Chapter 48: A sneak attack!

So annoying.

‘Where’s the promised break?’

‘Instead, I spent the entire day today.’

‘Negotiating contracts.’

‘Though, since I decided to become an idol, I shouldn’t think with the old nine-to-five office mindset…’

Orange Quiet Forest usually watched interviews of retired entertainers, so she roughly knew the dirty tricks of this circle.

When popular artists were really busy, they’d fly to three cities in one day and work year-round without breaks.

But when it came to herself, she still found it really annoying.

‘Didn’t touch the computer all day. How am I supposed to game?’

Luckily, Chu Yong had some conscience.

She said that until they set off to shoot that damn survival show, Quiet Forest didn’t have to clock in at the company anymore.

She didn’t even have to go to daily singing and dancing practice!

That meant Orange Quiet Forest could legitimately stay home and slack off for the entire next week!

Plus, because a few short-credit classes had ended at university, Quiet Forest didn’t need to attend so many early eight classes every day.

‘Finally, I can enjoy myself to the fullest.’

Orange Quiet Forest happily planned in her mind.

For the next seven days, except for required lectures, she wouldn’t go anywhere.

She’d just lie in her room playing games, reading novels, watching anime, and enjoying her time.

‘Ah, always going out to see people, always working—it’s really tiring.’

‘Especially today, I put on the Young Lady act in front of outsiders for a long time. I haven’t done that in a while.’

‘That consumes a lot of energy, you know.’

‘So I need to recharge at home.’

Fortunately, today’s collaboration talks went smoothly.

Aunt and Chu Yong were both happy, so they gladly gave Orange Quiet Forest, the core of this ad, a break.

‘Oh well…’

After the two dinner parties ended, Orange Quiet Forest put on her baseball cap and wandered around, planning to go home.

Since the car from home hadn’t arrived yet, Quiet Forest glanced at the Luo X convenience store on the corner and decided to buy some things first, then wait slowly.

Looking back on today’s twists and turns, even though it was fulfilling, the final result was quite satisfying.

Especially when Quiet Forest activated Young Lady mode again during a negotiation stalemate and successfully wrapped up the talks.

‘So satisfying.’

‘The Tea Art of retreating to advance—I’ve been using that since I was little.’

‘In this world, who can refuse a beautiful, younger, pure black-haired straight long Young Lady, looking at you with sincere eyes, acting weak and coquettish?’

‘Pretending to be good to survive in the Orange family since childhood—who knew it would work well on the entertainment industry negotiation table.’

‘Though I’m saying this myself…’

‘Ah, I know I’m good-looking.’

‘But…’

‘It does feel very affected.’

‘Life is like a play—it all depends on acting.’

‘This time it was to successfully sign the contract, not like I intentionally acted coquettish.’

‘Meow meow!’

In high spirits, Orange Quiet Forest swept through the convenience store shelves generously.

She bought a large pile of high-calorie chips and snacks, plus many carbonated drinks in various flavors, and some juice.

Pushing her shopping basket, Quiet Forest hummed a little tune, thinking about her happy life for the next week.

‘Ah, not bad.’

At this moment, even Orange Quiet Forest herself didn’t realize that the song she was unconsciously humming was exactly her Fujiriria persona’s debut song—Winter Wait.

That’s how people are often.

When they do something subconsciously in a relaxed state, they don’t notice the details, and even forget it soon after.

That’s human short-term memory.

Logically, humming a few lines in a bustling convenience store shouldn’t be a problem.

But…

The young clerk with black-rimmed glasses standing at the register, as he picked up the scanner to scan the barcodes of Quiet Forest’s snacks—

“Beep—beep—”

Along with the machine’s sound, the clerk heard the tune Quiet Forest was humming, and her distinct pronunciation.

The male clerk’s scanning hand paused.

Behind his lenses, his expression suddenly became extremely subtle.

He lifted his head and stared intently at Quiet Forest’s face.

However, at that moment, Quiet Forest was looking down, busy clearing stamina in a gacha card game on her phone.

She didn’t have the leisure to care about a random cashier’s expression.

“Please come again.”

After paying, Orange Quiet Forest laboriously carried two huge plastic shopping bags with both hands and continued humming as she walked out of the convenience store.

Then, Quiet Forest walked to a somewhat dim bus stop bench by the roadside, sat down, and waited for the family driver.

The things were too heavy, so she put them aside, and simply sat down to play her mobile game.

Suddenly, a man approached her.

Wasn’t that the male clerk from the convenience store? He had run out without even taking off his work clothes?

The male clerk rubbed his hands together and lowered his voice.

“Excuse me… are you Fujiriria?”

“Boom—”

Orange Quiet Forest’s mind went completely blank.

‘Oh no! Exposed!’

Orange Quiet Forest had no idea at that moment that she had hummed her own personal song in the store.

She was completely confused and thought she had been recognized because she casually said “No bag” when paying?!

‘Are netizens’ hearing abilities this terrifying these days?’

To be honest, if it were just a few normal exchanges in conversation, even the most hardcore fans would have a hard time instantly associating a real person with a virtual avatar in a real-world setting.

But humming was different.

Especially Fujiriria’s personal song.

This top-tier black-haired straight long beauty in front of him, wearing a baseball cap and buying a bunch of junk food—maybe it really was her!

If that were true, he’d have hit the jackpot!

“You’ve got the wrong person.”

Quiet Forest suppressed the storm inside her and denied it flatly.

At the same time, she discreetly slipped her hand back into her sleeve and skillfully blind-tapped on her phone screen.

She quickly sent Orange Peach and Orange Berry a distress signal and her location.

‘Don’t do this, don’t do this, don’t do this.’

‘This move is critical.’

‘Come quick, come quick, come quick!’

‘How can I play this without you guys?’

Not long ago, Quiet Forest had been screwed over because her teammates didn’t come to support her.

Could she get screwed again in real life?

Orange Peach was because she was her mother, and Orange Berry was because her identity was about to be exposed before her official debut!

‘Is this, is this a screw-up?’

Now Orange Quiet Forest could only pray in her heart that those two at home would see the message and come quickly.

She had no confidence in getting away cleanly before her identity was completely revealed.

And Quiet Forest pretended to look at her phone nonchalantly, but actually kept a wary eye on the man’s movements.

Judging by his age and attire, he seemed like a male college student from a nearby university working a part-time job?

Quiet Forest’s gaze was locked onto the man’s hands.

She had to constantly watch to see if he was about to take out his phone or if he was wearing any hidden camera.