Her Majesty The Empress Has Made Her Debut In The Center Position [Ancient to Modern] - Chapter 32.2

Song Jiangjiang, who had been Ji Zhao’s brief teammate but always maintained her “laundry” identity, was equally speechless.

Song Jiangjiang: Wait a minute! Why is maintaining my “laundry” identity something to be proud of and grateful for?! I should be the one getting darkened! Aah!

Ji Zhao asked, “Want to play a game?”

Song Jiangjiang blurted out, “Yes.”

Ji Zhao gestured for everyone to sit down. “I just remembered a game. Remember when we were watching shows in the screening room last time, and Jiangjiang showed us those short videos? There was one funny video where they played a game—it was really interesting.”

Song Jiangjiang looked bewildered. “What game?”

Yu Cheng asked, “Is it the blindfolded eating game?”

Pei Jia exclaimed, “Oh, I remember that one! Each person picks a food—ideally something smelly and gross, like peppers, onions, or ginger—and places it in front of them. Everyone wears a blindfold except the undercover player, who can remove theirs and secretly eat the food in front of someone else.”

Ji Zhao added, “Right, the undercover player can’t get caught. If they’re discovered, they lose. If they’re not, they win, and the person whose food was eaten also loses.”

She asked, “Do you all understand the rules?”

Shen Yican said, “I think I get it, but…”

Pei Jia interrupted, “But who actually enjoys this game?!”

Qian Xingxing suggested, “How about whoever loses has to go stand in front of Miss Zhou and perform a macho version of the theme song?”

Zhou Yuting asked, “Why a macho version?”

Qian Xingxing snapped her fingers, resting her chin on her thumb and index finger, her eyes blinking mischievously. “I always saw male idols reluctantly performing girl group dances as punishment, thinking it undermined their masculinity. So if we do a masculine version of the dance, isn’t that also a punishment?”

Her teammates looked thoughtful. “Masculinity really isn’t a good thing for us.”

Song Jiangjiang clenched her fists. “What are we waiting for? Bring out the chili peppers!”

Everyone fell silent.

They all turned their gaze toward the production team.

The ingredients were readily available in the restaurant, and the production team quickly sent someone to fetch them. Li Yunyue requested to observe, and after being granted permission, she immediately found a corner and “cut the power.” Ji Zhao became the referee, placing garlic, ginger, onions, chili peppers, star anise, and other ingredients and seasonings in separate bowls. “Please take your props,” she announced.

Yu Cheng grabbed the garlic, reasoning that if she chose it, she wouldn’t have to eat it.

Song Jiangjiang covered her mouth and nose. “What a cruel mind! I’ll take the ginger!”

Pei Jia hugged the onion. “Eating onions is the easiest way to get caught.”

Zhou Yuting glanced around. “Then I’ll take the cilantro. I hope whoever gets me won’t suffer too much.”

Qian Xingxing: “I picked the chili peppers! Let’s see who dares to eat them!”

Tong Wei, not wanting to play with Yu Cheng, slipped away, claiming she had something to do. Shen Yican took her seat. “Looks like I don’t have a choice either. What does star anise taste like?”

She sniffed it. “It smells pretty good.”

“Alright, everyone, please take your blindfolds.” Once everyone had their blindfolds, Ji Zhao continued giving instructions. “Now, please take your identity cards, read them, and then put on your blindfolds.”

The contestants put on their blindfolds.

Ji Zhao sat upright, radiating an aura of fairness like a natural-born referee. Li Yunyue’s inner middle school spirit burned fiercely as she watched Ji Zhao’s red lips part slightly. “Please, the undercover player, remove your blindfold.”

The air went still for a second.

Song Jiangjiang removed her blindfold. Though her face was etched with misery, a flicker of excitement escaped her. She carefully selected for a moment before finally choosing Zhou Yuting’s cilantro.

As she ate, she bowed apologetically to Zhou Yuting. Ji Zhao analyzed her body language: Zhou Yuting, you’re a good person, and cilantro is actually edible, but if you lose… sorry!

After swallowing the cilantro, Song Jiangjiang gave Ji Zhao an “OK” gesture, let out a few heavy sighs, and put her blindfold back on.

