Cute

“She asked if her outfit was cute?” Lin Baiyu turned her eyes and let out a sly little laugh. “That’s an interesting question. I remember seeing rumors online that Sister Nan likes cute girls, so could it be...?”

The three of them all turned at once to look at Nan Changgeng, who was sitting by the bed.

Gossip was exciting enough to make people forget their fear.

Chen Xia asked cautiously, “Sister Nan, do you think that’s possible?”

“Uh... I don’t really know either.” Nan Changgeng’s scalp prickled. She let out two awkward laughs and said, “If you get the chance, you can ask her yourself.”

Nan Changgeng felt a little unsettled. She knew that possibility existed, and it wasn’t even a small one, but rationally, she didn’t want to believe it.

She wasn’t used to dealing with this kind of thing. Whenever someone showed her affection, her heart would instinctively curl up like a leaf singed by fire.

She just hoped that girl was only a pure fan.

But... that seemed unlikely.

Noticing that Nan Changgeng’s attitude was fairly relaxed, and nowhere near as unapproachable as she looked, the others gradually lost some of their nervousness.

Lin Baiyu nodded generously. “Sure. If I get the chance, I’ll ask her. I feel like she’d answer.”

Nan Changgeng took her thermos out and drank a sip of water. Then she suddenly thought of something and looked at Lin Baiyu with a smile.

“How did you know I like cute girls? Where did that rumor come from?”

Lin Baiyu put on an embarrassed little smile, as if she were shy. “To know yourself and know your opponent, I looked up every contestant I could find, including you.”

By the end, it really wasn’t about understanding an opponent anymore... Nan Changgeng had a lot of early material online, and Lin Baiyu watched it over and over until she got drawn in by her, becoming one more of the fans digging through old footage like crazy.

“Your fans all say that, and when I watched the videos from your earlier shows, I also felt like you seemed to favor girls who were cute-looking.”

“Oh, that’s true.” Nan Changgeng lowered her eyes and smiled faintly. “Maybe people like the things they don’t have themselves. Girls who look completely different from me are more attractive to me.”

“Oh? Then Baiyu should fit that pretty well.” Zhao Shengxiao’s gaze moved back and forth between the two of them, and she grinned. “You two actually seem kind of compatible.”

Lin Baiyu was the textbook picture of an outgoing, sunny girl; pretty, polished, with slightly wavy light-brown hair and a white dress, she looked like some pampered young lady who had grown up spoiled.

“Cough, cough. I’ll admit I’m a little pretty, okay?” Lin Baiyu pouted, fighting back laughter. She coquettishly brushed her hair aside, her eyes sly. “But if you’re talking about matching Sister Nan, then I’m still a little off.”

Chen Xia jabbed her in the side and frowned in obvious disgust. “How affected.”

They’d grown up together; did she really not know exactly what kind of person Lin Baiyu was?

The two of them looked completely opposite on the outside. Chen Xia dressed in a more androgynous style, with short hair cut blunt at the jaw, thin single eyelids, and features that leaned cold. She almost never wore makeup and lived very casually from day to day.

From her looks alone, she actually seemed refined, but the air around her was hard to mess with. When they were kids, her favorite things were climbing trees for bird eggs and going down to the creek to catch fish.

The fact that she could play around with Lin Baiyu said enough; deep down, she clearly wasn’t a soft-tempered type.

At the very least, when she fought boys as a child, Lin Baiyu had been the one standing nearby handing her a stick...

“Tch.” Lin Baiyu rolled her eyes back at her and bumped her with a fist. “Can you be any more annoying? We’re filming. Can’t I keep up my image a little?”

Zhao Shengxiao looked a little surprised. “You two knew each other before?”

“Mm, we’re childhood friends.” Chen Xia nodded, then shot Lin Baiyu a sidelong glance and curled her lips into a deliberately obnoxious smile. “Once you’ve spent more time with her, you’ll know. She’s not as obedient as she looks. By then, forget whether you match or not; Sister Nan might just end up despising her.”

Lin Baiyu took a deep breath and clenched her fist, ready to explode.

Nan Changgeng swept a smiling glance over the two of them and spoke just in time.

“I’m pretty good at reading people. From the way Baiyu danced, it was obvious she’s the kind of girl with a strong sense of contrast; the vitality and abundance she gives off are very attractive.”

