Floating Island
"The management has unanimously decided that Li Meng will serve as R&E's lead vocalist and leader. We'll officially resume work in three days." Jia Kun came to their lounge to announce this. He looked much more seasoned after the night before. "Remember to shoot the new song's music video later."
Wang Yingying held Li Meng's hand and quietly celebrated, "Congratulations, Sister Meng, you're our group's vocal leader."
"Humph, if Tang Xiaoyou hadn't gotten into trouble, it wouldn't have been her turn." Jiang Qiunan put his hands on his hips.
Li Meng's face froze, she clenched her fists and rolled part of the skirt into her palms.
Wang Yingying couldn't bear it and muttered softly: "Even if it wasn't Sister Meng, it wouldn't be you."
Jiang Qiunan frowned and pointed angrily, "You!"
"Humph, being a lackey is good. After Tang Xiaoyou left, there's still Li Meng." She stood high and looked down at Wang Yingying with a mocking look, "I'm afraid that in the end, there will be nothing left."
There are also small groups within R&E. I don’t know how many groups the seven of us have formed. If you don’t fight and compete in this circle, you will have no way to survive.
Jiang Qiunan took her people out of the lounge.
Li Meng's good mood was completely ruined. She was originally very happy to be the lead singer, but after being disgusted by Jiang Qiunan's words, she couldn't laugh at all.
Wang Yingying patted the back of her hand and comforted her, "Don't worry, Sister Meng. Since Brother Kun said you're the lead singer, no one can shake your position, and they won't be able to make any waves."
Li Meng sighed, "One of the original seven members has left, and we don't know what kind of person will be added in."
Wang Yingying is simple-minded and didn't consider these things at all.
During the afternoon training, with one person missing, the formation and division of labor had completely changed. Jiang Qiunan wanted to be the center, and kept squeezing out other people's spots during rehearsal. During the eighth rehearsal, Li Meng finally couldn't stand it anymore and yelled, "Jiang Qiunan, don't go too far. The task now is to choreograph the dance well. The center position is rotated according to the participle. What are you doing now?"
"What am I making a fuss about?" Jiang Qiunan, who had been harboring a grudge against Li Meng for a long time, dropped his props and approached her. "I'm obviously the best dancer. Why shouldn't I be the center of attention on a stage that's all about dancing? I'm the dancing leader! How could you, someone who's inferior in everything, take over as Tang Xiaoyou's lead singer and then captain?"
Li Meng was so angry that her face turned pale. She had inexplicably suffered from insomnia last night, and after announcing the decision this morning, Jiang Qiunan kept picking on her. She was never a good-tempered person, so she immediately retorted, "So what? Now I am the captain and lead singer announced by Brother Kun! You have to listen to me! Believe it or not, I can make sure you don't even get a spot on camera."
Jiang Qiunan sneered, her arms folded across her chest. "Oh, oh, oh, you're already showing off your captaincy! Even Tang Xiaoyou isn't this arrogant." She walked around Li Meng and said quietly, "When we formed the group, you weren't satisfied with the outcome, and you were so eager to be the captain. Could Tang Xiaoyou's death have something to do with you?"
No one dared to say this. Two policemen came to the building yesterday. According to them, Tang Xiaoyou's body must have been found. Li Meng and Wang Yingying were also questioned. Jiang Qiunan's small team was not familiar with Tang Xiaoyou and was basically not contacted by the police.
Li Meng's forehead was covered with sweat. She grabbed a handful of hair in annoyance and felt her hands trembling slightly. She felt weak and uncomfortable all over.
She deflated, "I don't want to argue with you."
Jiang Qiunan didn't let her go, "Do you want to avoid arguing or do you feel guilty? I remember that when Tang Xiaoyou was alive, she was very nice to you and Wang Yingying. Why are you so eager to erase all traces of her now that she's dead?"
Li Meng was pouring water, and she deliberately walked over and gently put her hand on her back. Li Meng was startled and trembled all over. She heard Jiang Qiunan say, "You are so heartless."
"I don't want to practice anymore." Jiang Qiunan turned around and walked away.
Wang Yingying finally calmed Li Meng down, "Sister Meng, don't worry about it. Jiang Qiunan just talks like that. He was like that when Xiaoyou was here too."
Li Meng suddenly turned around and scolded her, "Don't mention her!"
Wang Yingying took a step back with fear on her face.
A few minutes later, Jiang Qiunan shouted at the door: "Li Meng, the police are looking for you." His tone was slow, but his voice was loud, as if he wanted to make fun of Li Meng.
