The entire livestream room, after Jiang Mian finished saying, “I can invite Supreme Lord Laozi, I’m crazy good at it,” instantly fell into a deathlike silence, until…
[Hello everyone, my friend just laughed so hard they passed out. I came here to see what on earth just happened?]
A single bullet comment slowly drifted across the blank screen, directly setting off the entire livestream room.
[Pfft hahahahaha, holy hell… spirit-calling ritual, holy hell… inviting Supreme Lord Laozi… I’m laughing so hard my hands are still shaking while typing, hahahahaha!]
[Where on earth did the production team dig up this living treasure of a contestant? How can someone be this deadpan while being this funny? So this isn’t a talent show at all, it’s a comedy show, right?]
[Hahahaha, look at the expressions on Zhang Qin and the other three mentors’ faces. I seriously doubt that in their more than twenty years in the industry they’ve ever run into something like this. They don’t even know how to respond anymore!]
[I don’t care, she’s so special (shadiao). I am definitely picking this young lady to debut. I said it, and even Jesus can’t stop me!]
[You’re laughing me to death. Big sister is so adorable, I love her so much!]
…
Compared to the excitement and enthusiasm of the netizens, the three mentors, left mentally dazed by Jiang Mian’s outrageous answers, did not continue asking the remaining questions. Instead, they led Jiang Mian straight into the Idol House.
The moment she stepped inside, the huge courtyard was practically packed with people, both men and women.
As she swept her gaze across the scene, Jiang Mian had not even finished reacting when a voice full of delight suddenly rang out from one side.
“Mianmian!”
Jiang Mian turned her head. Standing barely three meters away from her was a girl whose face was filled with happiness. If it was not Lin Qian, the very same Lin Qian whom Jiang Mian had slapped into a pig-headed mess just yesterday, who else could it be?
Looking at the other party’s seemingly effortless acting, Jiang Mian could not help sighing inwardly once again. ‘Sister, with acting skills this good, wouldn’t it be better to do literally anything else? Why insist on staying by Xu Xingming’s side, dutifully performing the role of a vicious supporting female character?’
‘Could it be because of the inertia of the original plot?’
While Jiang Mian was still utterly puzzled, Lin Qian had already walked up to her, bringing along the two men and one woman behind her.
‘Good grief.’
The bootlicker Zhai Feiyang, the male lead Xu Xingming, and another girl she did not recognize, who did not even bother to look at her properly and was practically rolling her eyes to the sky.
Add Lin Qian to the mix, and it was truly a gathering of every kind of freak and weirdo imaginable.
But what Jiang Mian admired most was still Lin Qian. How could someone manage to let her boyfriend and her bootlicker coexist so harmoniously in the same space?
Not even a single fight?
Men, huh.
“Mianmian, you’re finally here. Earlier everyone was still guessing who the final headliner would be. I never expected it to be you. Looks like that trending topic you got from chopping bricks with your bare hands in the preliminary video really worked. Even Chen Yu and Xiao Li didn’t get the closing slot, but the production team saved it for you. I think they’re probably planning to push you hard. That’s amazing…”
“Hmph!”
Before Lin Qian could finish speaking, the chestnut-haired girl with short hair standing to her left immediately let out a cold snort through her nose.
“Ah… Xiao Li, that’s not what I meant. You’re my friend, and so is Mianmian. I just wanted to congratulate Mianmian, really. I didn’t mean anything else…”
Lin Qian looked full of guilt, her expression utterly sincere.
Seeing this, the girl named Zhu Li turned her head and gave Lin Qian an aloof smile. “Qianqian, you don’t need to explain. I’ve lived under the same roof with you for over three years. How could I not know what kind of person you are? I’m not angry at you. I just want to say that the bar in the entertainment industry is really way too low now. People of any level can get in. Chopping bricks with bare hands? Ha. That kind of attention-grabbing, laughable gimmick actually managed to trend. Don’t you find that ridiculous when you hear it?”
Before Jiang Mian could even respond to Zhu Li’s remarks, the livestream room had already erupted.
