Trainee Ch.110

Chapter 110: Group Variety Show (Extra 10)

After getting off the roller coaster, Lai Yudong and Su Junzhe each supported two staggering teammates, practically carrying half the team’s weight.

The others weren’t in any better shape than when they came out of the haunted house—maybe even worse, since the spinning and flipping had left them suffering both mentally and physically.

The only one still able to walk on his own was Zhao Yifeng. The moment he stepped off the roller coaster, he seemed to come back to life, even taking time to retie his wind-tousled braids. Compared to Li Xu, who looked completely wilted, they were total opposites.

Lai Yudong marveled at his resilience. “You’ve really got a knack for high-altitude rides.”

Zhao Yifeng politely declined, “The way you’re praising me makes me a little scared.”

[Sounds like they’re suggesting Mr. Zhao should go again hahahaha]

[Feng: I’m scared.jpg]

[Same, I’m afraid of heights—but I’m fine once I’m down]

[I ride once and feel sick for a whole day]

“Good thing I didn’t eat much breakfast; I think I digested it all on the way here.” Bai Xuanhe’s voice was hoarse—he hadn’t hit that many high notes even across three performances and a final combined.

“I deliberately ate less,” Qu Xincheng said with foresight. “I once saw a news story about someone choking to death on their own vomit while on a roller coaster.”

Bai Xuanhe: “…What kind of things are you even watching?”

“Maybe we should skip the rest of the rides? It’s not too late to call it a day,” Lai Yudong said, worried about his teammates’ mental and physical states. This was only the first attraction; he didn’t want their amusement park trip to end straight in the ER.

Li Xu suddenly lifted his head. “Then wouldn’t the roller coaster have been for nothing?”

“We’ve already started, might as well play everything,” Zhao Yifeng insisted—ever the die-hard for getting his money’s worth.

Given that the two most stubborn members had spoken, Lai Yudong decided to take another vote. What he didn’t expect was that it ended up six votes in favor again—the only one who didn’t raise his hand was himself.

—What the heck?

Lai Yudong was dumbfounded.

Had StarEpoch changed its name to MtarEpoch or something!?

“Qu Xincheng,” Lai Yudong looked at the group’s most timid member in disbelief. His first thought was that the roller coaster must have shaken the guy’s brain loose. “Raising your hand means continuing the challenge and moving on to the next high-altitude ride. Are you sure you’re okay with that?”

“I can endure it.” Qu Xincheng took a deep breath, his gaze firm. “For the sake of everyone’s deluxe dinner, I’ll do my best!”

“…Actually,” Lai Yudong tried to dissuade him gently, “as long as we’re all together, anything we eat will taste good. We can just go out for a nice meal next time.”

Qu Xincheng pressed his lips together. “But a dinner we win through everyone’s hard work will taste even better. It’d be a shame to miss that…”

[Team spirit: confirmed]

[The Sky Prince’s Great Suffering Arc—lighting candles]

[#2 really is worried the others won’t survive lol]

[You don’t get it—our boy’s teammates are all stubborn mas*chists]

[Have you ever risked your life for a team dinner?]

Lai Yudong: “…”

Can everyone stop assigning moral value to a meal, please!?

From a show-production standpoint, chaotic screaming-at-the-amusement-park footage was common—and exactly what the directors loved most. But a group collectively failing a mission and ending up gnawing on plain buns and instant noodles? Now that would be unique, and it might even catch the production team off guard.

Most importantly, it was way too easy for the company to PUA them this way—he meant, to make them take these variety show tasks way too seriously!

But with six votes against one, the result was clear. Lai Yudong could only bow to the majority. He pulled out the park map to confirm their next stop—

—the Giant Frisbee.

“This one shouldn’t be scarier than the roller coaster, right?” Bai Xuanhe asked, his tone filled with innocent optimism. “The Giant Frisbee just swings back and forth on a fixed track. It’s easier to mentally prepare for than a roller coaster with all those unpredictable loops.”

“Are you sure that’s a fair comparison?” Li Xu looked doubtful. “I didn’t finish college—don’t try to fool me.”