“Really?” Lin Baiyu instantly brightened. She braced a hand on her knee, twisted her waist a little, then tilted her head and threw her a wink. “So I attracted you, Sister Nan?”

Her hyper-social mode had kicked in; once she realized the other person was easy to talk to, she immediately started running wild.

“Of course. That’s why I said so in the first place, after being influenced by you.” Nan Changgeng forced a smile and kept her expression steady; her right hand, however, quietly rubbed the corner of the pillow beside her.

And she tried to shift her hips without making it obvious, scooting back a little until she leaned against the headboard.

It really had been... too long since she’d been around people. She was truly not used to this kind of overwhelming enthusiasm.

She thought her movements were very careful, but in reality they were stiff beyond belief, somehow giving off a faintly easy-to-bully air.

Each dorm room also had fixed cameras installed; the viewers were mostly gathered in this livestream room, and every movement of hers was captured clearly.

[Lin-meimei, show some restraint! This is too much; my sister’s social anxiety is about to kick in!]

[Hahahahahahaha sorry, I can’t stop laughing. Please let her go; she’s really about to break]

[Front-row introvert, no random flirting!]

No matter how much time passed and how much she changed, the first batch of fans would always remember the awkward, inexperienced version of her from when she first debuted.

The three people in the room couldn’t see things as clearly as the livestream audience, but they vaguely sensed something; in their eyes, a little eager curiosity was starting to show.

Right then, the mentor Mo Lei happened to come in and deliver their class uniforms.

Nan Changgeng let out a slight breath of relief. Before she could fully relax, she saw the pink tracksuit placed into her hands.

Her expression froze for a moment.

“This is mine?”

“Yes, this is A-class’s uniform.” Mo Lei smiled and patted her shoulder. “I’ve never seen you wear pink before; you’ve liked basic colors since you were little, always acting cool. Finally, you’ve got a chance this time.”

Nan Changgeng: “......”

What acting cool? She just thought basic colors made her look a little more steady. Besides, she’d matured early and had been rather quiet since she was young, so she didn’t really like wearing colors that were too bright.

She tactfully reminded her, “I feel like my face might not match it very well.”

Pink is still red. She had always felt she wasn’t suited to red tones; the effect would be something like a corporate drone putting on a glaringly red floral padded jacket to go to work, forcibly festive.

Mo Lei couldn’t hold back a laugh. “Don’t worry. With your face, it won’t look bad.”

After that, she waved at the other three. “Gather on the fourth floor in an hour for class. I’m going.”

“Bye, teacher.”

Chen Xia leaned against the door and peeked out, looking left and right. Seeing Mo Lei carrying other clothes into the neighboring dorm, she pulled back and closed the door.

Lin Baiyu shook out the tracksuit and held it up in front of herself for comparison. Only then did she look up at the similarly colored outfit in Nan Changgeng’s hands. Her eyes could barely hide her laughter, and a teasing note crept into her voice.

“We’re going to be the first people to see the Ice Queen in pink with our own eyes!”

“Ah...” Nan Changgeng looked painfully embarrassed and covered her forehead with her hand, closing her eyes. “Don’t mention that nickname.”

It was a title fans had given her years ago, not long after her debut. Because she had always worked in orchestras before, dealing with music year-round, she wasn’t used to the suddenly noisy work environment. At first she spoke and smiled very little, and rarely interacted with fans, so they complained that she was cold as ice.

It was hard not to suspect they had deliberately chosen such an embarrassing nickname because they were holding a grudge.

And they loved bringing it up right to her face at offline events, calling it out until the embarrassment forced her to learn how to greet fans with a smile. Once she heard someone who seemed like a fan call her name, she would reflexively put on a smile.

It really had been years since she last heard it.

Zhao Shengxiao coughed lightly, suppressing her laughter, and completely lost the reverence she’d had for her before. She offered a considerate consolation: “It’s okay, Sister. You’re good-looking and your skin is fair; you’d look good in anything. Pink makes people seem warmer and more enthusiastic.”

Lin Baiyu tried hard not to laugh and nodded. “Right, contrast. It’s not just me who has contrast; Sister Nan does too.”

“Actually, this outfit suits you pretty well,” Chen Xia analyzed seriously. “Sis, your features already lean a little cold, and with an all-black outfit, you look even more intimidating. Adding some bright color to balance it out makes you seem more approachable.”

