Chapter 19: The More Stable the Emotions, the More Ruthless the Methods

The program flow of "PICK~Next Station Diva" was crystal clear to the mentors.

Mentors could obtain first-hand information, even knowing which contestant the production team intended to push, allowing them to say a few kind words about that contestant on the show when necessary.

This wasn't unique to this program; even survival shows had hidden rules—filming certain trainees from their most flattering angles, or "accidentally" handing them lip balm, lipstick, or glasses...

What seemed like mere coincidences on screen were actually carefully designed and presented.

But it was precisely because of this that the current situation had arisen—

The opening stage of the second episode was nominally a collaborative performance between the mentors and their chosen partners. Even though Lian Baozhi had pre-arranged with them that the entire opening stage would be given to Jin Li, Jin Li still had to wait for notification from Lian Baozhi's side.

As partners to the mentors, they were only participating in one episode of filming. To maintain secrecy, the partners were kept in the dark regarding the internal operations of the show.

In other words, as long as Lian Baozhi didn't notify them, they wouldn't know the exact time for rehearsals.

When Sui Lingfang had previously contacted Lian Baozhi's manager, they had simply said they didn't know and were waiting for notice.

Now that the show had already premiered and very little time remained before the recording of the second episode, no matter how slow-witted Sui Lingfang might be, she knew the rehearsals had to be happening within these few days.

For Lian Baozhi's manager to use that as an excuse to fool people was practically asking for death.

"Jin Li, are you at the apartment? I'm coming to pick you up now!" Sui Lingfang hurriedly called Jin Li and drove out in the company car.

It was currently the afternoon, and Jin Li was practicing vocals.

Her vocal coach was right beside her, providing hands-on guidance, repeatedly praising her for being true idol material—having picked up everything she had previously missed in just a few days of lessons.

Jin Li felt a bit embarrassed by the praise.

"Sister Fang, I'm practicing vocals at the apartment. Is something wrong?" She could hear the urgency in Sui Lingfang's voice.

Sui Lingfang said through gritted teeth, "Today is your rehearsal day! Lian Baozhi and her lot are playing dirty tricks on us. They didn't notify us it was today. If I hadn't thrown a fit, who knows when we would have been able to go to rehearsals!"

Jin Li was slightly stunned.

This... Lian Baozhi really was bold!

Playing such games in such a massive production—wasn't she afraid of being exposed?

Sui Lingfang said resentfully into the phone, "I'm picking you up for rehearsals now. Once I get to the production team, I am definitely going to confront their staff and expose what Lian Baozhi did. If she won't let us have an easy time, we won't let her have one either!"

Jin Li could hear the agitation in her voice, so she didn't say much, only telling her to drive carefully and stay safe.

After hanging up, she informed her vocal coach, who gave her an "OK" gesture.

"I won't be coming with you. The security at that place should be very tight. I was planning to tell you after today's lesson that you don't need to keep practicing with me, but I guess you're graduating early now."

The vocal coach cheered her on: "Go for it! I'm looking forward to your performance on stage!"

Jin Li said with a bitter smile, "I'm quite nervous. I'm afraid I'll mess it up."

The teacher patted her shoulder. "With your current level, it would actually be quite difficult for you to mess up. Just perform with a calm mind!"

Jin Li went down with the teacher and waited at the apartment entrance.

About half an hour later, Sui Lingfang arrived. Jin Li opened the car door and quickly buckled her seatbelt.

Without any pause, the car smoothly pulled away again.

Jin Li glanced at Sui Lingfang and felt that her anger had subsided significantly, so she brought up the matter regarding Lian Baozhi again.

"Sister Fang, this thing about them hiding the rehearsal date..."

Sui Lingfang said indifferently, "I will leak it. Not just to the variety show, but to the internet as well. You don't need to worry about that; I'll arrange everything. You just need to focus on your stage."

Jin Li's eyelid twitched.

Good grief, now that her emotions had stabilized, her methods had escalated.

She reminded her, "I don't care, but you have to be careful with your methods. Don't offend Penguin Pictures."

Sui Lingfang snorted coldly. "I won't offend them; at most, I'll just give them a chill. Lian Baozhi bears the primary responsibility for this, so Penguin bears secondary responsibility. If the production team had even one more liaison staff member, would something like withholding rehearsal information even happen?"

Jin Li fell silent, feeling that Sister Fang was currently like a frozen volcano.

Calm on the surface, but ready to explode at the slightest touch.

She took out her phone and sent a WeChat message to Ji Qinglian, informing her that she would be coming over for rehearsals. She didn't look at her phone again, turning instead to flip through her "5-3" study materials.

Jin Li was going through math papers. She had finished the first major framework of knowledge and needed to practice problems to deepen her foundation for flexible application.

Sui Lingfang originally wanted to say something more to Jin Li, but seeing her doing practice problems, she shut her mouth and remained silent.

Interrupting someone's progress is a sin!

After about an hour, they arrived in Haikou. After verifying their identities, they took a boat for another half hour to reach the filming location of "PICK~Next Station Diva."

Sui Lingfang coordinated with the staff guarding the entrance, and shortly after, Jin Li was allowed inside.

Only she was allowed in; even her manager, Sui Lingfang, was barred.

But Sui Lingfang knew that A-list stars were allowed to bring their managers in.

The reason she wasn't allowed in was simply that the production team felt Jin Li's status was too low and she wasn't an A-lister yet, so they were gatekeeping.

She wasn't angry. She chatted with the security staff at the door and gave them a few packs of good cigarettes and a bottle of fine liquor, both of which she had bought on impulse at a shop in Haikou.

With the cigarettes and alcohol, the staff's attitude immediately softened, and they became more polite to Sui Lingfang.

Sui Lingfang asked nonchalantly, "Hey, does the production team have a work group? Add me to it. Our Jin Li is recording an episode after all; what if we miss important news?"

The staff member had just taken out their phone when they suddenly thought of something and said, "You can just ask the mentors you were invited by."

Sui Lingfang sighed. "The mentors are all A-listers; they are busy with a million things every day. How would they have time to explain things in detail to you? Besides, there are things in the show that even if I ask the mentors' managers, they might not know. It's better to just ask in the official group."

The staff member pulled up a group QR code for her to scan.

"That's true, it is quite difficult. This one is the public work group—it's a large group where everyone in the show is included. There are many messages every day, and A-list stars basically never speak. If you really want to know certain things, you have to be added to the private small groups, but that depends on being invited."

Sui Lingfang's eyes lit up, and she said with a grin, "The large work group is fine; that's exactly what I need."

On the other side, Jin Li encountered Ji Qinglian in Rehearsal Room No. 5.

Ji Qinglian was waiting right at the door.

The moment she saw Jin Li, her eyes lit up as if they were glowing.

Ji Qinglian circled Jin Li several times, nearly performing a 360-degree, no-dead-angle inspection.

Jin Li allowed her to do so with calm composure.

After a long while, Ji Qinglian took her hand and exclaimed, "Li-bao, you look so healthy!"

A soft chuckle drifted from the corridor. When they looked over, they could only see a few blurred figures passing by.