Snow-Kissed Rose (GL) Chapter 53.1

After watching the live stream and establishing the Snow-Kissed Rose Support Group, Jing Xuan, the group's president, became extremely busy.

Although Jing Xuan and her cohorts had plenty of experience starting and running fan clubs, some matters had to be done step by step. Hence, it wasn't until the 21st that the fan club had gained shape. (recap: stream occurred on 16th, Chapter 48.1)

For now, the "Snow-Kissed Rose Support Group" only had a few departments established, namely the Copywriting Department, the Video Department, the Artist Department, the Anti-Hater Department, and the Voting Department. The group also began recruiting staff on Weibo.

Additionally, the fan club had established several essential websites, such as an anti-hater website, a data compilation website, an image blog, etc.

When loose fans learned about the fan club, they flocked to it without hesitation, causing the club's member count to skyrocket. It wasn't until the count reached six figures that the club's growth started to slow down.

As Song Yingshi and Huai Xu were still stuck filming Star of Spring, the fan club wasn't in any condition to track their schedules. The club wasn't needed to provide on-site support, either. Hence, the club's only priority now was to help the two raise funds[1] and gather votes, which was also what the two's individual fan bases were doing.

Besides that, the fan club also focused on various content creation, such as couple edits of the first three episodes. Currently, the trending topic in the club was the first public performance.

On the night the first public performance episode was supposed to air, several hours before the episode aired, Jing Xuan released a personal video she had shot.

Jing Xuan herself could not be seen in the video. The video was taken some distance from the White Tower, and a girl, sounding both happy and disappointed, announced to the viewers that "they" had arrived outside the White Tower.

When Song Yingshi appeared in the shot, viewers could tell Jing Xuan's excitement through the shaking camera and her squealing.

Once Jing Xuan calmed down and the camera stopped shaking, Song Yingshi turned toward the camera and smiled, her sparkling eyes filled with surprise. Instantly, the whole screen appeared dazzling because of her gaze and approach.

"Thank you for the immersive fan-perspective meeting."

"Uuuu! Little Shi is too kind! She even asked if I'm a fan of anyone else! My wife really loves to act spoiled! QvQ"

When Jing Xuan asked Song Yingshi, "Little Shi, won't you get jealous if I'm supporting Huai Xu," her gaze seemed to grow gentler. Then, standing in the breeze, she replied, "I won't. I hope more people can learn about her and like her."

Song Yingshi's smile was the same as always, and her tone was calming and serious as she added, "Believe me, Huai Xu deserves your love."

When the screen went black, Snow-Kissed Rose fans saw their own ear-to-ear grins on the screen, their hearts bursting with fireworks.

"Both of you deserve our love!!!"

"Too sweet, too sweet, too sweet!!!!!!"

"If this isn't love, real love doesn't exist! #cries"

...

Besides Snow-Kissed Rose fans, the individual fans of Song Yingshi and Huai Xu were similarly moved by this video.

Song Yingshi's fans were called Oriole (黄莺 Huang 'Ying'). After watching Jing Xuan's video, they commented with mixed feelings under Song Yingshi's Weibo Super Topic:

"Big Sis has a really good relationship with Huai Xu. It doesn't seem artificial."

"It's only friendship between roommates. Who doesn't have a good relationship with Little Shi? Regardless, it's great that Little Shi is friends with Huai Xu. I get to watch two beautiful big sisters interacting."

"As a career fan[2], I'm delighted with my baby's first public performance. So long as she can keep up this standard on stage, I don't care what she does off-stage."

Meanwhile, the "Willows" over at Huai Xu's Weibo Super Topic were deep in thought.

"Thank you, Little Shi."

"I really hope Ah Xu debuts with Song Yingshi. I want to know what she'll say to us. #cries"

…

In short, as long as Song Yingshi and Huai Xu's relationship stayed good, the Orioles and Willows wouldn't fight each other for no reason. They also had no reason to argue with Snow-Kissed Rose fans. After all, the ship's existence was beneficial toward their idols' debut.

Subsequently, when the first public performance's episode aired, and the audience started shouting "Snow-Kissed Rose," the post-production staff tactfully followed it up with a backstage shot—

In the backstage shot, Song Yingshi and Huai Xu could be seen looking at each other after realizing the meaning behind "Snow-Kissed Rose." The post-production staff even plastered little question marks all around their faces.

"Hahahahaha!"

"As an Oriole, I find this scene amusing."

