That night after returning home, Lin Muci was assigned a new task by the system.
"Win the Best Newcomer Award. Reward: fifty points."
Lin Muci was confused.
"Why is the reward so few points?"
The system couldn't help but complain.
"You call that few? This mission is guaranteed to succeed, it's like getting points for free. Your group is definitely going to win the Best Newcomer Award."
Lin Muci lay on the sofa, not as optimistic.
"Lu Keke isn't causing trouble anymore? Impossible."
"Lu Miaoyu has already dropped out. Since Lu Keke is pulling her to form a group, she must be thinking of going all out. Don't forget, her family has some connections. If she's really determined to engage in insider dealings, it's not impossible to arrange for her to win a Best Newcomer Award."
She would never underestimate any enemy.
Lin Muci clicked on Lu Keke's account on social media. She hadn't updated it in days.
The last update was showing affection with the once popular male idol Ke Haiyang.
As it turned out, showing affection often leads to a quick demise. Ke Haiyang was arrested, and the comments under the selfie of them showing affection were filled with Ke Haiyang's rabid fans screaming.
"Keke, hurry and find Haiyang! Isn't he your ocean?"
"We are all Keke-Hai fans! Keke, you can't stand by and do nothing. You will definitely wait for him to come out, right?"
"Wuwuwu, you must wait for him, we believe in you!"
She had put too much effort into showing affection before.
It made it seem like she couldn't live without him.
Who would have thought that Ke Haiyang would be arrested for committing a crime?
Now the situation was extremely awkward, and the backlash was particularly fierce. The fans below were all telling her to wait for Ke Haiyang to be released, which made Lin Muci chuckle.
One could easily imagine how distressed Lu Keke would be.
Moreover, the internet has memory. Whether she deleted the affectionate selfie or not, she was in a dilemma.
However, she was quite thick-skinned. While Lin Muci was still browsing her Weibo, Lu Keke posted an update.
"My new group is about to debut, please look forward to it. 'Tomorrow's Idol' is in the past. Although for various reasons, my debut spot was taken by someone else, I believe justice will prevail."
"Talented people will eventually rise to the top, and gold will eventually shine. Please look forward to my new group!"
As soon as she posted this Weibo, the comments section immediately garnered thousands of replies.
Apart from the hired trolls constantly posting generic phrases like "future is promising" and "looking forward to Keke," the majority were questioning voices from discerning viewers!
"You were replaced in the debut spot? Ling Qianhe had reported the votes before. I really don't understand, with your meager votes, who could you possibly replace?"
"Can you stop playing the victim? Who was it that broke pitch and messed up the choreography on stage?"
"Who is the insider from the TV station? They gave you a large portion of the screen time yet you still couldn't secure a spot. Some people really have no self-awareness, thinking everyone has forgotten? And now you have the audacity to play the victim?"
"Your boyfriend is in jail, you should have the decency to be quiet and not pop up like this!"
"Exactly, you dare to debut? With your abilities, you're not worthy!"
All sorts of discussions were endless. Lu Keke, in her haste, blocked many comments. In the end, she couldn't keep up with blocking, so she simply restricted the comment section.
Then she posted a few beautiful photos of herself.
"I will be the captain of Sweet Dream! Please look forward to it!"
Below were a string of vomiting emojis.
That night, searching for the keyword "shameless" brought up countless posts criticizing Lu Keke.
"Some people are truly shameless, they actually have the nerve to debut?"
"Ugh, ugh, ugh, emoji, puking."
"Sweet Dream? How is she related to these words? I've already puked up my dinner, ugh."
Looking at the comments, Lin Muci could only think of four words: self-inflicted humiliation.
However, Lu Keke forming a group and debuting at this time was indeed aimed at her.
Lu Keke's psychological resilience was quite strong. Even after being cursed like this, she was able to quickly establish the official account for the Sweet Dream group.
Lin Muci and her three companions.
Lu Keke's group had five members.
Lu Miaoyu, who had dropped out of school, was surprisingly listed. Lin Muci could barely recognize Lu Miaoyu. Perhaps after being packaged by the entertainment company, her aura had changed dramatically.
