They don't actually think I like them, do they?

"I will study hard!" Xu Hui grabbed Lin Han's fist and said through gritted teeth.

"Okay, okay." Lin Han had heard this countless times, so he just smiled perfunctorily.

"This time is different," Xu Hui said solemnly. "Don't underestimate the will of us ratmen!!"

"Let your results speak for themselves!" Lin Han slapped Xu Hui across the face.

After seeing Xu Hui off, Lin Han went straight to the table, changed his clothes, and prepared to go out.

Now that he has been admitted to university through the national college entrance examination, Lin Han will need to devote more time to his career.

The first thing to do is to fill the gaps in trainee training.

As his agent, Ms. Hu Yan, has already said, this training is just a formality for Lin Han. He only needs to take a weekend off to go to the company and symbolically learn a bit.

So, after tidying himself up a bit, Lin Han asked his driver, Feng, to pick him up and take him to the company.

Upon entering the company, Lin Han went to the front desk.

"Excuse me, which floor is the practice room on?"

"Huh? Do you know what time it is now??"

The receptionist looked up and became excited upon seeing Lin Han's face.

"Orange, Orange Brother?!"

Lin Han felt a little embarrassed that someone who was clearly older than him was calling him that in real life.

"You should call her Teacher Orange."

The person who said this was General Manager Hu Yan, who walked over dressed in a business suit.

The receptionist immediately bowed.

"Hello, Manager Hu!"

Hu Yan smiled and nodded, then looked at Lin Han.

"Teacher Orange, you finally remembered to practice today?"

"I need to practice for at least two and a half days, otherwise I'd be letting down my trainee status," Lin Han said with a yawn.

"I'll take you up," Hu Yan said with a smile.

Then, Hu Yan led Lin Han into the elevator and pressed the elevator button.

Any talent agency that aspires to success in the industry should first and foremost possess a comprehensive trainee training system. Pop Media is no exception.

The trainees' dormitory has three floors, including practice rooms, dormitories, a separate canteen from the company's employees, a recording studio, and a dance studio, which is equivalent to a primary school.

Unlike Lin Han, who enjoys special treatment, all trainees, except for weekends off, must eat, drink, and use the restroom at the company every day and practice there.

"Ding-dong!" The elevator has arrived.

"Please, Ms. Orange," Hu Yan said.

032. Gentle and Humble Orange Jam

Lin Han walked into the hall, where a large logo of "Bubble Media Artist Training Base" was in front of him.

The decor here was even more luxurious than Lin Han had imagined, with marble floors and bright, spacious lighting, giving it a very modern feel. It was as exquisite as a vocational college with tuition fees of fifty or sixty thousand yuan.

Upon reaching this floor, Lin Han took the exclusive elevator reserved for trainees. Only this elevator could reach the third floor of the training base, separate from other departments in the building. This allowed the trainees to enjoy a unique, prison-like treatment.

To my shame, Lin Han has been signed to the contract for so long, but he has never been here before.

Hu Yan led Lin Han to the front desk of the training base and handed him over to Zhang Xiao, the attendance teacher at the training base.

"General Manager, who is this?" Zhang Xiao asked, looking at the handsome young man in front of her.

"Orange Jam," Hu Yan said. "You can just call me Teacher Orange."

"Orange, orange jam?!" Zhang Xiao's eyes lit up as she looked at Lin Han in surprise.

What class is it now?

Zhang Xiao glanced at the time and said...

"It's morning exercise time now, they haven't started class yet."

morning exercises??

Lin Han glanced at the clock on the wall—9:42.

Morning exercises at this hour?!

Lin Han was shocked. How could these trainees have it so easy, even more so than college entrance exam takers?

Hu Yan seemed unfazed and said to Zhang Xiao, "Why don't you take Teacher Juzi to learn from her?"

"Teacher Orange, practice?"

Zhang Xiao looked at Lin Han, her face full of difficulty. She quickly pulled the general manager aside and whispered,

"General Manager, you know the situation at our training base. With Orange Jam here, who would dare to teach her?"

Do you really want me to spell it out like this?

Hu Yan looked at Zhang Xiao with disappointment and frustration.

"Just go when we tell you to. Teacher Ju is just here to make a formality. You should treat him well. The training will be over by today."

Zhang Xiao suddenly realized that he hadn't understood the unspoken meaning in his leader's words.

She quickly straightened her posture and came to Lin Han.

"Teacher Orange, come with me."

"okay."

Lin Han followed Zhang Xiao inside.

Along the way, Lin Han's eyes were opened. There were not only the most professional recording studios and dance studios, but also gyms, saunas, psychological counseling rooms, and so on.

Although I was already familiar with the trainee industry, seeing it in person was still quite a shock.

With the modern entertainment industry having long since become a large-scale industrialization, most large media companies have training bases like these, and all idols undergo intensive training in such places before their debut.

Moreover, becoming a trainee does not necessarily guarantee a debut.

The reason this industry is considered corrupt is because there are many signings but few actual debuts.

Many companies train dozens or even hundreds of trainees at the same time, but in the end, only one or two of them, who are the most outstanding in appearance and academic performance, can be packaged and managed by the company and successfully debut.

The idols who appear on television and are seen by the public are often those who have climbed to the top by stepping over the corpses of countless trainees.

Lin Han was deeply moved whenever he thought about this. It's truly remarkable that an idol who fought their way through such fierce competition could be this bad!

