Day 4
But the paleness on Fu Xunyan's face was not fake, so Ye Lai had to continue cueing.
"Xun Yan, you don't look well. Are you feeling unwell?"
"No." Fu Xunyan didn't want to use this to gain sympathy, "It's just that the recording time today was quite long, and it gave me a headache, that's all."
The other four people pursed their lips, especially Da Pei, who took the initiative to change the topic to Fu Xunyan. His arrogant face revealed an indescribable moment.
Everyone can see that this is not an occasional headache, but Fu Xunyan did not act pitifully in front of the camera - does he really not understand or is he pretending not to understand?
The things the four people in the dormitory brought were really ordinary. Apart from Da Pei's bag of health products and Shen Chi's half box of high school books, there was nothing else worth looking at. Ye Lai quickly left the room.
Thinking of the older boy in the previous dormitory pretending to be cute while holding a rabbit doll, Ye Lai felt a little nauseous and frowned in disgust.
There were not many people in the corridor, and Ye Lai was walking alone. As he thought about it, he laughed again - he didn't know what was wrong with him suddenly. He hated people who were good at marketing, and he felt that the people in Room 204, especially Fu Xunyan, did not understand the program effects.
So I am also a humble person, and whatever others do seems problematic in my eyes.
——A hint of darkness flashed in the boy's eyes, but he quickly put it away and continued to push open the next door designated by the program team.
**
After Ye Lai left, Room 204 became quiet again.
Fu Xunyan had never expected that even though all his roommates had changed, the harmonious atmosphere had remained. His impression of Da Pei, Bai Wenji, and Shen Chi was already very vague, but he remembered one related incident.
The directors of "New Century" seem to be very conscientious at the moment. They invested heavily in the mentors and the stage, which is why they missed the opportunity to contact several entertainment companies to snatch up the hot trainees. As a result, the pre-game popularity of "Go Forward" was four or five times that of theirs, and the popularity of the show is similar.
The director team here was able to remain calm when the show first started, but they soon discovered problems.
The few highly sought-after trainees they recruited were surprisingly unmotivated. Dal-bae's uninhibited personality meant he wouldn't cooperate with the hype, Yoon Sung-hyung was habitually humble and considerate, Bo-mi simply wanted to use the program as a stepping stone to advancement, and Min-hae, having suffered for his overly serious nature in the past, remained relatively unknown this time.
As for the rising stars Bai Wenji and Shen Chi, they are both equally indifferent. They stick to the attitude of not causing trouble off the stage and ensuring that they do their best on the stage. They can be said to be quite...peaceful.
In this way, there is one less actor to compete for the C position, and only Ye Lai is left to "diligently" play his role.
The program team had thought about promoting some trainees who didn’t have that much traffic but were still good in ability. Fu Xunyan was also under consideration. However, since the companies behind these trainees were too ignorant and unwilling to invest, the program team gave up in anger.
As the season was halfway through, the ratings continued to be low, and the other side was buying up negative press releases like crazy. Forced into a corner, the director team chose a wrong path.
That’s when the evil shearing started.
Since such a good performance cannot go beyond the circle, let’s return to being a hot topic.
Fu Xunyan nodded his forehead, his thoughts returning to the present. The other three had already finished putting away their meager belongings and were preparing to go downstairs for dinner. They had surprisingly ample time in their dorm; it was still early before the 10:00 gathering time, so they could easily go to the cafeteria for dinner.
Fu Xunyan's stomach had already protested, so he naturally agreed to go together. As for the rule of not eating after nine o'clock - sorry, none of the four wanted to care.
The road to the cafeteria is in front of the park. It is possible to go around the small road at the back, but it is dark and the street lights are not on, so only a fool would go there.
But if he could do it again, Fu Xunyan, who had been away from the entertainment industry for too long, had forgotten the existence of one thing - the fan club.
Squatting in the summer is dull and irritating. Even with several small fans, the hot wind still makes these girls unbearable, not to mention that in order to take high-definition pictures, they each have a piece of equipment, which is extremely heavy.
"Help me! If my daughter Ye Zi wasn't on this crappy show, I wouldn't have come. The show next door called "Go Forward" even arranged a shady place and a resting place for the fans. It's nothing like here where we're scorched by the sun during the day and bitten by mosquitoes at night." The girl with a ponytail fanned herself vigorously with a small fan. Her forehead was already covered with sweat, her cheeks were flushed, and she looked unhappy.
