This Girl Forced to Become an Entertainment Company Boss

Chapter 114

Unlike previous pop-up stores where customer traffic decreased over time, this time the pop-up store format saw increasing foot traffic as positive word-of-mouth accumulated. It even unexpectedly helped Random Entertainment break through to a new audience.

It was an event that could captivate even non-fans.

The trainees shining in front of the cameras easily became role models for young women. Their stage makeup, casual outfits, and overall style became objects of curiosity and imitation for many.

Pei Zhiping's group of four, already popular to begin with, stood out even more with their eye-catching makeup and costumes. They became the subject of study for many beauty bloggers. Recently, opening one's phone meant seeing makeup tutorial videos recreating their looks.

Moreover, even their everyday outfits worn while entering and exiting the company became hot topics these past few days. Many small fashion items they wore were quickly copied and sold out.

Among them, Pei Zhiping's popularity was the highest. While not necessarily the prettiest, she had distinctive features and carried herself with the elegance of a Siamese cat.

Born with naturally low melanin, she was exceptionally fair-skinned. Her pupils and natural hair color were a deep tea color. Because yellowish hair would make her look sickly, she dyed her hair black. This made her tea-colored eyes an even greater object of curiosity.

Various brands claimed she was wearing their colored contacts, causing contact lens sales to rise dramatically.

In the previous season, Ye Xing was the trainee with such widespread popularity. This season, Pei Zhiping's popularity surpassed that several times over. While die-hard fans might not outnumber male fans, her broad appeal was unprecedented in recent years.

Even the rising starlets of the past two years couldn't compare to Pei Zhiping's popularity over this past month.

Pei Zhiping's star power alone brought many new viewers to the second season of "21 Heartbeats of Youth". As the show progressed, audiences grew to like her more and more, especially admiring the determination and ambition in her eyes. Viewers found it incredibly satisfying to imagine themselves in her place.

After the first public performance, they immediately began preparing for the second one. However, showing only practice footage would be monotonous, so a day off was arranged for them.

On the surface it was a break, but in reality, it was an opportunity to showcase the treatment Random Entertainment provided for their trainees.

"Announcement: Tomorrow will be a day off. Trainees may arrange their time freely. Please report if going out. Remember to balance work and rest."

In the show, Han Lemi, who had just finished an intense practice session with her three overachieving teammates, couldn't help but cheer "Woohoo!" when she heard this announcement, despite her exhaustion.

After cheering, she collapsed onto the floor. Sweat dripped from her body onto the floor, her hair clumping into strands. With an expression like she was ready to report to the underworld, Han Lemi whispered faintly: "...Tomorrow I want to eat... rice noodles with snails and fried egg, red bean bread with yogurt, a fruit salad platter... Peking duck, fish in sour soup..."

The other three, who still had some energy left, sat on the sofa drinking water and wiping off sweat. Hearing Han Lemi's food list, Si Yanyu reminded her, "What you just listed adds up to seven or eight thousand calories."

Han Lemi, still a puddle on the floor, flashed a grin. "Ha--"

She kicked her legs playfully, "A few more days of this and I won't want to debut anymore."

"Fine, we'll pass your spot to the next person in line," Yu Dan teased her.

Han Lemi suddenly sprang up like a carp leaping out of water and said with a smile, "My own failure may be scary, but others' success is even harder to bear." She looked at the other three, "You're done practicing for today, right? Then I'm going back to shower!"

"Bye bye," the three said goodbye without showing any intention of getting up.

"Han Lemi is really like my drama queen best friend."

"Haha, Han Lemi is literally me. Those other three are just too hardworking."

"Hahaha, I feel like if Han Lemi practiced a bit longer she'd be a goner."

Han Lemi, who had originally planned to stick it out with them till the end, finally couldn't hold on. In the end, she crawled to the edge of the sofa to pack her things, muttering as she gathered them: "Brought all this stuff and didn't use any of it... Always making trouble for myself."

"I'm leaving, really leaving. You guys aren't going?" Han Lemi asked several times, receiving only head shakes in response. But she really had no energy left, so she hugged her things and headed back directly.

Along the way, she saw many others who had made the same choice. Spotting Xia Simiao and Ji Wensu in the crowd, Han Lemi let out a visible sigh of relief.

Her obvious relief amused the audience watching the live comments.

The show then cut to other trainees' perspectives, incidentally showing the trainee dormitory.

The dormitory could be accessed directly from the company's underground passage. The lower floors of the dormitory were also practice rooms. Because of the separate flow system, female trainees all took the elevator up from the second basement level, never coming into contact with male trainees.

In the elevator, over a dozen people pressed buttons for their floors. Only Han Lemi pressed for the first floor. The elevator doors had barely closed before opening again, and she floated out clutching her bag like a sleepwalker.