If all debuting idols are like this, then the trainees in the Chinese entertainment industry are simply a pile of dog shit!!

However, Bubble Media is currently only a third-tier brokerage company, and the amount of "dog shit" (referring to the amount of incompetence) is not as much as Lin Han imagined.

Zhang Xiao led Lin Han to the other end of the hall.

In front of the tall floor-to-ceiling windows, more than ten trainees dressed in matching T-shirts were doing their morning exercises in the sunlight.

At first glance, the poop-loving people all looked very young, probably around high school age, with more girls than boys, and they were all quite good-looking.

Those who are noticed by entertainment companies at this age and signed as trainees generally have the looks of stars; they are pleasing to the eye just by looking at them.

"Come on, trainees, welcome to our new classmate." Zhang Xiao clapped his hands, and the boys and girls stopped and looked over curiously.

"Hello everyone!" Lin Han bowed politely to everyone.　

The company is in a growth phase, so it's not uncommon for them to bring in a new trainee every now and then.

However, seeing Lin Han still sparked a lot of discussion among everyone.

Wow, what a handsome young man!

"My god, this face is so good-looking, even I have to give way!"

"Damn, with looks like that, even if your skills aren't great, you could still make a living in this industry!"

"He's so quiet and seems so polite!"

Zhang Xiao clapped his hands again, signaling everyone to quiet down.

"My stage name is Orange Jam. Today I will be participating in the course with everyone. I hope you will all take good care of me!" Lin Han said with a smile.

Since spending so much time with that woman, Lin Han had unconsciously learned a practiced, professional smile that looked completely natural. In high-EQ terms, this was the smile of a national superstar.

"Orange Jam?! You're Orange Brother?!" A female trainee was so excited that she covered her mouth.

Soon, everyone screamed in surprise.

"Holy crap, it's me?!"

"My God, I actually met that legendary figure!"

"I didn't know Orange Marmalade was so beautiful in real life!"

As trainees at Pop Media, how could we not know Orange Jam! Having been with the company for so long, we'd all heard about Orange Jam's joining long ago. Many of us had been eagerly anticipating meeting Orange Jam in person, and we never expected to see her at this unexpected time!

"You're too kind, everyone. I'm just a trainee, and I'm very happy to be able to participate in the training with you all."

Lin Han laughed. He hadn't expected to be so popular with these idiots. Despite his words, Lin Han was now speaking with the air of a celebrity holding a press conference.

Everyone was moved by Lin Han's words.

As expected of the renowned internet icon "Brother Orange," he showed no airs whatsoever, treating everyone with respect and equality as equals!

"Jingle Bell--"

Just then, the bell rang, signaling the start of class.

Lin Han followed the trainees into the music classroom; this lesson was vocal music.

The person in charge of vocal instruction for the trainees is a retired idol named "Ye Zi". During her active career, she was the lead vocalist of a second-tier girl group. Her rich experience and background as a lead vocalist enabled her to become the vocal teacher for the trainees of Bubble Media after her retirement.

Facing this senior in the entertainment industry, Lin Han, who is always eager to learn, put in his best effort, ready to listen carefully to the lesson and learn something from it.

However, Ye Zi had only just finished demonstrating a short section when she cautiously glanced at Lin Han.

　"Teacher Orange, what do you think?"

033. Improvisational Dance

"Ok?"

Lin Han, who was still taking notes in his notebook, suddenly froze.

Next, all the trainees turned to look at Lin Han, their faces filled with anticipation.

Why are you asking me? I'm here to attend class!

Lin Han could only cough twice and say, "You sang perfectly, Teacher Ye!"

Ye Zi immediately showed a happy expression, and then continued her lesson.

"Now, everyone, use the resonance technique I just taught you to try singing the chorus of 'Rice Fragrance.' I will give you scores in a moment."

After Ye Zi finished speaking, the classroom was filled with the trainees' singing voices.

A male trainee wearing overalls received praise from two trainees next to him after singing two verses. He suddenly felt confident and thought getting a high score would be no problem!

Then, soon after, came the voice of Orange Marmalade beside him:

"I still remember you saying home is the only castle, and we'll keep running along the rice paddy river~"

Teacher, this guy cheated! He played the original version, the original version!! The male trainee's heart shattered, and he suddenly felt that his trainee life was meaningless.

However, Lin Han turned to the male trainee and said, "The part you sang just now had a problem with your breathing, so it didn't sound very good."

The boy immediately hugged Lin Han's leg, revealing a thirst for knowledge, "Brother Orange, teach me!"

“When you sang the first two lines, you sang them in one breath, but your skill level wasn't enough to support you to finish. Your breath became unstable towards the end. You can try singing it like this: ‘With the fragrance of rice,’ take a breath here, then continue with ‘The river continues to run,’ ‘Smile slightly,’ take another breath here, then continue with ‘I know the dreams of my childhood’…”

As Lin Han was speaking, he turned his head and found Teacher Ye sitting next to him, listening attentively and nodding repeatedly.

"Teacher Orange, that was so well said! Could you come up to the stage and explain that part to everyone? And maybe give us a demonstration of singing it?"

"Ok."

Since the teacher had given the instructions, Lin Han had no reason to refuse, so he went up to the podium.

"Let me demonstrate for you how to sing the chorus of 'Rice Fragrance'..."