This wasn’t over yet. Before Ji Zhao told her to remove the blindfold, she suddenly spoke up: “I just realized something. We can talk while the undercover person is eating! Wouldn’t the person who doesn’t talk be the undercover one?”

“Right! Why didn’t I think of that?” Qian Xingxing said. “Talk, talk, everyone talk! Pei Jia, why aren’t you talking?”

Pei Jia: “……”

You’re just randomly tagging me because you’re familiar with me!

Ji Zhao smiled and shook her head. “Please remove your blindfolds.”

Everyone took off their blindfolds.

Zhou Yuting gasped. “Who ate my cilantro?!”

Song Jiangjiang shrugged. “I don’t know! Who was it? Who did it?”

Then she noticed everyone was looking at her with “you’re an idiot” expressions. She avoided their gazes for a couple of seconds, then covered her mouth and puffed out a breath. “Why are you all… why are you all looking at me like that? Is there something obvious…?”

The voices grew softer, admitting defeat.

Pei Jia: “Absolutely…”

Shen Yican: “And completely…”

Qian Xingxing: “Utterly…”

Yu Cheng: “Obvious.”

Song Jiangjiang reluctantly left the game, citing injury. She asked Ji Zhao to take her place while she officiated as the referee.

In the following rounds, the unpalatable ingredients made it unnecessary to even sniff the dishes. The undercover player’s contorted expression alone gave them away. Pei Jia’s face flushed crimson from the chili peppers, Qian Xingxing’s eyes watered from the onions, and Shen Yican’s tongue darted wildly after the garlic.

Only Ji Zhao, only Ji Zhao, remained unfazed while eating ginger. But the overpowering flavor still led to her immediate identification.

By the end, everyone had lost except Yu Cheng.

Purely due to luck.

This left the group disgruntled, muttering openly.

“Zhaozhao’s the real Luck King, right?”

“Then why is Yu Cheng so lucky?”

“You’ve been kissing Zhaozhao too much…”

“I won’t!”

“You’re such a toxic person!”

Ji Zhao: “……”

Yu Cheng listened calmly at first, but when she heard the whispers about kissing, her face flushed crimson. Her icy glare swept across the room, instantly silencing the murmurs as everyone shifted their conversation to safer topics.

“It’s getting late.”

“We should start training.”

“Let’s discuss the punishment later.”

“Anyone not in our group can go back and free up the space.”

“I see you’re the type to burn bridges!”

Amidst the friendly banter, the trainees from Dramatic escorted the four to the door. As the others hurried back to practice, Yu Cheng lingered at the entrance. “Call me if you need anything.”

Ji Zhao sighed. “What could I possibly need?”

Yu Cheng pursed her lips. “…To get hot water for your instant noodles.”

Ji Zhao’s expression darkened. “I can do that myself.”

“But you shouldn’t have to.”

Ji Zhao knew she couldn’t win this argument with Yu Cheng, so she nodded half-heartedly and pushed Yu Cheng toward the door. “Fine, fine, I get it. I’ll definitely ask you next time.”

After Yu Cheng left, glancing back several times, Ji Zhao finally turned around.

Four teammates, eight eyes, all watching her with complex expressions.

Zhou Yuting looked pleased. “You two have such a good relationship.”

Qian Xingxing sounded jealous. “I can get hot water too, you know!”

Tong Wei smirked. “Heh, girl-on-girl action.”

Li Yunyue was more reserved. “Good ship, love it.”

Ji Zhao: “……”

Her teammates were so emotional.

Training continued.

The stage for “Dramatic” was sensual and provocative, a pure dance number without a storyline, featuring chairs as props. After two days of practice, the five trainees finally became more familiar with their chairs, avoiding incidents like tripping over them or turning around to find them gone and falling onto the floor.

To be honest, Ji Zhao had initially felt a bit uncomfortable. Some of the movements were too bold and daring for someone from ancient times. She spent two hours watching girl group performances on her tablet at home before gradually getting used to them.

She wasn’t embarrassed; she just wasn’t used to it.

The day’s training had gone smoothly. Thanks to the game, the trainees were relaxed, and their practice became twice as effective. After completing the day’s training quota, Ji Zhao, as captain, announced that they could all disperse.