The girl next to him, fully armed with a hat and sunglasses, agreed wholeheartedly. "Yeah, I've heard before that 'New Century' is a bit aloof, but I didn't expect it to be true. They don't even buy pre-game hype or do any marketing. If my family gets ruined along with the show, I'll go to the official Weibo and curse them to death!"
"Which family are you from?"
"Oh no, it's the one that loses money."
"Isn't the name of your flower a bit unlucky? Why did you name it like that?"
"It's all because of Dal-bae's immature songs when he was little that he kept talking about money, and that ended up becoming a scandal. My family has accepted it well, so to desensitize us, we just call him a money-loser. Some sisters at home who are into metaphysics say that a cheap name is easier to maintain."
These topics temporarily soothed the girls' anxious hearts, and just then a cool breeze blew, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. However, before they could catch their breath, the girl with sunglasses jumped three feet high in excitement.
"Ahhhh! Look, there's a trainee!"
"Where is it? Where is my uncle's baby?"
"Where's Min Hai? Is it him?!"
More than a dozen people became agitated in an instant, and subconsciously put the camera in place in an instant, and started taking pictures without saying anything, no matter who it was.
This is the first day of the program's recording. Logically, there should be a lot of trainees coming and going, but according to rumors, the construction of the "New Century" campus is different from others. The fans estimated that they could only film three routes from the dormitory to the cafeteria, practice room and studio.
It was already eight o'clock when the first day of recording ended. The trainees still had to pack their luggage and gather to arrange tomorrow's tasks. No one expected to be able to take pictures of them, so half of the fans had left by nine o'clock. Who would have thought that there would be trainees who were so obsessed with food and rushed to the cafeteria at this time.
"Oh my god, there are so many long-legged handsome guys."
Although the face could not be seen clearly with the naked eye, the eight legs were too eye-catching, and some fans immediately ruled themselves out.
The average height of the four people in 204 reached 1.8 meters. Fu Xunyan was 182 cm tall, and Bai Wenji and Da Pei were both 180 cm tall. Chen Chi was still in his growth period and was barely 180 cm tall, but his skeleton showed that he still had a lot of room for growth.
The proportions of the four of them are also perfect. Even when wearing sweatpants and short-sleeved shirts distributed by the program team, they look like models walking on the catwalk.
When the station sister pointed the high-definition camera at the four faces, she couldn't help but gasp. It was simply because the scenery was too beautiful.
"Oh my god, can this dormitory please debut right here? Even if they're all just pretty faces, they're a truly unique team of pretty faces, unprecedented in talent show history."
"I strongly agree..."
"But—I know Dal-bae, but who are the other three? How come such handsome guys didn't make any splash before the game?"
A fangirl immediately took out her tablet, and the light illuminated her tired but suddenly energetic face in the dark night.
"Let me flip it over. No rush, no rush. You guys just take the photos first..."
The fan club also has a small team with a clear division of labor. The one holding the cannon immediately started snapping photos - the four people in the picture were walking in an orderly manner, without any arm in arm, and it was obvious that they had just met and were not very familiar with each other.
But it is precisely this kind of ambiguous atmosphere that is the most deadly.
They were of similar height, and the occasional faces they showed were handsome in various styles. Even their steps were extremely consistent, making it hard not to be lost in the sight. While filming, the station sister suddenly lost her focus and found that she had unconsciously zoomed in, letting the boy occupy the entire frame.
Among the four, he has the more outstanding appeal.
That face was still beautiful in the dark night, as beautiful as a fairy in the mist. The starlight and moonlight in the sky served as a backdrop, and only the light and darkness were used to outline and distinguish the shadows on the boy's face.
He hadn't taken off his makeup after his first performance that day, and his hair on his forehead was wet and drooping, looking lazy, casual, and deadly indifferent.
"Oh my God..." The girl with the ponytail was stunned. Suddenly, a fiery light burst out from her eyes. She was in such good spirits that it seemed as if she had not been squatting here for a whole day. Instead, she was holding a ginseng slice in her mouth.
"I've decided, I'm going to help him debut!"
Seeing her like this, the other fans nearby also became excited and asked who she was supporting. However, they still kept hope in their hearts, hoping that this "ownerless" fan would become their fan.
Who knew that when I looked at the camera——
"Hmm? So handsome!" A burst of admiration flowed out involuntarily, and in a moment several heads were crowded together, wishing their eyes were glued to the screen.
