Help

Before she knew it, it was already past midnight. Most of the people in the practice room had left, and when Nan Changgeng looked around, only Chen You was left.

Chen You was huddled against the inner wall in a corner, gripping the lyric sheet and staring at it as if she meant to burn a hole through it. Her brows were drawn tight with an anxiety that wouldn’t let up.

Nan Changgeng spoke first. “Chen You, aren’t you going back to sleep yet? There’s still time. You don’t have to push yourself this hard.”

It took Chen You two seconds to react. She looked up and gave a strained smile. “Captain, you should go back to the dorm and sleep. I’ll spend a little longer getting the lyrics down.”

For some reason, her memory seemed to be getting worse and worse lately. It was one thing if she couldn’t get the vocals down right away, but she kept forgetting the lyrics too.

Every time she blanked during a full run-through, she got anxious; the more anxious she was, the more words slipped her mind.

Nan Changgeng’s brows drew together slightly, and she got up and walked over.

“Actually, you don’t need to force yourself to memorize the lyrics. You’ll pick them up while you practice the singing. Once you repeat it enough, muscle memory kicks in, and that’s more reliable than memorizing with your head.”

Chen You hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “Then I... I’ll practice the singing a little longer. Anyway, I definitely won’t be able to sleep if I go back now.”

Nan Changgeng nodded easily, a faint smile on her face. “All right, I’ll keep you company. It’s just the two of us now; we’ve got the whole practice room to ourselves.”

Her attitude was natural and easy. Even though she was helping, Chen You didn’t feel the slightest bit of pressure.

She answered softly and lowered her head, warmth from her gratitude rising in her chest.

She didn’t want Nan Changgeng to delay her rest for her sake, but she couldn’t bring herself to refuse either. She really did need someone to help her through this.

Nan Changgeng didn’t think it was any trouble. She sat down cross-legged beside her and listened as Chen You practiced, correcting her line by line and going over it again and again.

Helping Chen You also helped her deepen her own memory.

Once someone was completely focused, it was easy to lose track of time.

By the time they had gone through the entire song enough to leave Chen You only barely settled, it was already close to four in the morning.

When Chen You looked back at the clock, she gasped in alarm, then looked at Nan Changgeng with guilt flooding her eyes.

“It’s already this late? You’ve worked hard, Captain. Let’s hurry back and sleep. Next time, we absolutely can’t stay up this late.”

Ever since she was little, she had been the kind of student who excelled in every way, the sort of “other people’s child” who had to do everything perfectly. Aside from those three years in high school when studying had cut into her sleep, she had always gone to bed before eleven. Staying up this late without sleeping was a first, and it left her with a panicked sense that her routine had been thrown off and knocked out of place.

Nan Changgeng could see her guilt and comforted her. “It’s fine. My sleep schedule isn’t regular either; all-nighters are pretty common for me. Besides, I’d probably have trouble sleeping after changing environments anyway. Even if I went back early, I still wouldn’t be able to sleep.”

She patted Chen You on the shoulder and said easily, “Come on, let’s go. Wash up when we get back and go to bed early. You’re probably more tired than I am.”

Chen You pressed her lips together lightly, and a soothing warmth spread through her chest. “Mm.”

She really did feel incredibly lucky. On the very first day of the program, she had met such a good captain.

At the same time, the thought rose in her heart that she absolutely could not let down Nan Changgeng’s hard work and help, and that only added another layer of weight to the pressure she was already feeling; her anxiety seemed ready to surge back again.

She took a deep breath and did her best to clear away the cluttered thoughts.

The two of them left the practice room, turned off the lights, and the hallway was plunged into darkness.

Nan Changgeng reached for her little flying assistant and pressed down on the top of its head. A small light immediately came on above the camera. It wasn’t very bright, but it was enough to walk by.

She silently complained in her heart that the corridor didn’t even have a single light on. It couldn’t possibly be to save that tiny bit of electricity, could it?

No contestant would know that the corridor lights had been left off because the production team had deliberately made that choice after noticing someone’s voyeuristic behavior.

