Your Aloof Persona Has Crumbled - Chapter 10

Wen Shike entered Class A as expected. When she rose from her seat and walked toward the stage, the members of Class B gave her a thunderous round of applause. Despite there being only about twenty people, it felt as though they were going to shake the ceiling down.

She couldn’t help it, she finally let out a small smile.

“Wow! She smiled, she smiled!”

“Don’t forget about us just because you’re in Class A!”

Hearing this, Ming Wangxue started to tear up, though her hands didn’t stop clapping. She looked as if she were about to clap her palms raw. “Boohoo… what am I going to do from now on?”

“You’ve finally entered Class A. Do you have anything you’d like to say?” Cheng Qiansang looked at her with a gentle gaze.

“It wasn’t exactly ‘finally,'” Wen Shike replied calmly. “I didn’t actually put in a massive amount of effort, so I don’t have much to say. It’s a pity, though, that the person announcing the list today wasn’t Teacher Ding Qing.”

“Whoa! High and mighty Miss!” The Class B group began jeering playfully again.

Wen Shike raised her hand and waved, and the Class B group instantly fell silent. “Being in Class B was very happy. Thank you for letting me integrate into the collective.”

Wen Shike bowed and returned to the seating area. She scanned the room and stood next to Lu Jingwei. The two made eye contact. Wen Shike curled her lip slightly as a greeting.

Wen Shike wasn’t the only one from Class B to move up to Class A. There was also Sheng Ling, another key figure who frequently tutored Ming Wangxue. Sheng Ling often stood in the hallway with Wen Shike, the two of them looking melancholic while drinking plain water.

Ming Wangxue was crying while clapping her hands in congratulations, which looked quite amusing. Wen Shike covered her mouth to hide a grin that threatened to reach her ears.

“There’s nothing to be sad about. Class B couldn’t keep you anyway,” someone standing next to Ming Wangxue said gloomily.

Ming Wangxue cried even louder and then, she indeed dropped down to Class F.

There were only eleven spots in Class A this time. Since four people had been promoted into it, only seven seats remained for the original members. Calculating the number of people who would have to drop out, the faces of the original Class A members turned tense, everyone except Lu Jingwei.

“Are you confident?” Wen Shike asked in a hushed voice.

“I’ll leave it to fate,” Lu Jingwei replied.

“You’re quite Zen.”

“Am I?” Lu Jingwei gave a gentle smile, her gaze landing on Cheng Qiansang.

“The final spot for Class A is… Lu Jingwei.”

When Lu Jingwei heard her name, she didn’t show much joy. She clapped along with the others and went down to collect her card. Her speech was extremely polite, perfectly crafted, yet devoid of any discernible sincerity.

It was Wen Shike’s first time meeting someone like Lu Jingwei. Most people came to survival shows primarily to showcase themselves, but…

She wasn’t sure if it was just her imagination, but Lu Jingwei truly didn’t seem to fight for anything. She never took the initiative to speak, she just stood there or did her own thing. Usually, she only spoke if someone addressed her directly.

From their first meeting, it seemed Lu Jingwei was short on money. How could she be so “Zen” while being broke?

Seeing that Lu Jingwei had nearly reached her, Wen Shike took a step back to let her return to her original spot.

“It’s fine, I’ll just stand here.” Lu Jingwei gave Wen Shike’s sleeve a small tug and settled in on her right side.

Sheng Ling, who had just moved to make space: “???”

“The first episode should have aired by now, right?” Wen Shike whispered.

“It airs today,” Lu Jingwei nodded.

Wen Shike sighed. “They actually don’t let us look at our phones. I thought they were just bluffing.”

Lu Jingwei chuckled and lowered her voice. “Actually, if you were the one asking for it, those people would probably give it to you.”

“Forget it. Who knows who would snitch on me.” Truly, Wen Shike knew that if she demanded it, the staff likely would give in.

Ever since Wen Shike went to record the show, Shu Shu had been following the online updates every day. The Dream Chaser 101 section updated daily with “behind the scenes” snippets in short video formats.

