Chapter 53.2: Oddity Begot Abnormality

　　Relief washed over Qiao Jinye as soon as he noticed that she evoked no traces of annoyance.

　　As for the silent Liang Zhenyu, she commented in a hushed tone, “I, too, think that they are very daring.”

　　Just as her final words fell, Jiang Dai glanced over at Liang Zhenyu. “You have to be brave as well, you know? Regardless of how long a program can be, the footage still needs to be trimmed. Since there are a total of 100 contestants, you must act boldly and fight for yourself when the time calls for it. You’re no worse than any of them, so you should be confident in yourself.”

　　Although she still appeared relatively weak and cowardly, Liang Zhenyu listened to Jiang Dai attentively while nodding her head mechanically.

　　Soon after, Qiao Jinye was called upon by the directing team to sit in on a meeting. 

　　Since her break time had yet to end, Liang Zhenyu continued to show Jiang Dai around other areas in the vicinity, such as the dining hall, gym, vocal training room, reading rooms, and even the recreation room. From what she had seen, the interior design was incredibly unique and aesthetic.

　　Now that she had made a round of the vicinity, Jiang Dai began to grow more confident in this program.

　　She could see why this was the most-watched show of every summer. With such a dedicated production crew, it would be difficult for the program to become a hit. 

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　　‌Kwpv yp vblu rypple vbaswtb y ryavknwzya qzssa, vos tkazp fwpv byrrldle vs oyzj shla. Gp pssd yp vblu nywtbv pktbv sq Nkydt Hblduw, yd lmnlrvksdyzzu yqqlnvksdyvl pxkzl nsdvsavle vblka qynlp. Lsv sdzu vbyv, cwv sdl sq vblx bye lhld tsdl yp qya yp vs vyjl bsze sq bla yax.

　　“Xb, Hblduw! Zsw xwpv byhl pwqqlale qya vss xwnb taklhydnl qsa clkdt yppktdle vs pwnb y zyatl pbyale assx, byhld’v usw? Rv fwpv byrrldp vbyv swa assx byp yd wdsnnwrkle cle, ps obu esd’v usw xshl kd okvb wp? El’hl lhld prsjld okvb vbl esax pwrlahkpsa¹ Rd vbl ayo, vbl ywvbsa eked’v tkhl vbkp rssa xkdsa nbyaynvla y tldela, ps R vbswtbv vs tkhl vbl nbyaynvla sdl. Gqvla yzz, kv xyjlp xu fsc lypkla vss. ycswv vbkp!”

　　Ohld vbswtb vbl svbla tkaz yrrlyale ayvbla kdekqqlaldv, bla vsdl sq hsknl oyp pvkzz hlau tldvzl. “Zlp, vbyv’p aktbv. Fkdnl ol’hl jdsod lynb svbla qsa pwnb y zsdt vkxl, Hblduw, oswzed’v kv cl talyv qsa wp vs cl yczl vs zkhl vstlvbla yde nyvnb wr?”

　　Ebld vblu prsvvle Kkydt Pyk, vblu tallvle bla alprlnvqwzzu. Zlv, pbl dsvknle vbyv vblu olal dsv yp nsaekyz yp vbspl tkazp qasx clqsal.

　　“Tk, Valpkeldv Kkydt!”

　　“Tlzzs, Valpkeldv Kkydt. Gal usw blal qsa yd kdprlnvksd?”

　　Plprkvl vbyv, Nkydt Hblduw, qsa psxl wdjdsod alypsd, eke dsv wvvla y pkdtzl osae.

　　Rdpvlye, Kkydt Pyk ypjle, “Jsvb sq usw jdso Hblduw?”

　　The girl with a rather high-pitched voice answered graciously, “Yes, we are Zhenyu’s old friends. We heard that she’s staying in a large shared room. Boy oh boy, was Zhenyu the most delicate person we’ve ever known back then. So, how can we bear to let her sleep in this sort of condition? Anyways, one of the beds in our quadruple room just happened to be vacant, and our dorm supervisor has even agreed to it!”

　　When she dropped by the twin and quadruple rooms earlier, Jiang Dai noticed that the furnishings, as a whole, were pretty much the same. However, the room would naturally appear much cleaner and more peaceful when there were fewer occupants. 

　　With that in mind, she turned to look at Liang Zhenyu and pointed out, “You can always move in with them if you want. It doesn’t matter since everyone has just moved in and isn’t familiar with each other yet.”

　　Even so, Liang Zhenyu still seemed to prevaricate, refusing to state her view for a long while.

　　On seeing this, the girls took hold of Liang Zhenyu’s arm in a particularly affectionate manner, but it seemed as though the words she had uttered were meant for Jiang Dai instead. “Zhenyu is just so shy and doesn’t like to trouble others. To put your mind at ease, we have truly spoken with the dorm supervisor about this. You can always make your way over and ask her for yourself if you have doubts about what I had said.”

　　After saying so, the girls dragged Liang Zhenyu toward the dorm supervisor’s direction.

　　Subsequently, Jiang Dai tagged along as well.

　　As soon as the dorm supervisor caught sight of Jiang Dai, her smile grew like a blooming flower before speaking cannily, “Of course, you can change your room. Since they have yet to film the interior of the dormitory, none of the viewers would know how the rooms are assigned to the contestants. Hence, we can take this chance to make amendments to the room arrangements should there be any unoccupied beds.”

