I Struggle to Survive in a Girl Group [Transmigration] - Chapter 41

In the empty private room,

a graceful short-haired woman lounged lazily on the plush sofa, propping her chin with one hand as she gazed at the person across from her with an amused smile.

“I knew you would come to me.”

She paused briefly,

then added, “Though it seems you don’t particularly like me.”

Yi Zhuo pressed her lips together,

her hands unconsciously intertwining as they rested on her knees.

After a moment’s hesitation,

she replied, “Not exactly.”

True to his word, the director had arranged for another private room in a quiet corner of the establishment when the dinner was halfway through, specifically for their private conversation with Christine.

Christine didn’t challenge her response, merely stating, “It’s a form of self-protection, after all.”

That feeling of being completely seen through returned, and Yi Zhuo suppressed her discomfort, attempting to regain control of the conversation. “Do you know me well?” she asked.

Christine studied her for a moment before answering, “You have ambition and spirit that’s good. But don’t be too impulsive.”

Hearing this, Yi Zhuo’s tense posture relaxed slightly.

These remarks were quite generic; anyone with some knowledge of her could have said them. It seemed Christine wasn’t as extraordinary as the director had claimed. Those earlier pointed comments might have just been coincidences.

However, Christine’s next words made her stiffen once more, plunging her back into a state of tension.

“After all, five years ago, you paid a heavy price for your impulsiveness, didn’t you?”

Christine’s voice was soft, yet it struck Yi Zhuo’s chest like a sharp blade, making it hard for her to breathe for a moment.

Five years ago, she had participated in a rap competition. A fellow contestant had privately dissed her for coming from a poor background yet dreaming of fame. At just sixteen, Yi Zhuo had been instantly enraged upon hearing this and confronted the person immediately. The other contestant, a rich second-generation, used some influence to force her to withdraw from the competition.

After that, Yi Zhuo had wandered through many setbacks, remaining obscure for a long time until the other party finally let her go.

If it were her present self, she probably wouldn’t have acted so impulsively. Instead, she would have bided her time and found a more secure way to make the other pay. But the entire incident had happened behind the scenes; even the other contestants at the time didn’t know the real reason for her withdrawal.

How did Christine know about this?

Had the production team investigated her in advance and then shared the information with Christine?

Leaving aside whether the truth from so long ago could even be uncovered, why would the production team spend time and effort looking into something completely unrelated to the show itself?

It seemed highly unlikely.

Christine took in Yi Zhuo’s expression and smiled knowingly. “Eliminate all other factors, and the one which remains must be the truth.”

Reluctantly, Yi Zhuo had to admit that the other woman truly had some skills. The world was full of wonders, and it was better to maintain some reverence for fields one didn’t understand.

So she said, “Understood. I’ll be careful and try not to act impulsively.”

She clenched her fingers and was about to speak again when she heard Christine say, “As for the person outside the door, she’s been heavily influenced by her childhood, so it’s difficult for her to trust others and build intimate relationships. Her current state feels safe to her. If you push too hard, she’ll run away. Of course, if you leave her alone, she’ll eventually leave too.”

Yi Zhuo could no longer focus on why Christine seemed to know exactly what she wanted to ask. She pressed on, “Then what should I do?”

“Don’t stress,” Christine raised an eyebrow, her tone softening. “You’re doing just fine as it is. Keep the pace steady and follow through.”

Yi Zhuo tightened her fingers, a flicker of anxiety flashing in her eyes.

After a few seconds of silence, she suddenly asked a seemingly random question.

“Can a bad start still lead to a good ending?”

Christine chuckled and nodded with certainty.

“Yes, of course it can.”

“I can’t say too much about the two of you.”

As soon as Christine finished speaking, she saw the silver-haired girl’s face fall.

An Qing was both confused and unwilling to accept it.

What did that mean? Just moments ago, Yi Zhuo had returned, ecstatic, telling them how accurate Christine’s reading was, urging her and Yu Tingbai to seize the opportunity and take control of their own destinies, and so on…

So why, when it came to her, was it suddenly “can’t say too much”? Was this favoritism?

Yu Tingbai asked, “Why?”

Instead of answering directly, Christine said, “The fact that the two of you met at all is already a remarkable experience, isn’t it?”

She tilted her head slightly, her gaze resting on An Qing, her tone meaningful. “Young lady, have you gotten used to being here?”

This was truly a master at work.

An Qing was so startled she nearly leaped off the sofa. She never expected Christine to see right through her that she wasn’t the original and to subtly hint at it without letting the others catch on.

She didn’t want her identity exposed, so she quickly nodded vigorously, trying to brush it off. “Yes, yes, I’m used to it! The food here is delicious, and everyone speaks so kindly. I absolutely love it here!”

Yu Tingbai: “…”

She also breathed a quiet sigh of relief inside.

She really wanted to know how things would unfold between An Qing and herself. The system had warned her not to reveal An Qing’s identity to anyone else. If Christine had spilled the beans and mentioned that she’d known all along that An Qing was an imposter, she would’ve felt utterly mortified.

Since Christine knew where to draw the line, that was for the best.

Just then, Christine spoke again.

“Don’t be afraid. What you’re worried about won’t happen.”

She said this while looking directly at An Qing, who immediately relaxed upon hearing it. Ever since arriving here, there was only one thing she had been worried about so Christine’s words meant she wasn’t going to die.

Yu Tingbai frowned and asked softly, “What are you worried about?”

An Qing whispered back, “I’m worried my fiancée might run away.”

She was telling the truth, though she left out some of the reasons.

