Everyone Spends Money to Make Me Debut as Center (GL) - Chapter 20
Chi Ling handed the phone back to Xi Yaozhi. “Thank you.”
“No problem. Sister Tang Yu is my senior from school, so I’ll definitely help her out. If you ever need anything, just come find me,” Xi Yaozhi said, patting Chi Ling’s shoulder.
“Okay, thanks, Sister Yaozhi.”
On her way back from Xi Yaozhi, Chi Ling detoured to her dorm to find the bag Tang Yu had given her.
Inside, there was a whole row of sports knee pads. Tang Yu had probably considered Chi Ling’s long hours of dance practice and bought a lighter, thinner style.
Below the knee pads, there was a first-aid kit. Inside, besides common medical supplies like band-aids, bandages, and alcohol, there were many other bottles of medicine: cold medicine, painkillers, and liver support pills—everything Chi Ling could and couldn’t think of.
It had to be said that Tang Yu’s thoughtfulness was astonishing to Chi Ling. She wasn’t just a agent; she was a perfect wife and mother.
The bruises on her knees were already much lighter than yesterday, but they still looked a bit scary. Chi Ling thought for a moment and put on a pair of knee pads, which perfectly hid the unsightly marks.
“Okay, now no one can say anything.”
Since she was a child, Chi Ling had been most afraid of being lectured by her elders, which was why she always tried to be the most obedient one to avoid any trouble.
After a few more days in the practice room, it was time for the theme song self-recording. In the afternoon, a camera was set up in each class’s practice room, and the trainees took turns recording. After they finished, the footage would be sent to the judges for grading.
“Mom Chi, are you going first?” Su Wanwan stood next to Chi Ling. “If not, I’ll go first. The sooner I’m done, the less time I have to be nervous.”
For the initial evaluation stage, the judges were right there in person. Now that it was just a self-recording, what was there to worry about?
“You go ahead. I’m in no rush,” Chi Ling said. She didn’t want to be the front-runner every time.
Su Wanwan raised her hand and went up first.
The theme song was a light and lively tune perfect for summer, which suited Su Wanwan’s looks perfectly. A move like making a heart shape, which might look cheesy on others, looked fresh and sweet on her.
But despite her sweetness, Su Wanwan’s movements were anything but soft. Every beat was hit cleanly and precisely, and she didn’t get out of breath even while singing and dancing through the second half. Her facial expressions were on point, so perfect that even the timing of her wink seemed to be calculated in advance.
If she didn’t live in the same dorm as Su Wanwan and train with her every day, Chi Ling would have a hard time believing that the cheerful little girl she knew could be so charming when she danced.
“You’re definitely getting an A,” Chi Ling said, handing a bottle of water to Su Wanwan, who had just sat down. “Don’t drink it all at once.”
“Thanks, Mom Chi,” Su Wanwan said, patting her chest. “I hope I can still get an A. I want to be in the same dorm as you.”
Chi Ling replied, “How do you know I’ll stay in Class A?”
“What? If you get anything less than an A after practicing this hard, I’ll go to the boss with a knife and demand an explanation,” Su Wanwan said, her eyes wide with a serious expression.
“Well, thank you in advance then.”
Three hours later, everyone had finished recording the theme song. An assistant with a megaphone started shouting.
“All trainees, please gather in the main hall.”
Everyone let out a long “ah” and, dragging their sweaty T-shirts, ran to the meeting point.
Bai Chang, in a beautiful white dress, was already waiting there, with a whole row of staff members behind her.
With this setup, everyone knew the production team was up to something.
Bai Chang held a microphone and smiled faintly. “How was your training?”
The girls were all disheveled and looked exhausted. It was unclear who started it, but they had all been competing with each other over who practiced longer and harder. After only a few days in the camp, they had become messy girls who didn’t even bother to put on makeup in the morning. To make things worse, a perfectly made-up Bai Chang was standing there for them to compare themselves to.
“It must be tiring,” Bai Chang said from the stage, easily taking in everyone’s expressions. “But I hope that three months from now, when you look back, you’ll be glad that all this hard work was worth it.”
“Okay!” the girls answered in unison.
Bai Chang smiled. “So, to reward you for your hard work, the production team is making an exception and giving you a chance to use your phones. You have fifteen minutes. Go call your family and let them know you’re okay.”
“Ahhh! I’ve been without a phone for so many days that I almost forgot it’s the 21st century! Hurry! My call only takes one minute, and I have fourteen minutes to get my fill of gossip online!”
