Chapter 15

Fu Haitang was damp from the shower, her breath a mist of alcohol. She stared at Fu Yilan’s nonchalant expression, and a sudden thought struck her, “Did you see my messages?”

“Huh?” Fu Yilan frowned.

Fu Haitang: “…”

“Sorry!” After apologizing, Fu Haitang immediately closed the door. She was truly obsessed, or perhaps her brain was naturally wired to be constantly thinking.

After all, even in this state, she was still thinking, What if Fu Yilan really saw the WeChat messages? Then…

Hot water poured down. Fu Haitang squeezed out several pumps of shower gel, applied it messily all over her body, and rushed through a wash. As she was washing, her movements slowed down again.

(Do you know?)

(Fu Yilan’s heat is coming soon. Gu Jingjing wants me to throw away her inhibitor.)

(And that day is the live public performance.)

Ji Xiaotong: (Ahhhhhhhhhhh!)

Ji Xiaotong: (You must follow the instructions! Got it!)

In any novel, there are always plots like this, where a drunk person or someone who’s been drugged, will 100% lead to an intimate scene between the male and female protagonists.

Even Ji Xiaotong thought so.

Fu Haitang: (She praised how handsome Lu Jing was this morning.)

Ji Xiaotong: (Wuwuwu, mom is so promising. She’s already in love so quickly. As expected of mom, meow meow meow…)

Fu Haitang couldn’t bear to look. She turned off the screen and put her phone down. After her shower, she blew her hair dry. A message from the station came. The incident in the rehearsal room had been suppressed by Lu Jing.

Half an hour ago.

TV station B1.

“Teacher Lu. We’re truly sorry.”

“We will handle today’s matter properly and give you an explanation.”

Ren Qing and two other staff members were in the basement seeing off Lu Jing. He got into his car, not even sparing a glance for the fawning Ren Qing.

Ren Qing plastered a flattering smile on her face and said, “What happened tonight was our fault, Teacher Lu…”

BANG! The car door was slammed shut. Ren Qing was left with a cold shoulder. She could only look pleadingly at Lu Jing’s assistant.

The assistant gave her a reassuring gesture, opened the door, got in the car, and spoke with Lu Jing.

Outside the car door, Ren Qing nervously took out her phone to call Fu Haitang. If the incident with Lu Jing were to be exposed, the show, which hadn’t even been broadcast yet, would be in danger. At this moment, she could only hope that Fu Yilan would come and apologize in person to appease Lu Jing.

Lu Jing was a big shot, and the station couldn’t afford to offend him. Although Gu Jingjing had tried to conceal her identity, her usual arrogance was rare, and after a little digging, they found out her background.

These two were people they couldn’t afford to mess with. Only Fu Yilan, with her humble background, was the best scapegoat. And Lu Jing was an alpha, Fu Yilan was an omega… perhaps…

It would be best to resolve this matter before the higher-ups started asking questions.

Fu Haitang’s call connected, and Ren Qing immediately said, “You need to immediately get Fu Yila…”

“I’ve already scolded her!” The other end interrupted her.

A surge of anger, combined with the double dose of fury from being played tonight, rushed to Ren Qing’s head. Just as she was about to lash out, someone patted her on the shoulder from behind.

Lu Jing’s assistant got out of the car, looking friendly. At this moment, Fu Haitang on the phone reassured her, saying that she could handle Lu Jing and Gu Jingjing.

On the phone, Fu Haitang said something cryptic: “Don’t publicize this matter…”

The assistant motioned for Ren Qing to come closer so he could talk to her.

Ren Qing hung up the phone. The assistant put an arm around her shoulder and said with a smile, “Teacher Lu said not to trouble Fu Yilan.”

Ren Qing was stunned.

The assistant: “It’s like this. As for Miss Jingjing, Teacher Lu will handle it. He just hopes that the station won’t publicize it, and also…”

Ren Qing understood the hidden meaning in his words. “And also?”

The assistant: “Please tell Miss Yilan that she owes Teacher Lu a favor. Of course, be subtle about it.”

Ren Qing was surprised as she watched Lu Jing’s car drive away. The matter was resolved just like that? Lu Jing even specifically told her. Was Fu Haitang so resourceful, or was Lu Jing smitten with Fu Yilan?

…

The next day.

Weibo: The official Weibo of the Group Show 07 production team posted at 8:00 a.m. that the pilot episode would be officially released at 12 p.m. At the same time, it announced the live public performance for 8:00 p.m.

The live show would be two and a half hours long and would introduce the 99 trainees to the audience. At the same time, an online voting channel would be opened, where netizens could vote for their favorite trainees and give them popularity points according to the rules.

The popularity points would affect the trainees’ positions and votes in the second public performance.

The Weibo post immediately became a trending topic.

[A girl group reality show?]

[Wow!!!! So fast, it’s actually airing! Can’t wait.]

[99 trainees? Oh my god, I can’t even see their faces in this picture.]

