Chapter 29: She Has Arrived

By the time the selection for the center position of the theme song concluded, it was already past midnight. However, this did not mark the end; most of the trainees were required to stay behind for individual pre- and post-interviews.

"It’s ridiculous. They make all the trainees suffer through this, even though most of these answers won't even make the final cut when the show airs," Justin muttered, his head hanging low, looking rather dejected. He only dared to vent his frustration after removing the microphone attached to his clothing.

Gu Jingyi glanced at the Class B uniform Justin was wearing, a strange feeling flickering in his eyes. When he had been kicked out by YG and went to participate in "Produce 202," he hadn’t owned a single decent outfit to wear. It was Justin who had pulled a set directly from his own suitcase and gifted it to Gu Jingyi to use as a stage costume. At fourteen, Justin was the youngest child in that program; during his self-introduction, he had tailored a 4,200-yuan Undercover piece into a vest and wore it as pajamas in the dorm. Any outfit he casually handed to Gu Jingyi was worth a small fortune.

At that time, Gu Jingyi’s trainee career had nearly stalled, and after multiple arguments with his family over his dreams, all his financial support had been cut off. It was that stage costume from Justin that had allowed Gu Jingyi to overcome the awkwardness of his first performance.

*Kid, since you gave me an outfit back then, I’ll give you a new one now,* Gu Jingyi thought, glancing at the blue Class B uniform and silently adding, *The Class B one just isn't as good-looking as the Class A one.* He patted Justin on the shoulder, already having mentally locked him in as a teammate for the first public performance.

Trainees crowded the studio, waiting to be called by the production team for their interviews. It was a meaningless process; aside from the interviews of a few high-popularity trainees that might appear in the main broadcast, most people were destined to be edited out entirely. Inside the studio, the trainees took off their down jackets to spread on the floor, lying down on the makeshift "tatami" mats and falling asleep the moment their heads hit the ground.

By the time it was Gu Jingyi’s turn, it was past two in the morning. The studio was much emptier, as the trainees who had finished their interviews had already gone back to sleep. In a few hours, everyone would have to wake up to have their hair and makeup redone, striving to finish the theme song rehearsal before eight in the evening and record it officially at ten. Tomorrow, their official profile photos would be released one by one, pushing the anticipation for "Idol Producer" up another notch. The day after, the recorded theme song music video would be released on the official website and major video platforms. The day after that, the first round of voting would begin. Time was running out for the trainees.

Sitting in front of the camera, Gu Jingyi clearly sensed a difference in how the staff treated him compared to before. The change was subtle but undeniable. For instance, when he pondered an answer, the production team wouldn't rush him, but they would deliberately steer the direction of his responses toward the high-profile contestants, asking him to evaluate them. It was as if they wanted to conjure up friendship or rivalry storylines for Gu Jingyi out of thin air.

Gu Jingyi looked up at the head writer. It was the same woman who had been responsible for his filming since he first joined "Idol Producer" and who had shown him kindness from the start. Based on the recording sessions so far, Gu Jingyi could tell her position was likely quite high. Perhaps she knew something behind the scenes.

Noticing Gu Jingyi’s gaze, the writer subtly signaled that everything was fine with her eyes and mouthed the name "Cai Xukun" in silence. Gu Jingyi understood—that was how it was. The production team wanted to manufacture conflict early on, tying him and Cai Xukun together to stimulate their respective fanbases to spend money and vote.

Unfortunately for them, the production team’s plan was destined to fail. Gu Jingyi had no intention of following the path they had set for him.

"Gu Jingyi, regarding your center position: among all the trainees, who has made you feel pressure?"

Gu Jingyi paused for a moment and replied truthfully, "Honestly, none. I came to this stage specifically for that position."

Among the Class A members, aside from Zhu Zhengting, who had experience with overseas talent shows, and Cai Xukun, who had already debuted and performed in groups on "Star Asia," the others—no matter how strong—were only impressive relative to other trainees. In the world of established idols, they were nothing more than average.

The staff member conducting the interview was stunned for a moment, then an awkward smile appeared on her face. The writer sitting on the side curled the corners of her lips and smiled quietly. Gu Jingyi was now certain that with his current popularity, even if he didn't cooperate with the production team, they couldn't force him to follow their script.

He had been on "Idol Producer" for over a week, and Gu Jingyi was not completely cut off from the outside world. It was true that the production team made the trainees hand over their phones, but Gu Jingyi had more than one... Much like his junior, Yu Shuxin, who later admitted that while participating in "Youth With You 2," she had brought over a dozen phones to avoid the staff’s inspections. Gu Jingyi wasn't that obedient either; he had been using a phone to keep track of the shifts in his own popularity.

He knew clearly that he was already a dark horse on the Weibo Rising Star chart. Although he had just over 2.6 million Weibo followers, his Super Topic was incredibly active. The daily check-ins on his Super Topic were approaching 50,000—a figure that was closing in on second-tier traffic status. "Idol Producer" coveted his popularity and wanted to use Gu Jingyi to drive traffic to others, but since Gu Jingyi wasn't playing along, there wasn't much they could say. After all, Gu Jingyi had signed a sub-contract with the iQIYI platform; if they pushed him too hard and he made a scene, it wouldn't be easy to clean up the mess.

After that attempt, the production team stopped trying to steer Gu Jingyi’s answers toward others. The subsequent topics focused entirely on Gu Jingyi himself.

When the interview ended, Gu Jingyi walked out of the room and stretched. He was well aware that his remark about "coming for the center position" would stir up controversy, but he had no regrets. Whether Gu Jingyi was blindly confident or truly capable, whether he was arrogant or backed by real strength—the stage would prove everything.

This was an elimination-style show; the audience had to quickly pick the contestants they supported from a hundred trainees. Those with distinct personalities were always more memorable and better at attracting fans than those who were mediocre. If he catered to the casual viewers, they would, at most, cast a casual vote. The passion of casual viewers was limited; they wouldn't go to battle for Gu Jingyi. Only loyal fans would follow him to the end. Gu Jingyi had never expected to be liked by everyone; it was enough that those who liked him outnumbered those who didn't.

If Gu Jingyi had backed down when faced with the production team’s probing, they would only have become more brazen, constantly testing his limits, draining him dry, and using his heat to hype up the show. As it happened, Gu Jingyi also intended to monopolize all the heat from "Idol Producer" for himself.

Let’s see who gets their way in the end.

His stomach, having gone without food all night, was growling. With the cafeteria closed at three or four in the morning, Gu Jingyi tightened the collar of his coat and headed toward the convenience store. As he walked out with a bag in hand, he heard voices calling out from behind him. He turned back and saw a number of "fansite masters" waiting in the distance. In the darkness, only the streetlights revealed their blurry silhouettes, mixed with an occasional shout. It sounded like they were calling his name, though he wasn't entirely sure.

Suddenly, among the fansite masters setting up their cameras, Gu Jingyi spotted a slightly familiar figure. *That’s strange,* he thought, *what is she doing here?*