Chapter 11

The next morning, in Ren Qing’s office.

Ren Qing flipped through the printed materials that Fu Haitang had handed over. After a brief look, she affirmed her plan: “This proposal is beautifully written.”

Ren Qing put the documents aside, clasped her hands on the desk, and looked thoughtfully at Fu Haitang, “Are you tired?”

“Yes…” Fu Haitang quickly adjusted her state and said with a smile, “If you think it’s okay, I’ll go coordinate it.”

Ren Qing: “No rush.”

Fu Haitang slightly tilted her head, signaling that Ren Qing had more to say.

Fu Haitang’s hair was styled in large curls today. She wore a low-cut tank top, with her long hair draped over her back and shoulders, the black strands half-hiding her skin.

She had tied yesterday’s shirt around her waist as a decoration. This completely different style of dressing would make it hard for others to realize she was wearing the same clothes as the day before, which naturally reduced the possibility of her having an overnight stay somewhere being guessed.

Ren Qing smiled and said, “You’re dressed very fashionably today. This style suits you well.”

“Really?” Fu Haitang played with a strand of hair behind her ear, a little embarrassed. “I’m not very used to this.”

Fu Haitang had a great figure, but the tank top’s neckline was too low. With a slight movement, her assets would move around like water, which was sexy but not ideal for a work environment; it was a bit of a hindrance.

Ren Qing stood up with a smile, “Wait for me.” With that, she went into the small, several-square-meter rest area in her office and took out a knit cardigan, which she handed to Fu Haitang.

Ren Qing: “I’ve never worn this. I took the tag off when I sent it for dry cleaning.”

Fu Haitang accepted the kind gesture without being arrogant or humble: “Then I’ll wash it and return it tomorrow…”

“It’s a gift for you,” Ren Qing interrupted her.

Fu Haitang was a little surprised. She slowed down her actions of putting it on, and then gave a slow smile.

“A gentleman doesn’t stand under a collapsing wall,” Ren Qing teased. She was hinting that she was the gentleman, and she shouldn’t be looking, as it would seem frivolous. Unfortunately, Fu Haitang was a very tempting “collapsing wall.”

Fu Haitang’s ears turned red. She also had good taste. She naturally took off the decorative shirt she had layered on top to put on the cardigan.

She seamlessly switched from a sexy vacation style to an intellectual and mature look. With her chest covered, Fu Haitang let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you, President Ren.”

Ren Qing: “A couple of words of thanks are enough?”

Fu Haitang’s mouth slightly opened. She was suspicious of Ren Qing’s motive.

“What’s with that look?” Ren Qing lightly coughed, going from hinting to being direct. “How about you treat me to dinner sometime?”

Fu Haitang: “Of course, no problem!”

Ren Qing pressed on: “You should be free tonight, right?”

Fu Haitang crossed her arms and chuckled, her eyes curving into crescent moons. “Of course!”

Fu Haitang left the office. The moment the door closed, the gentle, relaxed smile on her face disappeared.

A cloud of gloom descended upon her. Fu Haitang shook the documents a few times, so disgusted she wanted to throw them directly into the trash can in the hallway.

At noon, after her meeting, Fu Haitang and Sini went to the cafeteria to eat. They discussed the filming details and divided the work. Fu Haitang assigned the tasks to the other seven people in the group via a group chat.

She was no longer the team leader, but since she wrote the proposal, she still got to assign the tasks in detail, making her a small, unofficial team leader.

Sini suddenly said with emotion, “Don’t you think the reason President Ren hasn’t assigned a team leader to our B group is so that you can do this job? Does she like you?”

Fu Haitang glanced at Sini with a sensitive look. Her smile was a delayed reaction. “How could that be? She must be too busy and hasn’t found a suitable candidate yet.”

“Is that so?” Sini shrugged.

At this time, both of them were full and ready to go their separate ways. At one o’clock, they would head to the trainees’ practice rooms to follow the progress and coordinate the day’s filming tasks.

