Techniques and Dao

Chapter 64 The Arrogant Xiaoming (1)

Sun Xiaoming has been feeling very anxious and irritable lately. As the captain of "HOPE", she leads sixty-three girls and a group of trainees who don't know anything and are disobedient.

In Sun Xiaoming's dormitory bedroom sits an old-fashioned electric fan that is over forty years old. This is a rare item left behind by her maternal grandmother in her youth, during an era of extreme scarcity. It was bought for her grandmother by her maternal grandfather, who went to great lengths to obtain extremely valuable electric fan coupons and rode his bicycle for three hours to the largest department store in the city.

Grandma told Xiaoming that she was happy for a full six months. That summer was the coolest summer Grandma had ever experienced in her life.

When Sun Xiaoming was little, whenever she was unhappy, she would hide in her grandmother's arms. Her grandmother would coax her with candy, and then she would turn on the electric fan. The fan blades would spin, blowing her hair. She would sit on her grandmother's lap and shout at the fan:

"Wow~~ Ah~~~~~"

The fan blades would respond with her childish voice, transforming it into a series of intermittent, rising and falling notes. After each shout, Sun Xiaoming would no longer be angry.

Grandma said that Xiaoming is a good child, and that Xiaoming's singing voice will be heard all over the world in the future.

Many years later, when her grandmother was dying of liver cancer, she ran all the way from her girl group dormitory to her grandmother's bedside, held her grandmother's hand tightly, and didn't say a word, just kept crying. At that moment, she realized that she hadn't held those warm, wrinkled hands for a very, very long time.

After her grandmother passed away, while sorting through her belongings, her parents wanted to throw away this old, broken antique fan. Sun Xiaoming couldn't bear to part with it, so she moved the heavy, broken fan to her room in the dormitory building.

Despite having central air conditioning, whenever Sun Xiaoming was in a bad mood, she would lock herself in her room and shout at the spinning fan blades.

"Ah~~ Ah~~~~~"

In just half a minute, her mood would return to calm, just like when she was a child holding her grandmother's warm hand.

When Sun Xiaoming was six years old, her kindergarten held a New Year's Eve performance, which was attended by parents from the entire grade. Because she was tall and slender among the children at the time, she was chosen to be the lead singer in the choir. At that time, she was a shy child and was never too willing to appear in public, but because it was arranged by the teacher, she practiced repeatedly at home before stepping onto the stage.

That performance had a profound impact on her. When the lights came on and the camera and cell phone flashes of the parents in the audience started to go off, she felt as if she had been suddenly enlightened.

At six years old, she was trembling with excitement. At that moment, she understood that the trembling wasn't due to fear or stage fright. It was because she finally knew this was what she wanted. She, Sun Xiaoming, was born for the stage, for the spotlight.

If goddesses truly exist in this world, then I am one of them! I am the goddess!
When Sun Xiaoming was fourteen, she was selected to join an idol girl group during an audition for its manager. She loves singing and dancing, but she especially loves the spotlight and the camera.

I'd give up everything to be the star of the show! If it requires dancing, I'll learn; if it requires singing, I'll learn; if it requires playing the piano, I'll learn that too! Nothing can stop me from standing on that stage. No, nothing can stop me from standing in the very center of that stage, in the very center of the spotlight!

To maintain her figure, she would skip meals, even fruit, and only drink water. As a result, despite inheriting her parents' genes for being overweight, she was thinner than anyone else in her team. When the team had a meal together, she would pretend to eat a little, and then secretly run to the toilet to vomit it all up before the food started to digest.

She told herself that this was the price to pay to become a goddess!

So when the group was officially named "HOPE" and debuted, she became the leader with the highest score in the overall strength evaluation.

Although "HOPE" and the sibling group "BRAVE" belong to the same agency, they are very different. The company requires "HOPE" to maintain an average age of seventeen, and members over twenty-two must be forced to leave the group and "graduate." This rule is like a countdown, making each member think about the uncertain fork in the road they are about to face every day when they open their eyes.

"BRAVE" has almost no age restrictions for its members.

"They're just 64 brats!"

In Sun Xiaoming's eyes, "BRAVE" is just a bunch of brats. All they do is show off, play games, and do things like posting shirtless photos—things that show a complete lack of intelligence. He doesn't understand why they can attract so many female fans; maybe it's because there are just more and more brainless people these days.

However, the fact that "BRAVE" has maintained a stable membership for many years with almost no internal conflicts or members leaving the group is something she truly envies. "HOPE," on the other hand, which needs to maintain an average age of seventeen due to its different fanbase, experiences member changes almost every year. Older members plan ahead; those with a certain level of popularity plan to go solo, but the future of a solo career is uncertain. Those without special talents either return to school or change careers, becoming ordinary office workers.

The average age limit is cruel for girls. It means that new trainees are entering agencies every year, even every month. And it's almost certain that no matter how hard they try, they'll eventually leave the group in a few years. Those trainees will replace them!
In other words, there will definitely be no place for you in "HOPE" a few years from now, regardless of whether you are the center or not.

