Chapter Thirty-Nine: Poor Performance, Three Mystery Boxes

In order to avoid trouble for herself, Bai Ling immediately stepped forward, took Wen Yan’s hand, and said, “What nonsense are you talking about? Since you’re now an employee of Chunqiu Corporation, we’re colleagues from now on. If I let you leave today, how am I supposed to face anyone in the future? Just relax and sing here; we’ll support you from outside.”

Wen Yan hadn’t expected Bai Ling to be so blunt. She was momentarily stunned, and when she felt Bai Ling holding her hand, she instinctively wanted to pull away. But remembering she had to put on a performance of camaraderie in front of everyone, she had no choice but to suppress her disgust and aversion, forcing a stiff smile beside Bai Ling.

“Alright, alright, no more arguing, you two. It’s settled,” Bai Ling said, finally letting go of Wen Yan’s hand.

With that simple gesture, she’d already tested her—this girl was indeed feigning innocence. The moment someone grabbed her hand, she was ready to pull away? In those novels, when the male lead Lin Yubai grabbed the heroine’s hand, she was never able to budge.

With everything said, Bai Ling had no intention of lingering. After ushering Wen Yan and the oddly bewildered Ou Qianqin into the recording studio, she quickly dragged Ge Fenfen away.

Once they reached the underground parking lot, both of them let out a long sigh, exclaiming in unison, “What a bad omen!”

Sister Ge glanced at Bai Ling and said, “You handled that well. But just thinking of that Ou Qianqin’s face gives me the creeps. You have no idea—she’s been at odds with me ever since she joined the company. We’ve been rivals for nearly twenty years. Today, I’m sure she did it on purpose…”

Once she started venting, it was like an endless torrent. Bai Ling couldn’t bring herself to dampen her mood. She helped Xiangzi and Miao Miao get Sister Ge into the car, nodding along, “Yes, yes, that’s right, absolutely.”

Once inside the car, Sister Ge seemed to realize the topic was too unpleasant and not worth dwelling on, so she shifted her attention back to Wen Yan.

“Bai Ling, I don’t know why the company signed Wen Yan, but as far as I know, her background is far from ordinary. I’m not sure of the details—someone at my level isn’t privy to that. Still, you did the right thing today—keep it up. Even if you get famous later, don’t provoke them. I’m telling you, most of these rich people have their quirks—some like to hide their real identity, playing at being underdogs. Others are arrogant and domineering. But the most frightening are the petty ones, the kind who can’t tolerate anyone crossing them. Wen Yan seems gentle enough, but I can’t shake a feeling that something’s off. Anyway, just steer clear of her.”

Bai Ling nodded. “I understand.”

In truth, rich people and ordinary folk are much the same—the difference is, they’re more dangerous. They have the power to destroy anyone who displeases them.

Having read the novel, Bai Ling was well aware of Wen Yan’s background. It was nothing short of outrageous—even the owner of Chunqiu was nothing compared to her. To oppose the fated heroine, the heiress? That would be inviting disaster. Besides, this trouble had landed on her doorstep all on its own.

Reflecting on this, Bai Ling couldn’t help but question herself: “Have I fallen into the ‘curse’ where the protagonist must clash with the antagonist? Maybe I should go burn some incense and pray at a temple one of these days.”

Still, if there really were a chance to become a true rich lady, Bai Ling wouldn’t mind retiring. “It’s a pity that before transmigrating, I was just an ordinary homebody—handsome, maybe, a rival to the likes of Daniel Wu, but with no real skills. I’m so envious of those other transmigrators who remember lottery numbers, stock market trends, football bets…”

After a moment of sighing, Bai Ling could only pin her hopes on her younger brother, who was working on an anime-style game. “I’ll send some money over later—let my precious brother work hard, and let his big sister achieve financial freedom!”

Ge Fenfen had no idea Bai Ling was already contemplating her retirement. She simply assumed today’s events had been a major revelation for Bai Ling and left it at that.

Soon enough, she had contacted a recording studio. She’d always had a partnership with this place; the rates were better, though the facilities weren’t quite as good as the company’s own studio. Still, it was decent enough.

In no time, Bai Ling and Ge Fenfen arrived and began recording. By this point, Bai Ling already possessed a certain degree of vocal skill, and “Invisible Wings” itself didn’t require many high notes or vocal acrobatics. She felt quite confident.

Yet reality didn’t quite align with her expectations. Every time she started, she made some small mistake—always just a little off. In the end, it took nearly an hour and over a dozen takes before she was finally satisfied with the master track.

After an hour, Bai Ling felt as though her voice was about to give out, though she knew this wasn’t all that exhausting in the grand scheme of things.

Still, she was especially irritable. Judging by the sound engineer’s attitude, though, her performance wasn’t bad—in fact, it was better than quite a few professional singers, many of whom relied on pitch correction. There was even a saying about “sound card warriors.” But even those were better than “music tailors.”

All in all, Bai Ling’s performance was above average but not exceptional. As for the song itself, it was bound to be a smash hit.

So, once the final track was done, Ge Fenfen was ecstatic and rushed back to the office to work overtime, determined to get Bai Ling’s song online as soon as possible.

Bai Ling herself had no particular thoughts. After Xiangzi dropped her home, she was just about to collapse into bed when a notification sounded in her mind.

“Host’s performance today was subpar: you did not treat your creative work seriously, failed to show off and put others in their place when provoked, and made multiple mistakes during recording, falling short of the perfect result. Congratulations, host, you have received three mystery boxes!”

Bai Ling immediately leapt up from the bed. “System, since when did you start evaluating me? Why was I not informed? And why does this count as a poor performance?”

She wanted to protest. She could accept the first and third points, albeit grudgingly, but the second? Was she really supposed to clash head-on with Wen Yan and drive them out to claim victory? With no thought for the consequences?

No matter how much she protested, though, the system’s verdict would not change. Three mystery boxes now lay before Bai Ling.