CEO's Sweetheart is a Super Idol-Chapter 312 - 305 Before 3 Gong

Nightfall

Grows heavier

Zhang Zijing lowered herself, leaning against Ye Yuwei’s chest.

"Yezi, I’m really scared, I don’t want to go back to being invisible, insignificant."

"None of us do. We’ve dimmed the brilliance of our youth for years, just for one moment to shine."

Ye Yuwei gently stroked the silky strands of the other’s long hair, her emotions tumultuous like the sea.

When Zhang Zijing raised her head again, her eyes, seemingly infused with moonlight, were brimming with tears.

...

Practice Room

Lu Bingbing sat cross-legged, her face devoid of expression.

Beside her, Wang Qingyu wore a similarly melancholy look.

"Bingbing-jie, this might be my last public performance."

"My company won’t fund me anymore."

Originally coming as a platform streamer just to make an appearance, now she genuinely wanted to go further. But she understood—this was impossible.

"Then let’s work hard together when we leave," Lu Bingbing smiled gently, pulling the other into her embrace.

"Bingbing-jie, you won’t leave, you won’t quit."

"My company has already given up on me. I am a failure."

"... Bingbing-jie, did you receive news from your company?"

Hearing Lu Bingbing’s words, Wang Qingyu unexpectedly felt a hint of joy in her heart.

"No, but Ye Yuwei securing that center position says it all."

"The best my company could do was let me make it to the finals."

Lu Bingbing’s judgment on matters like these was eerily accurate.

"Damn Ye Yuwei, she came here with ulterior motives, hiding her connections with Lv Fangxin, and now at the crucial moment, they’re blowing up together for popularity." Wang Qingyu gritted her teeth.

"Little Yezi is very calculating; she also has immense patience."

"Once she debuts, it’ll be like a dragon diving into the sea, soaring to the skies."

Lu Bingbing was full of sentiments. She realized that the moment the other debuted would mark the shattering of her own dreams.

"Bingbing-jie, after you leave, break off your contract with the company! Let’s be streamers together."

"I won’t be a streamer. Being an idol, becoming an actress has been my lifelong dream. Even if I don’t succeed, I’ll stay in my company."

"Why?"

Wang Qingyu couldn’t comprehend her friend’s thoughts at all.

"Bingbing, your company treats you terribly, doesn’t it? Come with me to stream, we’ll surely work hard and earn a lot of money."

"It’s not about the money. My company is indeed awful, but I can’t bear to leave the people in the group, nor the group itself. I want to watch them achieve the dreams I couldn’t."

"... Bingbing-jie"

Wang Qingyu began crying all of a sudden. Now she understood her friend’s heart.

She had only ever seen people like this in TV dramas, but now one was right in front of her.

"Bingbing-jie, you’re too foolish. That group of yours won’t have anyone breaking out anymore."

"Why not? Little Juzi, Ye Yuwei—they’re our driving force to keep going."

"Ye Yuwei? Does she even count?"

"She counts. I think she won’t forget that river; it holds her youth and memories too."

Lu Bingbing’s soft, star-lit face showed mixed emotions as she slowly got up and walked to the window, gazing at the myriad stars outside.

"Within our group, we once called it a legendary team, akin to those stars outside."

"Though to outsiders, we may only ever appear like fireflies."

"But to us, we are immeasurably proud, and this is shared by our fans."

Scenes flashed through Lu Bingbing’s mind like a reel of film, chronicling everything from the group’s founding to today.

Everything—everything felt like a magnificent, beautiful bubble.

She didn’t hate Old Mu, because without him, she wouldn’t have had this beautiful dream, met all these friends, experienced so much sorrow and joy.

"Bingbing, let’s work hard together. I’ll earn enough money through streaming for your film."

"Thank you, Qingyu. Meeting you was the best thing in my life."

B-Class Dormitory

Lai Ruoxuan wore headphones, playing the song her fans voted for over and over again.

Everyone was floored that she managed to secure this song’s center position.

Her rankings had never breached the formation lineup after two public performances.

But since the second public performance, her fans’ fundraising had consistently remained in the top five across boards.

Her fans actively participated in every event sponsored by organizers.

Yet despite all this, she was perpetually stuck outside the top 11, with few camera shots, and her first attempts at singing during practice sessions always cut. Even the scene of her presenting a painting to Uncle Dong was edited out.

To the producers, she seemed unimportant, or, at best, a punching bag. But Lai Ruoxuan never gave up.

Her "dream" had awakened so early—she had auditioned for Galaxy Girl Group while still in high school.

Rejected three times there, she subsequently joined Bright Moon Girl Group, enduring countless hardships.

Her path had consistently been cruel. Each time she thought she was finished, even when others and she herself believed it hopeless—she clawed her way back.

Now, she had come this far. How could she give up?

The producers’ attitude toward her remained vacillating.

By every metric, Lai Ruoxuan was remarkably talented, and her broad popularity and fundraising indicated economic potential.

But Lai Ruoxuan had a fatal flaw: she was too short—less than 1.5 meters tall.

The company’s vision was to build a glamorous and high-end girl group.

Someone of her height didn’t fit their standards.

But they were also dissatisfied with their preferred choices—Liu Feiyu, Qi Ziyue, Zhao Juke, and Chen Yinghan, whose individual fanbases lacked strength.

This imbalance meant post-formation popularity would dwindle, hurting sustainability.

Thus, after the second public performance, they assigned Lai Ruoxuan a frustrating rank.

This rank incensed her fans.

Her fundraising numbers clearly outpaced Gao Ziyi’s, yet the latter had outranked her at 11th place.

It felt entirely unfair—their collective outcry against the company grew louder with each passing day.

"I must work harder, I must persevere, I must believe in myself." Lai Ruoxuan kept cheering herself on.

B-Class Another Dormitory

Lv Fangxin, despite being assigned to A-Class, had moved over after the first public show to share a dorm with Chen Yinghan.

She inherently rejected the grand and opulent environment of A-Class, feeling no sense of belonging there—or perhaps fear.

Only when she was with Chen Yinghan did she feel safe.

Now, with the third public performance splitting them up, Lv Fangxin felt as though her soul was missing.

At this moment, the pair practiced singing together.

Listening to Lv Fangxin’s off-key notes that seemed to wander into another universe, Chen Yinghan couldn’t help but feel despair.

She didn’t understand how Lv Fangxin’s fans could be so clueless—why on earth had they chosen such a song with the highest difficulty level for her?

Their blatantly sabotaging their idol defied logic—like something out of a surreal comedy.

Lv Fangxin lacked any hearing for music; her dancing only remained passable if someone consistently reminded her to stay synchronized. Surely her fanbase could see this?

So why did they select such a tough song? Among the remaining contestants, only five had the capability to handle it; even Chen Yinghan herself wasn’t one of them—she’d need to resort to key adjustments and re-arranging the composition.

At this point, all she could do was encourage her friend.