Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Ruan Yingying turned to ask Mu Sheng, “Sheng, what did the director say to you during your audition?
“That’s right. Mu Sheng, can you tell us what the director told you during the audition? I am sure the viewers are dying to know.”
Mu Sheng pondered and recalled the director said nothing to her when they met. “I did not audition for it.”
“Is that so?” A strange expression emerged on the reporter’s face.
Ruan Yingying smiled as she watched. She felt Mu Sheng was an absolute dunce. Was Mu Sheng incapable of even coming up with a good lie?
Was she saying she got a spot on “A Journey Through Food” without even having an audition? Who did she think she was? Was she some award-winning actress? Could she not use her brain?
After getting the information he wanted, the reporter stopped asking things and disappeared.
“Sheng, I envy you for getting a spot on the show. This is wonderful.”
Mu Sheng turned cold when she detected the sarcastic tone in Ruan Yingying’s voice. She genuinely could not bear looking at Ruan Yingying a minute longer and left altogether.
Ruan Yingying raised her eyebrow as she watched Mu Sheng leave. “How could you have gotten a spot on ‘A Journey Through Food’?”
Ruan Yingying composed herself before entering the building confidently and opening the meeting room doors.
A few investors were sitting inside and the director looked annoyed.
“Hi, I am Ruan Yingying.” Ruan Yingying smiled politely at the director and looked sweet.
The director felt slightly better when he saw how courteous Ruan Yingying was.
Although he detested letting people appear on his show through connections, he did not mind letting them stay if they had decent performance.
“Are you Ruan Yingying?”
“Yes, I am.”
“I see. Your information says you are a foodie. Do you usually cook?” The director nodded as he flipped through Ruan Yingying’s brief introduction.
Since she was a cook, she was off to a good start.
“Yes, I am.”
“In that case…” The director paused. “How much cooking wine do you add to stir-fried potatoes?”
“Huh?” Ruan Yingying was stunned. She did not expect the director to ask this.
Ruan Yingying contemplated after hearing the question. What kind of condiments did she need to make stir-fried potatoes?
After thinking about it briefly, she attempted to answer him. “I usually add two spoonfuls. It really depends on how many ingredients are used. If I am making a lot, I will add more.”
The moment she finished her sentence, even the investor who occasionally helped his wife cook lost it, let alone the director.
Talent Scout Entertainment had insisted Ruan Yingying was an excellent cook when they reached out to him about getting her a spot on the show. They assured her that she would be a hit on the program.
From the looks of it, the talent agency was clearly lying.
The director was beside himself with fury. “If you can’t cook, why did you lie in your application? Never mind. This is no place for a princess like you.”
The moment he finished his sentence, the director waved his hand in disdain.
“Director… Mr. Wang.” Ruan Yingying looked at the investor earnestly.
There was nothing Mr. Wang could do. The director did not like the idea of allowing investor-backed artists to appear on his program. Now that the director had caught Ruan Yingying red-handed for being a phony, there was nothing Mr. Wang could do to make him change his mind.
Meanwhile, the reporter whom they encountered at the building entrance had already written a news article and posted it online while Ruan Yingying was at the audition.
Ruan Yingying’s and Mu Sheng’s interviews became a hot topic on social media.
Everyone watched as Mu Sheng nodded candidly while Ruan Yingying modestly denied getting a spot on the show.
They thought about Ruan Yingying’s recent social media posts and connected the dots.
In an instant, Mu Sheng became a shameless liar while Ruan Yingying was the epitome of humility.
[I can’t believe it. Mu Sheng is simply lying through her teeth. Doesn’t she know where she stands?]
[Mu Sheng is the queen of lies. Does she think any Tom, Dick, or Harry can get a spot on “A Journey Through Food”? Did she think she got a spot just because the director spoke to her?]
[I am speechless. Even if you are an award-winning actress, you don’t get a free pass and have to audition for the program. Mu Sheng is such a joke. She really needs to take a leaf out of Ruan Yingying’s book. Although she qualifies for the program, she is humble about it. No wonder Mu Sheng isn’t as popular as her.]
Since “A Journey Through Food” was a very popular show, everyone instantly felt Mu Sheng was shameless when word got out.
Talent Scout Entertainment knew nothing about Ruan Yingying getting rejected from the program. They continued doing promotions for her as though she had gotten in.
