Your Aloof Persona Has Crumbled - Chapter 6

Wen Shike blinked. It wasn’t just her imagination, she felt a distinct sense of hostility coming from Ding Qing. Meeting Ding Qing’s gaze, she said, “That’s for sure. I’m confident enough to say my academic grades were at the top in K Province, but I wouldn’t dare claim my singing and dancing are at the top among my peers.”

Ding Qing lowered her microphone.

“You were the lyricist for Cân?” another mentor, Cheng Qiansang, asked. “WSK… Wen Shike…”

Cheng Qiansang let out a small laugh. “Your stage name is quite… casual.”

The other trainees exchanged glances again, the whispering growing louder.

“I didn’t give it much thought at the time, so I just went with WSK,” Wen Shike nodded. “I’ve also prepared an original piece with my own arrangement and lyrics for this audition.”

“Go ahead and prepare. I’d like to hear it,” Meng Yaya said, looking at Wen Shike with a gentle smile.

Because the tempo of Cân was relatively fast, Wen Shike had prepared a slower song. The title was straightforward. Three Years. She had written it upon graduating high school, it was a song about youth.

As she began to sing, Wen Shike’s entire aura softened. A gentle smile touched her face as if she were lost in a memory, and the stage lights dimmed to match the mood of the song.

Lu Jingwei’s eyes were fixed on Wen Shike and didn’t waver once.

At that moment, Wen Shike happened to look up, glancing in her direction or perhaps she was just looking forward.

Regardless, their eyes met. Despite the distance between them, Lu Jingwei could still sense the emotions swirling in Wen Shike’s eyes.

Wen Shike didn’t look away. Eventually, Lu Jingwei was the one who couldn’t hold the gaze and looked elsewhere. When she turned back, she realized Wen Shike was still looking at… something.

Lu Jingwei thought: Oh, she wasn’t looking at me?

Lu Jingwei pursed her lips, thankful no one knew how embarrassed she felt. Her toes were practically curling in her shoes.

Wen Shike successfully drew everyone into the atmosphere created by her voice. Her expressions and movements were seamless, never breaking the immersion.

As the song ended, Lu Jingwei noticed some people still looked dazed. It took a moment before the applause broke out.

There might have been an element of performance involved, but based on Lu Jingwei’s current standards, the song was flawless. She was certain that Wen Shike’s two performances had completely outclassed most of the trainees present.

Wen Shike rose from her chair, returning to her usual state, cool and distant.

“The singing was decent, but the lyrics are a bit shallow,” Ding Qing critiqued.

“I thought it was quite good,” Xi Mingxuan said, picking up her mic with an admiring look. “Music is a vessel for emotion, and I truly felt what you were trying to express.”

The tension in the room began to thicken.

“Let’s discuss the scoring,” Meng Yaya said, smiling to diffuse the atmosphere.

The five mentors huddled together. Wen Shike held her microphone and looked down at the stage.

The discussion seemed to take quite a while. When the five returned to their seats, Wen Shike noticed Xi Mingxuan’s expression was visibly sour.

The five people sitting there were roughly on the same level in terms of industry status, so their discussions were usually democratic, unless there was a variable.

Wen Shike understood that she was that variable.

“The mentors’ final evaluation for Wen Shike is… Class B,” Xu Jianglan announced.

The room erupted in a brief uproar before falling deathly silent. Every eye was on Wen Shike, waiting for her reaction.

“Your performance was good, but I feel there were flaws. The other mentors thought you deserved an A, but I don’t believe you’ve reached that level yet,” Ding Qing said, looking at Wen Shike. She added, “I wonder if you accept this rating?”

Wen Shike gave a very restrained smile. “I’m looking forward to seeing the performances of the trainees who make it into Class A.”

Ding Qing’s face darkened for a split second. She clearly hadn’t expected Wen Shike to talk back like that.

“Hiss…” Sun Yuexi tugged at Wang Lulu’s sleeve, lowering her voice. “So bold.”

“Ding Qing’s hostility is way too obvious,” Wang Lulu whispered even lower.

“I think Wen Shike was good enough for Class A,” someone else chimed in. “And that subtext from Ding Qing…”

Wen Shike said her thanks, put down the mic, and went to sit in the Class B section.

“We all thought you were great,” the girl next to her whispered. “Don’t be too sad.”