“Although I’m not a science major, and I didn’t finish college either…” Lai Yudong tilted his head back to look at the giant spinning disk swinging in the air not far away. “The feeling of weightlessness at the highest point and the pressure at the lowest point—repeating over and over—makes people nauseous easily.”

“I don’t like the Giant Frisbee,” Su Junzhe commented seriously. “The roller coaster is thrilling and fun—it’s like racing through the sky. But the Giant Frisbee feels like someone’s hung me from a tree branch. After a while, it just gets boring.”

“For them, the concept of fun might be a little… advanced,” Lai Yudong said tactfully.

“Huh? But it’s an amusement ride!”

[You call it amusement; they call it survival.]

[They’re basically little magical girls.jpg]

[Same as Su Su—the Giant Frisbee is torture.]

[You can get used to the Frisbee, but roller coasters are my eternal nightmare.]

[This place is full of the “Multicolor Group’s” nightmares, lol]

Regardless of which ride was scarier, the plan they’d agreed on wouldn’t change. Still, before facing the next challenge, they needed a gentler buffer activity—

Something like the carousel, suitable for all ages.

Since Qu Xincheng and the rest of the timid group still hadn’t recovered from the roller coaster, even mounting a horse was a bit of a challenge. They ended up squeezing into one of the small carriages meant for kids under 1.2 meters tall.

Luckily, it seated four per cabin, while the three in better condition rode the horses outside.

As cheerful music began to play, the carousel slowly started turning. The scenery around them moved in a gentle circle, the horses rose and fell rhythmically, and for a brief moment, they seemed like little figures inside a music box—experiencing a rare bit of calm.

Lai Yudong had deliberately chosen one of the horses at the very front. He pulled out his phone, opened the camera, and raised it high.

To be heard over the background noise, he called out a little louder than usual: “Let’s take a picture together!”

The captain’s proposal was immediately met with enthusiasm.

Sitting on their plastic saddles, Zhao Yifeng and Su Junzhe simultaneously flashed a peace sign. Inside the carriage, the four others stuck their heads out in search of the camera, and the shot happened to capture everyone perfectly in frame.

“Three, two, one!”

“Qiezi (eggplant)—!”

“Cheese~”

“Tianqi (a brand)!”

[Can you guys please agree on one cue word??]

[LMAO everyone yelling something different]

[Dong-baby! Please post the group photo! Thank you!!]

[Best leader in the world—Lai Yudong 😭]

Click. The moment was captured—

—only for the Giant Frisbee to ruthlessly shatter that peace a few minutes later.

Screams once again filled the amusement park air, loud enough to make bystanders wonder whether StarEpoch was literally about to ascend and become stars in the sky.

After that, they made their way through most of the attractions—the thrilling ones like the Free-Fall Tower, Rapids Ride, and Canyon Rafting, and the gentler ones like Bumper Cars, Archery, and the Swing Carousel.

By the end of the day, they had checked off every ride the production team required, all within the allotted time.

When it was all over, only two remained standing: Lai Yudong—whose eardrums were still ringing—and the eternally energetic Su Junzhe. The other five were completely out of HP, barely hanging on thanks to the promise of that grand… no, that enormous dinner.

In a way, it really did strengthen their team spirit.

From that day on, they’d share a bond forged through life and death.

“—Congratulations, everyone, on completing the challenge.”

When they gathered at the end, the staff offered the battered StarEpoch members a round of applause that was as sincere as it was useless.

“As a reward for your 100% completion rate, you’ll be treated tonight to the local specialty restaurant—also rated number one in customer reviews.”

Zhao Yifeng nudged the two beside him with his elbow. “Check the average price per person?”

“On it, on it.” Bai Xuanhe turned his back sneakily and opened a review app.

Lai Yudong sighed with mild disappointment. “I thought we were getting a seafood feast.”

“This city isn’t on the coast. The seafood here won’t taste that great,” Zhao Yifeng said.

“That’s exactly why it’s more expensive,” Lai Yudong replied seriously. “The whole point is to make the company spend more money, isn’t it?”

Zhao Yifeng nodded in agreement. “Makes sense.”

“Got it!” announced frontline reporter Bai Xuanhe, triumphant. “The average price per person is pretty high—several hundred yuan.”

