Chapter 78: CHAPTER 78

Tan Meng looked at her for a moment, then smiled back, but her smile seemed to be filled with tears.

She mumbled softly, "You sound like a liar when you say that."

"Do you want to believe me?"

Jiang Ye winked at her, "This liar hasn't made a mistake yet."

Tan Meng was silent for a moment, smiling and wiping away her tears, "Fine, I’ll believe you this once."

She paused and said softly, "Besides, I don’t want to give up yet."

Tan Meng had seen many comments that didn’t want her to debut.

But she had also seen many comments from her fans, expressing how hard they were trying to send her to debut.

They seemed to care about her efforts more than she did, and they were more heartbroken than she was about the difficulties she had faced along the way.

They spread the word, stayed up late to vote, and wanted to fight for her until the very end.

They hadn’t given up, so why should she give up first?

"After all, it’s finals week, anything can happen."

Jiang Ye comforted Tan Meng in a relaxed tone, "Don’t look at the rumors about the debut positions being decided, in reality, no one knows what will happen until the final rankings are announced."

She paused again and said, "But I think Qin Zong won’t give up on you."

Jiang Ye knew that the company had been sending her marketing articles and buying positive hot searches.

But the company had never neglected Tan Meng either.

Their relationship with Xue Zhihan and Shen Zhiyi was different.

They were not in a situation where one was accompanying the other, but they were participating in the show together, dreaming together, and trying to make it into the debut position together.

Why couldn’t they both debut?

Why did they have to accept the so-called unspoken rules of the industry?

Why did they have to bow to the capital’s game?

If Jiang Ye was the one in the lower position, she wouldn’t give up.

So, she believed that Tan Meng would be the same.

Jiang Ye thought for a moment and then ruthlessly shifted the blame to her boss, "And even if other capital intervenes and tries to interfere with the debut positions, that’s Qin Zong’s pressure, it’s not your problem, you just need to focus on performing your finals stage beautifully."

"If you don’t debut, it’s not because you’re not good enough, it’s because our Qin Zong is not good enough."

"We’ll go back and make him apologize to you."

Tan Meng: "?"

Tan Meng was completely convinced by Jiang Ye’s logic, she laughed, and after a long pause, she nodded heavily, "Okay."

Then, as if she had suddenly remembered something, she looked very serious and said, "By the way, you can’t tell anyone about what we said today."

Jiang Ye: "..."

As soon as she came out of her gloomy state, Tan Meng immediately returned to her usual personality.

But it was good.

This was the Tan Meng she was familiar with.

Jiang Ye smiled and nodded, "Okay."

"And you can’t tell anyone else that I cried—no, I didn’t cry, oops."

Tan Meng spoke too quickly and bit her tongue, after a while, she covered her mouth and mumbled, "Anyway, anyway, you can’t tell anyone."

Jiang Ye quickly raised her hand to swear, her expression serious, "I understand, it’s a secret between heaven, earth, you, and me."

She tilted her head, "Do you need me to practice with you for a while? I have some time now."

Tan Meng’s expression was subtle for a while, then she said, "… Whatever. It’s your business."

Jiang Ye laughed.

She stood up, gave a gentlemanly bow, and extended her hand to Tan Meng, "Okay, I’m volunteering to stay and practice with Miss Tan Meng, is that okay?"

Tan Meng: "..."

Tan Meng reluctantly extended her hand, "I didn’t ask you to."

At this moment, hundreds of kilometers away.

Qin Yue, who was dealing with documents, suddenly sneezed.

"What’s wrong, Qin Zong?"

Qin Yue said expressionlessly, "… I feel like someone’s talking bad about me."

There were only a few days left before the finals.

The group performance stage was temporarily fine.

After all, the trainees in Jiang Ye’s group were all very skilled, and they practiced quickly.

Cheng Zhen wasn’t very willing, but forced by Jiang Ye and Tan Meng, she actually managed to force out some C position aura.

But Jiang Ye hadn’t decided on her solo stage yet.

The program team didn’t set a specific range for their solo performances, which meant that they could choose from vocals, dance, and rap, or even a combination of the three.

But Jiang Ye thought a combination was out of the question.

It was only a few minutes, she didn’t want to challenge herself with something so difficult.

The time was short, and she had to consider that so many people would be watching the live stream, if she chose a song, she had to choose one that would leave a lasting impression.

But it wasn’t just Jiang Ye, Cheng Zhen was also having a hard time choosing a song.

"What’s the problem?"

Jiang Ye was puzzled, "Isn’t it obvious that you’re going to do vocals?"

"… Well, my parents said they’re going to come to the performance."

Cheng Zhen sighed, "I’m afraid that I won’t choose a good song and mess up again, and I’ll embarrass them."

"Why do you believe everything other people say about you?"

Jiang Ye counted on her fingers, "In my opinion, your family has a director, an actress, and a popular idol, it’s the perfect protagonist setup for a novel."

"Imagine when you go on stage, the entire audience will be shouting your name, and you’ll be standing in the C position for the group performance stage, your parents will be so proud of you."

