Lin Mian was a junior college student. That evening, she had just finished an exam, and due to many uncertain answers, her mood was quite agitated. She had tried several times to focus on reviewing the key points for the next exam, but she just couldn’t seem to retain anything.
Frustrated, she simply tossed her books back on the desk, and her growling stomach wasn’t helping matters either. Lin Mian reluctantly boiled some water and made herself a cup of instant noodles, planning to just get by with that.
Lin Mian had the habit of checking her phone while eating. Given her foul mood, she opened her usual apps, initially intending to continue watching the unfinished comedy variety show. However, her gaze was immediately drawn to today’s app splash screen advertisement.
“‘Starlight Youth Development Program’? What’s this? The special effects are so good-looking, but the name is so tacky and full of clichés – it’s just ridiculous.”
Lin Mian was startled by the oddly named program and couldn’t help but criticize it, but her fingers betrayed her words as she tapped on the ad to take a look, curious to see what kind of show could have such an antique-sounding title.
As soon as she entered, she found a shy young man sitting at the center of a pure white room, introducing himself. He was the only splash of color in the sea of white, easily capturing one’s attention.
Lin Mian, too, found herself drawn in, watching as the young man shyly completed his self-introduction, even getting momentarily flustered and choking on his own breath, his face and ears turning bright red.
“This is a talent show? The contestant’s psychological quality is so poor – it’s 82021This is reversed year. This is a popular internet meme among Chinese netizens, especially when criticizing outdated or backwards thinking. and there are still contestants this awkward in front of the camera? How bizarre.”
Lin Mian was usually very picky, and in the past, she likely would have just changed the channel, not even bothering to spare a glance at what was clearly a low-quality program. Especially since it was a talent competition.
But this time, watching the young man on the screen, visibly flustered to the point of his entire skin reddening, Lin Mian may have been criticizing harshly, but she had no desire to switch programs.
As the three-minute countdown began after the self-introduction, the young man hurriedly started his performance, trying to leave an impression on the audience.
Lin Mian was already familiar with this routine. The so-called performance was nothing more than singing and dancing, and the slightly novel ones included some trendy sports and the like, without much novelty.
So when she saw this segment, Lin Mian felt no excitement. If not for the good looks of the contestants, she might have switched the channel.
However, this calm was shattered the moment Lin Mian saw the young contestant’s performance.
The young man stood up, and suddenly a black-wrapped object was passed to him from off-screen. He unwrapped it to reveal – an erhu.
Perhaps because he had adapted to the camera, the boy bowed to the camera again with his erhu and said loudly: “Time is limited, so I’ll give you an excerpt from ‘Reflections of the Moon on Erquan2If you want to hear what it sounds like, here’s the video.‘.”
Lin Mian choked on a mouthful of instant noodles, coughing uncontrollably as the mournful erhu filled the air – a truly melancholic scene.
This was a talent show? Who brings an erhu to a talent show?!
Lin Mian finally recovered and finally stopped coughing. After cleaning up the mess, she looked at her phone again. At this time, the young man on the screen had disappeared and was replaced by a fresh-faced, tan-skinned young man.
After completing his self-introduction according to the process, it was time for the talent display. As the countdown for the next performance began, four masked men suddenly rushed in, setting something down before dashing out.
Lin Mian had just taken another bite when a rhythmic sound filled the air. Looking up, she saw the energetic young man grinning with a mouthful of white teeth, holding a bamboo clapper in each hand, playing them with a smooth rhythm.
While playing, he also sang a clapper talk, his voice blending with the sound of the clappers, the rhythm causing Lin Mian’s left leg to shake uncontrollably to the beat3Here’s a video..
By the time the three minutes were up, Lin Mian’s leg had been tapping along involuntarily the entire time, completely bewildered by the two successive performances.
She couldn’t help but doubt again, is this really a talent show? It’s quite… diverse!
The third contestant was a towering young man, standing around 2 meters tall, dressed in athletic wear that accentuated his long, lanky legs.
After the self-introduction, the four burly men who had appeared earlier came back. They placed four hurdles in the four corners of the room. The long-legged boy flashed a mischievous grin at the camera and began his warm-up exercises.
Before Lin Mian could process what he was about to do, the long-legged boy started jogging on the spot. Within seconds, he shot off like an arrow released from its bow, sprinting around the room. As he approached the hurdles, he leapt over them gracefully, his movements refined and practiced, as if he had done this action a thousand times.
The room seemed somewhat confined, which obviously limited his performance, but he didn’t seem to mind. For three full minutes, he ran and jumped around the 100-square-meter room with unwavering energy.
Lin Mian: ??????
What’s with this show? Why are we having a sports meet now??
After bidding farewell to the long-legged boy, two contestants entered the room this time – a pair of strikingly handsome mixed-race twins. Their sharp features were accentuated by their piercing light blue eyes beneath dark brows.
Lin Mian took a deep breath. At least these twins looked like normal contestants. She picked up her fork and twirled some noodles into her mouth.
As expected, their self-introductions were poised and gentlemanly, their identical handsome faces leaving Lin Mian smitten.
She slurped up a few more mouthfuls, eagerly anticipating the twins’ talent showcase. She silently resolved that as long as they could sing in tune or dance with finesse, their looks alone would win her over!
However, her confidence was premature.
As the countdown began, two masked burly men carried in a table and placed it before the brothers. The twins stepped forward, and the one on the left picked up a wooden clapperboard, its resounding ‘clap’ echoing through the screen and piercing Lin Mian’s very soul – utterly startling.