Sister Ponytail is really good at taking photos.
The young man happened to pass by the light at the corner. The pale light did not make him look like a ghost. Instead, it made him emit a layer of velvety light when he turned his head, like a furry kitten hiding its face in a hat in winter.
The shadows cut the face in two, one half bright, the other dark. The slightly curled black hair at the side of his neck climbed up his face, as if wantonly absorbing the youth's vitality, thus adding an inexplicable allure.
The background was clean, and Sister Ponytail captured the moment when the other people were not in the camera, so there was only the deep blue night sky behind the young man.
Quiet and beautiful, the pair of eyes swept across the camera lens indifferently, and the photo froze the scene at the moment when the last ray of light had not yet moved away.
The Da Pei family station girl wearing sunglasses next to them finally identified all the people with her extraordinary eyesight and started to report them.
"Next to Da Pei is Chen Chi, a dark-skinned high school student. He's said to be a great singer, but I'm not into that kind of thing, so I'll just swipe it. Next to him is Bai Wenji, who introduced himself as someone who likes—huh? Horror stories? Skip it, skip it, and then there's—"
"Fu Xunyan."
The voices of Sister Sunglasses and Sister Ponytail rang out together.
Sister Ponytail stared at the figure that was gradually leaving.
"He is Fu Xunyan."
**
Fu Xunyan and the other three did notice the commotion outside the fence gate.
Da Pei quickly nudged Chen Chi with his arm, signaling the other three to speed up.
"I forgot I even had fans."
Dabae put his hands in his pockets, his face expression nonchalant. He came from a major company and had been a trainee for two years. While he hadn't yet gained exposure, he had released a rudimentary self-composed song before the competition and had danced at concerts for his seniors, so he had a small following.
Fu Xunyan glanced at the place where the sound was getting louder and louder.
His memory came back with Da Pei's words, and every day and night here seven years ago was so clear.
In his previous life, he was trapped between his persona and reality, and was only willing to devote himself to the practice room. Every time he walked through this road, he was in a hurry and fully armed. So after the show, someone took a real photo of him and lamented why such a handsome guy became a hidden gem.
Those fans who were waiting there were speechless.
"Is that what we thought? He always wears a hooded sweatshirt that covers him up completely every time he goes out. We thought he was a photo scam and that's why we gradually stopped paying attention to him."
"If I had known he looked like this, I would have taken more photos of him. Maybe if I just sold him as a handsome guy photo, he could fetch a good price."
"Fu Xunyan? Fu Xunyan? Why are you daydreaming again?"
Bang—Fu Xunyan was lost in thought and failed to stop in time. He stumbled and bumped into Da Pei, and his head fell down due to inertia and hit the hard shoulder.
It hurts so much!
Da Pei hadn't expected Fu Xunyan to react so slowly. By the time he tried to stop him, it was too late. He could only stare wide-eyed and endure the blow. A trace of warmth and a brief, sharp pain lingered on his shoulder, but he didn't have time to respond.
"Wow are you okay! Come on, are you a child? Can't you control your legs when walking?"
Fu Xunyan rubbed the tip of his nose and said, "Maybe my legs are too long?"
I made a somewhat cold joke, but the other three people fell silent.
Fu Xunyan rubbed his head and frowned: "What's wrong with you?"
Shen Chi scratched his cheek: "That's right, I didn't expect you to joke."
Fu Xunyan couldn't help but sneered in an ambiguous manner - did he look so serious and silent?
"Yeah, aren't you?" Dabae folded his arms and answered as a matter of course, "Ask the other 99 trainees besides Jiang Han, who would think you're easy to talk to?"
"Do you have a misunderstanding about your own image? Do you still think you are the little sun?"
"Yin Xingheng." Fu Xunyan gave a counterexample very seriously.
"Damn it." Da Pei cursed subconsciously, his eyes, which were sharp in silence, showing a silly emotion, "Forget about him."
"This guy is such a naiveté! How dare he take the initiative to walk with you when everyone is afraid of you?"
Fu Xunyan shrugged. This was destined to be a secret between him and Yin Xingheng.
After some delay, the four of them finally had their meal before the cafeteria closed. They had different goals, so they served their food separately for efficiency.
Until this moment, Shen Chi, who had been listless all day, finally had some light in his eyes. He quickly trotted to the meat window, poked his head out and asked what other dishes were available.
"Could you give me one portion each of braised pork and spicy chicken, please?" Chen Chi happily put down the plate and looked around while waiting for the aunt to shake the spoon.
