Chapter 16

Ren Qing @everyone: (Listen to Fu Haitang and isolate the trainees from any news about the show.)

Ren Qing: (Put what you’re doing on hold. Those who are eating, stop eating. We’re having a meeting in the conference room to watch the film. Planners and post-production are not allowed to be absent.)

Being told to work in the middle of a meal was a common occurrence. Fu Haitang was glad she had ordered fast food. She ate her burger and drank her cola all the way back to the station.

The conference room was packed with almost a hundred people.

Ren Qing held her coffee and gave Fu Haitang a meaningful look, casually pointing to the seat next to her.

Sini took a sharp breath for Fu Haitang and quickly tried to slip away, but Fu Haitang grabbed her wrist and dragged her to the seat next to her.

“Please!” Sini mouthed, “Who are you trying to kill? Who wants to sit so close to the boss!”

Ren Qing: “You’re a little late. The film has already been broadcast. This time, the station made a very risky decision. The three-minute preview of the pilot episode has already become a trending topic, and there are already negative comments online. The executives want us to watch the final cut together and submit a report afterward. We need to do a risk and public opinion assessment to see if we need to change the direction of the subsequent editing.”

After Ren Qing finished speaking, she pressed the play button.

The pilot episode was 70 minutes long. The time couldn’t be fast-forwarded or sped up.

Fu Haitang sipped her cola.

The first ten minutes showed the entire process, from the production team’s preparations for the show to the official selection of the trainees and their move into the TV station.

“Hello, everyone.” A woman’s voice suddenly appeared.

The camera showed a neatly ironed shirt collar. The owner of the shirt said, “Using my perspective? What if the fans say I’m being biased?”

Many eyes turned to Fu Haitang. She raised her hand to cover her face, and her ears almost turned completely red.

Ren Qing knocked on the table, calling back everyone’s attention.

The camera zoomed out.

Fu Haitang’s full appearance was revealed. She looked at the camera and smiled helplessly: “You promised you’d blur me out.”

A hand appeared in front of the camera. The owner of the hand silently made an OK sign.

Fu Haitang gave a gentle smile to the camera, then raised her hand to stroke the lens, saying to the audience outside the camera, “Are you ready? Follow me.”

The comments went crazy:

• • Who is this?

• • Three minutes. I want all the information about this omega!

• • So beautiful. What number trainee is this?

• • Oh my god, a divine face?

• • Uh… she looks pretty average?

• • Her voice is so nice, but this beautiful omega seems to have a strong corporate drone vibe.

• • Are trainees’ lives so miserable?

• • I want to vote for this trainee! Where’s the voting channel?

• • She seems to be a staff member of the production team. I just compared the trainee list, and there’s no trainee named Haitang.

• • A staff member is stealing the show?

Fu Haitang: “…”

At the twenty-minute mark, the show started to tell the entire filming process from Fu Haitang’s perspective. From the thirty-minute mark to the fifty-minute mark was the trainee introductions, with each trainee getting less than 30 seconds of screen time.

The introductions were simple and came from Fu Haitang’s side.

Until the sixty-minute mark.

It was Fu Haitang rushing to the 22nd-floor dorms. “Fu Yilan, don’t be impulsive. Xiao Xiao has been eliminated!”

That day, Fu Yilan left the show with her suitcase.

Fu Haitang had a bitter expression on her face as she smiled at the camera.

Comments:

• • Don’t bully the beautiful working bee!

• • Working bees have it tough.

• • An hour has passed, where’s the information I requested, my lord?

• • This beautiful omega is still beautiful even when she’s so exhausted.

• • This Fu Yilan person seems to be the beautiful omega from the beginning. Her face looks a little grumpy.

“Cough cough!” Fu Haitang almost choked. She quickly grabbed a tissue and covered her mouth. This comment about Fu Yilan’s grumpy face resonated with her deeply!

Sini pinched her cheek and mumbled, “Hey, why are they giving you so much screen time? Are they promoting you or the artists?”

