and finally, she was so shocked that she couldn't speak.

Ding Shan was a little confused. After Xiao Zhao hung up the phone, she asked, "What's wrong? Who called you?"

Xiao Zhao looked highly excited. She stood up and grabbed Ding Shan's hand. "Sister Shan, hurry! Hurry up and dress up; this is a big pie in the sky!"

Half an hour later, Ding Shan and Xiao Zhao went out together. Chen Tong's assistant saw the two of them leaving in a hurry and immediately reported the news to Chen Tong.

"Where are they going?" Chen Zhao frowned.

"Who cares? Maybe she's angry at the netizens for saying she's not as good as you, sister Chen, so she went out to find a corner to cry secretly." The assistant said, trying to please her.

Since Chen Tong taught her assistant a lesson, her assistant learned to be more innovative. What she said now put Chen Tong in a good mood.

Chen Tong raised her chin arrogantly. "I guessed so too. She's usually so arrogant, but now she's under my feet. When my new movie is released, my popularity will surpass hers. Let's see if she can still laugh then!"

Ten minutes later, Ding Shan and Xiao Zhao arrived at a high-end coffee shop next to the film and television park. After waiting for a while, two men in suits walked into the room.

The man in front was a foreigner, and the one behind him was an interpreter.

Ding Shan stood up and smiled politely. She greeted the two, "Hello, I'm Ding Shan."

"Call me Jeff. Miss Ding Shan is more beautiful than she looks in the photos." Jeff also said a few words of courtesy, but it seemed he didn't take Ding Shan to heart, so he wasn't enthusiastic.

Seeing Jeff's attitude, Ding Shan was a little confused. She exchanged a look with Xiao Zhao.

After discussing the collaboration, Ding Shan and Xiao Zhao stood up and watched Jeff and the translator leave. Then, Ding Shan and Xiao Zhao paid the bill and walked out of the coffee shop.

Xiao Zhao still felt like she was in a dream. She looked at Ding Shan in disbelief. "Sister Shan, is it done? It's that easy?"

Ding Shan felt it was a little unreal, but the contract was in her hands. She nodded. "Okay, let's go back first. Don't tell anyone about this."

As Ding Shan passed by Chen Tong's room back at her residence, Chen Tong happened to see her.

Chen Tong gave ding Shan an arrogant and provocative smile and said in a deep voice, "Where did sister Shan go? Did she go to a quiet corner to cry? You don't have to be sad. The entertainment industry changes so quickly. Aiya, did my fans' words make you angry? Please don't take it to heart; my fans love to speak the truth; I can't help it ..."

Ding Shan glanced at Chen Tong indifferently and went straight into her room without paying any attention to her.

Seeing that Ding Shan wasn't angry at her words, Chen Tong was highly disappointed. If Ding Shan had scolded her, she would have felt terrific.

She hated Ding Shan's disdainful look the most. Chen Tong gritted her teeth and said, "You're good at pretending. Let's see how long you can pretend!"

Chen Tong was staring gloomily in the direction that Ding Shan had left when her phone suddenly rang. After picking up, Du Bing's angry voice came out, "Chen Tong! What are you doing? I told you not to cause any trouble; why did you have to cause trouble for Ding Shan? She's just made a comeback and is so popular. Why do you have to go against her?"

Hearing Du Bing's words, Chen Zhao was instantly unhappy. She said, unconvinced, "Sister Bing, you're usually so busy that you don't have time to care about my affairs. If I don't think about myself more, I might be stepped on by Ding Shan's fans when the show airs! So what if she is popular? Just a paper tiger! As you can see, the internet says I have better resources than her. Shouldn't you be happy for me?"

Chapter 313. It's Just The Beginning

"Ding Shan's fan base is not something you can imagine. If people discover that those fake fans are you, then the whole internet will know that you have a conflict with Ding Shan! You have good resources and a good reputation. Why would you take the risk to go against ding Shan?" Du Bing's tone was very disappointing. "Do you think I want to control you? CEO Wang also knows about this, and he's depressed. You better pray that Ding Shan doesn't make any moves to retaliate."

