Snow-Kissed Rose (GL) Chapter 44.2

After the theme song performance, the audience expected the focus to shift to the mentors evaluating the trainees' performances. But instead, the camera moved to the dormitory area.

The camera first showed Class E's dilemma of not having enough Star Cards to survive until their theme song performance was evaluated. Then, Huai Xu was shown gathering Class E's trainees on the fifth-floor hall and offering them a chance to borrow or win a Star Card from her.

When Wu Wei, an introverted and unassuming trainee, picked up the guitar and sang, her sweet voice and original song moved the audience.

"What a surprise!"

"There was Huai Xu in the first episode, and there is Wu Wei in the second episode! There are so many talented songwriters this season!"

Wu Wei's talent subverted the audience's impression of her. And when she revealed her cute side, many viewers promptly expressed their desire to vote for her.

Afterward, Song Yingshi appeared to add more stakes to Huai Xu's event. Then, other trainees with excess Star Cards followed suit, which, in turn, led to the mini-event becoming more and more silly.

Nonetheless, the audience in the bullet comments[1] evaluated each performance with great seriousness:

"The left one's meowing is too soft; she's inferior to my fave. The right one's fiercer but has just enough mellow in it to create a perfect harmony. I pick the right one."

"This girl's no good. Her push-ups are not up to standard. Redo, redo."

"This pair's crosstalk[2] is incredibly exciting. It almost makes me want to buy a clapper."

There was also a portion of the audience that disapproved of this mini-event:

How many Star Cards do you have? Are you sure you should be giving them away so willy-nilly? What if you give away too many and end up not having enough? Is this how you repay your fans' support? By giving away your resources to others?

The differing opinions nearly sparked an argument in the bullet comments.

However, before a full-blown argument could ensue, all disapprovals disappeared.

This was because, the next day, Huai Xu led the trainees into tricking the mentors out of their Star Cards!

On the screen, the trainees could be seen rubbing their palms eagerly. Apart from awaiting the evaluation results, their goal today was to procure Star Cards from the mentors.

Upon seeing this, the audience promptly shouted at the three ignorant mentors who had just gotten out of their cars:

Run away!!!

However, as space and time separated them, the audience could only watch as the mentors entered the White Tower like lambs to the slaughter.

The mentors on set this time were Shi Shuyao, Ren Qian, and Duan Mi.

The mentors originally thought they would immediately start evaluating the trainees' theme song performance. However, an honest-looking staff member told them that because many trainees would be disqualified after this evaluation, the production crew hoped that the mentors would give the trainees some words of encouragement before that happened.

Bullet comment: "You traitor! I thought you looked trustworthy, but it turns out you were an accomplice of the trainees!"

However, the mentors remained ignorant of what awaited them. They innocently assumed the production crew only wanted them to help lift the trainees' spirits, so they casually followed the honest-looking staff member to the recording studio.

…

When the mentors arrived at the recording studio, all 101 trainees had already gathered. Upon seeing the mentors, the trainees stood up in unison and greeted:

"Hello, instructors."

Duan Mi might appear to be the coolest among the mentors, but she was also the most soft-hearted. When she saw these 101 budding flowers greet her so enthusiastically and recalled how some were destined to leave the show with regrets today, she put great effort and passion into encouraging the girls.

The two other mentors also put much effort into their encouragement, even using their personal life experiences and regrets as examples.

Hence, all trainees listened to the mentors earnestly.

As the stories the mentors shared weren't publicly available before today, even the viewers behind the screen found themselves immersed in the mentors' storytelling, momentarily forgetting about the trainees' plot.

Eventually, though, the encouragement segment ended, and a staff member said, "We are still arranging the performance recordings. In the meantime, we wish to invite both mentors and trainees to participate in a small interactive game."

Bullet comment: !!! The inevitable hath come!

In response to the sudden invitation, Shi Shuyao smiled and asked, "What's the game?"

The staff member did not reply. Instead, Huai Xu, who sat in the first row, stood up and held up an unopened deck of poker cards, saying, "Magic."

"Magic? How does the game work? Fyi, I don't know how to perform magic tricks," Duan Mi said, feeling a little excited.

"The rules are simple. I will perform some simple magic tricks for you to analyze," Huai Xu replied. Then, after a slight pause, she smiled and continued, "For each trick you analyze correctly, I will give you five Star Cards. Otherwise, you will have to give us five Star Cards."