Wen Shike wasn’t actually that sad. She nodded politely. “I’m fine, don’t worry.”

The next two hours of performances had some highlights but nothing memorable. No ‘A’s were given out, the best results were ‘C’s.

With Wen Shike’s ‘B’ hanging over them, everyone else seemed sub-par by comparison. Those who were confident enough to sit in the Class A seats during the initial self-ranking were notably absent from the actual A-list.

Wen Shike went outside to get some air. As luck would have it, she overheard a few people gossiping in a corner. She realized she always seemed to find herself in these awkward situations. Why can’t people keep their voices down when they’re talking behind someone’s back?

She slowly backed away from the terrace.

“Is there really not going to be a single A?”

“Probably not… but honestly, Wen Shike was actually good. She even wrote the lyrics for Cân. I thought she was just a rich girl who couldn’t do anything.”

“Think the ‘Princess’ will clash with the mentors?”

“Maybe. Someone said earlier that Ding Qing wants to use the ‘Princess’ to build an image of being ‘fearless of authority’ and ‘straight-talking.’ She’s always been like that.”

“Pff… if the Princess had flopped and others gave her an A, that image would stick. But she was clearly impressive. Intentionally withholding an A like this…”

“Don’t you think she looked pretty cool on stage? Especially when she countered Ding Qing with that calm look. Is that just the confidence of a rich girl?”

Wen Shike’s ears began to burn. She took two steps back, only to turn around and see Lu Jingwei stepping out of a nearby room.

Wen Shike: !!!

“Heading back to the stage?” Wen Shike asked, feigning composure while silently praying Lu Jingwei hadn’t seen her “weird” behavior.

“Yes.”

“Together?”

“Sure.” Lu Jingwei nodded, glancing toward the corner where the whispering had suddenly stopped.

Lu Jingwei had actually tried to open the door once already, but she saw Wen Shike backing up like a zombie. To avoid a face to face awkward encounter, she had quietly retreated. Who knew Wen Shike would take so long to back out?

Just as Lu Jingwei decided to just push the door and leave quickly, the other girl finally snapped out of it.

Exhausting.

“I wonder how many people are left,” Wen Shike said, trying to break the growing awkwardness with small talk.

“At a conservative estimate, we’ll be filming until midnight.”

Wen Shike frowned slightly. The words “I want to go home” started popping up in her head, over and over.

Noticing Wen Shike’s expression, Lu Jingwei added, “If you’re tired, you can lean back and sleep. The editors can just cut those shots out later.”

As someone who frequently fell asleep during school assemblies, Wen Shike hesitated. It wasn’t that she didn’t dare to sleep, she was mostly afraid of Sister Qiu. If her manager found out she had broken her persona just a few days in, she’d definitely come over for a “heart to heart.”

The first group after the break was a duo that had self-ranked in Class A.

Wen Shike leaned back, resting her chin on her hand as she watched. Compared to the previous groups, they were indeed more synchronized and their skills were decent. However, if judged by the standards Ding Qing had applied to her, none of them deserved an A.

One girl was a beat slow on a dance move, two of them had shaky vocals at the end of the song, another’s breathing was weak; the last one was over dancing…

Despite all that, the group still produced two ‘A’s.

“There were some minor flaws, but they didn’t affect the overall performance,” Ding Qing said. “So, congratulations. Class A.”

Wen Shike twitched the corner of her mouth, patted her thighs twice, stood up, and began to clap expressionlessly. Normally, no one from the B section would have clapped here.

Watching Wen Shike’s back, Lu Jingwei smiled and joined in the applause. Soon, more and more people started clapping.

Whether they were clapping for the first ‘A’ or for something else entirely, everyone knew the truth.

Ding Qing looked back at Wen Shike. Wen Shike stared right into her eyes, looking for all the world like she wanted to write the word “Troublemaker” across her forehead.

She smiled again.

Internally, Wen Shike was fuming. If it weren’t for this cursed persona, she might have stormed up to argue with Ding Qing already.

Strangely, she recalled what Qiu Yu had said when they decided on the “Cool and Aloof” persona: “This persona is a reminder for you: talk less. The more you say, the more mistakes you’ll make. The entertainment industry isn’t like school, any word you say can be used against you and magnified. Control your word count, so that every word you do say is carefully weighed.”