Not only her, but people from other groups also came to watch the fun.
Chen An saw all of this. Li Meng looked up and saw that it was not the policeman from yesterday. She thought that she had to repeat herself again.
There are many tea rooms in "Dream Butterfly". Chen An saw that her face was not very good, so he waited for her to recover before asking, "Tang Xiaoyou's body was found yesterday. You should know this, right?"
"I know." Li Meng said truthfully, "A police officer asked me about this yesterday. Xiaoyou and I don't have a good relationship, so I don't really understand what she did or said."
Chen An saw that she didn't want to talk about Tang Xiaoyou, so he changed the subject, "Don't ask about her, let's talk about Lin Ran."
Li Meng seemed confused and looked up at him, "Lin Ran? What happened to him?"
Chen An didn't say it directly: "I just understand."
She didn't want to ask about the police's affairs, so after a moment of silence, she talked about Lin Ran in her eyes.
"Lin Ran is the top guy in our company. He's good-looking, has great resources, and is a good person. We're not in the same group. Area C is mainly managed by Brother Kun, and Lin Ran is in Area A. We don't have much interaction."
Chen An asked, "Who is the manager of Area A?"
Li Meng shook her head, "I don't know. Area C is the lowest-ranking area in the entire company. The person in charge of Area A has always been a mystery. We can't get in touch with them."
It is really suspicious that a company has such obvious class divisions.
Chen An continued to ask: "Do you know when Lin Ran joined the company?"
"I know. Brother Lin is considered a veteran, one of the first employees of "Dream Butterfly", joining in 2018." Li Meng felt much more relaxed when talking about others. As long as it was not related to herself, she would try her best to recall and tell the truth. "I have a very deep impression of him. When we girls officially stepped into the company's gate when we first formed the group, it was Brother Lin who met us and familiarized us with the company's rules and regulations. Oh, he has a good relationship with Tang Xiaoyou."
"How is it good?"
"Well...like going out for a late-night snack together?" Li Meng's uncertain words added credibility to her words. "A few times I ran into them eating out together late at night. At that time, I even suspected they were in a relationship, but not long after that, that incident happened."
"What?"
"It's...prostitution. That incident caused a huge uproar. At first we thought it was true, but later we found out it was fake. It was all a blackmail notice bought by the rival company to spread rumors. But Lin Ran couldn't recover from this incident for several years."
"How is the relationship between Tang Xiaoyou and Lin Ran going after this?"
"They haven't had much contact since then. Lin Ran seems to have developed depression and rarely shows up at the company."
Chen An brought the topic back to Tang Xiaoyou, "What's the relationship between the girl who just called you and Tang Xiaoyou?"
Li Meng curled her lips. "Her? Her name is Jiang Qiunan. She doesn't have a good relationship with Tang Xiaoyou and has a terrible personality. The group jokingly calls her the "bullying little gangster." As if she wasn't satisfied, she continued her assessment. "I don't like her either. She's sharp-tongued, has no team spirit, is arrogant and conceited, and thinks she's dragging us down. She thinks she's always thinking about her own solo career, and she doesn't have the talent to do it."
Chen An remembered that when he was working on Liu Hanxiao's case, Qu Mengting really liked R&E. They seemed to have such a good relationship on stage, but they were actually like this in private.
Li Meng seemed to see what he was thinking and sneered, "Officer, you don't think that what's happening on stage is real, do you? How many boy bands and girl bands these days are truly close? They're all just deceiving the audience. What team spirit, what group image? Without the bond of interests and future, they're just a pile of loose sand, and no one wants to be close to anyone else."
Chen An laughed as if he had learned something. "That really makes him an actor. No wonder he loves to transform himself."
Li Meng heard a hint of sarcasm in it and immediately felt like she was being scolded.
Chen An coughed twice and brushed off the question, "Has she ever had any conflict with Tang Xiaoyou?"
"Conflict?" Li Meng asked. "What constitutes a conflict? Fighting, cursing, hair pulling?"
Chen An frowned and continued, "Both, but there's more competition for roles. Jiang Qiunan isn't a reasonable person."
"I mean, did she ever say anything like she wanted to kill Tang Xiaoyou?"
"Not really."
Li Meng's behavior was relatively normal. The momentary silence in the tea room made her recall something, and she suddenly mentioned someone.
"However, the relationship between Jia Kun and Tang Xiaoyou seems to be unusual."
"Why do you say that?"
Li Meng's face showed signs of struggle. Chen An was afraid she would give up, so he hinted at her, "Even if you don't say it, someone else will. But what others say about you may not be entirely clear."
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