Who is Helping Me Win by Lying Down [Transmigration] - Chapter 16:

Chapter 16:

The live voting results of the first public performance triggered a backlash among the streaming audience, directly causing Chen Shu’s team to achieve an overwhelming lead over subsequent teams with an effortless victory. Off-stream discussions skyrocketed to the top, sparking continuous heated debates.

Internet water armies seized this momentum to frantically whitewash related topics under trending searches.

Somehow I feel Gu Wei is kinda pitiful—originally ranked 7th, but got pushed down to 10th after being labeled as royalty.

Isn’t Gu Wei worse off than Chen Shu? At least Chen Shu got vindicated by the audience, but Gu Wei genuinely dropped three spots.

Looking at the live individual rankings, the real royalty is that guy with the surname Gao. Gu Wei really got unlucky taking the fall for him.

Some netizens offered calm analysis: Although Gao Jinghao was a signed trainee, his agency was too small-scale to possibly interfere with 《Here For You》.

But these rational voices were quickly drowned out by the water armies’ relentless spamming.

Swayed by the manipulated narrative, audiences and casual viewers who had been organizing group voting gradually halted their efforts.

Yet the deed was done—all votes had been cast, leaving no way to offer sympathy votes.

Fortunately, the trainee elimination would be broadcast the following evening, and the voting channel would officially close two hours before the live stream. Those who remembered could casually throw him a vote, barely pushing him back to 9th place.

Upon learning this ranking during the live broadcast, Gu Wei clenched the envelope tightly in his hand.

Before Gao Jinghao could open his own envelope, he first hugged his teammate—who hadn’t made the cut for advancement—and burst into tears.

The first public performance concluded with 99 trainees narrowed down to 56, eliminating nearly half. Their team lost one member.

After crying, Gao Jinghao opened his envelope and froze in shock.

The card clearly read:

Gao Jinghao, 10th Place.

The bullet screen comments exploded.

Holy crap, I specifically checked this Gao guy’s ranking yesterday—he was only 21st! Jumping 11 spots in one day? This is just ridiculous.

Gu Wei’s situation is absolutely tragic. Sisters, I’m going all in—what about you?

Gu Wei… Gao Jinghao stared at the screen as if in a dream. I’m actually 10th?

From initial evaluations to the theme song assessment, he had always been in B Class and was fully aware of his skills—even within B Class, he was bottom-tier. He had thought making top 20 would be a miracle.

Never did he imagine breaking into the top 10!

Seeing the card, Gu Wei first felt a surge of silent frustration, then quickly realized: This competition had many highly skilled trainees. With Gao Jinghao’s abilities, such a high ranking was impossible.

Recalling Gao Jinghao’s first-place individual ranking from the previous day, he concluded something must have happened outside the competition that skewed the data.

And of all people, it had to be his own teammate showing abnormal metrics…

That’s amazing, Jinghao! I knew you could do it! Gu Wei turned to Gao Jinghao with a bright, seemingly genuine smile of celebration.

—

After receiving their rankings in the practice room, Chen Shu led his team to the auditorium for continued recording as announced over the broadcast.

Behind him, his teammates chatted and laughed without a care in the world.

The Invincible Youth Team’s Planetary Fission had achieved full-team advancement!

On stage, Qu Jiangxue announced to the 56 remaining trainees, They’re also the only team among all sixteen groups to advance without losing a single member.

A murmur of conversations rippled through the audience.

They had all watched yesterday’s live stream in its entirety. Although Chen Shu was nominally the center of his team, his standout moments stemmed more from his skills, executing the song flawlessly. The true focal point actually rotated among all seven members, with each having remarkably brilliant highlights that were easily memorable.

The only person capable of making such a decision was none other than Chen Shu, who also served as the team leader.

From this perspective, being in a team with Chen Shu actually offered significant advantages.

I hope everyone continues to work hard and delivers outstanding performances in the next public performance, Qu Jiangxue said before announcing, Now we’ll begin the new round of song selection.

The rules for selecting the second-round performance songs differed from the first round—this time, it was based on the finalized voting rankings.

Trainees ranked in the top eight would automatically become the centers for the eight songs.

As soon as she finished speaking, the large screen lit up, cycling through the eight new songs.

All eight songs were arranged for seven performers, each with distinct styles. Even after the screen returned to the main menu, the trainees remained hesitant.

Qu Jiangxue picked up the microphone again: Next, when I call your name, please stand behind the song of your choice among the eight displayed before me.

Unlike the previous round, this song selection setup was straightforward.

There were no seats—only eight stands arranged in a row, each labeled with a song title.

