Snow-Kissed Rose (GL) Chapter 60.2

The show did a great job in song selection. It also added various renderings and reversals during post-production. In one second, the screen showed a beautiful little sister going wide-eye and exclaiming, "Why did she choose—," thoroughly whetting the audience's appetite before…immediately showing a commercial advertisement in the next second, earning the production crew countless curses from the audience.

Thanks to post-production meddling, the grouping stage did not air in order. When only a few teams remained unannounced, and the audience saw that Huai Xu and Song Yingshi had yet to appear among any of the announced teams, the bullet comments grew active:

"I have a feeling the production crew is cooking something…"

"I'm a prophet, and I say they're definitely enemies!"

"High energy ahead."

Shortly after the "high energy ahead" warning comment appeared, Song Yingshi and Huai Xu also appeared on screen, the two standing opposite each other.

At the same time, the BGM transitioned to a fighting spirit-inducing track. With a clang, the screen was divided into two sections with starkly different visual effects.

Huai Xu stood amidst frosty snowflakes and chilly winds, while Song Yingshi was enveloped in fiery flames of passion. Frost and flames clashed intensely, neither side willing to give up any ground.

The production crew achieved their intended effect with this edit. The audience's interest in the second public performance was thoroughly piqued when the song's rhythm reached its zenith.

However, a certain fan group distorted the comment section into a completely different form:

"[Wedding Photo]"

"Thank you, everyone. We're together now."

"Snow-Kissed Rose's official establishment!"

When the screen showed Huai Xu and Song Yingshi silently mouthing words of war to each other, the bullet comments promptly attempted to analyze what they said.

"Huai Xu when facing other people: What did you say? I can't hear you; Huai Xu when facing her wife: Level 10 Lip Reading activated."

"What are they saying? Is there anything a VIP like myself can't listen to?"

Amidst the various silly translations, the audience saw Tao Qin asking the question they all wanted to know:

"Hey, Huhu, could you tell what Huai Xu was mouthing just now?"

Hu Wan nodded confidently.

The audience perked up their ears and paid close attention—

Suddenly, Hu Wan's mouth was censored with flowers, and her voice was replaced with the electronic voice of a female anchor saying mechanically:

She said she wanted to beat Song Yingshi.

In the next shot, Tao Qin looked horrified, and the words "Excuse me" silently floated across the screen.

Audience: "???"

"Spring Star, what is this bullshit!!!"

"Looking at Tao Qin's reaction, it's obvious the answer isn't so simple! The more you try to cover it up, the more obvious it is!"

"It might seem like the post-production team didn't say anything, but everything has already been said. Brothers, don't worry. Just shout along with me: Snow-Kissed Rose forever!"

The show transitioned to the training segment as the audience cursed at the post-production team.

The intense competition between Song Yingshi and Huai Xu in the training segment generated the most comedic moments. To maximize the comedic impact, the post-production team included the reactions of the eight other teams, showing how they were peer-pressured into an exhausting training regimen.

Bullet comment: This is the day Snow-Kissed Rose's popularity fell to its lowest point in Star of Spring.

When Qiu Zhixin exposed her identity as Bai Yuzhou's fan, Bai Yuzhou's fans instantly dominated the bullet comments with their presence:

"What a talented star chaser!"

"Big sister, you're my idol now!!!"

"I'm ashamed to call myself a fan of Zhouzhou. Qiu Zhixin is a true fan. #cries"

At this moment, Bai Yuzhou's fans were bursting with affection for Qiu Zhixin. Although there were initially some comments suspecting Qiu Zhixin of trying to ride Bai Yuzhou's popularity, that suspicion got thrown out the window five minutes later, when Bai Yuzhou told Qiu Zhixhin to stop supporting her—

"I thought you looked innocent, but you were actually an anti?! You're the one responsible for those memes?!"

When Bai Yuzhou's ladylike image collapsed, and she threw a tantrum while crouching on the ground, the bullet comments were filled with happy voices.

"I believe she's a veteran fan now! When you deeply love someone, you'll naturally become their anti, hahaha!"

"So you were the one behind Zhouzhou's godlike memes!"

"Hurry up and make 10 more batches! Don't let your idol's nightmare be in vain! #dogehead"

…

When the mentors came to inspect the trainees' practice, the show finally went from a silly mood to a strict but warm one. It was also the standard plot that the audience was familiar with.

Some comments pointed out that Zheng Qiyi had significantly less screen time compared to the other mentors. Although only his fans genuinely cared about his lack of presence, there were many of them, so such comments could be seen appearing frequently; they demanded the production crew give them an explanation.

About 10 minutes later, near the end of the inspection segment, Zheng Qiyi's fans were finally silenced—

At the end of the segment, Zheng Qiyi announced his official withdrawal from Star of Spring.

Amidst the barrage of question marks, Zheng Qiyi said in the video:

"Due to health reasons, I will be canceling all my activities for the following year. Regretfully, this also means I will no longer be able to participate in the recording of Star of Spring and accompany the trainees to debut night."

After saying so, Zheng Qiyi clenched his fists and did his best to keep a smile:

"In the previous recording session, due to my health problems, I caused a lot of trouble to the production crew. Spring Star has a united and friendly team, and I am glad I was able to work with you all until now."

At this time, Studio Director Shi Zhi entered the screen to shake hands with Zheng Qiyi. Then, she faced the camera and said, "Instructor Zheng has been an excellent mentor. Although he missed several recording sessions due to his health complications, he always paid close attention to our trainees. We look forward to our next partnership with Instructor Zheng."

