After Becoming a Cannon Fodder Side Character, I Became the Group’s Favorite (GL) - Chapter 56

“This episode should have already aired. You can find out the result by watching the program.”

While the person on the phone tried to evade the question, Zhang Dingding’s suspense on the TV finally ended. Xu Chacha and Chen Qianqian held their breath, and Xue Miaomiao didn’t make a sound.

“Ahhhhh!” Chen Qianqian reacted the fastest. “She’s not eliminated! She’s not eliminated!”

The person on the other end of the phone likely heard the noise and laughed. “So you’re watching it right now.”

Xu Chacha finally gathered her focus to speak with her. “I just got to this part.”

“Actually, the reason we contacted you today is to discuss a collaboration.”

“Collaboration?” Xu Chacha was puzzled. Super Newcomer had been airing for so long. They couldn’t possibly be asking her to join as a challenger midway, could they?

“We would like to invite you to be a guest assistant model for one episode, helping the contestants complete the hard photo challenge for the fourth episode.”

“Guest?”

“Go! Weren’t you just coveting that show? Now they invite you, and you don’t want to go,” Chen Qianqian nudged her with her elbow.

Xu Chacha made a “shush” gesture, signaling her to be quiet.

The reason she was coveting the show was the champion’s prize. Being a guest was naturally a different matter.

“The photographer for this episode is Teacher Yang Zhou, specially invited by Teacher Zhang. We even invited former HN Editor-in-Chief Wen Mubai to be a temporary judge. The permanent judges also include…”

Xu Chacha listened to her list names, but she didn’t pay much attention to the latter part. She only caught one sentence. “Wen Mubai? She’s going too?”

“That’s right. You and Teacher Wen are old acquaintances, aren’t you?”

“So, is it her idea to invite me?”

“No, no, no, of course not. Teacher Wen signed a contract with the production team a long time ago. Teacher Zhang originally wanted to invite her to be a judge for the entire season, but since she didn’t have time, she only recently replied to the production team that she could participate in the recording.” Fearing Xu Chacha might overthink, the person explained in detail. “If you’ve watched our show, you know that all the guests we invite are carefully considered. It was actually Teacher Hua Jing who recommended you to us, and the decision was finalized after discussion among the other judges.”

Xu Chacha nodded. “But your guests in the previous episodes were either international supermodels or renowned veterans. Aren’t you afraid of being criticized for suddenly introducing an unknown person in the fourth episode?”

Her background had been thoroughly dug up online. With labels like the richest person in A City’s daughter and AS spokesperson, many people would surely misunderstand Super Newcomer as a program that allows backdoors for money. If public opinion isn’t controlled well, the initial good reputation would be ruined.

Xu Chacha was perfectly clear about her standing. She had a precise analysis of her status and qualifications in the industry to be a guest assistant.

Compared to the previous guests, her achievements were indeed less impressive.

“Teacher Xu, please don’t be too modest. Although your influence and popularity in the industry are slightly inferior to the other teachers, we have reviewed your profile, and the teachers all have a high opinion of you. If you agree to come, you would truly be doing us a huge favor.”

“Alright. If you’re not afraid, what am I afraid of?”

After hanging up the phone, Chen Qianqian, who had been covering her mouth, leaned closer. “Cha, are you really going?”

Xu Chacha took a piece of dried sweet potato and handed it to her. “You don’t want me to go?”

“Go! I support you going!” Chen Qianqian returned the sweet potato with both hands, speaking nicely. “I just don’t know if Teacher Xu can get me an autograph from Wu Yao. I’ll love you forever.”

“Thank you. You can have the autograph, but you don’t need to love me forever,” Xu Chacha bit into the sweet potato.

“Oh~ Teacher Xu only wants that person’s love, so of course she looks down on vulgar people like us.”

“What are you talking about, Chen Qianqian,” Xu Chacha glared at her.

“I’m just saying,” Chen Qianqian giggled and leaned close to whisper to her. “Tell me, how far have you two gone?”

“Gone how far,” Xu Chacha turned her head to press the remote control.

