-24- Revealed
As if she felt she'd cooled the atmosphere, Sister Zou pulled Zhao Jinghuan for a selfie, claiming it was a record of their first "late-night date." They posed for a while, then Sister Zou picked out a shot of them clinking glasses and posted it to the group to show off. Tomato nitpicked the photo, saying that eating only frozen meat in hot pot was a blasphemy against the god of hot pot. Sister Zou ignored him, but Lu Kai suddenly replied, "I can't sleep either. I'll go find you!" He seemed completely unconcerned about the Shura Field incident. Sister Zou pouted, saying in the group that after 6 p.m., this was Jinghuan's home. "Why did you just come over like that? Didn't you even ask Jinghuan's opinion?" As soon as Sister Zou finished speaking in the group chat, Lu Kai called Zhao Jinghuan's phone. Zhao Jinghuan pressed speakerphone, and Lu Kai's voice rang through the receiver: "Quick! Jinghuan! Approve my application to join the group!" Zhao Jinghuan looked at Sister Zou pleading for help. Sister Zou gave a helpless smile, waved her hand, and said, "Don't let me influence you. Make your own decision." Zhao Jinghuan couldn't refuse Lu Kai. Seeing that Sister Zou didn't object, she bit the bullet and let him come. Fortunately, upon hearing that Lu Kai was coming, Tomato couldn't sit still either. He announced in the group that he would come too, regardless of whether the others agreed or not. Lu Kai and Tomato left one after another, but the first to arrive at the studio was Dorasi, who wasn't even in the WeChat group. She appeared in her pajamas, complaining that she couldn't sleep, like a little girl who had a nightmare and ran to the next door to find her mother. Ten minutes later, Tomato arrived carrying two large bags of beef, sealed in disposable plates. He carried them into the kitchen and placed them on the table, one plate after another, muttering, "This is the dragon, this is the neck, this is the toe, this is the chest..." Even to Zou Jie and Zhao Jinghuan, aside from the white plate of beef chest, the rest looked identical. Lu Kai arrived empty-handed. After entering the room, Tomato scolded him for over ten minutes before he went to the downstairs store and paid for two 2L Cokes. By then, only Wanfeng was left out of the Waikiki studio. After sitting down to eat a few bites of hot pot, they all felt a little strange about Wanfeng's absence. Finally, they called Wanfeng, who had said he didn't want to stay up late while recuperating. It was almost eleven o'clock when the entire Waikiki studio arrived. Tomato spent a long while explaining how long different cuts of meat should be simmered in the pot, but Lu Kai and the others ignored him, picking up plates and shoving half the meat into the pot, leaving Tomato furious. I don’t know whether it is…
As if she felt that she had dulled the atmosphere, Sister Zou pulled Zhao Jinghuan to take a selfie, saying it was to record their first "late-night date."
They posed for photos for a while, then Sister Zou picked out a photo of them clinking glasses and posted it to the group to show off. Tomato criticized the photo, saying that eating only frozen meat in hot pot was a blasphemy against the gods of hot pot. Sister Zou ignored him, but Lu Kai suddenly replied, "I can't sleep either. I'll go find you guys!" He seemed completely unconcerned about the Shura Field incident.
Sister Zou curled her lips. She had said in the group chat that after 6pm this would be Jinghuan's home. "Why did you just come over like that? Didn't you even ask Jinghuan's opinion?"
Just as Sister Zou finished speaking in the group chat, Lu Kai called Zhao Jinghuan's phone. Zhao Jinghuan pressed the hands-free button, and Lu Kai's nagging voice came out of the receiver:
"Quick! Jing Huan! Approve my application to join the group!"
Zhao Jinghuan looked at Sister Zou as if asking for help. Sister Zou smiled helplessly, waved her hand and said, "Don't let me influence you. Make your own decision."
