Chapter 114: Corny Love Talk

On his first day at East Sea Film City, Liao Yuan immediately began filming.

Led by a group of crew members, he walked down a long corridor and pushed open the door to the designated practice room.

The room was vast and empty; apart from a single piano, there was not a soul in sight.

Liao Yuan turned back, puzzled, and asked, “Where is everyone?”

The cameraman shook his camera, indicating he didn’t know.

Liao Yuan paid it no mind, carrying his notebook in hand as he approached the piano.

Before he could get close, a figure suddenly leapt out from behind the piano and shouted, “Ah!!”

Liao Yuan took a step back calmly and looked at her, saying, “That’s boring.”

Ju Nianzhi’s playful face immediately fell.

Looking dejected, she bowed politely. “Hello, Teacher Liao. I’m a contestant from ‘Produce 101.’ My name is Ju Nianzhi. Please take care of me!”

Liao Yuan nodded and placed his notebook on the piano stand. “Where is everyone else?”

Ju Nianzhi hesitated a moment before clapping her hands lazily and calling out, “Come out, come out!”

Soon, the girls hiding behind the curtains at the four bay windows of the practice room stepped out one by one.

Liao Meiqi was already on the verge of tears. She was the first to run over to Liao Yuan, grabbing his arm and shaking it excitedly, her eyes quickly reddening as she exclaimed, “Big brother, you’re amazing! You actually became our teacher!”

Liao Yuan cleared his throat and waved his hand. “Well, after several invitations from the director’s team, I just couldn’t refuse...”

Liao Meiqi was speechless.

Brother, you’re really blowing your own trumpet too much!

But the other girls’ eyes lit up.

Contestants like Zhu Xiyu and Ju Nianzhi were all under immense pressure, putting everything on the line.

Hearing Liao Yuan’s words was like a powerful shot of encouragement—they realized how formidable he must be if even the director’s team had invited him multiple times!

At that moment, Chen Duo, her large eyes spinning with curiosity, shyly asked, “Teacher Liao, can we call you big brother too?”

Liao Meiqi was stunned.

The other girls all lifted their heads, looking at Liao Yuan expectantly.

Without much thought, Liao Yuan agreed, “Of course you can. You’re all much younger than me, so calling me big brother is only natural. Don’t call me teacher, though—it makes my scalp tingle.”

The girls burst into excited cheers, calling him “big brother” over and over.

Only Liao Meiqi’s face fell. Wearing a forced smile, she grabbed her big brother’s arm and gave it a spiteful twist.

Liao Yuan gasped but kept a bright smile for the cameras.

“Hey, big brother, what’s that in your hair?”

Amid the joyful noise, Chen Duo stepped forward on tiptoe and pinched at something in Liao Yuan’s hair.

Everyone looked closely and saw Chen Duo’s thumb and forefinger crossing to form a heart shape. She smiled brightly and said, “Hope you like it!”

Liao Yuan blinked.

He had looked up Chen Duo’s profile beforehand—she ranked at the bottom of the group, with almost no chance of debuting.

But unexpectedly, her flirting skills might be number one.

Before he could say anything, the Korean contestant Jeong Min-eo quickly stepped forward, using slightly stiff Mandarin to coquettishly say, “Big brother, my name is Jeong Min-eo. I’m Korean. Korean girls have a superpower. Do you know what it is?”

Liao Yuan asked, “What is it?”

“We really like you!”

Jeong Min-eo raised both hands above her head, forming a heart, then glanced at Liao Yuan’s handsome profile. Bashfully, she turned away and covered her flushed cheeks.

Ju Nianzhi was dumbfounded. Hey, this was nothing like the plan they had rehearsed!

Weren’t they supposed to scare Teacher Liao?

But seeing Liao Yuan’s stunning demeanor, she wasn’t about to be outdone. She strode forward and said seriously, “Big brother, you must have been a carbonated drink in your past life. Otherwise, why do I bubble with joy whenever I see you?”

Liao Yuan felt a twinge in his teeth.

This string of cheesy pick-up lines made him cringe all over.

“Hmph, no unsolicited flattery... I really like you!” contestant Fang Yiren formed a heart with her hands at her chest, beaming. “Big brother, do you know my two cute points? One is that I’m cute, the other is that I like you!”

Amid the laughter, the quieter Zhu Xiyu bit her lip, thinking hard until she finally came up with a line.

A few seconds later, she picked up a pen and paper by the piano stand and wrote a line, lowering her head to hand it to Liao Yuan.

“You’re probably pretty busy, so just read the first three words!”

Liao Yuan read the line and felt his brain short-circuit.

What a flirtatious move!

He quickly raised his hands, cutting off the girls’ laughter with a frown. “Alright, alright, enough playing around. We have serious work to do. We only have three days. In that time, our group not only has to produce a qualified song but also rehearse the corresponding dance. So, stop playing and get serious!”

Once Liao Yuan spoke formally, the others dared not say more and obediently stood beside him.

Liao Yuan patted Liao Meiqi’s small hand, which was still clutching his arm. “You should go back too.”

“Oh!” Liao Meiqi sighed and returned to the group.

Liao Yuan glanced at her but didn’t pay her much attention. He sat down at the piano, lifted the lid, and asked, “What are your thoughts on this performance piece? Let’s discuss it. Ideally, we’ll finish recording the song on the first day.”

“A whole day?” The girls were surprised.

Liao Yuan smiled. “Yes, one day to record the song, another day to finalize the choreography, and the third day for rehearsal.”

Though they had anticipated this, hearing it from Liao Yuan still made their hearts tighten.

Can a good song really be written in one day?

Zhu Xiyu asked, “Teacher, don’t you have any ready-made songs?”

“Yes,” Liao Yuan answered frankly, then added, “I have plenty over here, mostly dance tracks like ‘Nobody.’ I don’t know about the other teachers’ resources.”

Those words made the girls’ eyes shine, and even the cameraman nearly dropped his food in surprise.

The explosive hit “Nobody” had sparked a wave of popularity across Asia, especially its dance moves, which had become iconic. Numerous dance covers flooded the internet, racking up millions of views, cementing “Nobody” as a legendary song.

If Liao Yuan had tracks as good as “Nobody”...

What chance would there be of losing?

The girls were ecstatic.