Everyone Spends Money to Make Me Debut as Center (GL) - Chapter 17
Midway through the preview, when the initial evaluation stages were shown, there was Pang Shiru’s comment on Chu Anzhi’s performance.
“My trip here was worth it. I thought this new generation was a bunch of amateurs, but the two of you have been quite impressive.” Then came a shot of Pang Shiru sticking an A on Chu Anzhi, followed by an additional line, “You young people, take it easy. Don’t push too hard and wash us ‘old waves’ out to sea.”
In contrast, when it came to Chi Ling’s part, all that was left was Pang Shiru’s “warning.”
“Chi Ling, I’ll remember you. This performance was not bad. Don’t let me catch any of your flaws in the next public performance. My mouth is famously venomous.”
[Ahhhhh, my Queen Chu was so beautiful just now! I’m completely drooling.]
[Chu Anzhi got the first A, right? And she was even acknowledged by Pang Shiru as the first A! My girl is so impressive; I’m so happy I could run ten laps around the field right now!]
[But who was the “other” person Pang mentioned? To be praised alongside Chu Anzhi by Pang Shiru, I’m quite curious. If her face is also good, she’s definitely this season’s dark horse.]
[I don’t know who the dark horse is, but I know Chi Ling must have performed terribly. Look at Pang Shiru’s serious expression. She’s probably questioning why the production team would let a performance like that pollute her eyes.]
[I’m so looking forward to Pang Shiru’s poisonous tongue. She’s so ruthless! There must be a clip later on of Pang Shiru making Chi Ling cry, hahahahaha.]
As soon as the preview came out, marketing accounts started subtly posting articles, claiming that according to a certain staff member, the production team had intentionally arranged for Ling Yu from Lemon Entertainment and former MK artist Chi Ling to be in the same dorm.
To prove the authenticity, the source even posted a picture of the dorm with the words “Nation’s Girls” painted on the wall.
[Good job, production team! I don’t want to see fake sisterhood. I want to see Princess Chi tear up the whole industry!]
[I think this is very credible. Given the style of this production team, they would definitely do something like this, hahahaha. I’m waiting for the catfight.]
[Are the dorm conditions this bad this season? Did the production team specially change them for Princess Chi? That’s so cruel. Are the other girls suffering because of her?]
[Bad dorm conditions, and a roommate from a rival company. I can totally imagine Chi Ling’s tantrum! Why am I so excited about this?]
[I hope they don’t get into a physical fight.]
The enthusiastic netizens contributed to several trending topics that night based on the preview.
#Nation’sGirlsProducerBaiChang
#PangShiruPraisesChuAnzhi
#ChiLingMadeToCryByPangShiru
#ChuAnzhiFirstA
#NationsGirlsDormPicture
Apart from the comments under Bai Chang’s hashtag, which were all about praising her looks and recommending her work, the comments on the other hashtags were full of fan wars. There were fans trying to control the narrative, fans slandering their rivals, and many hot-headed bystanders getting into the mix.
The previous trending search for her fancam had caused a huge increase in members for the Chi Ling fan club, which You Xiaotao had founded. She immediately set up an anti-slander team. Although they didn’t have as many members as Chu Anzhi’s fan club, they were all quick-witted and fast-fingered.
They didn’t go out to other fan communities to cause trouble. They just stayed in their own fan channel, shutting down every hater that came in. They didn’t waste time arguing; they just spammed with compliments and beautiful pictures of Chi Ling.
You Xiaotao also knew there were still many misconceptions about Chi Ling, so she didn’t waste her energy on spamming the trending topics. She believed that once the first episode of the initial stage aired, Chi Ling’s talent and hard work would be recognized. So, the most important thing now was not to annoy bystanders with promotions, but to focus on combating slander and supporting her on the charts.
But… her temper was just so damn short! She couldn’t help herself!
[You Xiaotao: You trashy production team! Would you die if you didn’t maliciously edit my darling Ling? You’re even buying random trending searches. Where did she cry? Where did she cry! Show me a picture! If you can’t make my darling Ling cry, make me cry if you have the guts!]
