Of course, Ji Rou knew it wouldn’t be as simple as just standing on stage like Xu Qingmei suggested. This wasn’t a beauty pageant—even if it were, contestants would still need to showcase some talent.
She frowned slightly. She didn’t seem to have any particular skills.
But the original Ji Rou did—she was quite good at singing and dancing.
That, however, wasn’t something Ji Rou felt she could easily match.
She tried singing a few lines from a popular song. The clear, melodious voice that came out stunned her.
This… this was her voice?
She hadn’t expected such a strong natural foundation. No wonder that shady entertainment company had insisted on signing the original Ji Rou.
Even with that advantage, Ji Rou didn’t dare relax. She picked up her phone and started practicing songs by famous singers, determined to improve.
Just as she felt she had practiced enough, Wu Xiaomei stumbled back in—looking utterly disheveled.
Her clothes were torn to shreds, barely covering her body, and the marks on her skin were impossible to ignore. She carried an air of scandal and chaos that was painfully obvious.
Ji Rou widened her eyes in feigned shock. “Xiaomei… what happened to you?!”
Wu Xiaomei had the worst luck. She had gone to see Bai Shao in high spirits, but the moment she entered, he pounced on her. Since they had already been intimate before, and seeing his enthusiasm, she half-resisted, half-went along with it.
She thought that when she woke up, she’d be greeted with talk of marriage.
Instead, a group of reporters suddenly burst in and captured everything.
Amid the chaos, her clothes were torn apart by the crowd, while Bai Shao—whom she had been thinking about the whole time—did something even worse. He used her as a shield and locked her outside the room, leaving her alone to deal with the reporters.
Even then, Wu Xiaomei didn’t blame Bai Shao for putting her in danger. Instead, she became convinced that everything had been orchestrated by Ji Rou.
Her eyes burned with fury. Feeling completely played, she ignored her disheveled state and rushed back to school to confront Ji Rou.
“Ji Rou, was all of this your doing?!”
Ji Rou put on a confused expression. “Xiaomei, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Wu Xiaomei glared at her. “Ji Rou! Did you call the reporters?!”
Thinking about how she, a university student in the capital, had been photographed in such a humiliating state made her want to disappear.
Ji Rou still looked clueless. “Reporters? Xiaomei, did something happen to you? Why are you suddenly talking about reporters?”
Wu Xiaomei studied her face carefully. There was no trace of guilt or shock—only confusion, as if she truly had no idea what had happened.
That only made her frustration worse—she had nowhere to vent her anger.
After a moment, she forced out, “You really don’t know anything about the reporters?”
“Xiaomei, what exactly are you asking? I really don’t know anything about that. But you can tell me—I might be able to help.”
“…No need.”
There was no way Wu Xiaomei could admit that she had booked a room with Bai Shao at the Xingji Hotel and ended up being photographed by reporters. She couldn’t let Ji Rou know something so disgraceful.
Gritting her teeth, she decided she had to contact Bai Shao and get him to suppress the scandal. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to stay at the university.
“Ji Rou, can you try contacting Bai Shao for me?”
Ever since the incident, Bai Shao had completely blocked her. That confused and frustrated her—Ji Rou had said he liked her, so why, after last night, did he cut off all contact instead of treating her better?
Unable to reach him, she had no choice but to ask Ji Rou.
But Ji Rou definitely wasn’t going to contact him. She had beaten him up just the night before—if she reached out now, he would expose everything, including her lies to Wu Xiaomei.
Still, she wasn’t too worried. This involved a man’s pride—Bai Shao would never admit what really happened.
Judging from the situation, Wu Xiaomei had likely been completely abandoned. After all, who would still want a woman whose body had been exposed to the public?