CHAPTER 107: CHAPTER 104 GRADUALLY INCREASING FRIENDSHIP

"Xiao Man, this is Class C. You should have a teacher over there, right?" Chen Yinghan’s voice carried a coldness that refused any closeness.

"The teachers only teach group dances, and I don’t really know those sisters who can dance well, so I could only come and ask you for help, sis." Lu Xiaoman said as she reached out to grab Chen Yinghan’s hand, but the latter subtly avoided her touch.

"Fangxin, let’s go practice. Time’s too tight." Chen Yinghan pulled Lv Fangxin, attempting to leave.

Lu Xiaoman stepped forward to block Lv Fangxin’s path. This girl stood nearly 170 cm tall, and with her fierce aura, she startled the latter, leaving him unsure of Lu Xiaoman’s intentions.

"Lu Xiaoman, if you want to learn to dance, I’ll teach you." Chen Yanran walked over, having already figured out why Lu Xiaoman was bothering Chen Yinghan.

At that moment, Yang Yiyi also walked over. This girl appeared quiet and gentle on the surface, but she actually had a fiery personality. With her family background, she was fearless.

No one knew why, but she seemed to have an aversion to Lu Xiaoman. Upon seeing her pestering her roommate, she ran directly at her.

Now, the members of Class C noticed the commotion and started paying attention to the situation.

Although they didn’t know what was going on, an instinctive sense of exclusion toward "outsiders" made them naturally reject Lu Xiaoman, who was wearing a green team uniform.

"Xiao Man, what are you doing here? Hurry back to practice!" Ge Huimin stepped in and tried pulling Lu Xiaoman away.

"Hmph!" Lu Xiaoman sneered coldly and turned to leave.

"Damn it." Yang Yiyi muttered under her breath. If not for the cameras recording them, she would have acted by now.

The past few days of intense work had left the girls feeling like they were on the verge of exploding.

"Thank you, everyone." Lv Fangxin, not one to overlook things, began to piece together the situation.

"Why don’t we just stop practicing? It’s too late now, and we’ve been pushing ourselves hard these past few days. Our minds feel fuzzy. We should rest and recover—it’ll help us remember the moves more clearly." Yang Yiyi suggested.

The others thought it made sense too. It was already past 1 a.m., so they all headed back to their dorms.

As they walked past a dorm room, a strong aroma of hot pot suddenly filled the air.

"Who’s such a genius to be having hot pot in the middle of the night?" Yang Yiyi couldn’t help licking her lips.

The dinner they ate earlier had long been digested, and after all this practice, they were feeling starving.

As the spicy hot pot scent wafted through, Yang Yiyi reflexively started drooling.

Lv Fangxin also audibly gulped down her saliva. Having never cared much about dieting, she now craved to join in the feast.

"Looks like it’s Ni Chunshu’s dorm." Chen Yanran inhaled deeply and identified the source.

"Do any of you know anyone from ’Red Sun Rising’?" Yang Yiyi rubbed her stomach and asked.

"Nope," the other three shook their heads.

"Then what about their dormmates Wang Yiran or Zhang Wenyu? Anyone familiar with them?"

The three shook their heads again.

"Oh my God, I need hot pot so bad. I’m starving!" Yang Yiyi exclaimed dramatically.

Chen Yinghan shook her head helplessly, while Chen Yanran sighed sympathetically.

"I’ve got sesame sauce and some bread back at our place. Let’s go eat that!" Lv Fangxin suddenly suggested.

"Sesame sauce?" Yang Yiyi gave her a look. "You even brought sesame sauce but didn’t bring a mini hot pot? What’s the point of bread—just stuffing..."

She paused and glanced at Lv Fangxin’s figure, then decided not to finish her sentence.

"You can go to the convenience store downstairs if you want food. Or even have snacks sent via delivery." At that point, the dorm supervisor aunt suddenly appeared to inform them.

"What? We can go downstairs?" Yang Yiyi’s eyes lit up.

"Of course. You just can’t leave the building," the dorm supervisor nearly fled from their excitement.

Within five minutes, this major news spread throughout the group. Twenty minutes later, the small convenience store downstairs had closed due to overwhelming business.

Although everyone was utterly exhausted, the group of young girls seemed to be brimming with vitality all the time. With snacks in hand, they started an impromptu gathering, chatting, singing, and dancing away.

