Chapter 91: CHAPTER 91

After Jiang Ye and her group finished their performance, Sunflower was invited back onto the stage.

The two groups stood together, each with a sense of unease, waiting for the mentors to give their evaluations.

The mentor in the middle spoke first.

"Sunflower’s performance was as good as ever."

"But 5tars really surprised me."

The mentor next to him agreed, "I think so too."

"As a newly formed group, just starting to gel, they gave me the feeling of a group that has been together for a long time. Whether it’s their synchronization or their coordination, it’s all very impressive."

"So, I’ll definitely vote for them."

Jiang Ye held her teammate’s hand and smiled.

Although they had only been a group for a short time.

She had worked with each of them during the competition, and she knew them very well.

Because of this, she was able to put together a stage for the group in the shortest amount of time, achieving the effect she was most satisfied with.

They had endured months of high-pressure, grueling training during the competition, and they had developed a level of synergy that surpassed others.

Although the mentors were clearly leaning towards Jiang Ye and her group during their evaluations, they would usually give a more balanced score when it came to voting, in order to maintain fairness.

Three votes went to 5tars, and two votes went to Sunflower.

The mentors had ten votes in total.

These mentors were usually masters of playing it safe, so the difference in votes wouldn’t be very big.

So, the key to winning each round was still the audience.

The host started the next part of the show.

"Now, we’re going to determine the final result through the voting machines in the audience’s hands."

"Will Sunflower maintain their position, or will our newly debuted girl group 5tars successfully challenge them?"

"Let’s look forward to it——"

Jiang Ye scanned the audience, feeling very confident.

Only the audience in the venue had voting rights.

Although the audience in the venue didn’t include the people in the upper stands, it was clear from the light sticks that they had a landslide victory.

But based on the ratio, there were definitely a lot of their fans in the venue, and the fans of other groups would probably vote based on the stage performance, so it was basically impossible to lose.

The results of the live vote were announced.

Host: "One hundred seventy-three to one hundred twenty."

"Adding the mentor votes, it’s one hundred and three to one hundred and forty."

"Let’s congratulate 5tars on their successful challenge!!"

The lights on stage shone on 5tars.

Jiang Ye’s eyes lit up instantly.

Amidst the cheers of the entire venue, she bowed to the audience with her teammates.

After celebrating 5tars’ victory.

The program team played a rather sad farewell BGM for Sunflower.

"It’s a pity."

The host said, "Our Sunflower, before you leave, is there anything you want to say to everyone?"

"..."

Gu Jin thought for a moment and said, "Maybe you could change the music to something happier?"

Host: "..."

"Okay, I’m just kidding."

"I do have something I want to say."

Gu Jin said, "Before our group leaves, I want to share some of my own thoughts."

As Gu Jin picked up the microphone.

Jiang Ye noticed something interesting.

She was completely different when she was facing the camera and when she was off camera.

She talked a lot in private, sometimes her descriptions were outlandish and had no boundaries, but when she was on stage, she became very calm and collected, she didn’t even smile very often, she was very much the captain.

Her large number of fans was probably attracted by this contrast.

But Jiang Ye always felt that this outer layer might not be what she wanted, but something that was gradually honed by the environment of the entertainment industry.

"Although we’re about to face elimination, we’re not regretful."

"Because we lost to 5tars."

Gu Jin said calmly, "I’m happy, this loss made me see a better stage, we were eliminated by a better stage."

"So, I’m not regretful, I’m willing to give this spot to 5tars, to let them show more and better stages for everyone in the following shows."

"There’s one phrase I really like."

"Running water doesn’t compete to be the first, it competes to be endless."

"We often say that the girl group market is about market share, and every group is in competition."

"But I actually think this market is more like a cake. Of course, the cake needs to be divided, but before we divide the cake, can we think about how to make the cake bigger?"

"Having a girl group like 5tars is a blessing for the idol market."

"They make me feel that the idol cake might actually get bigger and bigger, there will be more and better seeds to create more amazing stages, and they’ll drive this market forward."

When Gu Jin said these words, she didn’t smile.

But she was actually very happy inside.

When Sunflower debuted last year, there wasn’t a very good environment to support idol activities.

They debuted, but what happened after that?

Where were the stages, where was the space to create stages, where was the soil for girl groups?

They couldn’t find it.

Dreams are dreams, and reality is reality.

After all, people can’t live on dreams alone.

So, their group often gathered less and less, they ran all kinds of strange schedules that had nothing to do with being an idol, just to make money to support their dreams.

But at the same time, they were also working to change the market.

The market was indeed getting better little by little.

This year, Gu Jin clearly felt that various music shows were gradually developing, and the negative connotations of the word “idol” in China were not as heavy as before, it was starting to be treated as a legitimate profession.

But the cruelest thing about limited groups is time.

Their group only had less than half a year left.

It’s impossible to say that they weren’t sad at all.

But Gu Jin was more grateful, the future of the idol market she had foreseen was getting better and better.

The soil for idols in China needed to be developed little by little.

They had planted seeds in this soil.

As for watering and enjoying the shade, they could leave that to others.

The Sunflower fans in the audience were about to cry.

Why were they such unlucky fans?

First, their light sticks were outnumbered by the other side, and then they were mocked by the other side.

They wanted to cheer for their idols, but they realized they couldn’t shout louder than the other fans.

Now, their idols were about to be eliminated!

And they were even praising the other group before they left!

Who could stand that?

Sunflower fans couldn’t take it, most of them couldn’t help but cry along with Gu Jin’s words.

5tars’ fans: "..."

Although they had been fighting fiercely just a few hours ago.

