Chapter Thirty-Two: The Elimination Rounds Begin

The elimination rounds are about to begin. The round

of 15 to 9 will use a two-elimination format each round, while the round of 9 to 4 will use a one-elimination format each round. The final four will compete for the championship, runner-up, and third place—the grand final.

The remaining fifteen contestants are both excited and nervous, and the upcoming matches will be recorded and edited for television broadcast.

The popularity champion and the contestant with the highest overall ranking have the qualification to be exempt from elimination in the next round. This means that even if Sheng Jiaoyang and Luo Yi perform poorly in the 15 to 13 round, they can still advance directly.

The other contestants are very envious of this; with such an exemption, at least this round of competition won't be so tense.

Qi Hua, whose own strength isn't particularly outstanding, absolutely hates Sheng Jiaoyang. This right should have belonged to her, but it was taken away by a poor girl with no family background. Were those voters blind? Why do they like this penniless girl so much? If they have so much sympathy, they should donate more money to mountainous areas! What are they all doing, blindly voting?

With only fifteen people left, they couldn't be divided into two teams anymore. Instead, they were divided into three groups of five. A group competition was held, with the winning group advancing to the next round, and the losing group eliminating the worst-performing member. Then,

they were combined with another group for overall ranking, with the lowest-ranked member eliminated. Sheng Jiaoyang, the most popular contestant in the previous round, and Luo Yi, the top-ranked contestant overall, had the right to choose their own group members. Those left behind automatically became part of the same group.

Among those chosen, some contestants wanted to be left behind, such as Qi Hua, who disliked Sheng Jiaoyang and Luo Yi, and Xiao Yang, who, as the former captain, was now relegated to being chosen, feeling resentful. She wanted to join the third group and try to secure the group leader position.

Pu Mingyu, closer to Luo Yi, was naturally chosen by her, and the other three chose those she could talk to during training.

Sheng Jiaoyang's selection process was unconventional. She chose Qi Hua, who had always been her adversary, along with three other people she didn't get along with, for her group. Everyone was quite surprised; no one had expected her to do that.

"Jiaojiao, why didn't you choose me?" Wang Wei felt wronged. She felt they had gotten along quite well these past few days, so why wasn't she chosen when it came to selecting people?

Looking at Wang Wei, who had gained some weight after her two-day break, Sheng Jiaoyang couldn't resist pinching her cheek and said, "Sweetie! You're already at the bottom, so you shouldn't join our group."

"Are you afraid I'll drag you all down?" Wang Wei was even more upset.

Sheng Jiaoyang chuckled, then slightly suppressed her smile under Wang Wei's accusing gaze, and said in a low voice, "I have immunity now, so even if our group's results are bad, they can't eliminate me. If you join our group, it'll be even more dangerous."

Wang Wei was stunned. "Why does it sound like your group is destined to lose?"

"Anyway, this time you'll stay obediently in Xiao Yang's group and perform well!" Sheng Jiaoyang raised her hand and gently patted Wang Wei's head. Although she was shorter than Wang Wei and two years younger, her demeanor carried a reassuring sense of security.

Out of a sense of awe and trust between a mediocre student and a top student, Wang Wei was immediately calmed down by Sheng Jiaoyang. Her intuition told her that Jiaojiao was going to cause trouble again, which reminded her of that quiz game when she had sat next to Jiaojiao and witnessed her domineering actions in controlling the entire competition.

"Next, our stylists will create new hairstyles for you all," Zhuo Yiyan announced.

"Huh? Are they going to shave my head? Please don't!" One contestant was startled by her own guess.

While some were worried, others were looking forward to it.

Even the worst stylists the show hired wouldn't drastically alter their appearances; many were hoping to break through their image by changing their hairstyles.

Hairstyles really can influence a person's aura.

The dressing room was bustling with activity.

Zhuo Yiyan was chatting with the stylist director.

"This season has several celebrity look-alikes," the stylist director said, looking around.

"It'll be difficult to transform them," Zhuo Yiyan added.

"Yes, making her more beautiful is easy, but making her more fashionable and visually striking is much harder,"

Zhuo Yiyan nodded in agreement.

"I don't want to!" Suddenly, an angry voice rang out.

They all looked over almost simultaneously, only to see a beautiful girl grabbing her long hair and glaring at the stylist.

"Qi Hua, what's wrong?" Zhuo Yiyan spoke first.

"I don't want short hair!" Qi Hua said indignantly.

"What's wrong with short hair? You have to trust the stylist." Since they were in the same group, Sheng Jiaoyang sat next to her.

"Shut up!" Qi Hua couldn't stand Sheng Jiaoyang's voice anymore; she utterly loathed this person who always stole her thunder.

Sheng Jiaoyang scoffed, "Miss Qi, if you have a temper, go home and vent it. The stylist kindly created a hairstyle for you, don't be ungrateful."

Hearing Sheng Jiaoyang's words, Qi Hua became even more irritated. If she had something in her hand, she would have thrown it.

"Did I ask you to speak? Can you please shut your stinking mouth?!"

Zhuo Yiyan frowned and shouted, "Qi Hua! Watch your words!"

Qi Hua pouted aggrievedly and said, "But I don't want to have short hair. Why do I have to cut it short? I think my current hairstyle is quite nice, and I had a professional stylist do it for me."

"Is there anyone else who doesn't want a new hairstyle?" Zhuo Yiyan looked around at the contestants.

Two people actually raised their hands, weakly indicating they didn't want to cut their hair.

"Alright, the three of you can leave now," Zhuo Yiyan said calmly.

"Teacher Zhuo, you're not asking us to withdraw from the competition, are you?" a contestant who didn't want a haircut asked anxiously.

"I don't have the right to make you withdraw. I'm just respecting your choices. Since you don't want to try a new look, I won't object. I'm just asking you to go outside and wait. The other contestants still need to get their hair done."

"Oh!" the contestant said, relieved.

Qi Hua glared at Sheng Jiaoyang and walked out of the dressing room haughtily.

Zhuo Yiyan naturally noticed Qi Hua's glare. He comforted Sheng Jiaoyang, "Don't take it to heart. Just be yourself."

Sheng Jiaoyang smiled and sat back down.

"This contestant seems like the well-behaved type, but she has a sharp edge to her personality. She's quite versatile," the stylist praised.

"Hmm, I have a feeling she'll be the contestant who surprises me the most this season," Zhuo Yiyan said with a smile.

The stylist went over and gave a few pointers to the stylist behind Sheng Jiaoyang. The stylist's eyes lit up, and she nodded repeatedly.

Some contestants saw this and secretly said to their stylists, "Could you also ask your director to give you some pointers?"

The female stylist rolled her eyes, "Should I go and ask the director to do it for you?"

"Sure, sure!"

The female stylist was speechless; she had never seen such a shameless person.