Chapter 6

An Rong sorted through everything in her suitcase. After rummaging around, she pulled out two jars of pickled vegetables and a jar of chili sauce, all homemade by her mother. Her mother had been afraid that An Rong, going alone to an unfamiliar city, wouldn’t be used to the food or sleep well—even though An Rong did have an older sister here too.

Xu Xiaoye’s suitcase, by comparison, had been packed rather perfunctorily. There were several boxes of face masks stuffed inside, and skincare products and cosmetics alone took up half the suitcase. There was also a huge handful of instant coffee sachets. Other than underwear and pajamas, she had only packed two sets of clothes, barely enough to make it look like she’d tried.

They were going to be issued new clothes anyway. As long as she had something to change into, that was enough.

While everyone was still organizing their things, Xia Chunhua came over with the other two teammates. The moment she walked in, she asked, “Finished unpacking?”

An Rong first looked up at Xu Xiaoye. Seeing that she had already sat up, An Rong pushed her own suitcase aside as well and silently waited for Xu Xiaoye to answer.

Xu Xiaoye asked them warmly and amiably, “Do you want to start watching the videos and learning the routines right now?”

Xia Chunhua shook her head vigorously. The other two hurriedly waved their hands in alarm as well. Although she really did like dancing, after going for an entire day and night, she was already completely exhausted. Her whole body ached, and the moment someone mentioned dancing, every cell in her body started protesting.

“No rush, no rush. We wanted to look around first and ​stolen content​see what the place we’ll be living in is like. Captain, you’re already a senior at TS. Could you take us around? Just the places we’re allowed to go are fine.”

Xia Chunhua was sweet-tongued, knew how to talk, and also knew her boundaries. Xu Xiaoye quite liked her, so she smiled and said, “This is my first time in this area too. Let’s walk around together and grab something to eat while we’re at it. I’m starving. Are you guys hungry?”

Xia Chunhua handed her a piece of chocolate, then gave one to An Rong too.

“Of course.”

And just like that, they set off.

An Rong followed silently behind them like a transparent little person, listening as she walked while Xu Xiaoye talked to Xia Chunhua.

“The bathroom and showers are directly connected next door, so that’s pretty convenient. Across the hall outside is the gym. There doesn’t seem to be that much equipment, just the basics, but I guess not that many people will use it anyway. The medical room is all the way at the end in the back. If you feel unwell, you can go straight to them…”

The five of them walked down the corridor, chatting as they went.

Xia Chunhua looked up at Xu Xiaoye, stars practically sparkling in her eyes.

“Wow, you already know all this?”

Xu Xiaoye didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

“When you guys were coming to the dorm, I got curious and walked over there to take a look.”

The dance studio was right in the middle, so it was convenient to go in either direction.

She didn’t mention that she had actually been called away for questioning.

The excuse wasn’t especially clever, but it was good enough.

Except that the moment she finished speaking and turned her head, her gaze happened to fall sideways onto An Rong.

An Rong practically came equipped with a sensor system specifically designed to detect Xu Xiaoye.

The instant Xu Xiaoye’s gaze landed on her face, An Rong snapped her head up.

She was slightly shorter than Xu Xiaoye, not even 160 centimeters tall. She wasn’t tall or thin, so every time she wanted to look at Xu Xiaoye, she had to tilt her head upward.

An Rong caught Xu Xiaoye’s gaze before she had time to pull it away.

So Xu Xiaoye simply continued the lie naturally.

“And while I was there, I picked up some medicine for An Rong.”

An Rong remembered the ointment she had left on the table and pressed her lips together with a quiet “Mm.”

Xia Chunhua asked An Rong curiously, with a hint of concern, “What happened? Are you feeling sick?”

An Rong nodded and said with complete seriousness, “Water got into my ear stolen content while I was washing my hair and flowed into my brain.”

It was obviously a joke.

Who knew what nerve it hit in Xu Xiaoye, but she threw her head back and laughed until tears nearly came to her eyes.

