I Struggle to Survive in a Girl Group [Transmigration] - Chapter 16

After receiving her mother’s promise, An Qing was overjoyed.

The two families were close, so Yu Tingbai would surely learn quickly about her act of kindness and be so moved that she’d offer herself in marriage. Well, even if not marriage, being her fiancée for a year would be acceptable, right?

Buying love with money, what a clever yet wicked woman she was!

But her smugness was soon swallowed by the grueling training. The very next evening, just as she and her teammates were pushing themselves to exhaustion, the practice room door suddenly swung open.

Shen Siqi stood at the doorway, calling out to her, “An Qing, the production team wants us to go over.”

“What for?”

An Qing’s mind raced as she stole a glance at Yu Tingbai, who was standing diagonally ahead of her. Yu Tingbai was helping a teammate refine her moves, her eyes bright and alert, showing no signs of fatigue.

Shen Siqi replied, “They said our interview this afternoon wasn’t recorded properly and needs a redo.”

Seriously?

An Qing rubbed her temples in frustration. After excusing herself from her teammates, she hurried out with Shen Siqi, hoping to get it over with quickly.

“An Qing, I have a feeling this isn’t as simple as it seems.”

Shen Siqi wore an inscrutable expression, as if she had the production team’s tricks all figured out.

“It’s probably another prank. The staff member who came to get me couldn’t hold back a laugh halfway through.”

A sense of foreboding suddenly rose in An Qing’s heart. Judging by Shen Siqi’s tone, this wasn’t the first time. Feigning confusion, she asked, “A prank? What kind?”

“Wait, have you forgotten? You nearly punched a ghost last time, remember?An Qing:
There was such a thing? But she was terrified of ghosts!

“Ugh, I wish I had your nerves of steel.”

Shen Siqi didn’t suspect a thing and eagerly recounted her past traumatic experience like pouring beans from a bamboo tube.

On a dark and stormy night, she had followed the production team’s instructions and entered a certain room. At first, everything was normal just a few routine questions. But soon, the staff member claimed the equipment needed adjustments and rushed out to find help.

Shen Siqi waited obediently in the room. After about five minutes, the lights flickered twice before abruptly cutting out.

A blackout? Startled, she screamed and bolted for the door. But before she could reach it, an eerie knocking sound came from outside.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Slow, deliberate, and rhythmic.

The door had a narrow, full-length pane of glass, about half a foot wide. Peering through it, Shen Siqi saw that the hallway outside was also pitch black. A tall, shadowy figure stood motionless in front of the door, head bowed, long hair hanging forward to obscure its entire face.

A female ghost!!

Shen Siqi’s breath hitched in terror. She lunged forward and locked the door from the inside. But before she could even catch her breath, a faint rustling came from behind her.

Shhh… shh… shh…

She turned stiffly, only to see the heavy curtains pulled slightly aside. An identical female ghost stood by the window, staring straight at her.

“And then I burst into tears. Only after I started crying did they turn the lights back on.”

Shen Siqi clutched her chest, still shaken, her tone indignant.

“My nerves can’t handle this kind of torment. They have no mercy at all… The production team really knows how to pick on the weak. Why don’t they try scaring you instead? Always bullying someone as delicate as me.”

An Qing: “…”

Who isn’t a little cutie?

With a nervous heart, An Qing followed the staff’s instructions and headed to Room 303, while Shen Siqi was assigned to another room. Before leaving, Shen left her a sorrowful message:

“If anything happens to me, please pay off my Huabei for me.”

An Qing was both amused and annoyed by her, which eased her tension a little.

The practice rooms were all on the first floor, while the third floor was nearly deserted. The hallway was empty, and the lighting was dim.

An Qing was afraid of ghosts and death, yet she loved reading horror stories, mysteries, and thrillers the more scared she was, the more she wanted to read them, accumulating a trove of bizarre ideas in her head.

So the entire way, she nervously psyched herself up, terrified that some unknown creature might suddenly leap out from around a corner.

Fortunately, her worries were unfounded, and An Qing arrived safely. As soon as she pushed the door open, she saw someone she never expected.

Dance mentor Xu Yan sat on the sofa, her long legs elegantly crossed, smiling at her.

An Qing hadn’t expected her to be here and hurriedly greeted her.

“Relax,” Xu Yan winked at her and pulled her down to sit beside her.

“An Qing, seeing me here, you must have guessed why I called you, right?”

An Qing froze. Since the other party was being so direct, could it be.

“Are we supposed to play female ghosts?”

Xu Yan burst out laughing, waving her hands dismissively.

“No, no. Don’t think playing a ghost is some easy gig. Last time, one trainee got so scared she shoved the ghost and sent it tumbling. Another one yanked out a chunk of the ghost’s hair it’s still a little bald now. Do you want to play a ghost?”