Bai Yuanyuan was always on the front lines of gossip. After accidentally liking a post last time, she had followed You Xiaotao’s account. Over time, she found that she really liked her personality, and since she was also a talented artist, the two of them started talking privately.
However, she was still very careful not to reveal her own identity.
“Hahahaha, boss, this big fan of Sister Chi Ling has the same fiery temper as her! So intense, hahahahaha.” A new assistant was driving today, and Bai Yuanyuan was leisurely sitting next to Bai Chang. She held up her phone to Bai Chang. “Look at what she’s saying. Isn’t it hilarious?”
Bai Chang glanced at it and then looked away. “What’s the trending topic?”
“The production team released a preview and only edited a part of what Teacher Pang said, making netizens think Chi Ling was scolded to tears,” Bai Yuanyuan explained to Bai Chang, then curiously asked, “Did Sister Chi Ling really cry?”
“She was the first to be acknowledged with an A by Senior Pang. Why would Senior Pang scold her?”
“No, I saw on the trending topics that Chu Anzhi was the first A… Did I miss something?”
“Silly,” Bai Chang said, tapping Bai Yuanyuan’s head. “Who is more trustworthy? What I say or what a marketing account makes up?”
“Ah, ha, you’re right.” Bai Yuanyuan belatedly realized and gasped. “What?! Sister Chi Ling got the first A?!”
“Then is she and that trainee from Lemon Entertainment really in the same dorm? Did they fight? Did Sister Chi Ling cry when she saw how dirty the dorm was?” Bai Yuanyuan pressed on. “They could use any crying footage and put it with Pang Shiru’s words, right? The production team would definitely do that.”
“Yuanyuan,” Bai Chang’s patience was wearing thin. “One more word, and you’re getting out of the car.”
“I’m sorry, boss!”
For the one-week practice period, the judges were only present for three days. The first day was for teaching, the second for a mid-check, and the third for a stage rehearsal.
On Friday night, Chi Ling finished learning the entire theme song by herself and didn’t go to bed until three in the morning.
On Saturday, the vocal judge, Wei Xike, came to teach her first class for the A-class trainees.
Wei Xike, in a white dress, sat by the piano with the elegance of a classical beauty. It seemed that Bai Chang’s persuasion last time had some effect because she even took the initiative to greet Chi Ling this time.
“Good morning, Teacher,” Chi Ling wasn’t quite used to Wei Xike’s sudden change in attitude, feeling that she was secretly planning something malicious.
“Morning,” Wei Xike said, handing a sheet of music to Chi Ling. “Could you pass these out to everyone? Practice for ten minutes, and then come to me one by one to sing.”
A class was forty-five minutes long, and there were a total of fifteen people in class A. If she just gave a quick pointer to each person, the class would be over. That was a bargain.
“Okay.”
Chi Ling handed out the sheet music and conveyed Wei Xike’s instructions.
For the next ten minutes, Wei Xike sat in front of the piano, embodying a pure saint in her long, elegant dress. The VJ filmed her from every angle before she clapped her hands. “Now that you’ve had enough time to practice, come up and sing.”
“Who wants to go first?” Wei Xike smiled gently and looked for Chi Ling in the crowd. “Does anyone want to volunteer?”
The other trainees in class A followed Wei Xike’s gaze to Chi Ling, who was standing in the corner of the classroom.
The A-class trainees: Sister Chi, “volunteering” is your time to shine.
The recording had just ended yesterday afternoon, and they didn’t get back to the dorms until after seven. This morning, after only ten minutes of looking at the sheet music, she was already being asked to sing. Chi Ling knew that Wei Xike was trying to put her on the spot and embarrass her.
Chi Ling went with the flow and simply nodded. “I will.”
Wei Xike’s eyes curved into a smile, and she gently placed her hands on the black and white keys of the piano. “I’ll start with the accompaniment. Just jump in whenever you’re ready. It’s okay to sing while looking at the sheet music.”
