Chapter 51: I Have a Fellow Townsman, and a Fellow Townsman of My Fellow Townsman

Chapter 51: I have a fellow townsman, and my fellow townsman's fellow townsman...

The trainees present were all among the top thirty in terms of popularity, selected from the recordings of the first two episodes.

There were also a few others whose popularity hadn't reached the top thirty but who possessed distinct personalities, meaning they provided good variety show effect.

To put it bluntly, an idol survival show is a variety show; it combines competitiveness with entertainment. If it were purely about dancing and singing, Jin Li was certain that half the contestants would have been screened out.

But that is the nature of variety shows: skill is not the primary factor; popularity is the most crucial.

Jin Li greeted them: "Hello, everyone!"

"Hello, Teacher Jin Li!" The youthful and beautiful female trainees, dressed in pink team uniforms, bowed to her in unison.

Jin Li quickly bowed back as well, lest she shorten her own lifespan.

The female producer stood in the center, explaining how the recording would proceed. Jin Li listened while reviewing the script, and then went through three practice questions with the trainees.

The trainees chosen to ask the questions were pre-arranged, one of whom was Gong Jiajia—the first contestant Jin Li had been willing to speak up for.

Gong Jiajia was extremely nervous while practicing the questions with Jin Li, to the point where she was stumbling over her words.

Jin Li met her eyes and smiled gently: "Take a deep breath, calm down, and speak slowly. There's no need to rush."

Gong Jiajia let out a long breath, pressed her hand against her chest, and fought through her excitement to go through the questions.

Following the prompts in the script, Jin Li answered fluently.

This time was just a rehearsal of the questions; Jin Li did not sing. She planned to save the singing portion for tomorrow's actual recording to ensure the trainees' expressions would be as genuine as possible.

Once Jin Li had finished the rehearsal, Gu Cheng and the others approached.

As Jin Li left with the producer, the two groups met in the hallway.

Chen Lin asked, "Sister Jin Li, did you finish going through the process that quickly?"

Jin Li nodded. "It was just a few questions; two rehearsals were enough. The difficulty wasn't high. What about you guys? Are you here to rehearse?"

Just as Gu Cheng was about to speak, Chen Lin interjected, "No, we came to hang out with you. Mainly Gu Cheng wanted to hang out, and the three of us just tagged along to watch."

Jin Li looked at Gu Cheng and asked curiously, "Hang out?"

Gu Cheng:...

He shot a fleeting glance at Chen Lin, his cold gaze seemingly saying: *You're dead next time!*

Gu Cheng replied, "Yeah, and I'm here to pick up some souvenirs from you."

Jin Li thought for a moment. "I left my souvenirs in the car, which is in the parking lot. Do you guys have anything else to do? If not, why don't we go grab them together?"

The members of the boy band March Sky answered in unison, "No, we're free."

As the producer was about to leave, Jin Li called her back. "I prepared something for you too. Come along and get it."

The female producer froze. "Ah, I have one too?"

Jin Li gave a shallow smile, looking warm and sweet. "I bought a lot, but the gifts are quite ordinary—just red strings sold at the God of Wealth Temple. I just hope you won't find them too humble."

The producer shook her head repeatedly. "Not at all, not at all!"

As the group walked toward the parking lot, Sui Lingfang finally managed to dig up some information—and it was from a temporary worker!

Sui Lingfang had asked the official staff if there had been any personnel changes within the production team recently, or if anyone had been suspended or fired.

The staff member didn't ask why she was bringing this up and replied without thinking, "There have been no personnel changes. We are still in the middle of recording; losing even one person could affect the show's quality."

Seeing she couldn't get anything from him, Sui Lingfang went to ask the temporary workers.

The temporary workers all gathered together during lunch. She managed to join their table and casually brought up the topic of resignations.

"Hey, since I brought Jin Li here this time, I feel like the production crew seems to be missing a lot of people. Are many people quitting? How is the pay for temporary workers settled? Is it daily? Can you leave whenever you want?"