So, Fu Haitang and Sini were chatting happily and didn’t notice that Fu Yilan was following behind them, until Sini waved goodbye and headed to Class C. When Fu Haitang went to knock on the door of Class D, she caught a glimpse of Fu Yilan out of the corner of her eye.

Fu Haitang wondered if she should pretend she didn’t see her. She had told Fu Yilan last night that she would get up at eight, but she had tiptoed out and taken her clothes from the dryer at a little after five.

What if she was questioned…

Fu Yilan: “Teacher Fu.”

“Why are you so quiet when you walk?” Fu Haitang turned around, looking at her with a surprised expression. “You scared me.”

Fu Yilan held up her wet hands and said, “The dryer in the bathroom is broken.”

The dryer?

What was she implying?

“Haitang!” A colleague came out of the water room, holding two cups of coffee. “Want some coffee?”

Fu Haitang’s expression instantly changed from cloudy to sunny. She smiled and went to meet him. “Oh, thank you. How thoughtful of you to make one for me. Wow! Is it freshly ground?”

The colleague started to make his eyebrows dance: “Of course~”

“Then I have to report you for slacking off during work hours~” Fu Haitang’s eyes narrowed into a mischievous smile as she leaned closer to her colleague.

The colleague immediately playfully hit her: “Oh, don’t be like that!”

Fu Haitang covered her shoulder and gently nudged him back. After their familiar small talk, the colleague said, “Let’s grab a meal sometime.”

“OK,” Fu Haitang replied.

“You know each other?” Fu Yilan was still there.

Fu Haitang said casually, “No, I don’t.”

You don’t know each other but you’re so close? Fu Yilan lowered her eyes and caught sight of the Chanel logo on Fu Haitang’s cardigan. She could tell that Fu Haitang hadn’t changed clothes. So where did the cardigan come from?

“That’s a nice outfit,” Fu Yilan said.

Fu Haitang made a sound of acknowledgment: “President Ren gave it to me.”

What’s there to be so proud of? It’s a shame she has such a deceptive face. She can’t control her showing off after getting a small benefit. Fu Yilan’s words had an unnoticed tinge of bitterness: “It’s not cheap.”

Fu Haitang chuckled lightly: “Of course.”

Fu Yilan: “It’s Chanel.”

Fu Haitang immediately took out her phone and looked it up online.

The spring/summer new arrival was 26,000 yuan.

Fu Haitang: “!”

Fu Haitang: “This wasn’t given to me by Gu Jingjing, so I can’t give you cash for it.”

This is ridiculous, Fu Yilan looked away.

A hot potato. Fu Haitang hesitated and gave up on her idea of just buying a random grilled meat set on a group deal website to treat Ren Qing to dinner.

She decided to increase her budget by 50% and add a small dessert! She figured that President Ren couldn’t be more difficult to please than that old hag Fu Yilan, who even haggled with her over ten yuan.

She looked up, and Fu Yilan was staring at the coffee in her hand. She was indeed still complaining about her.

So cheap and holds a grudge. Is a person like this really the protagonist?

Fu Haitang glanced at Fu Yilan. As she pushed open the door of Class D, she replied to Fu Yilan’s comment about the broken bathroom dryer, “I’ll talk to the maintenance worker about it later. Aren’t you going to rehearse?”

Fu Haitang found it strange that Fu Yilan was following her even after entering the practice room. All the other trainees were rehearsing. Only she was a few steps away, her walking path identical to her own.

Fu Yilan picked up her water bottle in the corner and drank from it. She was wearing a tracksuit today. Her sports bra was tight on her chest, and her hair was tied in a neat, high ponytail, revealing her perfect hairline.

Fu Haitang looked over. She was wearing high heels, and from this distance, she could clearly see Fu Yilan’s smooth profile, her makeup-free eyes and brows, the faint, tiny hairs on her cheeks, and her neck, which was red and sweaty from her efforts.

So that’s where her water bottle was. Fu Haitang thought to herself.

“Fu Yilan,” Fu Haitang tried to ease the silent atmosphere.

Fu Yilan screwed the cap back on her bottle: “Hm?”

Fu Haitang’s way of easing the tension was very direct: “President Ren is treating me to dinner tonight.”