Yu Tingbai’s eyes softened. She didn’t say anything but patted An Qing’s back reassuringly.

“I’ve said all I can about your situation. You can go out now.”

Christine suddenly addressed An Qing.

An Qing was stunned for two seconds. Though she didn’t understand why Christine was doing this, she figured that experts always had their reasons. Without even asking for an explanation, she obediently stepped out and waited quietly by the door for Yu Tingbai.

The moment the door closed, Christine spoke.

“You seem a bit overconfident.”

Yu Tingbai looked up at her and asked, “What do you mean?”

Christine replied, “I can’t say much, but I have to remind you be more proactive when the time calls for it.”

Hadn’t she been proactive enough? Besides, that line sounded like a generic template it could apply to anyone in any situation without seeming out of place.

Still, Christine was already quite impressive; there was no need to be overly critical.

After a moment of contemplation, Yu Tingbai nodded politely and said, “Understood. Thank you.”

The first episode of Ghost Town Survival aired half a month after filming wrapped. Within just 24 hours of its release, the view count had already surpassed ten million.

Online reviews were overwhelmingly positive. Many longtime fans had initially approached the rebooted variety show with a critical mindset, but after watching, a large number of them quickly changed their stance.

“Damn, I think I’m actually starting to like this.”

“Princess only filmed one episode? I demand they come back for more!”

“Seconded!”

“As an older viewer, I don’t recognize any of them, but these girls performed really well there’s reasoning, humor, and it’s highly entertaining.”

“Thanks to Ghost Town Survival, I’ve fallen into the Princess fandom.”

“Welcome, fellow fan! You won’t regret joining us, hahaha!”

In the villa’s living room, the participants were lounging leisurely in front of the TV, watching the first episode of Ghost Town Survival they had filmed together.

Snacks and drinks were scattered messily across the coffee table. Shen Siqi leaned back on the sofa, munching noisily on potato chips while scrolling rapidly through Weibo.

“Oh my god, they’re calling us a high-IQ girl group! Now I’m going to have to worry about my idol image!”

Shen Siqi couldn’t contain her excitement as she eagerly reported to her teammates, only for her expression to freeze the next second.

“What do they mean, ‘come back’? No way!”

She had been scared out of her wits filming just one episode and they wanted her to return?

It was all because she was too talented, sob.

An Qing watched her with amusement and comforted her, “Don’t worry. Didn’t Ye Ming say the guest list for this season is already full? Even if you wanted to go, you couldn’t.”

Only then did Shen Siqi relax. “Oh, right.”

She picked up her phone again, exited the official Ghost Town Survival Weibo account, and clicked into the trending topics section.

“Let me see how many trending topics we have!”

Shen Siqi read aloud earnestly, like an elementary school student reciting a text.

“First one: #RainAfterClearEatsSugar#.”

“Hmm, second one: #RainAfterClearLove#.”

Listening to Shen Siqi’s dramatic reading of the trending topics, An Qing’s face began to flush uncontrollably. In truth, she had already scoured all the trending posts about herself and Yu Tingbai the night before, spent half the day boosting posts with her alternate account, and even wrote a short fanfiction unsurprisingly, it garnered a flood of “LOLs.”

But on the surface, she pretended not to know, putting on an exaggerated act of surprise.

“Ohoho Are there really that many?”

Yu Tingbai:

Recalling how the girl had been giggling foolishly while watching their duo compilation on her phone yesterday, she sighed softly and shook her head, choosing not to expose her on the spot.

Shen Siqi, suspecting nothing, continued scrolling down.

“Huh? Captain?”

Hearing the word “captain,” Wen Ling and Yi Zhuo simultaneously looked up.

Yi Zhuo asked, “What’s wrong?”

She leaned over to look at Shen Siqi’s phone screen and discovered a newly trending hashtag that was still relatively low in the rankings: #WenLingYiZhuo SoShippable#

“Random netizen here, but these two are seriously perfect for each other from head to toe.”

“Just their names alone scream ‘meant to be.'”

“Betting a pack of spicy strips that Yi Zhuo has a crush on the captain.”

“Isn’t this already an open secret?”

“Word-guessing games can be played like this? I’m totally shipping them now!”

Yi Zhuo:

She hadn’t seen this last night.

Though inwardly thrilled, she calmly sat back down next to Wen Ling and feigned composure as she said, “Captain, we have shippers now.”

Wen Ling, recalling something, frowned and said, “Your fans wouldn’t.”

Wouldn’t come after me, would they? That sounds troublesome.

The reason she disliked shipping was simply to avoid complications worried about it affecting herself and, even more so, others.

“Don’t worry,” Yi Zhuo grinned, leaning closer to whisper in her ear, “I won’t let that happen.”

Shen Siqi exited the trending page about Wen Ling and Yi Zhuo and continued scrolling down.

“My fans said I have a trending topic too, but I haven’t had the chance to check it yet?”

“What’s wrong? Is it a negative trend?”

An Qing quickly leaned over to look, and Yu Tingbai followed suit.

On the screen, two hashtags were prominently displayed side by side:

#ShenSiqiWillDoAnythingForMoney#

#ShenSiqiLetsGoEatSomethingToo#

An Qing:

Yu Tingbai:

The person in question burst into tears: “Wahhh, it really is a negative trend!”

Author’s Note: Don’t cry, Xiao Shen your girlfriend is on the way!!

The horror variety show arc ends here! If you enjoyed it, feel free to bookmark the upcoming novel Femme Fatale, a horror variety show plus!