Chapter 59: CHAPTER 59

Every night when there was a performance, the Chasing Light Girls dedicated forum would be exceptionally lively.

Tonight, the homepage was filled with several performance report posts with different styles.

Some were heartfelt fans expressing their emotions, either moved or excited for their idols.

【Wuwuwu, Lin Zui’s state is back, I’m so happy!】

【Our Shen Zhiyi finally got the C position, my sister is so amazing, wuwuwu, my tears are flowing like the Yangtze River!】

【The human enchantress, Jiang Xiaoye, is wreaking havoc on stage again today! This mother fan is officially turning into a crazy fan!】

Some were CP fans who were obsessed with shipping, randomly posting.

【Meng Xiang Cheng Zhen is killing me today, the airhead and the grumpy one are a perfect match [Yes].】

【I’m ready to invest in Chun Ye Xi Yu, their duet rap is so good, I’m begging for mercy. Friends, if you’re not shipping this, I’m shipping it myself.】

【Lin Shen Ye Mao is steadily scoring points today! All this messing around during the appeal segment, how can they not get married? It’s hard to wrap things up!】

Some were more peculiar.

Although the title was only a few short lines, it was directly pushed to the top of the hot posts today.

【Friends, Jiang Ye dyed her hair today!】

Content: 【Just came back from the performance, it’s red hair! Guaranteed!】

The replies in this post were quite interesting.

【??!! Ahhhhhhh, really? Don’t lie to me! If it’s true, I’m going to run three laps around the building!】

【I was dying in bed, but I sat up when I heard that Jiang Ye dyed her hair!】

【Suddenly hearing that Jiang Ye dyed her hair, I’m so excited I want to throw all my books away!】

【Wuwuwu, I’m crying and screaming, idols should dye their hair!!! I, a devout believer, am willing to eat a balanced diet for the rest of my life in exchange for Jiang Ye dyeing her hair again for the next performance!】

【Then I’m looking forward to Jiang Mei’s ‘I want to dye this thing green.jpg’ next time.】

【Where are the i-blonde fans? We i-blonde fans need to stand up! Jiang Mei’s fair skin looks so good with blonde hair, wuwuwu!】

When Jiang Ye went back to check the forum, she realized that her fans had already planned out her hair color for her.

Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, seven colors for seven days, and occasionally mixing black, white, and gray on holidays wouldn’t be bad either.

Jiang Ye: "..."

Is she a Mary Sue?

Or should she just dye her hair all the colors of the rainbow, preferably the kind that changes color when she cries?

Actually, it’s not her fans’ fault for being so excited.

While other trainees had changed their hair colors several times during their performances, Jiang Ye had kept her original black hair and never changed it.

It wasn’t bad-looking, but following the principle of “If other people’s kids have it, our kid should have it too”, many fans imagined what she would look like with dyed hair.

And then they couldn’t stop.

Not only did fans photoshop her with different hair colors, but the dedicated forum even had a “Jiang Ye Hair Dyeing Wish Fulfilment Check-in Post”.

Jiang Ye scrolled through her fans’ comments and laughed, then felt a warmth in her heart.

It’s really nice to be thought of.

So many people liked her, and they were even incredibly excited just because she changed her hair color.

This was something she wouldn’t have dared to imagine in her previous life.

Jiang Ye squeezed her recently removed dreadlocks, thinking that she could change her hair color again for the next performance.

Well, they would probably like it.

Generally, there is a short break after a performance.

Especially this performance, because it was short, demanding, and involved a group change, many trainees were exhausted, and they went to sleep as soon as they got back from the performance.

Jiang Ye had been up all night for several days, and she was also a little exhausted. She wanted to sleep in for a change.

But the next morning, she was woken up early by Cheng Zhen, who looked equally tired, and told her that they were going to shoot a magazine in the afternoon.

“Shoot a magazine? What magazine?”

Jiang Ye got out of bed groggily, glanced at the name of the magazine on the sticky note Cheng Zhen had taken from the manager, and exclaimed, instantly waking up, “It’s one of the top five magazines!”

Although it was likely just for an e-magazine, Jiang Ye was still very happy, “Our humble light has made progress.”

She casually asked, “How many people are going?”

“I heard the top ten from the last ranking announcement are going.”

Cheng Zhen rubbed her eyes, paused, and continued, “But I heard that Xue Zhihan, because…”

She hesitated and said, “Anyway, she was replaced by the 11th-ranked trainee.”

That makes sense.

After all, the magazine company would also need to consider the impact of the scandal.

Jiang Ye thought for a moment and asked, “Did the other show shoot it?”

Cheng Zhen was stunned, “The other show?”

Jiang Ye nodded, fearing that she did not understand what she meant by “the other show”, and added, “Shining 101.”

“I don’t know.”

Cheng Zhen blinked, “But didn’t that show end? I haven’t heard anything about it before that.”

Jiang Ye: “?”

Jiang Ye made sure the door was closed and that the manager had already left, then quickly took out her phone from under the covers.

Shining 101 had indeed ended its finals two days ago, selecting the debut group for their show.

But Jiang Ye was preparing for the third performance at that time, so she didn’t pay attention.

Jiang Ye searched for the records and data from the night of the finals.

… Shining 101 really had a high start and a low finish, compared to her memory of the previous life, and the debut group didn’t make any waves.

