Chapter 11: The Show Airs, Audience Reactions

When Fang Xing returned to the lounge, he passed by the training room of Guo Keda’s group and saw them watching the first episode of “Tomorrow’s Star.” The premiere had already aired three days ago, introducing 101 trainees and their initial stage performances. With popular contestants like Wu Junchen and Liu Yichen joining this season, the show’s buzz was high, trending in several hot searches from the very start.

Since Fang Xing had borrowed Guo Keda’s guitar before, he naturally felt obliged to thank him. He knocked on the door and said, “Um… thank you for the guitar.”

Guo Keda turned around, saw Fang Xing standing outside, and immediately jumped up, gathering his teammates. With thumbs raised, they exclaimed excitedly, “Brother Fang, you’re amazing! The PK round was even more thrilling than the public performance. We’re in awe—please accept our humble admiration.”

“Oh, no, no, it was just average, really,” Fang Xing replied, trying to be modest.

“Brother Fang, do you want to watch the show with us?” Guo Keda and the others pulled Fang Xing to sit with them, crowding around a tablet to watch the episode.

For these trainees, one purpose of watching was to spot their own appearances in the footage. Popular contestants didn’t need to worry—the camera always found them. But for Class F, it was a different story. Unless someone had a dramatic storyline, the rest had to meticulously search frame by frame for even a fleeting glimpse. Occasionally, they’d appear for a few seconds, only to serve as a backdrop for the popular guys.

The most talked-about moments in the first episode were those where certain contestants challenged Class A, failed, and ended up relegated to Class F. Among them, Hashim had a lot of screen time, especially during his initial stage performance, which was edited into a full five-minute segment. The electronic music was so intense, it was as if the production crew had brought a nightclub DJ onto the show. After the episode aired, Hashim enjoyed a brief surge of fame in the electronic and hip-hop circles.

“Tomorrow’s Star” aired twice weekly, with new episodes on Fridays and Saturdays. Both parts of the first episode were focused on the initial stage performances. The first public performance would only be revealed in the second episode’s first half, set to air Friday night.

After watching the episode together, Fang Xing discovered he had just two seconds of screen time during his initial performance. But this wasn’t targeted at him—every Class F trainee received the same treatment. With 101 contestants, there were simply too many performances; if they were all included in full, the show would run for over five hours. Only the most impressive acts received extra footage, and a Class F rating signified a lackluster performance, usually glossed over quickly.

Because he had so little screen time in the first episode, Fang Xing remained near the bottom of the popularity rankings on Penguin Video.

Fang Xing didn’t mind, and continued his daily vocal practice as usual.

Due to Hashim’s ample screen time, many viewers assumed the producers wanted to promote this overseas returnee. Just three days after the show began, Hashim had already broken into the top twenty on the popularity charts. However, the production team hadn’t anticipated the emergence of a talent like Fang Xing in the first public performance, which completely overshadowed their intended star.

The night of the performance recording, rumors spread online that Hashim had been eliminated. A prominent social media influencer even claimed, with great detail, that Hashim had lost a battle to a Class F trainee. The news quickly caught fire, trending on Weibo.

Fang Xing hadn’t been paying attention to the online buzz until other trainees mentioned it to him, prompting him to check Weibo. After reading the posts, he suspected the production team had deliberately leaked the news. The trending topic made viewers eager for the second episode, all wanting to see if Hashim, who had so much focus in the first episode, was truly eliminated in the next. This anticipation pushed the show’s popularity even higher. The production team’s marketing strategy was undeniably effective.

Friday arrived swiftly.

Sun Xiaoting was a sophomore at Donghai Normal University and a fan of boy group survival shows. She and her three roommates all shared this interest. They had followed Wu Junchen and Liu Yichen from their last show, “Idol Era,” straight into “Tomorrow’s Star.”

On Friday evening, as the second episode was about to air, Sun Xiaoting and her roommates crowded around the computer, armed with soda and snacks, ready for the show to begin. She even bought a VIP subscription and reserved the episode in advance.

At eight o’clock sharp, the new episode began, opening with footage of the various groups’ training sessions. The four girls watched and commented throughout.

“Junchen is still the most handsome,” one sighed.

“And my Chen isn’t?” the lone dissenting voice in the room retorted.

The other three glanced at her like she was an oddity before returning to their cheerful banter.

As the episode progressed, it finally reached the training segment of the “That Girl” group. On screen, an unnamed Class F trainee could be seen making mistakes during choreography. The group’s leader, Wu Junchen, became visibly upset, scolding the trainee and nearly moved to tears.

One of the girls in the dormitory grew indignant. “Who is this guy? How could he do that? Slacking off during practice and making Junchen so upset.”

“Exactly. What if he causes Junchen’s group to lose the performance?”

“This won’t do—I need to check Weibo to see if Junchen’s group lost,” Sun Xiaoting declared, immediately grabbing her phone to scroll through social media.

Upon opening Weibo, she saw that nearly every topic related to “Tomorrow’s Star” was either expressing sympathy for Wu Junchen or scolding a trainee named Fang Xing. Wu Junchen’s fans, in particular, were relentless.

Although Sun Xiaoting agreed that poor rehearsal should be criticized, she felt the level of vitriol was excessive. She commented beneath one post, “As long as they didn’t lose, everyone shouldn’t be so harsh on him.”

Her remark was quickly drowned out by a tidal wave of angry replies.

The episode continued. They watched as Wu Junchen, refusing to give up, encouraged the F-class trainee named Fang Xing. Many fans were moved to tears. The live comments flooded the screen.

“Don’t cry, Junchen, you’re amazing!”

“It’s so hard being the leader. He can’t carry these slackers from Class F—my heart aches for him!”

Within just half an hour of airing, the show had already landed two trending topics on Weibo: “Heartbroken for Wu Junchen” and “Who is Fang Xing?”

Many of Wu Junchen’s fans began scouring Weibo for Fang Xing’s account, but he had never registered. In the end, the fans flooded the account of an unrelated person named Fang Xing.

Finally, the main program reached the public performance of “That Girl.” Fang Xing stepped into the spotlight as the music began, emerging from the darkness to sing the first line of the song.

Upon hearing his deep, magnetic voice, Sun Xiaoting was captivated. “Wow… he actually sings really well.”