The Fake Daughter is a Max-Level Green Tea [Transmigrated into a Book] - Chapter 30.1

Chapter 30.1: Three Missions

Resigning from the group… was that the right choice?

Jiang Qishuang felt that perhaps when she decided to do what she did, she should have considered this consequence. Lu Chaoqing was not a pushover, nor was she an idiot. Any normal person, no matter how good their relationship was usually, would not let go easily after being betrayed by a teammate. Furthermore, the greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment.

The girl abruptly stood up from the seat, abandoning all futile resistance, and walked directly toward the manager’s office. Lu Chaoqing, who was behind her, initially wanted to reach out and grab her wrist, but Jiang Qishuang subtly avoided her touch.

She had always wanted to ask Jiang Qishuang why she did it, but now, looking at the girl’s expression, which was resolute yet subtly disappointed, all previous confusion seemed to vanish at this moment. It wasn’t because she got the answer, but because it was no longer necessary.

She had gathered all the evidence of Jiang Qishuang’s actions. Before this, they had no grudges, no prior acquaintance, and hadn’t even had a single argument. It was certainly impossible for it to be due to some past enmity. As for the remaining possible answer, it was better left buried in her heart as self-comfort than to be clearly dissected and laid bare in front of her.

The most important thing for a group is group cohesion, and the most frightening thing is internal discord. Now that such situations had occurred multiple times—from Yao Xichen’s internal bullying to Jiang Qishuang’s attempts to undermine a teammate for personal gain—the repercussions affected more than just themselves.

In front of the manager, Jiang Qishuang confessed her actions without reservation. She didn’t even wait for Lu Chaoqing to present the evidence, but immediately laid out everything she had done, without any attempts to defend herself or conceal the facts. The reason was simple: she just didn’t want to be subordinate to anyone.

Due to Lu Chaoqing’s formidable family background and relationship with Lin Chumu, Jiang Qishuang had never genuinely accepted her leadership since joining the team. Even though Lu Chaoqing’s performance was outstanding enough to stand out among countless trainees, the outwardly gentle yet inwardly arrogant girl absolutely refused to acknowledge being suppressed.

The reason for wanting to bring down Lu Chaoqing was simple: she believed Lu Chaoqing’s position was primarily due to her relationship with Lin Chumu. With the company favoring Lu Chaoqing, others had no chance of competing for the top spot. As long as the other person held the Center position, the best resources would always go to Lu Chaoqing. To have a chance to shine, she had to pull down the front-runner to carve out her own path.

Naturally, if Lu Chaoqing’s reputation was ruined, it wouldn’t just affect her; it would affect the group to some extent. However, she had already weighed the pros and cons when making her decision. Jiang Qishuang could never forget the look of naked craving in the eyes of the old man who was old enough to be her father at the banquet. This time, the old man’s influence wasn’t strong enough, but what about next time? If she couldn’t reach the top, it would be difficult to escape that fate.

But the situation had reached its conclusion. She had nothing to say. Losing meant losing. Lu Chaoqing had the leverage for the things she had done, and Jiang Qishuang certainly couldn’t deny them.

The company’s handling of the situation was similar to the solution Lu Chaoqing proposed.

Two days later, Lilium member Jiang Qishuang announced her withdrawal from the group due to health reasons and would cease all activities for six months. The first part was the reason she came up with, and the latter was a mandatory requirement added by the company.

Such a requirement was tantamount to essentially freezing her career. In the rapidly changing information age, being out of the public eye for half a year meant being almost completely eliminated by the flow of traffic. No one would patiently wait for a fledgling idol who had not yet established a foothold for half a year, unless some miraculous work emerged afterward. Jiang Qishuang’s career was essentially ruined.

Just one day later, Lilium fans, who hadn’t yet recovered from the sadness, received Yao Xichen’s handwritten apology letter and resignation statement on Weibo. The elegant, flawless, yet tactful wording clearly showed the hand of the company’s public relations team.

Her apology was for the internal bullying of Ji You during this period. According to insiders, a manager was fired from MT Company before Yao Xichen’s apology, suspected to be the one who previously managed the Yao Xichen and Ji You sub-unit.

However, the manager’s matter was no longer the concern of the gossiping netizens. The consecutive departures of two members made it impossible for the five-member girl group to continue. Minutes after Yao Xichen announced her withdrawal, Lilium announced its disbandment.

The girl group, launched jointly by two industry giants, carrying the immense hope of EM and MT and achieving brilliant results upon debut, did not live up to the miracle fans hoped they would create. At a time when many bloggers were analyzing that they might sweep the year’s biggest Newcomer Awards, Lilium’s disbandment caused a massive stir in the industry, overshadowing even the relationship news of two A-list celebrities.

The internet was flooded with discussions on major forums, with many people who didn’t know the inside story passionately offering their analysis. Some even rumored that Lu Chaoqing forced Jiang Qishuang to leave because she couldn’t tolerate her. But as this conspiracy theory snowballed, MT Company issued a legal statement regarding a past support event incident.

