NOVEL NEXT Chapter 14 - Variety show
What happened next, Tang Yuan had no way of knowing. For the time being, she spent her days resting at home to recover from her injuries.
Tang Gu continued to be very busy, and in the past week, he had only come home for dinner once, rarely seen around.
As for Tang Su, as a busy high school student with a 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. schedule, it was also difficult for her to run into Tang Yuan.
Her injury was taken care of by a private doctor, and after a week, she finally healed completely.
During this time, she stayed at home, and apart from sending daily messages to bother Jiang Zi, the only other thing she did was play games to pass the time.
Honestly, despite never having played games before, she quickly became addicted. In just a few days, she spent a significant amount of money, bought all the equipment and outfits available in the store, and upgraded everything to the maximum level.
She wasn’t skilled but had money, and like in life, money meant having bodyguards in the game as well.
Tang Yuan sat in front of her dressing table, very pleased with the natural-looking makeup she had applied. She cupped her face with her hands and gave her reflection a kiss, then picked up a pink mirror lip gloss and applied another layer.
It was June, and the weather was hot, so she could wear a little camisole. She refused to believe Jiang Zi could remain straight like iron.
Just as she was about to send a message to Jiang Zi, her phone vibrated with an incoming call from her manager, sister Qing.
Tang Yuan recalled that she had indeed signed with a manager, but since she wasn’t very keen on promoting herself, the manager didn’t dare to arrange too many things for her. Therefore, she and the manager hadn’t communicated much.
Though they weren’t very familiar, there was no conflict between them.
So, Tang Yuan answered the call.
“Xiao Yuan, the girl group variety show you signed up for, is filming this afternoon. The show is live-streamed. Did you see the schedule and the notes I sent you yesterday?”
“Ah?” Tang Yuan suddenly realized that the reason she had signed up for the variety show was because she wanted to jump ship to Chu Yu’s company through this show.
Tang Yuan:……
A voice came from the phone: “What’s wrong? You haven’t seen it, have you?”
Tang Yuan forced a laugh, “Of course not. I downloaded the files first thing this morning.”
She had a habit of downloading files right away to show she had received them, even if she hadn’t actually looked at them yet.
She had been so busy playing games yesterday that she hadn’t even seen the file’s title, let alone read it.
“Just make sure you’ve got a rough idea of it. As long as you follow the show’s script, it’ll be fine. I’ve packed your things, and ShuangXi and I are coming to pick you up.”
“Okay.”
Hanging up the phone, Tang Yuan had a glum look on her face.
The judges on this show were split between professional mentors and high-level executives from entertainment companies.
The show was hosted by an entertainment company under Chu Yu, and it was open to both newcomers and artists signed with other companies.
The show’s team would select a hundred participants from numerous applicants. They would then post the applicants’ videos on the official Weibo account, and the first round of online voting would decide which thirty would stay.
In other words, the final thirty participants would be those who made it to the show’s recording.
As long as someone performed exceptionally well on the show and caught the eye of Dragon City QiaoChu entertainment company, even if they were signed with another company, QiaoChu would pay the breach of contract fee to help them switch companies.
The original Tang Yuan had signed with her own company, so she initially had this plan in mind—not for the breach of contract money, but to switch to QiaoChu with legitimacy.
She had even secretly spent a lot of money securing her spot.
Tang Yuan closed her eyes, wishing she could just drift off peacefully.
She opened the file, and the first thing she saw was the list of participants. Among the thirty names, she found Jiang Zi’s name.
That’s right, Jiang Zi had signed up, too.
Thanks to the principle of attraction between the male and female leads, as long as Jiang Zi participated, she would definitely join Chu Yu’s company.
She would not allow that.
So, she had to stick to the plan and participate as well.
But the show’s script?
Heh, consider that money wasted.
At 4:30 in the afternoon, they arrived at the show’s mansion. ShuangXi and sister Qing went to place the luggage while Tang Yuan got out of the car and faced the cameras.
It was already quite late, as everyone else had arrived except for her.
A girl walked up to her, “Hi, beautiful! You look stunning. I even voted for you during the online selection~.”
The girl wore a pink JK skirt with a white blouse and a pink plaid bow tie. Her face was youthful and fresh, with the classic “first love” look of a high school sweetheart.
Tang Yuan’s eyes lit up. “Hello, thank you~.”
The girl held up her phone, showing her QR code. “Can we add each other on WeChat? I’m Zhou LanLan. Zhou of Zhou dynasty, and Lan from orchid (Lan Hua).”
“Tang Yuan.” She readily added Zhou LanLan as a friend.
The mansion was owned by the Chu family, covering a vast area with various buildings and gardens.
They were currently at a leisure area for tea and socialising; not far was a large lawn with a nearby swimming pool and a large fountain.
A big umbrella-shaded a table surrounded by four woven chairs. Most people chatted in small groups, and Tang Yuan’s arrival didn’t attract much attention.
Out of the corner of her eye, Tang Yuan spotted someone sitting alone on the grass, dressed in a loose grey camisole, black cargo pants, and a black baseball cap.
The person had her head down, staring at her phone, seemingly lost in thought, her fair skin glowing under the sun.
Tang Yuan pursed her lips, said a quick goodbye to Zhou Lanlan, and quietly approached Jiang Zi.
Jiang Zi noticed a shadow sneaking up but pretended not to see, maintaining her pose.
“Hey!” A hand tapped on Jiang Zi’s shoulder.
She played along and jumped in surprise, then looked up, “When did you arrive?”
Tang Yuan squatted down beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. “Just arrived.”
Jiang Zi glanced down at Tang Yuan’s short skirt, then grabbed her arm and pulled her up as she stood.
“Let’s go sit somewhere.”
Tang Yuan, delighted, followed her.
Zhou LanLan also came over, and the three gathered around a table. Zhou LanLan looked surprised and asked, “You two know each other?”
Tang Yuan propped her chin on her hands. “Yeah, we’re good friends. This is Jiang Zi.”
Jiang Zi remained silent.
“This is my new friend, Zhou LanLan.”
Jiang Zi nodded. “Hello.”
“Hello, hello!” Zhou LanLan exclaimed with delight. “I know you! You won first place in the online poll, didn’t you? You’re beautiful. It’s just that I didn’t recognize you today because of your outfit. I didn’t expect you to be able to pull off any style. As expected, beautiful girls crossdressing as boys are all handsome.”
Jiang Zi was at a loss for words. After a moment of silence, she replied, “Thank you, you’re also very pretty.”
Zhou LanLan felt a little stressed but chuckled and leaned closer to Tang Yuan, whispering, “Is your friend an introvert, doesn’t seem to really like to chat?”
Tang Yuan nodded in agreement. “Yeah, she’s a bit shy.”
Jiang Zi:……
“Attention, all guests are requested to proceed to the banquet hall for dinner.”
The program’s announcement finally came through the speakers.
Everyone headed to the banquet hall.
[The show is finally starting! I’ve been looking forward to this variety show for so long.]
[The online voting videos have been trending for ages. I’m already dazzled by it; they are all so beautiful.]
[Is the first place not here yet? How come I can’t see her.]
The show had invested heavily in marketing, so there were many viewers eagerly waiting for the live broadcast, and the number of people online at the same time has broken through 100,000.