The trainees fell silent. Although everyone knew their own and their teammates’ rankings, they remained unaware of others’ positions.

The large screen switched to the ranking list as Qu Jiangxue spoke.

The pyramid-style list was shrouded in dark overlays.

First, let’s announce the top-ranked trainee.

Simultaneously, the dark overlay over the first-place name on the screen shimmered with golden light, capturing everyone’s attention.

Qu Jiangxue looked toward the trainees and called out the name amid their expectant and curious gazes: Congratulations, Chen Shu!

Gasps of amazement rippled through the crowd.

Chen Shu’s abilities were undeniable—from being the first A-rank trainee, to the initial center position, to leading his team to first place in the first public performance. No one disputed his right to claim the top spot.

Yet, despite having less popularity than Chi Yu, Ding Chenzhou, and others, and lacking a solid fanbase, he still managed to clinch the highest position!

Only Gu Wei.

He couldn’t accept this outcome.

Anyone else could have been first—why did it have to be Chen Shu!

Since childhood, he had always been overshadowed by Chen Shu due to his family’s inferior status. Now that the Chen family was bankrupt and in debt, why should he still be beneath Chen Shu!

Gao Jinghao, standing beside him, noticed his expression: Gu Wei, are you alright? Not feeling well?

Maybe a little, but I’m fine, Gu Wei snapped out of it and mumbled a response before looking ahead.

Under everyone’s gaze, Chen Shu had already walked over and taken his place behind the stand labeled STYLE.

Although not an explosive hit, this song had a distinctive performance style with strong stage presence.

Chi Yu was surprised he hadn’t chosen the highly anticipated All the Way East, but since Chen Shu had made his selection, he unhesitatingly claimed that song for himself.

Ding Chenzhou sighed helplessly: Brother Shu took the song I wanted, so I’ll have to go with ‘Sea Level.’

After the remaining five trainees made their choices one by one, Qu Jiangxue stepped before the group again.

Standing among the crowd, Gu Wei—unseen by the cameras—clenched his fingers tightly, his eyes filled with resentment.

Just one rank short!

Only this one rank stood between him and the center position!

Gu Wei lowered his head, hiding the gloom in his eyes.

If only Chen Shu didn’t exist.

With his abilities, if Chen Shu weren’t here, he definitely wouldn’t have lost in this first public performance, nor would he have fallen to the point of not even qualifying for the center position!

It’s all Chen Shu’s fault!

Now announcing ninth place—congratulations to Gu Wei!

Hearing Qu Jiangxue’s voice, Gu Wei instantly composed himself, raised his head again, and walked toward Chi Yu with a smile.

Even without the center position, he could still shine brightly.

As for Chen Shu.

He had to make Chen Shu pay, and the sooner the better!

—

After the live broadcast ended, Qu Jiangxue informed everyone that this week, the trainees not only had to practice the new song intensively but also prepare for shooting the theme song MV.

Next week’s live broadcast would include not only the mini-test evaluation but also a final ten minutes dedicated to live filming of all 99 trainees performing the full theme song.

Trainees who had already been eliminated would remain on the island for another week, leaving only after the MV shoot was completed.

Her announcement was met with a chorus of complaints from below the stage.

Practicing a song in just one week was already tight enough, but having to find extra time for the theme song on top of that—not to mention the even more time-consuming rehearsals—left them wondering how they could possibly face the live cameras.

Qu Jiangxue had anticipated this; after speaking, she stepped back and yielded the stage to the four mentors.

The mentors looked serious.

Su Xian frowned. If you want to stay on this stage, you must push yourselves relentlessly at all times. If you cry and complain at the slightest difficulty, you might as well pack your bags now and leave with the others.

His tone instantly silenced the crowd.

Ji Xinyan added, From now on, everyone who remains in each round is an elite. I hope you hold yourselves to higher standards and don’t slack off. Here, the only easy path is elimination.

Their words immediately heightened the pressure on the trainees.

After leaving the auditorium, everyone headed straight for the practice rooms.

Chen Shu, as usual, worked with his teammates to break down the song, assign parts, and briefly familiarize themselves with it. It wasn’t until late at night that he finally returned to the dorm.

Chi Yu had also just returned.

Lying on his bed, he turned toward the door at the sound of footsteps.

Chen Shu set Wangcai down first.

Yan Jingchuan deftly jumped onto his bed and settled down.

Earlier, the staff came to notify us that after today’s live broadcast, there was supposed to be an hour of free phone time. But since we all stayed out past the deadline, that time will carry over to after next week’s mini-test, Chi Yu said. He sat up and added, It’s my fault too. Gu Wei mentioned it to me, but I thought there was no time limit, so I didn’t come back.

