Dressed As a Cannon Fodder For the Rich and Powerful

Dong Fan grimaced in pain, couldn’t straighten up, and kept holding on to the handrail until the elevator door opened, unable to move.

Qi Xiaoyu stood outside the elevator and glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, saying, “Don’t talk to me about any of these things in the future. If you want to chat, just talk about when you will pay back the money I lent you.”

Dong Fan gritted his teeth in pain but still didn’t forget to argue, “What money? You didn’t give me that money; you gave it to the casino directly. What am I paying back for?”

The corner of Qi Xiaoyu’s mouth twitched, and he snorted coldly, “Who goes to the casino every day? Who owes money to the casino? Could it be me? This kind of thing can be found out as soon as you investigate it. You want to renege on your debt? Hmph, it’s not that easy.”

Dong Fan was in pain and anger, and his face was twisted into a ball. He probably didn’t expect Qi Xiaoyu to change so quickly. A few days ago, he was eager to help him pay off his debts and wash his clothes. Today, he was arguing and demanding that he pay back the money.

Seeing that Qi Xiaoyu was about to wave his sleeves and leave, Dong Fan endured the pain, lunged out to pull his hand, and shouted, “You…don’t forget that I have a lot of chat records on my mobile phone. If you force me, I will expose all of this!”

“Expose?” Qi Xiaoyu’s face darkened, and he kicked Dong Fan away. After looking left and right and seeing that there was no one around, he mercilessly kicked that place again while putting on the expression of someone who has nothing to lose.

“I borrowed money from a loan shark and couldn’t repay it back. If you want to expose me, then hurry up. If it’s exposed, am I the only one who is finished? I’m more than happy to drag you down with me. Do you want me to expose how you chased Yu Zhou and how you stepped on two boats at the same time?”

*****

Abandoning Dong Fan, who was as annoying as a fly, Qi Xiaoyu immediately stopped a car and went to the dormitory arranged by the program group.

In the car, Qi Xiaoyu thought about the original owner and Dong Fan again.

When he thought about it, he felt very vexed. The original owner was too foolish to willingly help someone repay the money, and under Dong Fan’s coaxing, he didn’t leave any evidence or IOU. This whole decision doesn’t make any sense.

But of course Qi Xiaoyu wouldn’t bear this suffering and swallow this debt in the dark like a fool.

Qi Xiaoyu thought about it and immediately had an idea in his mind.

Hmph, Dong Fan still dared to threaten him with the ambiguous messages sent by the original owner. See if he doesn’t beat that kid down.

Qi Xiaoyu moved his joints a bit. It’s fine for him to pretend to be a good grandson in front of Xun Qian, but does Dong Fan think he’s also worthy?

But there are priorities, so let’s wait until he finishes the program first.

The recording site and Boyue Hotel are very close.

It was only six o’clock when Qi Xiaoyu got off the taxi.

The recording of the program started at eight o’clock in the evening, and he decided to go to the cafeteria to have a meal first.

The food in the cafeteria was not good, giving Qi Xiaoyu a sense of heartache from the spoiled ingredients.

However, he’s a person who enjoys wealth and can endure poverty, so he happily ordered two of his relatively favorite dishes—one braised tofu and one stir-fried pork with lettuce. In fact, it cannot be said that he’s relatively fond of eating tofu and vegetables. He loves them because they are good for his throat.

The chef who served the dishes saw his friendly expression, unlike other young snobbish contestants who thought they were about to become popular, and gave him two more spoons of meat.

After he ordered the dishes and found a seat, a young man with dreadlocks sat opposite him.

“Xiaoyu, where did you go, and why did you just come back?” Ren Fei leaned over half of his body towards Qi Xiaoyu, and one hand lifted up a braid that had fallen next to his mouth and put it behind his ear.

“Why does your stir-fried pork lettuce have more meat than mine?”

Ren Fei and Qi Xiaoyu are of similar age and were newcomers to Star Entertainment in the same year; thus, they were sent to participate in “Let’s Debut, Trainees” together.

However, the two people took different routes. The company positioned Qi Xiaoyu as a sweetheart little milk dog, while Ren Fei was a wild boy who loved rap.

But in fact, Ren Fei is not wild at all except for his dreadlocks. He is even more delicate and sensitive than the original Qi Xiaoyu.

Qi Xiaoyu smiled and said, “I look good, so I got more.

”

“Tsk~” Ren Fei snorted, “Have you watched the interview video released today on Weibo?”

“Not yet.” Qi Xiaoyu glanced at Ren Fei, keenly aware of something: “What happened to the video? Is there a problem?”