Du Bing hung up the phone, and Chen Tong was so angry that she wanted to smash her phone.

...
Why didn't she let her deal with Ding Shan? What was there to fear when she was just an outdated female star?

However, Chen Tong panicked when she thought about how CEO Wang knew about this.

President Wang had always liked obedient women. She had done so many little things to deal with Ding Shan. If President Wang had known about it, he would not be happy. However, this wasn't a big problem. President Wang still doted on her. It should be fine after she called him at night and begged him.

These people didn't even think about it. If she didn't deal with ding Shan now, wouldn't she be trampled under Ding Shan's feet when the show aired?

The next day, the trainees took the bus to a forest in a nearby tourist attraction to shoot the music video. After the morning shoot, they went to the indoor swimming pool to shoot the underwater scene in the afternoon.

Ding Shan was busy taking photos with the photographer in the morning and only went to the swimming pool in the afternoon. The swimming pool only had close-up shots, and only the students from Classes A and B had close-up shots.

At this moment, they were shooting urgently, trying to finish all the scenes before dark.

Ding Shan sat on a chair in the stands and looked at Wen Xiu.

As soon as Ding Shan entered, Wen Xiu noticed her. When he saw Ding Shan's gaze land on him, Wen Xiu immediately became highly excited.

He revealed his perfect side profile to Ding Shan and even deliberately lifted his shirt, revealing his tight and sexy abdominal muscles.

Wen Xiu's greasy and pretentious actions fell into Ding Shan's eyes, and she almost vomited out her lunch.

When she thought of how she had cried because this man had misunderstood her in her previous life, and even wrote a short essay of a few hundred words to Wen Xiu late at night as an apology, Ding Shan only wanted to bury herself alive when she recalled those scenes. Oh, and add two more mounds of dirt to it.

Wen Xiu began filming. While filming, he glanced at Ding Shan, only to find that she was frowning at him.

Wen Xiu immediately felt uneasy, wondering if he had performed poorly in some way. At this moment, Ding Shan looked at him and shook her head as if she was very disappointed.

Wen Xiu became even more nervous, and his relaxed state disappeared. The director was very dissatisfied with his performance and raised his voice to say, "Wen Xiu, what's the matter with you? There are still many people waiting to shoot; there's no time for you to adjust your state!"

Wen Xiu hurriedly apologized, but Ding Shan's appearance had already disturbed his mind. He tried a few times but failed to film it well. In the end, the director waved his hand in dissatisfaction and ended Wen Xiu's close-up shot.

Initially, the director had designed a few scenes for Wen Xiu. Now, only one or two were passable, and the rest had to be cut out.

Ding Shan watched as Wen Xiu lowered his head and left the filming set in dejection. Her lips could not help but curve up slightly.

In her past life, Wen Xiu had put on an act for her. Why couldn't she use the same method to deal with Wen Xiu in this life?

This was only the beginning.

Her phone suddenly rang. Ding Shan picked it up, and Xiao Zhao's cheerful voice came from the phone. "Sister Shan, director Lin has agreed to give you the second female lead role, but he has confirmed it with me several times as if he doesn't believe in your ability. I told him you only wanted to play this role, and he agreed after some hesitation."

"That's good." Ding Shan heaved a sigh of relief and smiled. "I've never acted in this role before, so it's normal for him to be worried."

However, Lin Bin also knew that Ding Shan's ability was not inadequate, and her popularity could attract box office sales, so he agreed after some hesitation.

Director Lin's reaction made Ding Shan even more confident in one thing. The role of the second female lead was more complicated and complex than the first female lead. Otherwise, director Lin wouldn't have taken the initiative to ask her to play the first female lead, but he was hesitant about her playing the second female lead.

After hanging up the phone, Ding Shan turned around and saw a person standing not far away.