There was another group of trainees standing next to him. They didn't look like they were here to eat. Their hands were empty, but they were also looking at the dishes inside.
"Fuck..." one of them said impatiently, "Even though we're supposed to be on a diet, this dish is awful. Is it even edible? My dog won't even smell it, okay?"
The short trainee next to him glanced at Chen Chi with concern, and quickly took his companion in his arms: "Stop talking. You can't eat much anyway, so why are you complaining about this?"
Unexpectedly, the other party hadn't finished yet. He glanced at Chen Chi and then said, "You can't even do this? It's hard to imagine that people who like to eat this kind of thing are dying of poverty."
Shen Chi held the dinner plate, which contained a small amount of rice and three full dishes.
The leftovers on the plate made Shen Chi's heart chilled. He knew that the other party had clearly seen him, but still said that.
The dark-skinned kid now had a hunched back and looked a little pitiful, like a puppy afraid to hide under a restaurant corridor in the summer rain. He couldn't understand where the malice of those people came from, or even if it was real malice.
Chen Chi just felt uncomfortable, no matter whether those two people were targeting him or not, he felt uncomfortable.
"Are you ready?"
A voice was heard, and a shadow covered his shoulders. Chen Chi turned his neck and saw Fu Xunyan's gloomy face - his black eyes were not looking at him, but staring at the opposite side.
"I say, your dog is indeed a dog. It's not its fault if it can't eat human food. But you're not a dog, so why are you working so hard out there to represent it?"
The whole place was silent, probably because no one expected Fu Xunyan to be so aggressive.
The arm around his shoulders felt the coolness of the night. Fu Xunyan's body temperature was not high, but Chen Chi pursed his lips - he felt that the light above his head was very warm, so warm that his trembling heart also resumed its rhythm.
The trainee opposite was being pulled away by his companions to stop him, but Fu Xunyan didn't care. He took the plate from Chen Chi and pulled him into his arms with a force.
"Let's go eat. Don't listen to those nonsense. Even if the conditions are not good, you have to make do with them. You have to eat more with your small body to prevent yourself from growing taller in the future."
Chen Chi looked at his Pacific-broad shoulders and one-meter-long legs in confusion, and was a little unsure whether his brother Fu was still performing to mock the two trainees who were only one-meter-seven.
After sitting down, Fu Xunyan began to pick out the green peppers from the stir-fried pork and green peppers with a depressed look on his face. It wasn't that he couldn't stand the taste of green peppers at all, but he just didn't like their texture because it was similar to eggplant.
By the way, Fu Xunyan hates eating eggplant the most, always hates it.
"Green peppers are so delicious, how could you not like them?" Da Pei, standing opposite, looked shocked, as if Fu Xunyan had done something unforgivable. But seeing such delicious green peppers being picked aside, he felt his hands itching.
But before he could reach for his chopsticks, a brown wrist moved quickly. The eighteen-year-old boy looked a bit timid at his age.
"Brother Fu, I like to eat green peppers. If you don't mind, I can help you with it." Shen Chi finally finished the sentence, but he felt a little regretful. He seemed to feel that his behavior had crossed the line, and his face turned slightly red.
Fu Xunyan glanced at him strangely.
"Of course, I haven't touched it yet so it's clean. But I'll never understand why anyone likes green peppers."
"If you talk like this, you will get beaten up sometimes." Bai Wenji, who was standing next to him, took out the cutlery he brought with him, wiped it clean, and ate shredded green peppers in front of Fu Xunyan.
Da Pei didn't listen to Bai Wenji's words. He just felt that Chen Chi was puzzled - what happened between him and Fu Xunyan? How could they become good friends so quickly that they could share food on each other's plates?
Please, he was the first person in the dormitory to greet Fu Xunyan and the first person to speak to Shen Chi. How could these two people skip him?
The more he thought about it, the more depressed he became. Da Pei suddenly had an idea and hooked his arm around Bai Wenji's shoulders.
"What are you doing?" Bai Wenji felt like his tail was stepped on, and thanks to his good upbringing he did not push Dapei away.
"What are you talking about? We are good brothers since we live in the same dormitory. What's wrong with putting your arm around someone's shoulder? Don't you want to? I can let you put your arm around him." Da Pei smiled brightly, making it impossible to dislike him.
Bai Wenji was stunned for a moment, but did not resist. He just rolled his eyes slightly and continued eating.
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