“No problem, it’s just… hey, I can’t tell; you can read the comments yourself.” Ren Fei took out his mobile phone, opened Weibo, and entered the search keyword “Qi Xiaoyu”. The first thing that popped up was today’s interview video.

The video came out so quickly because they hadn’t done much post-production. They just cut off the redundant parts.

Qi Xiaoyu took the phone and clicked on the comment section.

The top two or three comments are from Yu Zhou’s fans.

But if you scroll down a little bit, there will be no critics but enthusiastic discussions among fans of the show.

“I’ve only watched this interview 10 times. The story of the three people is so exciting.”

“Every frame is a full-scale drama. When I have time, I’ll draw some fanarts for you guys.”

“Did you see Dong Fan’s face change? Hahahahaha, I laughed so hard. He’s such a scumbag. He tried to step on two boats, but the boat capsized.”

“I thought it was a rag; hhhhh, I haven’t seen Xiaoyu for a few days. Now he’s changed from an innocent fish to a scheming fish.”

“We’re so close; you shouldn’t mind, my ass; the b*tchiness is overwhelming.”

“But I really like the b*tchy fish.”

Some even said, “It feels like Xiaoyu has been reborn, completely different from the previous feeling.”

“Hahaha, what’s the difference? He’s not a flower vase anymore, but he’s got a brain?”

“I don’t know if he was reborn or if he grew a brain. The key still depends on his performance on the final night. If his stage is still the same crap, this rebirth is useless.”

“Friends, sisters, don’t talk too much; go vote. You vote, I vote, so Xiaoyu can make his debut.”

“That’s right, do you think number two is a stable position? It’s time to worship the sky every minute.”

Because this show is not very popular, there are not many comments. There are only more than a thousand comments in total, which is much less than the comments on popular variety shows, but what is rare is that the quality is very high. There are no fans blindly controlling comments, and no water army brainlessly blackening people. The comments are quite analytical.

After Qi Xiaoyu scanned the comments, he felt that in this world, even the fans have more brains than the original owner.

Even if the original owner read more fan comments, he wouldn’t be so stupid.

Ren Fei kept his braids up and waited until Qi Xiaoyu had finished reading and put down his phone before asking, “How about it? Did you feel a lot of pressure?”

Qi Xiaoyu, “Why should there be pressure?”

Ren Fei pointed to his phone and said, “Look, although it was an interview with everyone, your discussion was the loudest and even overshadowed Yu Zhou.”

“En.”

Qi Xiaoyu nodded calmly.

What does this count as? In the past, half of Beijing’s eyes were focused on him, and he overshadowed every corner. Back then, he didn’t even feel the slightest pressure.

Ren Fei yelled, “With so many eyes staring at you, don’t you feel any pressure?”

Qi Xiaoyu ate all the tofu on the plate with a few mouthfuls and said perfunctorily, “Yes, I’m under a lot of pressure, so finish your meal soon, and let’s go to the training room.”

*****

At eight o’clock, all the contestants put on their white training uniforms and assembled at the entrance of the training room where the recording took place.

Dong Fan also came limping. Seeing the calm Qi Xiaoyu, he had finally learned his lesson and dared not to come over casually, but also stood far away at the other end.

According to the arrangement of the program, first listen to the demos of two songs, and then each person selects songs and parts one by one according to their ranking; the lower-ranked ones choose the songs and parts they want to sing first, and the higher-ranked ones choose later.

If they choose the same part, the one with the highest ranking can push the others ahead.

The content recorded today will be broadcast in five days and will be the first half of the final. Its main purpose is to heat up the final night, so the choreographer and director will try to create as many conflicts and topics as possible.

After grouping, they went in to meet the instructor, auditioned, waited for the instructor’s comment, and practiced again.

Qi Xiaoyu finished reading the process of the program and guessed that he would have to stay up all night.

After thinking about it, he took out his mobile phone and sent a message to Uncle Cheng: “I’m recording a program outside today, and I won’t be going home. If the third master asks, please pass it on. Thank you, Uncle Cheng.”

Although Xun Qian didn’t take him seriously and it was impossible for him to ask him whether he came home or not, he had to behave well and not show any flaws, right?

When the time comes for divorce, if Xun Qian can’t find fault in his behavior, he can fight for more rights and interests for himself.

After sending the message, Qi Xiaoyu put the phone in silent mode and put it in his pocket.

Then the recording started.

*****

There are two songs for them to choose from; one is a rap song called “Love, Again.” Another one is a ballad song called “Along with You”.

Qi Xiaoyu chose “Along with You” almost without hesitation.

He has no foundation in rap, and he doesn’t like this style.