With the light, they quietly went back upstairs to the dorm.

No one noticed the dark, shadow-like figure crouched in the corner where the practice room’s outer wall met the window wall, so thin and still it seemed to melt into the thick darkness.

Only a pair of widened cat eyes glimmered faintly in the camera’s night-vision mode.

It was too late. Not everyone could stay up this long, but quite a few night owls had been waiting in the livestream room the whole time. They watched Yu Mao go back and forth all night, repeatedly hiding and then returning.

At first, there had been a lot of people in the practice room, and there were occasional comings and goings. Even standing there quietly, she couldn’t stay still for long; every so often, she had to hide and crouch out of sight.

Later, after most of the people had left, Nan Changgeng still hadn’t gone back to the dorm, and Yu Mao, astonishingly, still hadn’t left either; she had really stayed and kept watch all the way to this point.

Inside the practice room, the two of them could at least sit down. Yu Mao, however, had truly been standing the entire time.

The viewers also couldn’t understand why Yu Mao, dressed in a bright yellow outfit, had somehow gone unnoticed by the others as if everyone were blind. In the end, they could only assume she was just good at hiding and quick on her feet.

In fact, the production team didn’t require anyone to wear class uniforms, but Yu Mao herself had no sense of needing to change clothes in order to hide.

On camera, the girl was so thin she looked like a shadow, as if she might faint at any moment. Anyone watching would have been alarmed that her stamina had lasted until now.

And now, seeing her stare longingly at Nan Changgeng’s retreating back, even the hardest-hearted viewers couldn’t help but feel sorry for her.

In the audience’s eyes, Yu Mao at this moment was just a pitiful little bitter melon; even her odd behavior could be temporarily set aside, and no one mentioned it.

But Yu Mao had no such tragic thoughts at all.

After Nan Changgeng and the others were far away, she got up and slowly followed the path Nan Changgeng had taken, faintly catching a trace of lingering fragrance; it was a light, delicate fruit sweetness.

It was Nan Changgeng’s scent.

She had to use all her self-control to suppress the wave of pleasure rolling through her chest.

Compared with the secret watching she had once done through a tiny screen, this was far too blissful.

But the burden on her body also made it hard to endure. Back in the dorm, after a simple wash, she knelt on the bed and finished her nightly prayer, then fell into a deep sleep.

At night, the little flying assistant would stay outside the dormitory door and go charge itself in the slot on the wall.

As for the other three people in the dorm, they were sleeping so soundly they weren’t woken at all; they had no idea that Yu Mao had only just returned.

The next day, Yu Mao couldn’t get up and slept until 10:30 before waking.

She didn’t force herself to get up early. After what had happened yesterday, she had become smarter and realized the things she needed to do weren’t suited to daytime; it was too easy to be interrupted.

Better to sleep more during the day and continue at night.

When she woke up, there was no one left in the dorm; everyone had gone to the practice room for class. The morning was when the instructors invited by the production team gave lessons.

Her roommates had tried to wake her, but after calling for a long time and failing to get her up, they didn’t dare keep calling.

When Qi Qi left, she was still muttering under her breath, wondering if Yu Mao had gone out stealing in the middle of the night, since she slept like the dead.

Fortunately, these classes were only about teaching basic vocal knowledge and guiding the contestants in singing; attendance wasn’t mandatory, and Yu Mao didn’t really need them anyway.

She had completely forgotten about it. After getting up, she performed her prayer once, keeping to her routine of twice a day and never missing a single day.

Then she went to take a shower at an unhurried pace; afterward, she spent a long time washing her hair, sending black water stained with dye all over the floor.

That was fine; she didn’t care much. What took the most time was drying her hair. In the past, she never bothered with it and would only wipe it roughly before letting it air-dry naturally.

Even after blow-drying, her hair was still fluffy and rough.

The teacher had always disliked her hair and wanted her to cut it. But she didn’t plan to go. Because... she was afraid of scissors...?

It seemed so.

She never dwelled on useless little things.

The lipstick had been washed off the night before, so she took the little tube from her pocket and colored her lips, covering the bloodless paleness.

