Chapter 1: Pre-Debut Class

"We've finally, finally arrived here!"
"Qiao Kexing, you finally, finally did it!"
"We're in the debut class! Am I dreaming?"
"This place is pretty good!"
Our long-awaited dream had finally come true, and the three of us couldn't help but cheer.
"Hello everyone, I'm Xiaomin, the secretary of Vice Principal Olivier. Welcome to the debut class directly under the Vice Principal's supervision." Suddenly, a woman in her thirties, dressed in a suit and wearing glasses, appeared before us. So she was Vice Principal Olivier's secretary?
"So, will we have more opportunities to perform for everyone?" Tong Xiaoli from the Macaron group asked cutely.
"As long as you become the most popular group,"
Xiaomin replied simply.
"That way, we can go on TV,"
"participate in various programs,"
"give performances?"
The three members of the Duoles, who loved the stage, certainly couldn't miss this opportunity to perform for everyone.
"We'll talk about it after you debut." Xiaomin simply cleared her throat and threw out this sentence. Our initial excitement was completely wiped out by this bland reply.
“She’s overthinking it,”
Ning Xueyan teased.
Everyone left, leaving Xiaoli alone. Her eyes lit up as if she had seen something, and she excitedly ran over. “This is the Fei Meng Microphone?” Xiaoli saw the honor that only Fei Meng Stars could receive. “Go for it, Tong Xiaoli, you can definitely succeed!”
“You will become super, super popular, and then become everyone’s Fei Meng Star!” She seemed to have already become a Fei Meng Star, her eyes sparkling with excitement, and a sweet smile appeared on her face.
Then, Xiaomin led us outside the playground. A row of brand-new and beautiful vehicles were displayed before us. “These are the special vehicles prepared for the debut class,” everyone finally understood, “For your comfort and safety, all the vehicle configurations are top-of-the-line, ensuring the quality of your performances.” The Purple Queen members looked at each other and nodded. They stepped into the car, looked around carefully, and exclaimed, "Such a cool car and us with such a powerful aura!" They got out, smiled, and waved to everyone, their eyes sparkling. "We're such a perfect match!" They imagined the sense of accomplishment of being surrounded by fans, as if they were the moon in the sky, surrounded by a galaxy of dazzling stars.
"Purple Queens, what are you doing?" The three, still immersed in their blissful daydreams of being the center of attention, were startled awake by Xiaomin's sudden words. "Come on, follow me!" "
Alright, this is your dormitory. Each group will share a room." With that, Xiaomin gently pushed open the door, and a burst of light appeared before them—their dormitory. "A rustic yet elegant wooden desk, refined European-style furnishings—all prepared for you." Could this be our dormitory? It's so beautiful, completely different from our previous rooms!
"No wonder it's the debut class!" Just as we were marveling at the wonderful environment of the debut class, "Okay, I understand, it's Melody, right? I know," Xiaomin was on the phone. She seemed to be calling Vice Principal Oliver. Then she called out to us as we were touring the dorms, "Melody,"
"Huh?"
"Sorry, you have to leave now,"
Xiaomin's words struck us like a bolt from the blue. Leave? Were we being kicked out of the debut class?
"Leave? What do you mean?" the three of us exclaimed in unison. Our dream, which we were about to realize, had burst like a bubble. How could we, as students of Fei Meng Academy who wholeheartedly pursued our dreams, feel such a sense of loss?
"There was a problem with the previous class arrangement. Your class is over on the playground. Go quickly."
We followed Jinghao out of the dorm, feeling somewhat unhappy. "No! Wait! If there aren't enough rooms, we can sleep on the floor!" I couldn't bear being kicked out of the debut class any longer
, and I pounded on the door while shouting loudly.
"Kexing, calm down," Shiyu couldn't stand me anymore, and Jinghao covered his ears too. "Yeah, even if we make a scene like this, it won't hurt..." Before Jinghao could finish speaking, "Hey, you're here, Chu Jinghao," Olivier walked over and called out to him. "Vice Principal Olivier," I was about to ask her why we were kicked out of the debut class, "Chu Jinghao, I've heard your compositions, they're quite good. Would you consider joining our debut class? Let's talk about it in my office." "Well, see you later."
