Chapter 53: Sister, Are You Raising Fish?

At 9 a.m., Duomi Cosmetics released Jin Li's endorsement advertisement.

Sui Lingfang suspected they had timed the release deliberately, likely having caught wind of something in advance, since the company planned to announce today that "Jin Li will continue to join 'PICK~Next Diva' for Episode 3."

The company had coordinated this news with the program team ahead of time, arranging to purchase a top trending search spot.

Barring any accidents, the announcement would go out in another hour or two.

By releasing Jin Li's endorsement ad early, Duomi Cosmetics could perfectly synchronize with the upcoming trending topic, aggressively riding the wave of popularity.

Although this early morning hour fell within both work and school schedules, meaning fewer fans and netizens were browsing, those who did stumble upon it showed remarkable engagement; nearly everyone who saw it clicked through to watch and left a comment.

Inside the advertisement.

Jin Li first appeared dressed in ethereal, flowing Hanfu, with a cinnabar mark of a carp on her forehead, adorned with various pearl and jade hairpins, while small red koi ornaments dangled from her ears.

As she slightly tilted her head, the koi swayed along, appearing to swirl around her.

Jin Li lowered her gaze, as if spotting something amusing beneath the clouds, and smiled with genuine interest.

In the next second, the scene shifted; Jin Li appeared before everyone in simple student attire, having just graduated from university and preparing to seek employment.

Her complexion appeared slightly sallow, her lips pale, looking as though she wore no makeup at all, completely bare-faced.

Yet the more bare-faced she appeared, the more her delicate beauty stood out, complemented by her lustrous black hair, which looked exceptionally radiant.

In the next moment, using Duomi Cosmetics' products, she applied a "Koi Good Luck" makeup look and successfully secured a job.

Beyond this, she portrayed two additional roles: an office worker and a lady going out on a date.

Regardless of which identity she assumed, each featured a comparison between her bare face and her made-up appearance.

[Ah, is this what Sister looks like without makeup? She's stunning, absolutely stunning!]

[This bare face is enough to make anyone sigh in admiration; I ask you, which female celebrity in the industry dares to appear completely bare-faced?]

[Sister, I want to become the fish in your collarbone; are you raising fish?~]

[Do you really believe this is bare face? I don't; how can any female celebrity look this good without makeup!] This comment received high praise from netizens and was pinned to the top, instantly jumping to first place.

Upon seeing this comment, Sui Lingfang switched to her alt account, "Has Sister Raised Fish Today?", and posted a retort: [They specifically made her look worse for the shot; otherwise, if it were truly bare face, there would be no need to film the advertisement at all!]

Although Jin Li's health was not robust, her daily routine was excellent; she went to bed early and woke up early every day while avoiding sugar, so apart from a slight hint of illness, her facial condition was impeccable.

As if to slap the netizens' faces, shortly afterward, Duomi Cosmetics posted a behind-the-scenes clip on their blog.

Duomi Cosmetics: [Here is the "bare face" evidence you requested; Sister Jin Li indeed was not completely bare-faced~]

Sui Lingfang raised an eyebrow; this official account felt quite sincere, far better than those AI-generated responses.

The clip was a short video lasting over a minute; upon clicking to watch, the camera shook for several seconds at the start before barely focusing on Jin Li.

Without any special lighting, just under ordinary, everyday lights, the makeup artist reached out to touch Jin Li's face and asked, "Your skin is so good; how do you maintain it?"

Jin Li replied, "Early to bed and early to rise; I basically sleep by ten p.m. every night."

The makeup artist asked, "Don't you ever suddenly find yourself unable to sleep? When I'm under pressure, I can't fall asleep."

Jin Li shook her head, then suddenly thought of something and said, "Before, when resting at home, it was truly quite comfortable; I ate, then slept, then slept, then ate, and when bored, I watched TV dramas or read novels, with no pressure at all."

"Recently, my health has improved a bit, so I've come out to do promotional events; sometimes I get too excited and can't fall asleep at the usual time, so I go do practice problems; after doing them for a while, I feel sleepy."

The makeup artist puzzled, "Doing practice problems is really that effective? What kind of problems do you do?"

Jin Li answered honestly, "Foreign language listening exercises; at first I could keep up, but after listening for a while, I'd fall asleep."

