ATIS Chapter 25 pt 1

“Han on the left, Liao on the right, Su on the right…”

“What are you talking about?” Qin Lu asked as he walked into the practice room and saw Fan Xi excitedly reciting something strange to Jin Yooeun, who was looking at him speechlessly. Qin Lu took out a cold iced tea from his bag and smiled as he raised the bottle to touch Fan Xi.

“Oh wow, you’re back so quickly!”

To save time, they had been taking turns going to the cafeteria to bring back boxed meals and drinks during lunch these past few days.

“Wow, it’s still cold!” Fan Xi said happily as he took the bottle, a hint of nostalgia in his eyes. “I miss our family’s hotpot, the steaming lamb slices paired with a sip of cold iced black tea—it’s the perfect combination.”

He sighed and started counting on his fingers, “I’ve already gone one, two, three… N days without hotpot. I aim to leave this bland place as soon as possible and regain my freedom of eating.”

Qin Lu sat down next to him, taking out a stack of boxed meals from the bag and smiling as he said, “Well, hotpot heir, if you debut, your manager will probably watch your diet. I think you should cherish the freedom of eating boxed meals now and stop thinking about hotpot all day long.”

Fan Xi turned to look at Qin Lu, shaking his head in despair amidst Jin Yooeun’s mocking laughter, “To fulfill the great task heaven bestowed upon the future top star, one must first give up hotpot, toil their muscles, exhaust their mind, and starve their body…”

Jin Yooeun clicked his tongue in amazement, “You’re not completely uneducated, are you, Fan Learning Slag (1)?”

Fan Xi waved his hand dismissively, “You fake Korean, you’ve even heard of classical Chinese. You’re so awesome (2), I’m impressed.”

“So, what were you mumbling about, Han on the left and Liao on the right?” Qin Lu asked, taking a sip of iced tea and remembering to bring the conversation back to the original topic. Fan Xi slapped his forehead and sat up, “Oh, I almost forgot. Qin Lu, I’m telling you, I’m a genius haha!”

Qin Lu glanced at him, calmly drinking his beverage and gesturing with his eyes for Fan Xi to go on.

“The positioning we practiced earlier was very complex and easy to mix up, right? So, I came up with a rhyme to help remember the positions, and it seems very effective! I plan to selflessly impart it to everyone once Liao Junchen returns. How about I tell you first—”

Qin Lu good-naturedly made a pause gesture and, tilting his head with a smile, said, “No need for me. I remembered it from the beginning.”

Fan Xi: “…Oh, right.”

Jin Yooeun let out a merciless laugh. (3)

Su Qinglan, who had just returned from the bathroom, happened to hear this conversation and thought with a bitter and resentful expression, Qin Lu has indeed been led astray by those people!

After the other trainees returned one after another, Fan Xi's mnemonic once again failed to sell. Liao Junchen didn't need his help, Su Qinglan had his own way of remembering, Han Suyan had a brain that couldn’t forget like Qin Lu, and only Toeisup listened gratefully… then scratched his head in embarrassment, laughing sheepishly, “P Xi, I didn’t understand.”

Fan Xi downed a bottle of iced black tea in one gulp of frustration and prepared to start practice with renewed determination.

However, they hadn’t practiced long before a staff member, who rarely appeared at the practice room door, poked his head in and asked everyone to take turns going to room 312 on the third floor for individual interviews.

It seemed that every trainee was required to go. They had already seen many trainees going up and down the stairs earlier in the morning.

Qin Lu was the last from their team to go.

His teammates, who had returned, did not reveal what the interview was about. Qin Lu felt they might be hiding something, but he didn’t ask.

He would find out later anyway.

Qin Lu followed the staff upstairs. He hadn’t been to any place other than the practice room. On this floor, he saw many staff members hurrying in and out, and the facilities seemed relatively basic.

Room 312 was at the end of the corridor. When Qin Lu opened the door, he saw three cameramen already set up in different positions, ready to film. They didn’t look up or say a word as he entered.

The staff members never appeared on camera. The assistant director, who was in charge of asking questions and guiding the process, gestured for him to sit in the chair.

The room was small, with no windows. Upon entering, he could see a theme board to the left, initially out of sight. It displayed personal photos of the trainees taken during their interviews, neatly arranged with all ninety-nine of them.

There was a chair but no table. Qin Lu sat down as instructed, maintaining a calm demeanor from the moment he entered.