"Kexing, let's go to the playground first," Shiyu tried to calm me down. We walked to the end of the playground and saw a blue building, which seemed to be the classroom. "Preparatory Debut Class," I looked at the big words on the paper and felt a sense of foreboding. I tried to take the paper down and go find Teacher Caiwen to ask about the situation. "Let's go find the teacher," Shiyu and Song'er nodded.
"No need for that," a voice came from inside. We went in and saw that it was Principal Gao Wei. “Melody,”
“Principal Gao Wei,”
followed by a few claps from Principal Gao Wei, “Welcome to the debut class I’m leading. I, Principal Gao Wei, promise to do everything I can to help you.” We were completely confused. “Go see your practice room, I guarantee you’ll love it,”
“Let’s go find Teacher Cai Min,” I suddenly had a bright idea. I thought, while they’re showing us the practice room, I can ask Teacher Cai Min what’s going on. Maybe she’ll let us into the debut class. “Okay,” Shi Yu and Song Er agreed.
“Let’s go, let’s go, super free, run and jump as you please…” Before the principal finished speaking, we were already running out of the classroom. “What’s going on?” Shi Yu muttered under her breath, slightly annoyed.
“I haven’t finished speaking yet!”
“Teacher Cai Min,”
we rushed towards her at lightning speed. “No,”
“I haven’t said anything yet,”
“You just want to switch to the debut class, don’t you?” She seemed to have read our minds.
"Gold will always shine eventually. What you need to do now is work hard." That was the only sentence she left us, a sentence that sounded like a famous saying. It was true, but did going to the debut training class mean we couldn't work hard, couldn't shine? Thinking about all the effort we'd put in, how we'd given our all on stage, all for this moment. How could we let the flower of our dreams, watered with our sweat, wither away like this? "But we don't want to be in the pre-debut training class!"
"That's right, Director Shi, I've trained many big stars, even the most famous one now, Oliver, was trained by me. Okay, let's talk again sometime."
"Welcome back to the pre-debut training class, come on, cheer up!"
But we really couldn't be happy. "I just want to rest now. Where's our dorm?"
"Dorm? Well, of course we have one." With that, the principal led us to a large tent. "How about it, not bad, right? This is the dorm I painstakingly prepared for you. By the way, don't be too touched."
"Who would be touched!" We were extremely disappointed. We wanted a dormitory, but they gave us a tent instead.
"What's wrong? Why are you shouting like that?" "We want dorms, not tents," Shiyu retorted. We both nodded. The principal, however, remained nonchalant: "Don't worry, don't worry, we'll have them later."
"Later? What about now?"
"My phone rang. Hello, hello."
"This is terrible," I complained to Shiyu and Song'er. Suddenly, I thought of Jinghao. He's been so good to us; he'll definitely help us. I felt a glimmer of hope. "Let's ask Jinghao for help." "Yeah, Jinghao will definitely have a way," Song'er smiled happily. "But didn't Jinghao go to the debut class?" Shiyu wondered. What should we do then? Our spirits sank again.
The next morning arrived.
Su Li started her news report: "Good morning, I'm Su Li, the school's special correspondent. Have you all heard? This year, Fei Meng Academy has a strange class—a pre-debut class."
"Get up!"
"There are only three students in the class: Qiao Kexing, Song Shiyu, and Yang Song'er." With that, Su Li turned the camera towards us, who were still half asleep.
"Let's interview Song'er first. There's a question everyone's curious about: why are the debut class students living in tents?" But we were doing our morning practice, so Song'er and we had to make a quick getaway.
"Wait,"
"From what I've observed, the teaching environment for the debut class is quite terrible. Why would Fei Meng Academy have such a class? Next time, our special correspondent Su Li will continue to unravel the mystery for you."
Unexpectedly, Su Li knew everything.
"Keep it up, don't sway, lift your feet, 26, 27, 28, 29." At this moment, the debut class students (Macaron, Doles, Purple Queen) were practicing their dance moves. "30 seconds, okay, that's enough. Breakfast is ready; there's a world-class chef waiting for you over there." We looked at the debut class students practicing in a place surrounded by flowers and green leaves, with fresh, sweet air, and eating such delicious breakfasts, and we were filled with envy. Meanwhile, on our table, there were only four packs of instant noodles.
