Ch18 - Pretend to Not Notice from the Start

The F4 were very excited after receiving Lu Xu’s confirmation the night before, and arrived at the dance rehearsal room bright and early. As soon as Lu Xu entered the room, they formed two rows and greeted him while bowing.

“Good morning.” Lu Xu glanced at the clock on the wall and noticed it hadn’t even hit 7 AM yet. He couldn’t help but say, “You guys came very early.”

“We’ve just arrived. Anyways you’ve come pretty early too.” Chai Siyuan stood right behind the F4 and thought Lu Xu was greeting him when he saw him look over his way, so he had replied.

He Xinghua turned around to look at Chai Siyuan, then smirked as he reported to Lu Xu, “He’s lying, he’s been here since 5 AM.”

“Right right, he’s trying to convince you and sneakily improve by himself.”

“How crafty.”

The F4 spoke one after another, about to jump out to confront Chai Siyuan.

Lu Xu merely smiled, not taking the matter to heart. He viewed this survival show very simply. The only thing he cared about was his performance review.

He didn’t know what Ji Xiunian’s plans for the day were and didn’t know if he could interact with him some more in order to investigate further.

As Lu Xu was pondering over this, he saw Chai Siyuan cover his mouth and look towards the entrance, both shocked and excited. “Oh my god, how come Instructor Ji is here?”

“Good morning, Instructor Ji.”

“Morning, Nian ge.”

Behind him, Song Zhe and the others were giving out polite greetings. Lu Xu turned around and saw Ji Xiunian entering the practice room. A VJ followed him in.

He Xinghua was also astonished. He hadn’t thought he would be meeting Ji Xiunian so soon again. Last night he had continued to worry that Ji Xiunian wouldn’t be able to comprehend  seeing them, and that he would find a ghost exterminator or something similar out of fear of ghosts.

The F4 all thought similarly. They were worried that Ji Xiunian had come for them. The four ghosts crowded together, staring at Ji Xiunian with complicated expressions, but Lu Xu’s presence put them somewhat at ease.

Their supervisor was here, so what could they be scared of?

Regardless, Ji Xiunian was a big senior in the industry and everyone else in the room had already greeted him. Out of respect, the F4 waved their hands at Ji Xiunian and politely said, “Hello, Instructor Ji.”

But surprisingly, Ji Xiunian didn’t look at them at all and only cheered on the trainees with his usual expression. “I’ll be your temporary rank instructor for the next three days. I’ll be responsible for supervising the progress of A-rank. I hope everyone will treasure the time remaining and achieve outstanding results in the evaluation.”

Ji Xiunian used most of his emotions while acting. His personalities varied by the thousands in films, but in real life, he was cold and noble. He had a natural gracefulness that made it difficult for others to approach him.

But that was exactly what made him so attractive.

Although he looked cold, the gaze in his eyes was deep, like a pool of innumerable emotions.

His outstanding appearance complemented his superb acting skills. He had displayed a high degree of self-discipline in the 10 years since he had debuted. He wasn’t a man of many words, but he was very reliable. Almost everyone liked Ji Xiunian because of this.

As expected, the moment his words fell on their ears, the BTT members collectively began whistling—

“That’s great, welcome Instructor Ji!”

“Hahaha, Nian ge, can I get your autograph after class?”

From the moment Ji Xiunian had come in, Lu Xu’s gaze had not left him.

In contrast to yesterday, the death energy on Ji Xiunian’s body was even more intense. He couldn’t tell what was surrounding him.

Just as Lu Xu was staring at Ji Xiunian thoughtfully, Ji Xiunian also happened to glance his way. Lu Xu casually curved his lips up in a smile, his watery peach blossom eyes shining, making him seem like an innocent, harmless puppy.

Ji Xiunian himself didn’t know why he would interact with this little puppy, he just felt that the curls in Lu Xu’s hair looked soft, making him look good-natured yet passionate. He unknowingly nodded at Lu Xu, which could be considered as giving him encouragement. Then he clapped his hands and spoke to everyone, “All right, you can start practising now.”

The music started to play. The trainees who had initially been standing around him to greet him immediately returned to their positions.

Ji Xiunian went to stand by the dance instructor’s side, quietly watching the trainees as they practised, although he would address the small problems that the trainees had alongside the dance instructor.

The F4 were deep in thought as they squatted in a corner, watching Ji Xiunian who was working calmly.

“Oh? This Film Emperor seems to not be able to see us at all.”

“No way, didn’t he see us yesterday?”

“But look at his reaction now, it’s like he hasn’t noticed us.”

He Xinghua couldn’t help but scratch his head when he saw Ji Xiunian like this and wondered if Ji Xiunian could actually see them or not. Just thinking about it like this wasn’t a plan, so while his friends were discussing it non-stop, He Xinghua stood up sharply. “It’s no use to just guess like this. We should just go and ask him.”

As He Xinghua spoke, he walked in front of Ji Xiunian, waving his hand in front of his eyes first, asking, “Nian ge?”

“I think Song Zhe’s foundation is not bad. Han Tianyu seems to have some problems here…” Ji Xiunian ignored it completely, professionally playing his role as a mentor, discussing the trainees’ issues with the dance instructor.

He Xinghua was determined, and waved in front of Ji Xiunian, trying to obscure his vision.