Zhao Jinghuan really couldn't refuse Lu Kai, and seeing that Sister Zou had no objection, she just had to bite the bullet and let him come. Fortunately, when Fanqie heard that Lu Kai was coming, he couldn't sit still anymore and said in the group that he would come too, regardless of whether others agreed or not.
Lu Kai and Fanqie set out one after another, but the one who arrived at the studio first was Dorasi, who was not in the WeChat group at all. She showed up in pajamas and said aggrievedly that she couldn't sleep, just like a little girl who had a nightmare in the middle of the night and ran to the next door to find her mother.
Ten minutes later, Tomato arrived carrying two large bags of beef, sealed in disposable plates. He carried them into the kitchen and placed them on the table, one plate after another, muttering, "This is the dragon, this is the neck, this is the toe, this is the breast..." Even to Zou and Zhao Jinghuan, aside from the white breast, the rest looked identical. Lu Kai arrived empty-handed. After being scolded by Tomato for over ten minutes, he finally went to the store downstairs and bought two 2L Cokes.
By this time, Wanfeng was the only one left from the Waikiki crowd. They sat down to eat a few bites of hot pot, and they all felt that Wanfeng's absence was a bit strange. Finally, they called Wanfeng over, who had said he didn't want to stay up late while recuperating.
It was almost eleven o'clock in the evening when all the staff of the Waikiki studio arrived. Tomato spent a long time explaining to everyone how long different parts of meat needed to be boiled in the pot. However, Lu Kai and the others turned a deaf ear to him. They picked up the plate and pushed half of the meat into the pot in one go, which made Tomato very anxious.
I don't know who started it, but as everyone was eating, they suddenly started gossiping. At first, they were talking about Mr. Zhou's ex-wife running to the factory to ask for a dog, and then they suddenly started imagining how much money the studio could make after the big hit of Little Freckles.
Zhao Jinghuan opened the calculator on her phone and started calculating. Sister Zou taught her how to remove the channel fees and how to deduct taxes. Zhao Jinghuan multiplied and subtracted, and finally came up with a number that made her eyes light up:
"Then we're going to be rich!"
Lu Kai couldn't pretend to be a master who kept his emotions secret, so he just laughed foolishly. Late at night, a few people were holding beer, cola, and water, and the clinking of their glasses was the sound of a dream coming true.
As soon as he put the cup down, Fanqie quickly interrupted, "Lu Kai, if you make money this time, you have to make me a version of the Dragon Palace Elementary School Student. Although I haven't assembled fifty-six models like Wanfeng, I have a mature plan for the entire series. I also did some research, and many potential consumers really like the Dragon Palace Elementary School Student design."
Lu Kai rolled his eyes at him and said, "You said last time that you did some market research, but you only asked your parents and the butcher downstairs."
Tomato remained calm: "That's because I was doing a survey at the entrance of Pop Mart and got kicked out. This time, I was doing the survey among my own fan group."
Lu Kai grabbed the paper on the table and threw it at his face: "Listen to what you are saying!"
The two of them argued loudly, and finally Sister Zou had to intervene to stop them. Wanfeng suddenly recounted some anecdotes from their time at HEC. Zhao Jinghuan listened with a smile. Initially, she found them amusing, but as they continued, a vague sense of loss crept in. After all, none of these stories mentioned her. She was lost in thought when Sister Zou suddenly pulled a stool over to her side, tilted her head, and rested it on her shoulder.
Zhao Jinghuan glanced at the tipsy Zou and realized that she was afraid that she would feel like an outsider. Zhao Jinghuan felt warm in her heart and gently took Zou's hand.
Tomato took over Wanfeng's words, and became more and more excited and louder as he spoke. When he turned his head, he found Lu Kaixin leaning against the back of the chair absent-mindedly, holding a paper cup in his hand and lost in thought. Tomato kicked his stool.
"How come your eyes are straight? Can you drink too much?"
Lu Kai came back to his senses: "I just suddenly remembered that we haven't gathered together to eat and drink for a long time."
