Rebirth from the Ashes - Chapter 500

Chapter 500: Take Your Medicine

Su Muyan gave an answer.

It was best for He Lu to stop with the excessive questions. In chuckles, she pulled Su Ruowan to walk alongside as though the conversation earlier happened by chance.

Su Muyan heaved relief while thinking to himself to stop Wanwan from bringing up Shen Xi in public.

The freak show was finally put to rest.

The mentors formed their own opinions on the matter. They knew who Shen Xi was. She was a new student of Ms. Shu Baiyu and a fellow student of Guan Yue.

There were all kinds of hearsay in the entertainment circle, especially during the year-end Film Festival red carpet. It was debated that Shen Xi was revealed to be Cai Ni the designer and Li Jingran passed out in rage.

The media suspected Shen Xi was Li Jingran’s illegitimate daughter, and it was a big hoo-ha at the time. The press would compare the pair’s photo every now and then in hopes to get an answer.

Nevertheless, Li Jingran often denied in the face of the media’s questioning. Su Muyan and Su Mushi would give the press a dressing-down when the questions arose.

Yet it seemed Li Jingran and Shen Xi were more than strangers even if they were not mother and daughter. The terms – distant relative, a sister, staying together – came right out of the horse’s mouth. It proved that they were related somehow.

The mentors were filled with more questions than answers, let alone the trainees. They lost their appetite for gossip.

One thing was for sure though, rumors pertaining Su Ruowan and Ms. Shu Baiyu were untrue.

In the last few days during training, the trainees would ask Su Ruowan about her relationship with Ms. Shu Baiyu and Su Ruowan would never give a straight answer, leaving everyone to think she was all that. They really looked up to her then.

Now that they thought about it, Su Ruowan turned out to be a classic basic b*tch who played innocent. Blegh.

As for Shen Xi, no one saw her as a threat or had any interest in her since she was not on the show. He Lu was the only one interested to get to the bottom of it.

“Wanwan, I don’t know why but the words just came out of my mouth.” He Lu apologetically gazed at Su Ruowan as she worriedly asked, “Don’t be mad.”

“No.” Su Ruowan shook her head before moving to get a bowl of porridge.

“Su Ruowan, are you having porridge?” A nearby trainee posed a question.

Su Ruowan let out a friendly smile.

“Why bother with porridge? Take your medicine instead.” Another trainee jumped in.

The color drained from Su Ruowan’s face.

“Yes, you should take your medicine.” Yet another trainee chimed in. The girl proceeded to cynically ask the staff behind the kitchen. “Madam, do we have any medicine in the cafeteria?”

Su Ruowan was about to lose it because of the jeers and taunts. Without grabbing a bowl of porridge, she wept and took off.

“Wanwan.” He Lu was having so much fun, but she still had to keep the sisterhood façade going. She gave the jeering trainees the evil glare before catching up to Su Ruowan.

The nearby trainees thought the few girls went too far at hurting Su Ruowan as the latter exited the scene looking rather tearful, fragile, and harmless.

However, most of them were secretly enjoying it though, especially those with a clear head. They had always thought Su Ruowan was pretentious and pompous. These trainees were in awe of how Su Ruowan captured the essence of playing the victim innocently.

Su Ruowan had perfect control of her facial expression after years of practice. She could put on those Bambi eyes and turn on the waterworks at any time.

Nevertheless, the effects were lost in an all-girls setting, except for the male mentors, of course. Women had an innate ability to fish out fake b*tches miles away.

He Lu went after Su Ruowan and found Su Ruowan making a bolt for the stairwell to cry. Although disgusted by Su Ruowan’s good acting, He Lu did her part to console her. She handed Su Ruowan a tissue. “Wanwan, they’re just jealous of you. They only feel good to see other people fail. Why get mad over them?”

Amid all the crying, Su Ruowan found He Lu to be a joke. She was tempted to rip He Lu’s mouth apart.

He Lu, the b*tch, had the balls to say other people were jealous of her and wanted to see her fail when the person who was the most jealous was herself!

Su Ruowan could not care less about those people at the cafeteria. They were her stepping stones to the road of success. Who would take the words of stepping stones seriously?

As jealous as they may be, these trainees could never win and make their debut. The opportunity to debut front and center was hers to keep.

The effects of the morning incident began to show. There was an apparent reduction of girls asking for help and currying Su Ruowan’s favor.

Tension rose in the studio and sparks were flying.

The trainees’ first qualifying round and rankings would begin this weekend. Fifty would make the cut while the rest, fifty one of them, would be eliminated.

Guan Yue had not much to do as there was not much recording going on during the trainees’ training. She was basically a professional dance instructor, higher than Xia Mi in rank, brought to the show to cheer the trainees on and provide professional guidance.

The production team had extended invitations to many artists in the industry. It was only an invitation as there was no telling whether the artist would accept the invitation. They did not carry much hope for Guan Yue.

They were pretty surprised when Guan Yue’s manager called to inform them of her arrival. Just like Ms. Shu Baiyu, it was a known fact that Ms. Guan Yue was too focused on her dancing to join any variety shows.

Still, Guan Yue’s presence on the show created a buzz among the viewers. She was second to none in China when it came to her insights on dancing.

The reason Guan Yue came to the show was simple – she was here to visit Shen Xi and bring her food. It was not as complicated as what others had in mind.

Guan Yue received a reluctant farewell from the trainees by the end of the afternoon practice.

At last, Guan Yue the eyesore was gone. After a day of observation, Su Ruowan and Su Muyan concluded that Guan Yue and Mr. Xixi were not as close, seeing there were not many intimate interactions between them.

“Muyan, what’s the progress on that?” Su Ruowan waited until no one was around to ask the question.

“The deadline’s tonight.” Su Muyan picked up on what she was talking about. It was to look for someone to write and choreograph a song for her. Su Muyan gave Su Ruowan the idea and contacted the person on her behalf. This was a dependable person.

Wanwan came looking for him in tears the other day, having been put in a compromising position. He knew Wanwan was not good enough to put her own song and choreography out there. Hence, Su Muyan came up with this plan.

He had contacts of usual and reliable partners, and they were musicians and choreographers from abroad who he could trust. Su Muyan would not be caught buying their creative rights.

“Thank you, Muyan.” Su Ruowan gratefully stared at him.

“Don’t mind the pleasantries with me.” Su Muyan gently smiled. “Come find me in my room after practice. Let’s see if it’s to your liking.”

“Sure.” Su Ruowan nodded.

She was not the least bit worried as Muyan’s supposed originals were bought that way. No one would know as long as she and Muyan kept their mouths shut.

The opportunity to debut front and center belonged to her! She must succeed by whatever means!