2:30 a.m.
The event finally ended.
Yuwei and the others felt like they were about to starve to death.
From noon until now, they hadn’t eaten a single bite, afraid of ssing up during the performance.
With the kind of physical exertion they had and the lack of food, their stomachs naturally protested strongly.
"I’m starving to death!" Fu Xiaoyu felt like she was about to faint.
"I’m finished, can I eat a person?" Qi Ziyue walked weakly.
"I just want to eat and sleep. I don’t want to diet anymore," Lv Xiaoyu stuck out her adorable tongue.
"Yuwei, don’t you feel hungry?" Zhang Zijing, who was holding Yuwei’s arm, felt like the person beside her was made of steel—showing no signs of fatigue or hunger.
For today’s performance, they hadn’t even drunk much water.
First, to avoid the inconvenience of needing the restroom, and second, to ensure nothing went wrong during the performance.
"Hungry, I haven’t eaten much all day either. But there’s a cara around."
Yuwei’s words shocked Zijing; she hadn’t expected such resolve from Yuwei.
"As idols, we have to maintain our image at all tis, or even one candid photo could lead to unforeseeable consequences," Yuwei said sternly.
Zijing nodded and instinctively glanced around.
ngqi, Ruoxuan, Li Zing, and the others all carried themselves well.
anwhile, Gao Ziyi and Wu ixiang had their arms slung around each other, looking totally exhausted.
Unbeknownst to them, in a certain room of the base building,
Uncle Bao was wearing an apron as he chopped fillings, surrounded by two large glass bowls for mixing—one filled with chives, the other with celery.
This was a scene specially arranged by the program—a mont of warmth before the big competition.
Today, they were using the concept of a family feast to illustrate this.
As Uncle Bao rolled out dumpling wrappers, he chuckled, "Thank goodness it’s 22 girls and not 22 boys, else we’d need to make so much more."
His movents were nimble, showing his proficiency in cooking. The dumplings he made were also beautiful.
While he worked, the 22 girls ca in from outside.
"Ah!"
Everyone clapped their hands in delight.
It wasn’t just seeing Uncle Bao again; they were thrilled at the sight of dumplings, their eyes lighting up with excitent.
"Ladies, you’ve worked hard."
"Thank you, Uncle Bao!"
The girls nearly simultaneously bowed in gratitude.
The room was filled with the aroma of dumpling fillings, and many couldn’t help but drool.
"Hungry?"
"Hungry!"
"Anyone who can wrap dumplings, co help out."
Lu Bingbing enthusiastically raised her hand, "I can! I know how to roll wrappers."
Yuwei couldn’t help but laugh at Bingbing’s claim. Bingbing only tried rolling wrappers once during a Galaxy-produced food show.
Typically, these young Galaxy idols either ate cafeteria food or ordered takeout.
It seed Bingbing was angling for screen ti.
Zijing froze in place—she didn’t know how to do it. From a young age, she had only learned how to play musical instrunts and similar things.
ng ixuan and Wu Zixuan were laughing but also pondering; neither of them knew how to wrap dumplings.
"I can do it too! I’m really good at it," Fu Xiaoyu imdiately rushed over.
She did know how to cook, having worked as a dance teacher and rented a place on her own.
"I can too! Let’s do it together!" Duan Yuxin said with a smile.
"What about those who don’t know how to wrap?" Gao Ziyi suddenly asked in a coy, playful manner.
Uncle Bao smiled, "Those who can’t wrap can just wait to eat."
At that mont, Wang Na walked over and sat down in front of Uncle Bao, donning a dramatic expression. "Mr. Bo, I’ll sit here and watch you wrap dumplings."
Not just the other girls, even Yang Xiaoyue almost fainted with laughter.
Was Wang Na being overly coquettish? Did she think this was so candlelit dinner prepared especially for her?
Was this still the strong and independent persona she had going on?
anwhile, Gao Ziyi was glaring coldly at Wang Na.
