Chapter 76: 076

Chapter 76

Hair dyeing is the ultimate weapon for idols, especially when standing out among a sea of black hair. Yao Shuo's slightly sickly pale complexion paired with a rich red color made him the most eye-catching presence in the crowd.

The few seconds he appeared on camera were immediately screenshotted and recorded, turned into GIFs, and posted on Weibo, allowing others to know about this news in real-time.

Marketing accounts and photo editing bloggers watching the show were typing furiously, posting screenshots as soon as they got them, afraid of missing out on the trending topic.

Thanks to this speed, GIFs of Yao Shuo's red hair quickly spread across various platforms.

Yao Shuo rarely smiled, spoke little, and always wore a cold expression, giving off a dark lord vibe. This feeling became even more pronounced after his red hair makeover.

He stood at the front of the line with a cold face, hands behind his back, chin slightly raised, staring straight ahead.

Just these two seconds of GIF footage sent shockwaves through the fandom.

"Is that Yao Shuo?"

"Wow, I haven't even watched the show yet, has Yao Shuo changed so much?"

"When he returned to China in June, I said he looked very different, like he had chin fillers done."

"He's like a completely different person compared to before. This new style is so handsome, as expected of Korea."

"Husband, step on me."

"How come I never noticed Yao Shuo was this good-looking before?"

The people at the scene probably didn't expect that Yao Shuo's red hair would cause such a big reaction. The show continued, and after the opening greetings, the trainees returned backstage to standby. The big screen was playing VCRs of their preparation period.

This time, in addition to the three groups preparing original songs, there were also five solo stages. These five solo stages were determined by the final rankings of last year's "21 Heartbeats of Youth", with the top five ranked individuals getting the opportunity to showcase themselves in solo stages.

The opening act was Gao Xiayu, who had ranked first in the previous show.

The others who didn't have performances yet sat in rows backstage, watching Gao Xiayu on the screen and letting out exclamations of admiration.

"Wow—"

"No wonder Xiayu-ge was so anxious he couldn't sleep at night. If I were opening the show, I wouldn't be able to sleep either."

"Wow... as expected of Xiayu-ge."

Besides the solo stages, there were also duo stages. Each group had two opportunities for duo stages, which were internally allocated within the groups. The duo stages were interspersed with the solo performances. After Gao Xiayu's performance, it was C group's Chi Qiao and Yao Shuo's duo stage.

This was when Gao Xiayu's song choice ability was really put to the test. A song that was too upbeat wouldn't work because it would overshadow the next performer, who happened to be from the same group—they couldn't sabotage each other. A song that was too calm also wouldn't work, as it would become even more boring due to the added weight of being the "opening song".

In the end, Gao Xiayu chose a song with a rather elaborate arrangement, dreamy melody, and catchy chorus. This was enough to showcase his growth over the past six months.

The reaction from the live audience proved that his choice was correct. After a series of "wow" sounds, it was time for Yao Shuo and Chi Qiao's stage.

While the VCR was playing on stage, Yao Shuo stood backstage, taking deep breaths quietly. Chi Qiao saw this and patted his shoulder, saying, "What are you nervous about? I'm the one who should be nervous."

All of their groupings were suggested by Gao Xiayu and agreed upon by everyone. C group's duo stages were assigned to Yao Shuo, Chi Qiao, Chen Wu, and Ye Xing.

Yao Shuo's task was to lead Chi Qiao and help the public change their stereotypical impression of his poor vocal skills. Chen Wu's task was to lead Ye Xing and showcase Ye Xing's improved rap skills over the past six months.

As Yao Shuo and Chi Qiao went on stage, Ye Xing was alone in an empty safety passage backstage, holding lyric sheets and going over them again and again.

In the waiting room, Pei Luming saw that the VCR had ended and exclaimed excitedly, "It's Yao Shuo-ge and Chi Qiao-ge's stage now!"

Putting these two together, anyone would imagine a singing and dancing routine. But they didn't follow the usual path. This time, they prepared a rock-style stage. Yao Shuo and Chi Qiao each held an electric guitar, with other musician teachers in the background.

