The director likely had some plans, but because Wen Shike insisted on finishing the hotpot first, they could only wait by the side. Of course, they didn’t stay idle, they filmed a lot of video footage.
Because the director’s expression was somewhat stern, the others were a bit afraid to keep eating and exchanged glances. However, seeing how calm Wen Shike was, they one by one picked up their chopsticks again.
As the saying goes, “the law does not punish the masses.” Besides, they were just eating hotpot, they weren’t doing anything wrong.
Still, because the cameras were rolling, everyone restrained themselves quite a bit. Ming Wangxue quietly pulled back her splayed legs, trying to make the movement look as elegant as possible.
Director: “…”
Lu Jingwei glanced at Wen Shike several times. She felt as though Wen Shike, by her own strength alone, had led the entire group astray. She blew on the bamboo shoots in her bowl.
After finishing the hotpot, Wen Shike used a wet wipe to carefully clean every single finger, then wiped her mouth. Once she was sure everything was in order, she glanced toward the director.
“Is there something the matter?”
With a righteous expression and a matter of fact tone, the director was momentarily dazed. Clearly, she was the one there to find trouble, yet she felt her momentum being suppressed by the other party.
“How can you all eat hotpot on the rooftop?”
“Because eating downstairs might disturb other people’s rest,” Wen Shike said. She gave the director a puzzled look, as if questioning how such a question could even be asked.
Director: “…”
The reasoning was actually quite sound.
“My point is, hotpot isn’t allowed here,” the director took a deep breath, straightening her back.
“I’ve flipped through the handbook, it’s not written in there.” Wen Shike brushed a strand of hair back. She frowned at the director, her expression even more serious than the director’s.
With her hands resting on her knees, even though she was looking up, her gaze seemed to press the standing director into the ground.
Looking at Wen Shike, the director felt as if the word “Troublemaker” was written across her forehead. In the past, no one had been bold enough to eat hotpot on the rooftop.
As expected, someone who dared to talk back to the mentors wasn’t going to spend these few months quietly.
“If you want to eat hotpot, you can tell us and we can arrange it. Pulling extension cords like this could be a safety hazard.” The director glanced at the extension cord sitting steadily on the floor and looked away.
When she came up earlier, the director had seen two extension cords plugged into two outlets in the hallway. There wasn’t anything messy plugged into them, and the pots here were all low-wattage. To be honest, calling it a “safety hazard” was… a bit of a stretch.
“Does that mean the hotpot can be reimbursed by you guys?” Wen Shike looked around as if searching for something. Lu Jingwei rummaged through the basket holding the vegetables and handed over the receipt.
Director: ???
Is that what I meant?
The director looked at Lu Jingwei. She felt that this girl used to seem quite honest and well-behaved, how did she become like this? Truly, “one takes the color of one’s company.”
“Director, do you have anything else? How about letting us clean up first? It’s getting late…” Sun Yuexi said cautiously. She was a bit afraid the director might actually faint from anger.
The director rubbed her temples. Her original plan was to issue a symbolic punishment, but she hadn’t expected to be shut down by Wen Shike. Everything Wen Shike said was logical and grounded, leaving her with no room for rebuttal. If it were anyone else, they wouldn’t have been so blatant about not giving her “face.”
Actually, up until now, no trainee had ever dared to disrespect her like this.
No one knew what the director’s original goal was. After everyone finished cleaning up, they all headed back to their dorms, and the director didn’t stop them.
Of course, there was no reimbursement. The director took the receipt, glanced at it, and left quickly with her staff like a gust of wind.
In the few seconds she looked at the receipt, the director found peace. Anyway, they had already filmed the video; she could still post the Weibo she wanted to post.
When going to bed that night, Lu Jingwei suddenly remembered what Wen Shike had said.
“I didn’t want to invite so many people either…”
Details she hadn’t noticed before suddenly flooded her mind, making her feel momentarily confused.
So…
The hotpot was something Wen Shike had planned?
But why?
Because I was unhappy?