Fu Haitang glanced at her and continued to watch the show.

The next day, Fu Yilan returned to the show. When she returned to the 23rd-floor rehearsal room, everyone’s confused, mocking, and sarcastic looks were all captured by the camera centered on her.

Of course, there were also many shots of fake harmony.

Fu Yilan always smiled and took photos with many people. After the photos were taken, the people around her would quickly put away their smiles and avoid her like the plague.

Sini: “Your trick is too vicious. Conflict is good for ratings, but it’s too inhumane! Look, so many trainees have become two-faced villains!”

Comments:

• • My heart aches for the beautiful omega.

• • What should I do? I’m starting to feel pity for her!

• • Who threw her luggage out?

• • Hey hey! I’m a little scared. How can they film like this? Is it not acting? I still like to watch some heartwarming group scenes…

• • +1+1, I also like group scenes. I don’t like this!

Sini grunted and poked the comment to like it: “Hey hey, see? I told you before, wouldn’t it be better to film some truth, goodness, and beauty, and group scenes to praise the virtues of an all-female reality show?”

Fu Haitang: “I’ve already talked to President Ren. If the pilot episode’s format is successful, then before every main episode, we’ll air a short film focused on a single trainee.”

Sini was stunned. In the end, she praised, “That’s a good idea. Oh, right! This morning, I heard from a colleague at the station that you smelled heavily of alcohol when you came back last night, and so did President Ren. And you came back one after the other…”

Fu Haitang shrugged her shoulders and lightly coughed to change the subject. She pointed at her phone screen, wanting to cry. “Who edited this? Didn’t you say you’d blur out someone with social anxiety?”

Sini: “You better not be hiding anything else from me!”

The pilot episode recorded Fu Yilan’s helplessness and diligence. At the seventy-minute mark, the performance outfit incident was broadcast. The screen went black, and only the buzzing sound of people talking was heard.

Fu Yilan: “My performance outfit is gone.”

“Faking it again?”

“Why do you lose things every day?”

“Yeah, Fu Yilan, why are you doing this again?”

“Let’s notify Director Fu first.”

“She’s sick. I’ve never seen anyone so good at acting!”

The audio was all captured by the microphones on the trainees. The dialogue was clear and understandable, but to protect the artists, their voices were altered.

However, this made the content feel more authentic and believable, as if it were a stolen truth. Fu Haitang handled this matter, and then, just as the online audience was guessing whether the production team would cover for the culprit, the scene cut in.

Li Qingqing and Fang Qian were sitting in the post-interview room. Their faces and voices were altered as they were interviewed by the production team.

“…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 show blew up.

At this moment, the amount of comments almost covered the entire screen.

Comments:

• • This is the first time I’ve seen a confession scene!

• • Holy crap, this is so good! Is this something I should be watching?

• • Oh my god, bribing the production team right there?

• • Ahhhhhhhhhhh I can’t wait for the live show tomorrow night. I want to know if these two are still in the public performance!

• • Oh my god! How exciting! So exciting!

• • This must be the boldest show this year!

• • They’re still going to the public performance? But a skirt is missing!

• • It must be a script! It must be a script!

• • My heart aches for Yilan!

• • Can you stop messing with our beautiful omega?!

• • Compared to this, other reality shows are so boring!

• • This is going to be a hit. Who wrote the script for this reality show? Hahaha.

Until the film was over.

Even the people who were there for the filming and editing couldn’t get enough of it.

Ren Qing picked up her phone: “The viewership has exceeded 100 million, and the discussion topics have exceeded 300 million. Fu Haitang, write a report for me before the weekend. Send it to my email.”

Ren Qing was very happy with the numbers. Naturally, her assignment showed that she wanted to maintain this direction, but a variety show involved so many things. If the direction was wrong, the show could be at risk of being shut down.

Fu Haitang: “Got it!”

Ren Qing said, “The others must cooperate with Fu Haitang unconditionally. Haitang, I’ll send you a contact on WeChat. He’s a producer at the station. You can ask him for advice on the direction of your report.”