The entertainment industry was trending towards youth, and the assistant director was actually only in his twenties. Seeing Qin Lu’s relaxed attitude in this environment, he found it interesting.

One should know that before Qin Lu, more than half of the interviews had already been recorded. The feeling of being alone in front of the camera versus being filmed in group was still very differen. 90% of trainees appeared unnatural or very nervous.

The deputy director originally thought that people like Liao Junchen and Han Suyan already handled it very well, but Qin Lu seemed to be accustomed to such shots, and there was not a single moment where stiffness could be seen. Naturally, it was as simple as eating and drinking water, and the focus from those three cameras did not affect him at all.

It was rare for someone so young to be so unafraid of the camera.

The assistant director, intrigued, reviewed Qin Lu’s profile. Seventeen-year-old Qin Lu had been an ordinary high school student before joining the show, with an exceptionally outstanding appearance. On camera, his simple training uniform made him appear even more youthful. If his extremely photogenic facial features were shown on the big screen, he would be, in many people’s hearts, their first love on campus (4).

He asked Qin Lu a few routine questions, following the standard procedure: “This is your first time participating in a show. Do you find it difficult to adapt?”

The good-looking black-haired trainee smiled lightly, “Not really.”

The assistant director thought, is that all? That’s too concise. He continued, “You changed your performance for the initial stage at the last minute, and it turned out better than the version in your interview. What made you decide to change the song?”

Qin Lu blinked, “A friend wrote it the day before and wanted me to sing it, so I did.”

The assistant director tried to guide him to say more, “That friend must be very talented. Can you tell us who it is? Perhaps a classmate?”

Qin Lu remained unfazed and said, “That’s a secret.”

The assistant director: “…”

He realized he had misjudged Qin Lu. This seemingly calm and composed trainee was completely a master of verbal tai chi! (5)

In reality, the assistant director was overthinking it. Although Qin Lu was very approachable, he had a significant issue dating back to his previous life as a movie star: he was not good at interviews and never spoke at length. Striking an extra word from film emperor Qin’s mouth was as difficult as climbing the Curtis Mountain range.

The assistant director soon realized just how challenging it was to interview Qin Lu. While others craved more screen time even if they risked saying something wrong due to nervousness and said a lot of useless things, Qin Lu was different.

The assistant director tried to provoke some criticism of his teammates: “Your team has members from C and F classes. Did you find it challenging to practice, or do you think the progress would be faster if your teammates were stronger?”

Qin Lu: “No.”

The teenage trainee looked at him with a seemingly good-natured temperament.

Assistant director: “… Your team chose the song ‘DIA,’ which was decided by Liao Junchen. While he certainly helped a lot, shouldn’t he have considered that some less skilled teammates might find it too difficult?”

Qin Lu maintained a positive attitude: “There are no easy paths to success.”

Assistant director: “…”

Wow, this kid has a broad perspective despite his age, huh?

The assistant director remembered that in previous interviews with Qin Lu's teammates, he had left a significant impression. Regardless of the interviewee’s personality, whether carefree or thoughtful, everyone mentioned this trainee in different answers with a clearly positive attitude.

Just based on this, the assistant director was desperate to get Qin Lu to say something that could be edited into an interesting segment.

He began to ask questions beyond the textbook: “You mentioned on the initial rating stage that your sister is a fan. Can you tell us which idol she likes?”

If Qin Lu disclosed it, the program could generate buzz and attract more viewers by releasing a few articles. If there was backlash, Qin Lu would take the heat.

However, Qin Lu didn’t play his cards according to common sense: “I’d rather not say.”

The assistant director was taken aback, “Why not?”

Qin Lu smiled gently and said, “Being a fan is a very pure thing. If she wants to tell the person she likes him, it should come from her.”

The assistant director looked at Qin Lu, the trainee with a clam smile and clean eyes under the white lights, appearing very soft.

He began to understand why the other trainees really liked him.

Translator’s notes

(1)   Xuezha: learning or study slag—someone who slacks off in classes and doesn’t learn shit—someone ass at studying

(2)   Said with great sarcasm, like “wow ur so amazing” energy

(3)   Lol I love him

(4)   First love on campus: it’s more a title or trope in mandarin, but its basically a pure and simple romanticized first love. Think school K and c dramas, and the kind of innocence in a background of a time of transition and maturity

(5)   Taichi is all about redirecting force, so basically all the questions were rolling off of Qin Lu bc he was redirecting them all lol

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