I Struggle to Survive in a Girl Group [Transmigration] - Chapter 4

An Qing gave a dry chuckle, trying to ease the awkward atmosphere.

Truth be told, she wanted to keep a low profile and not reveal her true abilities right away. But since she had already slacked off in front of Yu Tingbai yesterday, if she performed poorly again today, she feared for her life.

Yu Tingbai, like her, was someone who truly loved the stage. If she sang well, it might just boost the other’s opinion of her.

Shen Siqi, feeling guilty for her earlier slip-up, quickly tried to smooth things over: “It’s not your fault. You haven’t been coming to practice much because you weren’t feeling well before.”

Ever since arriving at the training camp, An Qing had frequently used “not feeling well” as an excuse to skip sessions. Shen Siqi, being naive, had never doubted her.

Could you not bring up the exact thing I don’t want to talk about?!

An Qing forced a nod. “Yeah, I wasn’t in good shape before.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, she caught Yu Tingbai’s lips curling into a smirk from the corner of her eye probably mocking her.

An Qing hurriedly added, “But I’m all better now! I won’t skip practice anymore!”

Shen Siqi didn’t question it. “Oh, that’s good then.”

After some discussion, An Qing was assigned the [A] partthe opening segment.

The practice that followed went smoothly. After a few run-throughs, everyone quickly got into the groove, and the atmosphere actually started to warm up.

When An Qing spoke up, even Chu Qing and Song Rongrong, who rarely engaged with her, exchanged a few casual words.

As expected, skill is what truly matters on stage.

The original An Qing had been criticized mainly for her laziness and princess attitude, making her a burden in any team. What made it worse was that her family had money and connections, she was the most well-backed contestant in the show. They had outright bought her a debut spot and constantly boosted her popularity. No matter how poorly she performed, her votes always hovered around fifth place.

A spoiled, untalented contestant who didn’t practice, always found ways to slack off, and couldn’t take criticism, who wouldn’t dislike her?

The other trainees all had their grievances, to varying degrees. But with cameras around and no one wanting to offend someone with her backing, they maintained a surface-level harmony.

“An Qing, raise your arm a little higher here.”

Song Rongrong walked over, adjusting An Qing’s arm to correct her posture.

“And here, you’re half a beat too slow.”

After declaring her determination to turn over a new leaf, An Qing learned at an astonishing speed, her movements fluid and precise.

Song Rongrong was surprised, then suddenly recalled some offhand remarks she had once overheard from the mentors about An Qing.

“An Qing has talent, but she lacks dedication.”

“The amount of practice she puts in is far from enough.”

“What a waste of such potential.”

She can do it after all. If she had worked this hard from the start, she wouldn’t have been disliked by everyone.

Lost in thought, Song Rongrong suddenly noticed An Qing practicing the moves she had taught her twice more in front of the mirror before turning to her with a sweet smile.

Her clear, aqua-blue eyes curved into adorable little crescents.

“Thanks, Rongrong.”

Song Rongrong froze.

During the first performance, she had naively spent an entire evening patiently teaching An Qing the choreography, only for An Qing to not only never thank her but also complain endlessly about her high standards, nearly driving her mad.

Today, for some inexplicable reason, she found An Qing more likable and decided to help and actually received gratitude in return?

Staring at An Qing’s bright smile, she averted her gaze awkwardly. “It was nothing.”

Forget it, turning over a new leaf isn’t so bad at least it doesn’t make people angry.

Everyone in the An Qing group was a hard worker. Once they got into the groove, they’d practice from morning till evening, with only a one-hour break in between the rest of the time was all about training.

After the instructor left satisfied, Shen Siqi was the first to collapse, panting heavily as she slumped onto the floor.

She weakly raised a slender wrist and waved it, saying, “I can’t, I can’t go on.”

Shen Siqi’s strength was vocals, and compared to the others, her stamina was a bit lacking.

Chu Qing and Song Rongrong also agreed that today’s progress had been fast enough and suggested ending the group training there, leaving the evening for individual practice.

Hearing this, An Qing turned her head to glance at Yu Tingbai.

She stood slightly ahead of her, her tied-up hair now slightly disheveled, her expression showing a hint of fatigue. Upon hearing Chu Qing’s decision, she immediately crouched down and leaned against the wall, clearly intending to rest for a while.

An Qing naturally couldn’t pass up this chance to show goodwill. She pulled two towels she had prepared earlier from her bag, ran to the bathroom to wet them, then hurried back to hand one to Yu Tingbai.

Seizing the moment when Yu Tingbai reached for the towel, An Qing smoothly sat down beside her.

The others didn’t think much of it after all, An Qing and Yu Tingbai were from the same school, with Yu Tingbai being her senior. Now that An Qing had turned over a new leaf, it made sense for her to show some concern.

Yu Tingbai wiped her face with the towel and smiled. “Thanks.”

An Qing’s lips curled up uncontrollably. At this rate, she thought, getting through the year would be a breeze.

Just then, the practice room door suddenly swung open, and five pretty girls walked in, all dressed in trainee sweatshirts.

Sweetie 101 started with a hundred trainees, but only five would make the final group. The competition was structured as follows: 100 to 80, 80 to 60, 60 to 45, 45 to 30, 30 to 15, and finally 15 to 5 a total of six performances.