"I understand that your goal is to become Dream Stars. But to become a Dream Star, you'll inevitably have to compete against other participating groups in the competition. The Dream Competition is a one-on-one competition; only by getting higher scores in each match and continuously winning can you advance and qualify for the final competition." Hearing this news, we couldn't help but imagine the future:
"What if we really made it to the final competition stage?"
"Then our opponents would be?"
"Vice Principal Oliver."
"That's all for later. Let's eat now."
"But, Principal..." Shiyu was clearly still full of doubt and helplessness about the pre-debut class.
"No questions today." With that, the principal began wolfing down his instant noodles. We sighed helplessly.
"I almost forgot,"
"Your debut performance is confirmed."
"Really?" Hearing this good news, the helplessness and doubt in our eyes vanished, replaced by joy for our debut and anticipation for the performance, and our usual youthful smiles returned.
"Finally, this day has come!"
We walked out of the school gate and saw the debut group members getting into their beautiful private cars one after another, ready to go to the TV station for their performance. I'm so envious of the debut group! "Alright, alright, we need to get ready for the TV station too."
"But how are we going to get there?"
Just as I finished speaking, the principal mysteriously pulled something out of his pocket. Its packaging looked like the packaging of the previous Fimeng Card. "Is it the new Fimeng Card?" I was very happy.
"No, no, no, this is what you newly debuted need most."
"What?"
We opened it and saw that it was a transportation card.
We were greatly disappointed.
"That's right, it's a transportation card."
"With this, we can go anywhere!"
Our mood plummeted to hell...
"Don't worry, what you've been waiting for is here."
We looked and saw that it was a cute series designed by the Sweet Maggie brand, consisting of the playful and cute "Sugar Jar Sweetheart," the refreshing blue "Crystal Bottle Narcissus," and the pure and blooming "Flower Box Vanilla." It was really beautiful and suited us perfectly. Is this what we'll wear for the performance? It's so great!
"I'm really looking forward to your debut!"
"Thank you."
"Okay, let's go then, let's go!"
We smiled and left the school, arriving at the TV station.
"There are so many people!" It was our first time in such a crowded place, and we felt excited and curious.
"Look, that's the poster for the Fei Yang group!" As a Junyu fan, I was naturally happy to see the Fei Yang group's poster.
"This is the TV station!"
"Our dream is finally going to come true!"
"No, it's still far from it."
"According to my analysis, after Fei Yang's debut, it only took seven days to reach the top of the charts!" "Really?" How does Shiyu know everything? Is there anything she doesn't know?
"We're going to break their record, Ke Xing, Song Er, what do you think? Are you confident?" We nodded. We're going to break their record too!
Walking through the door, the first thing that caught our eye was many colorful posters. "One day, our poster will also be hanging in this hall!"
We went closer and saw it was Zi Rou from the Four Seasons group. "By the way, I just thought of this new pose!" I said, imitating Zi Rou's pose. Actually, we really like the Four Seasons group.
"Get ready, Chika's here for rehearsal!"
It's Chika, the leader of the Four Seasons group! She's dressed to the nines, smiling, and walks over like an elf, radiating charm. "They're so popular! I didn't expect to see them so close." Seeing the famous Chika up close is really exciting. As she gets closer, she faces the people on both sides, confidently tosses her flowing blonde hair, and gives a sweet wink, exuding star power. "Aren't the other members here? I want to see Zirou too!" Shiyu loves Four Seasons the most; she likes every member and their songs. "Yeah, but seeing Chika is already great!" I
'm so envious of them! One day we'll become a group as amazing as Four Seasons, no, even more amazing than them, becoming Dream Stars! How wonderful that would be! We must perform well in our debut!
"You're Melody, right?"
"Get ready, you're going on stage!"
"Now?"
No way, they haven't even rehearsed much before going on stage?
"Yeah, it's not going to air anyway, let's hurry up."
"It's not going to air?" How can they not air our debut performance? What do you mean?
"It's just a stand-in rehearsal, of course it won't air."
"Why would it be a stand-in?"
"I want my parents to see our performance!"
"What should we do?" We were all filled with disappointment. The performance we had been looking forward to turned out to be just a rehearsal with stand-ins. Was the principal really going to fool us like this?
"If Jinghao were here, what would he do?"
Pinky appeared. "Listen, whether it's a stand-in or a rehearsal, as long as we're on stage, we should give it our all. If Jinghao were here, I think he would say the same thing ."