Chen Shu didn’t dwell on it.

He had no one he needed to contact. His parents in this life could see he was safe through the live broadcasts. Missing this week’s call and waiting until next time was fine with him.

After showering, he returned to his bed, casually nudged Wangcai toward the pillow, pulled back the covers, and lay down.

Yan Jingchuan glanced at him, then with a stern expression, settled back down beside his neck.

Both man and dog were soon asleep.

Early the next morning.

After washing up and stepping out of his room, Chen Shu saw trainees gathered in the hall, pointing and discussing the screen.

The large screen displayed this week’s schedule.

Morning: Learn and practice the new song for the second public performance.

Afternoon: Practice the theme song and rehearse.

Evening: Free time.

At a glance, the time allocated for theme song practice wasn’t insignificant.

Given the tight schedule, no one needed reminders—everyone voluntarily gathered in the practice rooms morning and night.

Learning from the previous experience, Chen Shu first tackled the overall dance arrangement on day one before officially starting practice.

His team this time consisted mostly of familiar faces.

Yin Anyan, Liao Yue, Jiang Xing, and Xiong Xiaolei—all members of B Class were present. Unfortunately, Yun Jie and Zhai Xiangchen, due to their lower rankings, couldn’t join as STYLE was already full when they made their choices. Otherwise, with the old teammates, no adjustment period would be needed, and their coordination would have been even more seamless.

However, the newly added Ji Heguang and Yi Jia were exceptionally skilled, eliminating the need for others to help them learn. This balanced things out, and the practice proceeded very smoothly.

In contrast, the Theme Song rehearsals were more challenging. With 99 participants at varying levels of familiarity, issues frequently arose during recordings.

As the center position for the Theme Song, Chen Shu spent the most time on this task.

From full-group shots of all 99 members, to 56-person scenes, then the 9 Debut Position frames, and finally his individual close-ups—each required rehearsals and recordings in different locations.

After nearly a week, he was far more exhausted than during the previous round’s Public Performance practice.

After the final edited version of the Theme Song was recorded, Chen Shu scooped up Wangcai, who had been waiting for him, into his arms. He returned to the dorm, took a shower, and fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

Yan Jingchuan crouched by the pillow, watching his sleeping face. After a moment of quiet contemplation, he lay down beside him.

When he opened his eyes again, the ceiling of a hospital room greeted him.

Zhang Shi, who had been working in the outer area of the room, noticed his awakening immediately. He quickly set down his pen and hurried over. Director Yan?

Without waiting for Yan Jingchuan to speak, he first reported the company’s recent updates.

At the end, he hesitated slightly. Also, Director Yan, regarding the dog you asked me to buy—I wasn’t able to acquire it.

Hm. Yan Jingchuan closed his eyes, easing the inevitable weakness that followed each awakening.

Chen Shu firmly refused to sell. Zhang Shi stood by the bed with his hands at his sides, detailing every aspect of his visit to Chen Shu, afraid Yan Jingchuan might think he had failed in his task.

Yan Jingchuan was clearer about this matter than him and said indifferently, Forget it if he doesn’t want to sell.

Director Yan, does that mean you’re not buying the dog anymore? Zhang Shi stole a glance at him, only daring to ask when he saw no sign of reproach.

Yan Jingchuan shot him a look.

Zhang Shi shrank back.

Yan Jingchuan withdrew his gaze. I’ll find another way.

Implied meaning: he still intended to buy it?

Was Director Yan really this invested in Chen Shu?

Even after being rejected, he planned to personally find another approach?!

Zhang Shi couldn’t believe it.

But hearing was believing—he had to admit that the usually unapproachable Director Yan had, in all likelihood, genuinely developed feelings, and for a man at that!

He thought it over and couldn’t resist offering his boss some advice. Director Yan, I have a suggestion…

Speak.

Zhang Shi hesitated before saying, How about… you go in person?

When it came to matters of love, even for Director Yan, it was better for the involved party to show up themselves.

Besides, his boss—Chairman of the Yan Group—had wealth that dazzled the eye and was devastatingly handsome, the dream lover of countless people.

Last time, Zhang Shi had been the one to approach, so it was understandable that Chen Shu hadn’t been impressed.

But if Director Yan went himself, for a 20-year-old celebrity, wouldn’t it be as easy as crooking a finger?

By then, there would be no need for excuses like buying a dog.

Hearing his suggestion, Yan Jingchuan’s brow twitched slightly.

Go see Chen Shu?