The heavy sound of electric guitars and drums rang out simultaneously. The camera focused on Yao Shuo's hands, showing him seriously plucking the guitar strings. His red hair, not deliberately styled with hairspray, moved with his every movement.

The way his hair strands fluttered resembled the heart monitor of the fans below—

"Those hands, I'm going crazy—"

"Ahhhhh, damn, Yao Shuo fans, you've been secretly eating this well?"

"Wow, he's really playing?"

The song they prepared was "New Song" by the Italian rock band M?neskin. Chi Qiao sang first, deliberately lowering his voice and changing his pronunciation, making him sound completely different from before.

As soon as Chi Qiao started singing, those who had been focusing on Yao Shuo turned their heads with wide eyes to look at Chi Qiao.

"C group, what's going on? You've already shocked me three times!"

"So cool! So handsome! I love it!"

"Help, looks like I can't escape C group!"

Gao Xiayu was already strong in skills and had left a deep impression in previous shows. On the other hand, Yao Shuo and Chi Qiao hadn't had much presence in previous shows, nor in this debut competition. The show focused more on the popular members of each group, only showing their parts, so Yao Shuo and Chi Qiao, who had the most work content, didn't get much screen time.

But for this very reason, their unexpected pairing ended up surprising everyone.

What a clever way to exceed expectations!

After experiencing multiple music festivals, they had long shed their initial inhibitions. Their movements on stage following the music became more natural.

This stage didn't feel like a competition stage, but rather like their own concert, relaxed and enjoyable.

They stood on the sub-stage, which was small and narrow. With all the instruments set up, it could barely fit this many people. Chi Qiao and Yao Shuo could reach the fans below with just a step.

The fans at the edge of the stage finally understood why they were so close to the stage.

One by one, they watched the staff's expressions, testing the waters. Seeing no obstruction, they stood up and squeezed to the front of the stage, reaching out their hands.

"Ahhhhhh I touched them!"

"So fragrant, so fragrant, so fragrant!"

"So close, wow! Yao Shuo, how are you so pale!"

"Husband— Husband— Ahhhhhh!"

On such a small stage, the two of them played so hard that the stage almost shook apart. They didn't care about managing their expressions anymore, fully enjoying the feeling of adrenaline rushing through their bodies.

There were wind machines around, blowing their hair and occasionally lifting the edges of their clothes. Every time this happened, the surrounding fans would scream.

The atmosphere that Gao Xiayu had kept under control was completely overturned by them.

During the bridge section, Yao Shuo let go of his guitar, brushed his bangs aside, and snapped his fingers while looking around. He deliberately bent down to make eye contact with the fans around the stage, a smile on his face, his fox-like eyes curved, looking quite alluring.

Chi Qiao did the same. He took off half of his jacket, revealing the sleeveless shirt underneath, perfectly showcasing the contours of his muscles. Due to the heat, sweat trickled down from his sideburns along his neck. He also snapped his fingers, gesturing to the distant stands, encouraging them to move as well.

As the intro notes began to play, cheers erupted from the audience, but these cheers sounded strange.

"Oh oh oh oh oh-- oh?"

"Isn't this supposed to be Ye Xing and them?"

"Where are they?"

"Oh no, a live broadcast accident!"

The intro had already started, but no one could be seen on stage. Just as everyone was questioning, a male voice rang out--

In a lowered voice, the lyrics flowed out clearly as if riding on a rhythmic conveyor belt.

At this moment, the screen slowly opened, revealing Ye Xing, Chen Wu, and their crew.

They were all dressed in old school style, with backup dancers even carrying boomboxes.

Chen Wu had his hair wrapped in a bandana, wearing an extremely oversized t-shirt and jeans that dragged on the ground. Ye Xing wore sunglasses, layered several hoodies, and held a diamond-encrusted scepter in his hand.

When they appeared, everyone realized that the smooth English rap they had just heard was Ye Xing's part, and he was still going--

"Can you see now? Are you senile?"

"Can you see now? You could see now!"

"Can you see now? Can you see now?"

