When the training room door was pushed open, a wave of air rushed out, carrying the mixed scents of wooden floor wax, faint sweat, and the dust from old curtains.
The afternoon sunlight streamed through the tall windows, casting several glaringly bright patches on the polished, mirror-like maple floor, where dust danced silently in the light.
The room was spacious, with floor-to-ceiling mirrors embedded in three walls, visually extending the space infinitely and exposing every subtle movement and expression without mercy.
Professional audio equipment stood in one corner, and on the other side was a barre for stretching.
The air still held a faint residual warmth and vibrant energy left by the previous group of users.
Su Yuqing led Bai Wanxue into this emptiness, their footsteps creating soft echoes in the silence.
She had dressed Bai Wanxue in a relatively simple, form-fitting black training outfit today.
The silver-gray hair was tied up in a neat high ponytail, revealing a smooth forehead and those pale red eyes that always seemed overly calm, no matter the situation.
This attire made her lose a bit of the mysterious, antique elegance of the British maid uniform, gaining instead the neatness of a trainee.
However, that unique, “non-human” aura that felt out of place with her surroundings did not diminish because of it.
“Alright, this is the place.”
Su Yuqing stopped walking.
Her voice sounded exceptionally clear in the empty training room, even carrying a faint, barely perceptible echo.
She turned to face Bai Wanxue, her tone striving to maintain a businesslike steadiness.
“Starting this afternoon, you will officially begin systematic training in professional skills as a new idol trainee. Vocal training, dance, physical form, expression management… a lot of content. You’ll need to learn everything from scratch. It will be very hard. You need to be mentally prepared.”
Bai Wanxue listened quietly, her gaze slowly sweeping over the massive mirrored walls, the barre, and finally settling on the patch of floor illuminated by sunlight in the center of the room.
She nodded gently.
“Wanxue understands. Meow.”
Just then, the door on the other side of the training room, which connected to the preparation room, was pushed open.
A figure walked in with rhythmic steps.
The newcomer was a woman who looked to be in her early thirties, with sharp, short hair.
She wore loose black cargo pants and a tight-fitting sports tank top.
Her posture was upright, her steps carrying the unique lightness and strength of a dancer.
Her wheat-colored skin was firm and smooth, and her eyes were as sharp as a hawk’s.
Even without much expression on her face, she exuded an undeniable professional aura.
She held a folder and a pen in her hand, walking straight toward the two of them.
“This,” Su Yuqing immediately turned sideways to introduce them, “is Teacher Lin Wei. She is currently the most senior and also the strictest all-around vocal and dance instructor in our entire Xiaozhua Agency. For a long time to come, barring any unforeseen circumstances, your basic training should primarily be handled by Teacher Lin.”
Lin Wei stopped before the two of them.
Her gaze swept over Su Yuqing’s face like a searchlight, then, without any courtesy, she looked Bai Wanxue up and down with an assessing air.
The look was not friendly.
It was more like examining a commodity waiting to be priced, one that might have hidden flaws.
She merely gave a slight nod, which counted as a greeting, and didn’t bother with polite phrases like “please guide me.”
Under her scrutiny, Bai Wanxue neither showed the timidity common in newcomers nor deliberately tried to ingratiate herself.
She just looked back calmly, her pale red eyes clear and transparent, as if the person being examined wasn’t her.
After a brief silence, Bai Wanxue seemed to suddenly remember something.
She tilted her head slightly, looking at Su Yuqing, and spoke in her characteristic tone with a questioning lilt at the end.
Her voice was especially clear in the quiet practice room.
“One person?”
She blinked, seeming somewhat confused.
“But Wanxue remembers, Mas—”
“Hmm~?”
Su Yuqing almost immediately let out a short, warning sound, cutting off the address that was about to be uttered.
At the same time, she shot a quick glance at Lin Wei.
Bai Wanxue’s words halted.
A flicker of something resembling “understood” passed through her pale red eyes.
She changed her words very naturally, as if the pause just now was merely a moment of thought, and continued in her straightforward tone.
“Big Sister Yuqing, when you brought me here earlier, didn’t we see many, many other girls along the way? They looked like they were also new trainees, right? Why is it that now, when it’s time to formally meet the teacher and start training…”
Her gaze swept over the overly spacious training room, currently occupied only by the three of them, and her confusion became more apparent.
“…it’s only Wanxue all alone? Meow.”
The question was naive, yet it directly pointed out the abnormality.
Usually, training for newcomers, especially in the early stages, is mostly group classes.
This allows for mutual encouragement and saves on teaching resources.
This kind of treatment—having a separate training room reserved and one-on-one guidance—is definitely not something an ordinary trainee can enjoy.
Before Su Yuqing could think of an official explanation, Instructor Lin Wei, standing to the side, let out a scoff.
She crossed her arms, looking sideways at Su Yuqing with a mix of undisguised teasing and a hint of sarcasm in her slightly hoarse yet powerful voice, picking up the thread.
“Why alone? Isn’t it simple~”
She drew out her tone, her gaze circling Su Yuqing’s slightly uncomfortable face.
“Because your dear—beloved—manager sister here specially filed a report with the higher-ups. She specifically applied to vacate and reserve this A-Class training room, which has the best location and the newest equipment, for you alone.”
She took two steps forward, leaning close to Su Yuqing.
She spoke almost in a whisper, but ensured everyone present could hear, continuing.
“Tsk tsk, I say, Yuqing, oh Yuqing~”
She shook her head, the teasing in her tone deepening.
“If I remember correctly, that ‘ancestor’ you brought over before—Miss Zhi Ai—didn’t even enjoy this kind of ‘monopolizing one’s own territory’ VIP treatment when she first came to Xiaozhua, right? At the very beginning, wasn’t she also squeezed into the big training room with the other seedlings, fighting her way out purely on strength?”
She straightened up, her gaze shifting back to Bai Wanxue, who was listening quietly, then flicking back to Su Yuqing.
The corner of her mouth lifted into a meaningful curve.
“Time really flies like an arrow, and the days and months pass like a shuttle~ Tell me, how is it that as you get older, your heart gets more and more biased, more and more soft? Hmm?”
This barrage of veiled criticism made Su Yuqing’s expression turn somewhat ugly.
She knew Lin Wei had always been blunt and outspoken, especially disapproving of certain phenomena within the agency like “resource tilting” and “favoritism.”
She had probably long harbored a bellyful of opinions about Su Yuqing, a manager who once rode high on Zhi Ai’s success and now had somehow produced another “special newcomer.”
Today’s situation had clearly walked right into the line of fire.
“Instructor Lin.”
Su Yuqing took a deep breath, trying to steer the conversation back on track.
Her tone also hardened a bit.
“Why don’t you just focus on honestly teaching your singing and dancing and completing your teaching tasks? Why bother with all these irrelevant things? The training arrangements are the result of the company’s comprehensive considerations. There are naturally reasons from above.”
She paused, remembering that Lin Wei hadn’t been entirely approving of Zhi Ai before either.
She added another sentence, trying to shut her up.
“And also, don’t you forget, what kind of foundation did Zhi Ai have when she first came? She was almost self-taught in singing and dancing, her talent was visible to the naked eye! Putting her in group training back then was for observation and磨合. Essentially, she didn’t need to learn from scratch! How can that be the same?”
Su Yuqing had intended to emphasize that Bai Wanxue was starting from zero and needed focused, individual polishing.
However, she didn’t expect her own words to instead ignite another powder keg.