Someone said, "We all signed contracts. We have to wait until the recording is finished to get paid, but food and housing are free, so it doesn't cost anything."

"Yeah, you can't just leave whenever. If you leave early, you might not get paid!"

Sui Lingfang asked, "Then don't you feel like there are much fewer people lately?"

After a moment of thought, one person mused, "There are indeed fewer people lately. A few temporary workers were cleared out. The crew didn't give a reason, but I heard from a fellow townsman that..."

Everyone instinctively leaned in.

"I heard from my fellow townsman that one of the people who was cleared out was a fellow townsman of my fellow townsman. My townsman told me that the person who got fired was possessed by a ghost and sold information about the show, and they got caught!"

Another person chimed in, "Speaking of which, I heard something explosive too. I also heard it from a fellow townsman, but I didn't believe it at the time because it seemed impossible."

As the others leaned in even closer, the person lowered their voice and said mysteriously

"I heard there's a huge scandal in the planning department. Apparently, a major producer was embezzling and taking bribes, selling show information and even internal videos to outsiders. That's why they got fired. It sounds like the production team is even going to sue them!"

Sui Lingfang's heart skipped a beat. Hearing this, how could she not understand?

This was almost certainly related to what happened to Jin Li!

Otherwise, why would a perfectly good producer quit or engage in embezzlement? Unless the profit was incredibly tempting. Furthermore, she hadn't heard of any other station exposing scandals from Penguin TV's survival shows.

On the surface, Sui Lingfang remained composed, but internally she was thinking, *Good grief, Jin Li actually guessed it right!*

Unfortunately, Chenxi Entertainment had found out too late.

If the production team's internal issues were truly what caused Jin Li to almost miss the rehearsal, then Chenxi should have charged a higher price for her to participate in the third recording.

How frustrating—Chenxi had been giving Penguin TV a "loyal customer" discount!

With a plan in mind, Sui Lingfang quickly finished her meal and left to call Jin Li.

"Where are you?"

Jin Li was holding her phone in one hand and a large bag in the other, making it difficult to talk.

Seeing this, Gu Cheng helped her take the bag. Jin Li gave him a grateful smile and walked to the other side to reply

"I'm in the underground parking lot. I'm going to the car with March Sky and the producer to get the gifts. I plan to hand them all out."

Hearing that she was with March Sky, Sui Lingfang frowned slightly, but when she heard the producer was also there, she stopped worrying.

Jin Li was a steady person; she knew how to avoid suspicion.

"Did you prepare enough gifts? Don't you need to save some for the Pink Girls?" Sui Lingfang asked.

"Enough. I'm only giving out red strings, and there are definitely enough of those. I'll give the souvenirs to people I'm familiar with first. If they run out, there's a Mazu Temple nearby; I'll go buy more tonight."

Jin Li added, "By the way, Sister Fang, could you help me apply to the production team? I don't want to stay in the dormitory. I want to stay at the temple; I feel like the air there is better for my health."

Sui Lingfang agreed immediately. "Fine, they will definitely agree."

Jin Li was stunned; that was a very absolute statement. Just as she was about to ask something, Sui Lingfang changed the subject: "Have you eaten? Let's have a small meeting this afternoon. I have something to tell you."

She paused, her eyes unreadable. "We've been played by the production team this time."

Jin Li glanced at the people nearby and said, "Let's meet in the dressing room after I finish eating."

***

*Recommendation: A friend's book: "The Chronicles of Song Tan"*

*One-sentence summary: After traveling back from the cultivation world, I returned to my hometown to farm and start a livestream selling vegetables!*

*——*

*Song Tan, who failed her tribulation while forming her Golden Core, returns to the modern world only to find herself at the scene of a multi-car pileup. She only survives thanks to her benefactor.*

*So what is there to consider? Don't be a corporate slave—go back to the countryside and farm!!!*

*Relying on her cultivation experience, Song Tan builds a pastoral paradise, gathers wild vegetables, cooks farmhouse meals, picks cucumbers, livestreams, and sells mountain delicacies...*

*(End of Chapter)*