Everyone Spends Money to Make Me Debut as Center (GL) - Chapter 11
“Wow! The production team really spent a lot of money! This place is much bigger than I thought! Where are the rooms, where are the rooms!”
Suddenly, other people’s voices were heard downstairs. It sounded like there were more than just one or two people.
Chi Ling turned to Ling Yu and said, “Let’s go down and see.”
Ling Yu nodded, closed her suitcase, and followed Chi Ling.
This time, more than a dozen people came at once. They probably all met downstairs and came up together, or maybe they already knew each other privately and came in a group.
Among the group of girls, a tall, slender figure in black was particularly conspicuous. Her height was secondary; what stood out was her cultivated demeanor and elegant posture, which made her look more poised than the others.
Bai Chang obviously didn’t want to overdress and steal the spotlight, and she wore very little jewelry. But with her noble face, she didn’t need any extra decorations. She was standing on the side, but the girls had surrounded her and made her the center of attention—no one was stupid. Daily dorm footage was rarely edited into the main episodes, but the effect of getting screen time with Bai Chang was a different story.
With so many girls, the noise level was a bit high, but Bai Chang didn’t show any impatience. Her smile was calm and gentle, and her tone was very soft when answering questions.
Bai Chang was holding a bag and was handing out some beautifully packaged small gifts one by one.
Chi Ling had a very unflattering thought. She remembered the scene of a mother bird feeding its chicks from an animal show she watched as a child. Aside from the difference in species, the comparison was surprisingly fitting.
Suddenly, as if guided by some mysterious wave in the air, Bai Chang, who had been speaking with her head down, looked up at Chi Ling. Their eyes met across a few trainees.
“Hello, Teacher Bai,” Chi Ling said, breaking the silence. Her indifference made it seem as if she had never met Bai Chang before.
Bai Chang couldn’t detect a hint of respect in Chi Ling’s “teacher,” but with so many cameras around, she had to maintain a professional atmosphere. She gave a polite and friendly smile. “Morning.”
A short-haired girl with brown hair jumped out. “Actually, the boss could have slept in a bit longer. I’m the one who shamelessly asked her to drive me here so early, hahaha. The bus is not easy to take in the morning.”
Chi Ling understood that this must be the other trainee from HM, Su Wanwan.
Most of the newcomers Bai Chang signed were people who could develop into actors, but Su Wanwan was an exception. She used to be a trainee at one of the three big companies abroad and was incredibly talented. She easily made it into the debut group, but she was unlucky. She had a health issue just before their debut and needed emergency surgery. The company had to replace her for the sake of the group’s development. After she recovered, Tang Yu scouted her and brought her to HM.
Although she hadn’t officially debuted at HM, she had played a likable maid in a drama that Bai Chang starred in. With a small group of fans she had accumulated as a trainee, she was a popular contestant with a fanbase.
Chi Ling remembered Tang Yu saying that Bai Chang had put in a lot of effort for the show. A large part of that effort must have been for this contestant.
Su Wanwan had a cheerful personality, and her greatest talent, besides her professional skills, was making friends. In just a short time, she had already linked arms with a solo trainee.
The remaining people fell silent as soon as Chi Ling appeared. They formed their own groups and looked at her with a mix of curiosity and wariness.
Everyone could feel the difference coming from Chi Ling. She wasn’t an amateur like them. She had already debuted, become famous, and even acted and had dating rumors with Bai Chang, the show’s producer. Not to mention the negative rumors about her bad temper online, those few points alone were enough to create an insurmountable gap between them.
“Let’s go see the rooms first,” Bai Chang said. When she spoke, she looked at Chi Ling, seemingly hoping she would lead everyone on the dorm tour.
“Yeah, that sounds great!” Su Wanwan nodded. “I’m so curious to see what the dorms look like this time.”
With a simple sentence, she pulled Chi Ling out of her position as the trainees’ opponent and allowed her to integrate into the group.
The most fundamental reason for prejudice is a lack of communication. These trainees had never met Chi Ling before, and it was easy for them to judge her as a difficult and unapproachable person based solely on the negative comments online.
Bai Chang’s approach also looked perfect to the audience. Only Chi Ling and Ling Yu had arrived early and were familiar with the environment. Since Ling Yu was from Lemon, it was logically sound for Bai Chang, as a former artist from MK, to avoid cueing her.
But the reverse was not the case. As Chi Ling’s current boss and former love interest, even a slightly obvious show of goodwill from her would be interpreted as favoritism.
This was also the reason she had ignored Bai Yuanyuan’s suggestion in the car. The most taboo thing in the industry was to have good intentions that backfired. Excessive bundling would almost always come back to bite you, not to mention that a large part of her fanbase was already hostile towards Chi Ling.