They made Mu Sheng look bad so that they could promote Ruan Yingying’s humble image.
Just as everyone waited in anticipation for Ruan Yingying to join the show and complained about Mu Sheng’s audacity, Midsummer’s Night suddenly posted an announcement on social media.
@Midsummer’s Night: [Mu Sheng has taken on a new and exciting project. We wish Mu Sheng all the best on “A Journey Through Food”.]
The moment they posted the announcement, everyone swarmed over to look at it.
No one believed the announcement.
Everyone simply felt Mu Sheng was insane, but why was the talent agency saying something as wild as this?
Were they all dreaming?
[Oh god! This is the first time a talent agency lies to cover up for their artist. This is incredible. Do they think they can say irresponsible things just because they are a small agency? This is such a joke. If Mu Sheng is able to get into “A Journey Through Food”, I will eat this pot.]
Someone came online and posted a long message indignantly.
He was expecting people to chime in and agree, but he discovered he was alone. Why did people stop talking? Did his internet go out?
Just as he checked his internet connection, his comments and private messages got filled with messages telling him to eat the pot.
He was absolutely bewildered.
He was at a loss until someone reminded him to check out the program’s official social media account. The moment he checked out the site, he was stunned.
@A Journey Through Food: [Mu Sheng will be joining the show. We hope she will have fun working with us.]
Everyone reacted in shock and responded with posts filled with exclamation marks and question marks.
As though this shock was not great enough, the director of “A Journey Through Food” promptly posted something on social media as well.
@Lao Niu: [She did not have to audition. The moment I met her, I felt she was perfect for the show.]
[Oh god! The director hasn’t accessed his social media account in three months. I can’t believe he showed up to defend Mu Sheng.]
[Was Mu Sheng saying the truth? Were we the only fools? Oh god! What is going on? How could “A Journey Through Food” become so low? How could they hire a minor artist like Mu Sheng?]
[I am so disappointed. I can’t bear watching “A Journey Through Food” anymore. I didn’t expect the director to say that. How could he let Mu Sheng join the show?]
Meanwhile, another piece of news had found its way online.
Someone had posted some pictures on social media.
[According to a reliable source, Ruan Yingying did not pass the audition. Since Ruan Yingying left the filming location huffily, she probably did not get the part.]
Before long, the talent agency posted Ruan Yingying’s schedule for the month.
According to the schedule, the filming of “A Journey Through Food” and her drama filming schedule clashed.
This meant Ruan Yingying was not appearing on “A Journey Through Food” at all.
The talent agency had embarrassed itself badly this time.
After all, the talent agency thought Ruan Yingying was bound to get a spot, so they kept implying Ruan Yingying was going to appear on the program. Also, they kept putting down Mu Sheng at every opportunity.
Now the truth was out.
Mu Sheng was not the one who did not get the part. Instead, it was Ruan Yingying. Things promptly became very awkward.
[Pftt. What’s the big deal? Ruan Yingying doesn’t care about fighting with Mu Sheng over a show.]
[No matter what, Ruan Yingying should have gotten the part. How could they give it to Mu Sheng? Did she get it because she is rude, scheming, and always steals the limelight?]
[I will boycott Mu Sheng. From now on, I swear never to watch “A Journey Through Food”.]
Since Mu Sheng used to have a bad reputation, the moment the show supported Mu Sheng on their official social media account, they lost 20,000 followers. Everyone changed their avatar to boycott the program and demanded the director to take Mu Sheng off the show.
Meanwhile, at the filming location, the staff showed the director what people were saying online.
“What should we do? Everyone hates us.”
“A Journey Through Food” always had a good reputation and was high quality from the beginning. They had never encountered this before.
Now that everyone was talking about boycotting “A Journey Through Food”, everyone could not help feeling flustered. Was this season going to end up with the lowest viewership in history?
The director glanced at the comments nonchalantly.
If he had to worry about everything the viewers said, the show would never have become such a success.
“Why should we be afraid of them? We just have to focus on the job. They might hate us now, but they will end up glued to the screen when we get aired. Take this away and stop annoying me.”
“Okay.” The staff took the phone away. He was very impressed by the director’s composure. The director was able to produce such a hit thanks to his composure.