Fu Haitang: “Yes, President Ren!”

The phones were collected in advance.

Fu Yilan was a little surprised. Their phone usage was not free. They could only use them during breaks, which was their only tool to communicate with the outside world.

Today, the pilot episode was broadcast, and everyone had finally managed to get their phones, but they were collected as soon as they got them.

Fu Yilan’s first reaction was that something had happened.

This was Fu Yilan’s first time participating in a show, and today was the day the preview was broadcast. She didn’t know if it had failed or blown up. It was her first time becoming a public figure in a variety show, and it would be a lie to say she wasn’t curious about the public’s reaction.

In the cafeteria.

“Jingjing, do you know what happened?” The people from Class A were lining up for food. Fu Yilan was carrying her food back to her seat, passing by the people from Class A.

Gu Jingjing was high-profile and arrogant, and the production team’s attitude toward her was also quite subtle. Everyone turned a blind eye to the fact that she was constantly on her watch.

Gu Jingjing tapped her watch: “The viewership has exceeded ten million. The preview is a small hit.”

The others cheered: “Really! That’s great!”

“It’s not the show that’s a hit, but a couple of people,” Gu Jingjing said with a malicious look, glancing at Fu Yilan, who was sitting back at her table. “Some good luck won’t last forever.”

“Jingjing? What are you talking about?” Lin Meiling asked.

Lin Meixue: “Who’s a hit? You’re not talking about Fu Yilan, are you?”

Gu Jingjing rolled her eyes: “There’s another person named Fu!”

Gu Jingjing lowered her head, looking at the same food as Fu Yilan in her bowl. A sudden surge of anger rose in her heart.

3 p.m.

Rehearsal began.

Gu Jingjing finally saw Fu Haitang. “Don’t forget what I told you to do.”

They met in the narrow aisle of the rehearsal hall. Fu Haitang gave Sini a look, and the latter understood, leaving first.

Gu Jingjing said: “Have you found out about Fu Yilan’s background? Did she ever come to City A as a child?”

Fu Haitang: “Miss, Fu Yilan has been to City A.”

“Are you sure?” Gu Jingjing was stunned. Fu Haitang’s answer made her nervous. “How do you know?”

Fu Haitang: “Uh… Fu Yilan seems to trust me a lot. I just asked her directly.”

Gu Jingjing tilted her head: “Hm?”

“I mean…” Fu Haitang lowered her voice, covering her mouth. “I’ve already infiltrated the enemy’s camp, Miss!”

Gu Jingjing: “…”

“Fu Haitang, I don’t care what you do. As long as Fu Yilan misses the performance, this apartment is yours!”

A key card was thrown into her arms.

Fu Haitang’s eyes widened. “Miss…”

Gu Jingjing: “After it’s done, you can go handle the transfer yourself.”

That night, the trending topics continued to heat up. The A-Station variety show was on the trending list all day long.

Ren Qing sent Fu Haitang a message: (Collect some online comments from people who are concerned about Fu Yilan and show them to her before she goes on stage tomorrow. It would be best if she could cry right there.)

The live broadcast needed topics and heat. If Fu Yilan could show her true emotions and gain some fans, it would be the best moment of the night!

#GirlGroupDrama

#AStationIsSoBold

#WhoTookFuYilan’sSkirt?

#AStationVarietyShowLiveTime

#AStation

#AStationViewership

#AStation’sMostBeautifulPlanner

Fu Haitang looked down at the trending topics on her phone until Fu Yilan sent her a message.

Fu Yilan’s voice message: “The public performance is tomorrow. Didn’t the young lady give you a task?”

“I want you to throw away Fu Yilan’s inhibitor.” Gu Jingjing’s instruction echoed in her ears.

Fu Haitang was tossing and turning in bed like a pancake. In the end, she only typed a few words: (Everything will be fine tomorrow. Get some good rest and give it your all in the public performance.)