Because of the fact that the first batch of members made "HOPE" famous, the twice-yearly trainee recruitment has become more and more popular, and the trainees who come to the audition are more and more outstanding, more and more beautiful, and more and more slender!
Even foreigners are starting to compete for jobs. To prepare for future expansion into the international market, the company has specifically relaxed its selection criteria for foreign nationals. Moreover, many of these so-called foreign nationals are actually of Chinese descent. These days, not only are foreign monks considered more desirable, but foreign women are also more popular.

Then these seemingly pitiful trainees would always surround her, calling her "Miss" or "Teacher Sun." If her manager hadn't been there all the time, Sun Xiaoming would have kicked them out. She could clearly see that beneath those cute, delicate, and sweet-talking bodies likely resided a scheming and selfish soul. Pretentious? Pshaw! I'm not one to be bullied. I've been fighting my way into the group since I was fourteen, and I'm determined to hold this captain's seat until I'm twenty-two!
I'm seventeen now. Let me do the math, I have five more years. In those five years, I'll still be a goddess, I'll still be a queen!

Despite his anger, even Sun Xiaoming had to admit that these trainees were highly qualified. Many of them were proficient in three or four foreign languages ​​and played four or five musical instruments, easily surpassing his own first batch of trainees.

My older sister is under a lot of pressure, and I'm starting to get wrinkles.

Sometimes after a performance, Sun Xiaoming would sit alone in her private dressing room, reserved for the team leader. Looking at herself in the mirror, she saw a hint of weariness.

Those trainees were not only selected from thousands, but they were also incredibly hardworking. They knew that someone leaving the group didn't guarantee their place. Natural beauty was merely a stepping stone, not the deciding factor for becoming a full member. You not only had to train diligently, but also cultivate your image. You not only had to reject unwanted advances, but also knew when to attract them.

Otherwise, no matter how beautiful or talented you are, to the management company you are just like a beautifully packaged empty shell, with no lasting economic value.

Sun Xiaoming knew perfectly well that although things seemed glamorous, the entertainment company was ultimately in the business of attracting hormones. Whoever couldn't attract, their story with "HOPE" was over. Here, nothing was easier than replacing a member, even if it was the leader.

A fan who screamed for you must have screamed for other idols at the same volume.

Being a fan of you isn't a contract. Besides, even a contract like marriage is as fragile as a snowflake in this day and age.

Seeing those vibrant trainees, Sun Xiaoming herself wanted to rush up and pinch their plump, rosy cheeks. How much more so for the fans?

After all, she was only seventeen years old. Facing the formidable trainees, she couldn't handle it on her own. Therefore, she needed to rely on the strength of more current members.

This is a war, understand? A war of popularity that we absolutely cannot lose!

Once you lose popularity, all that's left for you is to annoy others.

As the saying goes, many hands make light work. However, what followed was the second problem that gave Sun Xiaoming a real headache.

These days, teams are getting harder and harder to manage!
While it may take time for interns to challenge her position, it is entirely possible for active members to dethrone her as captain.

In the past two years, assassins carrying out political murders abroad have started using drones. This shows that the methods of persecution are also evolving with the times. Who knows, someone might stab her in the back.

Before a performance, my costume was cut up. I've also experienced things like having a mysterious insect put in my teacup.

This is also what worries Sun Xiaoming. If he's constantly on guard, he'll be hospitalized with depression before he even gets pushed off the stage. Of course, a long-term hospitalization would inevitably mean saying goodbye to the stage—no, goodbye forever.

But fortunately, one thing is certain: she has been able to maintain her position as captain for many years. This is probably the fundamental reason.

Because these girls who want to oust her aren't united at all! Everyone wants to be the captain, everyone wants to be the top, everyone wants to be in the center, no one is willing to submit to anyone else, all they do is fight and argue all day long! Sixty-odd girls, but more than a hundred hearts!

This is a collection of scattered sand—people with dreams, ambitions, perseverance, and talent—that have come together because of the stage and the spotlight!
As long as Sun Xiaoming helps one group suppress another today, and helps that group kick this group while it's down tomorrow, and then hugs a few hot-blooded, simple-minded, single-minded tough girls with questionable intelligence and uses them as pawns, in the end, the only one who can truly be in charge is me, Sun Xiaoming!

Loose sand isn't entirely useless. With water, it becomes a sand sculpture. No, "sand sculpture" is too harsh a word! With cement, it can be transformed into an artistic sculpture. Even if sand eventually crumbles, it was at least once magnificent!

Fragile soap bubbles possess a beauty that the resilient cannot match!

So as long as Sun Xiaoming is around, "HOPE" must look beautiful! Just like me!
I'm arrogant, I'm jealous, I'm scheming, I'm cunning. But I know I'm a good girl.

No, she should be called a goddess!

(End of this chapter)