ATIS Chapter 23 pt 1

Chu Xinyi looked at his teammates. He was the only one with decent skills, holding a B rank. The remaining seven were mostly at the bottom of F rank, except for two who were D rank.

He was placed in this team—

Had Chu Xinyi been given a choice, he would never have joined such a demoralized and incompetent group. But he had no choice.

When his name was called, Chu Xinyi glanced at the dull-colored training uniforms, unable to force a smile.

He knew the cameras were always on him. If he showed too much reluctance when his name was called by an F rank member, the audience might think he looked down on the lower-ranked trainees, which would do him no good. Though Chu Xinyi knew that the best way to handle the situation given the unchangeable outcome was to accept it calmly, he still ended up silently joining the team, letting the atmosphere quickly grow awkwardly tense.

He didn’t want to react this way, but he couldn’t help it.

Chu Xinyi was already twenty-six years old. While this might still be considered a prime age for ordinary people, in the world of trainees, especially on a show like "Infinite Youth," he was significantly older than most contestants.

Instructor Yao Chen was a year younger than him but had already debuted for many years and was considered a senior. Chu Xinyi, however, was still struggling in a talent show.

The entertainment industry thrives on youth. Singers are relatively less constrained, but for singer-dancers, their golden period is only a few short years.

He had already fallen behind at the starting line. After seven years of intense training, he finally had a chance to debut.

Chu Xinyi had improved his skills and reached a B rank. Yet, despite countless fantasies about his first stage performance, he now had to perform with teammates who couldn’t even complete complete dance movements.

Among his teammates, the oldest besides him was only twenty, and the rest were barely adults. They had no understanding of Chu Xinyi's despair.

Chu Xinyi said nothing. His naturally stern appearance made him even more unapproachable when silent, causing the younger teammates to feel uneasy and lost.

Li Yuran, who had pulled Chu Xinyi into the team, bit his lip and already felt a twinge of regret in his heart. He knew his own abilities were poor, and his teammates were in a similar situation. Chu Xinyi seemed somewhat out of place in this team, and they would only drag him down.

But when he was chosen to have the selection power, Li Yuran couldn't resist his moment of impulsiveness. A bit naive and selfish, he wanted to bring a strong trainee into the team to help them present a good stage.

He couldn’t choose the A ranks, so almost on a whim, he chose Chu Xinyi.

There was a reason for this. Earlier, in the cafeteria, Li Yuran had seen Chu Xinyi wearing a B rank training uniform and had gathered the courage to ask him some questions about dance. Chu Xinyi had patiently helped him.

So, at that time, Li Yuran convinced himself that Chu Xinyi was a good person who wouldn’t mind teaming up with him.

But now, he felt he had made a mistake.

If Chu Xinyi got eliminated because of this, it would be nothing short of “repaying kindness with enmity”.

Because, in reality, Li Yuran knew very well that no matter how strong Chu Xinyi's individual skills were, the stage would still be for all eight people. Any one person failing would impact the whole team, especially if the entire performance was poor. No matter how well Chu Xinyi performed individually, the audience would lump him into the “garbage performance” category along with everyone else.

Li Yuran didn’t know what to say. A sudden indescribable discomfort overwhelmed him, and after a moment of silence, he whispered, “I’m sorry.”

Chu Xinyi looked up.

A trace of surprise appeared in his eyes.

…

On the other side, Liao Junchen’s group was harmoniously discussing how to divide the parts.

“I’ll return to the past and listen—” A clear, penetrating voice echoed in the training hall. Trainees turned their heads to see Fan Xi, with his red-dyed ear-length hair, finishing the note and dancing with excitement, “The vocal range for the C part is practically made for me! I want to take this; you guys don’t have any objections, right?”

Quite a few trainees showed envious expressions upon hearing Fan Xi’s flawless audition upon opening his mouth.

Class A’s skills were really impressive, undeniably strong.

With experience, Nan Xiao knew that this segment sounded easy but was actually hard to control, and he was the first to nod, “Sounds good. Indeed, you’re the best fit for this high note.”

Su Qinglan, whose spirit was willing but flesh was weak (1), was unwilling to give up and wanted to raise his hand, but was held down by Qin Lu with a smile. The curly-haired trainee blinked at the black-haired trainee, whose clear eyes quietly looked at him. Su Qinglan quickly understood what he meant—

Stop struggling, stick to rap.

Su Qinglan: “...Sigh.”

He knew he lacked the skills but couldn’t help itching to participate. Finally, he nodded obediently and waved enviously at Fan Xi, “Alright, fine, you can have it.”

