After Being Bound to the Scummy Alpha System, I Became Famous Thanks to My Face Blindness - Chapter 48

Su Mengzhi smiled and said, “Of course you can!”

Meng Bingxia asked, “I heard you got hurt at the seaside before. Are you fully recovered now?”

Su Mengzhi blushed slightly. “I’m fine, really. Thank you for your concern, Miss Meng. I’ll be more careful from now on.”

“And Tang Ling? How’s your injury?”

Tang Ling hurriedly replied, “I’m almost fully recovered too. I’ll be able to participate normally in the next public performance.”

Tan Shiyi walked over to the sound equipment. “Let’s play our arrangement for the coaches first. This is a half-finished version we’ve recorded. The choreography is mostly set, but we haven’t practiced it with the music yet, so let’s spare ourselves the embarrassment for now.”

She pressed play, and immediately, the speakers filled with the crashing sound of ocean waves.

Then Tan Shiyi’s narration began: “I understand better than anyone else the whispers of your heart that were stolen by the summer sea breeze.”

The music then shifted to a light, cheerful tone. The first to sing was Fu Xin:

“Pop open a bottle of summer-limited soda, gaze through the prism you used in class, and scan the endless azure sky, a thousand threads of wind unable to scatter the rainbow.”

The three coaches listened attentively, nodding and exchanging brief comments from time to time.

The girls grew more confident, exchanging glances full of quiet joy.

When it ended, all three coaches applauded together.

Xu Xizhao praised them without reservation: “Your efficiency is impressive. Reaching this level in just a few days is remarkable.”

Meng Bingxia asked, “I don’t remember that opening narration being in the lyrics I gave you. How did you decide to add it?”

Xiao Rong explained, “Shiyi added it. This song is about a girl’s secret crush, but the lyrics alone don’t reveal whether the two are together, which felt a bit unresolved. So, we thought this narration would give the crush a sense of echo and continuity.”

Pan Qingchen nodded. “You’ve really interpreted the lyrics in your own way. That’s excellent.”

He Junnian asked, “Coaches, is our song considered qualified?”

“Qualified, of course,” Pan Qingchen said. “I’d personally like to give a reward card.”

The other two coaches also agreed to award a reward card.

The girls were stunned—they hadn’t heard anything about reward cards before.

Pan Qingchen explained that the three coaches would issue reward and penalty cards based on each team’s completion. Team members would draw cards themselves, receiving either a reward or a penalty accordingly.

The coaches handed over their reward cards for the girls to draw.

Everyone eagerly encouraged her, “Shiyi, you go first! You’re lucky!”

Tan Shiyi focused and drew one card from each coach’s hand.

The cards she drew were: Team Advertisement Card, Sixty-Second Vote Boost Card, and Performance Order Adjustment Card.

Pan Qingchen explained: the Team Advertisement Card grants all team members an opportunity to shoot a sponsor commercial together; the Sixty-Second Vote Boost Card gives the team an extra sixty seconds to collect votes after their performance; and the Performance Order Adjustment Card allows the team to move their performance forward or backward by one slot, creating a more favorable condition.

All three rewards were genuinely helpful for boosting team popularity, and the girls were thrilled.

After the coaches left, they chattered excitedly:

“Our luck is unbelievable! All three cards are such great rewards. I haven’t even done a commercial before!”

“I think the order adjustment is the most useful. Even if we’re scheduled to open, we can push back.”

“Yeah, and the extra sixty seconds for votes? This is amazing!”

Tan Shiyi spoke seriously: “I think we shouldn’t get too carried away. We only got three reward cards for showing an arrangement. That shows the coaches’ standards for progress aren’t very high. The remaining contestants all have stage experience, so no one will fall behind. Others might even get better rewards than us. We still need to practice seriously.”

Her words silenced the girls, who realized she was right. They resumed practice quietly, even more focused than before.

The day’s training ended quickly. Tan Shiyi didn’t spare Tang Ling a glance.

Tang Ling, determined not to make another blunder, spent her day off memorizing details about Tan Shiyi and even watched some of her personal cuts.

Her conclusion: Tan Shiyi was genuinely versatile—both cool and sweet—a true treasure.

Tang Ling somewhat understood why Jiang Manli used to fuss about her endlessly. Now, she felt regret—regret for not cherishing Tan Shiyi when she had liked her. She had wasted a perfect hand of cards.

That evening, the first half of the fourth public performance was scheduled to air. It would feature footage of them training in separate teams. Tang Ling planned to watch it slowly back in the dorm.

Before that, she had to walk Tan Shiyi back to her dorm.

They walked along the path.

The weather in late June was stifling and humid. The night sky was pitch black, completely still, and the air sticky, as if it would rain any minute.

If there were stars, Tang Ling could have pointed out a few, but the darkness left them with fewer topics to talk about.

Awkward silence wasn’t a solution, so Tang Ling tried to fill it: “Shiyi, are you hot?”

Tan Shiyi: “Yeah.”

Tang Ling: “Then let’s go back, take a shower, and turn on the AC. How’s your air conditioner?”

Tan Shiyi: “It’s okay.”

Tang Ling: “Okay, if it’s okay, then okay. That’s good enough.”