——
After Mu Sheng signed the contract with the director, she went to Han Yu’s training room.
Other than Han Yu, there were two young boys in the training room.
Mu Sheng had read about them. One of them was called Chen Xiao while the other was Zhang Qing. Both of them were up-and-coming gamers.
Chen Xiao and Zhang Qing were awestruck when they saw Mu Sheng. “Hi, Sheng.”
Although Mu Sheng did not resemble a good gamer, all of them had seen her maneuvers and were incredibly impressed.
“Hi.” Mu Sheng found a spot and sat down. “Okay. Let’s practice and get to know each other.”
No matter how good they were, they needed time to get to practice.
Mu Sheng had not been showing up for training, but Han Yu had been practicing with them for some time, so they were able to game together pretty well.
Since Mu Sheng was highly adaptable, she quickly found her rhythm.
It was the first time Chen Xiao and the others gamed with Mu Sheng
In just a matter of hours, they had acknowledged Mu Sheng’s incredible abilities and looked at her with admiration.
Mu Sheng was able to find her rhythm quicker than Han Yu expected.
Based on this speed, they could probably be in sync with each other before the competition commenced.
Han Yu could not help thinking about their newly formed gaming team.
He had never formed a team so quickly in his career.
Typically, a team had to train together for months and years before it was good enough for international gaming competitions.
However, the four of them only trained together for no more than ten days.
Any other professional gaming coach would feel their team was a joke.
Han Yu inexplicably felt confident about winning the World Gaming Masters.
Han Yu glanced at Mu Sheng’s profile before smiling helplessly.
Mu Sheng stood up after training for a day. “I am going home.”
“Okay.” Han Yu nodded. “Let me walk you out.”
Han Yu took his coat and followed behind Mu Sheng.
However, Han Yu stopped at the door.
A tall silhouette was standing at the door. The moment Li Hanchen glanced over, Han Yu automatically halted.
“Are you done training?” Li Hanchen looked at Mu Sheng.
Mu Sheng nodded. “Uh huh.”
She automatically went towards Li Hanchen and took some candies from his pocket. She unwrapped a piece of candy and placed it in her mouth before narrowing her eyes in satisfaction. “Is this new?”
Some coldness dissipated from Li Hanchen when he saw how happy Mu Sheng was. “Let’s go back.”
“Sure.”
Li Hanchen glanced at Han Yu with an intimidating aura before he left.
Han Yu smiled as he shook his head.
Tsk. He was so possessive about her.
He turned to throw his coat on the chair. “Enough. Let’s go for dinner. We can practice a little bit more after dinner.”
Filming for “A Journey Through Food” was scheduled after the World Gaming Masters, so Mu Sheng focused on practicing with the team.
Li Hanchen would give her a ride to Han Yu’s place at 8:00 am each day and pick her up at 6:00 pm in the evening.
The World Gaming Masters was commencing tomorrow. After practicing for half a day, Mu Sheng and Han Yu went back home.
Someone kept following behind her as she packed her luggage.
“Sis-in-Law, good luck, okay? I will be watching you game from home!” Li An looked at Mu Sheng with his eyes bright and felt even prouder of her.
His sister-in-law was awesome!
Mu Sheng nodded. “Uh huh.”
Li Hanchen kept watching nearby as Mu Sheng packed and seemed to be in a bad mood. The atmosphere around him felt particularly intense.
Mu Sheng detected Li Hanchen’s bad mood, so she raised her head to look at him. “Did I forget something?”
“Nope,” answered Li Hanchen succinctly.
Mu Sheng acknowledged softly before she lowered her head and continued packing her luggage.
After Mu Sheng was done packing, she came out with her bag. “See you in two days.”
“Okay, Sis-in-Law! Good luck!” Li An held his fists up at Mu Sheng and cheered her on.
Mu Sheng noticed Li Hanchen looked angry when she looked at him. It felt as though he did not want to talk.
Mu Sheng pursed her lips and said goodbye before leaving with her bag.
Li Hanchen looked at her profoundly from behind.
After Mu Sheng boarded the flight, the organizers of World Gaming Masters officially announced the teams and contestants taking part this year.
More people kept their eyes on the competition compared to the past.
Out of 200 contestants, there was only one girl called Mu Sheng and she was from China..