[What’s going on with this former child star Zhu Li? Is she getting arrogant just because she’s acted in a few TV dramas? The entertainment industry is entertainment. Isn’t it just there to amuse ordinary people like us? As long as we’re happy, that’s enough. Who does she think she is?]
[Exactly. What she said was way too hurtful.]
[As long as I like it, that’s all that matters. Who asked her to point fingers at us?]
[Little Litchi fans reporting in for support. Am I the only one who thinks what our Lili said was completely right? The threshold of the entertainment industry is way too low. Everyone else is singing, dancing, showing real talents, but only this Miss Jiang is chopping bricks with her bare hands, and even doing spirit-invoking rituals or whatever. Who exactly is this kind of inexplicable talent supposed to make laugh?]
[Exactly, exactly. No talent at all and still coming to a talent show. Are you planning to debut as a pretty face and nothing more? If someone like this can debut, it would be an outright disgrace to the entertainment industry!]
…
Inside the livestream room, Zhu Li’s remarks had completely stirred things into chaos.
Only Lin Qian, upon hearing Zhu Li’s blunt and merciless words, lowered her gaze slightly, a trace of mockery flashing quickly through her eyes.
Zhu Li’s short temper had caused Lin Qian to suffer quite a bit during their three years as roommates, but watching her lash out at others now, especially at Jiang Mian, she had to admit it felt unbelievably satisfying.
At this moment, Zhai Feiyang, standing behind Lin Qian, also let the corners of his mouth lift slightly after hearing those words. But the instant Jiang Mian’s gaze swept over him, he hurriedly lowered his head.
That last brutal beating had left him in pain for nearly half a month before he finally recovered. And today, Jiang Mian had shown up carrying that thing again, the plastic bag that was practically his psychological shadow.
The moment he saw those red, white, and blue colors, Zhai Feiyang felt the parts of his body that had already healed begin to ache faintly once more.
Even though he knew that under the cameras Jiang Mian absolutely would not dare to strike him on a whim, he still did his best to shrink his presence to the smallest possible degree.
Xu Xingming, on the other hand, moved his lips after hearing those words, as if he wanted to say something. But when he thought of how merciless Jiang Mian had been to him the previous two times, he restrained himself again.
With Jiang Mian’s current stubborn temperament, she had to go through a setback before she would truly realize who treated her the best.
Just like back in high school. When the classmates in her class excluded and bullied her, she ended up relying on him even more and listening to him more obediently.
Only by comparing those people with him would she realize that he was the gentlest and kindest to her.
Jiang Mian, completely unaware that in such a short span of time these people’s minds had already gone through countless twists and turns, did not pay much attention to Zhu Li’s remarks at all. Instead, after sweeping her gaze around, it landed directly on the fluffy crown of Lin Qian’s head.
‘Ha.’ This sister really was the type who would start tearing the roof off the house if she went even one day without being beaten.
The moment Lin Qian sensed Jiang Mian’s gaze falling on her, and recalled the two crisp, ringing slaps from yesterday, she instinctively clenched her teeth.
But before she could continue stirring up trouble, she heard Jiang Mian speak with a beaming smile. “Ridiculous? Then how about I gift everyone another trending topic? It’s a livestream anyway, and my phone just recorded something at the football field yesterday…”
“Mianmian!”
Before Jiang Mian could finish her sentence, Lin Qian lunged forward in sheer panic, instinctively gripping her wrist with force.
The words phone and football field had both been mentioned. How could Lin Qian not know what Jiang Mian was planning to do?
She had clearly seen through how Lin Qian had just subtly set her up in front of Zhu Li, so she was deliberately…
‘Jiang Mian. Jiang Mian!’
In all her years of growing up, Lin Qian had never hated someone this much.
She hated her so intensely that she even wished Jiang Mian would drop dead on the spot right in front of her.
She absolutely could not let that recording from yesterday be played by Jiang Mian. If it were really released during a livestream, then Xingming, the competition, everything, she would lose it all. Even her mother would blame her.
She could not. Absolutely not!
“Xiao Li…”
Thinking of this, Lin Qian turned to look at Zhu Li behind her. “Please stop talking, okay? Mianmian and I are very good friends. The way you’re speaking is really putting me in a difficult position…”
Hearing this, Zhu Li looked at Lin Qian in disbelief. “Qianqian! She’s your good friend, so I’m not your good friend anymore? You said I was your best friend at Yanjing Film Academy. Now you’re going to turn against me for this person, is that it?”
