The theme song, Dancing Through Life, was meant to showcase the girls' youthful energy. As such, the choreographer included many cute and bouncy moves in the routine.
The performance required contestants to both sing and dance simultaneously. This posed a major challenge for those without professional training—many ran out of breath, couldn't hit the high notes, or even damaged their vocal cords.
One contestant stood out among them: Li Yuan. Her performance was exceptionally eye-catching.
Even Jiang Yuqi had to admit: she deserved to debut at the top.
Li Yuan memorized the choreography after just one viewing. Her moves were precise, needing only minor adjustments. Throughout the performance, her breath control remained steady, and she knew how to apply her vocal techniques—clearly a well-trained star in the making.
During training, even the vocal coach praised her:
"Honestly, among all of you, Li Yuan stands out the most. Her fundamentals are incredibly solid."
Meanwhile, Jiang Yuqi had a tough time. The coach pointed out multiple issues:
"The theme song is supposed to be youthful and vibrant. You need to convey that energy. Keep a sweet smile at all times. Make your movements lighter, and when you sing, keep your voice crisp—add a touch of freshness..."
The part that drove Jiang Yuqi the most crazy? She was never one to smile much, and now she had to keep a constant sweet expression.
Still, she sincerely appreciated the coach's guidance and worked hard to improve.
The coach was impressed by her attitude.
"I thought this girl would get upset with criticism, but she took it humbly. Way better than those others who pretend to listen."
After Li Yuan's praise, the other trainees were motivated to push themselves harder.
On the other hand, Zhang Kexin felt wronged. She believed her performance was already excellent, yet the strict trainer kept picking her apart.
What she didn't know: her so-called "famous coach" was well aware of her habit of firing teachers who gave her negative feedback. So for the sake of their paycheck, they just kept quiet.
Jiang Yuqi knew that despite her crash course in singing and dancing, her fundamentals were far behind those of seasoned trainees. So she threw herself into relentless practice—aside from eating, sleeping, and showering, she spent every waking moment in the studio. She even woke up early to train before everyone else.
This obsessive dedication didn't go unnoticed. Some trainees were inspired to push themselves harder. Others accused her of showing off:
"Is it really necessary to go this far?"
Zhang Kexin went as far as organizing two roommates to gang up on Jiang Yuqi, complaining she was disturbing their beauty sleep.
It was nonsense—Jiang Yuqi always checked with her powers to make sure they were asleep before tiptoeing into the dorm. She even did all her washing in the communal showers to avoid waking anyone.
So that night, those troublemakers found themselves trapped in terrifying nightmares. The next morning, they showed up to training with dark circles under their eyes.
If they wanted to accuse her of disturbing their sleep, she figured she might as well make it true.
When behind-the-scenes footage of the trainees was released on Gululu Video, anticipation was high.
"Li Yuan is amazing—I support her all the way!"
"Jiang Yuqi is incredible. She recognizes her weaknesses and works so hard to improve. I'm moved."
"Come on, she's not the only one working hard."
"I agree. Jiang Yuqi seems fake. Everyone else rests, but she's still training. Maybe she's compensating for lack of talent and just wants screen time."
"Why can't people just enjoy these sweet, hardworking girls instead of constantly throwing shade?"
In just 24 hours, the short clip had over 10 million views—an astonishing achievement for a show with mostly unknown contestants. The staff was overjoyed.
As for Jiang Yuqi, she didn't care about the scheming of her roommates. That night, she took her blanket and slept in the practice room.
Some contestants thought she went too far:
"If you're not good enough, just drop out. Why force yourself into a fake image?"
"I don't think the studio should be open 24/7. If everyone did this, it'd be chaos."
Passing by, Li Yuan scoffed.
"They don't want to work hard, yet they want to close the door on someone else's dream? Pathetic."
Of course, the producers had no intention of stopping her. Jiang Yuqi's relentless pursuit made for great content—they'd never let that go to waste.
Finally, the day of the evaluation arrived, and everyone was on edge. There was only one chance to record their performance. Any mistakes would be recorded and shown.
The mentors watched each video and assigned rankings accordingly.
"This girl's too nervous—her voice shakes, her dance lacks flow. Put her in Group C."
"This one froze after a mistake—didn't even keep going. Makes you wonder how she got through the second round. D Group for her."
Then they reached Jiang Yuqi's video, and the mentors had major disagreements:
"Her basics aren't solid—she should go to Group B."
"She nailed the performance. We should evaluate her with fresh eyes. Based on today, she deserves Group A."
They looked to the third mentor to break the tie. After reviewing the footage again, a decision was made:
Li Yuan took first place, which surprised no one. But Jiang Yuqi was placed in Group A, which thrilled her.
The deciding factor? Her perseverance and upbeat attitude on camera deeply moved the mentors.
Next, everyone was given their team uniforms and began two days of intense group choreography training.