Three of the videos featured Wen Shike.

When Shu Shu saw the cover of the video titled New Fashion 1, she felt her soul leaving her body.

The thumbnail was a photo of Wen Shike emerging from the building wearing a massive padded cotton coat. Other trainees wore padded coats too, it was cold, after all but only Wen Shike looked that bloated.

If the calendar didn’t tell her it was currently March, she would have thought it was December.

Shu Shu opened the video with trembling hands and felt completely numb.

Why on earth is she so afraid of the cold?

Words appeared on the screen: [Award for Most Cotton Coats in the Dorm]

Then came a fast-cut montage of Wen Shike coming out in various padded coats, there were about seven or eight different ones.

Shu Shu clearly remembered that the girl only brought two suitcases. Where did all these coats come from?

Fortunately, because of Wen Shike’s inherent aura, she just looked a bit slow and clumsy, which actually softened her cold image.

Shu Shu scanned the comments below.

[Candy For Fruit]: Is this a whitewashing attempt? [Reply]: What did she do that needs whitewashing? Does she have dirt on her? [Owe 8 Million]: One piece of clothing on the Eldest Miss costs a year of my salary. [Finished Homework?]: One year’s salary is enough? Not bad. My yearly salary would only buy a sleeve. [Sound Asleep]: When does the first episode air? Already waiting to see the Eldest Miss fail.

Shu Shu twitched her lip and checked other gossip platforms. She saw Wen Shike’s name pinned on a gossip group. She searched it, there were many posts about Wen Shike, and basically none of them said anything good.

One had to admit, Wen Shike was impressive. She hadn’t actually done anything herself, yet she had managed to draw a massive wave of hatred.

[Dream Group Leak]: Wen Shike’s practice for the initial stage: Arrives at the practice room at 10:30 AM every day. Leaves at 9:30 PM the first day, 9:00 PM the second day, and 9:00 PM the third day. [1L]: ??? [2L]: LMAO, is she really here just to kill time? [6L]: I feel bad for the girls who were squeezed out by Princess Wen. I’m curious how the “Capital” (investors) plans to push her up. [12L]: New info: The Center for the first evaluation is Wen Shike. [17L]: ??? [18L]: Is the person above joking? [19L]: Curious how much money the Eldest Miss spent. [20L]: Maybe she actually has talent? Didn’t Fu Chenyuan follow her back on social media? [21L]: Hot Fact, Princess Wen is the Eldest Miss of the Yin family. Fu Chenyuan is just an employee of the Princess’s family. Besides, doesn’t Fu Chenyuan love hanging out with the “Aristocracy”? [22L]: Is the person above an idiot? Mentioning your father’s “black name” (insulting nickname)? How malicious. It’s none of your business if they follow each other.

When the first episode aired, a projector was set up in the lobby of the training building. Those who wanted to watch could, and those who didn’t could go practice for the first public performance.

Because Wen Shike was the “Initial Center,” she had many choices, but she still chose the most difficult song. She wanted to go downstairs to watch the first episode, but she was dragged back by her teammates.

Wen Shike’s group consisted of: three As, two Bs, one C, and one F.

“Hehehe, who would have thought my luck would be so good?” Ming Wangxue sat to the side, smiling like a fool.

“There are only nine days to prepare. You should get ready to not return to the dorm,” Wen Shike said earnestly. She gave Ming Wangxue a meaningful look. “Besides, my popularity with the audience is quite bad. Are you sure this is ‘good luck’?”

Ming Wangxue: “…”

“Bad popularity… that’s just because they don’t know you yet,” Ming Wangxue said.

Lu Jingwei gave a light chuckle. “Let’s chat later. Let’s decide on the leader and the Center first.”

“Any volunteers for leader?” someone else asked.

Wen Shike silently raised Lu Jingwei’s hand for her. Before raising it, she didn’t forget to whisper a question:

“Can I touch you?”

Lu Jingwei now had literal PTSD regarding that sentence.