Nan Changgeng lifted her eyes suspiciously; her gray-blue gaze was clear to the bottom, unexpectedly showing a touch of innocence. “Really?”

“Really. You’ll know once you put it on; let’s just change into them first!”

There were cameras all over the room. Even though they were wearing base layers underneath, it still wasn’t appropriate to strip down directly, so the group took turns going into the bathroom to change.

Nan Changgeng was the last one.

When she came out of the bathroom, the woman dressed in pink was stretching a little awkwardly, walking over to the full-length mirror behind the door and frowning at herself.

“...So strange.” She turned around and looked at the others. “Do I look more approachable like this?”

Lin Baiyu bared her small white teeth and gave a firm thumbs-up. “I think it’s pretty cute; way better than black.”

The other two clamped their mouths shut and nodded again and again, terrified they might laugh out loud by accident.

Nan Changgeng blinked and half-believed them. “Fine, then let’s just treat it as trying a different style.”

[Enough already! Sister, I really feel bad for you hahahahaha]

[They’ve completely talked her into it]

[Sis, your head looks like it was pasted on]

[Little Nan in pink makes the whole person look brighter; she really is pretty cute]

Lin Baiyu stared at her for a while, then suddenly said, “I want to take a photo with you as a keepsake.”

“Hm?” Nan Changgeng froze. “But our phones aren’t here.”

This was closed training; everything that could connect them to the outside world had been taken away.

“Isn’t there a camera?” Lin Baiyu grinned, grabbed her arm, and spun her around to face the camera on the wall. “Come on, pose. Once I get my phone back, I can just screenshot it.”

“...Oh.” Her arm was hooked, and Nan Changgeng stiffened slightly. Looking at the camera, she raised a hand and made a peace sign.

“Pfft—”

Two bursts of laughter came from behind her.

She subconsciously wanted to turn back, but once she turned her head, she couldn’t see behind her.

Lin Baiyu pressed her lips together and forced back her laughter, keeping her face straight as she tugged at Nan Changgeng’s arm and wouldn’t let her turn around. “Wait, not yet. That’s too plain. Smile at the camera.”

Nan Changgeng had no choice but to turn back, make the peace sign again, and show a smile.

“Your smile isn’t bright enough; you have to be like me.” Lin Baiyu got carried away and showed her small white teeth to demonstrate.

“......” Nan Changgeng saw it and hesitated a little.

After thinking about it, she felt it wasn’t really too much to ask, so she still did as told, revealing eight teeth in a very standard smile.

“Pfft..."

Lin Baiyu completely lost it. She covered her face and squatted down, laughing wildly until she could barely breathe.

“Hahahahahaha sorry... Sister, you’re too funny.”

Nan Changgeng didn’t understand what was going on. She turned around and found that Chen Xia and Zhao Shengxiao were also trying very hard not to laugh; her expression shifted from blank confusion to utter daze.

Little Feixia turned with her movement; the frontal image was crystal clear.

[Stop playing around, stop playing around. My sister’s reaction was already slow to begin with; now she looks even dumber]

[So cute, sis; screenshotting like crazy .ing]

[Congratulations, you’ve seen through the fake image of Nan Changgeng as smart and wise]

At that moment, there was a knock at the door.

Zhao Shengxiao went to open it.

Yuan Li and the other two, who had wandered over, poked their heads in and looked around.

“What are you laughing at? We could hear it from way over there.”

Chen Xia rubbed her nose. “This place doesn’t have great soundproofing.”

“It’s because you’re too loud!”

The three of them squeezed into the room familiarly. They weren’t all that curious about what had happened either; they were just bursting with things they wanted to say.

Liu Yuanxi blurted out, “Yu Mao is in our dorm.”

The four people in the room immediately forgot what had just happened and all looked over with widened eyes.

It was no wonder they reacted so strongly to that name; Yu Mao was just too memorable. The fact that she had cursed out the mentor on her very first day was enough for everyone to talk about for a week.

It wasn’t good to gossip about people in front of cameras, so Chen Xia held it in and asked indirectly, “She... is she easy to get along with?”

“She’s asleep. We didn’t get to talk to her.” Qi Qi spread her hands. “We were worried about bothering her in the dorm, so we came out to visit instead.”

“She can still sleep at a time like this? Impressive.”

Lin Baiyu sat down on the bed and waved the others over. “Come sit, all of you. Let’s just hang out in our dorm.”