If the show hadn’t strictly prohibited drinking, it was safe to say few would have been able to crawl out of bed the next day.

"Yuwei, you really don’t want any?" Qiang Yueting held a bowl of instant noodles and asked.

"I’ll just have a small biscuit." Ye Yuwei shook the biscuit in her hand.

Although she wanted to eat instant noodles, she felt this audition was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and wouldn’t permit herself any slip-ups.

"Yuwei, I’ve got yogurt here. Drink a bottle." Meng Meixuan squeezed into Ye Yuwei’s space and handed her a yogurt.

"Thank you, Meixuan. Let’s wash up and rest early. We’ve still got training tomorrow." Ye Yuwei rose subtly and smiled faintly at her roommate.

"Then let me help you apply a face mask! I even learned a bit of massage before." Meng Meixuan clung to Ye Yuwei like a puppy.

"Haha! I don’t use those things. At night, I just prefer to clean up and sleep."

"Alright then. But this is our first night here—if I get scared, you have to protect me!" Meng Meixuan hugged Ye Yuwei tightly, reluctant to let her leave.

From across the room, Guo Xia couldn’t help but roll her eyes. She didn’t expect Meng Meixuan to act like this.

What’s up with Ye Yuwei that she’s catching Meng Meixuan’s eye? Doesn’t she already have her own best friend?

Guo Xia thought about it. She knew a lot about Galaxy’s girls, even having burner accounts. Regarding Ye Yuwei, she felt confident in her "insider knowledge."

Phew!

In another dorm room, Gao Ziyi patted her stomach with satisfaction. She had already devoured a bowl of instant noodles, a king-size sausage, and two braised eggs.

Her appetite stunned the other three roommates—it was unbelievable how much she could eat!

Swoosh!

She tore open a bag of chips, popped open a can of cola, and began munching away.

"Tiger, is this not too much food?" Li Tiange spoke up with concern.

"Yeah, Tiger, you can’t keep eating like this!" Her teammate Han Qiuhua chimed in to advise.

"Boohoo! I don’t want to eat either, but I’m just too hungry. Please, let me indulge this one time—just this once!" Gao Ziyi pouted and acted cute, looking adorably guinea pig-like.

Although most were resting in their dorms, not everyone chose to take it easy.

Jiang Xijie of Half of the Golden Autumn was still training intently with her three teammates.

None of them complained or uttered a word about exhaustion. Each was determined not to lose, striving to change their destinies through effort.

No motivational speeches, no unnecessary chatter—it was just serious practice.

Beyond them, some others kept pushing themselves, too. Qingyu, who had been called out by Long Zitao on her attitude during the opening stage, was in front of a mirror, correcting her movements over and over again.

From childhood, Qingyu had grown up amidst praise and admiration. She was the prototypical "ideal child" in everyone’s eyes.

Even her entry into this world had been smooth sailing until the performance two days ago shattered her confidence completely.

She held no resentment toward the instructor, only toward herself for failing to measure up.

Having graduated from Shendu’s Modern Music Academy, she understood what the stage meant to a performer.

Disrespecting the stage or lacking earnestness meant one was unworthy of standing there.

"I will definitely prove to you that I deserve to be on that stage." Wang Qingyu’s bright eyes were full of determination.

"Still awake?" A gentle voice sounded as a woman whose hair cascaded like ink and whose soft, flowing gaze evoked the spirit of Jiangnan appeared in the mirror.

"Bingbing Sister, you’re still up?" Wang Qingyu recognized her as Galaxy’s captain.

"Couldn’t sleep. Thought I’d come and practice a bit more." Lu Bingbing smiled warmly.

"That’s great! Now I have company."

"Let’s practice together."

Lu Bingbing walked over with a smile. She had already memorized all the moves.

However, due to her limited dance skills, she wasn’t yet able to perform seamlessly.

Nevertheless, she wasn’t worried. This choreography wasn’t particularly challenging—for her, mastering the moves and timing beats were enough to deliver a decent performance.

The two joked and trained together. Soon, they started teaching one another—one helping with dance, the other with vocals—and realized each other’s personalities resembled the other’s. They shared that bittersweet feeling of "meeting too late."