Chapter 69
Lin Zhiqiao stood frozen in the doorway for a long time.
[Oh my god, I only went out for dinner and did a quick dorm check, and it already feels like I missed a huge piece of gossip!]
[Has Ming Ye already started making his move? So what I felt during the day wasn’t just my imagination? He, Ming Ye, and Su Jia… could it really be…???]
‘Feels like I missed a hundred million dollars’ worth of drama! I should have opened two livestreams at once, sob sob.’
‘Did any sisters watch Ming Ye’s livestream? What exactly did he come to Su Jia for?’
‘Squatting anxiously for an answer. I’m dying of curiosity. [melon-eating creature rubbing hands.gif]’
‘Actually, it was nothing much. Ming Ye just came to ask Brother Jia some questions. They’re reviewing today’s initial stage performance.’
‘A private review session? Su Jia is giving Ming Ye special tutoring??’
‘How is that special treatment? Trainees are allowed to ask mentors questions in the first place. If anyone asked Brother Jia or the other mentors, they’d all help seriously, right? It’s just that the others weren’t as proactive. If they don’t know how to seize such a good learning opportunity, what can anyone do? [shrug.jpg]’
‘Even so… is it just me, or does this posture feel a tiny bit… ambiguous?’
‘I don’t care, I don’t care — I’m officially raising the “Jia-Ye” banner high!!!’
The two people in the room were extremely focused, as if they had not noticed the stiff figure standing in the doorway.
—Oh, no, that was not quite right.
Ming Ye had clearly noticed Lin Zhiqiao. He even turned his head slightly and glanced in Lin Zhiqiao’s direction, but quickly withdrew his gaze again, seemingly with no intention of alerting Su Jia, who was concentrating on the tablet.
Lin Zhiqiao’s hand on the doorknob trembled slightly.
Should he stay, or stay?
In the end, Lin Zhiqiao still chose, with great pain, to quietly close the door again. He was even considerate enough to move gently, making sure not to create any harsh noise.
‘Rare sight — the Gossip King actually chose to give up gossip.’
‘Sweet Xiao Qiao. Is he planning to give Ming Ye a chance to perform properly? [doghead.jpg]’
‘Too bad Xiao Qiao can’t eat this ship in person… wait, hold on, why are you taking out your phone??’
‘LMAO, he can still go into the livestream room and keep following it. Truly, when it comes to eating gossip, it has to be Lin Xiao Qiao. [damn, I can only say damn.jpg]’
Lin Zhiqiao leaned against the corridor wall and lowered his head, staring intently at his phone. On the screen was none other than Ming Ye’s livestream.
Ming Ye’s camera was clipped to his collar. From that angle, Ming Ye himself was not in frame, but the view almost perfectly replicated his perspective.
Su Jia was very close to the camera. The profile praised as god-tier good looks took up half the screen, making the shot especially alluring and suggestive.
Ming Ye really had come to ask questions. He felt his performance during the day had not been good, but he could not pinpoint exactly where the problem was, so he had come to ask Su Jia for help reviewing it.
[Did he really come just to ask questions?] Lin Zhiqiao could not help muttering inwardly. [I don’t believe it. Not even a little.]
‘I don’t believe it either. [doghead.jpg]’
‘Asking questions is just an excuse. Brother Ye’s real purpose… hehe.’
Suddenly, Ji Yuan’s voice came from beside him. “Lin Xiao Qiao? Why are you standing at the door instead of going in?”
Lin Zhiqiao immediately looked up and raised a finger to his lips. “Shhh!”
Ji Yuan instantly fell silent.
Seeming to realize something, she lightened her footsteps and came over to Lin Zhiqiao’s side, then lowered her head to look at his phone screen.
Ji Yuan: “!!!”
A moment later, Zhu Ge came too. “You two…”
The pair looked up at the same time. “Shhh!”
So Zhu Ge also joined the gossip squad at the doorway.
Then Tang Nan and Xie Qingchi came back from outside. Other than Su Jia, who was in the room, the remaining five members of the mentor team were now all present.
‘Who understands my sense of humor? I’m laughing so hard in bed right now that I’m trying to find my head hahaha.’
‘This is amazing. Sure enough, wherever the Gossip King is, no matter what kind of show it is, a new gossip squad will eventually appear. [so insanely good.jpg]’
In the livestream, Ming Ye and Su Jia remained completely unaware of everything happening outside the door. One was seriously analyzing and reviewing, while the other was listening with great focus and devotion… perhaps.
After a while, Su Jia asked, “Did I explain it clearly?”
“Brother Jia explained it way too clearly. If I still don’t get it, then I’m just wooden-headed.” Ming Ye straightened up and smiled. “Thanks for tonight, Brother Jia. I may have to come bother you again in the future.”
“It’s no bother.” Su Jia smiled. “Being eager to learn is a good thing.”
Outside the door, the group crowding around Lin Zhiqiao’s phone scattered at once, but the corridor itself was empty, with nowhere to hide.
The door opened, and Ming Ye’s footsteps paused.
“You all…” His voice halted briefly, as if he had realized something. Then he gave Lin Zhiqiao a fairly friendly smile. “Thanks.”
Lin Zhiqiao waved both hands rapidly. “No need to thank me, no need to thank me.”
[It wasn’t really for you anyway.] he muttered inwardly. [I just wanted to happily eat gossip, hehe.]
Facts proved that his decision not to go in and interrupt just now had been absolutely correct.
