Since Qin Yu was only good at preparing vegetables, Lin Ziyao had her help out. The two worked together seamlessly, and before long, all the ingredients were prepped.
Cooking for seven wasn’t a small job, and it wasn’t realistic for Lin Ziyao to do it all by herself. She turned to Qin Yu and asked, “Can you stir-fry these vegetables?”
Qin Yu followed her gaze. The dishes Lin Ziyao had pointed to were mostly vegetables; she’d already taken care of all the meat herself. Qin Yu nodded. “No problem!”
After handing the vegetables over to Qin Yu, Lin Ziyao heated some oil in a wok and got started on the rest of the food.
The male guests had been busy for half the day. As soon as they walked in, the aroma of the food greeted them.
“That smells amazing!” Yang Tian took a deep sniff and wandered over to the table laden with food. The aroma had set his stomach rumbling, and when no one was looking, he reached out to grab a rib.
Smack!
A red welt from the chopsticks appeared on Yang Tian’s hand. He hissed in pain.
Feng Qiqi pulled back her chopsticks, then looked at Tang Wenjie, who’d also been trying to sneak a bite. “Wash your hands first!”
Tang Wenjie hadn’t moved as quickly as Yang Tian, so he avoided the chopsticks. The two had no choice but to obediently follow Feng Qiqi’s order and go wash their hands. They ran right into Teacher Xu, who’d just come out of the bathroom after washing up.
Just then, Lin Ziyao carried the last dish—a soup—out of the kitchen. Seeing this, Xu Li joked, “I thought dinner would be much later tonight.”
Lin Ziyao picked up the conversation with a bit of polite small talk. “If we get the chance, I’d love to try your cooking, Teacher Xu.”
“Sure thing. I’ll cook tomorrow!” Xu Li said with a smile.
It seemed Lin Ziyao and Qin Yu had done a great job cooking. At the very least, Yang Tian and Tang Wenjie each had several bowls of rice. Even Dai Wen, who usually watched her figure, went back for an extra half bowl—a rare sight.
After eating their fill, Lin Ziyao finally remembered something. She turned to the male guests there and asked, “Where’s Director Chen? Didn’t he come back with you?”
Normally, Director Chen, who was both the director and something of a host, wouldn’t miss dinner. But only the three of them had returned to the villa. Lin Ziyao had been too focused on eating to notice; now that she was full, the question finally occurred to her.
Yang Tian had just set down his chopsticks. “Director Chen? I think he had something to take care of. He told us not to wait for him.”
By the time Feng Qiqi and Dai Wen had finished clearing away the dishes, Director Chen had returned to the villa. As soon as he came in, he asked everyone, “Are you all full?”
Once everyone had answered, he immediately said, “Great! If you’re all full, let’s get started on tonight’s activity!”
“Meet in the garden out front in half an hour. It’s time for the talent show.”
One advantage of reality shows was that they let viewers see people as they really were on camera. Plenty of contestants had shown viewers a side of themselves they’d never seen before, earning a reputation as hidden gems.
Everyone there had come prepared, so they had no objections to Director Chen’s talent-show idea—especially since they had half an hour to get ready.
“Director Chen.” Lin Ziyao slipped into a camera blind spot and quietly made her way over to him, speaking in a low voice.
Director Chen noticed how hesitant she seemed. “Ziyao, what’s wrong?”
“Could you give me my phone? I want to call my grandma. She only recognizes my old number.”
She’d just tried calling her grandma from the villa phone, but her grandma hadn’t answered. No matter how many times Lin Ziyao called, the number was treated as unfamiliar and hung up on.
Remembering why Lin Ziyao had joined the show, Director Chen readily agreed. “Go find Xiao Li in a bit. I’ll let him know.”
As Director Chen watched Lin Ziyao walk away to find Xiao Li, his eyes grew thoughtful. He recalled the circumstances under which he’d invited her to join the show.
Back then, Lin Ziyao had still worn a trace of worry between her brows, and the exhaustion in her eyes was hard to hide. Working day after day had taken a toll on her.
“Director Chen, could you pay me half the fee in advance?” Lin Ziyao asked cautiously.
Director Chen stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray and looked at the girl in front of him with interest. “I can. But you’ll have to give me a reason.”
After listening to Lin Ziyao’s explanation, Director Chen fell silent for a moment. “How about this? I’ll increase your fee a little, as much as I’m allowed to.”
The girl’s eyes lit up at once. “Thank you, Director Chen!”
But Director Chen gave her a heads-up before she got too excited. “Don’t thank me just yet. I can only add a few thousand yuan.”
What Director Chen considered a small amount was enough to excite Lin Ziyao. “That’s more than enough. I only make a few thousand yuan a month working here.”
“If you have a talent, go home and prepare. Take this chance to show it off and win the audience’s affection on this stage called a reality show.” Director Chen lit another cigarette, gave Lin Ziyao his contact information, and left.
Some people need only a little tailwind to rise high. Whether you break out of your cocoon or trap yourself in it depends on what you can do.
After talking to her grandma and reminding her to listen to the doctor, Lin Ziyao returned to her room. When she opened the door, she saw Qin Yu tuning a guitar in her arms.
When Qin Yu saw her roommate return, she stopped tuning and looked up to greet her. Her voice was as cool and clear as ever. “You’re back. Have you decided what you’ll perform?”
“I have.”
“Are you going to tell me what it is?” Qin Yu was curious about her roommate’s performance. As far as she knew, her roommate was only a personal trainee in name; in reality, she was practically an amateur.
Lying on her bed, Lin Ziyao answered frankly. “It’s sort of a new song.”
At the mention of a new song, interest stirred in Qin Yu’s cool eyes. “Oh? Could it be…?”
“It’s different, but they’re related in a way.”
“Then I’ll have to put your songwriting skills to the test.” Qin Yu handed her the guitar. “Can you play it for me first?”
Lin Ziyao took the guitar but didn’t answer Qin Yu. She was busy looking through her mission rewards in the system. In fact, while cooking, she’d already come up with a few possible songs for Qin Yu.
She just hadn’t made her final choice yet. The songs were all connected in some way, so she wanted to use the talent show to strengthen the impression they’d leave on the audience.
Then she’d choose this one. She could pick another song for Qin Yu later. Looking at the two songs she’d selected on the system screen, Lin Ziyao started by redeeming one of them.
