Everyone Is Spending Money to Push Me Into A Center-Position Debut - Chapter 8

As for what exactly Bai Chang was up to, Chi Rui finally learned about it from Tang Yu on the day she set off for the dormitory camp.

Originally, Tang Yu and Chi Rui only had the kind of relationship where they occasionally ran into each other at the company and nodded in greeting. They were not familiar. If Chi Rui had anything she wanted passed along, she usually went through Bai Yuanyuan, who was easier to talk to. So when they met, both of them seemed somewhat distant.

“Good morning, Sister Tang Yu.” Chi Rui had gotten up early and carefully fixed herself up from head to toe. At the very least, she hoped that when meeting Tang Yu properly for the first time, she could leave the other party with a good impression.

Tang Yu was driving a mid-sized nanny van today. When Chi Rui got in, she discovered that there were two makeup artists sitting in the back row.

The recording time set by the production team was eight o’clock, which meant they had to set off by seven at the latest. Tang Yu had originally thought Chi Rui would at least laze in bed for half an hour before coming down, so she had brought people over to do her styling on the way, to avoid wasting time. She had not expected Chi Rui to come downstairs quite a bit earlier than that.

“Mm, morning.” Tang Yu nodded at Chi Rui and pointed at the two people in the back. “Follow along with them and get your styling done while you listen to me talk. That way, we won’t waste time.”

“All right,” Chi Rui replied.

Having read the original novel, she trusted Tang Yu’s work ability very much. She also was not worried that Tang Yu would make things difficult for her because of bias against the original owner. This was Tang Yu’s greatest strength: she always kept public and private matters separate.

The makeup artist was a young girl, but her movements looked very practiced. Chi Rui first changed her clothes according to her instructions, then lifted her chin and waited for her makeup to be applied.

“I watched all the practice videos you sent me last night. Your progress is extremely obvious. I hope that during the competition, you can keep up this positive attitude as well. Although the company only sent two people to participate this time, it still attaches great importance to the competition. Ms. Bai Chang has also personally put in a lot of effort. Also, no matter what outsiders say, you only need to focus on doing your stages well. Leave everything else to me.”

Tang Yu spoke very skillfully. The first part praised Chi Rui very comfortably, but the key point was in the final section: she was telling her not to act with three-minute enthusiasm like before, and at the same time, she used Bai Chang to put pressure on her.

“All right, I understand, Sister Tang Yu.”

Today, Chi Rui called her “Sister Tang Yu” so sweetly, one after another, that Tang Yu, who had originally thought she would have to spend quite a bit of effort doing ideological work with her, felt a little unused to it.

“You should already know that you can’t bring a phone during the dormitory period. So if something sudden happens and you need me to handle it, contact the production team and have them pass along the message.” Tang Yu handed over a business card, and also included a photo. “This is the PD in charge of filming your daily life segments. If anything happens, try to look for her. She’ll be easier to talk to.”

Chi Rui had not expected Tang Yu’s preparations to be this thorough. Even knowing that this was simply Tang Yu’s personality, she was still a little moved. She took the business card and glanced at the name on it: Xi Yaozhi.

“During the dormitory period, watch your temper. It’s better to have less contact with people from Lemon.”

Lemon and Bai Chang and Chi Rui’s old agency, HM, were mortal enemies. For years, they had bought press releases to drag down HM’s artists. Their methods were not particularly brilliant, but they were disgusting. Tang Yu was not afraid of them. It was just like that saying: better to offend a gentleman than a petty person. It was best to have fewer unnecessary troubles.

Chi Rui nodded. Along the way, no matter what Tang Yu said, she obediently answered yes. If not for Chi Rui’s numerous previous bad examples, Tang Yu almost would have thought she was handling an obedient, worry-free kid.

With one makeup artist handling makeup and the other doing her hair, their efficiency was extremely high. In less than half an hour, they had finished Chi Rui from head to toe.

After the result was complete, Tang Yu once again used those 24K fiery golden eyes of hers to scan her all over. Only after confirming that everything was perfect did she allow Chi Rui to get out of the car.

Before Chi Rui got out, she turned around slightly. It seemed as if she had thought for a long time before finally asking the question she had been holding in. “Why was Bai Chang willing to transfer you to me?”

Who did not know that Tang Yu was Bai Chang’s exclusive manager? Chi Rui had originally thought that changing to a manager who at least would not drag her down like Zhou Ping would be enough. Who knew Bai Chang would directly send down a king-ranked player from the heavens to save her?

Tang Yu did not plan to hide it from her. “Because I’m very easy to talk to. For one extra person, my monthly base salary is sixty-six thousand. Bai Chang temporarily prepaid three months of salary for me to manage you. Once the money landed in my bank account, I, Tang Yu, was fully prepared.”

Sixty-six thousand was, of course, still Tang Yu’s friendship price for Bai Chang. In return, when Bai Chang transferred the salary, she did not fuss over that little extra amount either and directly sent over a round sum of two hundred thousand.

Chi Rui now finally knew where that two hundred thousand came from. It was just Tang Yu’s way of explaining it that made her feel like one of those troublesome students who gave private tutors the biggest headaches—sure, the person could be taught, but the money had to be in place.

She also did not overlook the useful information in Tang Yu’s words. Bai Chang had only prepaid three months of salary, which meant she believed Chi Rui would not be able to stay in the camp longer than that before being eliminated, or else withdrawing on her own.

Indeed, in Bai Chang’s eyes, she was a delicate young lady who could not even hand-wash socks. Having her live in a collective dormitory while also participating in such a cruel competition system was something completely unimaginable.

Fine, then. She could only work hard and persist a little longer, then draw a few more sixty-six-thousand payments from the pocket of this restrained and secretly sultry future ex-wife.

The dormitory camp address was a building in the suburbs. Tang Yu’s car stopped at the intersection in front of the main entrance. From inside the car, Chi Rui could already see the modern-style glass building ahead, which occupied quite a large area.

Before this, Chi Rui had imagined the dormitory environment as a retro-style villa at the foot of some remote mountain, while she herself was one of ninety-nine young girls about to be isolated there for devilish training. The building now standing before her beside a busy road instantly pulled her out of that exaggerated imagination. She felt as though she was now merely an ordinary white-collar worker on her first day of work—there was still plenty of anticipation, but the nervousness had drifted away amid the gap between imagination and reality.

“After you get out of the car, everything will depend on you. Prepare yourself mentally. At least don’t take a one-round trip.” Tang Yu’s words sounded more like sarcasm than encouragement, but her sincere tone made Chi Rui take it quite well.

She turned back and raised a smile. “I’ll hold on until the end.”

If it had been before, Tang Yu would only have taken this as big talk. But now… over a hundred practice videos, along with the change in attitude she had shown throughout this journey, had made Tang Yu alter some of her existing understanding of Chi Rui. Perhaps it was possible to have a little expectation.

“Remember to do what you say.” Tang Yu showed her first smile since the two of them had met.