Everyone Spends Money to Make Me Debut as Center (GL) - Chapter 16
That Friday, they filmed from morning until dinner time, finally finishing all the initial evaluation stages. Before they left, the production team played this season’s theme song and assigned practice tasks.
“The theme song practice time is one week. Please submit your theme song videos before next Friday. The instructors will decide your final grades based on your performance.”
The theme song for this show was notoriously difficult. It looked lively and cute, but in reality, the high notes were hard to sing, and the dance moves were intricate and difficult to remember. As the video played on the big screen, half the people in the room looked worried.
Bai Chang took in everyone’s reactions. “You’re all not very happy with your current dorms, are you?”
Not very happy? It was more than that; they were utterly full of resentment!
Bai Chang leaned against the table and curved her lips into a smile. “After this theme song evaluation, new dorms will be assigned based on your grades. If you’re not happy with your current dorm, work hard to get an A.”
“I knew the production team wouldn’t be so cruel. How could a skyscraper with over a dozen floors only have people living on two floors? The upper floors must be our dorms, right!”
“Will the A dorms be super luxurious?! Can you give us a sneak peek?”
“Teacher Bai! Teacher Bai! Give us a spoiler!”
Bai Chang tilted her head and gestured to the executive PD. The practice video on the big screen was replaced with photos of the dorms.
“Look! The A dorms have a refrigerator and a small kitchen?!”
“I’d be happy with a B. I don’t need a refrigerator or kitchen; a balcony for drying clothes would be enough.”
“Even a C is so much better than what we have now!”
“The F rooms are just the ones we’re living in now, aren’t they?”
Bai Chang nodded. “As you can see, I hope you all practice hard to avoid getting an F and move out of this hell as soon as possible.”
“Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!” x99
“Dismissed.”
As soon as filming ended, Su Wanwan grabbed Chi Ling and started chattering away. “Sister Chi, your freestyle was so cool! And that song you wrote was amazing!”
“Thanks.” Chi Ling, now off the stage, quickly returned to her quiet self. “You did great, too.”
Su Wanwan also got an A.
“An A is nothing. If there were an S, it would definitely be you. With your skills, you could debut as the ACE and leader at my old company! Seriously! I’m not lying,” Su Wanwan said, then looked at the other two for confirmation. “What do you two think? Am I right?”
Ling Yu nodded, a rare one-word response. “Yes.”
“Hahahaha, I knew Sister Chi was amazing,” Su Wanwan said, linking arms with Chi Ling. “Let’s go say hi to the boss. We were so impressive; she has to show her appreciation, right?”
Chi Ling hesitated. “Maybe you should go alone. I want to go back and practice early.”
“Don’t be like that. I’d be too shy to go by myself,” Su Wanwan said, tugging on Chi Ling’s sleeve and pointing ahead. “Look, the boss is over there. Let’s hurry before she leaves for the day.”
Chi Ling looked over. The boss was indeed there, but so was the boss’s future wife. Wouldn’t going over now be interrupting them?
Su Wanwan was short but strong, and she dragged Chi Ling over.
“They look like they’re talking about something. Let’s not interrupt them,” Chi Ling said.
“Then let’s just wait here for a bit.”
Wait here? Wouldn’t that be eavesdropping?
“Do you think I’m wrong? With her ability, how could she possibly write a song like that?” Wei Xike looked a bit agitated, and her teary eyes made her look pitiful. “Bai Chang, you weren’t like this before. You hated ghostwriting in the industry the most. You said it was like cheating on a test—you might win for a while, but not forever!”
Chi Ling realized they were talking about her.
Su Wanwan looked at Chi Ling awkwardly and mouthed, “I’m sorry.” Then she added aloud, “Maybe we should go.”
“It’s fine,” Chi Ling said, without much change in her expression. “Let’s listen.”
Let’s see how Bai Chang soothes her emotional moonlight.
Bai Chang had her back to the wall, so her expression couldn’t be seen. All they could hear was her patient voice. “Xike, you’re a professional singer. Why don’t you think about it? What professional composer would write such a whimsical melody?”
Chi Ling’s song was catchy at first listen, but a closer look at the score revealed the immaturity of the composition. The chords were a universal 6-4-1-5, and the rest was just a few simple, basic melodies to maintain a sense of completeness.
The reason her song was so well-received was not because the music was great, but because of the relatable lyrics drawn from Chi Ling’s own experiences and, most importantly, her strong stage presence.
“So, what’s wrong with me giving a B for such an immature arrangement?” Wei Xike retorted.
