CHAPTER 187: CHAPTER 182: BEFORE 1 KILOMETER

In the fire escape passage, Lai Ruoxuan was sitting in the corner, crying.

She felt that both of her teammates would leave, and Jiang Meixing and Lu Peiqin were trying to comfort her.

Lai Ruoxuan’s outward persona was completely different from who she was inside.

Her inner self was very sensitive, deeply concerned about how others viewed her.

At the same time, she cherished the friendships among the girls; Jiang Meixing and the others were friends who had shared trials and hardships with her.

Jiang Meixing looked at the crying Lai Ruoxuan and felt her mood sinking. In her girl group, she was undoubtedly the center position, the most popular one.

But here, everything had changed; she was reduced to being just one among the most insignificant trainees.

Who didn’t want to become famous? Who didn’t want to stay in this already hit show? But reality was cruel.

Lu Peiqin didn’t know what to say either. She had initially come here just to take on a gig, but now she truly wanted to keep going.

Their company had already sent word through connections, making it clear to them that the company had exerted its utmost—everything else depended on themselves.

Outside, Yang Ni was hiding in a corner, and as soon as a cameraman approached, she would immediately leave. She now resisted being filmed from the bottom of her heart.

She knew she had been set up, and she had been replaying every detail of that day in her mind, over and over.

Why had Meixuan and Zixuan suddenly been so warm, so kind to her, only to then drift farther and farther away?

She was still too naïve. How could she have forgotten the darkness of the entertainment circle?

Here, the girls seemed full of trust and affection for one another, but how many truly opened their hearts?

"Yang Ni, don’t worry. Everything will get better,"

Lost in her pain and despair, Yang Ni looked up. It was Liu Danmeng, the girl who could perform Latin dance. Now, her face, possessing a kind of wild beauty, was full of empathy and sorrow.

"Thank you," Yang Ni gave a bitter smile.

"Yang Ni, if you really don’t want to be looked down upon, you need to pull yourself together," Liu Danmeng looked at her seriously.

"As long as you win and debut here, those who slandered you will just be laughingstocks. But if you lose, you’ll blame yourself for the rest of your life."

"I want to pull myself together, but I’m done for. No one will support me anymore." Yang Ni chuckled bitterly and turned to leave.

Liu Danmeng’s big eyes instantly welled up with tears, fixated on the departing figure, feeling as though her heart had shattered.

Over there, Zhang Zijing had just finished a photo session with her small performance group. She wanted to find others for photos but suddenly felt like there was no one she knew well.

While she hesitated, Wu Youxuan from the Half of the Golden Autumn girl group approached.

"Zijing, can I speak with you privately?" Wu Youxuan’s eyes seemed to hold a complex emotion.

Zhang Zijing felt surprised by the other girl’s request. Since arriving at the base, they hadn’t interacted at all, and she had no idea what Wu Youxuan wanted to say.

"Sure!" Zhang Zijing felt nervous, her palms breaking out in cold sweat.

The two of them went to the fire escape passage.

"Zijing, actually, I’ve really wanted to get to know you, but you seem like such a cold and aloof person."

"Not at all. It’s just that I look a certain way that makes people hesitate to approach. Actually, I love making friends."

Zhang Zijing worked to calm herself down; she seemed to have realized something.

Wu Youxuan had her own unique beauty.

Like Ju Lin, she was a mixed-race beauty.

Wu Youxuan hesitated a moment before continuing, "Today is probably my last day here. I think, if I don’t say anything now, I won’t have the chance."

Seeing Zhang Zijing silently watching her, Wu Youxuan’s heart surged with an uncontrollable sadness.

"This is for you; inside are the things I wanted to say," Wu Youxuan said, handing over a pink heart folded from letter paper.

Zhang Zijing was just as moved and was about to open it, but Wu Youxuan reached out to stop her hand. Her slender fingers lingered briefly on the back of the other’s hand, "Open it after you go back."

Ye Yuwei was also taking photos with the companions she had once worked hard alongside.

She felt like it was almost the same as graduation.

Here, she felt an atmosphere different from Hanoi. Hanoi was more painful and oppressive; here, it was warmer and full of affection.

Many wanted to take pictures with her, and other popular trainees were also taking group photos with countless others.

Lv Fangxin tried several times to approach her, but Ye Yuwei stopped her with glances each time.

She understood. The relationships were delicate now; if she got too close to Lv Fangxin, it would trigger a large chain reaction.

The production team would definitely use the two of them for hype, and at that point, things would spiral into unpredictable directions.

"Yuwei, let’s have lunch together at noon!" Wu Zixuan walked over and grabbed her arm.

The surrounding girls instinctively backed away; they were somewhat afraid of Wu Zixuan and Meng Meixuan. Yang Ni’s past experience was a deep cautionary tale.

"Sure!" Ye Yuwei responded straightforwardly. She judged that Wu Zixuan’s company wouldn’t try those tactics again.

Moreover, she didn’t walk the androgynous route; they wouldn’t use that sort of thing to smear her.

"Shihan, let’s join in too!" Wu Zixuan called out with a smile to Li Shihan, who wasn’t far away.

The latter hesitated but eventually agreed. Here, her friendships were not too bad.

Over there, Meng Meixuan watched Wu Zixuan networking and felt a bit disdainful.

This ’Fake Smile Zixuan’ was clearly just preparing for the second public performance.

"Meixuan, let’s have lunch together." Lu Xiaoman walked over and looped her arm through Meixuan’s.

"Sure! I need to eat lots of pork trotters today to boost my health." Meng Meixuan laughed.

Gradually, the crowd dispersed. Chen Afang also left with a face full of anger; no one had wanted to take photos with her, the ’high-value’ Afang.

The whole morning passed amid this bittersweet and melancholy atmosphere.

Back in their rooms, those who felt they were about to leave began packing up their things.

It was at this moment they realized how much they had bought through online shopping over this past month.

Among them, none of the A-class members packed up their things—they didn’t believe the production team would let them leave.

Lv Fangxin also wanted to pack her things, but Chen Yinghan stopped her, "Don’t worry! You won’t be leaving."

"I think I will." Lv Fangxin carefully folded a pair of socks and placed them into her luggage.

"Your rankings are so high, and you have so many fans—you won’t be leaving!" Chen Yinghan thought Lv Fangxin was adorably naïve.

"I don’t have fans. Those votes were bought by my boss; I know—fifty-one days of trending."

"That’s impossible. Is your boss really rich? And those trends, they’re not entirely bought, are they?"

As the two of them talked, Lu Peiqin came in from outside.

"Fangxin, this is my lucky bear—the first fan gift I ever received. I want to give it to you, to wish you good luck on your journey."

"Peiqin..." Lv Fangxin couldn’t hold back any longer and hugged Peiqin tightly, crying.

It was the first time she truly felt the cruelty of this industry—how people who seemed to be fine must part ways.

In another dormitory, Jiang Mengqi was also packing up her cooking pots and utensils.

"Ah, such a pity! None of this will be used anymore. I was hoping to keep cooking meals for you all."

"Mengqi, you’ll stay," Han Qiuhua said with a trace of sorrow.

"I know I won’t. Probably only Ziyi from our group will stay," Jiang Mengqi chuckled softly, having come to terms with it.

Han Qiuhua, her eyes now red, didn’t say anything else. After all, wasn’t she feeling the same?

She was unwilling, disappointed, yet at this point, all she could do was resign herself to fate.