Chapter 22 It hurts, it hurts so much!

Even though she was that hungry, she still had some energy to dance.

An Yi stood at the door of the practice room with his arms crossed, observing the situation inside through the small window on the classroom door like a headmaster. Jin He was walking in formation seriously in the line, and every move was very standard. When she raised her hand, her fair and supple waist was revealed under her uniform. Her movements were gentle but powerful.

Sometimes slow-paced songs are actually more difficult to perform. If the movements are stretched out, many flaws will be magnified, which will make the stage lose a lot of its aesthetic appeal.

However, Jin He had been a professional idol for several years, so he knew best how to present his best side to the public. But... he might sometimes run out of energy. An Yi observed that Jin He could actually keep up with the first half of the dance moves, and even stood out in the group. But after the first chorus, he was obviously exhausted. He could keep up with the rhythm, but his movements were obviously a bit sluggish.

Lin Nian is right. Jin He in his prime is actually not bad at all. In fact, he could easily carry the team on his own. At twenty years old, Jin He could easily outperform the other trainees present.

But he is only twenty-five years old this year.

An Yi felt a strange sensation. Seeing Jin He's weak limbs, he became even more anxious: drinking yogurt all the time is clearly not a good thing.

When Jin He went to the cafeteria early the next morning, he noticed a large porridge bucket, about half his height, at the food serving area. Holding his bowl, he asked curiously, "What's this?"

"This is red date and yam porridge. The director said the trainees are working too hard, staying up all night to practice, and their days and nights are reversed. So he asked the cafeteria to cook some easily digestible porridge for everyone every day to help them recover." The aunt served Jin He a bowl. "Here, it's fresh out of the pot and still warm."

Red date and yam paste?

Jin He sighed inwardly. This familiar taste—only that person's secret recipe could produce it. He had tasted that rice porridge for the first time when he was twenty and suffered a severe stomach ailment.

For the next two years, the taste of that rice porridge was almost etched into his memory. Even though he tried many methods to replicate that taste over the years, he couldn't.

Jin He took the bowl of porridge with both hands, returned to his seat, and began to drink it sip by sip. Fang Xiaoke, holding a large steamed bun, came over and asked, "Brother, what's this?"

"Red date and yam paste." Jin He lowered her head and sniffed lightly. "There should be some other Chinese herbs added in it. I don't recognize them. It has a faint medicinal smell. Would you like some? It's very nourishing."

"No, no!" Fang Xiaoke quickly moved away. "Only old people drink this kind of stuff. I'm only eighteen."

Jin He: "..."

Jin He gritted her teeth and reached out to pinch Fang Xiaoke's nape: "Let me see if you're too tight-lipped, I'll loosen your skin for you..."

"Hey, hey, hey! Brother, I was wrong, I was wrong, I misspoke. Brother Xiaohe is only twenty-five, in the prime of his life, so young!" Fang Xiaoke quickly shrank his neck and begged for forgiveness, "I was wrong, I was wrong, I was wrong..."

"What's wrong with being eighteen? Don't be so skeptical at such a young age. I was eighteen when I first debuted, and I was even stronger than you." Jin He thought back carefully, "I have no other problems except for being a picky eater."

"Go, go get a bowl and come back to drink it now." Jin He raised his chin, and Fang Xiaoke slunk away with the bowl. Jin He's eyes flickered, and he saw Wen Lian sitting opposite him with his head down, looking like he was saying, "Can't you see me? Can't you see me? Can't you see me..."

"You should go too."

Wen Lian: "Okay."

However, as time went on, it became clear that the training schedule was getting busier and busier. Jin He could only grit his teeth and keep up with the team's pace. But he seemed to have his own set of principles: he could not stay up later than 2 a.m., and he had to send the kids back to the dormitory to sleep as soon as it was time. He could wake them up a little earlier, but he absolutely could not stay up all night.

Wen Lian also noticed that Jin He's body smelled increasingly strongly of medicine these past few days, as if she had been marinated in medicine. Sometimes, even after taking a shower, the bathroom would still smell of medicine.

He felt a little worried.

“Look at you here, your eyes are all wrong.” Jin He pulled Fang Xiaoke in front of the mirror and said impatiently, “Why are you staring so wide-eyed? Isn’t this a very sad song? Just think about how you’ve broken up with your boyfriend.”

"Brother, I've never been in a relationship, so I don't think I can really act as heartbroken as you." Fang Xiaoke tossed her hair in distress. "Why do you look so sad? You look like you're about to break. Have you ever been dumped?"

Jin He was momentarily speechless after Fang Xiaoke said, "You, you don't need to worry about it."

"I can't feel sad."

Fang Xiaoke tried to force a crying face in front of the mirror, but it just looked pitiful and not painful at all.

Jin He: "..."

Jin He said seriously, "Fang Xiaoke, you were criticized and reprimanded for grinning with your teeth showing inappropriately on the first public performance stage."

Fang Xiaoke's bared teeth instantly disappeared.

"Your fans are extremely disappointed in you, and many have unfollowed you and turned against you, criticizing your lack of professional skills and vowing never to vote for you again."

Fang Xiaoke's lips silently twitched down.

"Because you got too few votes, you didn't even make it to the second performance stage. The first performance stage was the first and only time you ever performed on stage in your life."

"Enough, brother, stop talking." Fang Xiaoke's tears were streaming down her face as she clutched her chest. "It hurts, it hurts so much!"