I Struggle to Survive in a Girl Group [Transmigration] - Chapter 40

In the dimly lit screening room,
a massive screen covering an entire wall emitted a faint glow.

Displayed on the screen was Shirley lying on a hospital bed.
She wore a loose blue-and-white striped hospital gown, with various tubes attached to her body. Her face was pale, her eyes tightly shut, and her brows slightly furrowed.

Two young nurses stood by the bed,
recording her vital signs while chatting quietly.

The long-haired nurse asked, “How long has she been in a coma?”
The short-haired one replied, “Almost a month.”

The long-haired nurse sighed, “What happened to her?”
“You’re new here, so you wouldn’t know,” the short-haired nurse said, pointing to the other beds in the room. “All of them were involved in the same car accident. Though they haven’t woken up yet, at least their lives were saved.”

“That’s Shirley lying there, and over there is her husband. Their daughter, Nancy, was already dead when she was found.”

Hearing this, the long-haired nurse’s eyes reddened. “How tragic. Such a beautiful woman she must have lived a happy life before this.”

At that moment, the scene abruptly shifted, and the screen displayed the accident site.
Under a gloomy sky, the wind howled mournfully across a desolate landscape. The guardrail along the winding mountain road had been smashed open, with twisted metal edges exposed a horrifying sight.

Nancy stood by the guardrail, quietly gazing at her mother across the way.

Shirley seemed confused and asked, puzzled, “Sweetheart, we were just at home a moment ago. How did we suddenly end up in this dreadful place? Am I dreaming?”

Nancy pressed her lips together, remained silent for a moment, and then replied softly, “Mom, you’ve been dreaming for a long time. You’ve been living in a dream where you thought you were loved.”

“What nonsense are you talking about, child?” Shirley frowned. “You love me, and your father loves me too. How could that be fake?”

Nancy shook her head. “Dad doesn’t love you. If he did, he wouldn’t have hit you.”

Shirley stared blankly at Nancy and murmured, “You don’t understand. He just can’t control his temper. You weren’t born yet, so you don’t know he pursued me for two years, took care of me in every way, and was willing to do anything for me. He loved me.”

Nancy gave her a deep look. “That was in the past. Think carefully about what happened afterward and whether we were happy.”

“Afterward, afterward.”

Shirley held her forehead and took two steps back, a thoughtful expression appearing in her eyes. Gradually, her face showed signs of struggle, then turned to shock.

“That’s right, the car accident, Why are we here?”

Before her words faded, the screen flickered and began to tremble slightly. Mottled patches of color started peeling away from the sky, mountains, and vegetation, as if the entire world were about to collapse into fragments.

Shirley looked around in terror, unsure what had suddenly happened.

Nancy remained calm and continued, “Mom, if you cling to the past, you can’t move forward.”

She tried to smile but couldn’t hide her sorrow.

“I’m out of time. From now on, you’ll have to take care of yourself alone.”

“No! Don’t go, Nancy!”

As if waking from a dream, Shirley rushed forward, trying to embrace the petite girl across from her. But before she could even touch the edge of her clothes, the frail figure scattered into the wind in an instant.

The world gradually faded into darkness, leaving only the heart-wrenching sobs of a mother who seemed to have finally grasped a profound truth.

The scene shifted to the hospital bed, where Shirley slowly opened her eyes.

Her pupils shifted, and her gaze gradually cleared.

“She’s awake! She’s awake!”

The two young nurses standing by the bed were overjoyed. The long-haired nurse hurried off to fetch the doctor, while the short-haired nurse approached the bedside, attempting to communicate with the newly awakened patient.

She asked softly, “Can you hear me?”

Shirley turned her head slightly to glance at the nurse and nodded.

Her eyes swept over the unconscious patient in the adjacent bed, and her expression suddenly froze.

Seeing her troubled expression, the nurse quickly reassured her, “You’ve woken up, so your husband will surely ”

“He’s none of my concern.”

Under the nurse’s astonished gaze, Shirley withdrew her gaze, her tone indifferent.

“He’s no longer my husband.”

This was the final frame of the short film. As the music swelled, lines of text slowly appeared on the screen.

“Love is about tolerance, but never endurance.”

“May you treat others with kindness and have the courage to cut your losses in time.”

“Say ‘no’ to domestic violence.”

An Qing let out a long sigh, her heart filled with complex emotions.

Adults often think children understand nothing, but sometimes children see things more clearly than adults. They know who treats them well, who doesn’t, and what the right thing to do is all of it is clear in their hearts.

Nancy had it tough too. Growing up in such an environment, she hadn’t turned out twisted. Instead, she remained strong, protecting her mother in her own way.

Just then, the lights in the room came on, and the director entered with a group of NPCs.

The group quickly stood up, exchanging greetings.

Nancy and Shirley had removed their terrifying makeup, their fangs gone, and they smiled warmly under the bright lights. Cole stood behind them, his expression slightly awkward. As a competent villain actor, he always felt a bit of pressure in such situations.

Nancy affectionately linked arms with Cole, pulling him forward, and said to An Qing and the others, “Don’t be scared. My dad really isn’t a bad person he’s been so good to us.”

Shen Siqi exclaimed in surprise, “You’re really a family of three? No wonder I always thought you looked a bit like Cole. I assumed it was the director’s deliberate choice.”

“Of course. Not just Nancy and her family the other two pairs are married too.”

Wrapping up earlier than expected, the director was clearly in high spirits. He smiled and took over the conversation.

