After becoming rich overnight, I handed over the system.

Chapter 444 Unworthy

“Too gentle,” Lin Xiu shook his head. “Like this!” He roared again, his neck veins clearly visible.

Cheng Yu'an was shocked by this crazy approach, but he also imitated him and shouted.

The two were yelling like madmen in the training room until a staff member rushed in, asking in a panic, "What happened?"

“Vocal practice,” Lin Xiu said without changing his expression.

The staff member left, looking suspicious.

Lin Xiu turned to Cheng Yu'an: "Now, forget about the high notes, just pretend you're shouting."

As the piano accompaniment began, Cheng Yu'an closed his eyes, imagining that he wasn't singing, but simply venting his emotions.

When that high note came, he no longer flinched, but instead, like Lin Xiu had demonstrated, he pushed all his strength out from his abdomen—

The musical notes floated perfectly in the air, clear and bright.

Cheng Yu'an opened her eyes and saw Lin Xiu's rare smile: "Not bad."

"Thank you," Cheng Yu'an said softly, her heart beating faster than when she was singing a high note.

Lin Xiu picked up his coat, preparing to leave, but paused at the door: "By the way, for the second performance tomorrow, I suggest you choose 'Breaking the Cocoon.'"

"Why?"

“It suits you.” Lin Xiu said and left, leaving Cheng Yu’an standing alone by the piano, repeatedly savoring that brief smile.

The next day, the production team announced the rules for the second performance—this time, the trainees themselves would serve as team leaders.

The candidate tracks were scrolling on the big screen. When "Breaking the Cocoon" appeared, Cheng Yu'an held his breath.

It was a rock song about transformation, with a powerful melody that concealed a fragile emotional core.

“I choose ‘Breaking the Cocoon’,” Cheng Yu’an said without hesitation when PD Xu called his name.

During the selection process, Cheng Yu'an was so nervous that his palms were sweating.

As a rising star, he has priority in choosing trainees, but he worries that established trainees might not want to join his team.

Surprisingly, several strong trainees from Class B raised their hands, and even Kim Jae-hoon, a trainee from Class A who had returned from South Korea, joined his team—but Lin Xiu was not among them.

"Lin Xiu, which team do you choose?" PD Xu asked.

Lin Xiu, hands in his pockets, said, "I choose 'The Mechanical Heart'."

Cheng Yu'an tried hard to hide his disappointment.

"Mechanical Heart" is a pure dance track, completely different in style from "Breaking the Cocoon".

This means they will become competitors for the first time.

After rehearsals began, Cheng Yu'an realized that being the team leader wasn't so easy.

The choreographer only provides the basic framework; the rest of the creative work needs to be done by the team themselves.

"Breaking the Cocoon" requires strong emotional expression, but his team members are more accustomed to technical dance, and rehearsals once reached a stalemate.

"This won't do," Kim Jae-hoon bluntly stated after the third rehearsal. "We're like doing calisthenics."

Cheng Yu'an sat on the training room floor, scratching his hair in frustration.

At midnight, all the other team members had returned to their dormitories, but he was still studying the stage effects in the video.

When the door was pushed open, he didn't even look up: "I told you, you should all go back to sleep."

"Are all the students in Class C working this hard?"

Cheng Yu'an looked up and saw Lin Xiu standing against the light at the door, his figure tall and slender.

How could you...?

"Just passing by." Lin Xiu walked in, glanced at the draft papers scattered on the floor, and asked, "Is there a problem with the choreography?"

Cheng Yu'an sighed, "We can't find the soul of this song."

Lin Xiu was silent for a moment, then suddenly said, "Come with me."

"Now? Curfew time..."

"So what?" Lin Xiu had already turned and walked out. "Scared?"

Ten minutes later, the two slipped out of the back door of the dormitory and climbed over the low wall of the production crew.

The city was still brightly lit late at night. Lin Xiu hailed a taxi and gave Cheng Yu'an an address he had never heard of before.

"Where are we going?" Cheng Yu'an asked nervously.

"Looking for inspiration," Lin Xiu said, looking out the window.

The taxi stopped in front of an old building.

Lin Xiu led Cheng Yu'an up the rusty fire escape stairs to the roof.

The view suddenly opened up, and the entire city's night view was spread out before us.

"This is..."

"My old secret hideout." Lin Xiu leaned against the railing. "When JYP training got too tiring, I'd come here."

The night wind tousled their hair. Cheng Yu'an took a deep breath and suddenly understood Lin Xiu's intention.

"Breaking the Cocoon isn't about power," he suddenly realized, "it's about fear."

Lin Xiu nodded: "Afraid of change, but forced to change." He turned on his phone and played "Breaking the Cocoon," then performed an impromptu dance move under the moonlight—starting as a cocoon, then struggling and suffering, and finally breaking free of the cocoon to become a butterfly with fluttering wings.

Cheng Yu'an was stunned.

There are no fancy techniques, but every movement is full of emotion and touches the heart.

“That’s it!” he exclaimed excitedly. “We need to tell a story, not show off.”

The two discussed things on the rooftop until dawn, and Cheng Yu'an filled three pages of notes with his notes.

On the way back to the training base, they were as excited as students who had escaped the night. When Cheng Yu'an was climbing over the wall, he almost fell, but Lin Xiu grabbed him.

"Be careful, Captain." Lin Xiu's voice carried a rare hint of amusement.

In the following days, the rehearsals for "Breaking the Cocoon" progressed rapidly.

Cheng Yu'an incorporated the inspiration from the rooftop into the choreography, and the team members were also infected by this way of emotional expression, making the performance more and more infectious.

However, just three days before the performance, a sudden incident occurred.

After the latest episode of the show aired, a large number of comments questioning Cheng Yu'an suddenly appeared online.

Someone captured clips of his early, clumsy training sessions and compared them to Lin Xiu's perfect performance, implying that the production team was biased.

Worse still, an account claiming to be an "insider" revealed that Cheng Yu'an and Lin Xiu's friendship was entirely scripted, with the aim of promoting a talentless "connected" person.

"Stop looking at these." In the dressing room, Kim Jae-hoon snatched Cheng Yu-an's phone.

On the screen, the topic of Cheng Yu'an being unworthy has become a trending topic.

Cheng Yu'an forced a smile: "I'm fine."

But in the mirror, he looked pale and had obvious dark circles under his eyes.

A commotion suddenly erupted outside the door, followed by Lin Xiu's manager's hushed voice: "Are you crazy? Getting involved with him now won't do you any good!"

"Get out of the way," Lin Xiu said coldly.

The door was pushed open, and Lin Xiu strode in, going straight to Cheng Yu'an: "Get up."

"What?"

"Live interview, now." Lin Xiu grabbed his wrist and pulled him outside. "The producer has agreed."

When Cheng Yu'an was pulled in front of the live broadcast camera, his mind went blank.

The host laughed awkwardly, "Uh...it seems our two popular trainees have something to say?"

Lin Xiu spoke clearly into the camera: "Regarding the recent rumors, I will only say this once."

He put his arm around Cheng Yu'an's shoulder. "Cheng Yu'an is the hardest-working trainee I've ever seen. Everyone can see his progress. If anyone doubts his ability..." Lin Xiu looked directly at the camera, "The second performance will tell."

This live stream, which lasted less than a minute, instantly went viral online.