Your Aloof Persona Has Crumbled - Chapter 3

Lu Jingwei lived in the innermost, west facing small room. It looked like a converted study, tiny, containing only a bed, a desk, and a small wardrobe. There was nothing else. A single person standing inside felt cramped; three people couldn’t possibly fit. The room didn’t have much in it and had been tidied up neatly.

“I’m sorry, the conditions on my end are indeed…” Lu Jingwei said with a slight note of apology.

“What is there to be embarrassed about?” Wen Shike interrupted her, glancing at the suitcase on the floor. “Just this much?”

“Um…” Lu Jingwei nodded. Many of her clothes had been disdainfully tossed out by the designer yesterday.

Because the suitcase wasn’t large and there wasn’t much to take, Wen Shike and Shu Shu went up and came back down just as quickly. Shu Shu wanted to help, but Lu Jingwei declined.

When they got downstairs, two children were touching her car, attempting to pry off the “Spirit of Ecstasy” hood ornament.

Wen Shike narrowed her eyes but didn’t speak.

Shu Shu immediately rushed over. She was furious, but since people nowadays love filming videos on their phones, she could only say politely: “Whose kids are these? Stop touching that.”

“What’s the big deal if they touch it?” Two old ladies chatting nearby immediately ran over, glaring at Shu Shu. “So precious, why pick a fight with a child?”

“If it breaks, it’s over a hundred thousand yuan,” Wen Shike walked to the side of the car. Shu Shu took the hint and opened the door for her. Wen Shike looked back at the four of them, lifted her chin slightly, and said nonchalantly, “Shu Shu, take a photo. After you drop me off, take the car for an inspection. If there’s a problem, find them.”

Seeing this, the two old ladies immediately scooped up their grandsons and turned to run, silenced instantly.

Shu Shu rolled her eyes in annoyance.

Lu Jingwei looked down at her fifty-yuan suitcase bought from Pinduoduo, then at Wen Shike’s car. Shu Shu glanced at her, walked over to help put the luggage inside, and gave her a sincere smile: “Don’t be nervous, get in.”

Lu Jingwei walked to the other side and opened the door. She stared for a second at Wen Shike, who was sitting upright inside, before getting in and mimicking her posture. She touched her hair.

“Thank you for picking me up.”

“No need.”

The conversation ended, and silence returned to the car.

Until Shu Shu got in.

She brought the chill of the outside air into the car, but it was quickly dissipated by her frustrated voice: “I’m so mad. I really hate bratty kids. It’s a good thing we came early, or they really would have snapped it off. There’s no surveillance here.”

“I’m not even anxious, why are you?” Wen Shike said.

Shu Shu: “…”

“Now I’m even angrier.” Shu Shu took a deep breath.

Initially, she was mad at the kids, now she was mad at her own poverty.

However, as an excellent assistant, she quickly recovered. Along the way, she nagged Wen Shike and Lu Jingwei repeatedly with the “old three” rules: don’t fight, get along with others, don’t use your status to bully people, don’t form cliques… and so on.

It was obvious these words were directed at Wen Shike. Although Lu Jingwei kept her gaze restrained, she had already glanced at Wen Shike several times.

Wen Shike: “…”

“Don’t ruin my reputation,” Wen Shike said irritably.

She never fought; she always convinced people with reason.

She never bullied people with her status, she merely sought normal assistance when encountering difficulties.

She never formed cliques; she just had a lot of friends.

“Ha.”

Beside her, Lu Jingwei glanced at Wen Shike again.

“Don’t listen to her nonsense,” Wen Shike rubbed her temples.

“Jingwei, did you actually believe her?” Shu Shu laughed. “Of course I’m talking nonsense. If she were really like that, I wouldn’t dare say it to her face.”

“Um… I know,” a slight smile appeared on Lu Jingwei’s face. “I didn’t believe it just now.”

Wen Shike looked at Lu Jingwei: You definitely believed it! Definitely!