Jiang Ye thought for a moment, then couldn’t help but search for the trainees from Haishang Entertainment.

Sure enough, even in such a flop show, they didn’t manage to get a debut position.

Jiang Ye even found the daughter of the company executive from her previous life, the one who had been a privileged contestant, the one who made her be an accompanying trainee in the show.

As a privileged contestant, her treatment was slightly better, but she only stayed until before the finals.

She was still active on Weibo, but her posts only got a few hundred likes, comments, and shares.

Jiang Ye: "..."

She secretly felt a little smug, but she also felt sorry for the other innocent trainees at Haishang Entertainment. Then, she put away her phone, got out of bed, and prepared for the magazine shoot in the afternoon.

•••

The magazine shoot wasn’t at the studio.

So, the program team sent them out by bus.

This was the first time the trainees had been on an official outing—even though they didn’t even need to take a plane, everyone was still very excited.

Liang Yu asked the manager who was accompanying them, “Will we have free time after the shoot?”

The manager: “… What are you thinking about? No.”

Liang Yu sighed in dejection and could only sit down obediently.

When they arrived at the destination, the photographer said that she wanted to talk to each trainee individually about their creative ideas and confirm the shooting style, so she called the trainees in reverse order of their rankings.

So, by the time Jiang Ye went in last, everyone else was already getting their makeup and hair done.

Jiang Ye knocked on the door, “Hello?”

“Come in.”

“Don’t be too nervous, have a seat.”

The room was simply decorated, as if it had been temporarily set up as a conversation room.

The photographer who was shooting the magazine for them today was named Mai Li, a very elegant woman in her thirties.

“Hello, Jiang Ye.”

Mai Li smiled, “I’ll let you in on a little secret, I’m actually your fan.”

Jiang Ye blinked, a little flattered, “Thank you.”

“And speaking of which, today’s shooting theme is related to you.”

“Because I’ve been following your show, and I really like the concept of your theme design in the first performance.”

“Your stage gave me inspiration, so when I received the assignment to shoot a magazine for you, I made the theme of this issue about another me in a parallel universe.”

“I want to see what your imagined other selves would be like.”

Although Mai Li was talking about the inspiration she got from the first performance.

But when she mentioned the word “parallel universe”, Jiang Ye’s first reaction was to think of her previous life.

“I’ll take two photos of each trainee.”

“One is you now, and the other is your imagined self in a parallel universe.”

Mai Li saw that she was a little distracted and tried to guide her, “Jiang Ye, have you ever thought about what you would be doing now if you hadn’t chosen to be an idol?”

Jiang Ye came back to her senses, “Sorry, let me think about it.”

If she hadn’t been an idol?

Jiang Ye thought about this question, but her mind was blank.

She didn’t seem to have ever thought about what she would do if she hadn’t been an idol.

Actually, if she'd had better options, she wouldn’t have chosen to enter the entertainment industry when she was reborn, right?

But after being reborn, she only avoided the death choice and continued to move towards this challenging path.

Her life plan seemed to only have one option: being an idol.

This was a thought she'd had since she was a child.

When she was in the orphanage, she loved performing for everyone. Seeing the others applaud and cheer made her happy.

If she had anything that could be called talent, it was a natural love for this industry.

Jiang Ye shook her head, thought for a moment, and asked, “I haven’t thought of anything yet. Can I ask the others? What are their imagined selves in a parallel universe like?”

Mai Li flipped through the conversation log, smiling, “Lin Zui said that if she wasn’t an idol, she would probably go back to inherit the family business.”

Jiang Ye: "..."

A rich woman is by my side.

“Cheng Zhen said that her parents didn’t really support her entering the entertainment industry, so her parallel self is probably studying abroad now.”

“Tan Meng said that she might become a teacher, but definitely not a language teacher, maybe a music teacher or an art teacher, something more relaxed.”

Mai Li looked at Jiang Ye with a smile, “What about you? If you had to choose another way to live, how would you live?”

Jiang Ye paused.

She thought for a long time, then said, “I think no matter what universe, I would probably still be an idol.”

Even if it was a universe without idols, she would probably choose a job related to this profession, like a singer or a dancer.

She just wants to live on stage, under the spotlight.

Mai Li smiled at her, “Your passion for this industry is truly unexpected.”

She tapped her recording paper with her beautiful fingers, furrowed her brow slightly, looking a little troubled, “But it’s a little difficult for my shooting theme.”

“If I had to say.”

Jiang Ye thought for a moment, then suddenly said, “The Jiang Ye I imagine in a parallel universe is also an idol, but she didn’t participate in Chasing Light Girls, so no one saw her, no one paid attention to her.”

“No way.”

Mai Li asked curiously, “Darling, is your parallel universe that miserable in your mind?”

She had seen the ideas of other trainees.

Most of them imagined that their parallel selves were also living happily, the worst being living an ordinary life.

Only Jiang Ye had set herself on a similar but tragic path.

Was she worried about something?

Was she thinking about what she would become if she hadn’t succeeded?

Jiang Ye’s gaze inadvertently glanced out the window.

It was early spring, and a butterfly quietly landed on the flowers outside the window.

Its wings were gray-white, plain and ordinary, without any special features, making it easy to overlook.

Jiang Ye stared at it for a moment, then chuckled softly, “Maybe my parallel universe really is like that.”