Chapter 27: Don't worry, bro!

After eating, Jin Li returned to her dormitory to rest. She felt physically drained; even when she wanted to practice problems, she couldn't concentrate.

After sleeping for thirty minutes, Jin Li felt slightly better and forced herself out of her warm bed.

She didn't bother going to her desk. Instead, she took out her Huanggang intensive workbook and placed it on her lap, leaning against the bed while using her phone to watch a teacher's video explanation of the problems.

Jin Li's mathematical foundation was quite weak; as she learned certain concepts, she often had to go back and supplement her middle school knowledge.

However, mathematics was an absolutely rational subject—one was one, and two was two. As long as a problem was given, an answer could be derived.

Jin Li had no desire to become a mathematician, to delve into mathematical theorems that lacked easy answers, or to challenge world-class problems.

She was content to just drift through high school; her life as a "lucky koi" was one of simply getting by.

She listened intently to the instructor's explanation, occasionally bowing her head to take notes. Immersed in the mystery of logical thinking, she lost track of time.

It wasn't until Sui Lingfang had finished explaining everything to the company and greeted the relevant staff of the production crew that she finally became free, two hours later. She hurried over to check on Jin Li.

As soon as she pushed open the door, she saw this scene—

A light pink coral fleece blanket was draped over Jin Li's legs, with an exercise book acting as a cushion and a test paper resting on top of it.

One of her hands held her phone while the other wrote on the test paper, her expression one of intense focus.

A sliver of sunlight filtered through a slightly cracked window, falling upon Jin Li's hair and casting a faint, shimmering golden glow.

Sui Lingfang couldn't help but freeze.

It seemed that people who worked earnestly were somehow favored by the heavens.

Walking closer to look, she saw nothing but a dense cluster of numbers and various incomprehensible symbols.

The corners of her mouth twitched involuntarily.

Sui Lingfang stared at Jin Li silently for several minutes. Seeing that the girl was immersed in the ocean of knowledge and hadn't even noticed her presence, she couldn't help but speak up.

"Jin Li, are you feeling any better?"

Jin Li first gave a slight nod without looking at Sister Fang, her eyes still fixed firmly on the test paper.

Her brow was slightly furrowed; she was contemplating a difficult problem. Almost there—just a little more and she would solve it.

Sui Lingfang's initial worry gradually subsided.

Jin Li's complexion looked quite normal; she wasn't lacking for time.

After about five minutes, Jin Li wrote down the final number and put down her pen.

She let out a long sigh and lamented, "Sister Fang, math is truly so hard!"

Sui Lingfang glanced at the solution process and thought, *Yikes, that's terrifying.*

"No matter how hard it is, you still solved it. I see you've finished this entire set of Huanggang intensive exercises. How did you do?"

Jin Li shook her head. "Terribly."

Her voice was calm, merely stating a fact without any sense of disappointment.

For someone without a foundation, isn't performing terribly a perfectly normal thing?

Jin Li stretched and snapped back to reality, asking, "Sister Fang, how long have I been resting?"

Sui Lingfang checked her phone. Several WeChat messages had arrived, but she hadn't opened them.

Having survived the midday wave of information bombardment, she wanted to give her brain a break first.

"You've rested for two and a half hours. How does your body feel?"

Jin Li asked, "How much time is left until the recording ends?"

"If you mean the afternoon session, there's an hour and a half left; it ends at five. But there's another recording at six in the evening, which will likely last until ten at night."

Sui Lingfang reminded her, "That's just a preliminary estimate. If the trainees perform poorly later, we'll have to re-record repeatedly, and it will drag on even longer."

Jin Li threw back the covers and got up. "I feel like my body has mostly recovered. I can make it through the end of the afternoon session if I go now."

Sui Lingfang thought for a moment and said, "If you go now, including hair and makeup, it'll take at least half an hour. That means you'll only be on stage for an hour. Why don't you keep resting and just wait for the evening session?"

Jin Li shook her head. "You know I can't stay up late. I definitely won't last until ten during the evening session; I'll probably have to leave by nine. Besides, since my condition is good now, I might as well go record now. We'll deal with the evening when it comes."

Sui Lingfang felt this made sense. Jin Li's physical condition wasn't something she could control at will.

What if she kept resting until the evening, only to find her body wasn't up to it at the last minute?

Suddenly, she heard Jin Li say something lightheartedly.

"I remember Lian Baozhi's stage is in the afternoon session. I'm waiting to see her performance."

Sui Lingfang paused, caught between laughter and tears. "So *that* is the real reason you want to rush to the afternoon recording."

Jin Li gave her a sweet smile but said nothing.

A gentleman's revenge is never too late.

But if revenge can be taken on the spot, there is no need to wait.

...

At four in the afternoon, Jin Li returned to the recording studio.

Lian Baozhi was no longer in the mentor seats; she was in the stage waiting area preparing.

On stage, other trainees were performing the theme song, jumping around and exuding youthful vitality.

Jin Li naturally blended in with the mentors, waving and nodding in accompaniment.

The mentor seating had been changed for the afternoon session, and the boy band "March" had collectively changed into a new performance outfit.

Coincidentally, the "March" boy band was sitting to Jin Li's right, and Ji Qinglian was sitting to her left.

Ji Qinglian noticed Jin Li's return immediately and leaned over to ask loudly, "How is your body? Are you okay?"

The noise on set was immense and chaotic; one had to whisper loudly into someone's ear to be heard clearly.

Jin Li gave an "OK" sign and even gave her a cheeky wink, her expression seemingly saying: *No problem, I feel much better!*

Ji Qinglian immediately reached out to ruffle her hair.

Then, she patted Jin Li's shoulder and pulled her closer so they could whisper.

After about three or four minutes, the two separated and returned to their respective seats.

Just then, another slender hand reached over, gesturing in front of her eyes. Jin Li turned to look.

It was Gu Cheng.

Gu Cheng had swapped seats with a teammate and was now sitting on the edge, close enough to talk to Jin Li.

He leaned down and whispered loudly into her ear, "Are you feeling better?"

The corners of Jin Li's mouth curled into a smile, and she gave him two thumbs up.

She didn't speak, but anyone looking at her expression could guess what she meant.

—*I'm fine, buddy, don't worry!*

Gu Cheng smiled too, revealing a few bright white teeth, but he quickly composed himself, leaving only a faint trace of a smile at the corners of his mouth.

After a moment of thought, he used a mentor cue card provided by the production crew to write a sentence, then handed it to Jin Li along with a pen.

【If you feel unwell, you must say so immediately. Don't force yourself; your health is most important.】

Jin Li raised an eyebrow and wrote back a single, flamboyant character

【OK ^_^】

Just as she passed the card back, the stage lights suddenly went black, and the noisy trainees instantly fell silent.

Jin Li looked up. A beam of intense light descended, and Lian Baozhi made her entrance.