Jiang Ye and Cheng Zhen's secret drinking was eventually discovered by the manager.

Cheng Zhen didn't have much of a tolerance for alcohol either. After drinking two cans, she started slurring her words.

Jiang Ye told her her story and calmed her down, thinking she was fine. She decided to let her take a nap to adjust her mood and went to the convenience store.

Unexpectedly, Cheng Zhen didn't fall asleep and actually got up.

She was so drunk that her feet felt unsteady, and not long after going out, she bumped into the glass door in the hallway, scaring the manager into thinking a trainee had committed suicide due to stress.

The result was that Cheng Zhen obediently confessed everything.

So, when Jiang Ye returned from the convenience store with a big bag of things, she was still confused when the manager declared her an accomplice and locked her up with Cheng Zhen to write a 2,000-word self-criticism.

Jiang Ye: "?"

What did she say when she was drinking with Cheng Zhen?

Gosh, it really came true.

"I heard you two got caught?"

Liang Yu poked her head over, clicking her tongue, "You two are useless, how could you get caught?"

Jiang Ye didn't look up and replied, "If you keep messing around, I'll expose you too."

Liang Yu put her index fingers together, raising them, "Okay, I'm leaving."

By now, Cheng Zhen had mostly sobered up.

But she had only written two lines when she slumped down again in frustration.

"2,000 words is too much,"

She mumbled, "My self-criticism for making a big mistake in school was only 1,000 words. Now I just drank a little bit of alcohol, how can I write 2,000 words of mistakes?"

Jiang Ye: "..."

She also felt wronged, but she had been punished, so she could only continue, "Write properly."

"The manager just said that our self-criticism will be displayed on the notice board on the first floor of the dorm building."

It was like a large-scale public execution.

Cheng Zhen rolled her eyes and fell onto the white paper, even less willing to write.

Trainees who had heard about the gossip came to their dorm to watch.

Combining the information they saw on the forum, some trainees couldn't help but guess, cautiously asking Cheng Zhen, "What's wrong? Are you alright?"

Some also quietly probed, "Cheng Zhen, are you really Cheng Muhe and Yang Lin's daughter? Wow, that's amazing, I really like your mother!! If I have the chance, can you ask her for an autograph for me?"

Jiang Ye: "..."

They really asked the wrong question.

She looked at Cheng Zhen, who was biting her pen, without answering, her expression clearly even more sullen.

Next came Tan Meng.

She looked around outside the door for a while, looking like she wanted to come in and see them but was a little embarrassed.

Jiang Ye glanced at her and smiled, "Are you guarding the door for us?"

Tan Meng: "... No."

During the third performance, Cheng Zhen had stayed with Tan Meng in the practice room for a whole week, under Tan Meng's devilish training, causing her to have a conditioned reflex whenever she heard her voice.

Subconsciously, she sat up straight and started writing furiously.

Jiang Ye: "..."

Is Tan Meng her winding key?

"You got caught drinking, you two are so stupid."

Tan Meng finally came in and pretended to be nonchalant, "How many words are left?"

Jiang Ye glanced at it and said, "A thousand."

Cheng Zhen: "?"

Looking at her self-criticism, which she hadn't even written 500 words in half an hour, she gritted her teeth and rounded it up, "I also have about a thousand left!"

Jiang Ye looked at the number of lines on her paper, which clearly had a significant difference from her own: "..."

Cheng Zhen winked at Tan Meng.

"Don't look at me."

Tan Meng immediately said, "I won't help you two write, don't even think about it."

Cheng Zhen shook her head and asked, "Don't you want to ask me anything?"

The others who came to see her earlier had left, but most of them had indirectly asked her if the gossip online was true.

This was actually very normal.

After all, gossip is a basic human instinct.

With such a big piece of gossip, and it wasn't negative, it was normal for them to ask her about it.

So, she naturally thought that Tan Meng had hesitated for so long at the door and then avoided the topic after entering because she was embarrassed to ask about it.

So, she simply brought it up first.

Tan Meng didn't say anything.

Although it wasn't exactly the same, she suddenly felt that Cheng Zhen at this moment was a little similar to herself during the initial evaluation, when she was overshadowed by Jiang Ye's aura.

-"You also want to ask Jiang Ye about something, right?"

-"Don't you want to ask me anything?"

"It's too much."

Tan Meng said, "I don't care about you."

Her gaze drifted, then she couldn't help but add, "Besides, what does your business have to do with me?"

Jiang Ye: "..."

She tried her best not to laugh, pretending she wasn't there, continuing to quietly write her self-criticism.

Cheng Zhen blinked again.

Tan Meng's words were definitely not friendly, but she felt inexplicably happy.

She smiled, "Thank you."

Tan Meng: "... Thank me for what?"

Cheng Zhen didn't answer, she just said, "Just thank you."

Tan Meng: "..."

She looked at her for a while, then sat down.

She had just said that she definitely would not help her write the self-criticism, but seeing Cheng Zhen's slow writing speed, she couldn't help but help her write a template.

The self-criticism template she wrote was very general.

Jiang Ye also copied a couple of sentences, and now they only needed an ending to finish.

Cheng Zhen's thoughts were still wandering as she wrote. After writing for more than ten minutes, she still had about 800 words left.