What’s this about “it’s okay to look at the sheet music”? The task was assigned less than twenty-four hours ago. Who could have memorized the score?
In fact, this provocation was quite effective on Chi Ling. She nodded but folded the sheet music and put it in her pocket.
Over the years, learning dances and songs had become her main practice every day. Practice makes perfect. Half an hour to familiarize herself with a song, one night to get it smooth and complete, and three days to get it perfect was the minimum standard Chi Ling had for herself. If she wanted to be better than others, she had to be stricter with herself.
Wei Xike did want to put Chi Ling in her place today. Although she didn’t know why Chi Ling had improved so much all of a sudden, there were many who, despite a stunning initial performance, would mess up and make mistakes on the theme song. Moreover, she truly believed that Chi Ling would never be a big star.
But this belief was instantly shattered when Chi Ling’s clear and pleasant voice began to sing.
It was already difficult to memorize the score in one night, let alone have Chi Ling hit every high note perfectly. The more Wei Xike listened, the heavier her fingers felt on the piano keys. Finally, she slammed her hand down on the piano, and the keys made a dull, heavy sound that startled everyone.
“Sorry,” Wei Xike said, composing herself and looking up at everyone with an apologetic smile. “My finger cramped, so I pressed down a bit too hard.”
Then she looked at Chi Ling, looking like a kind teacher. “Chi Ling, your voice is good, but the second part wasn’t perfect. You need to practice more. You were hand-picked by Teacher Pang to get the first A, so it’s not too much for me to have high expectations for you, is it?”
Chi Ling’s memory of the lyrics for the second part was not as strong as the first, but the minor flaws were not a big issue. It was already remarkable that she could sing it so smoothly from memory.
All the trainees knew this, and so did Wei Xike, but she would never admit it.
Chi Ling met her smile with a cold expression, forcing a faint smile of her own. “Of course not. Being strict with me is for my own good. Thank you for your guidance, Senior.”
“You’re welcome. Keep up the good work.”
After Chi Ling returned to the team, Su Wanwan whispered to her. “What’s wrong with her? She’s clearly targeting you. Don’t listen to her nonsense; you sang amazingly.”
Su Wanwan had originally held Wei Xike in high regard as a senior, but ever since the eavesdropping incident yesterday, she had grown to dislike her from the bottom of her heart.
She was just too fake.
“Keep your voice down and control your expression. The cameras are on,” Chi Ling reminded her.
“I know…”
After a day of classes, Chi Ling and the others from dorm 0312 went to the cafeteria for dinner.
On the way, they met an A-class trainee they had become friendly with in the morning, who came over with a smile to greet them.
“Hahahaha, Wanwan, I saw a short little person standing in a ditch in the distance, and when I got closer, it was you! Do you regret choosing to live in 0312? You’re the only one with a baby face in your dorm of four. Walking with them, you look like a kidnapped child from the countryside.”
Chi Ling looked to the side. It was true. The other three had an average height of 173 cm, and Su Wanwan, at 162 cm, looked like she was standing in a “ditch” in the middle.
Su Wanwan raised her fist at her. “Who’s in a ditch? Who has a baby face? Have you ever seen such a handsome baby face?”
“It’s okay,” Chi Ling said, patting her on the head and calming her down. “It just means you’re our dorm’s pet.”
Su Wanwan unexpectedly looked up and met Chi Ling’s gentle, smiling gaze. She was momentarily stunned and her ears turned a little red. It was strange. She felt as if Chi Ling’s eyes held a doting affection for a child. And she even had an urge to throw herself into her arms and ask for a head rub!
In reality, in Chi Ling’s eyes, Su Wanwan, who had just turned eighteen, was indeed a little girl who needed to be taken care of. After all, in her previous life, she was already a 26-year-old “auntie” who hadn’t debuted yet. She was also a frequent volunteer at orphanages, and being gentle and caring toward girls younger than her had become a habit.
