I Struggle to Survive in a Girl Group [Transmigration] - Chapter 58

A burst of urgent music rang out. The person on the bed rolled over, struggling to extend a hand from under the covers, fumbled for the phone on the nightstand, and turned off the alarm.

An Qing sat up, her eyes still heavy with sleep as she glanced around for a few seconds before her gaze settled on the black camera positioned directly opposite the bed. She rubbed her eyes, and her scattered consciousness gradually returned.

At that moment, she was in a luxury hotel. It was 4:30 in the morning, and she had to immediately complete her wake-up task before meeting up with her teammates to officially begin the day’s filming.

Summer dawns came early, and although it wasn’t yet five o’clock, the sky was already painted with a bright hue.

An Qing freshened up quickly, changing into a loose T-shirt and light-colored denim shorts. The print on the T-shirt happened to feature a small steamed bun, fitting the occasion perfectly.

She swiftly applied light makeup, tied her hair into a small silver bun in front of the mirror, and pinned a chubby little penguin hair clip to the stray strands on her forehead.

After all, she would be livestreaming for her fans later, so she had to pay a little attention to her appearance.

An Qing left her room and, following the plan agreed upon the day before, went to the production team to collect a loudspeaker and a full 50 soup dumplings.

The production team thoughtfully provided her with a food cart. On the left were five enormous stacked steamers, emitting wisps of steam in the faint morning light.

On the right was a stack of paper takeout boxes, each just the right size to hold one soup dumpling.

A staff member cheerfully hung a rather plain plastic loudspeaker around An Qing’s neck and urged, “Hurry up and get going. The wake-up task ends at 7 a.m.”

An Qing examined the loudspeaker and asked, “Do I have to sell all of them? How much for one?”

The staff member replied, “Five yuan. The total revenue will directly affect your task rewards. Also, all earnings must be handed over.”

Not an all-or-nothing situation that was a relief. An Qing let out a sigh. She had been worried that failing to sell them all would result in an automatic task failure.

As for handing over the earnings, she had already guessed as much. The production team had reminded them yesterday that during this recording, they couldn’t use their own money and could only rely on task earnings. She wondered how much commission she would get for selling one dumpling.

An Qing carefully lifted the lid of the top steamer. A warm, white mist immediately swirled up, carrying the enticing aroma unique to steamed dough.

Inside the steamer, ten dumplings were neatly arranged, each about the size of her fist. The wrappers were thin, translucent, and looked incredibly appetizing.

An Qing swallowed and quietly asked, “What’s the filling?”

“Shrimp and pork,” the staff member replied, noticing her eager expression. They added as a friendly reminder, “You can eat one if you want, but it’ll reduce your task rewards.”

“No, I’m not that kind of person,” An Qing said with a serious expression as she closed the steamer lid. “I’ll sell every single one of these dumplings. I’d rather starve than take a single bite today.”

Under the skeptical gaze of the staff member, An Qing pushed the cart out the door. While waiting for the elevator, she thought for a moment and recorded a message into the loudspeaker:

“Shocking! A modern-day girl group member resorting to this for survival! Dumplings originally priced at ten or eight yuan are now only five! All for five yuan! With five yuan, you won’t be cheated! With five yuan, you won’t be fooled!”

An Qing listened to the recording once and showed a satisfied expression on her face. In today’s society, a good sales pitch is absolutely essential for successful marketing.

With such a brilliant advertising idea, selling 50 soup dumplings would be a piece of cake.

An Qing quickly made her way to the hotel lobby, parked her cart in an out-of-the-way corner, and secured her phone on the stand she had brought along.

The company had registered accounts for them on several popular live-streaming platforms, and today she was going to broadcast on one of them, “QuickSound.” She hadn’t announced the stream to her fans in advance, and since it was so early, she wasn’t sure how many viewers would show up.

As she adjusted the angle of her phone, An Qing let out a quiet yawn.

She was utterly exhausted.

Because the outdoor filming for “Girl Group Showdown” included some scenes in the hotel rooms, there were cameras installed in their accommodations, making it impossible for her to sleep with Yu Tingbai. Last night, after familiarizing herself with how to use “QuickSound,” she had stayed up late writing a fanfiction about her ship.