But seeing people crying like that, they couldn’t just stand by and watch.

Even though they were still holding light sticks of different colors, they hesitated for a moment and decided to hand out tissues.

Most of the girls who chase stars are in their twenties.

They might scold each other fiercely online, but they wouldn’t fight offline.

If you ignore their fan status.

They’re just ordinary girls.

Sunflower fans hesitated for a moment and accepted the tissues, feeling a little spineless.

"… Thank you."

"But don’t expect us to forgive 5tars! It’s impossible! We’re holding onto this grudge."

5tars fans: "..."

Damn, you are biting the hand that feeds you.

But they thought about it and weren’t angry, they just said, "Fine, go ahead and hate us, you’ll be with us all the way to the top."

"Accompanying is the longest confession, we understand."

Sunflower fans: "..."

"… Wuwuwu, go away!!"

After the recording was over.

Gu Jin found Jiang Ye backstage again, "I still owe you a meal, are you coming?"

Jiang Ye turned around and looked at her teammates.

Lin Zui raised an eyebrow, "Go if you want, why are you looking at us?"

Cheng Zhen immediately perked up when she heard someone was treating them to dinner, "Dinner? I’m in, I’m in!"

Jiang Ye thought for a moment and smiled, "But we won this time, so it should be us treating our seniors to dinner."

"Let’s go, which restaurant do you want to go to?"

It’s not a big deal for girl groups to have dinner together.

Even if paparazzi take pictures, they can still stir up some gossip about a friendly get-together.

So, the twelve of them went out openly, not avoiding the fans’ sight, and booked a private room.

Gu Jin went in and ordered a whole case of beer.

Her teammates reminded her, "You’re going to lose your voice?"

Gu Jin didn’t care, "Ugh, it’s still a long time until the next activity, why can’t we drink? Everyone, drink up!"

Jiang Ye quickly pulled Cheng Zhen back, who was sticking her head out, "Don’t learn from her, I still remember the last time you got drunk and I had to write a self-criticism because of you."

Cheng Zhen was both guilty and wronged, "… I just wanted to try a little bit."

Lin Zui immediately put on her captain’s face, "No, none of the others in our group can drink either."

Jiang Ye nodded, "Okay, we’ll listen to the captain, no drinking."

So, Gu Jin was the only one who drank the whole case of beer.

She actually had a good tolerance for alcohol, but she got tipsy as she drank, and started talking nonsense.

"Jiang Ye, I’m really happy, I should congratulate, congratulate you guys."

"But actually, we… we’ve had a hard time these past few years…"

Gu Jin had always wanted to be a girl group member.

But they finally formed a group, and the ratio of group fans to solo fans was almost nonexistent.

The solo fans were all hoping for the limited group they loved to disband.

The few group fans they had were constantly going out and enforcing the rules, which made them unpopular.

It was so annoying.

"Jiang Ye."

Gu Jin’s voice was soft and slurred from being drunk, "How come I didn’t meet you sooner? If I had met you sooner, I would have poached you to our company."

She was clearly drunk and couldn’t think straight, she said a few words and then wobbled and fell onto Jiang Ye.

Her teammates quickly came over to help her.

"I’m sorry, I’m sorry."

"Our captain is like this, don’t be fooled by her, she acts so well, but she’s like this when she’s drunk."

"It’s okay, no need."

Jiang Ye smiled and waved her hand, she helped Gu Jin up and let her lean on her shoulder.

She found the scene a little funny, and she couldn’t help but think to herself.

If Gu Jin’s fans knew that the cool, calm, and composed Gu Jin who walked around outside was like this with her, they would probably go crazy.

"Forget it, it’s fine."

Gu Jin suddenly sighed, "If you had debuted with me, it wouldn’t have changed anything."

The limitations of the times are unavoidable.

It’s good that 5tars still has a future, their future path is bright.

Gu Jin thought about this, then suddenly turned her head, looked at Jiang Ye intently, and said, "You’re the one who can create the future."

Jiang Ye: "?"

Jiang Ye didn’t follow Gu Jin’s train of thought, she just thought, amused, that Gu Jin must be really drunk.

She would find those words cheesy, but Gu Jin said them without changing her expression or her heartbeat.

But she was really touched.

She had been liked by many people, including those who called her the superstar of the entertainment industry, but they were mostly netizens or fans just saying it for fun.

But being given such high praise by someone like Gu Jin, she suddenly felt a sense of mission.

Compared to Gu Jin, Jiang Ye felt that her perspective was much smaller.

She was chasing her dream to fulfill her own dream, she didn’t have any thoughts about taking responsibility for the prosperity of all idols.

But she realized that there were actually people who were working hard for the fate of all idols, trying to create the best era for idols.

"Our group isn’t disbanding now."

"And we’re not going to stop being idols after we disband."

Jiang Ye gently patted her head and comforted her, "There will be many more opportunities in the future, everything will get better, we’ll be together."

Gu Jin grabbed her clothes, and she looked a little pitiful because she was drunk.

She shook her head and said, "There isn’t any."

"I don’t have time."

"So, Jiang Ye, you… you have to promise me."

"You have to make the best girl group, you can do it, you have to do it."

"I’ll be waiting to see it."

This time, Jiang Ye did not try to appease her.

She looked into Gu Jin’s eyes, remained silent for a long time, and gently took her hand.

She had not even had a sip of alcohol, but Jiang Ye’s palm started to get hot.

It was as if, in that instant, Gu Jin had transferred her sincerity and courage to her, urging her to burn too.

"Okay."

Jiang Ye’s voice was soft, but her tone was firm, "I will."