Cheng Zhen was a little happier after hearing this.

Many people would mention her parents before mentioning her, she was like an accessory to her parents.

But Jiang Ye always considered things from her perspective and helped her think about things.

Cheng Zhen was truly moved.

But Jiang Ye had other plans.

Since Cheng Zhen’s parents were coming, the basic heat of the finals was guaranteed.

The number of viewers would definitely increase, that’s a win.

Jiang Ye thought, and then settled on a song.

Cheng Zhen came over and took a look, she was confused, "Are you going to do vocals too?"

"After all, the finals tasks are too heavy."

Jiang Ye said, "Choosing a vocal song will be a little easier."

That was one reason.

The other reason was more complicated.

If it had been a regular performance, Jiang Ye would have preferred to choose a song with more dancing.

Because although the program team had used the "no autotune" title to attract attention during the initial evaluation, they would basically autotune the trainees during the official performances to improve the overall stage effect and create a few viral stages.

This was also why it was difficult for vocal-focused trainees to break through.

After autotune, everyone’s vocal abilities seemed good, but they couldn’t make up for their dancing skills with post-production, so they were often criticized for their lack of skills, while dance-focused trainees were hidden.

But the finals were different.

With the live, unedited microphones, the vocal skills, good or bad, were immediately apparent, it was easier to see the difference in skills between the trainees than with dancing.

And in terms of dancing, she wasn’t sure how good the program team’s live camera work would be, what if they cut her randomly and ruined the effect of her stage?

So, Jiang Ye made up her mind, she tapped her song selection sheet, "I’ve decided, it’s this one."

There were many tasks during finals week.

Besides preparing the stages, rehearsing the flow, and various material interviews, there was also a lot to do.

"What are we recording today?"

"The last interview before the finals."

The staff member guided Jiang Ye to a small soundproof room.

The soundproof room was dark, only one spot had a spotlight and a lighting board, there was a seat in front, and several cameras were pointed at her.

Jiang Ye: "..."

A sense of déjà vu, not a good feeling.

She remembered the program team’s last prank on them, the haunted house segment, so after sitting down, she half-jokingly and half-seriously asked the staff member, "Is this another horror segment today?"

Jiang Ye thought for a moment and guessed, "On the surface, it’s an interview, but after a while, I’ll feel something touching my shoulder, and when I turn around, I’ll see a Kuchisake-onna behind me."

The more she thought about it, the more she felt that her guess made sense, she nodded and concluded, "It’s something you guys would do."

Staff member: "..."

Today was actually a serious sentimental segment.

But Jiang Ye came in and said all that, and the atmosphere was gone.

"Today is a retrospective interview before the finals."

The staff member finally brought the interview back on track, "We want to ask, now that you’ve been on the show for three months, do you have any special feelings?"

Jiang Ye sat up a little straighter.

She only thought about it for a moment and said, "Three months ago, I gave myself a chance and chose to participate in Chasing Light Girls."

"For me, this should be considered a very special survival battle…"

Jiang Ye was very serious about every interview.

Her sharpness and gentleness were well reflected in every answer.

Even the most cliché questions, Jiang Ye could always give a unique answer.

After a few questions, the staff member nodded in satisfaction.

"Okay, last question."

"What would you do if you didn’t debut in the end?"

This was also the key question of this interview.

This interview would be aired the night before the finals.

The program team’s intention was very direct, it was used to torture the fans at the end.

With a sentimental background music and trainees with red eyes, it was very effective at making fans cry.

They had asked the other trainees this question earlier.

There were the Buddhist ones.

Lin Zui thought for a moment and said, "Nothing much, I’ll just go back to the company."

Liang Yu chuckled and said, "I’ll go back to performing at music festivals. What else can I do, is the earth going to stop spinning?"

There were those who were more sad.

Lu Xiaowan’s eyes turned red during the interview.

Tan Meng also rarely showed a hint of breakdown.

There were also those who were at a loss.

Cheng Zhen was stunned for a moment and said, "Ah, in that case, I guess there’s nothing I can do."

Shen Zhiyi lowered her eyes, and after a long pause, she shook her head with a smile and whispered, "I don’t know."

The last trainee to be interviewed was Jiang Ye.

Jiang Ye repeated the question, "What would I do if I didn’t debut in the end?"

The staff member nodded.

If she didn’t debut?

Jiang Ye suddenly smiled, "There won’t be any such 'if'."

The staff member was slightly stunned.

"Maybe if you asked me this question in the first episode, I could have thought about an answer."

"But I’ve come all this way, if you ask me this question now, wouldn’t all my efforts for the past three months be in vain?"

Jiang Ye’s tone was very firm, "I don’t want this kind of 'if'."

She had come all this way, not to hear questions like "what would you do if you didn’t debut".

At this moment, she wanted to hear, "What will you do after you debut? What are your plans for the future? Do you have any better plans for the group after that?".

Jiang Ye chuckled softly, then gave a victory gesture to the camera.

"If you really want to know."

"We’ll see you at the post-show debut interview, I’ll tell you the answer."