CH 19

Chapter 19: Shooting preparations

“Lu Ying is in Class B, why did she choose the ocean group?”

Seeing that a Galaxy trainee had not only selected the blue wall but was also behaving closely with Qiao Dai, the room instantly became noisier. The players were talking to each other; they did not understand why Lu Ying would give up on easier themes.

Lu Yi glanced at Qiao Dai and took a deep breath. The truth was that she had noticed Qiao Dai as early as the day they all recorded their self-introduction. At that time, she had really wanted to bring her teammates to the pool but had been rebuked by Lai You.

Lu Ying liked to swim very much and had developed a sense of closeness with Qiao Dai as soon as she had watched the video of her sleeping on the water. And looking at her eager and adorable behavior during the grouping, she gave up and modified her choice with very little hesitation.

She had wanted to join the ocean theme to begin with, but Lai You had asked her to choose the forest one to help Ruan Tao shine. It could be said that most places of the forest group had been taken so Ruan Tao could have the crushing victory she desired.

The reason why Lai You was organizing this little stunt was because Ruan Tao’s father was a major shareholder of Galaxy; long before Lu Ying and the other trainees had joined the draft, the company’s senior management had already asked them to “be smart”. In their team, Lai You and Ruan Tao were the ones getting the most resources and, without consulting with Ruan Tao, Lai You already knew how to direct the other members in order to pave their way to the top. And right now, Lai You had asked them to watch out for Song Yiqi from Class F.

Song Yiqi was also preparing to choose the forest theme, but her personal style was completely different from Ruan Tao. She was not a fairy in the forest but the queen; the entire woods were held in her hand, no matter how dreamy and fairy-like it could look, in front of her it would just become a small piece of her kingdom. Yes, if Ruan Tao was a fairy tale princess, Song Yiqi was definitely the glamorous queen.

The comparison between the two of them was fatal and Ruan Tao was not sure to win. Because of that, Lai You had asked the other girls to join the forest theme to squeeze the lower-ranked Song Yiqi out.

Although this behavior was not against the rules, Lu Ying felt very uncomfortable. It wasn’t that she craved competition, but she would rather meet a strong opponent in a fair fight than using loopholes to ensure victory. She’d rather fail than suppress others.

Therefore, when she had seen Qiao Dai walking toward the blue wall, it had felt like she was creating the way for her. The blue of the wall, the blue of the water, the depths of the sea, turbulent waves raised in her heart, and like unknown magic, Lu Ying was determined to do what she wanted. And at that moment, Lu Ying had felt deeply moved; she did not want to listen to Lai You’s order, she wanted to follow her heart.

Lu Ying could not help but slightly lift the corners of her lips and stood next to Qiao Dai. 

Standing among the Class F players, Lai You cast a dissatisfied look at Lu Ying but the girl just smiled and ignored her blaming gaze.

Lu Ying’s decision to choose the ocean theme had caused a small commotion. Although some of them were secretly sneering, the fact that she had selected the harder theme inspired a few others; the ocean theme, which only had two members, suddenly became more lively and became to grow as normally as the other two groups.

After that, the grouping was over rather quickly. After both the forest and the sky theme were filled one after another, the contestants who were left were automatically assigned to the ocean group. Next would be the official shooting.

The first place of each group would be rewarded by promotional posters; this was only a first step, as long as the girls were successful, they would be able to go further and get more resources in the future. Thinking of this, all players instantly became excited.

The host was also very enthusiastic. He wished all the contestants a good shooting and the atmosphere was once again boiling, every girl’s face full of glittery yearning.

Among this group of girls, Qiao Dai also appeared particularly eager. On the way to the North Island, she was looking straight out of the car with two bright eyes, almost lying out of the window. She looked like a schoolgirl going on an outing for the first time and her fellow contestants couldn’t help but laugh.

Although Qiao Dai had never heard of the North Island, but since it was an island, they should be on the way to the sea, shouldn’t they?

***

The journey from the dormitories to the North Island was smooth and it didn’t take too long for Qiao Dai and the others to reach their destination.