While the other three looked confused yet couldn’t help wanting to laugh along, Xu Xiaoye pointed at the red bump on An Rong’s forehead and said, “Mm. It swelled up from all the water.”

Everyone burst into cheerful laughter.

And just like that, through this joke, they put aside the incident of An Rong ambushing Xu Xiaoye with a kiss that morning.

An Rong reached up and touched her forehead.

With an exceptionally indifferent expression, she continued walking forward and drawled as she went, “Stop messing around.”

Xu Xiaoye couldn’t hide the smile on her face.

And it seemed she had discovered an excellent way to tease An Rong.

They made a full circuit of the floor.

When they ran into Chen Xin, who was responsible for managing their daily living arrangements, they finally learned that the dining area was downstairs and supposedly open all day.

The five of them cheered and rushed downstairs.

Only then did they discover that quite a few people were already eating.

They had probably all come down after finishing with their luggage.

It was almost noon by now, and everyone had been starving since the evaluation ended.

Xia Chunhua darted over in a few quick steps and made a full circuit.

The light in her eyes visibly faded.

Xu Xiaoye leaned over and asked quietly, “What’s wrong?”

Xia Chunhua frowned and whispered back, “There’s no luosifen.”

The two put their heads together.

Xu Xiaoye blinked, pondered for a moment, glanced at the cameras set up around them, then lowered her voice.

“Of course there isn’t. Pretty girls aren’t allowed to slurp noodles.”

More precisely, pretty girls weren’t just forbidden from slurping noodles.

Pretty girls weren’t allowed to eat anything without maintaining their image.

They didn’t even have hot-and-sour noodles, let alone stinky luosifen.

Watching from behind them, alarm bells suddenly went off in An Rong’s head.

Wait!

This scene felt familiar!

Wasn’t the person standing beside Xu Xiaoye supposed to be her?

Back then, the one who had always been inseparable from Xu Xiaoye was her.

Back then, the one who received endless favor from the captain was her.

How had her position changed after doing everything over again?

How could this be allowed?!

An Rong’s brows furrowed tightly, her expression grave.

First, she’d gotten off to a disastrous start.

Now even the development afterward had become bizarre.

At this rate, forget winning over the person she loved—her relationship with Xu Xiaoye might end up worse than in her previous life!

Xu Xiaoye had already gone to get food and had even picked out a portion for Xia Chunhua while she was at it.

When she turned to leave, she finally noticed An Rong standing there looking utterly devastated.

She raised a brow.

“What’s wrong? Not hungry?”

An Rong slowly raised her head and said pointedly, “I’m hungry. I just don’t know what to eat.”

Xu Xiaoye casually pointed toward the buffet counter behind her.

“There’s plenty. Take whatever you want, but if you take it, you have to finish it.”

Then she walked away.

The tray was a little heavy, after all.

An Rong watched helplessly as Xu Xiaoye walked away, a dark cloud settling over her heart.

She was troubled.

Bitter.

Lost.

Some little butterfly must have flapped its wings at some point, causing events to develop completely differently from before.

Yes, she had been reborn and given another chance.

But tragically, she was still herself.

Xu Xiaoye was still Xu Xiaoye.

She wasn’t suddenly going to transform into a master flirt, and Xu Xiaoye wasn’t going to become possessed and suddenly fall hopelessly, uncontrollably in love with her.

This was too hard.

Dating was way too hard!

Could it be that fate had sent her back not so she could renew her connection with Xu Xiaoye, but so she could stop that troublemaker Wang Yunshui from joining the group and debuting?!

Ha.

That would really be overestimating her.

She wasn’t an evaluator.

She wasn’t a company executive.

She wasn’t even a manager.

Not only that, she herself was constantly facing the danger of elimination.

What the hell was the point of being reborn?

Dejection seeped out of An Rong from the inside out.

Like a tiny rain cloud floating through broad daylight, she silently drifted over to Xu Xiaoye’s side.

Xu Xiaoye looked at the few pieces of broccoli and two pieces of fish on An Rong’s plate, then looked at An Rong’s unbearably gloomy face.