The concise text only briefly mentioned that someone had impersonated Lu Chaoqing’s fans. Although it didn’t name the person who hired “actors” for such an act, the essential message was clearly conveyed. Black fans, who were unwilling to give up, temporarily couldn’t find any points to attack and could only concede.

The suddenly aborted project did not seem to be a major blow to Lin Chumu. Since she noticed the change in their relationship and investigated certain matters, she had already reported it to the company’s head, giving him a heads-up. It was only Fu Ying’s wailing and crying in front of her afterward that truly annoyed Lin Chumu, more so than the group disbanding.

“Disbanding isn’t terminating the contract. Apart from the two who will be frozen, the other three are still usable.”

Lin Chumu subtly pushed away Fu Ying’s hand, which subconsciously tried to rest on her shoulder, and continued her calm analysis: “If the group is not united, it’s better to go solo quickly. At least the remaining three, as complete victims, won’t lose many fans in this wave of popularity. A considerable portion of the former group fans will follow them. What needs to be done now is to strike while the iron is hot and keep the remaining three busy with schedules and resources before this period of attention passes.”

“Mm, that makes sense. But those aren’t really my worries.” Fu Ying’s eyes immediately returned to a smiling look when she looked at her, as if the woman who had just been “wailing” wasn’t her. “By the way, Chumu, how’s your plan coming along? If possible, why don’t you join the next episode of Across Industries to warm up the attention?”

“Guests? Why are you concerned about that? Let EM handle it first. It’s currently the peak period for traffic. As for me, I need to go back and console those girls first. Their schedules will probably have to be separate now. No more group activities for the time being.”

The break only lasted a few days. After a brief adjustment, Lu Chaoqing immediately went on a new variety show.

The variety show was called Across Industries, which, as the name suggests, gathered people from various industries to complete different tasks together over several days and nights. The person ultimately selected as the TOP winner would be the MVP of the show. It employed a daily points system. The show was currently in the trial phase of its rules, and its novel concept attracted a lot of attention.

The biggest difference from previous variety shows was that, although the time was fixed at five days, one or two new guests would be added every day.

This meant that no one knew who would appear on the show until the members arrived. The arrivals could be ordinary people, celebrities, perhaps a crosstalk comedian, a film actor, an idol, a producer, or a singer. To ensure ratings, the probability of having completely ordinary people was not high. Even if they were ordinary people, they would be handsome men and beautiful women who could debut based on looks alone, which the audience jokingly called a “Visual Variety Show.”

Lu Chaoqing was scheduled as a guest for the second day. To maintain the mystery, the production team ensured that the guests themselves were unaware of who else would appear.

The mission for the second day of Across Industries was to work at a convenience store in the city.

In addition to Lu Chaoqing, the guests included an idol who debuted two years ago, Lu Ziqi, a rising internet singer, Lemon Tea, a decorator, Uncle Zhong, and a new actress, Yan Yun.

The convenience store work was initially guided only by a video explaining the rules. Many things had to be prepared by themselves without assistance. Except for Uncle Zhong, most of them were people who had never lifted a finger to do manual labor, and Uncle Zhong wasn’t specialized in this kind of work either. To avoid wasting half the morning and still not being able to open for business, the group woke up around five in the morning and started working according to the assignments from the previous night.

The three girls were mainly assigned to prepare the front-desk Oden (hot pot) and some instant food.

The streamer Lemon Tea was a petite girl. Yan Yun also looked weak, and both rarely had time to cook, so preparing instant food was already challenging enough. Lu Chaoqing was incredibly grateful that she had learned a bit of these skills in her previous life. She quickly lit the stove and went to help her teammates prepare other food items.

She was a little unfamiliar at first, but she quickly grasped the process and prepared a few cups of coffee and beverages to keep in the refrigerator. Lemon Tea was humming a tune while slicing fruit. A moment later, the singing stopped abruptly, replaced by a scream.

Lu Ziqi, who was closest to her, quickly put down what he was doing and ran over to ask, “What’s wrong?”

Lemon Tea didn’t speak, just shook her head, inhaling sharply with an “hissing” sound. Lu Ziqi couldn’t find any obvious wound on her but patiently looked closer and realized her fingertip was slightly red from scalding water.

“Oh.”

The unique nature of the idol industry required avoiding close contact with the opposite sex. Lu Ziqi couldn’t hold the girl’s hand to blow on it, and he felt awkward looking at Lemon Tea’s pouting, wounded fingertip. Furthermore, he honestly didn’t think it was a serious burn; a quick rinse with cold water should be enough.

But Lemon Tea clearly wanted to be dramatic. For the sake of the show’s effect, Lu Ziqi couldn’t just leave. He carefully reached out, trying to avoid her fingertip and pinch her sleeve—Lu Chaoqing quickly offered her finger, placing it exactly between the two. Under Lemon Tea’s astonished gaze, she smiled casually: “Do you need ice? I found some frozen ice cubes in the freezer. They might be for people who accidentally hurt their hands. You should be more careful next time.”