Ah, so that’s what this is about, Chi Ling thought, lowering her eyes. But why would Bai Chang argue with her beloved over a B, which wouldn’t even affect the outcome?
“I’m not talking about the result you gave, but about you bringing up old news. You know those words would have a bad impact once they air,” Bai Chang sighed. “Xike, you were too impulsive today.”
Wei Xike got flustered. “You’re so worried about her being affected, but what about me? What about me, who had everything taken away by her?”
“Calm down and think. Do you really think those words won’t have any negative impact on you?”
See, I knew it.
Bai Chang was as shrewd as ever. She was truly thoughtful. With Wei Xike’s pure and unassuming personality, saying those things on the show would definitely ruin her image.
“Don’t look so down. The boss even spoke up for you,” Su Wanwan said, squeezing Chi Ling’s hand and giving her a big smile.
Chi Ling forced a smile, but her heart sank.
“Gu Qian?”
Wei Xike seemed to have spotted a familiar face and suddenly stopped her conversation with Bai Chang. She walked over here and, unfortunately, saw Chi Ling and her group waiting there. She looked a little embarrassed.
Chi Ling also noticed a girl standing behind her. Her eyes fell on the name tag on her waist: Gu Qian from Meteor Culture, grade B. Chi Ling remembered her initial performance; she was a talented vocalist who was a bit reserved while dancing, but her overall performance was solid.
Meteor Culture was Wei Xike’s company. She was probably here to talk to a company senior after filming, just like Su Wanwan.
Wait… Gu Qian?
Chi Ling realized she had heard that name before. The memory didn’t belong to the original owner but came from her—she had seen Gu Qian in the later parts of the novel.
The book mentioned that at the height of her popularity, Wei Xike got vocal cord nodules from overusing her voice. The doctor said it would inevitably affect her career, as it would be difficult for her to fully recover her previous strength. However, the company was unwilling to give up on their cash cow and didn’t want Wei Xike’s reputation to suffer. So, they had a trainee from the same company act as her ghost singer.
That ghost singer was Gu Qian.
However, Chi Ling didn’t know whether Wei Xike had already gotten vocal cord nodules at this time, as the side plots in the book were not very detailed.
Wei Xike looked awkward after seeing Chi Ling. She could only look at Gu Qian and wave her over. “Gu Qian, come here for a second. I have something to tell you.”
The black-haired girl complied. As she passed Chi Ling, she hesitated before greeting her. “Sister Chi Ling.”
Chi Ling blinked uncomfortably. “Uh… hi.”
The original owner was 24, probably the oldest of the 99 contestants. A bunch of teenagers calling her “Sister Chi Ling” was probably better than anything else.
Calling me “sister” is better than calling me “mom.”
Wednesday night, the production team released the preview for the first episode of “Nation’s Girls.”
The entire clip was only three minutes long, but every shot was filled with talking points. The most-discussed topic, of course, was Chi Ling, who had once been a huge star but had now fallen so low that she had to compete for a debut spot with teenagers.
The preview started with a clip of her. Chi Ling confidently took a self-evaluation A sticker in the waiting room and put it on. Then, the camera switched to her sitting in the number “1” seat, her white skin and red hair giving her an arrogant, queen-like aura. If it weren’t for the fact that a quick search online would bring up all of Chi Ling’s scandals, viewers might have been fooled.
[Where does Chi Ling get the courage to give herself an A and sit in the number one spot? Is it from her dance skills, where she trips over herself, or her singing, where her voice cracks on high notes?]
[Everyone, run! The sister above just used a mocking ultimate move, hahahahahahaha.]
[As a face-fan, I’ll say this quietly. While Chi Ling’s skills still need to be proven, her face is truly amazing! She’s the only one with such fair skin in the wide-angle shots, and she looks incredibly beautiful! The red hair suits her so well!]
[I agree. If this sister has truly changed, I might vote for her just for her face!]
[Her face is all she has going for her, and who knows if she had plastic surgery? After all, if she doesn’t act up, there won’t even be people left to criticize her.]
[She deserves to be maliciously edited by the production team. That’s probably her goal, right? Getting on the trending list with a commercial performance before the show to promote her “fan-favorite” image, and then causing chaos on the show to steal screen time from others.]
Author’s Note:
Chi Ling: Calling me “sister” is better than calling me “mom.”
Su Wanwan: Got it! I’ll call you “Mom Chi” from now on!
PS: Just in case, to clarify again, Ms. Bai is just a reserved person who tried to win her wife back but was misunderstood as a two-timer. There will be no romantic relationship between her and Wei Xike.