After hesitating, she quietly asked, “What’s wrong?”

An Rong pressed her lips together and shook her head, intending to say it was nothing.

But when the words reached her mouth, she swallowed them again.

The corners of her lips drooped, and she muttered, “I realized I’m too fat. [bailiantales.com]It makes me really sad.”

When she said she was really sad, she genuinely was.

Her voice was muffled, and she was almost unable to hold back the tears in it.

Having something like this happen so suddenly made her feel as though she wasn’t even herself anymore.

Everyone was both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.

The one person she had constantly thought about now barely paid attention to her.

She had no cheat ability, and obstacles were everywhere.

It felt like her entire existence had been torn in two.

She had no idea what had happened to the world she originally came from.

She had no idea what the future would become either.

Being reborn hadn’t made An Rong feel as though she was about to soar to the peak of life.

Instead, she felt intensely insecure.

She had even started doubting herself.

An Rong’s mood visibly sank.

This time, she wasn’t joking.

Xu Xiaoye patted her shoulder and comforted her.

“You’re not fat. You just look a little rounder on camera. Kids are cuter stolen contentwhen they’re a little round.”

An Rong’s mouth drooped.

Taking advantage of the opening, she leaned against Xu Xiaoye’s shoulder and complained pitifully, “Isn’t being round still fat? They’re all so skinny and pretty. I’m the only one who’s fat. And ugly.”

She was like a child who had finally found an adult from home to complain to.

Xu Xiaoye’s heart softened a little.

Her initially stiff body relaxed slightly as well.

She wrapped an arm around An Rong’s shoulders and patted her, her voice unconsciously softening as she coaxed her.

“Who says that? You’re not fat. You’re pretty too. Once you grow into your features, you’ll be even prettier. You’re not ugly.”

Hmph.

You’re the one who said I was ugly.

An Rong soothed her wounded heart.

Knowing when to stop, she hurriedly enjoyed one final second before slowly straightening up.

A little embarrassed, she said, “Thank you. It’s my first time traveling this far from home by myself. I’m a little nervous. I miss home.”

She had found a perfectly reasonable excuse for her behavior.

And successfully dragged everyone sitting there into a low mood along with her.

They were all girls in their late teens or early twenties.

They had moved in here, had their phones taken away, and wouldn’t be able to leave for a while.

Who wouldn’t miss home?

Xu Xiaoye didn’t make fun of her either.

She swept her gaze around the table, cleared her throat, then deliberately sang in an exaggeratedly miserable tone:

“A child away from home, wandering far away,
without any nice clothes, la la la la,
finally found a job and works so hard each day,
inside my heart la la la, tears remain upon my face…”

The sorrowful atmosphere froze for a moment.

Of everyone sitting there, the only other person who knew the song was An Rong.

She slowly turned her head toward Xu Xiaoye.

Her lips moved for a long moment before she finally said, unauthorized copy“Captain, it’s ‘tears flowing in my heart, sweat streaming down my face.’”

Xu Xiaoye: …

Xu Xiaoye slapped one hand onto the table.

“Why are you calling me Captain? That’s way too formal. Just call me by my name.”

An Rong immediately responded.

Happily changing the way she addressed her, she called, “Sister Xiaoxiao.”

Xu Xiaoye smiled and nodded.

Then, after nodding, she looked at An Rong again.

“Since you’re calling me Sister now, what your Sister sang [Read on BaiLianTales]was correct. Other than the ‘la la la,’ there was nothing wrong with it. Understand?”

An Rong’s smile gradually disappeared.

She obediently nodded to show she understood.

Xu Xiaoye gave a long “Mm.”

“What happens at home stays at home, right?”

An Rong nodded.

“Right. I was wrong.”

Xu Xiaoye was pleased.

As a reward, she shot An Rong a wink and praised her.

“Good girl. Hurry up and eat.”

Across from them, Xia Chunhua stared in amazement.

That whole sequence had been… remarkably smooth.

Author’s Note:

An Rong: I’ve got a way now~