Free Web NovelChapter 728: Chapter 727: Recruiting Li Yang
"Looks like someone has to go solo."
Just not sure if it will be Li Yang or Shu Ran.
As soon as Xu Cheng arrived, there weren’t enough seats, and both Lin Lian and Bai Shu stood up to offer theirs.
The three of them kept declining and offering, and no one sat down. Xu Cheng looked amazed at Lin Lian’s face, and thus didn’t dare to casually take her seat.
Mu Qiu and Cheng Zhirang watched the three of them with a kind of elder’s fondness towards younger ones bickering...
She also stood up and walked towards Lin Lian, "Let’s not keep pushing it around. Lin Lian and I should be heading to the square. Xu Cheng, you sit."
Lin Lian naturally stood next to her, immediately freeing up two seats.
Then Cheng Zhirang stood up too. He wasn’t as courteous as them, instead, directly ordered.
"Xu Cheng, sit next to me. Lin Lian, sit back down. Qiuqiu, come over here; it’s quite hot outside."
Mu Qiu thought for a moment and sat at his spot, with him standing behind her, his palm gently pressing on her neck.
She felt so comfortable she wanted to moan.
Lin Lian and Xu Cheng also sat down. Bai Shu was never mentioned, but everyone assumed she didn’t need to move, just sit tight.
Once they sat down again, Cheng Zhirang restarted the conversation.
"One of Li Yang or Shu Ran has already lost their teammate. Xu Cheng, where did you come from?"
Xu Cheng was still a bit reserved and said, "I was originally placed in a plot of land."
Bai Shu: "...In the land?"
"Ah, it’s an empty plot next to a vegetable field, with a tree planted in it. It hasn’t flowered or fruited yet, seems like it was transplanted recently."
He had been waiting there for his teammate, but as they never showed up, he idly observed the only tree in the field.
"Just one tree?" Lin Lian asked, "That means that tree is a clue item, and Brother Yang or Sister Shu Ran didn’t decipher the hint to find that place."
"Eh?" Hearing Lin Lian speak, Mu Qiu suddenly sat up straight, moving away from Cheng Zhirang’s hand on her neck, "Xu Cheng, are you an idol who debuted from a talent show too?"
She doesn’t watch talent shows, but she knows they’re quite popular recently, with several airing at the same time and many hot contestants.
For example, there’s Qi Feng who has already debuted, and Wei Lin who was famous even before debuting, and Guo Yin from the last episode, all were hot contenders.
The idol turnover is quick, and young idols make up most of the show’s guest list. But it’s rare for several of them to appear at once.
Xu Cheng didn’t know why she suddenly asked, but he quickly nodded to answer, "Not recently, I debuted half a year ago, and I’m transitioning into acting now."
Mu Qiu said "oh" and looked at him with bright eyes, "So you can sing and dance?"
Xu Cheng hesitated and nodded.
She turned her head, looking at Lin Lian with the same bright eyes, "Can you also sing and dance?"
Lin Lian hesitated, glanced subtly at Cheng Zhirang, and said, "I can sing, not really dance."
"Got it, Bai Shu, you must be great at singing and dancing, no need to ask."
Although she said there’s no need to ask, she paused, worried about fans saying she’s favoring males over females, so she asked another question:
"Is your singing better, or is your dancing better?"
Bai Shu: "Dancing is slightly better."
They didn’t quite understand why she was asking each one, Cheng Zhirang also didn’t fully get it, looking puzzled at her.
But Mu Qiu had gotten the information she wanted by now, sprang up, and winked at Lin Lian.
"Ah, I suddenly realized, sitting here taking advantage of the cool isn’t my style. Plus, since you guys aren’t forming alliances, that makes us competitors. How can competitors sit together so harmoniously? It’s not right, we should avoid suspicion. Lin Lian, don’t you think?"
Lin Lian hesitated, "Yeah?"
Cheng Zhirang: "..."
Just from hearing it, you could tell she was making it up.
He watched her step out of their circle, directly asked, "What did you think of?"
"Nothing," she said innocently, while pressing down Bai Shu who was about to get up, "No need to see us off, now that we’re parting ways, we’ll be rivals next time. Don’t be so good to us."
Bai Shu: "..." She wasn’t trying to see them off.
She cheerfully waved goodbye to the three of them, and led Lin Lian towards the place Xu Cheng had come from.
"We’re just taking a walk, feel free to do as you like, no need to see us off, not even a farewell wave. See you later."
The two staff members followed them out, up the bridge, and then turned left.
Once they were out of sight behind trees along the riverbank, Mu Qiu suddenly said to Lin Lian, "Come on, let’s run."
Lin Lian still didn’t know what she was up to, but even in a confused state, he was obedient, he ran as she said. Considering their height and leg length differences, he deliberately ran a bit slower, keeping alongside her.
"Sister Mu Qiu, what are we going to do?"
After running for a while, he couldn’t hold back and asked.
Mu Qiu, always candid with her teammates, explained while running, "Now all three of you guests are young idol types, just like Li Yang. And the director liked a girl group dance video on Thursday. What does that make you think of?"
"This episode is really about singing and dancing?"
"I think it’s very possible. And if it’s about singing and dancing, then for grouping, you can sort people differently, right?"
In talent shows, performance groupings can be in twos, threes, or fours, right?
It’s rare for a solo group to appear in a group dance segment, so she boldly guessed that the solo group would probably get mixed with other groups. Ideally, split into two teams to compete, making it easier to judge who’s better.
So—
Lin Lian suddenly realized, "You want to make an alliance with Brother Yang ahead of others?"
"Exactly! I can’t sing or dance at all, and you said you don’t really dance either, so finding a professional to form an alliance with might be important later on."
Lin Lian agreed with this idea, "But do you think Brother Cheng and the others wouldn’t think of this? I think he was already starting to guess it."
"That’s why you have to run!"
"...Alright, I’ll run."
With the white tablecloth disguise mask still on her face, running with part of it blown open by the wind, she pinned it down again. In the camera, she really looked like a sneaky flower thief.
Running at midday was quite hot, but luckily the area was full of green mountains and clear waters, with a gentle breeze making it comfortable. After a few minutes of running, Mu Qiu finally saw the plot Xu Cheng had described.
It was outside a small two-story house, next to flower beds and a vegetable field, with a newly renovated plot, centered around a bare tree that looked freshly transplanted.
"Fortunately, Brother Cheng and the others haven’t come," she panted, supporting her knees, glancing around, "but it’s still unclear if this spot is meant for Li Yang or Sister Shu Ran."
"Sister Shu Ran can probably sing and dance too? I’ve heard she’s quite versatile and has danced to hot music on other shows," Lin Lian said, also panting.