“Yes, I’m the pet of 0312,” Su Wanwan said proudly, linking arms with Chi Ling. “Mom Chi loves me so much.”
Chi Ling’s smile froze: No, this is not the result I wanted!
The cafeteria had fixed meal times. The regular windows offered low-fat salads, vegetables, or chicken br3ast, but to account for the trainees’ physical exertion, there was a separate window for high-calorie foods. However, very few people stood in that line, as it came with a strong sense of guilt.
Su Wanwan was one of those poor foodies who was crushed by guilt. Her eyes were fixed longingly on the fried chicken drumsticks on someone else’s plate, and she clung to Chi Ling like a sloth, wailing, “Wahhh, Mom Chi, I want to eat meat so badly! But the boss gave me a goal before I left, saying I have to lose three kilograms.”
Su Wanwan wasn’t actually fat. She just had some baby fat on her face, and since she wasn’t very tall, she looked a bit plump—especially when she stood next to the three tall and elegant women of 0312.
“Why did I ever choose to be in a dorm with you guys? I’m constantly being compared to you and look like a pig’s head swollen like a steamed bun,” Su Wanwan said, enviously touching Yu Shu’s leg. “Not only is our precious Shu Shu’s face so pretty, but her legs are so long.”
Chi Ling looked back at Yu Shu, who remained indifferent despite having her leg touched, and smiled faintly.
To be honest, when she first met Yu Shu, she thought she was a secretive master because she had a poker face that showed no emotion no matter what happened.
But during her initial performance, Yu Shu, with that very poker face, had seriously performed a routine of calisthenics in front of the five judges. Everyone burst out laughing. Even the usually quiet Ling Yu had turned to Chi Ling with a confused look, as if to confirm that what she was seeing was real. It just showed how good this woman’s acting skills were.
With that performance, even if Yu Shu’s grade was an F, she would still get plenty of screen time—the production team would never miss out on such hilarious and surprising material.
Ling Yu got her food, and when it was Chi Ling’s turn, she noticed a freshly brought-out platter near the attendant. “Ma’am, is that…”
“Oh? Don’t you girls always talk about dieting? This is a low-fat pudding that the kitchen specially made. It uses maple syrup instead of sugar, so it’s not fattening and still has a little sweetness,” the attendant said, picking up a pudding cup the size of a palm. “But you’re so thin; you can eat a few. We have strawberry, cantaloupe, chocolate, and banana. Which one do you want?”
Chi Ling wasn’t actually a fan of sweets, but when she was little, the orphanage director would give the best-behaved child a cup of pudding every Saturday. Chi Ling got one almost every week. So, even after she became a trainee and had to manage her weight, she never gave up the habit of eating one pudding a week.
It was her reward for training hard.
“Banana, thank you,” Chi Ling said, biting her lip.
The four of them got their food and sat down together.
“I thought you didn’t like sweets,” Yu Shu said, rarely giving her opinion. “You look like the type of person who would keep sweets a thousand miles away.”
Chi Ling, who was eating, said nothing.
“What’s with the way you’re talking? Sister Chi Ling used to be the ‘Sweet Song Queen.’ What’s wrong with her liking sweets?”
“I don’t eat it very often,” Chi Ling said, pursing her lips. Being stared at by the three of them made her feel a little embarrassed, like her little secret was being exposed. “But the kitchen here makes it pretty well.”
“Really?” Su Wanwan took a spoonful and made a face. “Sister, does this even have a taste? You call this good?”
It seemed that the production team had given a strict order, and the kitchen was reluctant to even put in too much maple syrup. The pudding only had a faint, watery taste.
Yu Shu and Ling Yu exchanged a look, and Yu Shu asked with a slight smile, “Can you repeat that? What kind of queen is Chi Ling?”
Chi Ling’s initial performance of a powerful boy group dance was incredibly memorable. Every swing of her arm and hip was full of strength, especially the final stomp, which was powerful and swag. If it weren’t for the cameras, at least half the people in the hall would have stood up and yelled “Husband.”