Initially, when he learned that a newly debuted girl group would be filming this variety show, he hadn’t held out much hope. Although the game was only supposed to last three days, he had blocked off nearly a week for filming. He planned to edit it down to three days even if they ran over, and if there were any inconsistencies, he’d reshoot a few scenes to patch things up.

Unexpectedly, the “Princess” group had finished the game a day early. Now, all they needed was to film some interviews and bonus content tomorrow, and they could wrap up ahead of schedule.

Shen Siqi sighed, “So it’s just the five of us who are single!”

An Qing felt a twinge of guilt upon hearing this and tried to change the subject. “What are we having for dinner tonight?”

Yu Tingbai:

That was way too forced, wasn’t it?

Yet, in the next moment, Shen Siqi took the bait. She eagerly asked Shirley, “Who cooks the meals at your place? Does that mean we get to eat for free today?”

Yu Tingbai: “You’ve really got some nerve.”

The director waved his hand grandly. “Everyone’s worked hard. Tonight, we’re having a feast local specialties, my treat.”

Shen Siqi and An Qing immediately lit up with joy, speaking in unison: “Thank you, boss!”

“Actually, Christine really is a famous local psychic. If you have any questions about fate or destiny, you can ask her. If she’s in a good mood, she might even give you a free reading.”

After a few rounds of drinks, the director set down his glass and spoke enthusiastically.

So she really is a psychic?

Hearing the director’s words, An Qing widened her eyes in surprise, unable to suppress her excitement. She couldn’t wait to have Christine read her fortune right then and there to see if her little life could make it through another year.

“Sure, no problem.”

Under the astonished gazes of the girls, Christine elegantly smoothed her hair and promised generously, “If there’s anything you’re not comfortable saying in front of others, you can talk to me privately after dinner.”

“Nothing I’m uncomfortable with.” Shen Siqi, who had somehow already stood up, took a few quick steps over to Christine’s seat and eagerly grasped her hand.

“Master, can you tell me if I’ll ever find love?”

Everyone else:

Christine looked at her with amusement. “That’s definitely possible.”

Shen Siqi grew excited. “When?”

Christine studied her for a moment and said, “You’ll meet within three months.”

She added thoughtfully, “She’s a girl who plays music, and she’s very pretty.”

Playing music is great they’d have a shared interest. And being pretty is even better who doesn’t like pretty people?

Shen Siqi hadn’t expected her to be so detailed. Overjoyed, she showered Christine with a stream of grateful words before returning to her seat, satisfied.

On the other side of the table, Yu Tingbai asked quietly, “What do you want to ask her later?”

An Qing whispered back, “I want to ask about my lifespan!”

Yu Tingbai:

She couldn’t help but ask, “Are you that afraid of dying?”

An Qing nodded vigorously, then retorted, “Aren’t you afraid?”

Was she afraid?

Yu Tingbai paused, momentarily lost in thought. No one had ever asked her that before, and she’d never given it much consideration. But sometimes, she couldn’t help but entertain dark, pessimistic thoughts.

Like, why is life so exhausting?

Or, even if I died, it wouldn’t be such a loss.

An Qing had only asked casually, fully expecting the other to share her own fear of death and reply with something like, “Of course I am.”

But she waited and waited, and Yu Tingbai remained silent.

Her dark eyes were lowered, and the flawless profile that usually wore a smile now looked fragile and lonely.

What’s going on? What’s wrong with her fiancée?

An Qing’s heart ached with concern, which quickly turned into fear.

For one, she selfishly hoped Yu Tingbai could be happy and smooth-sailing, with no mishaps. For another, if something happened to Yu Tingbai, would their engagement still hold? What if that damn system demanded she be buried with her?

As these thoughts swirled in her mind, her eyes slowly welled up with tears. She looked at her fiancée with a pitiful expression and whimpered, “Bai Bai, you can’t have anything happen to you, boo hoo.”

In her panic, An Qing failed to control her volume, and now everyone at the table turned to look at them.

Yu Tingbai: ???

Soon, she chuckled calmly and explained to the others, “Sorry, An Qing talks nonsense as soon as she drinks. Just ignore her; carry on.”

The brief interlude quickly passed, and the lively atmosphere resumed.

Yu Tingbai pulled out a few tissues and handed them over, sighing softly as she coaxed in a low voice, “Do you want to go find Christine later? Let’s go together.”

An Qing rubbed her eyes, looking a bit confused. “Together for fortune-telling?”

Fortune-telling could inadvertently reveal personal secrets was Yu Tingbai really okay with that?

“Together.”

Yu Tingbai smiled, reaching out to ruffle her hair.

Life was boring, but if it was a future with An Qing… well, it was still something worth looking forward to.

Yi Zhuo withdrew her gaze and turned to the person beside her. “I want to go talk to Christine later. Are you coming?”

Wen Ling shook her head. “No.”

Yi Zhuo asked, “Why not?”

Wen Ling smiled. “It doesn’t matter. Let things take their course.”

That answer was so typical of Wen Ling. Yi Zhuo sighed softly and suddenly reached under the table to grasp Wen Ling’s hand, which was resting on her knee.

Wen Ling froze, instinctively trying to pull her hand back, but the other held on even tighter.

The sudden willfulness of the other left the usually composed Wen Ling at a loss. She glanced around blankly at the people seated at the table, momentarily unsure how to react.

Fortunately, amid the clamor at the table, no one noticed their little secret.

Burning fingertips clung tightly to hers as a pair of slightly intoxicated, narrow eyes drew closer, a breath tinged with alcohol brushing against her ear.

“Captain, I want you to come with me. Is that okay?”

Wen Ling hesitated for a moment before nodding in agreement. “Then I’ll wait for you outside.”