Just as viewers were wondering where she was headed, the scene changed to show a small convenience store nearby. The store was inside the dormitory building. After entering, Han Lemi first went to the self-service printer to print a few test papers, then set down her bag, picked up a basket, and started browsing.

Like every girl on a diet, she drooled over the potato chips, spicy snacks, and instant noodles, even picked up and studied the nutrition labels for a long time. In the end, she went to the refrigerated section and grabbed a box of salad to check out.

A while later, other trainees arrived, including Xia Simiao. She went straight for the snack aisle, grabbed several boxes of chocolate and bags of chips, checked out quickly, and left with her purchases.

Han Lemi sat at a long table eating her unappetizing salad with a constipated expression. Watching those naturally thin trainees who never seemed to gain weight buy piles of snacks, her expression changed with envy.

Chewing on lettuce, she lamented, "Heaven above-- it's so unfair that I get fat!"

"Han Lemi is literally me, this is too familiar. I've said every single one of those lines!"

"Hahaha, heaven above, listen to us! It's so unfair that we get fat!"

"She's so pitiful, I can't help but laugh. I'm sorry hahahaha!"

This storyline centered around Han Lemi was edited to include a lot of content. When she browsed the convenience store, the show took the opportunity to showcase the store. When she took her clothes to the laundry room, the program showed all the areas on the third floor. When she returned to her room, they even introduced the room layouts and decor of the popular trainees.

"...Do they still accept 28-year-old trainees?"

"Single rooms are one thing, but they even have private bathrooms?"

"No joke, it's bigger than my room."

The trainees' rooms all had the same layout. Entering the door, there was a bathroom to one side. Further in was the bed and other furniture. Han Lemi had a wooden guitar by her desk, Xia Simiao's room had a wall full of clothes racks, and Ji Wensu's room was piled with stuffed animals.

"I heard online that Timetrain's dorms are single rooms with separate living areas... I'm really envious."

"I could train at Random Entertainment forever without debuting. Food and lodging taken care of, what more could you want!"

"If Random Entertainment is raising trainees to this standard, the trainees have no excuse for lacking skills. I can understand why those two female demons are so fierce."

"Oppressive? Who said it's oppressive? Is your room 180 square meters or something?"

"The girls' rooms are all decorated so cozily."

"Can I get my bias to transfer to Random Entertainment... They haven't debuted yet anyway."

In this episode, Han Lemi's segments took up nearly a third of the runtime. Many clips appeared to be introducing the dormitory environment, but they were all presented from Han Lemi's perspective, explicitly or implicitly.

The audience didn't think too deeply about it and simply enjoyed watching. Only fans who disliked Han Lemi or supported her rivals would make a big deal out of this.

As the episode ended, large numbers of fans became Han Lemi supporters, and online videos about her multiplied.

Already a popular member, with just a little exposure, her popularity could quickly rise. This was for the same reason Pei Luming became famous - Pei Luming relied on her own cuteness and personality, while Han Lemi was the warm pick of many female fans.

She was just like the girls you'd find everywhere around you, real and approachable. Even her criticisms on the show were considered to be speaking for everyone.

Unlike those strikingly beautiful ambitious girls, Han Lemi still had a childish look on her face, round and plump, looking like a soft, squeezable little bun.

Add to that her pear-shaped figure, and Han Lemi stood out among the long-legged trainees who resembled Dobermans, Border Collies, and Golden Retrievers, looking more like a short-legged Corgi.

Aliali: 67358287d72ede934945062fWith her adorable appearance and slightly pessimistic personality, she was the only gloomy yet sweet girl among the popular trainees.

The popularity battle between Pei Luming and Ye Xing from the last season was now being re-enacted. The surge in popularity led to clips from previous episodes being dug up and savored in detail.

None of Han Lemi's little actions in the corner escaped notice. Things like slacking off at the back during dance lessons, sneakily dozing off in others' camera shots, or her expression when hearing "let's practice one more time" while practicing with three overachievers - all of these were exposed, leaving her no privacy at all.

"If I were to participate, I'd probably look just like that..."

"I love ambitious people, but I can't be ambitious at all. I'm all about loving myself."

"She's so cute, don't lose any more weight, or there'll be nothing left of that chubby face!"

"Pei Luming was uniquely cheerful among the serious boys, Han Lemi is uniquely slacking off among the competitive girls."

"Mommy really loves our little bun, she's so adorable! She's just a 16-year-old girl! If you want to scold someone, scold me! I'm the one who made her eat!"

"The way she dozes off during dance class is exactly like me in math class. Her eyes might be open, but her soul is fast asleep."

There will be another chapter before midnight~