After the first two rounds of team battles, the format has now shifted to 1v1 elimination matches. The competition rules have become even more brutal.
At this stage, whether or not you advance depends heavily on the strength of your opponent.
So, the smart thing to do now—pick the weaker contestant.
In this public performance, Li Yuan clearly stood out from the crowd. With her stellar performance, she secured an overwhelming share of audience votes and reclaimed the top spot.
However, she couldn't really feel happy about it. Her group's overall failure cast a shadow over her personal victory—it felt hollow and joyless.
As for selecting her opponent this time, Li Yuan went with a relatively weak and unfamiliar contestant. She didn't fixate on Jiang Yuqi like she had before.
Jiang Yuqi, now ranked second, made a similar choice. After all, this wasn't the time to act out of pride.
Netizens were full of emotion upon seeing this.
"Li Yuan really has changed. She didn't insist on challenging Jiang Yuqi like in the second round. That's a relief."
"Seriously, that segment where they got to choose their opponents had me breaking into a cold sweat. I was so scared the first and second would end up fighting each other and one of them would get eliminated."
"At a time like this, none of these beauties are fools."
"Of course they'd pick the low-hanging fruit. There's nothing wrong with that."
"Honestly, most of the matchups this round are super predictable. There's no suspense at all."
"…"
Just as the viewers predicted, in the 1v1 round, the higher-ranked contestants advanced almost across the board—only one dark horse broke the pattern.
Next came the most thrilling part: the Final Group Formation Night, a return to team format.
This time, Jiang Yuqi and Li Yuan each led a group. The final lineup of seven debut spots would be determined based on online audience votes.
But really, this was a popularity contest—not a team battle. Team performance didn't matter at all. What counted was who could win the most audience support.
This round of voting used real-name SMS ballots, each vote costing one yuan.
So the freeloaders from earlier rounds wouldn't be participating. Only genuine fans were likely to vote, making it clearer than ever whose popularity was backed by actual money.
As soon as this rule was announced, fandom circles lit up in debate.
"After over a month of filming, this show is finally reaching Group Formation Night!"
"I'm so excited! I'll rally all my family and friends to vote for our baby girl Jiang Yuqi!"
"Now I'm conflicted. I'm a Jiang-Li CP fan, but we can only vote once per person. Guess my husband and I will each vote for one—equal love all around!"
"Haha, I'm crying at that one! I'm a Li Yuan solo stan, so I don't have that kind of problem."
"Don't you think the show is just trying to make money off us with this paid voting? We should boycott it."
"Come on, the early episodes on Gululu didn't even require membership. Now spending one yuan for your favorite girl? What's the big deal?"
"If I truly love my girl, I'm not going to be stingy about one yuan!"
"No need to get too riled up. If you don't agree with the voting method, just sit back and enjoy the drama."
"…"
Everyone was on high alert for this final showdown. With debut just one step away, no one dared to slack off.
Jiang Yuqi's mindset was simple: aim for the number one spot. That way, she'd get better resources and opportunities, which would help her in the long run.
If others heard what she was thinking, they'd probably say she was spoiled and didn't know how lucky she was.
But Jiang Yuqi had never placed lower than second in any round—of course she had ambition. After all, the number one spot meant being the group's center, which was hugely tempting.
Some contestants were even trying to cling to the popular ones last-minute to ride their wave. After all, Fu Yueran was a textbook example.
In other contestants' eyes, Fu Yueran got lucky by latching onto red-hot Jiang Yuqi, and that's how her rank soared—she was even in sixth place in the latest round, making others green with envy.
Of course, Fu Yueran's own hard work played a role too, but some people only believe their own headcanon and refuse to acknowledge others' efforts.
Sure enough, one such shameless contestant was now standing in front of Jiang Yuqi.
"Jiang Yuqi, I'm a big fan! Could you help me check my choreography? I really, really need your help."
Seeing the awkwardness on the girl's face, Jiang Yuqi immediately understood what was going on. She declined politely but firmly.
"Sorry, our group has rehearsal coming up, and I don't have time to help right now."
That should've been clear enough for anyone with basic comprehension skills.
"Oh, then can you come help me tonight? I'll be free in the evening!"
"That might be tough. We have extra practice tonight too. Besides, your team has Li Yuan—she's a dance expert!"
Jiang Yuqi stopped being indirect and just laid it all out. No need to let the girl keep pestering her shamelessly.
Thankfully, the girl finally left—though her face was thunderous at having her plan rejected.
At this point in the game, Jiang Yuqi wasn't about to waste her energy on something completely unprofitable. She knew better.
The show crew even edited this interaction into a highlight clip and posted it online.
"That girl was unbelievable. She's not even on Jiang Yuqi's team!"
"Right? They've never even talked before, and now she suddenly latches on like that? So cringe."
"Bet she just wanted to ride my queen's popularity before Group Formation Night."
"Exactly. Too bad Jiang Jie saw right through it and didn't entertain her."
"Yup. That girl doesn't deserve to have Jiang Yuqi waste her training time playing some fake sisterhood drama."
Most netizens stood firmly by Jiang Yuqi's side. The other girl's motives were obvious, and the internet wasn't so easily fooled.