CHAPTER 116: CHAPTER 113: COLLECTING SNACKS

The next day

Everyone was dragged off again to shoot individual promotional videos for Natural Idol: Hello Founder, and this round of filming was back-to-back.

This time, the shooting was grouped according to the original teams of the girls, and the script respected the opinions of their original companies.

Even though Penguin had simplified the filming process as much as possible, it still consumed nearly three days.

"I’m sorry, Yuwei." In the makeup room while waiting for their turn to shoot, Lu Bingbing softly said these few words.

"Captain, your mind is in disarray." Ye Yuwei didn’t look at Lu Bingbing.

Lu Bingbing fell silent. After a long pause, she said, "This might be my last chance. Next year, the company won’t allow me to participate in such a large-scale show again."

"I know, so I don’t blame you. However, Captain, are you really willing to give up this year’s general elections and gamble on this chance to debut?"

Lu Bingbing frowned, not understanding why Ye Yuwei brought this up.

Ye Yuwei smiled faintly and continued:

"Next year, you’ll graduate. This year, your fans from ’Hehe’ will undoubtedly do everything they can to ensure you graduate gracefully, striving to boost you into the top three elites. After that, the company would likely arrange for you to star in a drama."

"But if you want to debut from this show, those fans will have to divert their efforts to support Penguin voting. The company’s interests will certainly be hurt, and they probably won’t back you."

Every word Ye Yuwei said struck deep into Lu Bingbing’s heart. These were all the things she was worried about.

Just as the atmosphere between the two dropped to freezing point, a staff member entered and told them to go shoot their "self-introduction."

After nearly two hours of filming, Ye Yuwei returned to the dorm, ready to rest, only to suddenly hear the announcement over the intercom that the mentors were conducting a dorm inspection and everyone should prepare.

"If it’s a dorm inspection, why are they telling us to prepare?" Qiang Yueting found this odd.

"So you don’t scare them off with your ’nothing on’ look!" Meng Meixuan burst into laughter.

"Pfft! More like shock them with delight! Over a hundred beautiful girls..." Qiang Yueting startled herself with her own train of thought.

Li Shihan, sitting to the side, was downright terrified. She licked her lips and quickly ran to the bathroom to check if her outfit might spark any wild imaginations.

The dorms of all five classes descended into chaos, best described as "utter mayhem."

"Zixuan, what are you doing? Why are you trying on outfits now? Hurry up and get dressed!" Fu Xiaoyu was throwing on a T-shirt in a rush.

"Xiaoyu, which outfit do you think looks better on me? How about this velvet one?" Wu Zixuan seemed oblivious to the other’s words.

"...What are you even doing? You’re not going on a date! Just throw something on." Fu Xiaoyu felt her friend was acting strangely.

Fifteen minutes later, Long Zitao and Luo Junxiang arrived at the dorms to conduct their inspection.

"Everyone, take out all your snacks. From now on, no eating snacks is allowed." Long Zitao, holding a back scratcher, scanned everyone in Lv Fangxin’s dorm with a mischievous look.

"Ah! Why are you taking our snacks?" Lv Fangxin glared at him, clutching a bag of "Magic Fruits" tightly.

"Because recently, your weight has exceeded the baseline from when you arrived, and that’s putting a lot of pressure on Director Yang. She’s afraid you might crush the stage." Luo Junxiang’s gaze lingered a bit longer on Zhang Xiaohan.

He felt this girl had somehow become even more beautiful. Her innocent face carried a kind of pure sensual charm.

Zhang Xiaohan also felt Luo Junxiang’s gaze. Her fair cheeks instantly flushed with two shades of red.

"Zhang Xiaohan, what are you wearing on your head?" Luo Junxiang wore a grin reminiscent of a libertine nobleman.

"I’m wearing bunny ears." Zhang Xiaohan, heart pounding wildly, dared not look into his eyes. The fluffy bunny ears were part of a set that included a round bunny tail.

"So, you’re a pretty little bunny."

Hearing his words, Zhang Xiaohan’s drunken blush spread all the way down to her neck.

