It was six at night when Ning Ran finished her rehearsal. Everything went quite smoothly. I think I did well today.
Right then, Cheng Xiangyun came over, saying that someone was here to meet her.
Walking in the complicated passageway, Ning Ran felt lost as she struggled to find her way around the TV station. When she finally came into an exquisite dressing room, she was surprised to see Nan Chen and her two kids in it.
“Mommy!” Erbao ran over and hugged her leg, hopping with excitement.
“Why are you guys here?”
“This is the first time you’re on the TV. We’re here to support and cheer for you!” Dabao was as mature as ever.
“I’m here to check on your performance as this is the first promotional event for the new series,” Nan Chen said.
Ning Ran let out a groan. “I’m doomed. Not only am I inexperienced, but my preparation time wasn’t enough as well. Not to mention you told them that I’m good at singing, asking me to sing the theme song of the new series, which I’m not familiar with.”
“I think you sing well.” Nan Chen stood his ground.
“You’ve put me in a tight spot,” she grumbled.
The man then glanced at the two kids. “Does Mommy sing well?”
“Yes!” Dabao and Erbao answered in unison without a hint of hesitation.
Ning Ran was stunned for a moment. Poker Face seems to have a significant influence over the kids. How could they support his point of view?
“How dare you two betray me?” Ning Ran tried to threaten the two little ones.
“But, Mommy. You do sing very well,” Dabao explained.
“Fine, if you say so.”
“Phones are not allowed at the live broadcast, so take this.”
Nan Chen then handed her a phone. Isn’t that my phone?
Ning Ran was perplexed. “What are you trying to do? I thought I’m not allowed to bring my phone along?”
“You can. This will give you an edge,” Nan Chen said.
“Why is that so?”
“Usually, there’ll be an impromptu session to test the celebrity’s adaptability. As a result, many screw up during those sessions, and that boosts the show’s viewership. Ten minutes ago, I got wind that there’ll be a Q&A session for this episode. With your lack of adaptability and limited knowledge, you’re bound to lose, so I’m going to give you a hand.”
Ning Ran was stunned before she exclaimed, “What? Isn’t that cheating?”
“Why don’t you scream louder so that everyone will know that you’re going to cheat,” Nan Chen sneered at her.
“Oh my God! You guys are going to help me cheat? To be honest, I like cheating since I was young. How exciting!” A mischievous glint flashed across Ning Ran’s eyes as she bellowed with laughter.
The two kids exchanged glances, and Dabao said with a worried look, “Mommy, you seem so happy about cheating, aren’t you afraid of setting a bad example for us? Especially Erbao.”
“Haha. I’m going to cheat during a show too when I grow up,” Erbao quickly replied.
“This doesn’t count as cheating, it’s more like off-site support,” Nan Chen corrected them in all seriousness.
Ning Ran gasped in astonishment at his words. Wow! He makes cheating sound absolutely grandiose. That’s amazing.
Afterward, Nan Chen turned around and stared at the two kids “Cheating is wrong, so don’t do that. Mommy needs to cheat because she didn’t study hard and became dumb. Therefore, you must study hard so that you’ll be smart because smart people don’t need to play dirty.”
“You’re the dumb one!” Ning Ran retorted angrily.
“See that? once someone becomes dumb, they’ll never realize their own stupidity, just like Mommy. Remember to study hard so that you’ll become smart like Daddy, and you’ll never have to cheat,” Nan Chen continued lecturing the kids with a deadpan face.
I hate to admit it but he just killed three birds with one stone… Teaching the kids the right value, mocking me, and blowing his own trumpet.
The two kids exchanged glances as they tried to stifle their giggles.
With no other retort came to mind, Ning Ran decided to let Nan Chen’s mocking remarks slide.
“What if someone caught me with a phone?”
“Nobody is going to notice it. I’ve switched the phone to silent mode. Just be on the lookout and don’t let anyone see it,” Nan Chen explained.
Just then, someone knocked on the door to inform them that the live show was going to start soon, asking Ning Ran to be in place.
As the lights illuminated the entire place and the music played, the show officially started. The host walked out and was greeted by the enthusiastic cheers from the audience.
After a brief introduction, celebrities from two different production teams showed up.
Although the celebrities from the other team were no superstars, they were still more famous than Ning Ran.
A look of disdain appeared on their faces when the host introduced Ding Mi, feeling absurd that a budding celebrity like her could become the female lead of an upcoming TV series.
The first session was a talent show.
The male and female lead of the other team performed a rip-roaring dance, and the place resounded with applause.
As for Ning Ran’s team, because the male lead of the Sound of Thunder 2, Zheng Lunlun wasn’t around, she could only sing alone on the stage.
The song was pre-recorded, and the vocal was auto-tuned. Therefore, she only needed to lip-sync to the song, and she made it through smoothly.
Nevertheless, she still lost to the other team after the audience’s voting.
Their dance was terrific. It’s only natural that’s I would lose.
The second session was about memorizing scripts.
Each team had to select a representative to draw lots to pick the script. Whoever made ten mistakes while reciting the lines first loses.
If both parties made no mistake, the one who used less time wins.
However, it’s impossible to avoid making mistakes, because reciting any word wrongly was considered a mistake.
Representing her team, Ning Ran drew lots and got script number two.
“The script you’re about to recite will be displayed on the screen behind you, so the audience can spot the mistake along the way. They’ll know if you say any word wrongly,” the host told her.
Turning around to see the script on the screen, Ning Ran was shocked.
It’s different from the ones given to me before the show! Initially, there are three scripts for this session, but it’s been reduced to only two due to the time constraint. Hence, the script I’m going to memorize is supposed to be one of the two. Yet, the one showed on the screen right now is an entirely different script for another scene.
How can it be? Why is this happening? It’s a live broadcast, so I can’t confront the director about giving me a script that I didn’t prepare for. But one thing’s for sure, someone is trying to embarrass me!
“Ms. Ding, is there a problem?” the host asked.
“Who is going to recite it first?” Ning Ran forced a smile, a hint of panic on her face.
“We’ll play rock paper scissors, and the winner gets to decide who will recite first.”
“Okay.”
Fortunately, Ning Ran won when she picked scissors while the other person chose paper.
