CHAPTER 109: CHAPTER 106: DORMITORY CONFLICT

With a complexion livid with anger, Chen Afang left in humiliation.

She hadn’t expected that, as someone from Australia, she would be treated like this.

When she returned to the dorm angrily, she suddenly caught a whiff of cigarette smoke.

"Who’s smoking? This is a public space—our dorm."

A half-asleep Yang Ni and Lv Xiaoxue were instantly jolted awake, confused by the commotion caused by this woman.

Fuming to the extreme, Chen Afang glanced at Natasha’s bed. Sure enough, it was that Russian "bitch" again.

Bang! Bang!

"Open the door! I need to take a shower."

Natasha, who was inside the bathroom, ignored Chen Afang. But then, Chen Afang overheard her seemingly talking to someone—it sounded like she was on the phone.

"Open the door! It’s my time to shower now!" Chen Afang knocked even harder.

Yang Ni and Lv Xiaoyu felt like they were about to lose their minds.

Previously, they had agreed upon designated shower times. Technically, this time slot was indeed Chen Afang’s. But since she had just gone to look for Yang Xiaoyue, no one knew when she’d be back, so Natasha used it instead.

They were all adults now; things like this should just be resolved with a simple conversation. Was there even a need to escalate it?

"I’m on the phone with my boyfriend. I need another half an hour," Natasha, clearly realizing she was at fault, suppressed her anger and calmly replied.

Chen Afang, however, was even more enraged: "Talking to your boyfriend for half an hour? Are you talking or doing something else?"

Hearing this, Yang Ni and Lv Xiaoyu couldn’t help but laugh. Their minds conjured up a depraved image, though what Chen Afang implied might actually be quite plausible coming from Natasha.

"Damn it!" Seeing that the door simply wouldn’t budge, Chen Afang stormed off in a fury.

It wasn’t long before two dorm supervisors showed up, and Yang Ni and Lv Xiaoyu realized things had escalated.

Sure enough, Natasha’s cigarettes and phone were confiscated.

The aftermath was that early the next morning, the show’s production team conducted a full inspection of all dorms. Smoking and drinking products were banned entirely, and phones were scanned with detection equipment again, resulting in over a hundred phones being confiscated.

"Director Yang, do we need to search even more thoroughly? Based on my experience, there are likely still more," the staff in charge of logistics suggested.

"No need." Yang Xiaoyue smiled faintly.

When she returned to the control room, Sun Miao was waiting for her there.

"That should count as a decent warning for them, right?" Sun Miao said with a grin.

"To be honest, I’ve wanted to crack down for a while now. There just hadn’t been an opportunity. The messages they needed to send have already been sent; it’s time to get them in line," Yang Xiaoyue replied.

"What about Chen Afang? She’s managed to alienate everyone with this incident."

"Hmph! If she didn’t still have some utility, I would’ve had her kicked off long ago."

"Oh! Xiaoyue, what exactly happened?"

Yang Xiaoyue explained Chen Afang’s behavior, and Sun Miao’s expression became equally grim.

This type of "Gao Hua," who wants to earn money here while flaunting a superior attitude, was truly revolting.

"Xiaoyue, I think we should avoid featuring her in any unnecessary program shots going forward."

"That’s exactly what I was thinking. She’s like a ticking time bomb."

Yang Xiaoyue fully agreed with her friend’s remarks. Once the show aired, any further embarrassment involving Chen Afang would land them in hot water.

"What about Natasha? Is her smoking and phone incident just going to pass like that?" Sun Miao asked.

"I’ve already instructed the team to cut her screen time down to the absolute minimum—or even entirely. From now on, anyone caught violating these rules will face the same treatment."

"Xiaoyue, for the upcoming episodes, I think we should explore some CP narratives."

"CP? Like Galaxy?"

Yang Xiaoyue didn’t immediately take to the suggestion; this was a mainstream platform, not some low-budget niche show.

"Exactly. The key to Galaxy’s success was CP. Here, we can’t rely solely on songs, dances, and personas to attract viewers—it’s too hard."

"Miaomiao, we need to approach this CP idea with caution, and you know why."