"Oh? There are stakes involved?" Ren Qian mused.

Bullet comment: The trainees are aiming for the stakes, not to have fun!

"But we don't have Star Cards," Duan Mi said.

Seated beside Huai Xu, Song Yingshi smiled and said, "But the production crew has them."

The other trainees also chimed in, "Come on, instructors. We want to watch."

Duan Mi was genuinely interested in the game, so she looked toward Director Wu and extended a hand to him, saying, "Director Wu, give us some."

Duan Mi looked like a child asking for pocket money from her parent.

As if having prepared for this scenario, Director Wu handed Duan Mi a stack of 10 Star Cards.

After receiving her "pocket money," Duan Mi promptly told Huai Xu, "Start the game! Start the game!"

As Huai Xu glanced at the Star Cards in Duan Mi's possession, the corners of her lips raised, her eyelids lowered, and her usually cold aura began exuding a hint of danger and casualness.

When the audience saw the change in Huai Xu's temperament, their responses were immediate:

"Huai Xu, you can deceive me anytime! I'll willingly die in your embrace!"

While the bullet comments drooled over Huai Xu's appearance and aura, Huai Xu started shuffling the cards.

The key to card magic was in shuffling and cutting the cards. Hence, the mentors and trainees focused on Huai Xu's hands. The camera also did a close-up on Huai Xu's hands, giving the audience a good look at her slender but not too delicate finger bones.

Huai Xu's shuffling didn't have a pattern. It couldn't even be considered shuffling. She merely cut the cards a few times before flipping them over to take a few looks.

The mentors were confused by this sight. They couldn't see how Huai Xu's "shuffling" could lead to a magic trick.

Amidst everyone's confusion, Huai Xu drew three cards and placed them face-up on a table prepared by the staff members. Then, she turned around, faced her back to the table, and said to the mentors, "For my first trick, I will determine whether the cards on the table have been rotated. You may rotate any of the cards on the table by 180 degrees. You may also choose to rotate none of the cards.

"We will repeat this game twice. If you can unravel how I figured out your actions, I lose. Otherwise, I win."

The three cards on the table were the 4 of Spades, the Queen of Hearts, and the 10 of Diamonds.

After thinking it over, Duan Mi decided not to move any cards.

Shi Shuyao approached the table curiously and rotated the 10 of Diamonds 180 degrees. She also put in extra care to return the card to its original position.

Ren Qian chose not to move any cards.

Once all three mentors were satisfied with their decisions, they said to Huai Xu, "We're done."

Huai Xu turned around and glanced at the poker cards. She scrutinized each card, her gaze scrutinizing every detail of the table. Five seconds later, she held up the 10 of Diamonds, twirled the card skillfully between her fingers, and placed it back on the table, saying, "This card was moved."

"What else?" Ren Qian asked, attempting to mislead Huai Xu.

"Neither of the other two cards have been moved," Huai Xu said, shaking her head.

The trainees serving as the live audience erupted in cheers. Even without the mentors giving her the answer, Huai Xu already knew she had guessed correctly.

"Now, it's time for you to guess the principles behind the trick," Huai Xu said to the mentors.

This magic trick was visibly simple. There was no fancy card cutting or hiding. Given enough time, anybody could figure out how it worked.

However, the mentors only had two chances to get the answer.

After a brief discussion, Duan Mi spoke on behalf of the three mentors, "Did you guess it through the distance between the cards?"

"No," Huai Xu replied with a smile. "We will be moving into the second round. This will be your last chance to guess correctly."

After saying so, Huai Xu turned around without bothering to replace the three cards on the table.

This time, the mentors rotated all three cards after exchanging glances.

However, as before, Huai Xu guessed their actions correctly after turning around.

"You've inspected the table both times. Did you place a marker on the table?" Shi Shuyao asked.

"I did not." Huai Xu shook her head.

"How on earth did you do it, then? There are just three cards on the table. How can there be any trick behind this simple setup?" Duan Mi asked. Then, she placed five Star Cards on the table and continued, "Tell us! Quickly!"

"Did you all tell her?" Shi Shuyao asked as she looked at the spectating trainees.

After having scored a victory against the mentors, the trainees gleefully shouted injustice:

"We're not accomplices! Huai Xu won with her own skill!"