"Little Shi and Huai Xu: Our secret got out?!"

When Song Yingshi concluded her heart-stirring performance, grabbed Huai Xu by the collar, forced Huai Xu to look at her, and said, "It's your turn now," the bullet comments went wild once more:

"Love-hate relationships ftw!!!"

"I can feel the sexual tension!!!"

"Song Yingshi looks so cool when she's on the offense! Also, bystanders, don't just stand there! Stoke the fire!!!"

…

After the first public performance rankings were announced, a few personal interviews with the trainees were shown.

By now, the production crew had already solidified Dan Silan's public image as a crybaby. They were only short of announcing "We have a sharp-tongued crybaby! Come and have a look!" to the public, and they didn't even show her mercy during her interview.

In Dan Silan's interview, the off-screen interviewer asked, "When you tell others to practice in the future, are you worried everyone might remember you are a crybaby and refuse to listen to your words?"

Confused, Dan Silan answered, "Are they practicing on my behalf? Or do they not care about their own performance?"

Caught off-guard by the question, the interviewer said, "Uh, we're just discussing the possibility."

Dan Silan responded, "Oh, you don't have to worry about that. They're the ones worried if I'll cry."

[The little peacock is too cute! Hahaha!]

[Her words remind me of my teacher, my coach, and my mother.]

[I can't wait to see how Little Chili Pepper is going to struggle with Crybaby!]

When Huai Xu's interview came up, the bullet comments grew even more active.

"Huai Xu, do you know? Your fans gave you a nickname. They're now calling you Ah Xu," the interviewer said.

"Ah Xu?" Huai Xu echoed.

"It's a reference to the quote 'What's Past is Prologue,'" the interviewer explained.[3]

Realization dawning on her, Huai Xu faintly smiled at the camera and said, "Thank you for your nickname. I like it very much."

[Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh]

[Ah Xu, you don't have to thank us! We're grateful just for being able to like you! #cry]

[Her smile feels so distant yet heartwarming! She's definitely the face of Spring Star!]

…

June 21st, the first day of practice for the second public performance:

Yesterday afternoon, Song Yingshi and her teammates had already finished deciding their team's roles. They had also determined the team's center.

Although one person could act as both the team's center and leader, Song Yingshi decided against becoming the center since she had already taken on the role once during the first public performance. After an internal vote, the center role went to Bai Yuzhou.

Bai Yuzhou, a graduate of Beijing Dance Academy, was a post-00s actress before joining Star of Spring. She was assigned to Class A in the Initial Rating Performance, but her votes in the first public performance fell short. Although she joined the show with an established fan base, her fans weren't familiar with the voting process. As a result, she ranked 8th in overall votes and held the awkward position of Class B's top 1 trainee. However, she received many endorsements and sponsorships, so many people felt that she and her fans would ultimately secure her a debut position on the show.

Besides Bai Yuzhou, Song Yingshi had four other teammates. Firstly, there was Tao Qin, who didn't need any additional introductions. As for the other three, they were Hu Wan, Tang Panbo, and Zeng Fu.

Hu Wan, also known affectionately by everyone as Huhu, preferred to maintain a low profile. In reality, she was the daughter of a famous Hong Kong celebrity who married a wealthy tycoon before becoming single again. Hu Wan's appearance resembled her mother. When a retro Hong Kong-style photo of hers went viral online, her mother sent her to Star of Spring to capitalize on the opportunity.

Tang Panbo was a National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts student who specialized in Peking Opera. She had a pair of beautiful and charming eyes. During the Initial Rating Performance, she mentioned that she didn't intend to debut through the show. Instead, she was only here to engage with the entertainment industry to complete her research project and to fulfill her teacher's expectation for her to spread the word about traditional culture. The production crew cooperated with her desires, including a clip of her Peking Opera performance in the Initial Rating Performance episode, which garnered some fans.

Zeng Fu was another girl who liked to maintain a low profile. Song Yingshi didn't know much about the girl. She only knew that the girl once showcased her talent for drawing quick sketches during the hand-themed promotional video. Besides that, the girl had no other memorable points.

In terms of capabilities, Song Yingshi and Bai Yuzhou were at the top, leading the rest of the team by a large margin. Tao Qin and Tang Panbo were in the middle, while Hu Wan and Zeng Fu were at the bottom.

Tao Qin was the sole rapper on the team, so she took all the rap portions of the song. Everyone else determined their roles based on skill and preferences.