They were now at the 30-to-15 stage, with only 30 trainees left in the camp, divided into six teams. There were enough practice rooms for each team to have their own.

The five girls who entered were their opponents for this round’s performance, clearly stopping by after their own training. The leader was their captain, Huang Xiao, a tall, striking girl with short hair.

Huang Xiao grinned and greeted everyone, asking, “How’s practice going?”

Though they were rival teams, there was no tension between them.

After all, the competition was based on individual votes losing didn’t mean the whole team was out. Besides, today’s opponents might be tomorrow’s teammates.

Team leader Chu Qing lifted her chin and replied, “Not bad. How about you guys?”

Huang Xiao assumed Chu Qing was just bluffing and glanced at An Qing in the corner.

There, An Qing was unwrapping a palm-sized bun, expertly pressing and folding it into a compact square before stuffing it whole into her mouth. A satisfied smile spread across her face as she immediately reached for another.

Huang Xiao: “…”

Did that even exist in this world?

She turned her attention back to Chu Qing and smiled. “We’re doing pretty well too.”

Huang Xiao’s team’s performance song this time was Rivers and Lakes for You, a lyrical ancient-style ballad completely different from Bloodthirsty Forest.

The other trainees filed in, chatting familiarly with each other.

Huang Xiao’s group members were quite warm toward An Qing, practically on the verge of grabbing her hand and saying, “Thank you for being in our rival group.”

Yu Tingbai, clearly at ease in such settings, cracked just the right jokes and quickly livened up the atmosphere.

Just as everyone was happily chatting, someone suddenly suggested, “Let’s have a battle!”

Shen Siqi, who loved excitement the most, perked up immediately and scrambled to her feet.

“Battle over what?”

Battles between rival groups were always a crowd-pleaser. If it made it into the final edit, win or lose, it would be a chance to showcase themselves.

So the trainees eagerly responded, tossing out ideas one after another.

In the end, the two team leaders discussed it and made the call.

Huang Xiao said, “We’ve done singing and dancing battles so many times boring. Let’s try something different this time.”

Someone quickly chimed in, “Team leader, what should we do?”

Chu Qing smiled. “Let’s see who’s the strongest!”

The trainees immediately cheered in agreement.

“Hahaha, sounds good to me!”

“Fun! Let’s do this.”

“I’ve never backed down from a strength contest.”

An Qing: ???

She rubbed her sore limbs, her smile freezing on her face.

Aren’t you all tired? If not, go find a factory to work in.

Shen Siqi, buzzing with excitement, clapped her hands wildly. “How do we compete? How?”

Huang Xiao said, “Simple arm wrestling.”

Someone else asked, “Any rewards for the winner?”

Huang Xiao had only thought of this on a whim and hadn’t considered that far, so she turned to the group. “What kind of reward do you all want?”

“Everyone treats her to a meal!”

“She treats everyone to a meal!”

“The winner sleeps in my bed tonight~”

“I’ve got it!” Shen Siqi, ever the vocal powerhouse, pitched her voice an octave higher than everyone else’s, making it instantly recognizable.

She was so thrilled by her own idea that she nearly screeched.

“Whoever wins gets to kiss Yu Tingbai once!”

The room fell silent for a split second before erupting again.

“That’s perfect!!”

Yu Tingbai: ?

An Qing: ???

Shen Siqi walked over with a grin and patted Yu Tingbai on the shoulder.

“Tingbai, be the prize! You can pick where they kiss you, okay?”

Yu Tingbai was the initial center and the undisputed top in popularity. She had no airs, got along well with everyone, and often helped out proactively, making her well-liked.

The group’s teasing stemmed partly from how most of them had a good relationship with her and partly from wanting to ride her coattails for a bit of clout. With luck, they might even spark a short-lived CP.

An Qing was no stranger to these kinds of industry games, but she felt Yu Tingbai was the type to keep people at arm’s length. Even when smiling, there was always a subtle sense of distance.

Would someone like her really agree to this?

Besides, there was still that engagement between her and Yu Tingbai…

But refusing would kill the mood.

An Qing stole a glance at Yu Tingbai.

The other woman tilted her chin up slightly, smiling openly.

“Sure.”

No way? She’s so green!

An Qing lowered her eyes in dismay, the glare from the floor stinging her vision.

With so many people, including plenty who were physically bigger than her, how could she possibly win?

Never mind, a little kiss between girls is no big deal. At most, it’s just a peck on the cheek. Surely it wouldn’t make her fiancée disappear, right?

Then suddenly, the light before her dimmed as Yu Tingbai leaned in closer.

Taking advantage of the moment when the others were discussing battle teams, Yu Tingbai whispered in her ear, so softly that only the two of them could hear.

“An Qing, can you win?”

An Qing caught sight of a pretty girl flexing her biceps and shook her head desperately. “I can’t.”

“Then what should we do?”

Yu Tingbai smiled faintly, her eyes innocent and harmless, like a gentle, unassuming little white flower.

Lowering her voice, her warm breath brushed against the girl’s pink-and-white earlobe.

“You like me so much you wouldn’t let anyone else kiss me, right?”