Snow-Kissed Rose (GL) Chapter 56.1

Song Yingshi's whole body tensed up, and she dared not move a muscle.

Huai Xu's lips were cool to the touch, with a slightly sticky feeling. There was also a mild suction force between her breaths. With every breath she took, Song Yingshi could feel a warm breeze blowing silently at her hand.

Song Yingshi subconsciously pressed her fingertips against Huai Xu's teeth, causing a moist and cool feeling to wrap around them. Immersed in this feeling, she had forgotten to breathe at some point, and it wasn't until she was short of oxygen that she noticed this.

As Song Yingshi took a deep breath, she withdrew her hand from Huai Xu's mouth.

Just as Song Yingshi was about to return to her bed, the system's voice rang: "Host, please be reminded that there are still 14 seconds remaining until mission completion. Further interruptions will result in mission abandonment."

Song Yingshi briefly hesitated before choosing to continue her mission. Although she didn't care about losing some measly Life Points, she couldn't forget about her original intention. How could she back off before getting her compensation?

If Song Yingshi were to back away now, her anger and frustration would only grow with time. To prevent that from happening, she decided to resume her original plan.

After closing her eyes and calming down, Song Yingshi opened her eyes and confidently reached out for Huai Xu's forehead.

As Song Yingshi did so, her inquiring eyes swept across Huai Xu's face.

Looking back now, Song Yingshi couldn't help but find Huai Xu's previous head-tilting motion to be too much of a coincidence. Not to mention, her fingertips were already inside Huai Xu's mouth just now. Wouldn't any normal person wake up after that?

As if hearing Song Yingshi's doubtful thoughts, or perhaps to dispel suspicion, Huai Xu suddenly moved, lifting her head and gently pressing it against Song Yingshi's palm, like a cat gently arching its head.

Huai Xu slowly opened her eyes at the physical contact, revealing a drowsy look as she whispered, "What…are you doing?"

Although Song Yingshi still had some doubts in her heart, she completely forgot about them when she met Huai Xu's gaze. Concealing the inexplicable sense of guilt in her heart, she said frankly, "I was worried you might come down with a fever after getting scared by the fool."

Huai Xu hummed softly. Song Yingshi couldn't see Huai Xu's expression, so she didn't know if Huai Xu had bought her excuse.

Seeing that her mission was nearing completion, Song Yingshi lifted her hand from Huai Xu's forehead, switching to patting Huai Xu's face before sliding her fingers down to Huai Xu's chin. Then, she retracted her hand at the same time as the system informed her of the mission's completion.

While touching her own forehead, Song Yingshi said calmly, "Your body temperature feels normal. Go back to sleep. I'm going to sleep too."

After saying so, Song Yingshi propped up her knees, preparing to return to bed.

Huai Xu quietly watched Song Yingshi without saying or doing anything. Naturally, she didn't mention the incident with her lips.

Song Yingshi breathed a sigh of relief. However, as she began to turn away, her wrist was suddenly grabbed and pulled, causing her to lose her footing and sit back down on Huai Xu's bed.

Before Song Yingshi could react, a dark shadow loomed over her.

While maintaining her grip over Song Yingshi's wrist, Huai Xu parted Song Yingshi's bangs with her other hand. Then, she pressed Song Yingshi's head and leaned forward, resting her forehead against Song Yingshi's.

Their foreheads touched, their eyelashes intertwined, and their noses crossed paths.

There was less than a centimeter between their lips, and even a whisper would lead to them touching.

Song Yingshi parted her lips slightly. However, as she dared not speak, she eventually closed them again, pretending as if nothing had happened. Then, she calmly averted her gaze, avoiding looking at the eyes filled with myriad emotions.

The passage of time lost its purpose at this moment.

After an eternity, Huai Xu released Song Yingshi's wrist, gently flicked Song Yingshi's earlobe, and leaned away. She softly chuckled as she lay back on the bed and said, "This is how you measure body temperature."

…

On June 24, the staff informed the trainees that there would be an outing tomorrow and they could go to N City to relax and have fun in the afternoon.

When the trainees received this news, many cheered in celebration.

They could finally go out and play!

Life in the White Tower was incredibly monotonous for the trainees. Most of their time was spent exhausting their energy in practice rooms or sleeping in the dormitory. Although they were given free time to rest and relax, their options to pass the time were limited since they didn't have access to mobile phones or game consoles. Tao Qin and her roommates grew so bored they even resorted to playing with marbles.