He was ranked second in the previous stage, with only Yu Zhou in front of him.

Yu Zhou is good at rap and dance, which doesn’t conflict with him at all. As long as Yu Zhou doesn’t deliberately oppose him, he can choose any part he wants.

The part selection process begins.

Cautious people choose parts that they can definitely win according to their abilities and rankings.

Ambitious people fight for the most expressive part.

The lead singer part of “Along with You” was reserved for a contestant named Gu Lei.

Gu Lei has an average appearance and can make it to the top 20 thanks to his delicate and good voice. He has performed well on stage the last few times and won recognition from the audience and his mentors. He is the strength of “Let’s debut, Trainees”.

After he chose the lead singer part, other people who ranked higher than him tacitly chose other parts without touching his name.

Until Qi Xiaoyu came out.

Before Qi Xiaoyu went on stage, Ren Fei lobbied beside him, “Xiaoyu, don’t stress out. I think you can choose “love, again” with me. I’ve already shown you the part. Just this paragraph, you see, it’s less than 20 words; you’ll definitely have no problem.”

Qi Xiaoyu ignored him, concentrated on reading the numbered musical notation of “Along with You” in his hand, then pointed to the number 5 with a dot on it and asked, “Does the dot on it mean the high note?”

Ren Fei glanced at it, hummed casually, and poured a basin of cold water on his head. “You want to sing? Come on, the rest of the song is not only bad but also difficult. On the day of the final live broadcast, you have to sing live.”

When Ren Fei said this, Gu Lei and several other contestants looked at Qi Xiaoyu from the corner of their eyes, either strangely or disdainfully.

“In rap, you only need to memorize the words correctly. I think you still…”

Before Ren Fei finished speaking, it was time for Qi Xiaoyu to go up.

Qi Xiaoyu ignored Ren Fei’s nagging and walked through the gap between the few people in front. With his left hand holding a few thin pages of the music score, he firmly and calmly walked towards the bulletin board with everyone’s names attached and then picked up his own name from the box next to him.

The host on the side tried to create some suspense and enthusiastically explained, “Next is Qi Xiaoyu, who ranks second. Come on, let’s guess which song Xiaoyu will choose. Is it the emotional song “Along with You” or the more exciting rap song “Love, Again”.

“Wow, Xiaoyu went directly to Along with You.”

“Wow! He changed Gu Lei’s name and put his own name on it!”

“Xiaoyu will replace Gu Lei as the lead singer of Along with You!”

The audience was in an uproar.

The discussions exploded with a bang, filling the recording room.

“He wants to be the lead singer.”

“Gu Lei, Gu Lei, he stole your part.”

“He’s never tried singing before.”

“Just now he was asking other people’s common-sense questions about music scores.”

“Is there something wrong with the arrangement of the program group?”

Because they were recording a program, although everyone’s hearts exploded, on the surface, the discussion was as tactful as possible.

Yu Zhou, Dong Fan, and Ren Fei also stared at Qi Xiaoyu with different expressions.

The cameraman also immediately aimed all camera positions at Qi Xiaoyu.

The program team is more than happy when there are conflicts and explosive points. Who will watch the program if it’s not controversial?

They hope that there will be more contestants like Qi Xiaoyu.

Qi Xiaoyu removed Gu Lei’s name and walked back very calmly.

He’s not humble at all.

He also knows what the crew wants and how to get more screen time.

He won’t stand out when he shouldn’t be in the limelight, but when it’s time to compete, he will definitely not be a Buddhist. Anyway, everything is within the established rules of the show.

In the future, he will say goodbye to this program and these people, but he can’t leave with the image of a useless vase.

On the last stage, he had to show off his strength and then walk away in style.

When he returned to his seat, Ren Fei couldn’t help but pat Qi Xiaoyu on the shoulder, keeping his mouth in an O shape. “Xiaoyu, you dare to take Gu Lei’s place!”

“Why not?”

“You…..”

Ren Fei looked around and lowered his voice. “Aren’t you afraid that Orange Juice Entertainment will trouble you?”

“Orange Juice Entertainment?” He’s vaguely heard the name…..

Qi Xiaoyu tried hard to recall the plot of the original book, only to realize that this is an entertainment company under the Xun family. However, Xun Qian didn’t put much effort into it and used it more for bookkeeping, so the scale was not very large. The original work only mentioned it in passing.

Since it’s a small company that Xun Qian doesn’t value, what is he afraid of?

Qi Xiaoyu said perfunctorily, “Let’s talk about it when they trouble me.”

Ren Fei gave him a thumbs up, saying, “Xiao Yu, you are too daring.”