Even someone as thick-skinned as Fan Xi could clearly sense the little curly-haired trainee’s face screaming, “I’m so jealous I could cry.”

Fan Xi’s thinking was different from that of ordinary people. He recalled Su Qinglan’s initial performance and casually said, “You’re not using your voice correctly. Actually, judging by your rapping, you shouldn’t be bad at singing. Your sense of rhythm and such is fine, but I don’t know where the problem is.”

Su Qinglan let out a gloomy “oh” and asked, “so what?”

Fan Xi naturally replied, “I can teach you. But I think you might be naturally tone-deaf; if you learn and forget, it’s not my problem.”

Qin Lu smiled turned his head to look at Su Qinglan, and sure enough, the next second, Su Qinglan happily bared his little fangs and nodded enthusiastically, “Learn, I’ll learn.”

Fan Xi didn’t know then that his casual offer would bring him a huge headache.

As team leader (captain), Liao Junchen clearly understood each member’s strengths. He explained in a simple and organized manner, “Here are my suggestions, feel free to voice any different opinions. The first part goes to Han Suyan who looks the best.” Han Suyan raised an eyebrow, about to show a satisfied expression, when Liao Junchen continued coolly, “...and has the weakest skills. The first part won’t create a noticeable contrast. The A part is the easiest and least prone to mistakes.”

Han Suyan, who was arrogant but understood that his strength was indeed insufficient at the moment, nodded calmly after hearing this and tapped the lyrics book with his long and beautiful fingertips: "I have no objection."

But toeisup, listening attentively to the leader, carefully raised his hand to correct him, “Uh, P. Chen, the weakest one might actually be me.”

Liao Junchen lifted his thin eyelids and glanced at him. The Thai-Chinese mixed trainee looked confused. His slightly curly flaxen hair made his skin even whiter, like a doll.

However, Liao Junchen remained indifferent, saying expressionlessly, “I didn’t say you weren’t weak. You’re also very weak.”

Han Suyan, resting his chin on his hand, watched with a slight smile on his good-looking face, “Hmm, very precise.”

Toeisup: “...”

The young Toeisup got the answer he needed but still felt that something wasn’t right.

Su Qinglan, seeing this, poked the black-haired trainee beside him. The other pursed his lips and showed a smile. Alarmed, he said, “Qin Lu, don’t get corrupted by these people.”

Curly hair thought he was speaking quietly, but Liao Junchen quickly glanced at him and Qin Lu, saying, “Su Qinglan will handle the rap parts,” his good-looking but cold eyes dropping slightly, “because both your vocal and dance skills are below average.”

Su Qinglan: “...”

In his lifetime, he had to be a main vocalist once!

After the crip and efficient allocation, there were no objections, and they could smoothly start training immediately.

Once the distribution was completed, they could leave the public practice hall and move to private practice rooms.

The staff provided iPads. Although they had no internet, they could watch demonstration videos.

When Liao Junchen’s group left first, the other groups were still debating the choices for leader and center position.

Besides situations like Chu Xinyi’s group, where the disparity in skill levels made it difficult to proceed, some groups were struggling because their level of abilities were too similar.

Being a leader was a thankless job with no immediate benefits, only endless responsibilities. Except for those who had a strong desire for dominance, most people remained silent or evasive, even appearing humble.

Generally, the leader and center positions were not held by the same person, unless one trainee’s abilities were clearly superior to the others. This meant everyone wanted to compete for the latter, to gain more attention and screen time.

Not only did selecting the center involve a constant stream of open fire and hidden arrows, but dividing the song parts was also a fierce competition.

Every song had its highlights—sometimes the beginning, sometimes the chorus, or maybe the end. It was human nature for everyone to want the part that would make them shine the most, but the methods of striving could also create favorable or unfavorable feelings among the audience.

However, the eight members of Liao Junchen's team remained unaffected by the turbulent tension among the other trainees in the hall.

The practice room was brightly lit, slightly smaller than the classrooms used for previous split training, but otherwise with no significant difference in setup and facilities. The wooden floor had been meticulously cleaned in advance by staff, and the front and back walls replaced with full-length mirrors.

Returning to this room and seeing Liao Junchen starting his stretching exercises, Fan Xi was immediately reminded of the training with the devil he had endured a few days earlier.

He took a deep breath, mentally bracing himself to be dominated by the tireless practice demons Liao Junchen and Qin Lu.

Su Qinglan had not yet trained with Qin Lu and couldn't understand Fan Xi's complex feelings, instead immersed in a heart of pure excitement—

Stage training, the first public performance training with Qin Lu, was finally about to begin!

TL notes

(1)   心有余而力不足: he was very willing, but constrained by his lacking physical skills.

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