Hence, upon hearing that they could leave the White Tower's premises, many of the trainees who had gathered in the second-floor hall to play Mafia cheered in unison.

However, while many of her peers were cheering, Tao Qin looked at the staff member who brought them the news and asked, "I don't want to go. Can I opt out of it?"

Almost at the same time as Tao Qin spoke, Xing Huan's voice rang out from behind the staff member, "Can I not go?"

After a brief surprise, the staff member replied, "No. We will be filming the process, so everyone must go."

…

After the staff member left, the excited trainees looked at Tao Qin and Xing Huan, asking, "Why don't you two want to go?"

"It's nothing. I'm just too lazy to move. I'm heading back to practice," Tao Qin said before getting up and leaving.

Everyone felt relieved that Tao Qin looked normal and jokingly laughed at her introverted behavior. Then, they all turned to show concern for Xing Huan.

As everyone else laughed, Yu Sheng and Lu Xuewen exchanged glances before chasing after Tao Qin.

Rubbing Tao Qin's head from behind, Lu Xuewen asked, "What's troubling you?"

Meanwhile, Yu Sheng, who was more attentive, asked, "Are you trying to get more practice time?"

Tao Qin nodded and replied, "I want to practice more."

Hearing this, Lu Xuewen sighed and said, "We've been practicing nonstop for four days. Let's go out and get some fresh air. Are you really willing to miss this chance to have fun together?"

After saying so, Lu Xuewen tried to hug Tao Qin like a large dog, only for Tao Qin to push her away.

At this time, Lu Xuewen finally realized Tao Qin's expression was unnaturally serious, and she couldn't help but stare at this unfamiliar Tao Qin in a daze.

Tao Qin took a deep breath and looked at her two friends, saying, "With my current ranking, I'm in no mood for fun. Besides, I have to go regardless, so stop asking."

Tao Qin's voice grew lower as she spoke. After saying so, she walked around her friends and returned to her practice room, saying, "I'm heading back first. We'll meet at dinner."

Lu Xuewen and Yu Sheng quietly watched Tao Qin leave before exchanging worried looks.

During the Initial Rating Performance, Yu Sheng and Tao Qin were assigned to Class B, while Lu Xuewen was assigned to Class C. After the first public performance, Yu Sheng remained in Class B, Tao Qin fell to Class C, and Lu Xuewen rose to Class B.

Because of these changes, Tao Qin was now the only person in their group of three to be in Class C. However, as they would play and joke around with one another whenever they were together, it wasn't until now that they realized how much this matter weighed on Tao Qin's heart.

Just as Lu Xuewen was about to chase after Tao Qin, Yu Sheng held her back, sighing, "Let's talk about it at dinner. Don't waste Qinqin's time; let her vent through practice."

Lu Xuewen heeded Yu Sheng's advice and decided to be patient.

…

When Tao Qin returned to Unavoidable's practice room, she was immediately greeted by music and her teammates dancing. As Hu Wan and Zeng Fu were much weaker than the others at dancing, Song Yingshi would always take time out of her lunch break to teach them basic dance movements.

After several days of extra practice, even Zeng Fu, who joined Star of Spring with literally zero foundation in dancing, had developed some semblance of a good foundation. Because of this, Song Yingshi could offer guidance with much greater precision and efficiency.

While standing at the front, Song Yingshi stepped on the music's beat and randomly connected a series of dance moves. At the same time, she provided a concise analysis of each movement:

"Head, shoulders, hips, and sit… Arms circle, raise face, open out, hips circle, flick, walk, and hold… Cross, clap, expression, and hip sway…"

Standing behind, Zeng Fu and Hu Wan earnestly mimicked Song Yingshi's movements. Although they didn't have trouble following Song Yingshi's movements, it was a challenge to do the movements well. This was also why Song Yingshi was giving them private tutoring sessions.

Only after familiarizing themselves with these basic dance movements and expression management could they dance confidently and have a fighting chance on stage.

In between leading the dance, Song Yingshi cast a glance at Tao Qin.

Zeng Fu and Hu Wan were very focused and didn't stop even when they saw Tao Qin returning.

Tao Qin silently walked to the back row. Rather than immediately practicing Unavoidable's dance, she joined the others in basic dance practice as a warm-up.

