Entertainment: If you asked him to be a star, he'd just want to quit.

Li Mingxuan boarded the bus to Shanghai again, bringing his computer with him.

There's no way around it; now that I have a side hustle, it's a business I can't give up.

I can't stop writing, or I'll be abandoning the project!

Around 1 p.m., Li Mingxuan arrived at the hotel provided by the competition organizers.

After checking in at the front desk, a staff member explained the details of the competition to him.

The preliminary rounds and subsequent competitions will be held in a different venue, the official recording hall, which is about a half-hour drive from the hotel.

There will be official buses to pick you up and drop you off.

Li Mingxuan nodded to indicate that he understood, and then took his room key and went to his room.

In the corridor, Li Mingxuan saw someone.

Li Mingxuan still remembered the man who got into a conflict during the preliminary rounds.

This type of person is straightforward and good at making friends, but because of their bluntness, they may inadvertently offend others.

Li Mingxuan greeted the man, who was slightly taken aback, not expecting Li Mingxuan to greet him first. He responded and then introduced himself.

The man's name was Cai Yong; he was an architect in his thirties.

Li Mingxuan briefly introduced himself, and then the two of them stopped and went back to their respective rooms. Li Mingxuan noticed that they were actually in adjacent rooms.

In the afternoon, Li Mingxuan stayed in his room writing. He was a homebody and didn't like going out for walks, plus it was boring to be alone.

During the afternoon, faint sounds could be heard from outside the door from time to time. Li Mingxuan guessed that these were other contestants arriving for the competition.

We ate dinner at the hotel restaurant, which was provided by the competition organizers; the food was pretty good.

Back in his room, he intended to watch a movie, but a knock on the door suddenly sounded.

He looked at the doorway strangely, thinking he was hallucinating that someone would come looking for him at this hour.

But then there were two more sounds, so he had to get up and go open the door.

A man and a woman stood in front of the door. The man looked to be in his forties or fifties, with a stubble beard and half-gray hair, but he was very energetic.

The woman was no more than twenty years old, standing behind the man. She had delicate features and a slightly mature appearance.

"Hello, who are you two?" Li Mingxuan asked, looking at the two of them.

"Are you Li Mingxuan?" the man asked.

"Uh, yes, that's me." Li Mingxuan guessed that the person knew his name and was probably from the competition organizers.

"He's a handsome young man, no wonder the two judges wanted to recruit him on the spot. He seems to be quite promising at a young age." The man laughed heartily.

Upon hearing this, Li Mingxuan gave an awkward smile, scratching the back of his head, looking somewhat simple-minded.

"The two teachers are being too kind."

Li Mingxuan was a little embarrassed by the sudden praise. "And you are?"

"Oh, I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Han Feng, the director of 'Rising Star'," the man introduced himself.

Li Mingxuan was a little surprised when he heard this. He thought the person was an employee of the competition organizer, but he didn't expect him to be the director of the competition.

The preliminary selection for "Rising Star" involves judges choosing outstanding contestants. Once they enter the official competition, the competition will be recorded. And the man in front of me is actually the director.

"Director Han, hello." Li Mingxuan immediately greeted him formally.

"Alright, I just came to see you. There's nothing else. I hope you do well in the upcoming matches. I also want to see your talent."

Seeing Li Mingxuan's actions and expression, Han Feng smiled slightly, patted Li Mingxuan on the shoulder to encourage him, and then left with his assistant.

After watching the two leave, Li Mingxuan smacked his lips, surprised that he had even alarmed the director.

After closing the door, he lost interest in watching the movie. He took out a change of clothes from his bag, took a shower, and went to bed early.

……

In a room at another hotel.

Lin Yue lay lazily on the bed, wrapped in a bath towel. Her hair was still wet, and she exuded a faint fragrance of bathwater, indicating that she had just taken a shower.

Her alluring figure, supported by a bath towel, revealed a mesmerizing view beneath her snow-white, slender neck and delicate, sexy collarbone.

Hu Jiao looked at Lin Yue, unconsciously swallowed, and stared at her intently.

Lin Yue felt uncomfortable under her gaze, glared at her irritably, and pulled the blanket over herself to cover her alluring body.

"You little rascal, it's not like you don't have one, yet you're staring at me like a pervert."

Hu Jiao immediately showed a hint of disappointment, followed by an expression of envy.

"Sister Yue, you have such a great figure, so fair and tender. Even as a woman myself, I can't help but fall in love with you."

"Go away, you're never serious," Lin Yue said with a look of disgust.

"Really, if I were a man, I would definitely be by your side every day, wishing I could see you every minute and every second." Hu Jiao clasped her hands together, placed them on her chest, her eyes dreamy, imagining herself as a man, holding Lin Yue tightly in her arms, cherishing and loving her.

Lin Yue was speechless. She stretched out a snow-white arm and threw a pillow over.

Hu Jiao, who was jolted awake, came to her senses, subconsciously wiped her mouth, giggled, picked up the pillow from the ground, and put it away for Lin Yue.

"Xiao Hu, the preliminary rounds of 'Rising Star' start tomorrow. Let's go watch it live. Remember to wake me up tomorrow."

As she spoke, Lin Yue rolled over, hid under the covers, and then opened her novel app to read a novel.

Over the years, while mentoring newcomers, she developed a habit of reading novels, because artists include not only singers but also actors, and good novels can be adapted into movies or TV series.

However, she only skims through novels to get a feel for the plot, usually reading very quickly. If a story doesn't interest her or if the reader's reviews are negative, she'll simply give up.

Therefore, she changes books more often than she changes clothes.

Hu Jiao replied and then went to take a shower as well.

The next morning, following Lin Yue's instructions, Hu Jiao washed up and then shook Lin Yue's shoulder to wake her up.

Lin Yue has a habit of sleeping in late, so Hu Jiao is used to providing wake-up services.

However, it always takes a lot of effort to wake her up.

By the time Lin Yue got up, washed up, and changed her clothes, it was already past nine in the morning.

At this point, the "Rising Star" competition had already begun.

……

Li Mingxuan got up at five o'clock in the morning because the competition team's bus was waiting at the door at five-thirty, and they arrived at the competition venue at six o'clock.

The competition began at seven o'clock.

In the preliminary round, one hundred contestants competed one-on-one, and the top sixty-four contestants were selected by a thousand audience members to advance to the semi-finals.

And Li Mingxuan's opponent has also been determined.