Chapter 79: The Center of the Fish Pond (14)
Hearing her words, Su Mingxiu’s new group members exchanged glances, sensing a strange tension in the kitchen.
Su Mingxiu, the unwitting cause of this situation, knew that any explanation or attempt to cover things up would only make the atmosphere more awkward. So she simply remained silent, carrying the fried rice towards the dining hall.
With her leaving, it was no longer appropriate for the others to stay in the kitchen, so they followed her out.
Su Mingxiu sat down at a rectangular table with a tray of food. Her group members gathered around her, filling the table, like chicks around their mother hen.
She picked up a shiny spoon with her slender fingers, scooped up a spoonful of fried rice, and ate it gracefully, seemingly unaffected by the previous undercurrent.
At another table behind her, Suhui strode over and pulled out the chair facing away from Su Mingxiu, the chair slamming against the floor with a loud “bang” due to her excessive force, making Su Mingxiu pause mid-meal.
Pao Tong, a step behind, smiled and sat down across from Suhui, as if she had been aiming for this spot with a clear view of Su Mingxiu all along, showing no sign of disappointment at her failed plan.
Annie sat beside Pao Tong and asked from across the room: “Xiuxiu, are you okay?”
Her words seemed to imply that Suhui’s actions had been too rude.
Wang Zhi, sensing trouble from both sides, sat down at the narrower end of the table, her wide field of vision allowing her to observe both tables.
[This is too exciting, all those dating variety shows should learn from this, this is a true Shura field!]
[What Shura field? As adults, of course we want them all! (Smug.jpg)]
[I really want to try the food she made, it’s so captivating that so many beauties are obsessed with her cooking skills!]
[Fight! Fight!]
The comments section was filled with instigators who enjoyed the drama, and the live stream traffic tilted heavily towards this part of the show.
Su Mingxiu, seeing the small dragonfly-like camera flying excitedly back and forth, guessed that their actions had probably created a buzz for the program. But she didn’t want to be part of the drama, so she replied calmly: “I’m fine.”
It’s just that the chair behind her, pressed tightly against hers by Suhui, prevented her from getting up and leaving.
Su Mingxiu could only slow down her eating pace, chewing carefully and slowly. By the time her group members had finished their meals, she had only eaten half of hers.
The girls said goodbye to her and left with their trays. Su Mingxiu hummed in response. As she looked up, she saw a staff member in a corner, out of the camera’s view, working on a laptop.
The screen happened to be facing her, showing colorful lines and charts.
Su Mingxiu felt a sense of familiarity, even an urge to take a closer look. It suddenly occurred to her that perhaps there were other ways to earn money to buy back her family’s restaurant, besides participating in this talent show.
“Can’t finish your food, Mingxiu?”
Pao Tong had sat down beside her at some point, her head tilted, her gaze fixed on Su Mingxiu, as if offering to help her finish the rest.
The black-haired woman looked away, not meeting Pao Tong’s eyes. Instead, she looked down at her plate and replied calmly: “No, I just eat slowly.”
“Have you finished assigning tasks for your group?” Pao Tong asked. “Is there anything I can help with?”
Hearing her friend’s offer, Annie, who had been observing the situation but couldn’t quite understand it, seemed to have a sudden realization. Her gaze shifted between Pao Tong and Su Mingxiu, across the beautiful mermaid.
Then, she chimed in: “Oh, right, Xiuxiu, Pao Tong is a great singer, she’s been winning awards since she was young. She can teach you—”
“No need,” Suhui, who had been eating quietly with her head down, suddenly interrupted.
Her plate was empty, the spoon neatly placed beside it. As she looked up, her blue eyes seemed to have darkened slightly, turning a gloomy greyish blue.
She looked directly at Annie and said, each word clear and distinct: “I promised to teach her singing this morning, so leave that part to me.”
Tsk.
