After Rebirth, I Ended Up with My Idol [Entertainment Circle] - Chapter 8

Training your core strength is an arduous and exhausting process, especially for someone like An Rong who had zero foundation in sports. But to wear the crown, one must bear its weight; if she wanted to go further, she had to give more.

Xu Xiaoye placed a hand against An Rong’s lower back and gave her a slight push forward. Almost habitually, and by reflex, An Rong arched her hips and buttocks back. She had performed this basic movement many times under Xu Xiaoye’s guidance in the past.

That sensation was something she would never forget in her lifetime.

Xu Xiaoye let go and nodded in praise. “Very standard. For someone without a foundation, it’s impressive that you can do it this well.”

An Rong let out a breath, and her posture relaxed. Her body was currently that of a normal teenage girl—soft, without muscle definition or explosive power. When dancing, the visual effect wasn’t particularly striking.

By now, many more people had arrived in the dance studio. An Rong turned to look at Xu Xiaoye, feeling a bit lost. “What are we doing this afternoon? Self-study?”

Xia Chunhua and Xiao Yu had also arrived. Xu Xiaoye caught sight of them, paused, and said, “Wait a moment.”

Xiao Yu walked over with a smile. As she drew closer and saw the fine beads of sweat on Xu Xiaoye’s face, she remarked with feeling, “You’re here so early.”

The number one trainee had an almost overwhelming advantage, yet she hadn’t slacked off in the slightest; she was even stricter with herself than the others were.

Xu Xiaoye shook her head and patted An Rong’s shoulder. “She was the earliest.”

An Rong’s clothes were slightly damp, her hair was draped messily behind her, and her face was bare of makeup. She was relying entirely on her youth and natural beauty to carry her through. Being pushed forward by Xu Xiaoye, she seemed a bit uneasy, her restraint obvious.

An Rong pursed her lips and said, “The slow bird needs an early start. I’m afraid of dragging my teammates down.”

Xiao Yu looked at her sweat-dampened clothes and hair, then at her clear, clean eyes. She sincerely gave her a thumbs up. “Impressive. Hard work always pays off.”

An Rong wiped her sweat and gave a shy smile.

Xu Xiaoye laughed heartily, pressing down on An Rong’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, it’s not that serious. You’re our most important lead singer. Be more confident.”

This was the first time since her rebirth that Xu Xiaoye had encouraged her so directly and earnestly. An Rong’s heart felt as sweet as honey. She puffed out her chest, lifted her head, and gave a solemn “Mhm.”

Xiao Yu and Xu Xiaoye had no intention of prying into each other’s song or choreography. After a brief greeting, they parted ways; Xiao Yu’s teammates were on the other side of the room, quite a distance away.

Xia Chunhua handed An Rong a bottle of water. An Rong took it, moved around a bit to loosen up, and kept her eyes on Xu Xiaoye.

Xu Xiaoye frowned slightly, lost in thought. After a moment, she looked at the group. “We have two weeks to get a performance ready for the stage. There are five of us, all with different foundations. Let’s start with the dance. We don’t need to be as perfect as the teachers in the video yet—let’s not worry about the details for now. First, we learn the sequence. The goal for the first week is to be able to finish the dance smoothly. In the second week, we’ll iron out the details. Sound good?”

Among the five of them, Xu Xiaoye had the most training experience. Naturally, no one opposed her plan. Xia Chunhua and Kang Yu had some dance background, but they had only learned how to dance; they didn’t have enough experience in self-directed training.

With no opposition, Xu Xiaoye felt a sense of relief. She added, “If there are problems we can’t solve, we’ll ask the teachers for help. If you’re too nervous to ask, tell me, and I’ll do it. As for the singing, I can’t help much there. For now, let’s just memorize the lyrics, okay? When the vocal teacher arrives, we’ll look at the specifics.”

The four of them nodded in unison.

While An Rong was a fast learner when it came to singing, it was because of her natural talent. Being able to do it herself and being able to teach others were two completely different things.

Xu Xiaoye turned to An Rong and asked tentatively, “Can you sing this song all the way through yet?”

An Rong licked her lips and said cautiously, “By tomorrow. I should be able to do it tomorrow.”