Even though He Xinghua’s eyes were practically on Ji Xiunian’s face, Ji Xiunian’s expression was normal, he didn’t even blink.

He Xinghua turned his head and shrugged. “Okay, he really can’t see me.”

Tao Yingbo also added, “Normal people usually can’t see ghosts. Maybe last night was just an accident. Okay okay, didn’t you guys say you came to learn how to dance? Don’t just stand there in a daze, hurry up and practise alongside them.”

The F4 were originally a singing and dancing boy group, so to them, their own abilities were decent.

Even though they hadn’t danced in three years, their foundations were still there. They had already learned the dance just from watching the trainees a few times.

“The goal is so bright, you’re my very first dream…”

He Xinghua hadn’t been this happy in a very long time. His body moved and danced along with the music with much emotion. He didn’t think about life or death, just like when he was chasing his dreams.

He stood beside Lu Xu, his eyes gleaming with excitement. He felt that it would be great if he could just keep dancing.

When  Lu Xu had first heard that He Xinghua and the others were a group, it never crossed his mind that the three of them would have such strong abilities.

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that BTT’s knife-like choreography was close to debut standard, but compared to He Xinghua and the others, whether it was how complete their dance was or how good their group chemistry was, they fell short.

Not only did He Xinghua feel happy while dancing, he also didn’t forget to help Lu Xu pinpoint his issues.

To his knowledge, for Lu Xu to have participated in the show, he must have been aiming to debut. As a wandering ghost he couldn’t help, but dancing was definitely his area of expertise.

“Master, there were some issues with your preparation here…”

“Master, do you want to try a different ending pose…”

While his teammates were busy dancing alongside the other trainees, He Xinghua was fully focused on Lu Xu, his concern even greater than that of the dance instructor’s.

Ji Xiunian kept telling himself that he shouldn’t be too obvious, but he couldn’t help but constantly look in Lu Xu’s direction.

Truth be told, Lu Xu was good-looking, and his dance moves were also beautiful. Just looking at him was a visual treat.

But this boy was surrounded by things that weren’t human, so it was a different matter entirely.

Before he fell asleep last night, Ji Xiunian had even told himself that he wouldn’t hear, see, or think, but when he got out of bed in the morning he couldn’t stop himself from picking the A-rank class, just to make sure that Lu Xu was safe.

However he looked at it, those four ghosts from yesterday seemed to be following Lu Xu. Looking at it again today, as expected, this seemed to be the case.

Ji Xiunian was quite a distance away, so he couldn’t hear what He Xinghua was saying to Lu Xu.

It seemed to him that Lu Xu was entangled with ghosts, and although these four ghosts appeared to carry no malicious intent, no one could guarantee what would happen later on.

As Ji Xiunian thought about this, he unconsciously frowned.

At the moment, he was still unsure as to whether this was reality or a hallucination, so he could only take it one step at a time for now.

Once someone focused on one thing, time would pass very quickly.

In the blink of an eye, three days had gone by.

“No more, I’m really tired.” Chai Siyuan wiped his sweat with a towel and lay on the floor, not wanting to move an inch.

The others were slightly better off than him, but their bodies were also aching and hurting.

In the entire dance studio, there was only one exception who was still energetic and refreshed even after three days of non-stop dancing. If it weren’t for them practising in the same dance studio, Chai Siyuan really would have thought that Lu Xu hadn’t put in any effort at all. “Not being tired after dancing for three days, Xu ge, are you really human?”

Chai Siyuan had only said it as a joke, but Lu Xu turned his head and frowned as he replied seriously, “I’m not a human, I’m a god.”

“Hahaha, with your stamina, you really are godly.”

No one took Lu Xu’s words seriously, thinking it was the childish spirit of an 18-year-old youth.

Ji Xiunian thought the same, thinking that Lu Xu was still young when he heard those words. His brain filled itself with images of a tiger eyeing its prey when he saw the four ghosts by his side, and he couldn’t help but worry for him.

In the past three days, Ji Xiunian had pretended as if nothing was happening, and he hadn’t initiated a conversation with Lu Xu either.

However, the human gaze had presence in it, and the warmth from those gazes could be felt.

If someone kept staring at another person, that person would definitely notice something.

Ji Xiunian thought that he had covered himself pretty well, but considering Lu Xu’s identity, how could he not notice that the other party was always staring at him?

Glancing at the F4 by his side, Lu Xu didn’t need to think to know that Ji Xiunian was watching them.

But whatever the reason for his gaze, as long as Ji Xiunian was just curious, he would naturally come forward himself.

As Lu Xu thought that, the corners of his lips curved upwards at an attractive angle. He bent down to pick his clothes up from the chair and hid the interest in his eyes as he said goodbye to the other people in the dance studio, including Instructor Ji Xiunian.

The F4 members saw this and followed along, clearly treating Lu Xu like a wind vane.

Seeing that Lu Xu was walking out on his own, Ji Xiunian couldn’t help but worry a bit. He put away his phone and prepared to leave, but didn’t forget to instruct the others, “Tomorrow, the second round of evaluations will begin. Don’t practice too late everyone, save your energy and rest early.”

After saying this Ji Xiunian hurried out, but Lu Xu had long since disappeared from the lengthy corridor. There was only a young girl, wearing a pleated skirt.