“Only phone calls are allowed,” Bai Chang added.
“Ah… Teacher Bai, please be kind…”
Soon, the staff members started handing out the phones one by one.
Chi Ling took her phone and went into a soundproof room, her fingers hovering over the screen, unsure of who to call.
The VJ asked, “You’re not calling?”
“Can I not?” Chi Ling asked, looking at him with a hint of hope.
The VJ replied, “I don’t think so…”
“Okay,” Chi Ling sighed and tapped on Tang Haimei’s number.
Coincidentally, a call came in just as her finger was about to press. The VJ quickly zoomed in on the screen, where two clear characters were displayed: “Plague God.”
Chi Ling’s first reaction was to cover the phone. “It looks like a spam call. I’ll hang up and call again.”
But… how was she supposed to hang up?
Why did an iPhone only have a “slide to answer” option on the incoming call screen and no decline button?!
“Is Chi Ling here?” Someone knocked on the door.
Chi Ling muted her phone, stood up, and opened the door. It was Xi Yaozhi, who was also holding a phone. She seemed to be on a call and was likely asked to find Chi Ling.
“Why aren’t you answering?” Xi Yaozhi asked, looking at Chi Ling. “There are only ten minutes left. Hurry up.”
Chi Ling was in an awkward situation. “Sister Yaozhi, can I not record this part?”
She didn’t need this kind of screen time.
“No, everyone has to record it. It will be put in a separate behind-the-scenes video later.”
“…Okay, I understand.”
Chi Ling sat back down and, with a face like death, slid the “answer” button. “Hello?”
“It’s me.”
Chi Ling’s thoughts screamed: I know it’s you!
But she still had to pretend to be surprised. “Teacher Bai, why are you calling?”
Bai Chang played along. “Your parents were busy and told me to take care of you, which is why I’m making this exception.”
Oh, thank you so much for being so considerate! I’m so grateful!
“Please tell them I’m doing well and they don’t have to worry.”
“I will. But only if I can be sure that you’re really taking good care of yourself.”
“I’m taking very good care of myself.” Chi Ling wasn’t just taking care of herself; she had also taken on the task of making the beds for the entire dorm.
“Are your knees feeling better? Did you bring your knee pads?”
“My knees are doing great, and I have the knee pads on.” To prove she wasn’t cheating, Chi Ling gave her legs two loud slaps. “Hear that? Doesn’t that sound great? That’s what good knee pads sound like. Please, Teacher Bai, don’t tell my mom on me.”
After being lectured by Tang Yu that morning, she was absolutely sure that Bai Chang was the one who snitched on her.
The person on the other end of the line was silent for a moment before laughing softly. Bai Chang’s voice on the phone was different from her usual voice; it was deep and alluring. The breathy sounds she made while laughing made Chi Ling’s ears tingle and feel hot.
Perhaps swayed by Chi Ling’s childish outburst, Bai Chang’s tone became unintentionally gentle, like she was coaxing a child. “Then it’s a deal.”
At the end of the call, Chi Ling hesitated but decided to speak up. “Teacher Bai, can I discuss something with you?”
“Tell me, and I’ll consider it.”
“Could you ask the post-production team to please cut the part where the name on the screen was shown?” Chi Ling asked sincerely.
She had already been tormented by Bai Chang’s fans enough. If word got out that she had saved Bai Chang’s name as “Plague God,” would she even be able to live anymore?!
“What name?”
“It’s just… I accidentally wrote the wrong name for you, and it would be bad if people misunderstood when it aired,” Chi Ling said, then realized there was no sound on the other end. She waited for a bit and then asked hesitantly, “Hello, Teacher Bai, are you still there?”
“Yeah, I’m here,” Bai Chang’s voice was no longer gentle. She spoke one word at a time. “So, I’m a ‘Plague God’ now?”
“…” Who on earth tattled so quickly?!
Ten minutes later, the trainees who came out of the small room were all crying. Only Chi Ling was unable to shed a single tear, even though she wanted to.
Now that she had offended Bai Chang, would her time in the camp ever be easy again?
Author’s Note:
Bai Chang: Yes, it’ll be especially good.
PS: A lot of little angels are worried that Chi Ling will be won over too quickly, but she won’t. She still has to get through the entire timeline of the story (she’s only on the first point now), so she’ll stay in her clueless state for about a hundred thousand more words.