Actually, she was nearly there tonight, but for safety’s sake—and because there was plenty of time—An Rong pushed the deadline back slightly to avoid any surprises.

Even so, saying “tomorrow” shocked the others. So fast? They only got the audio and video this afternoon with no teacher, and she could sing it by tomorrow?

An Rong didn’t think much of it. The tablet had the sheet music; she could look at it tonight. She turned and retrieved the tablet from the camera stand. “Thank you,” she said to the stand.

Xia Chunhua blinked in dazed shock, momentarily wondering if An Rong was a child with social withdrawal.

Xu Xiaoye’s lips curled into a smile. She took the tablet from An Rong and waited for her to re-tie her hair before turning to the others. “Then you guys watch it a few more times to get familiar.”

The group sat in a circle on the floor with the tablet in the middle. An Rong watched it twice more. During the intro, everyone’s moves were roughly the same, so they started learning that part first.

An Rong had already gone over it once with Xu Xiaoye, so she looked somewhat the part and could follow along smoothly.

There was only one tablet and everyone learned at different speeds. Once Xu Xiaoye and Xia Chunhua learned the intro, they practiced on their own. The other three continued watching. Before long, Kang Yu could join the practice. That left only An Rong and Song Ran watching. Since An Rong had already gotten a “head start,” she practiced by herself nearby, returning to the tablet only when she forgot a move.

After three or four hours, everyone was exhausted. Some had already returned to the dorms to rest. At that point, Qin Yun arrived with five people—the dance teachers and TS trainees from the video.

Qin Yun introduced them one by one, then said, “If there’s anything you don’t understand or can’t do, be bold and ask the teachers. They are here to teach you.”

An Rong sat to the side, looking on as memories were triggered by the identical scene. Back then, she hadn’t understood why the teachers didn’t come from the very beginning to lead them.

Now she understood. Part of it was for the show—to let the audience see how they behaved without guidance. Another part was actually a test for the captains: to see who led better.

An Rong looked up at Xu Xiaoye. In this regard, Xu Xiaoye was beyond reproach. She was smart, had high emotional intelligence, and was persuasive. Most importantly, she knew how to take care of everyone.

With the teachers present, the atmosphere in the studio changed. It was as if they had suddenly found their anchor.

However, An Rong remembered that these teachers didn’t usually “teach” in the traditional sense. They wouldn’t go step-by-step like school teachers. They would demonstrate once, and then you were on your own. You only asked when you hit a wall, and they would point out your flaws.

This was also a test of their self-study and communication skills.

Having already gone through this evaluation once, An Rong could understand things from different angles now. But even though she knew, she didn’t intend to change anything.

The teacher demonstrated once. On Xu Xiaoye’s team, everyone except Song Ran could more or less keep up. Xu Xiaoye herself danced just as well as the teacher.

In the end, only Song Ran was still struggling. Her coordination was even worse than An Rong’s—when her hands moved, her feet wouldn’t; when her feet moved, her hands were lost. She didn’t dare ask the teacher, so she just sat silently to the side watching the video and studying it herself.

Two more hours passed. Everyone was spent. There were no fixed “class hours” here; it was all self-directed. Seeing that it was getting late, some people headed off to eat.

As soon as one person left, others followed. Within two minutes, the dance studio was half-empty.

Xia Chunhua had been hungry for a while. Seeing others leave, she rubbed her stomach and said to Xu Xiaoye, “Captain, I’m hungry.”

Xu Xiaoye was currently learning the verse. Hearing Xia Chunhua, she said, “It is time to eat. Go ahead if you want.”

Xia Chunhua’s dimples appeared as she nodded. “Are you coming, Captain?”

Xu Xiaoye paused, then shook her head. “You go first. I’ll be a while.”

A few minutes after Xia Chunhua left, Kang Yu followed.

The dance studio was almost empty now.

Xu Xiaoye turned to An Rong. “Aren’t you hungry?”

An Rong’s stomach was growling; she was so hungry she was nearly lightheaded. The tiny bit of food she had at lunch couldn’t possibly satisfy the demands of this much exercise.

But when her goddess asked, An Rong immediately put on a serious face, appearing to have infinite energy. “I’ve passed the point of hunger. I don’t feel it right now.”

