After Rebirth, I Ended Up with My Idol [Entertainment Circle] - Chapter 7

After analysis and reflection, An Rong finally discovered the essence of the problem.

In her previous life, Xu Xiaoye had always kept An Rong by her side and showed her extra care. Although part of it was because An Rong was genuinely talented and cute, another part was likely because Xu Xiaoye felt that a seventeen-year-old girl coming out on her own knew nothing, making it natural to look after her more.

Now, however, An Rong was no longer the girl she was four years ago. That specific “vibe” could never be reclaimed. In Xu Xiaoye’s eyes, the current An Rong didn’t seem to need much looking after—and it just so happened that there was a more “youthful,” cute, and helpless Xia Chunhua nearby.

Therefore, the person Xu Xiaoye focused on was different from back then.

An Rong’s mind whirred. She decided she couldn’t let things continue like this; she had to fake it. She needed to utilize her best acting skills to portray an image in front of Xu Xiaoye that was both in need of care and concern, yet also completely reliable.

So, after eating, An Rong pretended to frown casually. She stayed close to Xu Xiaoye’s side and said, “Are we supposed to teach ourselves that dance? Are there no teachers? I don’t think I can learn it on my own.”

Xu Xiaoye was completely unaware of An Rong’s little scheme. She nodded and said, “There should be, but they’ll probably just be there to assist. Don’t be nervous. Let’s head back and watch the video a few more times to get familiar with it first.”

An Rong got the confirmation she wanted and followed her lead: “Mhm, okay.”

Obedient and well-behaved. Perfect.

The group wandered around a bit more before returning to the dorms. Once the novelty wore off slightly, the exhaustion set in, and they wanted to rest for a while.

There were many people in the dorm, but fortunately, no one was speaking loudly. Many were resting, so it was relatively quiet. Xia Chunhua’s bed was near the door; she lowered her voice and whispered, “I’m going to sleep for a bit.”

An Rong smiled and waved her off.

By the time they reached the very back, only An Rong and Xu Xiaoye were left. While they were out eating, the company staff had placed a camera on the desk. An Rong saw it as soon as she entered. She was about to walk past it when she remembered that the “current” her shouldn’t be used to such scenes. Thus, she sidestepped a bit and said to Xu Xiaoye, “Xiao-Xiao Jie, there’s a camera!”

Xu Xiaoye was already lying on her bed. Hearing this, she looked up and saw the device on the desk. She lay back down and said, “Mhm, they probably just installed it. Don’t worry about it. Do you want to watch that dance video first?”

She fished the iPad out from the head of the bed and handed it to An Rong.

An Rong took it. Upon opening it, she saw that the video had already been played partway through; she wasn’t sure when Xu Xiaoye had watched it. A pair of earphones was attached.

An Rong said, “Thank you, Xiao-Xiao Jie. Can I use your earphones?”

Xu Xiaoye squinted her eyes and said, “Go ahead.”

An Rong happily put the earphones on. The dancers in the video were TS trainees and dance teachers, so the professionalism was top-notch and the filming was very clear.

An Rong watched for a while. Seeing that Xu Xiaoye had fallen asleep, she took the iPad and headed out to the central dance studio.

Even though she was reborn, she didn’t have an extra nose or eyes compared to anyone else. After four years, what she could forget, she had long since forgotten. She had to start learning from scratch. Fortunately, she did have some dance foundation and skills now, even if her physical condition couldn’t keep up for the time being.

Furthermore, her natural physical coordination wasn’t great; she learned dance slower than others, so she had to start early.

The dance studio was empty, with only the camera in the corner for company.

An Rong began by singing along, counting the rhythm and beats, and observing the breakdown of movements. Then she tried to follow along, but she was holding the tablet and had to watch the moves to learn. After dancing for a bit, she realized this was incredibly inconvenient. Panting, An Rong began circling the studio to find a place to set the iPad. There were a few chairs in the corner, but they were too low to see clearly.

After wandering around, An Rong found a perfect spot: a camera stand by the wall.

She hesitated for a moment, then looked at the camera with a straight face and said, “I really can’t find a place to put this. Your spot is the only good one. Do me a favor—I’m going to tie the tablet to your stand. Do you agree? If you don’t say anything, I’ll take it as a ‘yes’.”

She actually waited shamelessly for a few seconds, then took the hair tie from her head and fixed the tablet at the right height on the camera. She said solemnly, “The footage might be a bit… surreal in a moment. I strongly suggest not broadcasting this part; it might hurt people’s eyes. This ‘flower of the motherland’ needs to save some face. Thanks, Big Brother.”

An Rong’s sincere display of emotion seemed to “move” the camera in front of her. After they stared at each other, the lens tilted up and down.

An Rong happily gave a thumbs up and said, “Thanks, Big Brother, Big Sister, and dear friends.”

An Rong stepped back with mock gravity and began to dance.

Though she had experience and could learn moves by watching videos, this body couldn’t keep up. She lacked strength, and her balance and coordination were poor. Consequently, while her movements had the right shape, she truly looked like a clumsy little duckling.

Chuckle.

Xu Xiaoye, leaning against the doorway, let out a snickering laugh.

An Rong slumped onto the floor and said to the camera, “Sorry to make a fool of myself.”

As Xu Xiaoye walked inside, she said, “It’s passable, not bad.”

Sitting on the floor, An Rong massaged her legs and looked at her, huffing: “Thank you.”