The team's song was called "Unavoidable." The song was sweet and cool, but mainly sweet. It could be summed up as "a cool sister in love."

Song Yingshi was quite happy that Bai Yuzhou was their team's center. Bai Yuzhou was one of the few sweet, older sister types on the show with a soft but graceful figure. If Song Yingshi or anyone else were to be the center of "Unavoidable," they'd easily come off as too stiff or soft. Bai Yuzhou, on the other hand, could blend these two styles and pull off a harmonious performance.

Although this was everyone's first collaboration with one another, the team got along well. The team's initial atmosphere was much more harmonious than Song Yingshi's first team.

Song Yingshi participated in practice with much greater focus this time. As the team's leader, she had to supervise herself and her teammates' progress.

After a morning of almost non-stop practice, Team "Unavoidable" had lunch together, and they were now idly chatting as they digested their food.

"I've only seen you in memes before coming here," Hu Wan whispered to Bai Yuzhou.

Earlier in the year, someone had used screenshots of Bai Yuzhou from a variety show to create a set of silly memes. The memes quickly went viral, and they eventually became even more popular than Bai Yuzhou herself.

While this could be seen as a positive for some celebrities, it was a social death for a female artist like Bai Yuzhou. For example, the most popular meme showed Bai Yuzhou's head covered by a metal bucket that revealed only her eyes, captioned: "Observing in secret."

When Bai Yuzhou heard Hu Wan mentioning her memes, her face stiffened and twitched. Then, she said awkwardly but politely, "Yes, that's me."

Before Hu Wan could say anything else, Bai Yuzhou looked toward Song Yingshi and said softly, "I thought you would have chosen 'Lights On,' Little Shi."

"Lights On" was a more outgoing and sexy song that was somewhat similar to "Surrender," the song Song Yingshi performed in her first public performance. It was also the song Huai Xu chose this time.

"It's not interesting to keep to the same style, so I decided to switch things up," Song Yingshi explained.

"We'll definitely put on an excellent performance," Bai Yuzhou said, smiling.

At this time, Tao Qin and Hu Wan exchanged glances, and one of them chanted, "Beat Huai Xu! Beat Huai Xu!"

Meanwhile, the other chanted, "Surpass her ranking! Surpass her ranking!"

Zheng Fu quietly sat in the corner, organizing her belongings. She listened to their conversation, occasionally smiling.

After asking Bai Yuzhou a question about the entertainment industry, Tang Panbo asked curiously, "Besides Huai Xu, who else is in Team 'Lights On?'"

Song Yingshi was about to answer Tang Panbo, but Bai Yuzhou responded ahead of her, "Wan Jiao, Yan Ran, Quan Yuanyuan, Dan Silan, and Qiu Zhixin."

"Wow! It's like an all-star team!" Tang Panbo exclaimed.

"They're all old acquaintances," Tao Qin sighed.

"We'll win against them, right, Team Leader?" Bai Yuzhou asked Song Yingshi.

Immediately, everyone else on the team turned to look at Song Yingshi.

Smiling, Song Yingshi replied confidently, "Of course. Is everyone rested? If so, let's resume practicing. We'll start with breath control."

Beckoning to Hu Wan and Zheng Fu, Song Yingshi said, "You two, practice next to me."

As the two cubs walked over obediently, Tao Qin raised her hand and tried to compete for Song Yingshi's favor, saying, "Me too! Me too!"

"Have Little Zhou watch over you," Song Yingshi flatly refused.

TL Notes:
[1]raise funds: I'm not knowledgeable about the workings of celebrity fan clubs, but from the novels I've read, I'm guessing some serious fan clubs will raise funds to buy tickets for others (those who are serious supporters but can't afford the tickets) to watch their idols' live performances.

By doing so, they can lower the possibility of their idols' concerts appearing empty or lacking atmosphere.

In competitive performances, they can also ensure their idols have more fans on site than the opposing idol/celebrity.

[2]career fan: A type of fan who primarily focuses on their idol's professional achievements.

[3]Nickname 'Ah Xu': This is another play on pronunciation that doesn't translate well.

The Willows (Huai Xu's fans) gave Huai Xu(怀絮) the nickname of "Ah Xu(阿序)". 絮 and 序 are pronounced similarly. The intent behind the 阿序 nickname is to reference the translated version of a quote from Shakesphere's The Tempest: "What's past is prologue" (凡是过往，皆为