Lu Jingwei didn’t understand. There was absolutely no need for Wen Shike to look after her emotions. In a sense, she was just an employee of the Young Mistress.
The director had people edit the video overnight and posted it on Weibo at ten the next morning.
[Dream 101 Official V]: In all these seasons of survival shows, this is the first time I’ve encountered trainees secretly ordering hotpot. Next year’s trainee handbook is expected to be 800 pages long and might require an exam. [Video]
The beginning of the video featured Wen Shike’s three suffocating lines:
“Because eating downstairs might disturb other people’s rest.”
“I’ve flipped through the handbook, it’s not written in there.”
“Does that mean the hotpot can be reimbursed by you guys?”
Wen Shike held a plastic bowl in her left hand and chopsticks in her right. Even though she was sitting on a small stool, she had the aura of someone sitting on a dragon throne. In post-production, they even added a pair of sunglasses on Wen Shike and paired it with background music.
On the left of the video, it said “Righteous and Confident,” and on the right, it said “Logical and Grounded.”
The video followed a comedic style, acting as a sort of VLOG. It showed the trainees being startled when the director suddenly walked in, and then those same trainees following Wen Shike’s lead once they saw how calm she was. The editors used slow motion on their expressions and movements, placing the “before” and “after” reactions in the same frame for a side by side comparison.
Post-production added another line of text: “The greatest challenge the director’s team has faced in three years of Dream 101.”
An arrow appeared, pointing directly at Wen Shike.
Perfectly timed with the arrow, Wen Shike looked up at the camera with a cold gaze.
Afterward, the production team pieced together the sequence of events through various cameras, including videos provided by certain “fansites” (masking as bystanders).
It must be said that doing this much in one night was impressive. They didn’t even need to buy hot searches; the various fanbases boosted the heat themselves with tags like #WenShikeLeadingHotpotParty, #MingWangxueRetractingFeet, #ZhouYueranTheFoodie, and #JinLingWangYouningExtensionCord.
It didn’t look like a serious hot search for a girl group survival show at all; it looked like a gathering of comedians.
When Sister Qiu and Shu Shu saw the hot searches, they felt unwell.
“The greatest challenge for the director’s team? Wen Shike leading a hotpot party? What on earth is this?” Qiu Yu took a deep breath and clutched her heart. “I feel like I’m not far from getting high blood pressure and heart disease.”
“It’s fine, her persona didn’t break.” Shu Shu finished watching the video and breathed a sigh of relief. She checked the comments because so many people were involved in the video, the comment section was dominated by various fanbases, and no malicious comments were visible.
“Tsk, she drank milk tea. She’s the only one drinking it,” Shu Shu said with a frown. “The cup is opaque, so I don’t know how much she drank. Should we note this down and ask her when she gets back?”
[Comment – Giving Wen Shike a Flower Quilted Jacket]: Dying of laughter. What the hell? I saw photos of the Young Mistress talking to fansites earlier, and it turns out she was actually using them as a delivery service for hotpot ingredients? This is too ridiculous, family.
[Comment – Ming Wang Wang Snow Cracker]: Why does our Xuexue look so silly? Screenshotted, Hahaha. Thank you, Young Mistress, for always taking our Xuexue along to play.
[Comment – White Clouds Drift Slowly]: That look from the Young Mistress. I’m in love. Is this just the confidence of a wealthy lady? To be honest, that wide shot is kind of hilarious. Does anyone have a good screencap of the picture where the Young Mistress is eating and everyone else is too afraid to move? Wuhu, please!
[Comment – Yue Ran Fly High]: Zhou Yueran, the ultimate foodie.
[Comment – The Recording is Real]: Those two are sitting together again! Why do you two sit together every single time?! Hehehe.
[Comment – Fat House Happy Water]: Has no one noticed that all the boxes are from that famous, lethally expensive supermarket chain? No wonder the production team refused to reimburse them.
Wen Shike was still recording a spin-off program and had no idea about the hot searches outside. She only found out after finishing the shoot when the director mentioned it in passing.