An Qing was stunned. “No, no, I don’t.”

Who would do such a thing? How cruel!

Didn’t they know how important hair was to young people these days?!

Xu Yan said, “This time, we won’t use ghosts. It’s just the two of us stirring things up. Today, we’ll let Yu Tingbai know that what’s scarier than ghosts and gods is the human heart!”

An Qing: “Hahaha, sounds great! Wait, who did you say?”

“Yu Tingbai,” Xu Yan gave her a strange look. “Why are you shaking?”

“I’m just too excited.”

An Qing stuffed her trembling fingers into her pockets, on the verge of tears. “How did such a great opportunity fall into my lap?”

Xu Yan didn’t suspect anything. Yu Tingbai was the undisputed top trainee, who in the training camp wouldn’t want to film with her?

She enthusiastically explained, “It’s the result of your own hard work. In this afternoon’s interview, you all filled out a questionnaire. One of the questions was, ‘Which trainee do you get along with the best?’ Several people wrote Yu Tingbai, but your ranking was the highest, so the opportunity went to you.”

What???

An Qing’s pupils trembled in shock. She remembered that question it made sense that she had written Yu Tingbai. After all, she had spent the most time with her, followed by Shen Siqi, with whom she could exchange a few words.

But what she hadn’t expected was that Yi Zhuo, Shen Siqi, and You Shuang all ranked above her hadn’t written Yu Tingbai’s name?

The others were one thing, but You Shuang, you useless lump! You gave up after being rejected just once?

An Qing thought of something else and asked, “Then who did Yu Tingbai write?”

Xu Yan said, “She wrote all of you. Probably couldn’t decide.”

An Qing: “…”

Not “couldn’t decide” more like she couldn’t pick, so she just wrote everyone to fill the space.

Yu Tingbai, that playboy!

She forced a smile and asked, “So, what exactly are we supposed to do?”

Xu Yan mysteriously pulled out two sheets of paper from the messy coffee table in front of her and handed one to An Qing. At the top of the page, bold letters read: “Prank Plan Let the Social Death Come Harder!”

The script below outlined a scenario where An Qing had a crush on Xu Yan. On the eve of the finals, unable to hold back any longer, she mustered the courage to confess her feelings just as Yu Tingbai happened to witness the scene.

Xu Yan would then awkwardly and flusteredly reject her with a “nice person” card before fleeing in embarrassment, leaving An Qing and Yu Tingbai to continue the act until it became unbearable.

At the bottom of the script were bolded notes:

1.With the finals approaching, time is precious. There’s only one chance to film no retakes. Make it count.

2.For the sake of the show’s effect, genuine emotions are a must. No laughing allowed.

3.Even if questioned, don’t admit the truth right away. Try to cover it up convincingly. The scene must last at least 10 minutes.

Tears welled up in An Qing’s eyes.

Was this a prank? This was a death sentence!

She had already noticed there were no visible cameras in the room. If Yu Tingbai took it seriously and angrily called off their engagement in a fit of rage, she’d only have three days left to live. And if Yu Tingbai went along with it and refused to reconcile.

An Qing shuddered involuntarily.

Even though they had a so-called verbal agreement, in this situation, it was clearly her who had broken the terms first. Yu Tingbai would be well within her rights to back out.

“In a bit, the production team will find an excuse to get Yu Tingbai to come over and borrow something. I’ll be facing the door, and you’ll have your back to it. Hold my hand, and the moment the door opens, I’ll brush my fingers against your palm that’s your cue to loudly confess. Stick to the script or improvise a little, got it?”

“I’ll reject you with a ‘nice person’ card and then run off. The rest is up to you.”

Seeing An Qing’s crumpled expression, Xu Yan suddenly remembered that An Qing used to be someone who took her idol image very seriously. Being forced into this cheesy, melodramatic scenario only to be rejected and socially humiliated, must be tearing her apart inside.

So she tried to comfort her. “An Qing, being a young idol isn’t always glamorous. There’ll be plenty more moments like this on variety shows in the future. Just treat this as a hurdle in life once you get past it, it’ll be over.”

Sis, that’s not a hurdle that’s a grave!

An Qing genuinely felt like she was about to pass away.

Numbly, she nodded and started mentally rehearsing how she could act in a way that would make Yu Tingbai realize this was just a prank as quickly as possible.

Xu Yan patted An Qing’s shoulder, her face brimming with excitement.

“There are hidden cameras in the closet and behind the curtains 360-degree coverage to capture every glorious moment! How thrilling is that?”

An Qing: “So thrilling.”

Could someone tell her was it too late to audition for the role of a ghost instead?