*
Life on the program was heavy and busy for the trainees.
For the first stage of the competition, all fifty trainees had to learn the theme song and choreography for Idol Star Dream, then undergo the first-stage evaluation one week later.
Learning an entirely new song-and-dance performance in a single week was a rather difficult task for the vast majority of the trainees.
So during the next week, aside from the three daily meals and the short rest period before sleep, even Ji Ran and Cheng Xia were so busy that they felt dizzy.
The mentors were also occupied guiding the trainees. By comparison, the three mentor assistants became the most relaxed people there.
On the night before the evaluation, Lin Zhiqiao went to Class A’s dorm to do the bedtime check. As he passed an empty room, he noticed the light inside was still on.
Driven by curiosity, he quietly pushed the door open a crack and peeked inside.
It was Xie Qingchi, along with nearly ten students from Class C.
It was already close to midnight. The other trainees had gone to bed early to make sure they could perform perfectly the next day.
But Xie Qingchi was still there, leading those students through one final round of intensive practice.
‘That’s way too hardworking…’
‘To be fair, Xie Qingchi really is very diligent. Even before debut, people said he lacked talent and wasn’t suited for the idol industry, but he forced his way through with pure hard work. Even after his scandal, nobody ever said his professional ability was lacking.’
‘I remember Xie Qingchi telling the Class C trainees before that as long as someone was willing to train, no matter how late it got, he’d stay with them. Turns out he really wasn’t just talking. [cat shocked.jpg]’
‘Looking at it this way, Xie Qingchi actually seems like a pretty good person…’
‘Seriously? People are still trying to whitewash Xie Qingchi? Have you forgotten how awful he is? [yellow bean sweating.jpg]’
‘Anyway, Xie Qingchi is permanently blacklisted for me. PR accounts, get lost.’
Xie Qingchi inside the room seemed to notice Lin Zhiqiao. He turned and looked at him once, but said nothing.
Lin Zhiqiao waved at him, signaling that he should ignore him, then gently closed the door and left.
He poked 888 and muttered softly, [Do you think Xie Qingchi would really be the kind of person who did those things people say he did?]
888 answered in a tiny voice, [Doesn’t really seem like it…]
Lin Zhiqiao felt the same.
There was definitely some hidden secret still hanging over Xie Qingchi.
But not tonight. Xie Qingchi and those trainees were all fighting so hard in training that Lin Zhiqiao felt too embarrassed to stay there and disturb them any longer.
The next day, the fifty trainees finally welcomed the show’s first round of evaluations.
After the evaluations were complete, the mentors would score everyone a second time, then reshuffle the class assignments based on the results.
For the trainees, this was undoubtedly an extremely important day.
And yet on such an important day, Zhou Zili was nowhere to be seen.
Seeing that the evaluation was about to begin, Lin Zhiqiao started getting anxious and instinctively glanced toward the twins.
Heng Yang and Heng Xing were standing by a window, one with his arms folded and the other with his head held in his hands, chatting and laughing quietly.
Not only did they seem completely un-nervous, they almost looked serenely content.
Lin Zhiqiao’s instincts told him that Zhou Zili’s lateness had something to do with those two.
‘Ahhh I’m dying of anxiety, Li baby’s livestream room is closed too.’
‘Where exactly did he go? If he doesn’t come soon, he’ll really be late!!!’
‘If he has this little sense of time, getting eliminated would be fine too. If he doesn’t even take himself seriously, who can he blame? [shrug.jpg]’
‘Li baby takes this very seriously, okay?! He even got up early this morning and practiced hard for two extra hours! Something must have delayed him. [pacing in circles from anxiety.jpg]’
‘Xiao Qiao is looking at the twins… could it be connected to them?’
‘I suspect so too. These past few days the twins barely interacted with Li baby. I thought I’d been overthinking before, but apparently they were just waiting for this chance.’
‘Could they be deliberately causing trouble to make Li baby embarrass himself?’
‘Uh… is this elementary-school-level tactics? You like someone, so you use all kinds of means to attract their attention???’
Lin Zhiqiao quietly moved closer to the twins. The other A-class trainees were also gathered in that area.
“Has anyone seen Zhou Zili?” he asked, seeming to question everyone in Class A, while the corner of his eye remained fixed on the twins.
Everyone looked at one another for a moment, then shook their heads. “No.”
Only the twins exchanged a glance. The red-haired older brother’s lips curved upward slightly, while the blue-haired younger one gave a small shrug. Neither of them said a word.
Seeing the two of them react like that, Lin Zhiqiao thought, [As expected.]
If he directly questioned the twins, they definitely would not answer.
So Lin Zhiqiao poked 888. [888, open the blind box. Use a designated gossip card.]
888 replied, [Okay, host.]
[Zhou Zili’s favorite color is blue, and it’s also his lucky color, so whenever it’s an important day, he always wears blue clothes or pants.]
[Zhou Zili often suffers from insomnia. When he can’t sleep…]
[Zhou Zili likes spacing out…]
He opened several pieces of information in a row, but none were particularly useful. Lin Zhiqiao grew irritated. [Next one, next one—]
[Zhou Zili’s husband is called Heng Yuan. Heng Yuan has a pair of twin younger brothers called Heng Yang and Heng Xing…]
Lin Zhiqiao’s brain slowly crashed.
[…Husband? Li baby is already married???]
[No, wait, hold on, hold on! So, so Zhou Zili is actually the twins’…]
[Sister-in-law?!]