　　The dorm supervisor had long since heard of how Jiang Dai had highly recommended Liang Zhenyu to this program.

　　As the Title Sponsor, as well as the largest investor, Jiang Dai’s investment alone had reached a fixed height of 800 million dollars. If the program reviews turned out to be good, there was a possibility that she might even decide to contribute more funds in the future.

　　Since the dorm supervisor was experienced in programs like this, she was aware that when it came to this sort of variety show, the most crucial person was neither the celebrity nor the artiste but the investor. One could have avoided a great deal of trouble once you did right by the investor.

　　At the outset, Jiang Dai was worried that Liang Zhenyu could not adapt to living in a large shared room, especially when she was required to share the room with a group of children henceforth. After all, this was not a mere formality that could be over in a day or two.

.

　　Hence, Jiang Dai reckoned that it was great for Liang Zhenyu to move into a more comfortable living environment. Even so, she could sense that something was not right with Liang Zhenyu’s reaction.

　　In the days of her childhood, Jiang Dai always had fun playing with Bai Zhi. Even so, the majority of her good friends were, as the saying goes, birds of a feather that flock together. After all, they tended to be either extroverted girls or guys who had never been involved in scheming against girls.

　　It took her a fairly long while before realizing that Liang Zhenyu’s silence appeared as though she had been abducted. Hence, that was why she had been slow to react to this situation. 

　　A deep frown furrowed her brows as she stepped forward silently to yank Liang Zhenyu back. Immediately right after, she chuckled, “There’s no need for that. Zhenyu seemed to have already developed a bond with the girls in the large shared room, so it wouldn’t be right for her to simply waltz right into the room and move out. Anyways, the large shared room is pretty good, isn’t it?”

　　Only then did Jiang Dai’s question jolt Liang Zhenyu out of her reverie. Her gaze first fell upon Jiang Dai before sweeping over the dorm supervisor and the two girls. Following on, she nodded her head frantically and answered weakly, “Yes, I do think that the twelve-bedded room is pretty good as well. So, I’m not going to be changing my room.”

　　At this juncture, the dorm supervisor could tell that something was not right, so she could not help but question herself inwardly, ‘How does it seem like my attempt in pleasing the investor has backfired?’

　　With that, the dorm supervisor had no other choice but to smile obsequiously. “Sure thing, it doesn’t matter whether you change your room or not. So, I’ll just leave it to Contestant Liang’s discretion.”

　　When it was time for both Liang Zhenyu and her to leave, Jiang Dai’s eyes lingered over the two girls, distinctly picking up a sense of complexity from that aloof girl.

　　Not knowing the whole story, she could only dismiss it as an oddity since it was unlikely for her to guess the precise reason.

　　With a false smile contorting her face, the somewhat depressed Liang Zhenyu was hanging in there with great difficulty after their encounter with the two girls.

　　Instead of asking her about it promptly, Jiang Dai suggested arbitrarily, “I’ve seen your timetable, and you’ll only be required to train in the music studio at half past 3 in the afternoon. Since they have yet to commence the closed-off management and it’s still early, why don’t we have lunch at a nearby restaurant?”

　　Before long, both of them found themselves entering a nearby Chinese skewer restaurant that had a decent reputation. As soon as they had arrived, they were brought to their seats since the restaurant was not crowded on a working day.

　　Only after eating for a while did Liang Zhenyu’s condition begin to improve gradually, and she could not help but be honest with Jiang Dai.

　　Out of the two girls who wanted to pull her into the quadruple room earlier, the talkative girl was Miao Chun, an Internet celebrity known for her original songs. Sure, one might deem her songs popular, but she, as a celebrity, was not particularly famous. Even so, she has been releasing some original songs online in recent years.

　　As for the prettier girl who was taciturn and aloof, her name was Bei Yunyun. As a lead dancer, she possessed an extraordinary dance foundation.

　　‌Seeing that both of them were artistes chosen by Shi Sheng Entertainment, the only thing they had in common was the talent management company that Liang Zhenyu had joined previously. 

　　Although she might have raised questions earlier, Jiang Dai was able to guess 60-70% of it. “So, do you have any conflict with them?”

　　In response, Liang Zhenyu first shook her head before stopping to nod her head. “We didn’t have any direct confrontations, so I wasn’t sure whether to count that as a conflict. In any case, I’m not close with Miao Chun since she joined the company late. As for Bei Yunyun, we used to be pretty close. However, that was only until I found out she also had a relationship with…… that scumbag.”

　　Upon hearing that, Jiang Dai’s brows snapped together, but it did not take her long to get a hold of herself. Now, she tried her best to use a calm expression and tone when she faced Liang Zhenyu.

　　“Do you think they have an ulterior motive for wanting to move in with them?”

　　Dumbfounded, Liang Zhenyu replied, “It’s hard to say, but I’m certain I wouldn’t count them as a friend of mine……”

　　“Alright, I’ve got it.” As she said so, Jiang Dai placed some grilled sliced beef tongue on Liang Zhenyu’s plate. “Don’t stress yourself over this and just leave them be. Instead, you should be ensuring that you do well in whatever you have to do; Train well and do your best whenever you perform.”

　　Something abnormal must be going on for them to flatter and feign affection when they were not friends.