"What are you doing here?" Ding Shan looked at the drenched Mysterious Person X in front of her and said in an unnatural tone, "You've already finished filming? Why don't you go and change your clothes first?"

Chapter 314. The Second Mission

"I saw Teacher Ding and thought of coming over to say hello." Xiang Hong's gaze fell on Ding Shan. She seemed to have just finished her morning shoot, and her makeup had not been removed yet. Her slightly exaggerated makeup magnified the advantage of her facial features, giving her a sharp beauty like a beautiful siren.

Looking at her up close, she seemed even more beautiful than on TV and in photos.

...
After finding out the identity of Mysterious Person X, Ding Shan was not used to him calling her Teacher Ding. Looking at the polite man in front of her, she felt this was just a disguise.

"Then you can go and change your clothes now. Be careful not to catch a cold." As Ding Shan spoke, her gaze fell on Mysterious X's drenched shirt, which stuck to his skin.

Ding Shan could vaguely make out the outline of his muscles, and the sexiness of his male hormones assaulted her face. Ding Shan's ears heated up, and she immediately shifted her gaze.

That night, she wasn't in her right mind, so she didn't remember the man's figure. Now, it seemed his figure wasn't bad, so she didn't lose out.

No, why would she have such thoughts? Ding Shan, are you also the kind of woman who would be charmed by beauty?

Xiang Hong noticed the change in Ding Shan's expression, but he had no idea what she was thinking. He nodded. "Thank you for your concern, Ms. Ding. I'll change my clothes first."

Xiang Hong turned around and made a phone call. "Find out what movie Ding Shan is going to shoot."

"Okay, Boss." Xu Yan didn't ask much and immediately agreed.

Just now, Xiang Hong 'accidentally' overheard Ding Shan talking to someone on the phone, and it seemed like she was talking about filming.

After the music video was shot, the Festival team gave the trainees a second mission: to perform in public for the first time.

The Festival team had prepared 15 songs, some of which were classic, while some were recently released songs.

Some of these songs focused on lyrics, some showed more dance parts, and some were rap songs of various styles.

Out of the five teams, each team could choose three songs and go through a week of training and preparation. Afterward, they would present their final performance on the first public stage a week later.

The first public stage would be held in the capital's Black Forest Theater. There would be 20000 audience members watching the performance and voting for the 15 performing teams.

The team's instructor with the highest number of votes would have one 'Right to revive' and could revive a trainee who had been eliminated in the future.

At the same time, according to the ranking of the votes, the 15 performing teams could each receive a different number of 'Lucky tickets.' The 'Lucky tickets' would be added to the voices of the online audience to determine the overall ranking of this episode's trainees.

After the first episode, 36 trainees who were ranked at the bottom would be eliminated.

After this announcement, the pressure within Ding Shan's battle team suddenly became low.

After getting along for many days, many trainees became good friends. They were all young boys with the same ideals and goals and had been encouraging each other.

Upon hearing that so many people would be eliminated, some of the weaker trainees' expressions turned serious.

A trainee secretly wiped his tears and said to his good friend beside him, "If I'm eliminated, you'll have to keep going. When I return, I'll get my friends and family to vote for you. You have to do your best!"

"What nonsense are you saying! You won't be eliminated. We're going to get the most 'Lucky tickets.' We're going to walk to the end!" The boy said with red eyes.

Ding Shan took a deep breath. "I know that everyone has a lot of emotions and thoughts in their hearts right now, but the competition is cruel, and it's even more so in the circle you're in. This is the first time the audience has chosen you. No matter what the final result is, the only thing you can do now is to give it your all to present the best on stage. Try your best so that no matter the final result, you won't have any regrets.

Let's go. We'll go to the main hall to choose a song now." Ding Shan brought the battle team members to a vast hall. The other four instructors also brought their battle team members to the hall.

Seeing that everyone was present, the program's principal director turned on the LCD screen and began to show the 15 pre-selected songs.