“You’ve kissed, right?”

Xu Chacha blinked quickly twice, unable to hide her inner nervousness. “I won’t tell you.”

“Then you’ve kissed. If you hadn’t, you would have already hit me.” Chen Qianqian propped her chin and asked mysteriously, “I heard that people who usually look so aloof and detached are actually very…”

“Very what?”

Chen Qianqian gave an ambiguous smile and winked at her. “You tell me. Aren’t you the one involved? Haven’t you experienced it?”

“Cough, cough, cough—” Xu Chacha finally understood what Chen Qianqian was hinting at.

She stood up, her body stiff as a board, unable to hide the rigidity in her voice. “I’m going to sleep. You two should go home early after you finish eating.”

“You’re sleeping already?”

Chen Qianqian’s response was met with the crisp sound of a door closing.

The recording of Super Newcomer was scheduled for Thursday. Xu Chacha took a leave of absence, and Wen Mubai picked her up.

It was cold outside, so Xu Chacha simply stayed in Wen Mubai’s makeup room to rest, watching the third episode of the show on her phone, sipping hot tea slowly.

Wen Mubai’s makeup was always simple. She had already applied foundation and drawn her eyebrows before leaving home, so she was done in a few minutes. She turned and waved to Xu Chacha. “Aren’t you going to put on makeup?”

“No need. I’d have to take it off later for the photo shoot. It’s too much trouble.”

Each episode of the program consisted of two parts of assessment. Hard photos were a requirement for every episode, and the remaining challenge tested the contestants’ overall abilities in different areas, such as runway walk in the first episode, fashion styling in the second, and team collaboration in the third.

The winner of the challenge would not be eliminated in that episode, even if their hard photo score was low.

Zhang Dingding’s goal was to select an all-around talent, which was evident from the show’s mission statement. Xu Chacha greatly admired her for this.

Xu Chacha’s role as a guest this time was to assist the contestants in shooting the hard photos for the fourth episode. The photography theme had already been revealed at the end of the third episode.

It was a qipao theme to be shot by the master of Chinese aesthetics, Teacher Yang Zhou. She also set up a thematic story, requiring two people to complete a co-photograph.

The story was set in the Republican era: a noble lady who has left home to wander and her maid. The two have little money left and are struggling between the idea of returning home to surrender and continuing to pursue their own freedom.

The filming location was in a small hutong (alleyway) within an ancient architectural complex specially sourced by the production team. Xu Chacha hadn’t seen the specific layout, but she could imagine that shooting a dual photo in a narrow hutong would be a significant test of the models’ expressive power.

Whether she, as the assistant model, would shine or merely serve as a backdrop was hard to say, as many of the contestants on the show were genuinely strong.

Xu Chacha was assigned the role of the noble lady. Her character image was fixed: a young girl who is stubborn, beautiful, and naturally aristocratic.

The contestants would take turns co-shooting with her. For the role of the maid in the story, the interpretation was up to the contestant. “She” could be an innocent white rabbit or a venomous snake lurking beside its owner, ready to strike back at any moment. Yang Zhou did not limit their expressions or ideas; she felt that was where the fun lay.

The official photo shoot wouldn’t start until noon. The contestants had been out doing challenge activities since early morning.

Wen Mubai, as a temporary judge, also had to make an appearance. Xu Chacha was happy to relax, slowly ate a salad, and didn’t make her appearance until it was time for her segment.

Since it was an outdoor shoot, only Zhang Dingding and Yang Zhou were required to be present. Wen Mubai didn’t have to come, but she drove herself there to accompany her.

Zhang Dingding reiterated the shooting theme and rules, then put her arm around Xu Chacha’s shoulder to introduce her.

“This is Xu Chacha, the assistant model we’ve invited today. My teacher, Mr. Lang Shu, spoke highly of her. She debuted at the age of five and has been on the cover of EV, which countless people envy. She is considered a senior to you all. Today, you will be co-shooting with her. Please try hard not to be overshadowed.”