In reality, she had gone from hungry to starving and back again.

Xu Xiaoye frowned slightly. “If you’re hungry, go find something to eat. Don’t force it. Don’t ruin your stomach.”

An Rong gave a hum of acknowledgment. “It’s fine, I’ll practice a bit longer.”

Since she insisted, Xu Xiaoye didn’t say anything more.

Song Ran was squatting by the wall, staring down and poking the floor with her finger. She had no talent for dance. Her singing was okay for an average person, but she was beautiful. She had survived this far purely to fill the numbers; because only five people were eliminated last time, she had luckily stayed.

She hadn’t even wanted to sign up.

Xu Xiaoye walked over and squatted beside her. “What’s wrong?”

Song Ran said nothing.

“Are you too tired?” Xu Xiaoye asked.

Song Ran shook her head, her voice trembling slightly as she tried to hide it. “No.”

“The pressure of not being able to learn it?”

After a moment of silence, Song Ran let out a long sigh. She looked up at Xu Xiaoye. “I really can’t do it.”

Her eyebrows drooped, and her face was pale. She was at the peak of frustration. “I really can’t. I’ve never learned this, I can’t dance. You guys are so good, but I don’t even know where to put my hands. I feel like an idiot.”

It was a gloom that came from the soul.

Xu Xiaoye felt a bit helpless. This happened every year when TS recruited trainees. Ordinary people trying to step into this circle always hit walls.

Xu Xiaoye sat down on the floor, adopting a conversational posture. “Then why did you sign up?”

An Rong kept stealing glances at Xu Xiaoye. Seeing that she didn’t look like she was leaving anytime soon, An Rong began to soothe her nerves, which were constantly firing off hunger signals.

Song Ran said helplessly, “I didn’t want to sign up. My mom did. She thought I should give it a try. Even if I don’t make it, two hundred yuan a day isn’t a bad deal.”

It was very real.

It was exactly what the original An Rong had thought. Back then, when An Rong’s sister signed her up, she had asked for An Rong’s opinion. An Rong had thought it over: two hundred a day. Even if she didn’t win, staying for ten days meant two thousand yuan—that was two months of living expenses at university. Why not? So she came.

Song Ran said with a long face, “How was I supposed to know I’d have to dance non-stop? I don’t know how!”

Her foundation was similar to the old An Rong’s. When others practiced all day, their bodies were tired; when she practiced all day, her spirit gave out first. She constantly denied herself while comparing herself to others, and under the pressure of intense training, she never stopped doubting herself.

An Rong remembered. This was exactly when Xu Xiaoye had her first formal conversation with her in the past. Back then, she said: “Since you’re here for the two hundred yuan a day, what are you nervous about? The next elimination isn’t until the end of the month. Look at it another way: you’re getting paid daily and learning to dance and sing for free. How many people get an opportunity like that?”

Song Ran was dumbstruck.

An Rong’s lips curled slightly as she looked down and shared a secret smile.

Song Ran blinked. “But I really can’t do it. I can’t keep up with your speed at all.”

No matter how well Xu Xiaoye put it, the reality wasn’t going to change.

Xu Xiaoye arched an eyebrow. “You don’t have to keep up with our speed. Everyone has their own rhythm. Look at An Rong—she has no foundation either, and sometimes she moves her same-side hand and foot together. Look at how thick-skinned she is, she doesn’t care at all. Mindset is what matters most. If you don’t care about debuting, don’t put so much pressure on yourself. If there’s something you don’t know, I can teach you, or the teachers can.”

An Rong, who was practicing nearby, saw her smile gradually vanish. She slowly turned her head to look at Xu Xiaoye, her expression incredibly innocent.

Who are you dragging into this? The same-side hand and foot thing was an accident! Who’s thick-skinned? Who doesn’t care? Who doesn’t want to debut? Can a goddess just say whatever she wants without being held responsible?

Xu Xiaoye finished enlightened Song Ran and then taught her the moves she didn’t know, hand-in-hand.

Then she turned around and saw An Rong was still there. She asked casually, “Going to eat?”

An Rong stopped her movements immediately and nodded. “Yes.”

I’ve been waiting for you forever.