CHAPTER 80: CHAPTER 80: DON’T BE SO FLIRTY AT SUCH A YOUNG AGE

After connecting, she rolled her eyes and asked:

"Didn’t I say it’s not good?"

Xie Qingci continued replying with messages.

[Xie Qingci: But I really want to hear your voice]

"Stop it, I’m hanging up."

[Xie Qingci: You can’t bear to]

Yu Xia didn’t say anything, just directly hung up.

Then she received his latest message, a pitiful little dog meme.

The phone rang again, accompanied by a message pleading for her to answer.

[Xie Qingci: Pick up, please?]

Yu Xia couldn’t help but smile and picked up.

"Young man, don’t be so stubborn. Words spoken too confidently usually don’t end well."

[Xie Qingci: Yeah, as long as other things are hard]

"...Xie Qingci, do you want a beating?"

A faint chuckle came through the receiver, then he replied: [If you were in front of me now, feel free to hit]

"You’re dreaming beautifully," she turned over, "can’t be bothered with you."

Another soft, muffled laugh came from his side.

He sent over two pictures, retouched images of her walking the red carpet today.

In one of the photos, she was missing half an arm, probably because Yuan Wang next to her was cut out.

[Xie Qingci: Sister, you’re really beautiful]

Yu Xia zoomed in on the picture to carefully admire her beauty, drawing out her voice slowly, "Thanks for the compliment, I’ve always been this pretty."

[Xie Qingci: Yes, no one knows better than me]

[Xie Qingci: Sister, do you want to care about my life and career?]

"Uh-huh," she said, "not interested."

He acted like Hua Fei clinging to the emperor’s waist entering the bedroom, clearly pretending to be weak to lure prey.

"Your life can be seen from your face, not bad. Your career, I’m not interested, you won’t snatch resources from me anyway."

[Xie Qingci: But I’m very interested in your life and career]

[Xie Qingci: Who is Yuan Wang?]

She sent him a screenshot of a Baidu encyclopedia entry.

"Want me to read it to you?"

[Xie Qingci: You know what I mean]

She wanted to say she didn’t understand what he meant, but thinking more, she felt this back and forth was just pretending to be coy, so she simply answered:

"We did a project together. Why are you asking around? It’s normal in the entertainment circle, can’t you see that?"

[Xie Qingci: I’m trying to adapt]

[Xie Qingci: Are you sleepy?]

"What do you think? It’s already past midnight, I should’ve been asleep long ago. If my face is puffy for tomorrow’s shoot, it’s your fault."

[Xie Qingci: Okay, my fault, want me to make it up to you?]

"...No need," anyway it wouldn’t be anything good, she urged him, "Hurry up and go to bed."

Not tired doing all this every day, rehearsing by day and having secret... no, secretly keeping in touch by night.

[Xie Qingci: On it]

[Xie Qingci: Leave something you like to my dear Yu Xia]

He sent over a recording.

For some reason, Yu Xia had a premonition that this was definitely not something proper, her fingers hovered over the screen, hesitating to open it.

Scratching her fingers for a long time, she bit her lip lightly before finally opening it.

It was Xie Qingci’s panting sounds.

Deep and magnetic, with a hint of pleasure when sighing, it was probably recorded while rehearsing that song "Bad Guy."

The volume was high, the panting unavoidable, chasing into her ears, and just by listening, it was easy to imagine the warmth of his body and the tickling sensation when his breath sprayed on the skin.

And the sound of him deliberately calling "sister" by her ear as he leaned in.

This was definitely synesthesia.

The trembling sensation of the voice resonating from the phone wandered through her limbs, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath.

"Xie Qingci~" She lowered her voice, bringing the phone close to her mouth to ensure her breathing and deliberately soft voice were clearly heard, then said, "Don’t be so flirty at such a young age."

Then she hung up the call.

[Xie Qingci: ...]

Alright, no more sleep.

——

It was the assessment day for the theme song of "Limited Youth".

This time it was in the initial stage studio with no audience, the young boys in casual training clothes, most appearing without makeup, sat in groups.

Today, Yu Xia wore a pink sports short skirt suit, showing her waist and thighs, with a pink makeup and bun hairstyle, making her look as if reversed in age to sixteen.

As soon as she entered, she heard all the cheers from everyone.

"Yu Xia is eighteen today!"

"Nonsense, Yu Xia is eighteen every day!"

"So beautiful!"

"Why didn’t you wear our Lotus Gang’s uniform, Yu Xia, hahaha!"

Yu Xia turned around: "Our Lotus Gang’s teachings should be kept in heart, not worn on the body."

He Mingjie came in halfway and asked: "What teachings?"

The young boys laughed, their voices surprisingly in sync: "Love and desire, shameless!"

He Mingjie laughed along.

Yu Xia sat in the mentor’s seat amidst everyone’s laughter, raising her hand to quiet them down.

"Let’s keep it low key."

When everyone was present, Shu Ran notified everyone to start.

"The assessment method is to form random pairs, perform together, mentors give individual scores, and decide the class advancement or demotion based on discussion."

"Feel free to team up, invite anyone. Who wants to go first?"

No one moved for a moment.

Shu Ran smiled, directly and unceremoniously named people.

"Then Pei Lu and Song Xi, you go first, okay? You two are from the same company, should have a good rapport, and I want to see how someone rumored to be ostracized and rumored to be in a scandal with me stand together."

The studio fell silent, only Wei Yaoyao’s dramatic curls turning, trying to find someone to share an equally awkward look with.

Yu Xia didn’t expect her to be so straightforward.

She picked up the microphone, smiling, and said: "Don’t overthink it, it’s just some random gossip made up by people who like daydreaming online. But getting you two out to clarify should ease the fans, are you willing?"

Song Xi stood up and walked to the center of the stage.

"Of course. I don’t know who loves joking so much, claiming I’m in a scandal with Shu Ran? Completely baseless." He adjusted his glasses and smiled.

Pei Lu also stood up, but his expression wasn’t as pleasant.

After coming down to stand beside Song Xi, he first bowed nervously.

Before he could speak, Shu Ran interrupted: "Pei Lu, don’t overthink it either. People who look somewhat like Cheng are not limited to you; how could I dislike you for this."

"I’m just regretful you’re not putting in 100% effort."

Yu Xia mentally translated her words: I don’t dislike you for being good-looking, I dislike you for being talentless and pretentious.

Actually, there’s no need for three women to create drama, the two ladies cooperated seamlessly, already leaving no one daring to say anything.

Yu Kuang wanted to mediate but didn’t know what to say.

Finally, Yu Xia saved Pei Lu, whose face was burning red.

"Among a hundred young boys here, not many have a foundation, most started intensive training only months ago. But even with similar starting points, there are still good and bad, you need to learn to reflect, did you spend too little time? Or did you spend time but the methods were wrong resulting in poor outcomes?"

"Your initial stage was bad, your first public performance barely passable. The former, you said you didn’t have enough time, the latter, you had a leg injury, then what about this time? And next time? Every stage is worth cherishing, if you can’t bring out your true skills, you’ll be eliminated sooner or later, the first elimination is coming soon."