There were many styles of songs, some leaning towards rock and roll, some very artistic and emotional.

The trainees of the various teams lowered their heads and discussed, and the instructors also revealed thoughtful expressions.

Chapter 315. Basketball Match

It was unknown when Wen Xiu appeared beside Ding Shan. He lowered his head and whispered to Ding Shan, Ms. Ding, the stage effects of 'Lion' will be very explosive. 'Sword spirit', an ancient song, can also be adapted. The audience should be very interested ...."

The camera captured Wen Xiu and Ding Shan's conversation, and it looked like they had a good relationship.

...
Wen Xiu was probably anxious, so he wanted to seize every opportunity to perform in front of Ding Shan. At the same time, he also wanted to get more screen time for himself.

Ding Shan was a famous coach so the Festival team would give her a lot of screen time. The more he interacted with Ding Shan, the more he could leave an impression on the audience.

How could Ding Shan not know what Wen Xiu was planning in his heart? She nodded her head indifferently and did not make any extreme reaction. She only said, "Let's check out the other songs."

Seeing Wen Xiu approach Ding Shan, someone in the team rolled his eyes and lowered his head to the person next to him, "Look, the face-changing King is showing off again."

Although there were no visible conflicts in the team, the trainees of Ding Shan's team had found Wen Xiu an eyesore for a long time.

The most disgusting thing was that if there were cameras around, Wen Xiu would smile at them affectionately and pretend to be close to them.

And once there was no camera, Wen Xiu looked at them like a noble young master looking at his servants with contempt and superiority.

Therefore, some trainees secretly gave Wen Xiu the nickname 'Face-changing King.'

After the Festival team announced all the songs, the planning Director stood up and said, "The priority of choosing songs is up to the trainees to fight for. Do you guys see the basket over there? In a while, the Class A and B trainees would have to compete in a competition with three segments: Super-long-range three-point shots, one-minute timed shooting and a slam dunk contest. The final song will be selected according to the total score."

When they saw the director say that only the trainees from Classes A and B were qualified to participate in the competition, the trainees from Classes C and D all lowered their heads in silence. They understood that after they had chosen their songs, they would face the fate of being selected again on the group stage.

They had not even stepped into this circle, but they could already feel the unequal treatment from others. Some people stood at the top and shone brightly, while some people were in the corner, ignored by everyone.

After the warm-up, Class A and B students began to compete. Several cameras followed their movements, and the harsh sound of shoes rubbing against the floor made the scene feel like a high school basketball court.

Among the many trainees, Ding Shan's gaze fell on Mysterious X.

She had initially thought, 'I wonder how good this person is at basketball. He's a member of Class A. If his performance later is too embarrassing, he'll probably feel embarrassed with his proud look.'

However, Ding Shan was overthinking.

Among all the trainees, Mysterious X performed exceptionally well. He calmly moved the ball, broke through the defense line, and shot ... His well-built muscles exuded a perfect sense of strength, and his expression was relaxed, as if he was not in a competition but just playing with the trainees around him.

In addition, the mysterious man's figure and appearance were very outstanding. For a time, even the cameraman could not help but point the camera at him many times.

Every time Mysterious X scored a point, the crowd would cheer. A trainee next to Ding Shan excitedly said to her friend, "This X has been trained. With this level, he can enter our University's basketball team. He's so good. I even want to learn a few moves from him."

Ding Shan didn't know much about basketball, but from the trainee's words, Mysterious X seemed quite reasonable.

Seeing that everyone's attention was on Mysterious X, Wen Xiu, who had been trying his best to show off, was so angry that he wanted to smash the basketball in his hand on Mysterious X's head. What made him even more annoyed was that Ding Shan did not look at him after they went to the court. Instead, she looked at Mysterious X a few times.

He stayed in the basketball club for a few months to show off in front of the girls when Wen Xiu was a student. His physical condition was good, and the coach even said he was very suitable to be an athlete.