The North Island was the latest investment and tourism project of the Cheng Group. It not only had many dreamlike and beautiful scenic spots but was also filled with the Cheng Group’s most advanced technology. Through virtual technology, visitors could fly in the sky, dive in the deepest sea, and do many other different activities to experience the attraction to their heart’s content. Visitors could either be elves of the forest kingdom, warrior of Atlantis, or gods from the Sun palace… 

The girls just needed a little bit of imagination to guess how grand the official opening of the North Island would be. And being able to get one of the propaganda posters was a huge temptation.

“Hello, <Pick Eleven> contestants. I am the person responsible for you today, my name is Xia Lin.” The person in charge of the ocean group was a young woman in her twenties. She looked very elegant and spoke in a careful manner, with a smile on her face.

“Is she a staff member?”

“That’s what she said.”

“She is so beautiful!”

Xia Lin took the players around so they could familiarize themselves with the place first. The golden sand, the palm trees, the blue of the water; the girls thought they had reached a sea country in a daze. But this was not the reason this attraction was called the Deep Blue Star Sea.

“Next, I will show you the most unique appeal of this place.”

Xia Lin showed the players a faint smile and notified the staff with a microphone. The sky instantly dimmed and the ink-black night surrounded them in a second. But before someone could say anything, they saw lights shining from the layers of the originally azure water, scattered on the surface as if the galaxy had fallen and the stars dispersed all over the sea. 

At the same time, orange lights were slowly lit up. A quiet atmosphere enveloped everyone and the moonlight fell on the sparkling sea; it looked both mysterious and straight out of a dream.

It wasn’t until the lights came back on and the star flickering sea returned to its original appearance that everybody realized that what they had just witnessed was simply a high-tech projection and not the real beach. The place they were now standing in was not even outside but a huge indoor space, even the sky above them was nothing more than an illusion. Despite that, for a moment, they had really thought everything had been real and that they had seen such incredible scenery.

“When it is officially opened, there will be large-scale water performances. Dances will walk on the waves of the sea you just saw.”

Xia Lin outlined the scene with just a few words, and the girls showed fascinating faces. They were both excited and nervous, eager to see it.

After the introduction session, the staff of the program team took the trainees to the dressing room. They had been waiting there for a long time and the makeup artists immediately started to style the girls in order to prepare them for the shooting.

“Daidai, don’t be nervous, look up.”

“Are you sure?”

In the room, Qiao Dai was encountering a little problem. She was sitting honestly on the chair in front of the mirror, her head slightly raised. Lu Ying was holding her chin in front of her, her back against the makeup table, and Qiao Dai’s round eyes were blinking uncomfortably.

“Yes, yes, that’s it, don’t move.”

“The next group can get ready.”

After a while, when Qiao Dai had finished putting makeup on, the rest of the staff came over and knocked on the door of the dressing room to tell this group of players they could head to the shooting venue. Qiao Dai and Lu Ying got up and walked out with the others.

“Let’s find your state first, it will be your turn as soon as this group is finished.”

Xia Lin glanced at the time and helped the girls relax so they could take better photos. After all, she was also responsible for today’s content. She was talking to the players when she heard a loud noise and saw a staff member wearing a badge rush over.

“Quick, quick, get ready! Director Yan is here!”

Instantly, every expression of the staff changed; they looked a little tense and their movements became faster. Even Xia Lin was taken aback and frowned before asking in a low voice: “Why is Director Yan here?”

The man waved at her, indicating he didn’t know either. He was also at a loss now, today’s shooting with <Pick Eleven> had been followed up by the Communication department and he had not heard Marketing would be showing up, and more particularly, the director of Marketing. With Yan Lang’s identity, it made little sense he would come to the Deep Blue Star Sea in person. Thinking about it, the staff member became a little nervous.

But by that time, a man in a suit had already appeared on the scene and the rest of the staff had rushed to greet him.

“Director Yan.”

Xia Lin held her breath slightly and politely bowed her head to the visitor. Yan Lang nodded and adjusted the cufflinks on his jacket before saying: “Make yourselves comfortable, I just came to take a look.”