[The domestic entertainment industry finally has a group reality show. The domestic entertainment industry finally has a girl group to follow. I want to vote! I want pretty girls!]

[A show with all girls. I’m going to ship them to death!]

[Closed-door training? I can’t even imagine.]

[Who would? Who would?]

[What are you talking about?]

[Closed-door training! Just wait for this production team to reveal an omega heat incident. It happens every year. I’m waiting for the paparazzi.]

[Don’t be like that. You’re cursing them before the show even airs. Are you against group fans having something good?]

[No, sis, you’re already a fan before it even airs?]

[Did you see the list? So many trainees from entertainment companies.]

[Huading, Huale, and Xingyi. So many companies have posted on Weibo to support their own artists.]

[Uh… didn’t these two people, Lin Meiling and Lin Meixue, already debut in Country H? Are they reheating leftovers?]

[Why isn’t it twelve yet? Why isn’t it eight yet?]

[I heard there’s some gossip in the pilot episode.]

[Waiting for the gossip!]

The online discussion was lively, and one trending topic after another appeared. Companies and famous people who had already debuted were all on the front lines. But Fu Haitang was no longer in the mood to pay attention to these things.

All morning, Fu Haitang had been in a state of detachment while busy.

(Don’t forget what I told you to do.) Gu Jingjing reminded her.

Fu Haitang wiped her face, then pretended she didn’t see the message and continued to arrange things for the evening rehearsal.

“Director Fu.” As soon as Fu Haitang left the office, she was stopped by Fang Qian and Li Qingqing.

Fu Haitang was a little surprised. She closed the documents and held them in her arms. “Rehearsal is starting soon. Is there something you need?”

Li Qingqing hesitated: “We…”

Fang Qian mustered her courage: “We’re missing a set of training clothes. Can you help us find a way, Director?”

Fu Haitang hesitated. “I thought you didn’t want to perform anymore?”

“We didn’t say that!” Fang Qian said loudly. “We also cooperated with the post-interview. If… if they really won’t let us perform, won’t we have been scolded for nothing?”

“Post-interview?” Fu Haitang was confused. “What did you say?”

The two fell silent.

Fu Haitang looked at her watch. “Where did you throw the clothes?”

The two remained silent as before.

Fu Haitang asked knowingly. The clothes had been thrown into the toilet by Fang Qian and had been soaking in the toilet bowl for almost two days.

“But you’re the director of Class D. During the post-interview, Sini said that as long as we told the truth, they would solve the clothes problem for us!” Fang Qian said angrily.

Li Qingqing pulled her sleeve, motioning for her to be quiet.

Fu Haitang said, “You threw the clothes yourselves. You should go find them yourselves.”

Fang Qian’s face turned as red as a pig’s liver.

Li Qingqing: “But the place where we threw the clothes might have already been cleaned. So the performance outfits…”

“It hasn’t been cleaned yet. The things are still where they were,” Fu Haitang’s smile didn’t reach her eyes. The curve of her lips was perfect, but her eyes held a hint of feigned coldness.

Her mouth was smiling, but her eyes were full of malice.

Li Qingqing looked at Fu Haitang in surprise.

Fang Qian belatedly said, “You… you did it on purpose. You knew we threw the clothes away. You deliberately set us up and tricked us into giving Qingqing’s performance outfit to Fu Yilan.”

Fu Haitang refused to admit it. She smiled, walked past the two of them, and didn’t forget to lean in and whisper in their ears, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but the station doesn’t have any spare performance outfits. You’re on your own.”

12:00 p.m.

Sini sent a message: (Let’s go eat out for lunch today.)

(OK.)

At the same time, the pilot episode was released.

The first scene was a week of the trainees’ training life, told in a reverse chronological order.

The beginning was a big piece of news.

Li Qingqing and Fang Qian’s post-interview was blurred, and their voices were changed.

“…Yilan’s popularity is too high. The whole group is very optimistic about her, so we got confused for a moment!” Li Qingqing said. “I know I was wrong. I shouldn’t have thrown away her performance outfit. I’ve already given her my clothes!”

Fang Qian said indignantly: “…You promised that if I told the truth, you would solve the performance outfit problem for me.”

The trending topic exploded!

At the same time, Fu Haitang was eating when Fu Yilan sent her a text message.

(Do you have a needle and thread?)

(The logo on this performance outfit isn’t mine. I want to cut it off myself and change it to an orchid.)

Fu Haitang immediately replied: (Don’t! It’s still useful!)

Fu Yilan: (What?)

Fu Haitang put down her phone, stared at the trending topics on her phone, and immediately notified her team members at the station, (Collect all electronic devices from the trainees @everyone. Don’t show any content from the pilot episode at the TV station.)

It seemed she had gone too far.

Fu Haitang felt a sense of unease.

The next second, she saw Ren Qing @everyone: (Listen to Fu Haitang. Isolate the trainees from any news about the broadcasted show.)