Xu Chacha smiled and bowed to the contestants. “You don’t have to treat me as a senior, just as a work partner. Please guide me as well.”

The contestants were naturally unfamiliar with Xu Chacha, or rather, they hadn’t heard of her much. They inwardly compared her to the previous guests, and the sense of gap was immediately apparent. Still, they clapped politely.

“Welcome, Teacher Xu!”

Among the contestants were young novices who hadn’t graduated yet, as well as veterans who had been in the industry for five or six years. The former were still humble, but the latter, having achieved some minor success, were inevitably somewhat arrogant and looked down on an unknown person like Xu Chacha.

Cai Yuan was one of them. She had also debuted young and walked many major shows, but later, she impulsively underwent plastic surgery and ruined her face, making her unable to appear in front of the camera. She spent two years on recovery before she was presentable again, but her comeback wasn’t as smooth as she imagined, which is why she joined the reality show to build up her popularity and achieve her comeback goal.

Not only did she show little respect to the contestants, but she often didn’t show much respect to the mentors. The production team frequently used her conflicting moments for editing to boost ratings.

She was severely reprimanded by Zhang Dingding in the second episode and had been slightly restrained since then. But today, facing Xu Chacha, she scoffed, and her contemptuous attitude surfaced again.

“Even any cat or dog can be a guest now,” she whispered to the person next to her.

Standing next to her was Wu Yao, whom Chen Qianqian adored. Wu Yao also had previous work experience; she was a talented veteran who lacked fame. Compared to Cai Yuan, she was introverted and steady, never engaging in inappropriate competition and even helping other contestants during the competition.

She didn’t speak ill of people behind their backs, let alone make veiled insults in person. Hearing Cai Yuan’s words, she silently turned her head away and moved a little to the side, indicating she wanted to distance herself from her.

“Alright, go get your makeup done first. With ten people, who knows how long the shoot will take? The lighting will get bad when the sun goes down later.”

The contestants nodded and left. Xu Chacha was also escorted to the styling room.

She had an individual makeup station. She had just changed into the qipao and sat down for the makeup artist to style her hair when Wen Mubai entered, leading Zhang Dingding and Yang Zhou.

“How is it? You’re not nervous now, are you?” Zhang Dingding was over forty but maintained the looks of a young woman in her early twenties. Her tone was also very gentle and approachable.

Xu Chacha smiled at her. “Being nervous is good, too. Can’t hold the show back.”

“Hahahaha, you’re too modest, child,” Zhang Dingding laughed. “Sister Hua and Teacher Lang Shu have praised you to me a lot. Even this cold-faced editor-in-chief next to me always speaks highly of you, but you yourself are so humble.”

Xu Chacha shook her head. “They just have a childhood filter for me. They set the bar too low for me, so they think I’m good.”

Wen Mubai curved her lips on the side. “Your words—are you indirectly criticizing me again?”

Xu Chacha gave her a sidelong glance. Her mouth didn’t move, but the message was written all over her face.

She wished these people would stop hyping her up in front of Zhang Dingding. The greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment. She was somewhat confident initially, but their praise was making her increasingly insecure.

“Alright, Teacher Xu, please take a look and see if anything needs adjustment. I’ll fix it for you.”

“Thank you.” Xu Chacha stood up and walked to the full-length mirror.

Her long hair was rarely tied up, neatly styled into a low bun at the back of her head, revealing her long neck.

The form-fitting qipao outlined her excellent figure. Her cinched waist looked as if it could be easily gripped with one hand. The qipao extended to her calves, and two sections of slender, pale ankles were laced into finely patterned high heels.

This was the first time Xu Chacha had dressed this way. Just looking at her from behind, one could see the gentle and soft temperament of a Jiangnan woman. When she raised her eyes, the spirited determination in her gaze, like a red plum blossom against a snow scene, instantly elevated the artistic conception of the entire picture.

Yang Zhou’s expression showed profound admiration. Although the photo shoot hadn’t started yet, she could already envision how astonishing Xu Chacha’s performance would be.