Fu Yilan frowned.

Fu Haitang felt a sense of relief, feeling that she had made her hint clear. She was wearing the jacket Ren Qing had given her and had an eager date with Ren Qing.

After saying this, Fu Yilan would surely understand that she was an omega, and her interest was naturally in an alpha.

Fu Yilan put the cup back with a blank expression, her tone calm: “No wonder you smell like a disgusting alpha.”

That was an extremely aggressive, almost mean, statement!

Fu Haitang doubted she had heard correctly, but when she looked up again, Fu Yilan had already returned to the group and started practicing her dance to the theme song of “Group Show 09.”

Could it be that Fu Yilan was jealous that she had a date for her heat period, while she could only meet the male protagonist, Lu Jing, without knowing who he was?

2 p.m.

After lunch, the trainees had half an hour to film their uniform try-ons.

The official performance outfits had been finished and had just arrived at the production team during lunch. The logistics team contacted the trainees to try them on, so they could film this part and edit it into the VIP content later.

Fu Haitang was still with the group, trying to find something unique to film in this segment.

There were only four changing rooms.

Omegas and alphas tried on their uniforms separately. Everyone squeezed into the cubicles, chattering. This was a rare moment where members from all the classes were together since they had been divided.

Of course, Gu Jingjing could also see her most hated Fu Yilan!

“Jingjing?” Ye Tian from Class A called out to Gu Jingjing. “It’s our turn to change. What are you doing?”

Gu Jingjing finished typing a line of text and used her long-nailed index finger to press the send button.

DING-DONG.

Fu Haitang received a message.

(Throw Fu Yilan’s performance outfit away.)

Fu Haitang: “…”

Fu Haitang walked to an empty corner and typed a reply, (Miss, during the performance, everyone else will be wearing a uniform outfit. Only Fu Yilan will be wearing her own clothes, which might make her stand out.)

Fu Haitang hoped that Gu Jingjing would give up this absurd idea.

As expected, Gu Jingjing replied: (What? That won’t do! I have to be the one who stands out the most!)

The official performance was in two days.

Tomorrow was when the pilot episode would be broadcast.

Without the plot from the book, Fu Haitang had no idea how Gu Jingjing would mess with Fu Yilan.

But at this moment, the crowd stirred, and someone’s exclamation attracted everyone’s attention.

“Fu Yilan’s clothes are gone again!” The performance outfits were one-time use, made only for the first public performance. Everyone had one set, tailored according to their reported measurements, height, and weight. The only adjustments that would be made during the try-on would be minor.

Fu Haitang walked over quickly. “What happened?” After saying that, she quickly glanced in Gu Jingjing’s direction. Gu Jingjing was spoiled and malicious, but it was easy to tell if she had done something.

Gu Jingjing rolled her eyes, then sent a message: (Find Fu Yilan’s clothes, or you can go as far away as possible!)

Fu Haitang: “…”

(Did you do it?) Another message.

Fu Haitang quickly looked up. Through the bustling crowd, she saw Fu Yilan in the back row of the group.

[…Fu Yilan saw her clothes in the bathroom next to the changing room. The skirt of the performance outfit was embroidered with a cymbidium, which belonged to her.

Lying in the toilet bowl, it seemed that the person who threw it there wasn’t satisfied, as they had also torn the outer packaging, letting the water in the toilet soak the entire outfit.

Who did this? In an instant, countless suspects flashed through Fu Yilan’s mind. Finally, she suddenly remembered her missing team uniform and the luggage that was thrown out of the dorm.

I can’t let that person continue. I have to find her, or she’ll keep hindering me!]

Fu Haitang’s heart skipped a beat. The sudden text told her that Fu Yilan was now suspecting her.

“Yilan…” Chen Na came over to comfort her.

Fu Yilan forced a bitter smile, “I’m fine…”

Chen Na said with worry, “What should we do?”

Fu Haitang: “Fu Yilan, come with me. I have something to ask you.”

Fu Haitang forgot that Fu Yilan was not so obedient, especially since the latter was now very wary of her.