Chapter 368: Chapter 368

Wei Lejun picked up her things and left, not wanting to get involved with Lian Qi.

Afraid of running into her dormmates on the way, she even deliberately slowed her pace. Only after the people leaving the classroom had all passed her did she quicken her steps toward the rehearsal room.

She thought everyone would have finished rehearsing after spending the entire morning, but to her surprise, before she even reached the rehearsal room, she saw lights shining from inside.

Wei Lejun didn’t want anyone to know she was sneaking in for extra practice at night, so she quickly pressed herself against the wall, hiding her figure in the dark.

She hugged the wall and slowly approached, listening as familiar voices drifted out from inside. ᴛhis chapter is ᴜpdated by 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡•𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚⚫𝙣𝙚𝙩

"Sang Ning, how much longer do we need to rehearse? I feel like my hands aren’t even hands anymore. Don’t you think your standards are a bit too strict?" complained Huang Chengzi.

Wei Lejun crouched down, inching slowly toward the right. When she reached the rehearsal room window, she carefully peeked up through it.

Sang Ning was currently instructing Huang Chengzi and Sun Bangyu, and it was the kind of hands-on teaching.

From her vantage point, the three of them faced away from her, visibly absorbed in their rehearsal. They hadn’t noticed someone outside watching them.

Damn it! Sang Ning clearly had it out for her, giving these two idiots special tutoring while completely ignoring her when she was leaving this morning.

Wei Lejun ground her teeth in frustration, unconsciously clenched her fists, and punched the wall furiously.

Just then, Sang Ning seemed to notice movement outside the rehearsal room and suddenly turned her head. Scared out of her wits, Wei Lejun crouched down quickly, nearly bumping her head against the wall.

"Sang Ning, what’s up? Is there a problem?" In that brief moment when Sang Ning turned around, Huang Chengzi sneakily lowered her hands, taking the chance to slack off for a bit.

"Seems like there’s a stray cat outside," Sang Ning said, walking toward the window.

Hearing the approaching footsteps, Wei Lejun’s heart pounded so hard it felt like it might leap out of her chest.

If she ran now, Sang Ning could see her as soon as she opened the window—how disgraceful would that be?

Wei Lejun decided to gamble and stay crouched quietly against the wall corner, leaving fate to decide the outcome.

When someone is nervous, their senses become intensely heightened. For instance, Wei Lejun could now clearly hear the sound of her own heartbeat.

The footsteps drew closer, and an ear-piercing scraping sound came from above—it was the sound of Sang Ning opening the window.

For a moment, her heart seemed to stop, and Wei Lejun felt like she couldn’t breathe. Cold air seemed to pour into her chest, chilling her to the core.

As Sang Ning opened the window, the corner of her eye caught a shadow in the darkness. Her lips curved upward slightly.

"Sang Ning, did you spot the wild cat?" Huang Chengzi asked from behind.

"Didn’t see anything. It probably ran off already." Sang Ning shut the window, turned around, and pointed at Huang Chengzi. "What are you doing with your hands down? Slacking off?"

Huang Chengzi opened her mouth wide and mimed biting the air. "Sang Ning, you’re way too strict!"

"Strict? Look at Xiao Yu—she’s been holding that horse stance for so long without making a peep," Sang Ning said as she returned to Huang Chengzi’s side, grabbing her hands and repositioning them to the original height.

"That’s because Xiao Yu is mute. She can’t talk," Huang Chengzi said, opening her mouth wide again and pretending to bite Sang Ning’s cheek, only to be mercilessly brushed aside.

Sun Bangyu silently turned her head, casting Huang Chengzi an angry glare. She was the one being called mute!

The three inside the rehearsal room were chatting and laughing, while Wei Lejun was alone outside, enduring the cold wind.

Annoying! She must be cursed to clash fates with Sang Ning—whatever she tried to do always got interrupted by her.

Maybe she should just head back to avoid being caught and humiliated.

As Wei Lejun prepared to stand up quietly, Huang Chengzi suddenly exclaimed aloud.

"Wow, Sang Ning, your swordplay moves look so cool! But why do I remember you designed this for Lejun?"

Hearing her name mentioned, Wei Lejun crouched back down. She wanted to hear what Sang Ning had to say about her.

"It was designed for her, but wasn’t she the one who rejected it so disdainfully? I had no choice but to take it up myself," Sang Ning replied.

When designing the moves, Sang Ning had specifically simplified her own parts while painstakingly making the moves for the other three as accessible and visually appealing as possible.

The concept was for all four of them to appear in the same video, showcasing martial arts—a field where Sang Ning already had a natural advantage. For the other three, it was basically overwhelming in comparison.

Sang Ning understood that as newcomers, they needed to seize opportunities for attention. She didn’t want to overshadow them but rather wanted to let them have their moments.

It wasn’t because she thought of herself as noble; everyone starts off as a rookie. In entertainment, attention is everything. While her popularity was stable for now, what she truly lacked was a breakout project. A mere promotional clip wasn’t going to move the needle for her, so she’d rather let those who needed it more take the spotlight.

"It looks great, yes, but don’t you think that move is far too challenging? For someone without a martial arts background like Lejun, it’s just too much," Huang Chengzi said, sharing the same misgivings as Wei Lejun. She too suspected Sang Ning was intentionally making things harder for her.

"It’s harder compared to yours, sure, but I assumed someone like Wei Lejun, who enjoys tackling challenges, could overcome this. Turns out, I misjudged her," Sang Ning said regretfully as she put down the prop sword.

Upon hearing Sang Ning’s comment, Wei Lejun let out a faint, cold laugh—how self-righteous! She was clearly targeting her.

Unable to resist any longer, Wei Lejun contemplated marching in to demand a confrontation. Why couldn’t Sang Ning just say things to her face instead of being so passive-aggressive behind her back?

As she prepared to stand up for the second time, Sang Ning’s words, "Wei Lejun is different from you," stopped her in her tracks.

She crouched back down again—Sang Ning was finally showing her true colors, wasn’t she?

Surely, she would start badmouthing her next. Wei Lejun decided to wait until Sang Ning finished talking, then she’d jump out and catch her off guard, making her understand that walls have ears and speaking ill of others behind their back was absolutely unacceptable.

"Wei Lejun is very beautiful. Her beauty isn’t the same as yours"—it’s a kind of heroic, strikingly aggressive allure," Sang Ning said.

Hearing this, Wei Lejun was dumbfounded. Her facial expression instantly froze in a daze. Sang Ning actually complimented her looks—how was she supposed to start a fight now?

"The moves I designed for her are indeed difficult, but they’re meant to fully showcase her beauty and highlight her confident, bold temperament. Confident and bold—that’s exactly who Wei Lejun is," Sang Ning said, her tone deeply sincere, giving the impression of genuine admiration.

Just then, Huang Chengzi broke the atmosphere with an offhand remark: "Sang Ning, are you sure it’s confidence and boldness, not arrogant and domineering?"

Because of Sang Ning’s praise, Wei Lejun’s lips had started to curl upward slightly, but the moment Huang Chengzi made her comment, her smile instantly vanished.