"We don't know how she did it, either!"

Although Huai Xu had told them that they were going to trick the mentors today, she never told them what she would be doing for fear that they might slip up and ruin her plans.

But...

Everyone began sneaking glances at Song Yingshi.

If it was Little Shi... She might actually be in on the trick!

However, everyone tacitly avoided mentioning Song Yingshi.

By now, Shi Shuyao was similarly dying from curiosity. Taking the trainees' words at face value, she gave up trying to find Huai Xu's accomplice, urging, "Quickly tell us the answer, Huai Xu. I'm dying to hear it."

"It's simple." Huai Xu obliged and held up one of the poker cards. Then, she pointed at the card's top and bottom edges, saying, "Every deck of poker cards has slight differences in how they're cut, which results in uneven spacings between the edges and the printed patterns. As long as I memorize these spacings, I can tell whether they've been rotated at a glance."

The principles behind this trick were simple and easy to understand. Once one knew the answer and looked at the problem again, one would feel a sense of regret and think, "How did I not catch that?"

However, Duan Mi remained confused as she said skeptically, "At a glance? But I watched you inspect the cards for quite some time. You even looked at the table— Ah! You were acting!"

Duan Mi suddenly realized that Huai Xu might have been acting to throw them off and possibly even mislead them into thinking the key of the trick involved the table.

Take Shi Shuyao, for example. Because she noticed how Huai Xu had inspected the table in both rounds, she ended up convinced that the table had something to do with the trick.

When Shi Shuyao looked at the poker cards again, she felt she had lost to a very silly trick. Because of her headstrong personality, she couldn't help but grow a little upset. Looking at Huai Xu, she asked, "Weren't you worried we might see through the trick?" Can you afford to lose five Star Cards? Do you even have five Star Cards to lose?

While shuffling the deck of cards, Huai Xu glanced at the three mentors and said calmly, "I know more than just this one magic trick."

If not for fairness, Huai Xu wouldn't have brought out such a simple magic trick. Regardless, even if she did lose, she simply needed to win her Star Cards back.

After Huai Xu was done shuffling, she offered the deck of cards to the mentors and asked, "Instructor Shi, Instructor Duan, Instructor Ren, are you satisfied with such a loss? Do you want to keep playing?"

The mentors: "..."

There was no way the three mentors could be satisfied with losing to such a simple trick. Had they been given one more round, they could've likely guessed the principles behind the trick.

With the experience they've gained, they wouldn't fall for Huai Xu's acting again. They could certainly figure things out if they linked their three minds together.

Not to mention, the production crew was the one paying out the Star Cards. Even if they lost, they wouldn't risk losing anything.

Amidst the spectating trainees' urging, the three mentors exchanged glances before saying, "Again!"

Huai Xu smiled. Then, she said, "Let us up the stakes for the next trick to five Star Cards per person. If I lose, I will give each of you five Star Cards."

The stakes were growing. When the mentors shamelessly asked for more Star Cards from the production crew, enthusiasm filled the recording studio.

As Song Yingshi looked up from the front row at the tall and thin figure standing on stage, her eyes glowed with increasing intensity. This was the first time she had seen Huai Xu like this, and she couldn't help but think to herself that Huai Xu was born with the ability to manipulate the hearts of people.

Despite standing before three mentors who were senior to her in age and status, Huai Xu remained calm and unrestrained.

She was like a hunter setting up an intricate trap as she shuffled the cards.

Her hands looked beautiful when they flipped over the cards, and the way she smiled when she won her game was even more beautiful.

In the middle of her conversation with Shi Shuyao, Huai Xu suddenly turned to look at Song Yingshi.

For a brief moment, Song Yingshi thought she had just seen the most mesmerizing sight ever. Then, she formed a megaphone with her hands, smiled, and shouted, "Huai Xu, you're amazing!"

TL Notes:
[1]bullet comments: Bullet comments are similar to youtube's live comment section, just that they're comments that float across the screen/video. This is a function that's available on China's bilibili and Japan's niconico.

[2]crosstalk: [Wikipedia definition] Xiangsheng (traditional Chinese: 相聲; simplified Chinese: 相声; pinyin: Xiàngsheng; lit. 'face and voice'), also known as crosstalk or comic dialog,[2] is a traditional performing art in Chinese comedy, and one of the most popular elements in Chinese culture.