Twilight had just fallen, and the lights in all the practice rooms were still on, each team practicing diligently.

Ji Zhao checked Yu Cheng’s practice room but saw they hadn’t dispersed yet, so she went to Ying Tian to borrow an English book and dictionary before returning to the Dramatic practice room.

The lights were still on, and Tong Wei was practicing diligently inside.

Tong Wei paused when she saw Ji Zhao return. Seeing that Ji Zhao’s gaze simply passed over her as she settled into a corner to study, Tong Wei resumed her practice until the end of the set. Then she turned off the music.

The sudden silence made even the faint sound of air currents audible, accompanied by the crisp rustle of Ji Zhao’s pages turning.

Tong Wei clenched her fist. “Hey—”

Ji Zhao was struggling with past, present, and future tenses when Tong Wei’s voice snapped her out of her letter-filled reverie. She blinked, then looked up. “What is it?”

Tong Wei gazed at her with a complicated expression. “You really plan to go straight to graduate school if you don’t make it in the entertainment industry?”

Ji Zhao tilted her head. “Graduate school seems really hard. I probably won’t get in.”

Tong Wei muttered, “That’s not necessarily true.”

Ji Zhao lowered her head back to her book. “But I probably won’t fail to make it in the industry anyway.”

Tong Wei truly resented Ji Zhao’s confidence, yet she had to admit the girl had every right to be confident. Tong Wei had deliberately made things difficult for Ji Zhaozhao during the initial stage performance, partly because she disliked Yu Cheng and found it even more irritating when someone spoke up for her. But now that she thought about it, Ji Zhaozhao’s performance of “White Snow” had truly been stunning.

“You and Yu Cheng…” Ji Zhao closed her book. “Is there some misunderstanding between you?”

The moment Yu Cheng’s name was mentioned, Tong Wei’s face darkened. “What misunderstanding? Do you think I’m deliberately targeting her? Do you know that before she came to the company, I was the center position—their star trainee they were grooming! The moment she arrived, I was suddenly sidelined!”

Ji Zhao looked thoughtful.

It seemed that Yu Cheng had indeed acted inappropriately, even if that wasn’t her intention. After all, she had only wanted to enter the entertainment industry to meet beautiful people. But her actions had genuinely hurt Tong Wei.

But that was the old Yu Cheng, not her Esteemed Minister Yu. Tong Wei was venting her anger at the wrong person.

Ji Zhao defended her, “She knows it was wrong. She’s actually a really nice person—kind and generous. Don’t worry. Once the competition is over, she’ll leave your company. You can be the Center Position at your company, and she can be the Center Position at mine.”

Tong Wei: “?”

Ji Zhao smiled at her, her dimples faint.

Tong Wei: “……”

“Oh, right,” Ji Zhao said, standing up. “You missed a step earlier.” She took Tong Wei’s arm, led her to a chair, and demonstrated the move. “After spinning and sitting down, you’re supposed to cross your legs, then bend forward and lift your leg high.”

She pointed out, “You didn’t cross your legs, and you didn’t lift your leg high enough.”

Tong Wei thought Ji Zhao was mocking her. “I’m still practicing!”

Ji Zhao was about to speak when Tong Wei suddenly glanced toward the door. Ji Zhao paused and followed her gaze, seeing Yu Cheng standing there, watching them. Their eyes met, and Yu Cheng’s originally cold gaze softened. “I’m finished here.”

“Oh,” Ji Zhao said. “I’m teaching Tong Wei to dance.”

Yu Cheng approached. “Are you finished?”

“Almost,” Ji Zhao replied. She turned to Tong Wei. “See? Yu Cheng is actually very friendly. Look at her gentle expression and soft voice. You need to set aside your prejudices and see her for who she really is, understand?”

Is… that so?

Tong Wei tried to set aside her prejudices as she watched Yu Cheng walk steadily toward Ji Zhaozhao. She watched Yu Cheng stop beside her, ask her what she wanted to eat for dinner, and then—

Oh, Yu Cheng glanced at her and shot her a glare.

Tong Wei: “…………”

Where’s the friendliness?!

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