Sister Zou rolled her eyes at him and said, "What do you mean it's been a while? This is the first time we've been together."
Lu Kaizhi knew that she was reminding him not to forget Zhao Jinghuan, so he nodded quickly and said, "Yes, it's the first time." Zhao Jinghuan was a little embarrassed by them: "You don't have to take care of me like this, I won't be jealous."
Sister Zou pointed at the portrait outside the door and said, "You are already a Doram person. If you are not counted, Dorasi will be unhappy."
Dorasi, who was showing off his vegetables with his head down, heard Sister Zou mention him. He quickly bit off the Chinese spinach and nodded frantically.
Lu Kai's gaze fell on Sister Zou's face, and he didn't move away for a long time. The people in the room noticed something was wrong and fell silent. Sister Zou picked up the ring on the table and threw it at Lu Kai: "What's wrong with you again?"
Lu Kai suddenly said to Sister Zou, "Can you please not leave?"
Sister Zou turned her head and glanced at Tomato, but Tomato didn't look at her. Instead, his eyes were fixed on the slices of meat floating up and down in the hot pot.
Hearing Lu Kai's tone, Zhao Jinghuan felt inexplicably sour in her heart, but this jealousy did not last long. She turned her head to look at Sister Zou who was leaning on her shoulder, and found that her eyes were red. The jealousy instantly turned into heartache, and she subconsciously held Sister Zou's arm tightly.
Tomato suddenly changed the subject: "Oh my, why do you always bring up these unhappy things!" He glanced at the time, "Ah, it's already 2:15!"
Everyone realized it was already fifteen minutes past the 2:00 AM ceremony. They quickly pulled out their phones to try to access the Mini Awards homepage, only to find it was inaccessible.
"What a crappy website! How many people care about this award? They're just copying others and crashing websites."
Tomato suddenly shouted: "Hey hey hey——"
Lu Kai and the others asked him, "What's wrong? Did you get the result? Did you win the prize?"
Tomato shook his head and said, "No, no, I actually found the live broadcast of the award ceremony."
Lu Kai yelled at Tomato to share the link, but Tomato said, "I can't find the button."
Sister Zou scolded him while moving closer to him: "You can find such a hard-to-find live broadcast, but you can't even share a link?" Everyone wanted to move closer to Tomato, but the kitchen was not big, and a lot of space was taken up by the table and tomatoes. As a result, everyone bumped into each other and I pushed you, and no one could get close.
It was Zhao Jinghuan who reacted quickly and rushed to the living room to turn on the TV.
"Cast the screen, come and cast the screen!"
Several people hurriedly made way for Tomato. Tomato rushed to the TV and fiddled with it for a while. The sound and picture were played on the TV at the same time. A red-haired white man in a sweater was standing on a small stage that was a bit cramped and looked like a practice room, chattering in English.
Lu Kai complained, "Aren't we in Italy? Why are you still speaking English?" Then he vaguely heard the man say "xiaoqueban".
Lu Kai and Zhao Jinghuan jumped up excitedly. Sister Zou, the only one in the room who could understand English, waved them down: "Why are you shouting? They're just reading out the shortlist!"
Then a plump African-American woman in a white shirt and jeans came up with a small note and handed it to the white man on the stage.
Sister Zou then said, "I'm coming."
The red-haired man unfolded the note and read out a word that sounded unfamiliar.
Lu Kai and Zhao Jinghuan looked confused: "What did the man say?"
Sister Zou frowned and said nothing.
"What's the matter? What did the man say?"
"Sister Zou, please say something."
The atmosphere in the room grew cold. Sister Zou didn't answer, but everyone understood.
Freckles didn't win any prize.
Author's Note
Yaunai
author
05-16
I feel like the first stage roster has been revealed! It doesn't matter. Lu Kai can earn back his five million, and I can get back into the top ten! Thanks for voting! It's all up to you!
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