“You recorded it and posted it on Weibo?” On the surface, Wen Shike appeared calm, but internally, a massive thunderclap had gone off.
“Yes,” the director nodded.
“That fast?” She knew they would probably post something, but she didn’t expect it to be this quick and it was already trending? What on earth did they film that could hit the hot search? She wanted to go back and check her phone right now, but regardless of what it was, she had a bad feeling.
Wen Shike: !!!
Wen Shike: I’m doomed. Sister Qiu must have seen it! My life is over.
Seeing Wen Shike’s expression turn icy and stern, the director’s heart skipped a beat. She asked tentatively and uneasily, “Young Mistress?”
“It’s nothing.” Wen Shike waved her hand and turned to leave, her expression somewhat numb.
The director watched Wen Shike’s retreating back, not quite understanding the meaning behind that look.
After walking for a bit, Wen Shike’s steps lightened slightly. It would likely be a long time before she left the show; by then, Sister Qiu might have already forgotten about this incident.
“Are you worried about the hot search?”
“Hmm?” Wen Shike glanced at Lu Jingwei and shook her head. “No, I’m not.”
Lu Jingwei nodded. Although Wen Shike’s expression had clearly been tense just now, if she said “no,” then “no” it was.
“Is your leg okay?” Wen Shike decisively changed the subject, scanning Lu Jingwei’s legs.
Lu Jingwei looked down, following Wen Shike’s gaze. “What’s wrong with my leg?”
“Didn’t you hit it during the game earlier?” Wen Shike used the paper stick in her hand to tap a spot on Lu Jingwei’s calf.
Lu Jingwei: ?
She looked down and lifted her pant leg. Sure enough, there was a bruise on her calf. The dark mark was very obvious against her snow-white skin, looking somewhat startling.
“I didn’t even notice. It’s just a little bruise, though. It’s fine; it won’t affect training.” Lu Jingwei lowered her pant leg and patted it.
Wen Shike: “…”
“I wasn’t worried about it affecting your training.”
“I can cover it with powder for the stage performance,” Lu Jingwei said with a smile.
Wen Shike: “…”
Fine, just take me for the delicate one.
Wen Shike really had been raised like a princess. When she was a child, even a tiny scratch meant calling the family doctor. She had improved a bit as she grew up, mostly because she found it annoying, or perhaps because she wasn’t living at home and no one treated her like a “delicate flower” anymore.
Although people everywhere she went in the outside world hovered over her, it was obvious they just wanted to gain something from her.
Wen Shike tossed the paper stick into the trash can, and Lu Jingwei glanced at her again.
When Wen Shike set a “flag” (a goal), she generally followed through. Consequently, their group put in a solid thirteen hours of practice every day. To get to sleep earlier, they stopped slacking off during the day, basically ensuring they could return to the dorm to rest before 1:00 AM.
Because of the competitive atmosphere within the team, everyone hoped to achieve their best. Every movement and every line of lyrics was scrutinized to the extreme.
Which expressions should correspond to which movements? How should one smile to look the best with or without teeth showing? How should the eyes be positioned to look powerful? Which direction was the most pleasing to look at?
The few girls who previously had issues with Wen Shike saw their prejudices fade significantly after interacting with her in person. What one sees with their own eyes is always more real than what comes out of someone else’s mouth.
Those two girls waited for days for Wen Shike to give them trouble, only to realize that Wen Shike had no intention of even sparing them a glance. It was entirely a case of scaring themselves. After moving past the worry of whether she would retaliate, they began to agonize over whether they should apologize to her.
Every day of training was exhausting, both physically and mentally.
Wen Shike also noticed the strange looks the two of them occasionally cast her way.
To this, Wen Shike’s reaction was: ?
“Wen Shike.”
“Hmm?” Wen Shike shifted her gaze away from the two strange people and looked at Lu Jingwei, who had mysteriously walked up beside her. “What is it?”
“I just passed the restroom and heard someone saying you stole something.”
Wen Shike: ???