CSGM - Chapter 57
Chapter 57: Slacking Off in Class
The six-month journey of the Three Kingdoms training camp officially began on a sun-drenched summer day.
Early in the morning, Chu Xi dragged her meager luggage to the location—a large house the production crew had rented in the suburbs of the Capital.
The waiting area was packed with new faces, 150 people in total. The gender disparity was stark: 120 male trainees and 30 female trainees. It was said that among them, only a tenth would ultimately be able to compete for a role in the film.
Standing at the very back of the crowd, Chu Xi watched as a dense stream of IQ information flickered past her eyes.
This was truly a good place.
She had made the right choice coming here.
The trainees first drew lots to determine their dorm assignments. Under the watchful eye of the dorm manager, all the food they had brought in their suitcases and bags was confiscated before they were allowed into their rooms.
Each dorm room housed six people.
Upon entering her dorm, Chu Xi eagerly inspected the other five—
One was a round-headed girl with curly hair, Little Curly Hair, with an IQ of 99.
One was a thin and gaunt dark-skinned girl, the Dark-skinned Girl, with an IQ of 102.
One was of mixed race from an unknown region, with an IQ of 107.
One was a recent university graduate, with a Pale, Young, Skinny appearance, but a distinctive tear mole at the corner of her eye, with an IQ of 110.
And the last was a tall, fair-skinned trainee, supposedly a former model, also with an IQ of 110.
Alas… it seemed that promising prospects like Li Xiling were hard to come by.
The six of them were strangers and didn't have time to talk in the morning. After organizing their luggage and beds, they were called out to a supermarket to purchase their personal necessities for the week.
After a bland and watery lunch, all the trainees were briefed on the training camp's rules in the afternoon.
“Damn, this is so twisted!”
Someone cried out in shock upon hearing they had to wake up at five every morning for a run.
That was even worse than morning runs in high school!
Chu Xi remained silent, her expression unchanging. “…”
It was a bit much.
This place might be suitable for Ren Zhi. She would absolutely thrive here.
Then, everyone went to look at the class schedule—
Classes started at seven in the morning and ended at nine at night, with a dorm check at ten.
The six-day week was packed with classes like acting, martial arts, culture, equestrianism, etiquette and music, body sculpting, and more.
Sunday was a day off.
Oh, right, there were also morning exercises before class.
“…”
They didn’t mention any of this during registration.
Chu Xi felt like she had entered a labor reform camp.
This was even more exploitative than the last Our Restaurant live stream!
“What should I do? I already feel like running away…”
Standing beside Chu Xi, her dorm mate, Little Curly Hair, shivered.
Chu Xi turned her head and whispered a warning, “No running away.”
If everyone here ran off, her being here would be meaningless.
Little Curly Hair’s IQ was a low 99. She was a profitable target. Chu Xi locked onto her like a cheetah stalking its prey.
Little Curly Hair said guiltily, “I was just saying…”
The next thing they looked at was the meal plan—
It was different every day of the week.
Monday:
Pre-meal: 250ML of water.
Breakfast: 300ML of skim milk, 1 apple, 1 ear of corn.
Snack: None.
Lunch: 200g vegetable combination (spinach/cabbage), 75g boiled chicken breast, beef.
Snack: At 4 PM, 1 cup of fruit and vegetable juice, 1 serving of nuts.
Dinner: A moderate amount of vegetables (greens/cucumber), 50g lean beef, 1-2 sweet potatoes.
Snack: 2 egg whites, 1 serving of a fruit combination (kiwi/avocado).
Tuesday:
…
Wednesday:
…
Sunday:
…
Chu Xi was speechless.
The trainees around her saw the menu and began to discuss it:
“No wonder they confiscated my potato chips just now!”
“Ah, they took my instant noodles too. It’s over. Does this mean I won’t get to eat a single bowl of instant noodles for six months?”
“Look on the bright side, don’t be so pessimistic. What if you get eliminated next week…”
That was right. This training camp didn’t support idlers; there was an elimination system.
The director had said there would be an assessment every Saturday. The first one was in seven days, and it would eliminate the one-sixth of trainees with the lowest performance rankings.