By the time she finished all that, morning class was almost over. The livestream audience had waited all morning without seeing her, and most of them had already run off to watch other contestants.

The biggest group had gone to Nan Changgeng’s side. After being “marked” by Yu Mao through all kinds of bizarre behavior, Nan Changgeng had also become a major focus for the viewers.

Aside from not really paying attention to Yu Mao, Nan Changgeng truly had no flaws to pick at in this program.

She was friendly to everyone, and especially devoted to her own teammates. Last night she had stayed with Chen You until four in the morning; this morning, she got up early again to help the program’s instructor with class.

That left Yu Mao’s newly converted fans with no way to turn that much sympathy into resentment toward her.

Besides, Yu Mao always hid in the shadows and stared secretly; she never deliberately approached Nan Changgeng. Nan Changgeng knew nothing about any of Yu Mao’s behavior and didn’t even have a chance to show her coldness.

The only thing that could faintly hint at her attitude was that she hadn’t chosen Yu Mao as a teammate back then. But by any measure, that could hardly be called excessive, so naturally it didn’t invite much criticism.

Between yesterday and this morning, word had spread about Nan Changgeng’s high-level guidance and teaching. Not only had her own teammates come to her for help, but contestants from other teams had also come looking for her.

Lin Baiyu happened to be in the most convenient position; since the two of them shared a dorm room, she took advantage of the lunch break to shamelessly ask Nan Changgeng for help with a new arrangement.

The song she had chosen was an electronic dance track, and it already came with choreography. But not every member of the team had a dance foundation, and some of the moves were too difficult for them to keep up with.

She had been worrying about it all day yesterday. They only had four days to prepare; with both singing and dancing to handle, there wasn’t enough time to grind away at the moves. Rather than making mistakes later, it would be better to simplify the choreography so everyone could follow along.

But she was a bit of a perfectionist when it came to dance, and once she decided to simplify the choreography, she wanted to change the arrangement too. That was an area she knew nothing about and absolutely wasn’t good at.

At first she had planned to ask the teacher for advice, but then in the morning class she heard the teacher praise Nan Changgeng for not only having a high professional level but also being very good at teaching students, so she thought she might as well ask the other girl first and see whether she could do it.

For something like this, rather than going to the teacher, it was best if the contestants solved it themselves. After all, the cameras were always on them; these were all things that could attract fans and earn points, and working together would also let them borrow each other’s popularity.

No one in the program knew who was hotter right now, and those with a bit of ambition all liked to cluster around other contestants; maybe they’d end up riding someone else’s buzz.

Lin Baiyu had studied this kind of show for a long time and was quite experienced at it.

Nan Changgeng hadn’t slept well and looked a little listless as she ate. After hearing Lin Baiyu’s request, she didn’t hesitate for long before nodding.

Brushing the hair that had fallen beside her cheek back behind her ear, she lifted her eyes. “Tell me what you need, and I’ll put it together for you directly. I’m a little busy these next two days, so I may not have time to teach you.”

There were too many people asking her for vocal guidance; she was almost too busy to keep up.

Lin Baiyu should have been happy, but instead she couldn’t help twitching the corner of her mouth first.

She pouted and gave her a plaintive look. “So... is teaching me harder than just doing it for me?”

Nan Changgeng froze for a moment, then laughed softly without taking offense. “It’s not harder; it just takes more time. I can do it faster myself.”

Of course she could tell Lin Baiyu was joking.

This girl always managed to tuck a complaint into her words, then wait for a response before acting spoiled about it.

It wasn’t deliberate; that was just her personality and habit. And because she was good-looking, it came across as a little deliberately cute rather than annoying. Most of the friends she made ended up quite fond of indulging her.

Lin Baiyu gave a soft hmph and swiftly and accurately stole a piece of stir-fried meat from Nan Changgeng’s plate. “That explanation is no different from not explaining at all.”

“I’ll forgive you for one piece of stir-fried meat. Aren’t I generous?” she said with a smile, lifting her chin. She looked bright, lively, and beautiful.