Chapter 21 - A Wild Party
“Are you certain she’s from that team?!”
“I’m positive.” Zhuo Yiyan heard Guiliana’s exclamation and chuckled.
The contestants who’d finished their runway stood together were taken by surprise when they laid eyes on the approaching Sheng Jiaoyang. Despite having met her inside the house, Sheng Jiaoyang seemed to be more imposing when she walked down the illuminated carpet, causing her gender to become indiscernible.
Is she the same person who went with us to the market to choose her clothes?!
Why was it that their clothes were instantly outed as low-quality goods, while Xu Jiaojiao was able to raise the quality of her clothing into seemingly high-end products? Under the illumination, the black outfit appeared sleek and dazzling, and those not in the know would think that her clothes were made out of expensive materials.
If Sheng Jiaoyang hadn’t been followed by a cameraman while she was choosing her clothes, everyone present would probably suspect that she’d known the rules beforehand and had asked someone to prepare everything and wait for her in the market.
The terrible clothes from the previous models seemed to have been prepared for her, so that she would stand out with the stark visual contrast. Sheng Jiaoyang’s appearance was like a street cleaner that swept away the sand and dust in her path, returning clarity and cleansing the eyes of the audience.
“Wasn’t what she bought a sleeping gown for men…?” the cameraman, who’d filmed Sheng Jiaoyang, mumbled to himself.
“Is she really wearing pyjamas?!” someone exclaimed after hearing the cameraman’s murmurs.
Others looked at the amazed bumpkin with condescending looks. What a pumpkin! There were so many people who walked down red carpets in pyjamas in this day and age, so why should you care about what she’s wearing? It’s alright if it's pretty!
“Xu Jiaojiao? I remember her. Her previous runway walk was too rigid, so I didn’t have much of a good impression then. She’s really changed a lot in the past week,” Guiliana said with an astounded look on her face.
The corners of Zhuo Yiyan’s mouth curled upwards slightly. If his judgement was poor, the past him would have already been beaten up by others a long time ago thanks to his antagonistic nature. This proves that once again, Zhuo Yiyan had a knack for spotting talent.
“This contestant is really remarkable to be able to appear so fashionable in cheap clothes. I’m giving her nine points. I’ll take away one point so that she won’t get too cocky,” another judge piped in.
“I heard that the clothes and look were personally picked by the contestants themselves. This girl is smart, being able to exhibit her creativity so that she would stand out. It looks like she was able to pull it off successfully.”
“That is also a talent in itself.”
“Eh? This contender isn’t yet eighteen?” A judge took notice of her particulars in the namelist. “She’s still so young!”
“But, she acts like a veteran! There’s no sign of immaturity in her at all.”
The judges engaged in fervent discussion, merely glancing at the last contestant and absentmindedly scoring her before continuing their earlier discussion.
The programme director noticed the situation and hurriedly waved to Zhuo Yiyan to signal him.
Zhuo Yiyan nodded slightly before turning to speak to the judges. “Now that all of the contestants are here, would the judges please say a few words so that they’ll be able to improve?”
The judges stopped discussing amongst themselves and took turns to give their comments, praising a few contestants who were exceptional. Of course, Sheng Jiaoyang was one of those praised lavishly.
When the judges were done with their review, Zhuo Yiyan opened the champagne and began to pour it.
Once the large collection of wine glasses were all filled with champagne, everyone present took a glass.
“Cheers!” Zhuo Yiyan raised his glass to toast.
“We’re not going back till we’re drunk tonight!”
All of a sudden, the sound of car horns could be heard outside the courtyard.
As everyone turned towards the entrance, a few figures entered with the lights at their backs.
As they approached, the contestants erupted into an uproar.
“AHHHHHHH!!! God!!!!!”
“Qi An! It’s really Qi An!!!!”
“WTF, I actually get to see Xu Yinuo in person!”
“Ye Fan, Jiang Liqing, Xu Yinuo, Qi An, and Zhou Zhiyu. The five gods are all here. Oh my god, the production team are so good to us!”
“AHHHHHHHHH!!!”
Excitement was high amongst the girls. If it weren’t for the fact that they had to take their image into account, they would have jumped at the guys a long time ago.
Sheng Jiaoyang looked at the girls wordlessly, noticing that even Luo Yi had a look of joy visible in the corners of her eyes. She turned her head to evaluate the male celebrities; they were a mix of youths and middle-aged men. Some were tall and dashing, and some that looked like experienced, aged men.
Was this really necessary?
Must all of you be excited like this?
Even if you’ve seen your favourite idol, can’t you just sit at home silently and lick the screen???
Every one of them was behaving as though they were high on drugs. It was unbearable to watch.
She couldn’t understand the idol worship that these young girls had.
→ _→ Someone had already forgotten that she was the youngest girl amongst the group!
Whilst everyone was clamoring to try and get close to the male idols, Sheng Jingyang was silently looking at everybody’s mystified expressions. When the camera lens swept towards her, her differing expressions and actions were instantly captured.
The cameraman had good reactions, and immediately zoomed in and gave a certain someone a close-up.
With the camera panning over and even pausing on her position for an instant, Sheng Jiaoyang couldn’t pretend to not notice even if she wanted to. Tilting her head upwards, her eyes seemed large and bright thanks to the contact lenses that she wore, and the corners of her mouth curled up as she winked at the camera.
Through the broadcast, online viewers who’d been ranting about wanting to see the male idols were instantly dazzled by her ‘seductive smile’.
[My goosebumps are rising~]
[Mummy, my little heart is being snatched away.]
[B*tch, she dares to rob the idols rice bowls!!]
[Hurry up and tell me! Who is she, who is she, who is she?!!]
[Suddenly, I feel like an arrow just went through my heart.]
…
When the camera had initially panned over the contestants, it was to capture their enraptured expressions and boost the charm of the male idols. However, who could’ve expected such an anomaly. Not only was Sheng Jiaoyang unfazed by the male idols’ flashy entrance, but she even looked down on the girls who fawned over them. That’s not all, she even dared…
TO. TEASE. OUR. DEAR. AUDIENCE!
Cough cough!
The director immediately signalled for the main camera to move.
Tonight’s main focus was the male idols alright? The contestants could be seen anytime, but not the male idols. Especially as a group!
From the view of the cameras, the male idols had different personalities and styles, which satisfied the various tastes of the all-age crowd. In order to establish themselves as a heavyweight variety show, the production team had spent a lot of money to invite them.
The reason the male idols were able to make it tonight was because they just so happened to be filming at a nearby beach. By making an appearance here, they would be able to use their popularity to hype up the atmosphere.
There were seven male idols in total. Amongst the seven, Gu Zhou, the Movie Emperor, had been nominated as the best male lead in an overseas movie festival. So, he’d left the country yesterday. There was also a brat…correction; a youth, bursting with vigor who was absent due to his finals being held during the next two days.
However, it was good enough that the production team was able to invite five out of the seven idols. Just looking at the activity in the online broadcast chat and the rapidly increasing view count was enough to prove the irresistibility of the male gods.
“Looks like we’re late,” said the eldest, Xu Yinuo.
“No, you’re not. Our wild party is just beginning.” Zhuo Yiyan poured a few more glasses of alcohol and passed them around.