Luo Junxiang’s gaze followed the blush, landing on a curve of snowy white that almost made him lose restraint.

"Host Long, there’s not much here. We’re all good children," Chen Yinghan said with a smile, purposefully stepping in front of Zhang Xiaohan.

Lu Xiaoman, though, let out a faintly mocking smile, as if to say the other was meddling unnecessarily.

"Not much here, huh? Let’s check the next dorm." Long Zitao chuckled as he pulled Luo Junxiang away.

After they left, Chen Yinghan wanted to say something to Zhang Xiaohan, who still seemed lost in fangirl daydreams, but when she glanced at the cameras in the room, she refrained.

"Xiaohan, now that we’re here, we need to focus entirely on training and debuting." Chen Yinghan ultimately said something.

"Mm!" Zhang Xiaohan responded absentmindedly, clearly not grasping the deeper meaning.

Lv Fangxin seemed to understand something. Her small face was filled with thoughtful expressions.

Though the time here had been short, she felt as if she were slowly getting smarter. Many things she previously didn’t grasp were beginning to make sense.

"What are you guys doing? Why is this place so clean?" Long Zitao arrived at Ye Yuwei’s dorm and noticed something amiss.

"It’s always been clean!" Qiang Yueting replied nervously with a forced smile, echoed by awkward grins from the others.

"Then why are both dorms’ people gathered in one room?" Long Zitao stared at them with a knowing smirk.

"Because we’re warmly welcoming you! It’d be dull with fewer people." Wu Meiying, ever energetic, twirled her twin braids and grinned.

"Really? I don’t think so. Zixuan, why haven’t you removed your makeup so late at night?" Long Zitao thought he had spotted a flaw.

Wu Zixuan immediately became embarrassed. "I haven’t slept yet, so I didn’t remove it."

Her voice was gentle, her gaze sparkling like stars. Her sweet yet mature face bore a graceful smile.

"You must have gotten tipped off in advance and hid all the snacks. Take them out." Long Zitao’s playful side emerged. "Actually, I checked the cameras before coming. I know exactly where you hid them."

"Ah! That! That!" Qiang Yueting swallowed nervously. "You really saw where we hid the snacks?"

"Aqiang, he’s bluffing! You’re too gullible." Wu Zixuan huffed, wishing she could knock some sense into her friend.

"Hurry and take them out, or I’ll start searching." Long Zitao continued to threaten.

Left with no choice, Qiang Yueting went to the neighboring dorm and, under the cameraman’s astonished gaze, pulled out a pink satin garment. Beneath the thin silk layer were hidden piles of snacks.

It turned out that, having gotten a tip-off, Qiang Yueting and her dormmates decided with the neighboring room to stash all their snacks in one place, thinking they could get away by staying in the snack-less room.

"Hahaha, I knew you had some! Your weights have gone up the fastest." Long Zitao ripped open a pack of beef jerky and started eating, finding the flavor quite good.

His comment threw everyone into a state of panic, even the usually quiet Li Zimeng and Zhang Zijing visibly tensed up.

"Host Long, please leave us some of the snacks! Tomorrow’s Yuwei’s birthday, and we wanted to celebrate with her." Lv Xiaoxue looked at him pitifully.

Long Zitao froze for a moment, then glanced at Ye Yuwei, who had been avoiding his gaze. When their eyes met, her clear gaze—like a spring in the mountains—made his heart race like a drum.

Standing beside Ye Yuwei, Wu Zixuan felt a wave of unease. From his eyes, she could see something. Her intuition told her she was not wrong.

"Yes! Host Long, tomorrow is my birthday. You wouldn’t let me eat a boxed meal for my birthday, would you?" Ye Yuwei played along with Lv Xiaoxue, her voice turning pitiful.

"Nope. All snacks must be taken away, not a single one spared. A full inspection will be done." Long Zitao’s response nearly caused everyone to faint.

Meng Meixuan and Gao Yingxi laughed so hard they nearly doubled over, watching this group of women scramble and scheme, only to end up empty-handed at the end.