Her alternate account, “Has Yu Tingbai Caught An Qing Today?” had already amassed over 2,000 followers, making her a well-known figure in the “Rain After Sunshine” fandom. Moreover, because she sometimes included seemingly realistic details unintentionally, many fans were intensely curious about her identity.

Quite a few speculated that the account was either run by Yu Tingbai herself or at least by someone close to her. Faced with all the guesses, An Qing simply smiled without saying a word, keeping her achievements and identity hidden.

Once everything was ready, An Qing checked the time 5:15 a.m. She started the live stream and turned on the portable speaker.

It was still early, and the lobby was nearly empty except for a few cameramen. Even so, An Qing worried about disturbing others and turned the speaker volume down a bit.

The hotel’s tea restaurant was on the first floor and started serving breakfast at 5:30 a.m. Although there were no customers yet, it would probably open by 6:00 a.m.

She wondered how Shen Siqi was doing with her mission.

After Shen Siqi had revealed a few details about her task yesterday, An Qing had genuinely been tempted. If Shen Siqi’s mission was something like “Wake a guest with a kiss,” she could easily run to Yu Tingbai to complete it. Not only would she get a romantic good morning kiss, but it would also fuel their ship.

Maybe she should swap tasks with Shen Siqi.

Seeing the troubled look on the youngest member’s face, An Qing hesitated before speaking up, “How about I.”

But the next second, as Shen Siqi’s hand moved unintentionally, two characters on the slip of paper were exposed.

It read: Chu Ning.

Only half of the second character was visible, but it didn’t affect readability, nor did it stop An Qing from guessing the full scope of the mission.

So she immediately braked and made a sharp U-turn in her words: “tell you, just one kiss if Captain Chu hits you, make sure to protect your face.”

Shen Siqi burst into tears. “Wahhh, you don’t love me anymore.”

Although An Qing felt sorry for Shen Siqi, even without Yu Tingbai in the picture, she wouldn’t dare kiss Chu Ning, that walking powder keg.

But then, what would Yu Tingbai’s wake-up mission be? It couldn’t be kissing someone else too, could it? If it were, she’d be furious!

Still, Yu Tingbai was someone who knew her limits. If she didn’t want to do something, she would definitely find another way to get around it.

An Qing’s mind wandered for a while, and she absentmindedly glanced at her phone screen, only to take two shocked steps back. In just five minutes since the livestream started, the viewership had already reached twenty thousand? She had assumed no one would be watching this early.

Quickly, she put on a sweet, professional smile for the camera and greeted, “Good morning, everyone! I’m your Qingqing.”

Rows of comments flooded the screen.

“It’s Qingqing! Am I seeing this right?”

“Early birds get to watch the livestream, wuwuwu!”

“What are you doing, Qingqing? Filming a show?”

“Which hotel? Let’s meet up!”

“Hi Qingqing, can I have Yu Tingbai’s contact info?”

An Qing smiled as she read through them one by one, replying earnestly.

“I’m filming a show, working on a task.”

“Let’s skip the meet-up; we’ll be moving to another location after this part.”

She turned the camera toward the steamer basket nearby and said, “No Yu Tingbai here, but there are plenty of buns.”

Just as An Qing finished speaking, a familiar figure appeared in the frame.

Yu Tingbai stepped out of the elevator, glanced around, and walked straight toward her.

She was also wearing a T-shirt, shorts, and sneakers today, her long hair tied up to reveal her slender neck. Her long legs were slim and straight, her skin so fair it seemed to glow.

The comments went wild.

“It’s Yu Tingbai!”

“Ahhhh, BaiBai, come over here!”

“Is BaiBai here to see her wife?”

“Quick, get in the frame together! Get in the frame!”

An Qing had thought everyone would be busy with their own tasks this morning and might not run into each other, but she hadn’t expected to bump into her fiancée so soon.

An inexplicable joy filled her heart, and for a moment, she forgot to speak, just standing there with a silly grin.

“What are you up to?” Yu Tingbai smiled as well, glancing at the softly murmuring broadcast speaker nearby and asking, “Is this your task?”

“Nope.” An Qing feigned seriousness. “The girl group business isn’t doing well, so I’ve switched careers to become a bun shop owner.”