Yuwei couldn’t help but want to laugh—was Wang Na out of her mind?
It wasn’t just how disgusting her "cutesy act" was.
This was a program about selecting idols. Idols were supposed to follow certain professional rules.
If fans saw her acting like that, wouldn’t they roast her to death?
Plus, Uncle Bao was quite old—surely he had a wife?
Acting coquettishly in public would only tarnish how regular viewers saw her.
Yuwei wondered if this segnt would be included in the main edit.
If it was, Wang Na was definitely done for.
Uncle Bao was visibly uncomfortable, being stared at lovingly by this dark-skinned, overweight woman, and goosebumps rose on his skin.
But being a seasoned veteran, he quickly managed to handle it. "Everyone, make sure to wash your hands well."
With that, he walked over to check on the boiling water, leaving Wang Na embarrassed and alone.
The others couldn’t suppress their laughter, while Gao Ziyi smirked with satisfaction.
Lv Fangxin naturally understood what was going on and giggled mischievously.
Lu Bingbing’s take on Wang Na’s action consisted of just four words: "Deserved humiliation."
A group of them headed off to wash their hands and returned to casually chat and wrap dumplings.
The atmosphere was lively with laughter.
At one point, Gao Ziyi leaned over behind ng ixuan, her chubby face grinning unnaturally. "ixuan, can you make a heart-shaped dumpling?"
Frankly, though ixuan was inwardly irritated at Ziyi trying to force connections for clout, she didn’t show it.
Before the third round’s public performance, Gao Ziyi’s lackadaisical practice had almost sabotaged their act, which had greatly annoyed ixuan—as did Ziyi’s fake motivational persona on the cruise.
"No!" ixuan responded firmly without even turning her head.
Gao Ziyi awkwardly shuffled away.
She then tried to chat with Yuwei, but Yuwei imdiately abandoned her dumplings and moved to another spot.
Of the 22 girls, only Ziyi and Wang Na weren’t wrapping dumplings.
Regardless of skill, everyone else was working hard to contribute.
"Teacher, do you often make dumplings at ho?"
After neatly placing a dumpling on an oilpaper-lined tray, Lai Ruoxuan asked.
She was skilled at wrapping dumplings, having helped with housework since her childhood.
"I used to make dumplings often. Back then, my crew and I traveled around doing gigs, and I handled als for everyone. These days, it’s less often."
Uncle Bao’s approachable words earned him a lot of affection from the girls.
They weren’t naive schoolgirls; they knew hard work paved the way to success.
Before long, the dumplings were all wrapped. After cooking, the ravenous girls began feasting.
The scene was like a whirlwind.
"Zijing, eat more. We’ve burned so much energy these past three days. Without enough protein, our bodies could break down and make us sick," Yuwei reminded Zijing, who seed to be controlling her portion size.
Zijing’s lips curled into a sweet smile, and she began eating heartily.
The kind-hearted Li Shihan continued helping everyone cook dumplings in the pot.
Once most of them were finished eating, they felt a rare sense of satisfaction.
They started discussing their performance today and the upcoming eliminations.
Instantly, the mood grew heavy.
Everyone knew they hadn’t done well today and felt deeply regretful.
"Let’s not talk about the competition for now; let’s just enjoy the dumplings."
"Alright."
The girls’ responses were half-hearted.
"Here’s another surprise for you all—who’ve you been missing?"
"If you’re missing family, I’ve invited them over."
Uncle Bao’s words surprised everyone, followed by a wave of excitent. Could their families really be here?
"Ah! Our families are here?"
"Who exactly ca?"
"My parents probably wouldn’t co. They don’t like doing this kind of work."
"Mine neither. I almost couldn’t attend art school."
Lv Fangxin stopped eating, looking emotionally stirred. She wondered how her parents would react to seeing her like this.
"Yinghan, if my parents try to hit later, can you step in?"
"Huh?"
"I snuck out with Sister Yezi."
Lv Fangxin finally confessed, and Chen Yinghan stared at her wide-eyed.
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