“In the waning years of the Qing Dynasty, there lived a scholar…”
Then, to Lin Mian’s utter disbelief, the handsome mixed-race twins began reciting from a book, their stilted delivery punctuated by a slight foreign accent.
What in the world was this nonsense??
Once again, Lin Mian choked on her noodles. After a violent coughing fit, she tossed the remaining noodles into the trash, vowing never to consume anything while watching this talent show again. Ever.
Over the next hour, Lin Mian witnessed a diverse array of talent showcases – live cooking, basketball, soccer, cross-talk comedy, plaza dancing, magic tricks, simple sketching, and countless other peculiar talents.
In all honesty, having watched numerous talent shows, she had never encountered such genuine displays of skill. They truly showcased their talents and specialties sans ambiguity.
Of course, this did not mean the show lacked conventional acts. Most were the typical singing and dancing fare. However, after witnessing the bizarre talents, the ordinary acts seemed somewhat bland in comparison once she accepted the show’s premise.
Initially intending to watch while eating dinner, Lin Mian found herself glued to the screen from 9 PM until 10:30 PM, even using her mobile data after the school’s internet cut off just to keep watching ‘Starlight Youth.’
This talent show was simply captivating. Its unconventional format, celebrating true talents without pretense, set it apart. It was refreshingly straightforward.
Yet, it was evident from each contestant’s performance that these were indeed their genuine skills, each act noteworthy and far from contrived gimmickry for mere shock value.
Lin Mian started watching with amused curiosity, but she gradually found herself drawn in by the contestants and their fascinating talent displays.
After a commercial break, signaling the episode’s impending conclusion, twenty-four contestants had already entered the stage.
It was evident the show planned to split the contestants, featuring twenty-five per episode.
As Contestant No. 24 exited, Lin Mian checked her watch, surprised to find it was nearly 11 PM. Realizing only one act remained, she felt an unexpected pang of disappointment and reluctance for it to end.
As the blank screen filled again, Contestant No. 25, Chi Yu, finally made his entrance. Donning a loose white hoodie, the ethereal youth stepped into view. While Lin Mian considered herself a sucker for good looks, what he noticed was not his face, but his captivating aura, fresh as a valley orchid.
She was attracted almost at a glance, and Lin Mian stared at his figure for a long time, unable to recover.
When she finally came to her senses belatedly, she had completely missed the young man’s brief self-introduction because of her distraction.
The countdown timer began, and Lin Mian, suppressing her regret and excitement, fixed her eyes on the screen, determined not to miss another moment.
Before Chi Yu’s performance started, the masked men appeared again. Along with the men appeared contestant No. 24 who had just gone down. He was holding a heavy-looking hammer in his hand.
Two of the masked men walked to the center of the frame and placed a solid wooden plank bed.
Lin Mian stared at the bed in bewilderment, wondering if this would involve a three-minute sleep demonstration. If so…
She would gladly become a fan!
Sleeping is not a bad thing, is it? Falling asleep in seconds is a difficult feat, after all. Though it’s only three minutes, those three minutes would be enough for her to appreciate the perfect sleeping face of the new male idol. It’s a worthwhile trade!
Chi Yu settled into a comfortable position on the bed, silently gathering his inner spiritual energy.
The anxious Contestant No. 24 stood by the bedside, casting furtive, apprehensive glances at Chi Yu as he gripped the weighty mallet.
Lin Mian rubbed her hands in anticipation of witnessing her idol’s slumber, but instead of drifting off, six masked burly men appeared, bearing thick granite slabs.
Despite their combined efforts, their strained expressions revealed the slabs’ immense weight.
Lin Mian looked at them in confusion as they walked towards her little boy step by step. She looked at the solid, heavy granite and the uneasy Contestant No. 24 holding the hammer. As she turned her gaze towards the tranquil figure on the bed, a ridiculous thought came to her mind.
Soon, her absurd thought became reality.
The six burly men stopped beside Chi Yu, exchanged a few whispered words with him, then used their combined strength to lower the heavy stone slab onto Chi Yu.
Chi Yu was covered from his chest to his thighs by the stone slab. The camera then zoomed in on his face.
Despite the heavy stone slab weighing down on him, Chi Yu’s expression remained calm and composed, as if it were not a stone slab heavy enough to require six strong men to lift, but a thin sheet of paper.
Lin Mian watched, her heart racing with fear, barely restraining the urge to call the police.
What the hell kind of show is this? Have they gone completely insane in their pursuit of attention and spectacle? This is a human life, a human life!!
Before Lin Mian could decide to call the police, Contestant No. 24 had already mustered his strength to lift the heavy hammer and strike the stone slab forcefully.
Under the heavy blows of the hammer, the stone slab shattered into pieces, leaving the audience, who had thought it was a prop, dumbfounded.
Just looking at the cracks exposed after the shattering, it was clear that this was a real, solid stone slab through and through!!
For a moment, the reactions of many viewers were similar to Lin Mian’s – they simultaneously picked up their phones to call the police, dialing 120.
But before their calls could be connected, Chi Yu, who was lying on the bed, casually brushed off the broken stones on his body and stood up lightly, walking to the front of the camera and giving a slight bow.
“Breaking bricks with my chest, thank you for watching.”
As he left, Chi Yu casually stacked the six red bricks that had been brought up with the stone slab, then with a single palm strike, the bricks showed no reaction. As the audience looked on in bewilderment, the camera focused on the bricks, revealing a clean crack running through the topmost brick, which then collapsed with a few crisp breaking sounds.
“What the… Is this real? Is this fake??”
I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Please consider supporting the author directly.
You can also follow me on Ko-fi to get the latest updates on my translation progress and new projects. I appreciate your love and feedback.