While they had all groaned at the class schedule and meal plan, the atmosphere became tense and solemn when the director mentioned the elimination system.
No one wanted to be kicked out of the training camp for being “too bad.”
Someone was already thinking, it’s so hard just for a movie role!
Not only did they have to endure six months in the training camp, but they also had to compete for the roles they wanted in the end. The path for a newcomer was so difficult!
Only Chu Xi was completely unconcerned with these future developments.
She would observe first.
She would identify the overachievers and those who wanted to win, and she would teach them.
Her true purpose was to raise the IQ of these entertainment industry newbies.
To be honest, the price she was paying this time was quite high…
The next day, on the first official day of the Three Kingdoms training camp, when the sky was just turning a fish-belly white at five in the morning, Chu Xi wanted to curse the moment she was woken up.
Get dressed, wash face, go out, morning run.
The frown on her face never once relaxed.
Hard work was for idiots!
To think a day would come when she, too, would wake up at five in the morning for a grueling run.
This was killing her…
Perhaps Chu Xi really wasn't suited for this environment. After the run, her throat had the faint taste of blood, and she looked just as exhausted and disheveled as the other trainees.
She found a tree to lean against, a rare expression of struggle on her face.
The Dark-skinned Girl from her dorm seemed to be from a mountainous region and had excellent stamina from climbing mountains since childhood. Seeing Chu Xi panting heavily, she said with a sympathetic look:
“The morning run seems too hard for you guys. I can teach you some running techniques.”
In the next second, Chu Xi straightened her back, her expression indifferent.
“I’m fine. This isn’t tiring. I just didn’t sleep well yesterday.”
During acting class, Chu Xi sneezed a few times out of boredom.
In the afternoon, during equestrian training on the vast grassland, she rode her horse and easily passed by the Dark-skinned Girl’s side.
Even the Dark-skinned Girl, who had learned horse-herding skills in the mountains, stared at her in astonishment.
“Does your family raise horses too?” the Dark-skinned Girl asked curiously.
“No, I’ve just ridden a few times on my own,” Chu Xi said.
“I can’t believe you’re even more skilled than me. You’re amazing!” the Dark-skinned Girl said, her face full of admiration.
Chu Xi smiled and rode away.
That night during body sculpting training, the practice room was filled with howls of pain.
Chu Xi could handle this, but the air conditioning was a bit too cold. The chilly air irritated her, and she let out several sneezes.
On the way back to the dorm that night, she coughed a few times.
Her throat was a little itchy.
Her initial diagnosis was that she seemed to have caught a cold.
Unexpectedly, even taking medicine in advance didn't prevent it. By the time she was in bed, she had started running a fever.
As expected…
The morning run was a bad start!
That night, the five trainees in the dorm started chatting. Chu Xi was listless and in no mood to join their discussion, so she went to sleep on her own.
But their conversation didn’t last long. After about ten minutes, they too were exhausted and sleepy.
The next day, when training began, Chu Xi wore a mask.
During the culture class, she listlessly spun her pen, her expression clearly showing that her mind was wandering far from the lesson.
That night, during the film analysis session, she nearly fell asleep in the back row.
Some trainees from her class recognized her and began to discuss her in secret.
“She seems to be Chu Xi. She’s not a newcomer anymore. She has several million fans on Weibo!”
“My friend said her audition was amazing! Why is she slacking off now that she’s in?”
“Could it be that she finds it too hard and tiring here and doesn’t want to do it anymore?”
“Sigh, she could be filming other projects outside. Why did she have to come to this training camp? If you can’t handle it, you shouldn’t have come in the first place. Taking someone else’s spot and then not training properly—people like that are so annoying.”
“Isn’t the assessment next Saturday? She’ll probably be eliminated then…”
Chu Xi emerged from the restroom, walked past them without a glance, and left, too lazy to respond to such nonsense.
The few people standing at the restroom entrance watched her walk away and swallowed awkwardly.
The acting teacher who had noticed Chu Xi’s inattentiveness, along with the equally concerned etiquette and music teacher and the culture teacher, discussed the matter in the office.