Su Wanwan: “Sweet, ‘Sweet Song Queen’?”
Then she looked at Chi Ling across from her and realized that the sweet girl she had seen on screen was now a red-haired boss with the aura of an avenger.
It seemed that ever since she came to the dorm, Chi Ling had never once acted spoiled or thrown a tantrum. This was a huge difference from what she had previously known.
Yu Shu pushed up her glasses and seriously analyzed for Chi Ling. “I think your old persona was too outdated and unoriginal. This one is much better. Get HM to market it, and post a few boy group dance practice videos. With your skills, you’d become the ultimate crush of the ‘girl-loving-girls’ community.”
“Cough, cough, cough!” Chi Ling never expected the quiet Yu Shu to suddenly talk so seriously about persona marketing. “Yu Shu, you should consider becoming an agent. I’ll hire you.”
“How much is the monthly salary?” Yu Shu asked seriously.
“Hahahaha, Yu Shu, you’re not actually serious, are you?” Su Wanwan laughed maniacally. “I think you’re better off being an idol. It would be a waste of a face like that.”
Yu Shu was indeed beautiful. Her facial features were perfectly proportional, as if someone had sculpted them with a ruler. She was the kind of person who could get into the top twenty with just one shot on the show.
It’s safe to say that without that face, Yu Shu, as an individual trainee with no background support, would have had a hard time even getting into the competition.
“Sigh…”
As the four of them were finishing their meal, they heard the girls behind them start to whisper and stir.
Su Wanwan was facing the door and saw the cause of the commotion. “The boss is here! Why is she also coming down to the cafeteria to eat? The food here is so bland you can’t even eat it. They don’t even put in any salt.”
Chi Ling smiled. “You can try the other window.”
“The little bit of fat on my stomach is warning me not to do that.”
Chi Ling’s red hair was particularly noticeable in the crowded cafeteria, and Bai Chang saw her as soon as she walked in.
The princess who used to look down on working with others and was used to being alone was now fitting in well with her dorm group. She even had a brilliant performance on the initial stage. If Chi Ling’s parents saw this, they would probably cry tears of joy.
Unfortunately, Chi Ling was now a stubborn wanderer with no home, and Chi Chenghung was notoriously stubborn and wouldn’t budge without being given a reason. Bai Chang could only bear the burden of being the bridge between them.
In front of everyone, Bai Chang walked up to Chi Ling’s table. Before she could even speak, she noticed the banana pudding Chi Ling was eating.
If she remembered correctly, Chi Ling hated jelly and pudding because she thought their soft texture felt too much like… the discharge from her nose when she had a cold.
Bai Chang glanced at the food on the four plates. It seemed that the cafeteria food was so “plain” that even a picky eater like Chi Ling was eating something she used to hate.
“Chi Ling,” Bai Chang said, tapping the table, getting the attention of Chi Ling, who didn’t seem to notice her yet. “Come to me after you finish eating.”
“I have to go practice after I eat,” Chi Ling said without looking up.
When she said that, not only the VJ, but even Su Wanwan and the others sitting next to her were stunned. After all, everyone had heard the gossip before.
Chi Ling fell in love with Bai Chang at first sight, entered the industry for her, chased her for five years, was constantly involved in scandals with her, and then Chi Ling retired from the industry, followed by the slap incident with Wei Xike and the end of the Bai-Chi couple’s story. You could pick any one of those marketing articles, and it would be exciting enough to be a whole novel.
But how could the Chi Ling, who according to the articles would give up her career for Bai Chang, be so cold and indifferent now?
Su Wanwan wanted to shake her shoulders and scream, Wake up, sister! You can practice anytime, but a chance to talk to a goddess doesn’t come around often!
The VJ following Bai Chang held their breath in the awkward atmosphere, quietly aimed the camera at Bai Chang’s face, and didn’t dare to film Chi Ling.