It was a peaceful and friendly meeting between the two sides. Now that Zheng Qiyi had announced his withdrawal from the show, he would no longer appear on the show in the future.

This was the way Song Yingshi had agreed to settle the matter.

As for making sarcastic remarks and openly bashing Zheng Qiyi through official channels?

That was unnecessary.

The best way to deal with a celebrity like Zheng Qiyi would be to ignore him and give him as little publicity as possible. By politely asking him to withdraw from the show, he wouldn't be able to kick up a fuss and draw attention to himself.

They could even use Zheng Qiyi's frequent absence and ailing health as reasons for his lack of screen time on the show.

Everything had a reasonable explanation. The audience could only sigh for him before forgetting about him.

Furthermore, immediately after Zheng Qiyi's withdrawal announcement, Star of Spring released the silhouette of the new mentor who would replace him. This drew the audience's attention to the newcomer, leading them to wonder which popular celebrity would be invited onto the show.

It was also at this time that the audience realized a fact: Zheng Qiyi, despite having been stuffed into Star of Spring's mentor roster, seemed to be too inexperienced and couldn't stand on his own in this popular summer show.

Zheng Qiyi might've been lucky enough to board the ship known as Star of Spring, but his luck wasn't enough to keep him on board. Otherwise, he could've used the show's popularity to propel himself into a top-tier celebrity.

Zheng Qiyi's haters seized this opportunity to mock him for his poor luck, while his fans vehemently defended him. In no time, the two sides started a heated argument across various social media platforms and forums.

Setting Zheng Qiyi's fans aside, the fans of the various trainees also went to work after they finished watching the fourth episode.

For Snow-Kissed Rose fans, the biggest highlight of this episode was the "official wedding photo" and the mouthing battle between Song Yingshi and Huai Xu.

After watching the episode, Jing Xuan replaced the current profile picture of Snow-Kissed Rose's Weibo Supertopic with the "official wedding photo" before making content using the mouthing battle.

—Since you're not going to let us know what you're saying, don't fault us for putting words in your mouths!

"Honey, hug."

"Patience. Wait until we're back in the dorm."

"Why are you over there?"

"Would you rather I be in your arms?"

"What should we have for dinner?"

"Who's topping tonight?"

Jing Xuan published a 9-panel GIF on the Snow-Kissed Rose Support Group, along with a textless version for fans to showcase their creativity.

Within two hours of the fourth episode's second segment being released, many GIFs flooded Snow-Kissed Rose's Supertopic. These GIFs were then shared by numerous marketing accounts, becoming a trending topic on Weibo.

Meanwhile, after accomplishing a feat rivaling that of Qiu Zhixin, Jing Xuan powered down her computer, picked up her luggage, and made her way to the airport—

Tomorrow, she would get to watch her idol's live performance again!

Second public performance, here I come!

…

[Author's Note: The second public performance's on-site audience reactions and online audience reactions (bullet comments) will be written together for convenient narration. You can imagine it as a live broadcast.]

June 28, the recording day of Star of Spring's second public performance…

Since morning, audiences who came to watch the event live have entered the resort one after another. Under the guidance of Star of Spring's staff, they leisurely wandered the resort grounds.

Since it was summer, coupled with the previous experience of hosting guests in the resort, the staff set up several locations where guests could get free mineral water and yogurt drinks provided by the show's sponsors. They could also head to the designated guest restaurant for a free meal.

When fans shared their live experience on Weibo, Star of Spring received much praise from netizens.

…

While fans were touring the resort, the trainees were making their final preparations.

While preparing, they talked about the topic that they were most curious to learn tonight:

"Who do you think is going to be the new mentor?"

"No idea. I heard that their flight got delayed, and they'll only arrive shortly before the official performance begins."

Besides the trainees, the fans at the scene were also curious to learn who would replace Zheng Qiyi on the show. Even if they couldn't get an autograph, getting to look at the other party up close in person was fine as well.

Under everyone's anticipation, the stage's final adjustments were finally completed, and the trainees gathered in the backstage recording room.

When the recording of the second public performance officially began, the first to appear on stage wasn't Ren Qian or the other mentors with whom everyone was familiar. Instead, it was the new mentor everyone was most curious about: Liu Ningxin.

Liu Ningxin was a member of a second-generation girl group. Unlike the girl group members of today, where casual viewers struggled to even recognize their faces, girl group members in the early 21st century were universally known and superbly marketable. They were popular all over the country, and their works had immense popularity, with some still being sung in KTVs today.

Liu Ningxin had a heart-shaped face, and time seemed to have left no negative impact on her beauty. On the contrary, she appeared even more charming than in her heyday.

Liu Ningxin appeared in a cheongsam, bringing a nostalgic yet playful and lively feel to the stage. With a flick of the folding hand in her hand, she stirred up waves of cheers from the audience.

The trainees were also pleasantly surprised to see Liu Ningxin.

"My goddess!!!!" Yu Sheng squealed.

"I think I'm going to faint. How am I supposed to stay calm on stage later?" Rong Yi said while anxiously fiddling with her fingers.

The audience in front of the screen was very empathetic when they saw the trainees' reactions:

[So our little idols have idols of their own.]

[Isn't Liu Ningxin way better than Zheng guy?]

TL Notes:
Regarding the author's notes, it's something the author actually wrote. I'm guessing the time gap makes it difficult for readers to fully connect what the bullet comments are referring to, hence the switch to livestream-style comments.

Fyi, the last two lines in square brackets [] are supposed to be bullet comments for the fifth episode, which is supposed to be aired next week.