Chapter 53: Sister, want to raise some fish?

At 9:00 AM, Domy Cosmetics released Jin Li's endorsement advertisement.

Sui Lingfang suspected they had timed the release perfectly, perhaps having received some inside information, especially since the company planned to announce today that "Jin Li will continue to join the third season of *PICK~ Next Station Diva*."

The company had coordinated with the production team regarding this news, arranging in advance to purchase a high-ranking trending topic.

Barring any accidents, the news was set to be released in an hour or two.

By releasing Jin Li's advertisement early, Domy Cosmetics could perfectly link it with the upcoming trending topic, riding the wave of hype to its fullest.

Since it was currently working hours and school hours, there weren't many fans or netizens scrolling through their feeds, but their engagement was incredibly high; almost everyone who saw it clicked in to watch and left a comment.

In the advertisement

Jin Li first appeared wearing an ethereal Hanfu, with a cinnabar koi fish painted on her forehead. She wore various colorful pearls and jade ornaments, with delicate red koi hanging from her ears.

As she gave a slight tilt of her head, the koi swayed along with her, as if swirling around her.

Jin Li looked down, as if she had discovered something interesting beneath the clouds, and smiled with great interest.

In the next second, the scene shifted. Jin Li appeared before everyone in simple student attire, having just graduated from university and preparing for job hunting.

Her complexion was slightly sallow and her lips were pale; she appeared to be wearing no makeup at all—a pure, bare face.

Yet, the more natural she looked, the more her delicate features shone, and her jet-black hair looked exceptionally lustrous.

In the next moment, cooperating with Domy Cosmetics' products, she applied a "Koi Good Luck" makeup look and successfully secured a job.

In addition to this, she portrayed two other roles: a white-collar professional at work and a lady out on a date.

Regardless of the identity, there was a comparison shot between her bare face and her made-up look.

[Ah, is this what Sister looks like without makeup? She can pull it off, she can totally pull it off!]

[This bare face is at a level that anyone would admire. I ask you, which female celebrity in the industry dares to go completely bare-faced?]

[Sister, I want to become the fish in your collarbone, want to raise some fish~?]

[Do you guys really believe this is a bare face? I don't. How can a female celebrity look this good without makeup!] This comment was highly upvoted and pinned, instantly jumping to the top.

When Sui Lingfang saw this comment, she switched to her alt account, "Did Sister Raise Fish Today?", and posted a sarcastic remark: [She actually applied makeup to look uglier on purpose. If it were truly a bare face, they wouldn't even need to film the ad!]

Although Jin Li's health wasn't the best, she had a good routine; she went to bed early, woke up early, and quit sugar. Aside from a slight look of illness, her skin condition was impeccable.

As if to slap the netizens' faces, shortly after, Domy Cosmetics released a behind-the-scenes clip on Weibo.

Domy Cosmetics: [The "bare face" evidence you all wanted is here. Sister Jin Li indeed wasn't bare-faced~]

Sui Lingfang raised an eyebrow. This official account was quite sincere; it was much better than those AI-generated responses.

The behind-the-scenes clip was a short video just over a minute long. Upon clicking, the camera shook for several seconds before finally focusing on Jin Li.

There was no special lighting; it was just under ordinary, everyday lights. A makeup artist reached out to touch Jin Li's face and asked, "Your skin is so good, how do you maintain it?"

Jin Li replied, "Sleeping early and waking up early. I basically go to sleep at ten every night."

The makeup artist asked, "Don't you ever have times when you suddenly can't sleep? I can't sleep when I'm under a lot of pressure."

Jin Li shook her head, then suddenly thought of something and said, "When I was resting at home before, life was quite comfortable. I just ate and slept all day. When I was bored, I'd watch TV dramas or read novels; there was no pressure. Recently, my health has improved a bit, so I've been out doing promotional activities. Sometimes I get a bit excited and can't sleep when it's time to go to bed, so I go do practice problems. As I keep doing them, I eventually get sleepy."

