[Freshman Group]
"Does everyone know that [Qin Wei] is going to military training with us this time?"
"I thought it was fake at first. I saw the name list the day before yesterday and was too excited to fall asleep that night!"
"Funny. It's not like she's going on a date with you. Why are you so excited?"
"Her looks are top-notch! At least we get some eye candy in person!"
"Doesn't she look the same without makeup?"
"She's used to being pampered. It'll be fun to see if she can take the hardship..."
"She's fine, her personality is not bad."
"To be fair, [Qin Wei] has been pretty good since her comeback. She even confronted the show producers and returned all the voting money to fans!"
"While we're not in the same major, I do hope to be in the same military training group as her..."
"Anonymous user: There are quite a few [Qin Wei] fans among the freshmen! You guys must be thrilled to interact with your idol up close, but military training is tough. What if her true colors and blemishes are revealed? The bubble of illusion around the idol may burst! (I don't follow celebrities, so I'm just speculating randomly. Don't argue with me, you argue you lose)."
"Have some guts and stop being anonymous!"
"Anonymous: I don't have the guts. I'm afraid the fans will retaliate, you guys are so crazy."
"True, hiding and trash talking is pretty gutless."
"We'll be classmates, at worst alumni, no need to be so extreme."
"A celebrity like her should be able to handle herself... Frankly I hope not to be in the same group, I'd only drag people down..."
"I foresee this military training is going to be very lively... We can train and enjoy the drama at the same time..."
"Place your bets on how many freshmen will stop being [Qin Wei] fans after military training, hahaha!"
"I'll bet I'm not one of them! Can't wait to see you eat your words!"
...
The freshman group chat buzzed nonstop, while [Li Yao] nagged on and on—
"Skincare, don't slack off!"
"Watch what you eat! No random eating!"
"Don't catch a cold! Don't get sick!"
"No foul language! Don't argue with people! Don't roll your eyes!"
[Qin Wei] scratched her head, her ears nearly calloused from his lecturing. She impatiently responded:
"Got it."
[Li Yao] sighed, then squatted down to continue packing her luggage, mumbling to himself:
"Should I bring waterproof foundation? Dior 999 lipstick or YSL fuchsia? HR or YSL mascara..."
[Qin Wei] put down her phone and said to [Li Yao]:
"Take YSL, the HR one smudges a bit."
"OK."
[Li Yao] picked out the mascara [Qin Wei] chose herself.
"For lipstick give me Dior 999. Go upstairs and get my couture gown down too. For heels let's go with..."
"Ma'am, you're going for military training, not walking the red carpet."
[Li Yao] looked up at her as if she had lost her mind.
"And you know very well I'm going for military training."
[Qin Wei] rolled her eyes at him.
"What's with the makeup then? Trying to dazzle everyone?"
"[Li Yao] smiled helplessly,
"You really don't get it."
"Every year at training it becomes an unspoken competition of beauty behind the scenes. You can't just..."
"Whatever, I've got a call."
[Qin Wei] walked away as she spoke, going to another room to allegedly take a call.
In truth there was no call. She just didn't want to hear [Li Yao] nag her.
On the last night of rest at home, she wanted some peace and quiet...
...
[Li Yao] didn't leave that night, he slept in the guest room and got up before dawn to drive her there the next day. [Xu General Manager] had asked [Li Yao] to personally send her off so that he wouldn't worry.
After a few hours of sleep, someone knocked on [Qin Wei]'s door. [Li Yao] groggily went to open up and was stunned to see the girl standing outside.
It was Anxing Entertainment's assistant assigned to [Qin Wei], Li Liang. Everyone just called her Little Li.
"Little Li? What are you doing here?"
"[Xu General Manager] said to bring me along with big sis [Qin Wei]. If assistants are allowed, I'm to stay with her."
Goodness, who's ever heard of having an assistant at military training?
But [Li Yao] didn't say much and just let her in.
He checked the time. It was 3 AM. His phone had a new message from the school with the designated meeting location.
[Li Yao] stared at his phone screen silently for a good while before deciding to call and confirm.
"You can rest in the downstairs bedroom for now. I'll call if anything comes up."
...
Ten minutes later, [Qin Wei] was awoken by [Li Yao] aggressively knocking on her door.
"Wash up, time to go."
[Li Yao] urged.
Cursing under her breath, [Qin Wei] went to wash her face and brush her teeth.
Her family home was a bit of a drive from campus.
But still in the same city.
What's with leaving this early...
Complain as she may, she was ready to go downstairs on time 30 minutes later.
"Why did Little Li come too?"
[Qin Wei] took a slice of bread as she got into the car, only then noticing Li Liang already sitting shotgun.
"[Xu General Manager] said..."
"[Xu General Manager]'s word doesn't count here."
[Li Yao] cut [Li Liang] off, signalling her not to say anything more. [Xu General Manager] meant well but was overthinking things. Anyone in their right mind would know assistants aren't allowed at military training.
[Qin Wei] didn't care about any of that. She quickly finished her bread and went back to napping.
Every time she hazily woke up she felt something was off. It was quite a drive but isn't this taking too long?
She checked the time. They set off at 4 AM. It was already 10.
No wonder she had woken up naturally...
"Hungry?"
Seeing she was awake, [Li Yao] asked.
[Qin Wei] shook her head and rubbed her brow asking:
"Where are we?"
"On the way to the military base." [Li Yao] replied.
"I asked the relevant school officials. They said we could either meet on campus or drive directly there ourselves. It's quite far to campus and I figured a long bus ride would be tiring for you. I was also worried you'd refuse, so I took matters into my own hands."
None of that was the issue...
The only thing on [Qin Wei]'s mind was—why a military base?
"Huh? What? Isn't training on campus? Why a military base? What base?"
"Oh, it's no big deal. The training site was changed last minute...
But don't stress yourself out. One week is one week, doesn't matter where..."
"Big bro [Li Yao]...sis [Qin Wei] doesn't seem stressed at all..."
Li Liang turned back taking a quick glance and quietly told [Li Yao].
[Li Yao] took a look in the rearview mirror.
In it he could see [Qin Wei] with a face full of anticipation.
"Wow~ Getting to visit a military base once in my life, how nice!"
...
At 11 AM students trickled into the base, pulling luggage as they gathered on the empty training field. With nothing to do, people stood chatting in groups of 3 or 5.
"Gosh, I thought bringing a 28-inch suitcase was already over the top. How'd you manage to lug two around?"
"It's fine. Just daily essentials. My parents saw me off with these. The road here was flat, easy to pull along."
"That's nothing. Peep mango over there, five suitcases!"
The speaker pointed to her right.
Everyone looked in that direction where a petite but striking girl stood among a pile of luggage, dressed in designer clothes and wearing cat-eye shades.
"That influencer. Said she wants to be an actress. So she got in after all."
Speaking of actresses reminded someone of [Qin Wei].
"If mango is already that extra, [Qin Wei] must've brought like 10 suitcases!"
"No way, that'd be over the top. She might as well build a little house here and move in."
"What's over the top about it? I heard [Li Hanming] brought 8 suitcases and 30 in total with his assistants when he was on a show..."
People joked around while more students filed in, including budding celebrities like [Li Hanming]. Though not A-list yet, his fanbase and name recognition have been growing.
He came wearing jeans and a white tee, hair freshly trimmed short for training. Already attracting eyes as he pulled a suitcase walking over.
Just like in his videos, fresh and clean-cut, a model teen idol.
His fans didn't exaggerate one bit!