Although he had not played basketball for a long time, Wen Xiu felt much stronger than the trainees around him.

He guessed Mysterious X was just a rich second-generation and did not usually practice basketball. He might be able to steal the limelight from Mysterious X on the court this time.

Chapter 316. Song Selection Stage

That was what Wen Xiu thought, but to his shock, Mysterious Person X was not weak; he was solid! He could also see that Mysterious X was warming up rather than competing. He did not use all his strength at all!

After three rounds of competition, the director announced the final results. Mysterious X was indeed in the first place.

...
The surrounding trainees applauded and congratulated Mysterious X, and Ding Shan clapped her hands perfunctorily.

She was clapping when she looked up and saw Mysterious Person X looking at her.

Ding Shan immediately straightened her back and clapped with a severe expression. At the same time, she nodded.

Xiang Hong wanted to laugh.

'It's been hard on you, little fox. You might as well give me a perfunctory reply.'

As the first-place winner, Mysterious X had the priority to choose. Everyone looked at him when the director asked which song he would like to choose.

The 15 songs had different styles, but it was obvious that some of them were more suitable for performing on stage.

The more impactful a song was, the easier it was to get the audience excited, and it was also more likely to get a higher number of votes in the end.

On the other hand, some slow and emotional songs were weaker. No matter how well they performed, they would still appear dull compared to other performances that blew up the audience, and the audience, in the end, would easily forget them.

Wen Xiu, who was in second place, clenched his fist unwillingly.

He already had a song in mind that he wanted to choose the most: ' The lion.' The melody of this song was intense, the dance was excellent, and it was full of tension. According to his many years of stage performance experience, this song was the most accessible song to ignite the audience's passion on stage.

Many people had the same idea as Wen Xiu. 'The lion' had attracted the interest of many trainees, and some of them had even started humming some parts of the song.

Because Mysterious X was about to choose, many people thought he would choose the lion.

How could the first place not choose the best song?

Mysterious Person X, the audience's focus, seemed to have made his choice long ago. He picked up a card with the title of the song without hesitation. I choose 'Not just a song'.

The entire audience was shocked. In confusion, many trainees asked the people next to them, "What song is 'Not just a song?' Do you have any impressions? Does it sound good?"

Among the mentors, Su Yan and Chen Xi looked at each other. Su Yan slowly shook his head as if he did not understand Mysterious X's choice. "This song is not suitable for a first public performance."

Su Yan's words weren't without reason. This song was tranquil and gentle. It was too uncompetitive in the middle of a group of songs that danced with a fierce rhythm. Although this song didn't sound remarkable, it wasn't easy to sing. A slow song tested one's grasp of rhythm and aura. If there were a mistake, the audience would quickly notice it.

Chen Xi touched his chin, and his eyes showed interest.

He had already listened to the 15 songs chosen by the Festival team. 'Not just a song' was written by a not-so-famous young singer. He had participated in the same music variety show as the young singer before, so he had some impression of him.

Obviously, this song, which was very different from the other songs, was just there to make up the numbers.

The Festival team had to choose 15 songs, and just negotiating the copyright was troublesome enough, so it was normal for one or two pieces to appear that weren't that good.

Of course, Chen Xi wasn't saying that the song was terrible, but it was unsuitable for a competitive performance stage.

Moreover, Chen Xi could tell that the song did not seem complete. It was more like a half-finished song.

He knew the singer's personality very well. He was a perfectionist, but the song still had many flaws. It was probably sold to the Festival Group before it was perfected.

Ding Shan didn't expect that Mysterious X would choose this song. Although she was an actress, she could tell this song was too quiet compared to the other songs. It might not have much of a competitive advantage on stage.

Why did he choose this song?

After Mysterious Person X chose his song, the other trainees chose their favorite songs. Wen Xiu got his wish and chose 'The lion. The excited smile on his face was almost impossible to hide.

He glanced at Mysterious Person X and thought, 'What a fool. As expected, he didn't know anything and chose such a lousy song. Isn't he just giving up the good stuff for nothing? Hahaha ...'