“We’ll arrive at the destination in about half an hour. You can nap for a bit. There’s a red carpet from the drop-off to the training area, and people will be filming there,” Shu Shu said, her tone becoming more serious. “Try to present your best state because there will be fansites and such. It’s not convenient for me to walk you in, so, Eldest Miss, you’ll need to carry your own suitcases.”

Wen Shike: “…”

“Oh.” Wen Shike thought of her two giant suitcases and felt a headache coming on. “Then what about my padded coat?”

Shu Shu: “…”

In the end, when getting out of the car, Wen Shike insisted on wearing the padded coat. Paired with her noble and cold face, the bulkiness could be ignored for a moment, but looking longer, one would realize the coat didn’t quite match her overall style.

However, dragging two massive suitcases, no matter how one walked, it was impossible to look “cool.”

Manager Qiu’s arrangements were destined to crumble.

Wen Shike nodded toward the cameras. After confirming the filming was done, she immediately left one suitcase aside, dragged the first one inside, and then came back for the other.

Although there weren’t fansites specifically there for Wen Shike, most of them still took her picture.

That face, without exaggeration, was incredibly stunning. Every glance and every slight press of her lips was full of charm.

Moreover, no one knew how she did it, even though she clearly couldn’t move the suitcases easily, it didn’t show on her face at all.

This expression management was peerless.

Some of the girls following behind Wen Shike had brought three suitcases. As they dragged them, their faces became distorted with effort, forgetting all about expression management and leaving behind a wealth of embarrassing memes that would haunt them for life.

The dormitories were pre-assigned. Although Wen Shike and Lu Jingwei weren’t in the same room, their rooms were adjacent.

The dorm was a four person room with loft beds (bed on top, desk below). The conditions were very simple. Wen Shike scanned the room; it wasn’t even as large as her bathroom at home.

When Wen Shike arrived, no one else was there yet. She found the desk with her name on it, put down her luggage, and hung her clothes up one by one. Because she brought so many, she had to force them in. She placed her expensive jewelry in the drawer and locked it.

Her skincare and makeup products were piled directly on the desk. They were all special birthday editions gifted by Brand A, each bottle engraved with her initials “WSK” and a small crown.

Wen Shike looked up at the bed and was silent for a long time. Just as she was about to go find Lu Jingwei, Lu Jingwei walked in.

“Do you need help?”

“Yes.” Wen Shike looked up at the bed.

Lu Jingwei frowned slightly. “Do you mind if I get on the bed to help you? Doing it from below makes it easy for things to fall on the floor.”

“I don’t mind, thank you,” Wen Shike expressed her gratitude reservedly.

Wen Shike: Of course I don’t mind! You’re my lifesaver!

Wen Shike brought two quilts, one thick and one thin. If the air conditioning wasn’t good, she would just use both. She was truly afraid of the cold.

Lu Jingwei’s movements were swift, she was clearly an old hand at making beds and putting on duvet covers. Even though the sheet was a bit larger than the bed, she laid it out very smoothly.

“Thank you,” Wen Shike said again, this time more sincerely than the last, and handed over a bottle of water. “Want to go look around?”

“Okay,” Lu Jingwei nodded.

After all, they might be living and eating here for several months, it was necessary to understand the situation beforehand.

The dormitory building had three floors. The first floor housed the gym and cafeteria, while the second and third floors were dorms. The corridors were long with many rooms. The training building and filming locations were next door; staying in the base for months wouldn’t be an issue.

More and more people were arriving. Most didn’t know each other and were sizing each other up, greeting one another awkwardly.

“What did you prepare for your first stage?” Wen Shike was curious. Since Lu Jingwei’s previous company was so poor, they likely didn’t have money to buy song copyrights.

“An original track. I choreographed a dance to my own arrangement,” Lu Jingwei said.

“Impressive,” Wen Shike praised. She had only tried writing and arranging songs herself but had never choreographed a dance before.

Lu Jingwei noticed that Wen Shike’s cold eyes gained a bit of spark, as if she wanted to say something but held it back.