Xu Xiaoye leaned in to look at the tablet tied to the pole, then turned to give a thumbs up to the sweaty, disheveled An Rong. “Impressive. Amazing. All the solo dance shots will be yours.”

An Rong let out a breath and said, “He promised me; this part won’t be broadcast.”

In reality, whether it would be broadcast depended entirely on post-production editing and whether it was interesting. Originally, her dancing alone wouldn’t have been interesting, but now that Xu Xiaoye was here, if this episode aired, half the hype would likely be on the two of them.

Xu Xiaoye reached out her hand toward her and said with a smile, “What did the director tell you?”

An Rong lay on the floor, watching Xu Xiaoye reach out with eyes full of smiles; she seemed to be draped in light.

Xu Xiaoye shook her hand. “Getting up or what?”

An Rong snapped back to her senses, took Xu Xiaoye’s hand, and said, “Thank you.”

Xu Xiaoye pulled hard, and An Rong used the momentum to stand up. She brushed her loose hair back behind her neck, stretched her arms and waist, and pointed at the camera: “I asked if it could not broadcast me, and it nodded.”

Xu Xiaoye looked at An Rong and laughed for a long time before asking, “Have you ever studied dance before?”

Questions asked in front of the camera required a bit of rigor. An Rong recalled, hesitated, and said tentatively, “I learned ‘square dancing’ from the music teacher for the opening of the middle school sports meet. Does that count?”

Xu Xiaoye burst out laughing and waved her hand. “You are way too cute.”

But An Rong thought back carefully. That was when she was in the second year of middle school; the music teacher had just picked people from the class at random, as long as their height and build were similar.

Thinking of this, An Rong frowned and said, “I was already 1.55 meters back in the second year of middle school.”

Now she was 1.58 meters—growing less than one centimeter a year on average. It was heartbreaking.

Just as Xu Xiaoye was about to tease her, An Rong said, “It’s okay. I’m only seventeen. As the old saying goes, ‘at twenty-three, you’ll have a growth spurt.’ I still have a chance.”

The twenty-four-year-old Xu Xiaoye’s smile flattened. she reached out and flicked An Rong’s forehead, saying with a stern face, “Go stretch.”

An Rong gave an “Oh” and started doing calisthenics on the spot—stretching arms, legs, and bending over to touch her toes. Her posture was exactly like an old man at a public square.

Xu Xiaoye grabbed her arm, stopping her next move. This time she didn’t ask; she just said directly, “Your stretching isn’t quite right. Follow me.”

An Rong froze for a moment, then followed her lead to get into position.

It wasn’t that she was intentionally using this “idiotic” method to hook Xu Xiaoye. It was simply that a seventeen-year-old high school graduate who had never participated in any sports, including gym or long-distance running, and who lived in a remote rural area coming to the big city for the first time, would inevitably be a bit restrained. There were things that the “current” her simply shouldn’t know.

This was the information age. Once the show aired, people would pay attention. If there were any accidents in the future and people searched her history, they could dig up her entire past. She had to avoid unnecessary trouble as much as possible.

After stretching, Xu Xiaoye and An Rong stood side-by-side watching the video. Xu Xiaoye had an excellent foundation and usually kept in touch with the choreographers, so she knew how to do some moves just by looking at them.

After watching only five times, she could dance along with the video.

An Rong stood behind her in awe, her eyes not leaving Xu Xiaoye for a second. She clapped happily like a little fangirl. “You are really, really amazing!”

Xu Xiaoye turned around, only slightly out of breath, and said, “Our positioning can’t be the same as theirs. You are the lead singer, but the center dance moves are all very difficult; it would be abrupt to force you in. Xia Chunhua and Kang Yu are okay at dancing, so it’s just you and Song Ran left. We need to find a way to see if we can adjust your moves to be a bit simpler.”

This was for the sake of the overall performance effect. Xu Xiaoye’s positioning of An Rong was already very clear: her vocals alone were bright enough; dancing was just the icing on the cake.

As Xu Xiaoye learned from the tutorial in the video, she turned back to teach An Rong.

“Popping the hip isn’t twisting the waist.” Xu Xiaoye stood in front of An Rong, one hand gripping An Rong’s right hip bone. “Don’t move your upper body. Push the hip bone forward. Use the strength in your thighs and waist muscles to bounce toward me.”

The move wasn’t hard, and An Rong knew how to do it—but the “current” her hadn’t learned it yet, so she had to fail.

Furthermore, the moment Xu Xiaoye’s hand gripped her hip bone, An Rong decided: start over, no rush.

Xu Xiaoye gripped her hip and waist, assisting her through the movement three times. Then, she let go and poked the soft flesh on An Rong’s stomach. “You can’t do it. You have no core strength. Doing this move makes you look sloppy and lacks power—plus it’s too exhausting. Many of the later moves rely on waist strength.”

An Rong’s ears were filled with Xu Xiaoye’s phrase: “You can’t do it.” Following her gaze, she looked down and regretfully discovered the soft flesh on her stomach and legs. She really couldn’t do it.

Where would someone who had never exercised get core strength from?

However, no matter what, she couldn’t let her crush say she “couldn’t do it.”

An Rong immediately said seriously, “I can. I can train.”

If I can’t do it today, I’ll do it tomorrow. If I can’t do it tomorrow, there will eventually come a day when I can!

Author’s Note:

An Rong: Sorry, I was wrong—I’ll lie to you again next time.