At 8:30 AM, in classroom A of the performance department at University A, a profound silence reigned.
Suddenly, someone's phone chimed, causing everyone's expressions to tighten. They instinctively glanced at their own phones, and upon confirming it wasn't theirs, secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
But before they could fully exhale, the notification sound rang out again, "Dingling~ Dingling~" like a death knell, pushing the tense atmosphere in the classroom to its peak.
"Can't you just turn it off?" Tian Cheng, annoyed by the noise, snapped.
The phone belonged to Cui Min, who was also seething. She slammed her desk, "It's my message, what's it to you?"
As soon as she finished speaking, another sound chimed, and a Weibo reply popped up on her phone: "It's precisely because of morons like you that the world has become so chaotic."
Cui Min's eyes turned red with anger. She grabbed her phone and quickly replied, "Your whole family are morons."
But after replying to one, there were two, three, countless more. Looking at the endless stream of notification messages, Cui Min felt fear for the first time.
Since the truth of the Jin Xue incident was revealed, she had been subjected to continuous cyberbullying. Private messages, mentions, and comments on various platforms had torn her to shreds, all because she had spoken up for Jin Xue, even though she had already deleted the remarks.
And Cui Min was not the only one being cyberbullied in this incident. Everyone in the intensive training class A who had spoken in support of Jin Xue received the same treatment.
It was just that some people directly turned off all comments, choosing not to see it to avoid distress, while others, unwilling to concede, were determined to fight the trolls to the bitter end, like Cui Min.
"Before, I was just an observer, thinking it was just a few words. Now that I'm experiencing it firsthand, I realize that every word from these keyboard warriors and trolls is more poisonous than actual poison," Yu Zhuang muttered with emotion.
Gu Cheng, hearing the laughter from classroom B, said irritably, "These people kicking us when we're down are definitely mocking us."
"Shouldn't they be laughing?" Yu Zhuang retorted indignantly. "Some brainless fans treat Jin Xue like an empress, inciting everyone to oppose class B, even issuing a formal declaration of war. Now, their ID cards have been dug up and posted online. Before they've even debuted, their anti-fans have already lined up."
Tian Cheng angrily said, "Who are you calling brainless? Was I the one who tied you up and made you post? Was I begging you to join class A? If you have the guts, get out of here now and stop being an eyesore."
"You slut, don't think I won't hit you. Say that one more time if you dare." Yu Zhuang was so angry he was about to flip the table.
"Come on, hit me if you dare." Tian Cheng pushed her face forward, swearing, "If you dare to hit me, I'll have you sent to jail. You'd better cripple me, otherwise I'll look down on you."
"Don't think I won't dare." Yu Zhuang grabbed a book from the table and threw it at Tian Cheng.
Gu Cheng, sitting in the middle, fearing he might be caught in the crossfire, pulled Yu Zhuang back. "Alright, stop arguing. If we have to blame someone, it's our own poor judgment. Who knew Jin Xue was that kind of person? We're truly unlucky."
Yu Zhuang couldn't really hit Tian Cheng. After a few curses, he sat down, looking towards the classroom door, and murmured, "Jin Xue probably won't have the face to come back. We should be able to go to the beautiful teacher's class."
Unfortunately, as soon as he finished speaking, a figure in high heels appeared at the classroom door.
Jin Xue, dressed impeccably, made herself look as extravagant as if she were walking a red carpet.
With an arrogant expression, she walked to the podium, opened the teaching PPT, and said impatiently, "This is the lecture material I've prepared for you. All of it is very important. I will share the PPT in the group. You can read it yourselves first, and then ask me if you don't understand anything."
Soon, everyone received the PPT.
Tian Cheng opened the PPT and flipped through a few pages, her expression turning grim. However, considering the other person was a big star, she held back from speaking.
Gu Cheng and Yu Zhuang, on the other hand, started discussing.
"Isn't this the lecture material that Old Pan sent us last year? Look, isn't it exactly the same?"
Yu Zhuang flipped through it a few times and confirmed, "It's exactly the same, not even a single punctuation error has been corrected."
Other students also began whispering amongst themselves.
Jin Xue, who was already in a bad mood, became furious upon hearing the chatter from below the podium. She slammed her phone onto the podium, venting, "What are you all chattering about? With your attitude towards learning, you still want to join a crew? You still want to become famous? You're just dreaming."
Yu Zhuang couldn't hold back and said loudly, "This is last year's lecture material. We've all studied it."
Jin Xue's heart skipped a beat, and she looked at her assistant accusingly.
The assistant was also surprised. After a moment's thought, she quickly tried to smooth things over, "This is indeed the school's lecture material that we found. You've been studying for four years, and you've learned everything you need to. This intensive training is mainly for you to review and refresh your knowledge."
"What a refresh, this is clearly fooling us," Yu Zhuang whispered.
Gu Cheng simply slumped onto the desk, "It's over, we've been tricked this time."
Tian Cheng didn't want to admit that her decision was wrong and delusionally said, "It is indeed time for review." She then began to earnestly study the lecture material.
Cui Min, clutching her phone, was filled with rage, still arguing with the online trolls.
Throughout the morning, class A remained silent, while class B occasionally erupted in laughter. In contrast, this made the students in class A even want to avoid seeing the students in class B.
......
In the afternoon, Jin Xue selected a team of fifteen people, led by Tian Cheng and Cui Min, and took them to the performance room to rehearse a play. Even though she was embroiled in controversy, she absolutely could not afford to lose the competition with class B.
She had to win.
Zhang Luo, being a "late bloomer," was naturally not selected. Not only him, but everyone else outside the fifteen from both classes was kept in the classroom for self-study.
And the so-called self-study was to have them read lecture materials they had already studied.
At this moment, Zhang Luo deeply regretted his decision, "If I had known this would happen, I might as well have stayed in class B. What is this intensive training?"
Liao Wei, who came to class A with him, complained, "After the annual intensive training, many talent agencies come to watch the performances. Many people get signed during this phase, but we don't even have a chance to appear. We're completely finished."
Zhang Qiang suggested, "How about we propose that even if there are only fifteen people, we should at least be taught together and compete fairly? Not even giving us a chance now is too unfair."
Zhang Luo felt that it made sense. He had come to class A precisely to become better, so how could he be willing to have his opportunities stifled like this?
......
The three of them arrived at the performance room.
Jin Xue was assigning tasks to Tian Cheng and Gu Cheng, "Shakespeare is the most classic stage play, and it's also the most moving. I know it's very difficult, but if you perform it well, you will receive applause."
Gu Cheng worriedly said, "But this part is really difficult. Even professional stage actors find it hard to perform. I think we should choose something slightly easier."
Jin Xue glared, "This part is the most likely to resonate with the audience and gain applause. If you want to leave class B far behind, how can you win if you don't choose something challenging?"
Tian Cheng, with a strong sense of challenge, immediately clenched her fist and said, "Believe in Teacher Jin Xue, we can definitely do it. Class B is just a bunch of underachievers. We'll use our true strength to show them the difference between top students and lagging students."
Zhang Luo interrupted, "Teacher, I think we should compete fairly. We should also have a chance to perform."