Zhao Yifeng turned toward him. “Do they have any pricey alcohol? Like, bottles in the four-digit range? We could order a dozen or two of those.”

“They do, but we can’t drink on camera. It wouldn’t look good.”

Lai Yudong leaned in too. “We could pack it up as a midnight snack. But I don’t drink—do you guys?”

“I can handle some—wait, hold on, why do we sound like robbers?” Bai Xuanhe complained.

“That’s different,” Lai Yudong objected. “Robbers dine and dash. We’re paying customers.”

[Even-numbered line members whispering in the back]

[Turn up the volume, I can’t hear the scheming!]

[I swear I can hear the sound of an abacus clicking]

[Why do they sound like they’re plotting something shady lol]

[Don’t tell me they’re checking prices??]

“Before you head to the restaurant,” a staff member said, handing out quiz cards, “we have a short question segment—‘Let Me Test You.’”

“Question three, please listen carefully—”

“What color were the bumper cars you drove earlier?”

Lai Yudong: “……”

Absurd—yet somehow reasonable.

That was hours ago!

If it hadn’t been for the brief exchange of teasing between him and Li Xu before getting on the ride—where they noticed that the cars they picked just happened to match their hair colors—he wouldn’t have been able to recall the color so quickly.

He only remembered that they’d wordlessly ganged up to corner Bai Xuanhe’s little orange car. Unfortunately, he ended up being rear-ended by Zhao Yifeng, whose driving skills were abysmal. Then Qu Xincheng, meaning well, drove his little pink car straight into Zhao Yifeng’s little blue one, trying to “rescue” Lai Yudong, who was struggling to turn around.

He shouted for the incoming pink missile to stop, but no words could halt Qu Xincheng’s enthusiasm.

The result: the three of them got jammed together in a corner, completely immobilized, and stayed that way until time ran out.

Yellow, blue, and pink—three colors clustered together, looking exactly like StarEpoch’s collective IQ pit.

And coincidentally, all three were roommates.

Truly, their dorm was overflowing with “talent.”

Lai Yudong firmly believed he was merely an unlucky man who’d fallen into the pit—his roommates’ IQ levels should not be generalized to include him.

Once the flashback ended, he wrote “Yellow” on his answer sheet.

—

A new night, the same old assignments, and an even closer deadline.

Lai Yudong sat at his desk, typing on his phone with both hands while his laptop screen glowed with a dense wall of text in Word.

“I’m exhausted,” Qu Xincheng said as he walked out of the bathroom, collapsing face-first onto his bed and staring blankly at the ceiling.

A few seconds later, he mumbled, “Weird… why does it feel like the bed is shaking?”

“Your sense of balance is off,” Lai Yudong replied, setting down his phone. “It’ll pass after a night’s sleep. Try to rest early.”

At that moment, several notifications popped up from the group chat Starlight.

[StarEpoch – Lai Yudong: Amusement park day trip—mission complete! 🎆]

[StarEpoch – Lai Yudong: The staff collected our quiz sheets and said they’ll tally the scores to announce tomorrow. I wonder if I’ll be the top scorer—I really hope my proposal gets chosen! ^v^]

[StarEpoch – Lai Yudong: It’s not like I’m obsessed with having my idea chosen, but someone actually suggested a “challenge” involving eating silkworm pupae and bamboo worms. Just because I’m not afraid of bugs doesn’t mean I can eat them… Praying online right now that this proposal never gets picked 🙏]

[StarEpoch – Lai Yudong: [Image] All right—this is my third night battling the DDL (deadline). Victory is in sight. Saying goodnight to the moon in advance 🌙]

—————————————————————

Author’s Note:

Info drop —

Zodiac signs:

Bai Xuanhe – Aries

Zhao Yifeng – Scorpio

Mo Li – Capricorn

Lai Yudong – Cancer

Su Junzhe – Sagittarius

Qu Xincheng – Aquarius

Li Xu – Virgo

<< _ >>

**TN

PUA (Pick-Up Artist) – in today’s slang it means being guilt-tripped, being emotionally or psychologically manipulated

“I didn’t finish college (/study much), don’t try to fool me” – a popular internet saying, used to satirize that what the other person said is too absurd and hard to believe