The makeup artist laughed, "That's a great method; I'll try it sometime, and it might even improve my foreign language skills... Still, your bare-faced condition is too good; I need to make your face look a bit dirtier for the shot; is that okay?"

While speaking, the makeup artist gently pinched Jin Li's cheek again.

Oh my, it was so tender; the texture was excellent, so she pinched it once more.

Jin Li said, "Go ahead and apply it; it's fine; I'll cooperate fully throughout."

The behind-the-scenes clip ended there.

[Cut off that makeup artist's hands and let me take her place!!]

[This is her real bare face; the haters asked for proof and got it; satisfied now, right? *doge.jpg*]

[LOL, when I can't sleep, I specifically listen to lectures on physics, chemistry, and biology.]

[The history, politics, and geography hypnotism team silently raises a paw.]

The more Sui Lingfang scrolled, the more addicted she became, chuckling continuously; just then, Jin Li finished her hair and makeup, so she put away her phone and accompanied her on the building promotion tour.

Walking along the way, Jin Li asked curiously, "Why are you so happy?"

Sui Lingfang thought for a moment and said, "Maybe because I just witnessed a live face-slapping satisfaction scene?"

She glanced at Jin Li's face, feeling a bit tempted in her heart, and asked, "You're not filming this afternoon, are you?"

Jin Li nodded and said, "If the filming goes smoothly, we can leave after finishing the building promotion this morning."

Sui Lingfang said, "Then I'll help you remove your makeup later."

Jin Li looked at her, finding her gaze somewhat strange, but since it was just removing makeup, what problem could there be? She readily agreed, "Sure."

At the recording site.

Jin Li pushed open the door and walked into the practice room.

"Hello, Teacher Jin Li!" The youthful and radiant trainees bowed deeply to her, putting on a full show of respect.

Jin Li immediately bowed back to them, saying, "Hello everyone!"

The practice room had no piano yesterday, but today one had been specially set up.

Jin Li sat beside the piano and asked them if they had any pressure recently, inviting them to share anything with her.

One trainee raised her hand and said, "Teacher Jin Li, I get so nervous when dancing that I always make mistakes; I'm afraid that once I'm on stage, with so many people staring at me, I'll make even more mistakes; what should I do?"

Jin Li said, "Starting from Episode 3, your stage performances will be upgraded to hold in a stadium, switching to a concert mode."

"You don't need to worry about many people staring at you; the stage is huge, but the lights only shine on you; when you look down from the stage, you actually can't see anything at all, just a patch of darkness."

"The audience can see you clearly, but you cannot see the audience; you can only see the glow sticks in their hands; just treat those glow sticks as twinkling stars in the sky, relax a bit, and that will alleviate much of the pressure."

"Additionally," Jin Li paused, then smiled, "if you really do make a mistake, your teammates will help cover for you; you are a whole unit, so don't worry."

Another trainee raised her hand, asking about the lack of time, always failing to perfect the dance.

Jin Li had already addressed this in the second session, stating that one must spend more time than others; now, she could add another point.

Jin Li said, "Then stop playing on your phones, and don't use tablets either. I know your phones haven't been confiscated, but once you quit them, you'll find you have more time than you imagined."

Next, it was the third trainee's turn to ask a question. According to yesterday's rehearsal, the final question was to ask her how to express the emotions within the song, and the chosen trainee was Gong Jiajia.

However, just as Gong Jiajia was about to stand up, another trainee rose even faster.

She was a trainee with short hair, the ends of which had been deliberately highlighted purple, looking sharp and linear, embodying a cool and fierce style.

With a smile on her face, she asked, "Teacher Jin Li, can you teach me how to express the emotions in the song? Specifically, that feeling of sudden realization, followed by regret, and then choosing to let go. I've never been able to sing it correctly."

Flipping back to the few lines of lyrics I casually wrote when documenting Jin Li's debut stage, for which I even recorded the melody at the time. Perfect. Tomorrow, I'll show everyone Sister Jin Li teaching live! PS: Going on sale tomorrow, updating at noon. Daily updates of six thousand words. The post-sale remarks will come later tonight; let me polish them first [doge head].

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(End of Chapter)