Annie pouted, thinking, You didn’t even know the program’s schedule this morning. Could you have predicted that Su Mingxiu would choose vocals?
[Keep bragging, I dare you. Should I send Su Mingxiu the video of you choosing your group?]
[How jealousy can make a queen tell such a clumsy lie.]
[Faced with another choice, I don’t feel sorry for Su Mingxiu at all, hahahaha.]
…
The choice was once again thrown back at Su Mingxiu, unexpectedly.
She felt the gentle and agreeable facade in Pao Tong’s gaze fade away, replaced by a stubborn determination.
And the chair behind her was still pressed tightly against hers, not loosening for even a second.
She knew she should make a choice now. But the screen of the staff member’s laptop was too distracting. Compared to choosing between these two to teach her singing, she wanted to know what software that was.
So, under everyone’s expectant gaze, Su Mingxiu swallowed the food in her mouth and said unhurriedly: “Thank you, but instead of practicing, I have other arrangements.”
This was a rejection of both offers.
Pao Tong stared at her for a long time, then smiled understandingly. “It’s okay, another time. If you need help, remember to come find me.”
Behind Su Mingxiu, Suhui, hearing the rejection, lowered her eyes again, a hint of self-mockery in her expression.
She knew her judgment of this person was correct—
Fickle, indecisive, wanting to have her cake and eat it too, unwilling to give a clear answer to anyone.
Su Mingxiu didn’t know what they were thinking, but seeing the tense atmosphere dissipate with their departure, she couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
As she walked towards the staff member, she thought: Wang Zhi and Annie’s goodwill ratings haven’t surpassed the friend zone yet, but Pao Tong’s is a bit strange.
That subtle provocation towards Suhui…
She was certain she hadn’t given Pao Tong any misleading signals. It seemed she needed to find an opportunity to subtly make her intentions clear.
Thinking this, Su Mingxiu reached the staff member and asked him about the software in a low voice.
The camera carefully avoided showing the staff member’s face, only his voice was recorded:
“You mean the stock market? Sigh, all the stocks I bought recently are in the red, I shouldn’t have opened it—no, I can’t talk about this anymore, you should go attend to your own matters.”
He remembered that they were filming, so he tried to subtly urge the contestant to do what she was supposed to be doing.
“Stock market?”
Su Mingxiu felt that this term was familiar, and some related knowledge vaguely surfaced in her mind. But she also knew that this wasn’t something the original owner had any experience with.
… It was at this moment that she clearly realized that her memories and experiences had definitely been sealed or erased by some force.
She pretended not to understand the staff member’s reminder and continued: “Can I take a look?”
“No,” the staff member refused without hesitation. “You’re in a closed training camp now, you’re not allowed to access any electronic devices.”
“Not even to earn money and pay off my debts?” Su Mingxiu asked again.
“Ermmm…” The staff member hesitated for a long time. Under her persistence, he finally said: “Why don’t you ask the director?”
[Lol! I knew I would never be disappointed in her live stream. While others are singing and dancing to change their fate, Su Mingxiu is taking the unconventional route!]
[Is she seriously thinking about playing the stock market? Wouldn’t a newbie just lose all their money? Someone stop her, she’s already in debt, she can’t afford to lose everything in the stock market casino!]
[Damn! Why does watching a talent show remind me of my own losses in the stock market?!]
…
Su Mingxiu didn’t know how many viewers’ painful memories her actions had evoked. She simply took the live stream camera and went to find the director.
As she walked, the system felt a sense of unease. It remembered a previous world where Su Mingxiu had been a powerful and wealthy entertainment agent, and she had even enrolled the protagonist in a finance course.
Those money management skills were still ingrained in her instincts. But letting Su Mingxiu earn money and go home to reopen her restaurant was clearly not the system’s intention.
So it quickly intervened: “Warning! Host is not allowed to use other methods to achieve the goal of opening a restaurant!”
[Oh, why?]