"We can subtly hint at it without making it overt."

Sun Miao’s suggestion puzzled Yang Xiaoyue—what exactly did she mean by "subtly hinting"?

"We just need to edit specific clips showcasing friendships between the girls. As those circulate on social media, we can have people spin the narrative into romantic undertones."

After pondering on it, Yang Xiaoyue smiled, "That’s a clever approach. We can’t control what people think anyway, and the footage we use will still be authentic."

Yang Xiaoyue continued, "Who do you think we should focus on first?"

"Lv Fangxin and Chen Yinghan—they’re a perfect match," Sun Miao answered confidently.

She then elaborated, "One’s a rural working girl; the other’s a wealthy city heiress. That sort of clichéd contrast appeals to girls who love indulging in fantasies."

"Would Ye Yuwei and Yang Ni be possible?" Yang Xiaoyue asked, catching Sun Miao off guard.

"That... seems hard. They don’t even look compatible physically," Sun Miao replied without hesitation.

"A girl like Ye Yuwei, with her talent, would really be wasted without the right partnership," Yang Xiaoyue sighed.

"What if we pair Ye Yuwei with Meng Meixuan instead? This way, we can both leverage Yuwei’s appeal and undermine Yuehua’s plan to use Meixuan to garner fans with CP content," Sun Miao suggested.

"Sounds good. Let’s edit some videos of them first to test the response," Yang Xiaoyue agreed.

Just as the two were plotting, another incident erupted in the dorms.

Chen Afang stared in disbelief at her locker. Her clothes were now covered in a layer of white, milky liquid—it was utterly disgusting.

Yang Ni and Lv Xiaoyu stood aside without saying a word of comfort.

Chen Afang’s recent decision to report Natasha had led everyone to resent her deeply.

The girl group may have its share of bullying, but it follows certain unspoken rules:

You either bow down or retaliate, but snitching is the most disgraceful route.

Chen Afang sensed the change in the atmosphere. Previously, everyone called her "Ms. Chen" and sought her advice on singing. Now, no one wanted to interact with her.

After brooding for a while, she grabbed a dirty piece of clothing and left.

Lv Xiaoxue and Yang Ni shared a knowing look but said nothing, mindful of the cameras in the room.

Feeling stifled, the two decided to visit Ye Yuwei’s dorm next door, only to find it completely empty.

"They’re not back yet? It’s already 1 a.m.," Yang Ni remarked in surprise.

"Probably still practicing. Let’s head to the practice room—it’s better than staying here sulking," Lv Xiaoxue said, linking arms with Yang Ni.

When they arrived at the practice room, they found Ye Yuwei and the others still at it.

"What are you all doing here? Haven’t learned it yet?" Yang Ni shouted as she approached them.

"Didn’t feel like staying in the dorm. It’s more spacious here," Guo Xia replied first.

"The theme song evaluation is the day after tomorrow. Who knows if I’ll be able to stay in Class A," Guo Xia went on, sounding anxious.

At 27 years old and aware of her subpar singing, she was desperate to make the most of this opportunity.

"Don’t worry, you’ll be fine. For a girl group, dancing well is the most important thing anyway," Qiang Yueting reassured her.

"It’s getting late. How about we go back and have a midnight snack together?" Meng Meixuan, who stuck closely to Ye Yuwei, suggested.

"Forget it. Someone hates us eating in the dorm. Says we’ll ruin the environment and her ’beautiful voice,’" Qiang Yueting said sarcastically, smirking.

At the mention of Chen Afang, Meng Meixuan frowned. Earlier that afternoon, Chen Afang had confronted them about it, even though they hadn’t eaten anything, saying it was just a precautionary warning.

"Fine, let’s just rest. We need to conserve energy for the evaluation the day after tomorrow," Ye Yuwei suggested, hoping to avoid unnecessary conflict.

Since arriving, Ye Yuwei had noticed that none of the girls here were easy to deal with; they were even more scheming than those back in Hanoi.

But that was to be expected—they were all the "elite" within their respective companies. Getting here meant they undoubtedly had their own tricks.