She mumbled and complained about the manager being too strict while writing, when her phone suddenly vibrated.

Cheng Zhen, who was like a child being forced to do homework, suddenly found a legitimate reason to avoid writing, excitedly picking up her phone to answer it.

"Hello."

Cheng Zhen listened to the voice on the other end, her brows drooping, "Oh, Mommy."

Cheng Zhen's mother had also heard about this.

She wasn't very angry about Cheng Zhen secretly participating in the talent show, she simply asked about Cheng Zhen's recent situation, then got to the point.

"Do you want to continue being an idol?"

"I heard that being in a group is very tiring, baby, why don't we just buy a spot and come back?"

"If you want to enter the entertainment industry, your dad and I can help you. You can do whatever you want, why debut with this group? It's tiring."

Cheng Zhen puffed out her cheeks and insisted, "I don't need it."

"... Okay, since you've already decided, there's nothing we can do."

"Then, do you want to be the C position?"

"I think my daughter has worked so hard to participate in a talent show, if she's not the C position, it wouldn't make sense, right?"

Cheng Zhen's voice was a little loud, and Jiang Ye, who was writing the ending of her self-criticism, heard it.

Jiang Ye: "..."

She's still thinking about her position.

However, meeting Cheng Zhen's anxious gaze, she very consciously looked up at the ceiling, signaling that you two can chat happily, don't worry about me.

"No."

Cheng Zhen firmly repeated, "Absolutely not."

"From childhood to adulthood, everything has been arranged for me. I came to participate in this talent show to see if I could be liked by people on my own, without you two."

The people who like her wouldn't say to her, "Cheng Zhen, you're your parents' daughter".

They would say, "Cheng Zhen, you're amazing, we really like you".

"... Okay, okay, I know, I'll come back to see you two after I debut."

Cheng Zhen paused, before hanging up, she still said obediently, "Thank you, Mom."

Cheng Zhen hung up the phone.

Jiang Ye, who almost lost her C position, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

She finished writing the ending of her self-criticism and asked her, "Are you really okay now?"

Cheng Zhen nodded vigorously, "I'm okay now."

"Before, I really came here because it sounded fun, but it's not anymore."

Now, she had fans who liked her, fans who cared about her every move, and fans who saw her as Cheng Zhen, an individual.

She also had a group of very good trainee friends who didn't treat her differently because she was Cheng Muhe or Yang Lin's daughter.

These were experiences she had never had before.

"If I can, I want to debut with you two."

Cheng Zhen looked at Tan Meng again, earnestly saying, "And, I still want Tan Meng teacher to teach me how to dance."

She started trying things she wasn't good at before, breaking through her limits, and feeling great joy at every compliment she received for her improvement.

She thought that now, she should have the right to say, "I have my own dreams."

Tan Meng looked at her for a while, then nodded, "I understand."

Before Cheng Zhen could say thank you, she continued, "But please don't cry when we practice dancing and stretching, don't wipe your tears on my clothes, and don't hit me while shouting 'Mom, I want to go home', okay?"

Jiang Ye: "..."

She suddenly wanted to know what happened in their practice room during the third performance.

I have to say, Teacher Tan Meng, you've worked hard.

The seventh episode hadn't aired yet.

But the trainees had to record some material in advance for the eighth episode's ranking announcement.

All the trainees received a new recording notice today, saying that they needed to record a sentimental segment, where the trainees would encourage themselves before the third ranking announcement.

On that day, each trainee lined up and went in to record individually.

Jiang Ye and Cheng Zhen arrived late and sat outside waiting.

However, after waiting for a while, they found that the expressions of the trainees who came out were not right.

Some covered their mouths, some covered their chests, and some ran away with red eyes.

But when they asked them, they mysteriously said, "I can't tell you, the program team doesn't let me spoil it."

"I can only tell you that it was a very strange experience."

Jiang Ye: "?"

When Lin Zui came out, her expression wasn't good either.

Jiang Ye knew that she didn't like these sentimental segments, and she became even more curious, "What's wrong?"

Lin Zui hesitated, vaguely saying, "There's something very interesting inside, you two better prepare yourselves."

Jiang Ye: "...?"

It was Jiang Ye's turn to go in.

Cheng Zhen encouraged her, "Good luck, tell me what happened when you come out."

Jiang Ye nodded and pushed open the door.

It was a small recording room, empty, with only a seat inside, and a mirror opposite the seat.

The staff member instructed her, "You can sit in front of the mirror, then encourage your future self before the ranking announcement."

Jiang Ye sat in front of the seat, her expression calm as she looked at the mirror.

"The third ranking announcement is coming soon."

"Well, actually, I'm feeling okay now, I didn't expect to get this far-"

When Jiang Ye was halfway through speaking, the lights in the room suddenly dimmed.

She was not panicked, she just looked up and quickly found that a terrifying figure suddenly appeared in the mirror in front of her.

With disheveled hair, pale skin, and only bloodstains around her eyes and mouth.

A clear ghost image.

Jiang Ye: "..."

She stared at her calmly for two seconds, then said, "Hello, sister."

Jiang Ye pointed at her own face and smiled, "You have some cakey makeup here."

The staff member playing the ghost: "???"

Are you a devil?