[Because I’m the Culinary God System, if you use other methods to earn money and successfully open a restaurant, where would I put my face?]
[Don’t you also have a strategy element? The mission is already so complicated, one more element won’t hurt. From today onwards, you should change your name to the Culinary God Finance Strategy System.]
[…]
The system cursed inwardly, wondering what kind of nonsensical combination of elements this was.
It had erased Su Mingxiu’s memories and chosen an ordinary identity for her in a world with a low level of technological development, a world that couldn’t threaten its existence. How could this person still circumvent its plans with such unconventional methods?
Why?!
Su Mingxiu actually heard the clanging sound in her mind, but she didn’t mind. She had just entered the director’s office with the camera.
Because they were backstage, the live stream camera couldn’t film what happened next. So, after the viewers switched to other live streams, an hour later they found…
Su Mingxiu coming out with a laptop.
She even found a corner, sat down with the laptop, and stayed there until midnight, neither looking at her song lyrics nor practicing in the dance studio.
The content on her laptop screen was blurred out. The viewers initially watched with great interest, but by the time night arrived, they couldn’t endure it anymore.
[It seems like she really wants to make money through stocks…]
[Help, Produce 101, do you even remember that this is a talent show? Someone drag her back!]
[I really want to know what’s on her screen… Do I, as a premium member, not deserve to watch people make money?]
6:00 AM.
Su Mingxiu, having achieved success through incredibly boring stock market operations, had managed to drive away all the viewers from her live stream. She had been sitting in the corner all night and was about to stretch—
As she retracted her hand, her fingertips brushed against something cool.
She turned her head and looked into those silvery, flowing locks.
It was Suhui.
This mermaid seemed to have boundless energy, always appearing refreshed and energetic. It was the same now. It was hard to tell how long she had been there, and she didn’t look like she had just woken up.
“Why are you here?”
“I said I would teach you how to sing,” the ethereal voice replied matter-of-factly.
Just then, the sun rose, casting a warm, orange glow through the floor-to-ceiling windows, bathing them in light.
Su Mingxiu, her mind still hazy from staring at data all night, was stunned for a moment before she replied: “Okay.”
Then, she was pulled by Suhui to the nearest dance studio. The live stream camera followed them sluggishly, only to be stopped by the closed door.
The few viewers who had just woken up:
—
[What’s going on?]
[What kind of secret technique is this that I, as a VIP, can’t learn?]
Inside the studio, Su Mingxiu was also a bit confused. She hadn’t expected Suhui to close the door. As she was still in a daze, she heard Suhui say: “Practice your vocalization, let me hear.”
The black-haired woman blinked, her face still showing traces of fatigue. But she didn’t refuse. Recalling the vocal mentor’s instructions, she opened her mouth and sang a few notes, but before she could finish the scale—
Suhui interrupted: “Wrong.”
Hmm?
Su Mingxiu looked at her, but Suhui’s shadow fell over her, and then, a cool kiss covered her lips.
As soon as she opened her mouth, Suhui’s tongue darted in.
Suhui pressed her against the ballet barre, her body close to Su Mingxiu’s. Her fingertips traced the skin of Su Mingxiu’s throat, then slowly slid down her body. “Not here…”
Her serious tone made it hard to believe what they were actually doing. “Use this…”
Mumbled words and instructions mingled with their kiss.
Su Mingxiu: “…”
At first, she had been caught off guard by the kiss. Now, hearing Suhui’s words, she finally realized… how this bad fish was teaching her to sing.
A smile flashed through her dark eyes. She deliberately pretended not to understand, prompting Suhui to “teach” her again and again, each time more intensely than before.
The live stream camera was stuck outside the door.
Pao Tong, who had woken up early, was also standing at the entrance of the dance studio at some point.
After a few tries, Suhui realized that Su Mingxiu was taking advantage of her. She whispered in Su Mingxiu’s ear: “If you still can’t learn it—”
“How about we practice outside?”
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