She used to be a pure, innocent flower in school.
A white lotus that could not be swayed by poverty.
Now her style leaned towards mature and seductive, with heavy makeup and fiery red lips.
However, because her facial features were not particularly striking or captivating in a strong sense, it created an awkward, imitation-of-nature feeling.
Among the five members, she wasn't even outstanding.
One could easily guess that Lu Keke found her only to counter Lin Muci's team, thus assigning her the role of "face" for the group.
She was poor at both singing and dancing, so she wasn't much use, much like Yang Weiyang.
However, even though Yang Weiyang was not good at singing and dancing,
Yang Weiyang was diligent. Moreover, she had a peculiar audience appeal, otherwise, she wouldn't have been one of the top three popular members back then.
She and Lin Muci were good friends, and their "yuri" pairing was also very popular, with many fans shipping them.
When talent is insufficient, diligence makes up for it. Coupled with a popular CP, Yang Weiyang's popularity had always remained high.
Lin Muci was not optimistic about Lu Miaoyu.
This "white lotus" had nothing.
Her choice to drop out of school and go all out to enter the entertainment industry to counter her was simply being misled.
Was she doing this because she thought she might become the next her?
Who gave her the courage.
Lin Muci glanced at the Sweet Dream official account for a moment. Before she could say anything, Yang Weiyang couldn't hold back. On Weibo, she directly spoke out.
"Our debut is aboveboard."
"Please, some people, stop making insinuations! And acting furtively!"
This immediately stirred up a storm.
Given Lu Keke's personality, she would normally have retaliated with insults. But unexpectedly, Lu Keke held back. She reposted a description of their new song from the Sweet Dream official account.
"Sweet Dream is beautiful. The premiere single will be released tomorrow."
"Who is the king, and who is the winner of the annual idol awards newcomer award will tell you!"
She specifically mentioned the newcomer award, and a faint smile immediately spread across Lin Muci's lips.
In that case, it seemed Lu Keke was determined to win the newcomer award.
It appeared.
The newcomer award would likely face complications.
...
At the same time, Ling Qianhe had finished rehearsing the new choreography for his concert tour. Chen Fei walked over to discuss the flow of the annual idol awards ceremony with him.
Although he hadn't released new songs this year, he was a mentor on the popular talent show "Tomorrow's Idol," so he would naturally attend.
Moreover, he had won the Best Male Artist and Best Idol awards for three consecutive years, and this year was expected to be no different.
He glanced at the list of attendees.
"Best Newcomer Award?"
Chen Fei leaned over to take a look and was stunned.
"Huh? It seems Lu Keke's family used some connections to try and buy this award."
"But this isn't a major award... The judging committee will probably just go with the flow. It's just a newcomer award, not important."
Ling Qianhe let out a cold snort.
"Buying awards?"
Ling Qianhe reached out and tapped the attendee list.
"Tell them that our entertainment industry needs a fair and just environment. No buying awards through connections this year, or I refuse to attend."
"If they don't agree, then don't hold this award next year."
Chen Fei was taken aback.
"Qianhe, it's not like they offended you. Is it necessary to blow this out of proportion? This is all an unspoken rule. This award is practically priced openly..."
Ling Qianhe's expression was stern.
"I don't care about unspoken rules. In this circle, I am the rule."
Chen Fei gave a bitter smile. When Ling Qianhe was serious, she truly had no way to deal with him.
However, she also knew that with Ling Qianhe's status, he could indeed influence the judges' opinions. Moreover, with significant behind-the-scenes investments involved, if he refused to attend, the awards ceremony would completely lose its credibility!
"Alright."
She hesitated for a moment, then suddenly had an idea.
"Is this... for Times Youth Group?"
"But this award really isn't that important. They will win many more awards in the future. Why must they go against Lu Keke's group?"
Ling Qianhe, however, looked up at Chen Fei.
"Who said this award isn't important?"
"The newcomer award is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Next year, they won't be newcomers anymore, and they won't be able to get the newcomer award. How can you presume to say it's not important on their behalf?"
He wanted to give his girls.
A fair chance!