“I didn’t…” Zhu Li’s unreasonable persistence was giving Lin Qian a splitting headache.
“You did, you did, you did!”
Princess Zhu Li made it clear she was not listening at all. Like a turtle chanting scriptures.
Lin Qian: “…” ‘Damn idiot.’
“Pfft.”
Unable to hold it in, Jiang Mian burst out laughing, instantly drawing the attention of both Zhu Li and Lin Qian to herself.
“Hey, don’t mind me. You two carry on, carry on. Um, Xu Xingming, you got here early. Do you know where I can find some sunflower seeds? This is getting really interesting to watch. I want something to snack on.”
Jiang Mian looked completely serious.
Xu Xingming: “…”
Lin Qian: “…”
Zhu Li: “…”
“You… you…”
Zhu Li stared in disbelief. She and Lin Qian had already fallen out this badly because of her, and she… she actually wanted to snack on sunflower seeds!
“You… you… you little pig! Little dog!”
Miss Zhu Li was so furious that she started cursing, but unfortunately, this little princess was utterly hopeless at insulting people. After holding it in for a long time, those were the only two words she managed to squeeze out.
“Are there really no sunflower seeds? Peanuts would work too!”
Over on her side, Jiang Mian continued negotiating with Xu Xingming, who had a dark expression on his face. Seeing Jiang Mian keep staring at him, Xu Xingming could only shake his head.
“Tsk, so stingy. Could this show be run by some guy with the surname Song? So many people here and they didn’t even prepare sunflower seeds or peanuts!”
At that moment, a certain President Song watching the livestream: “…”
What could he possibly say?
After all, this show really was produced by a company under his name!
Meanwhile, the completely ignored little princess Zhu Li was so angry her hair was practically about to stand on end. Seeing Jiang Mian looking as if she was about to go find some sunflower seeds to snack on, in just a few quick steps, she rushed straight in front of Jiang Mian, spread her arms to block her path, and shouted loudly, “I want to PK you! Right now. Immediately!”
Her sudden roar on level ground instantly drew the attention of all the contestants in the courtyard to the two of them.
[PK? Did I hear that right? The show hasn’t even started recording yet and they’re already going to PK?]
[Oh my god, Zhu Li PK’ing with this Jiang Mian… isn’t that a straight-up dimensionality reduction strike?]
[Exactly. I remember Zhu Li knows so many things. Piano, ballet, Latin dance, drums, guqin… she’s basically an all-rounder. PK’ing with this sister who only knows how to do spirit-invoking rituals is just bullying~]
[Ohoho, fight, fight! I’ll bet everything that this Miss Jiang doesn’t dare to PK. I mean, barehanded brick chopping or whatever, pulling that out would just make people laugh to death, wouldn’t it?]
[Damn, the people above are talking way too harshly. How do you know our Mianmian can’t do anything? Maybe she’ll PK that Zhu Li right out of the competition!]
[Exactly, exactly. Go, Sister Jiang! You’ve got this, Sister Jiang!]
…
The bullet comments erupted into noise once again.
“Just because you say PK, we PK?”
Jiang Mian slapped Zhu Li’s hand away and lifted her foot, about to walk forward.
Seeing Jiang Mian about to leave, Zhu Li hurriedly turned around. “Are you scared? If you’re scared, then properly admit defeat to me. Admit that the only reason you made it into the second round was pure dumb luck. And most importantly, admit that I am Lin Qian’s best friend!”
Lin Qian: “…” ‘Thanks so much for dragging me into this!’
‘Thanks to your ancestors eighteen generations back!’
Hearing this, Jiang Mian’s steps paused slightly. Then she slowly turned her head, the corner of her mouth lifting faintly. Her gaze carried three parts mockery, three parts chill, and four parts casual indifference. “Woman, you’re playing with fire.”
Xu Xingming and Zhai Feiyang: “…”
Zhu Li: “…”
Lin Qian: “…” ‘Damn it, two idiots.’