“Oh? Really?” Yu Tingbai leaned in closer, both of their beautiful faces now appearing together in the livestream frame. She raised the corner of her lips slightly and whispered, “Well then, are you in need of a boss lady?”

An Qing’s breath hitched. Before she could figure out how to respond, she saw the comments scrolling at a terrifying speed.

“Yes!!! Tell her now!”

“Lock them in forever!”

“Is this content I can watch for free?”

“Girls, I think I’m still dreaming.”Who wouldn’t want to be Qingqing’s boss lady?” Let me join you two!”

Darn it, Yu Tingbai was such a tease. Knowing An Qing would get flustered, she’d been subtly flirting with her in public lately.

An Qing looked at her flushed face in the camera and gave the person beside her a light shove. “Go do your task.”

“I’m done. I’ll help you with yours.”

Yu Tingbai didn’t seem bothered, a smile still playing on her lips, showing no intention of leaving. “Qingqing, you’re not trying to kick me out, are you?”

Her task had been to use a marker to draw three circles on the face of a sleeping guest. At 4 a.m., she had sneaked into Shen Siqi’s room and successfully left her “art” on the face of their youngest member, who was sleeping like a log.

An Qing was secretly thrilled but still refused to admit it. “Fine, fine, I can’t do anything with you.”

At this time, the hotel gradually filled with early risers checking out and having breakfast. The two quickly stepped forward to attract customers.

“Princess” had high public recognition, and with reasonable pricing, even those who weren’t fans politely bought a few buns for breakfast. Some even took a bite, found them delicious, and came back to buy more.

“Oh my god, is that Qingqing and Baibai?”

When more than half of the buns had been sold, a stylishly dressed, pretty girl suddenly appeared in front of the stall. She looked extremely excited, her face flushed red.

“I’m your CP fan, I’m so thrilled, wuwu.”

Never expecting to actually run into a fan at the hotel, the two quickly greeted her politely and shook hands.

The girl covered her face, looking as if she was so happy she might faint. It took her a while to calm down before she belatedly asked, “You’re selling buns? Are you filming a variety show?”

An Qing nodded. “Want to buy some? Five yuan each, they’re really tasty.”

The girl asked, “How many are left? I’ll take them all.”

An Qing counted and still refused her. “There are seven left. You can’t finish them all by yourself, so let’s be rational about this.”

“It’s not too many, not too many. I’ll eat one, and the rest are for you two.” The girl waved her hand with a smile, pulling out her phone to pay. “Baibai can have one, and you can have five just right.”

An Qing:

I suspect you’re making a dig at me.

Yu Tingbai laughed happily. “You’re a true fan.”

“Of course! Qingqing is still growing and needs to eat more.” The girl happily packed up the buns, took a photo with the two, and left with a blissful expression.

With the task successfully completed, Yu Tingbai ended the livestream, stuffed a bun into An Qing’s hand, and said, “Eat up, you’re still growing.”

An Qing had been hungry for a while and didn’t care about her image anymore. Standing behind the cart, she began devouring the bun.

Yu Tingbai stood beside her, eating with much more elegance.

Halfway through eating, Yu Tingbai suddenly remembered something and said to the person next to her, “That stage performance you said was amazing last time, which variety show was it from?”

“I forgot too. I think it was called something like ‘Dancing Something.'” An Qing, busy eating, unlocked her phone and handed it to Yu Tingbai. “I reposted it on Weibo, set to ‘only me visible.’ It’s the first one, take a look.”

After saying that, she buried her head in eating again.

This girl really doesn’t treat me like an outsider letting me go through her phone so casually?

Yu Tingbai curled her lips into a smile, switched to Weibo, but in the next moment, her eyes widened in shock.

An Qing’s Weibo was on the user interface, and the username read: “Has Yu Tingbai Caught Up with An Qing Today?”

What is this? An Qing’s secret account?

Yu Tingbai quickly composed herself. Seeing that An Qing hadn’t noticed her reaction yet, she clicked into the posts made by this account.

The most recent one was sent late last night an article.

The title clearly displayed “Domineering Baibai and Charming Qingqing.”

Yu Tingbai: ?

Seems like I’ve discovered something quite unexpected.