So, as the “host,” Chi Ling had to use the same trick again and continue to gain screen time by being the tour guide.
Bai Chang walked slowly behind the chattering girls, watching the scene unfold.
“Just a heads-up, please be mentally prepared before we go in,” Chi Ling said, holding the doorknob and building suspense.
The girls’ dorms in the previous season were luxurious “princess suites” with beautiful decorations, so Chi Ling’s words filled the girls with anticipation. The tall Bai Chang, at the very back of the group, looked at Chi Ling’s face with a casual gaze, silently watching her performance.
“Ta-da!” Chi Ling pushed the door open and stepped aside to let the hopeful girls see the overly “simple” room.
It seemed that the room she chose had a poor location. Not only was it dustier than her own, but there was also a spiderweb on the railing of one of the beds. A girl screamed in fear when she saw it.
“Seriously? Not only is there nothing in here, but there’s not even basic hygiene?”
“Is it too late for me to go home?”
“No, Chi Ling must have opened the door the wrong way. Let me try again.” Su Wanwan stepped forward, closed the door again, and chanted a spell from a TV show before shouting, “Open, sesame!”
Unfortunately, it still opened to a spiderweb.
Su Wanwan’s expression immediately fell. “I don’t want to live with spiders. Give me a break.”
The VJ filming was thrilled. He zoomed in on the girls’ distressed expressions, capturing every one of them. After getting nothing from Chi Ling and Ling Yu earlier, he had finally found some normal people to film!
Su Wanwan didn’t give up and opened three more rooms, only to find that they were no better. She suddenly remembered, “Hey, Chi Ling, which room did you pick?”
There had to be a normal room somewhere, or else why would Chi Ling look so calm?
Everyone’s attention was drawn to Chi Ling. Bai Chang was no exception.
When Tang Yu told her that Chi Ling not only wasn’t late but was the first to arrive today, she was surprised. Now, even after seeing a room in such bad condition, she remained unfazed, which was completely outside of her expectations.
“0312,” Chi Ling said, pointing behind her.
“No way, I have to see your room!” Su Wanwan grabbed her new friend and ran off. “Yu Shu! Hurry!”
The girl named Yu Shu also seemed to be a quiet person. She had been silent the whole time, looking out of place among the chattering group. It was a mystery how Su Wanwan had gotten her to link arms with her, but she obediently followed her and ran off.
Chi Ling felt more exhausted than she had when she was alone with Ling Yu. If all 98 girls were this high-maintenance, how was she supposed to compete?
“Wow! Why does this room look completely different from the others we just saw?” Su Wanwan’s loud voice carried from one end of the hallway to the other. Some curious people were immediately attracted by her and a crowd gathered at the door of room 0312.
And when they looked inside, it was true!
Not only was it much cleaner than the other rooms, but there were also dark brown curtains on the window, and the floor was covered with a warm-brown rug over a foam mat. It looked so soft and comfortable. Not only that, but each bed railing was decorated with small fairy lights. The furniture and layout were no different from the other dorms, but this one was decorated neatly and nicely.
The lights, rug, and foam mat were all brought by Ling Yu. Chi Ling was just responsible for setting them up. She hadn’t expected that Ling Yu’s two huge suitcases were filled with such flashy things.
Compared to the other rooms, which were like bare shells, Chi Ling’s dorm was a five-star hotel!
“Who did all this?” Su Wanwan asked.
Everyone looked at Ling Yu, who was standing next to Chi Ling. They had all assumed that Chi Ling was a princess who wouldn’t lift a finger to do housework, so by process of elimination, only Ling Yu was left.
Ling Yu, who had been standing quietly behind Chi Ling, suddenly found many eyes on her. She couldn’t help but speak up. “Chi cleaned and set everything up.”
Everyone’s gaze shifted to Chi Ling, their curiosity turning to shock. Bai Chang, on the other hand, caught Ling Yu’s intimate address of Chi Ling and raised an eyebrow in surprise.
She had specifically looked into the trainees from Lemon. Their ace trainee, Ling Yu, had a strong and distinct personal style. She came from a famous family of classical musicians, but she unexpectedly became a rapper.
Tang Yu had seemed very interested in Ling Yu and had even considered trying to poach her, but even with all her persuasive skills, she couldn’t convince her.
But this was the same person that Tang Yu couldn’t even handle. From the moment she walked in, she had been following Chi Ling like a loyal dog, never leaving her side. And even though she was a woman of few words, she still took the initiative to give Chi Ling credit in front of everyone.
Had Tang Yu’s analysis of Ling Yu been wrong, or had Chi Ling given her some kind of “special soup”? Bai Chang had no way of knowing.
Author’s Note:
Jealousy +1 today. 999 more to go until the bar is full.