Except for the hook, all other parts were their own lyrics and flow. Ye Xing even worried that too many people had heard the original version and wouldn't adapt to their version, so he intentionally kept the beginning part not too different from the original, maintaining a similar flow feeling to the original version.

His approach was undoubtedly correct, so correct that people hadn't even realized it was Ye Xing's voice.

The background music used minimal instrumentation, simply relying on lyrics and flow to win, using a cypher format with each person having a long section. The screen flashed animations of their self-written lyrics.

It was all English rap, with the screen thoughtfully providing Chinese translations.

While rapping and singing, the two also had to dance. The hook portion had simple movements with a provocative feel, which, combined with Ye Xing's sunglasses-wearing face, made it even more captivating.

When other performers took the stage with unexpected acts, the audience could still muster a few excited comments. But seeing Ye Xing's roguishly handsome appearance while rapping was no less shocking than watching an ant lift an elephant.

For a moment, everyone was speechless—

Even the bullet comments went silent for a while. It took some time for people to realize that it was indeed Ye Xing, and he was actually rapping, and doing it well.

"????"

"Is that really Ye Xing?"

"Holy crap—what on earth happened to you guys in Korea? I can't recognize any of you anymore!"

"My brain's a bit fuzzy, I never imagined Ye Xing and rapper would go together."

"Why do I feel like everything about Ye Xing has changed???"

"Help, Ye Xing learned how to be cool!"

"Ye Xing's face combined with the rapper identity seems like a deadly combo."

"The stage presence is completely different from before!"

Other groups' VCRs would reveal a bit about their stage preparations, but Ye Xing's group only showed the grouping process and then the two of them going out to play. No one could tell what they were preparing.

But since Ye Xing was involved, everyone assumed it would be singing. No one expected this scene when they came out.

While everyone was dumbfounded, they also got goosebumps.

They were incredibly curious about what had happened to these people in Korea, how they all came back so transformed.

Ye Xing's rapping caused as much of a stir online as Yao Shuo and Chi Qiao's performance. Although his rap skills hadn't reached underground rap levels, the fact that he could do it without seeming out of place was already impressive.

The comments section of the video was full of people expressing their surprise.

Carried by Ye Xing, Chen Wu's performance also caught everyone's attention. His performance was more relaxed, and there was even a segment of rapid-fire lyrics in the middle, like a machine gun rattling off words.

The way both of them delivered their lines had clearly changed. To match the crisp feel of the song, their rap was concise and to the point, interspersed with Ye Xing's slightly lazy rap. The emotional ups and downs of the song, with their coordination, really got everyone's bodies moving.

People couldn't help but bob their heads.

At this point, Ye Xing's fans watching the screen were swooning. Before, it was like raising a son, thinking Ye Xing was obedient and sensible. But now, Ye Xing just had to raise one corner of his mouth in a smile, and people wanted to call him "hubby."

A 1.8-meter-tall rapper who can spin the mic—what a handsome hubby!

"I knew it, under the mom-fan facade there would definitely be girlfriend fans. Fine, I'm not pretending anymore, from now on I'm Ye Xing's wife!"

"My mouth has been open since he started and still hasn't closed... Ye Xing, you really outdid yourself, nearly scared me to death."

"He's not spinning the mic, he's spinning the wheel of my destiny!"

"Look at that smug expression, ahhhhh! And he's nodding with his eyes narrowed!"

"His little expression says: 'Yes, yes, I know you're all going to love me to death!'"

"Forced to become a girlfriend fan, really, ha!"

"My mind is already thinking dirty thoughts... I swear, I never had these before."

"Random Entertainment, I won't curse you today, my husband saved your life!"

Under Gao Xiayu's arrangement, Yao Shuo, Chi Qiao, Ye Xing, and Chen Wu took turns topping the trending searches.

Ye Xing even trended on Twitter in several Southeast Asian countries.

#YaoShuoRedHair

#ChiQiaoPlayingGuitar

#YeXing

#YeXingRapping

#YeXingHasChanged

#ChenWuRapidFireLyrics

Ye Xing's fans, no, Ye Xing-ers: What a big surprise, so big!