After choosing the song, it was time to group up.

Chapter 317. Group Stage

According to the arrangement of the Festival Group, if there were trainees from Class A among the 15 teams, the trainee from Class A would be the leader. If there were no trainees from Class A, the group would choose a leader after the grouping was over.

The team leader was mainly in charge of mission arrangements and other work, but he was not the team's center. The members themselves chose the center of the team.

...
"Now we're entering the mutual selection stage. The trainees will take the initiative to sign up for the team they want to go according to the class order, A, B, C, and D. If the captain agrees, the team formation will be successful. If the team leader disagrees, the trainee can only be selected by the team leader who has insufficient people after the class allocation."

The rules were not complicated, but it was a little cruel for the trainees of Classes C and D. They would again face the awkward situation of being chosen.

Classes A and B were quickly assigned. No matter which team the strong went to, they would not be despised. There were even situations where the leaders of several teams fought for the same trainee. The scene was filled with the laughter of the boys.

Mysterious Person X did not choose his team members on his initiative. In addition, many trainees did not think highly of the song he chose. So after a long time, only one trainee from Class B joined his team.

This trainee was from the Ding Shan battle team and a Mystery man's X team member.

The other teams were almost complete, but Mysterious X's team only had two people, which seemed a little bleak.

However, Mysterious Person X did not seem to be in a hurry. It was as if he did not care that the people assigned to his team would most likely be trainees from Class D.

When they were assigned to Class C, the atmosphere was much tenser. The team leaders were like housewives who went to the market to pick cabbage. They carefully selected the members of Class C who were of decent strength and ruthlessly rejected many trainees who took the initiative to be friendly. The process was a little awkward and cruel, and Ding Shan couldn't bear to see it.

This was the reality of the program. It would not embellish the brutal competition in the industry, nor would it always try to maintain peace on the surface among the trainees. It would even take the initiative to set up various tasks to emphasize realistic and cruel things.

Here, many innocent trainees grew up quickly.

Everyone understood that the entertainment industry was where one could earn a million a day, but not everyone could reach the top of the pyramid. The more benefits there were, the more competition there would be. The more dazzling the winners were, the more miserable the losers would be.

After Class C's trainees were divided into groups, it was Class D's turn. The atmosphere at the scene reached an extremely awkward point.

If the trainees in Class C gave the captains the desire to choose, then the trainees in Class D almost didn't even want to look at them, let alone choose.

Fortunately, many teams were already full. Only a few teams were still short of members. Among them, Mysterious X's team was the most short of members.

Wen Xiu gloated at Mysterious Person X's misfortune and thought, 'Who told you to choose that song? Now, you can only choose a bunch of trash to join your team. Let's see what you have to compete with me on your first public performance. Maybe the day you perform will be the day you get eliminated!'

Mysterious X looked at the remaining trainees in Class D and chose a few of them.

As these people were trainees from Class D, the other team leaders had no intention of snatching them from him. After Mysterious X had chosen his team members, everyone randomly picked a few trainees from Class D to join the team.

With that, the grouping was over.

Ding Shan looked at the members of Mysterious X's team and was surprised to find that the people on his team were all members of his original team.

Three of them were from Class D, one from Class C, and one from Class B. Needless to say, the three class D members were probably picked up by Mysterious X because of their friendship with the team.

Class B and C members had a choice, but they still chose Mysterious X, even though he had chosen a song that no one was optimistic about.

What was this? Was he born to be a leader? Even if he made a confusing choice, there would still be people who would choose to follow him.

Ding Shan looked at Mysterious Person X and fell into deep thought.

After the groups were divided, the trainees went to the new independent training room.

The first thing he had to do when he arrived at the training room was to choose the center.

Ding Shan and the other four instructors watched the trainees' performance in the observation room, and they found that most capable people were actively fighting for the center position. In contrast, many people who felt they were not strong enough gave up.