Following her rhythmic movements, Tao Qin gradually discharged sweat and pent-up emotions from her body. Even after the music stopped, she still felt unsatisfied and wanted to dance more.

While Zeng Fu and Hu Wan left to get water together, Song Yingshi approached Tao Qin and asked, "Why so early today?"

Tao Qin nodded, hesitated, and said, "We have a mandatory outing tomorrow afternoon. I'm worried I won't get enough practice, so I want to dance a little longer today."

"You've already gotten the dance down, and we still have two more days of practice ahead. That's plenty of time," Song Yingshi said.

As the team leader, Song Yingshi closely watched everyone's progress, and Tao Qin was among those she trusted to do well.

Song Yingshi's gentle affirmation soothed Tao Qin's anxiety. In her defenseless state, she subconsciously blurted out the thoughts she had been keeping from her companions, "I'm scared. I'm scared that I'll still be in Class C after the second public performance. I'm scared that I might even drop to Class D, and there might not be a Class D after the second public performance. Little Shi, how does it feel to be in the debut class?"

Hugging her knees tightly, Tao Qin continued, "I still dared to think about debuting after the Initial Rating Performance, but now I don't even have the confidence to return to Class B. What should I do?"

Out of the 101 trainees the show started with, only seven would get to debut. But now, she wasn't even in the top 20.

The more Tao Qin thought about it, the more panicked she became.

Tao Qin sniffled. After her moment of impulsiveness, she realized that she might have been too unreasonable, so she faked a laugh and said, "I'm just complaining. It's nothing ser—"

Before Tao Qin could finish her words, Song Yingshi interrupted, "Being in Class A feels no different from being in Classes B, C, and D. No one knows whether they can debut until the very end."

Song Yingshi's tone was stable and indifferent. She had long since developed a humble and cautious character under the whip of life. Once she set her mind to accomplish something, she would never drop her guard until she achieved it. She had suffered from carelessness before, and she had also made others suffer from their carelessness.

Tao Qin dropped her fake smile and looked up at Song Yingshi.

"As for what you should do, you already know the answer. Which class we end up in is not for us to decide. The stage is the only thing we can strive for," Song Yingshi said. "Everyone is shining, so ask yourself how hard you can work to shine."

"But everyone's so strong…" Tao Qin muttered.

Tao Qin considered herself a hard worker. However, despite all the effort she had put in, she remained inconspicuous when standing alongside the others.

Song Yingshi gently looked at the confused girl before her. However, her words were cold as she said, "The words 'hard work' represent the persistent dedication to honing oneself, regardless of whether there are cameras and spotlights. It will never be defined by a mere two-month variety show."

After a moment of silence, Tao Qin said, "You're right, Little Shi."

Finally, Song Yingshi patted Tao Qin on the head and said, "Also, don't forget that we will be by your side when you stand on the stage."

Tao Qin wanted to cry when she heard this sentence. If she hadn't been aware that the person before her was someone else's girlfriend and that "someone else" was someone she dared not provoke, she would've already thrown herself into Song Yingshi's embrace.

Biting her lip, Tao Qin said, "Thank you, Little Shi."

Before Song Yingshi could say anything else, Zeng Fu and Hu Wan returned hand in hand, interrupting their conversation.

Besides getting water for themselves, the two also got Song Yingshi and Tao Qin each a full cup of water.

Upon entering the room, Hu Wan promptly handed Tao Qin the cup in her hand.

When Tao Qin accepted the warm water and poured it down her throat, a warm current spread across her body, soothing her emotions.

"I finally get to feed Qinqin," Hu Wan said delightedly.

"Nobody's competing with you," Zeng Fu said as she passed the cup in her hand to Song Yingshi.

"Who said so? Lu Xuewen's one!" Hu Wan stated.

Tao Qin's emotions came and went away quickly. After calming down and hearing Hu Wan's words, she thought of her two friends and walked out without hesitation.

"Qinqin, where are you going?" Hu Wan asked.

"To find Lu Xuewen," Tao Qinr replied. If she didn't go now, she was afraid the fool and Yu Sheng might keep worrying about her and lose focus on their practice.

Song Yingshi smiled when she saw that Tao Qin had come to her senses, at least on the surface. Turning to Zeng Fu and Hu Wan, she retracted her smile and said, "I'll give you 10 more minutes before we resume practice."

Suddenly, Hu Wan's wails echoed in Unavoidable's practice room.