The makeup artist was puzzled: "Do practice problems really work that well? What kind of problems do you do?"

Jin Li answered honestly, "Foreign language listening comprehension. At first, I could keep up, but eventually, I'd fall asleep while listening."

The makeup artist laughed, "That's a great method. I'll try it sometime; maybe it'll help my foreign language skills... No, wait, your bare-faced state is too good. I'll have to make your face look a bit 'dirtier,' is that okay?"

As she spoke, the makeup artist gently pinched Jin Li's cheek.

Oh boy, it was so tender and felt amazing, so she pinched it again.

Jin Li: "Go ahead and do it. It's fine, I'll cooperate throughout the whole process."

The clip ended there.

[Cut that makeup artist's hand off and let me do it!!]

[This is her true bare face. To the haters: you asked for proof and you got it, are you satisfied now? [doge.jpg]]

[Lol, when I can't sleep, I specifically listen to physics, chemistry, and biology lectures to sleep.]

[The 'History and Politics' hypnosis contestant silently raises a hand.]

The more Sui Lingfang scrolled, the more addicted she became, laughing to herself. Just as Jin Li finished her hair and makeup, she put her phone away and accompanied her to do a "building sweep" (visiting fans/offices).

Walking along, Jin Li asked curiously, "Why are you so happy?"

Sui Lingfang thought for a moment. "Maybe because I witnessed a live scene of a 'face-slapping' web novel?"

She looked at Jin Li's face, feeling a bit impulsive. "You aren't filming this afternoon, right?"

Jin Li nodded. "If filming goes smoothly, we can leave right after the morning sweep."

Sui Lingfang: "Then I'll help you remove your makeup later."

Jin Li glanced at her, feeling her gaze was a bit strange, but it was just removing makeup—what could the problem be? She agreed readily, "Okay."

At the recording site.

Jin Li pushed open the door and walked into the practice room.

"Hello, Teacher Jin Li!" The youthful and beautiful trainees gave her a deep, formal bow, putting on a grand display.

Jin Li immediately bowed back to them. "Hello, everyone!"

There was no piano in the practice room yesterday, but one had been specially placed there today.

Sitting by the piano, Jin Li asked if they had been under any pressure lately and told them they could talk to her about it.

One trainee raised her hand and said, "Teacher Jin Li, I get so nervous when I dance and I always make mistakes. I'm afraid that once I'm on stage and so many people are staring at me, I'll make even more mistakes. What should I do?"

Jin Li said, "Starting from the third season, your stages will be upgraded to stadiums, moving to a concert format. You don't need to worry about being stared at by many people. The stage is huge, but the lights are only focused on you. When you look down from the stage, you actually can't see anything; it's just pitch black. The audience can see you very clearly, but you can't see them; you can only see the glow sticks in their hands. Just think of the glow sticks as twinkling stars in the sky. Be more relaxed; that will help a lot."

"Additionally," Jin Li paused and smiled, "if you truly make a mistake, your teammates will help cover for you. You are a whole unit, so don't worry."

Another trainee raised her hand, asking about the problem of not having enough time and always failing to master the choreography.

Jin Li had already addressed this in the second episode: spend more time than others. Now, she could add one more point.

Jin Li: "Then don't play on your phones, and don't use tablets either. I know your phones haven't been confiscated, but once you quit using them, you'll find that time is much more abundant than you imagined."

Next, it was time for the third trainee to ask a question. According to yesterday's rehearsal, the final question was to ask her how to express the emotions in a song. The trainee assigned was Gong Jiajia.

However, just as Gong Jiajia was about to stand up, another trainee stood up even faster.

She was a trainee with short hair, the ends of which were dyed purple, giving her a sharp, edgy, and cool look.

With a smile on her face, she asked, "Teacher Jin Li, can you teach me how to express the emotions in a song? That feeling of sudden realization, followed by choosing to let go after regret—I can never quite sing it out."