Chapter 10

To be honest, a hundred trainees couldn’t possibly get along perfectly all the time. But they usually put on a show of harmony in front of the cameras. This was the first time Ji Changyin had seen an entire group isolate one person so openly.

Still, it made sense. They had Ji Changyin backing them up.

“You can get through the whole routine now?” Ji Changyin asked when Qiao Tingxi stopped.

“More or less. I still need to polish a few moves.”

Ji Changyin sighed in admiration. “That’s amazing. It took me five days just to get most of the moves down.”

“Teacher Ji, I can get through the whole thing too.” A girl who was taking a break waved at her.

Ji Changyin couldn’t remember the girl’s name, but she smiled back. “Don’t call me Teacher. I haven’t earned it. Just call me Sister Ji.”

“Okay, Sister Yinyin.”

“I thought getting it down in five days was impressive, but now I see you’re the ones who are amazing. You’ve only had three days.” Ji Changyin sighed. “Keep it up. I won’t distract you any longer.”

“Teacher Ji, could I talk to you for a moment?”

Ji Changyin was about to leave when the girl whose attempt she’d stopped the day before walked over.

“They’ve collected all the phones, and I get to review the edit before it airs. They won’t be able to cut together some scene of me bullying you with my friends.” Ji Changyin looked at her. The girl had the Xue family behind her. They were influential enough, but their reach was limited to City A and the surrounding provinces.

The Ji family, on the other hand, had a global reach.

A truly ridiculous old-school romance-novel setup.

The girl’s expression darkened. “I just wanted to apologize to you.”

“Oh. You should apologize to the others too. You were trying to take their spots, not mine. And you should apologize to the judges as well. They must have felt sick while they were talking.” When Ji Changyin had just entered the workforce, she’d run into people who got jobs through connections. She’d lost a perfectly good position to someone who was less qualified than she was in every way.

“Listen, if you want something, work for it. Don’t keep looking for shortcuts.” Ji Changyin glanced at the girl’s badge and finally read her name.

Xu Rui.

“I didn’t want to. I…” Tears welled in Xu Rui’s eyes.

Ji Changyin’s mouth twisted. She hated people playing the victim. “Is someone in your family terminally ill? Did someone take out a loan from a loan shark and leave you drowning in debt? Hmm? If that’s what happened, I can pay it off for you. If not, then don’t bother. I’m not interested.”

Xu Rui’s expression stiffened. Her tears hovered without falling, making her look ridiculous.

“You were born with everything. What right do you have to lecture me?” Xu Rui clenched her fists.

“Oh, well. What can you do?” Ji Changyin folded her arms. “You did something underhanded to get ahead, and you still think you have nothing to be ashamed of. Now you’re blaming me for being born rich?”

“I’m not the only one who does this.”

Ji Changyin laughed. “But you got caught by me. If you’d put in a little more effort—or at least been more careful—I wouldn’t have noticed, and we wouldn’t be here. You think having someone powerful behind you means you’re safe? Honestly, that backing of yours doesn’t look all that solid.”

Ji Changyin glanced around at the girls, all of them around nineteen or twenty. Most of their attention was on her.

“You’re idols now. Your first goal is to build a following and become stars. But that’s only the first step. If you want to stay popular for the long haul, that’s what you need to think about. Plenty of popular idols have been criticized over the years, but most of them have kept improving. Very few have stood still, because they know plenty of things can only be earned through skill. There are some things you can’t get by having a following, and you can’t get them just by throwing money at the problem either. Sheesh, I got off track.”

“Of course, if your backer is powerful enough, doesn’t care about looks, loves your soul, and is so devoted to you they don’t care whether they make money, then there’s nothing to worry about.” Ji Changyin paused. She didn’t want to be too blunt.

“But most of the time, people back you because you’re pretty. And because you have a following and can make them money. Fans are easy to milk, sure, but in the end, it’s the public that matters. People are getting tired of the same old thing. They want talent, not just popularity. I’m sure the backers will choose someone more capable and more willing to work hard. And as for the rest—there are plenty of pretty girls around. Do you think they’re in short supply?”

“If all you did was use your connections to get a spot on this show, that wouldn’t be the end of the world. You’d still have to seize the opportunity. But you don’t even seem interested in making an effort. You don’t really think that whoever’s backing you is going to support you forever, do you?”

Ji Changyin leaned close to Xu Rui’s ear and lowered her voice. “You know, that person only supports six women at a time, and goes through them faster than he changes his clothes. You’re young, so I thought I should warn you.”

“Relying on yourself is the only sure thing.”

Xu Rui stiffened.

“What do you know?”

“Quite a bit, actually.” Ji Changyin smiled. In her previous life, she’d worked her way up from the bottom until she became indispensable to her company, earned a six-figure salary, and bought a villa in the capital.

Ji Changyin stepped back. If Xu Rui didn’t want to listen, that was her problem. Ji Changyin couldn’t be bothered to say more.

“What are you still talking to her for?”

Ji Changyin froze. She turned and saw Xu Chaomu standing in the doorway.

“When did you get back?”

“This morning.”

The other trainees greeted Xu Chaomu. She stepped inside and gave the room a quick look, then left, ignoring Xu Rui completely.

Ji Changyin followed and gently closed the door behind them. “If they edited that a little, you’d look arrogant and entitled.”

“Isn’t that what you’re here for?”

Ji Changyin stopped walking. For a few seconds, she didn’t say a word. “How come I never realized you were such a people person?”

“You were the one who came over and started calling me Mumu,” Xu Chaomu said, looking at Ji Changyin with a hint of confusion.

Ji Changyin remembered how she’d acted a few months ago. She never would have guessed it would come back to haunt her like this. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure someone keeps an eye on things.”

She fell silent for a moment.

“So we’re actually friends now, right?” Ji Changyin glanced at Xu Chaomu again.

Xu Chaomu looked genuinely puzzled. “Are there fake friends?”

“Good.” Ji Changyin smiled. “Can we take a picture together? I want to post it to Moments.”

“Sure.”

Xu Chaomu didn’t mind taking a picture.

After snapping it, Ji Changyin added a filter right in front of her and posted it.

Of course, she made it visible to Wei Jingbo alone.