Chu Xi’s audition score had been high, but the upcoming assessment would cover the curriculum from these seven days, which was completely different from the audition. Aside from acting, where she could rely on past experience, Chu Xi’s lack of seriousness meant she would likely have a hard time passing Saturday’s assessment!
The etiquette and music teacher said, “When I call for practice, she just plucks the strings a few times casually. Others practice diligently, and some even come for extra practice at night. At this rate, her score on the test will likely be a huge gap behind others.”
The culture teacher also worried, “She was secretly sleeping while I was lecturing. The other trainees were all taking notes and memorizing the book. The assessment will have questions from the book too.”
In fact, many people in the production crew valued Chu Xi’s image and temperament. She was heroic and resilient, with high facial definition and deep-set features that were very suitable for the big screen.
If she were willing to participate in Three Kingdoms and could be cultivated into a good film actress, it would be a happy outcome for everyone.
But from the looks of it these past few days, Chu Xi didn’t seem to like the training camp very much.
Perhaps she was having second thoughts.
The teachers spoke with some regret. Chu Xi hadn’t been paying attention in class. It looked like her ranking in Saturday’s assessment would be at the bottom.
And the bottom one-sixth of trainees would be eliminated from the camp in the first week.
For several days, Chu Xi gave off an absent-minded, ready-to-quit vibe.
She was either secretly sleeping in class or finding opportunities to sit and slack off. And she wore a black mask, making her seem exceptionally cold and aloof.
Little Curly Hair from her dorm still tried to get close to her.
This day, after the morning run, Chu Xi went back to the dorm to change, and Little Curly Hair followed her back.
“Chu Xi, the assessment is in two days. Are you… planning to leave after the assessment?” Little Curly Hair asked tentatively.
Because Chu Xi hadn’t been paying attention in class or socializing these past few days, it seemed like she didn’t plan to stay long in the camp.
“No,” Chu Xi replied.
Little Curly Hair let out a surprised “Ah.”
“But you… you haven’t been listening in class these past few days!”
“I have been listening,” Chu Xi said softly.
But Little Curly Hair looked unconvinced. Everyone had seen Chu Xi slacking off and goofing around in every single class.
For instance, her copy of the History of the Late Eastern Han textbook—Little Curly Hair had seen that every page in Chu Xi’s book was blank, without a single note!
Meanwhile, Little Curly Hair, terrified of being eliminated in the first week, was exceptionally nervous and studied very seriously. She had practically memorized her notes, fearing she would rank at the bottom in the assessment!
Chu Xi was very aloof and didn’t intend to continue the conversation. Little Curly Hair, suspicious, changed her clothes and went out for breakfast.
Only after she had left did Chu Xi take the medicine out of her thermos and drink it.
Afterward, she raised her hand to feel her forehead. The fever had gone down a lot, and she felt much better than yesterday.
Just then, Little Curly Hair, who had forgotten her utensils, opened the door and came back in, happening to see Chu Xi touching her forehead.
She was startled and ran over. “Chu Xi, are you sick?!”
She quickly reached out to feel Chu Xi’s forehead too. She really did have a bit of a fever!
Little Curly Hair exclaimed, “Ah!” and suddenly realized, “No wonder you’ve been so listless lately. Don’t tell me you got sick as soon as you arrived?!”
Chu Xi wore a mask every day and didn’t talk, cough, or blow her nose. Everyone just thought she was cold and hard to get along with, not realizing she was sick!
Chu Xi had the high-pressure environment to thank for this. Everyone was worried about themselves, and being new, they didn’t know each other well, so no one was chattering in her ear.
Now there was…
“Chu Xi, why didn’t you say so earlier? What if you fainted? Have you taken your temperature? What is it now? Why don’t you ask the teachers for leave? You should probably tell the director… Otherwise, what about the assessment the day after tomorrow? This is so unfair to you…”
Chu Xi raised a hand to interrupt her, slowly drank her medicine, and sighed. “I’m almost better.”
Little Curly Hair was still worried. “What if you get eliminated because of this…”
Chu Xi patted her shoulder. “Don’t worry. Even if you get eliminated, I won’t be.”
Little Curly Hair: “…”
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