The conversation fizzled out.

Tang Ling didn’t dare press further—after all, everything she’d been saying was just idle chatter. She was afraid Tan Shiyi might get annoyed, so she decided to take things slowly.

Unexpectedly, Tan Shiyi was the one who broke the silence. “About those three reward cards from today—what do you think?”

Tang Ling replied, “Same as you. Those three cards were way too easy to get. It’s hard to say whether the other groups might end up with better ones.”

Tan Shiyi nodded. “And the punishment cards are also something to consider. If the punishment involves a game, that part will definitely make it into the broadcast. Sometimes, the punishment clips draw more attention than the rewards.”

Tang Ling thought about it and realized Tan Shiyi had a point. Compared to listening to a sixty second self promotion speech, the audience would probably rather see the girls grimacing as they down vegetable juice.

When she looked at it that way, their three “reward” cards weren’t really all that useful after all.

After a moment of consideration, Tang Ling suggested, “How about I go find out what cards the other groups drew?”

Tan Shiyi froze. “Who are you going to ask?”

Tang Ling thought about it—she did have one friend in the camp, after all. “Cheng Qingyan?”

Tan Shiyi’s expression instantly turned cold. Without another word, she strode ahead, ignoring Tang Ling completely.

Tang Ling blinked in confusion. “?”

Why did she suddenly get mad?

By the end of the evening, Tan Shiyi still hadn’t given Tang Ling a single pleasant look. She simply said a curt “Goodbye” before heading upstairs.

Tang Ling, thoroughly baffled, called Xiao Nan out to debrief.

Xiao Nan looked equally lost. “Host, honestly, I think you did your best today. Maybe chasing a girl just takes time? A slow, gradual process?”

Tang Ling reflected. “She originally just didn’t really want to talk to me, but the moment I mentioned Cheng Qingyan, she really didn’t want to talk to me. What’s with that? I don’t remember them having any bad blood.”

Xiao Nan frowned. “I don’t know either! I’m not omniscient. Why don’t you just ask Cheng Qingyan directly?”

Tang Ling hesitated. It felt too awkward to ask outright—but her curiosity over Tan Shiyi’s sudden mood swing was unbearable.

In the end, she gathered her courage and knocked on Cheng Qingyan’s door.

When Cheng Qingyan saw her, the usually composed girl actually looked pleasantly surprised. “You’re here?”

Tang Ling smiled. “Long time no see. Thought I’d drop by for a chat. They’re airing the first half of the fourth performance episode tonight—figured we could watch it together.”

“Sure,” Cheng Qingyan said, inviting her in. “Have a seat. I already started watching, but I’ll rewind to the beginning.”

Tang Ling tried to sound casual. “I just came from the practice room, so I haven’t watched it yet. You got back pretty early today. Did the coaches come to assess your team?”

Cheng Qingyan blinked. “No, our group actually had a day off. A one day holiday experience. Was there an assessment today? I hadn’t heard.”

Perfect. She’d missed it entirely.

Tang Ling decided not to hide it. “Oh, maybe your turn hasn’t come yet. The coaches checked on us today—we passed, and they even let us draw three reward cards.”

She briefly explained the contents of the cards.

“I heard about that,” Cheng Qingyan said. “Your team’s progress has been fast. We only just finished composing our song today. Not sure if we’ll pass.”

“You’ll be fine,” Tang Ling reassured her. “The coaches weren’t that strict. We just played our arrangement for them, and it was enough.”

Tang Ling began thinking about how to bring up Tan Shiyi’s name naturally.

Just then, the screen showed her and Tan Shiyi together—the scene where Tan Shiyi had asked Tang Ling to teach her guitar. In the footage, Tan Shiyi still looked a bit shy, unable to get to the point, constantly circling around the topic.

Tang Ling couldn’t bear to watch. Tan Shiyi’s hints had been so obvious back then, and she had completely missed them. Anyone watching would think she’d been playing dumb on purpose.

Cheng Qingyan watched the screen intently. “So that’s what she said to you back then.”

Something seemed to occur to her. “You two, how are things lately?”

Terrible, actually. But Tang Ling couldn’t admit that. “Um, we’re okay, I guess.”

Cheng Qingyan glanced at Tan Shiyi’s image on the screen and nodded. “She really is quite endearing.”

Tang Ling felt something off in that tone. She probed carefully. “You like that type of girl too?”

Cheng Qingyan blinked. “Too?”

Tang Ling instantly wanted to slap herself. “Ah—no, I just meant, lots of people like her.”

Cheng Qingyan listened calmly as Tang Ling fumbled to explain herself.

Seeing that unruffled expression, Tang Ling gave up pretending. “Alright, fine. I’m chasing her.”

Cheng Qingyan looked mildly surprised. “You’re the one chasing her?”

Knowing Cheng Qingyan’s serious nature, Tang Ling quickly added, “I’m only telling you because I trust you. I know dating within the team is against the rules, but I’m serious about her—please don’t be shocked.”

But Cheng Qingyan’s reply caught her completely off guard.

“I’m not shocked because of that,” she said. “I’m just wondering—why is she not the one chasing you, instead of you finally chasing her?”