CHAPTER 76: CHAPTER 76: GO AHEAD AND SLEEP

Being a star is not that easy.

Yu Xia and Shu Ran sat at the entrance of the rehearsal room, watching Xie Qingci seriously practice every move, every note, in the midst of the crowd.

Repeat, repeat, and repeat again.

For any part he’s not proficient in, he’ll ask Song Xi and Ning Yunchao for guidance, and when others ask him, he tries his best to help too.

Bit by bit, his hair gets wet, his clothes can be wrung out, sweat trickles down his neck, and many people have stopped to rest, but he’s still persisting.

He only sits down to catch his breath when there’s hardly anyone left standing.

He reaches up to push his damp, tousled hair back, and tilts his head to drink water.

She hadn’t seen how seriously he used to study in school, but she imagines it must be similar to now—putting in the effort, then achieving good results.

Seeing that almost everyone was taking a break, Yu Xia called for drinks to be delivered, and Shu Ran brought snacks.

"These are snacks for dieting, you can eat them without worry."

Shu Ran is an expert in this area, and everyone knows it. So, many people took snacks, their eyes seemingly gleaming with green light.

Indeed, practicing day and night while maintaining a slim figure, they’re all still young; those with big appetites likely feel hungry often.

Seeing this made Yu Xia’s heart soften, and she spoke unusually gently while distributing the items.

"Eat something, rest a bit, then practice again, otherwise your stomach might feel uncomfortable. It’s good to work hard, but don’t neglect your health."

Song Xi paused when he took the items, then pursed his lips and replied, "Thank you, Sister Yu Xia."

When it was Xie Qingci’s turn, she found herself at a loss for words, feeling that saying anything would easily reveal their familiarity.

Xie Qingci didn’t take any snacks, grabbing a bottle of drink instead, while noticing out of the corner of his eye that the camera was focused on Shu Ran, a bit further away.

He didn’t drink the beverage, pretending to twist the cap, and said in a low voice to her, "I have no appetite."

His voice was low, his demeanor subdued, with his clean features showing fatigue, like he was feebly acting spoiled.

Yu Xia immediately frowned.

She stuffed two packs of soda crackers from the snack box beside him, along with a small cake.

"What’s wrong? Practicing too hard, or is the cafeteria food unappetizing? Did you skip lunch?"

He held the crackers, nodding languidly.

"The filming went on for a long time, and the food delivery was too greasy."

"You can’t go on like this," she frowned as she thought, "You need to stop, rest a bit, get a good sleep, then eat something warm from the cafeteria."

She then added a few more motherly words, "It’s true, you need continuous effort here. You don’t have much foundation, so you’ll have to work even harder to catch up with people like Song Xi.

But nothing is more important than your health. You’re already better than most, sometimes you need to let yourself take it easy, not constantly strive for perfection to be the best."

Alright, she thought, this person probably wouldn’t listen.

Who wouldn’t want to be number one?

So under his half-lowered eyelids, she quickly whispered another sentence:

"Eat well, sleep well, be good."

Xie Qingci raised his eyelids slightly, looking at her with deep, unclear eyes.

After a moment, he replied lightly, "Alright, I’ll listen to my sister."

Song Xi, on the other side, was chatting with others, somewhat absent-minded, his attention occasionally drifting over to Yu Xia and Xie Qingci.

The camera was on them, at most capturing the two of them talking.

That’s normal; anyone with a bit of daring could chat with Yu Xia.

But he happened to know that Xie Qingci was different.

There must be something between them, maybe they knew each other before and almost had something, making it awkward seeing each other on this show.

Or maybe they’ve already developed some relationship, hence the restrained ambiguity under the camera.

Just these two types of relationships, not hard to guess, such gossip is everywhere in the entertainment industry.

It’s possible even before debuting in a group, someone among the hundred of them will become an appendage of capital or another star.

Song Xi’s goal was clear: he was here to debut in a group, and not just debut, but debut in the top center position without competition.

He didn’t anticipate Xie Qingci as such a strong competitor, who went from unknown to high popularity in less than half a month.

He had to find a way to step on him.

That’s why he noticed the unusual connection between Xie Qingci and Yu Xia. That’s why he’s ready to provoke Xie Qingci at any time.

But...

It was no accident that Yu Xia caught Xie Qingci’s eye, was it?

Why would Xie Qingci get angry? He simply tried to make Yu Xia support him a bit.

Because—

Because Xie Qingci knows that as long as Yu Xia wants, someone will always turn the tables and end up being caught instead.

Xie Qingci isn’t worried about him; what he’s always worried about is Yu Xia’s thoughts.

Unfortunately, Song Xi doesn’t understand this truth.

"Song Xi, is that soda cracker really that good? You’ve been savoring one piece for five minutes?" Chi Qiao asked from the side.

Song Xi paused, adjusted his glasses, and smiled, "Not bad, you can ask Sister Yu Xia to get you a pack."

Yu Xia became a favorite among the fans, responsible for distributing snacks to the little ones here, reminding each one to take care of their health, a diligent and responsible cat mom, feeling like patting their heads when she came across a pitiful little one.

Seeing that it was getting late, she didn’t stay much longer, letting the boys continue their rehearsal, while she and Shu Ran parted ways to go home.

They’d have to fly to Yuan Mountain early the next morning. After trying on the dress to make sure there were no issues, she listened to He Ci and started taking care of her body.

It involved a full-body cleanse and care routine, and after two hours of fussing, her skin felt so smooth that a mosquito could slide down it like a slide, and a fly could do the splits.

Then she nestled into bed and fell asleep early, to be well-rested.

But she hadn’t slept long when she was awakened by her phone vibrating.

Still a bit groggy, she thought it was He Ci calling, so she stretched out her hand to answer the call.

"Hello? Brother He?"

It was mumbled, soft and light, like someone refusing to get out of bed, evoking a tender feeling.

There was silence on the other side, but soon a message came in.

[Xie Qingci: Go to sleep, put your phone aside, I just want to listen to your voice.]

Yu Xia became a bit more awake, frowning instinctively.

Using phones was not allowed in the dormitory; if she made any noise here, wouldn’t the others in his dorm hear it clearly?

She reached out to hang up the call, but unexpectedly, he sent a second message.

[Xie Qingci: Don’t hang up, I’m wearing headphones.]

She turned over, exited the call interface but didn’t hang up.

Then squinting, she messaged him—[What’s wrong with you?]

[Xie Qingci: I want to hear your voice, I can’t sleep.]

She frowned again: [Then try hard to sleep]

[Xie Qingci: Even if I try, I can’t sleep; talk to me, I want to hear your voice]

She replied: [Stop overthinking and you’ll fall asleep, I was already sleeping!]

It took him a while to reply this time.

[Xie Qingci: Okay, you go to sleep]

Yu Xia felt that within these few short words, she could sense his blank-faced sulking.

Expanding on this, it might mean "You simply don’t love me anymore, you don’t have any patience for me now, huh."

Amused by her late-night imagination, she was about to respond, but then saw a bombardment of messages.

[Xie Qingci: I ate, like you said, and finished practice early]

[Xie Qingci: I just wanted to hear your voice]

[Xie Qingci: I hate Song Xi getting close to you]

[Xie Qingci: Fine, sleep well]