Our mood instantly brightened. Yes, let's give it a try! Even if it's not broadcast, even if we're just stand-ins for someone else, we'll still give our best performance!
Then, we changed into cute outfits from Sweet Maggie's collection and performed a lively and adorable song, "Heart Blossoms."
"Their stage presence is pretty good."
"Yeah, such a wonderful performance is rare."
After the song ended, we left the stage and returned to school.
The performance officially began. We saw the Doles group's performance on the live stream. So we were just stand-ins for Doles!
"That's right,"
"Although it's a bit depressing that it can't be broadcast, our debut performance was still pretty great, right?" Fei Meng's assistant rang again. When I opened the app, it was Dad: "Kexing, we all watched the performance! It was absolutely fantastic! You guys were amazing!" I was both happy and confused. How could he have seen it? Wasn't it supposed to be off the air? Shiyu's friends also said they saw the performance, and Song'er received many messages praising them.
"Everyone said they saw it online," Song'er said.
We checked, and sure enough, there was a video of us online.
"Even though they're newcomers, they performed really well!" "
From today on, we're going to be their fans!"
We have fans now!
"What's wrong? Did something good happen?" A cute, pink voice rang in my ears.
"Yeah, something super good!" I tossed my assistant, Feimeng, into the air. Pink was dizzy with excitement. We burst into laughter. In the laughter, all the unhappiness flew away, leaving only flower-like smiles. Yes, just like the lyrics of the new song "Heart Blossoms," "Hahahaha, hehehehe, heart blossoms!" "Don't worry, be happy, be happy!" "Carefree!" "Heart blossoms, heart blossoms, laugh freely, no worries!" As long as happiness comes, all worries and troubles will fly away.
"By the way, the principal said we'll have an activity room tomorrow."
"Hopefully only good things will happen from now on."
"Let's work hard tomorrow too."
"Let's go to bed early tonight, early to bed and early to rise
." Tomorrow is another new day.
We walked into a smelly and somewhat messy room. "So Fei Meng Academy has a place like this?"
We went in and saw that no one was inside. "Strange, where is the principal?"
"Anyway, let's go out first.
" "Stop right there!"
It's the principal!
"What are you doing here?"
"Listen, from now on, this is your activity room."
"No way, you mean this is our activity room?"
"But isn't this a warehouse?" I thought to myself, how could the principal fool us like this?
"Don't worry, even if it's a warehouse, we can tidy it up and use it as an activity room, right?" The principal coughed twice and said nonchalantly.
"Principal, can I get the ball over there?" A strong young man came in.
"Sure, sure."
Taking the opportunity, Shiyu had already prepared her lines: "Principal, yesterday you called the rehearsal stand-in the debut performance, and now you're trying to fool us with a warehouse." She felt this was too irresponsible towards them students. After all, they were all young and beautiful girls wholeheartedly pursuing their dreams to become Dream Stars! Everyone was working very hard, and treating them like this was too much, especially since they were still students!
"It's not a bad thing for young people to suffer a little; it's also a form of training that will help you learn more."
That was true, but the students in the debut class had such good food, accommodation, and activity rooms/classrooms. Did they learn less than us? They could train through other things, so why did they have to make us live in tents, eat instant noodles for breakfast, sleep in a warehouse in the activity room, and come all the way to a performance only to find out we were rehearsals stand-ins?
"I'm so incredibly handsome, every little thing I say is a famous quote!"
...
"By the way, Principal, did you see our performance yesterday?" I wanted to know what the principal thought, given that my parents, friends, and even strangers were praising us.
Unexpectedly, his answer was: "Yes, you guys are still far from good enough. At this rate, you'll never become a Dream Star!"
Couldn't the principal offer some positive encouragement? It felt like he only knew how to use reverse psychology.
"Oh, and there's something else to announce. Our pre-debut class producer has arrived."
"A new producer?"
A familiar figure appeared before us.
"You guys really want to replace me that badly?"
I recognized the voice—it was Jinghao!
"Everyone, let me introduce you. This is our pre-debut class producer, Chu Jinghao."
Pinky said, "Jinghao, weren't you supposed to be in the debut class?"
I felt like he might be a spy. "Welcome back. You're here to be a spy, aren't you?"
"Thank you."
"Explain yourself!"