Grab The Heroine and Run Away Ch.4

Is this a new chapter after like 3 months? omg it is.

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The director, with arms crossed, looked coldly at them. When the assistant director told him that Xu Heran had confessed to Xin Nuo, his mocking laughter echoed throughout the room.

Even the dogs guarding the training camp gates knew that Xu Heran didn’t like Xin Nuo. Her disgust for Xin Nuo was never concealed. He wouldn’t believe it even if the sky fell that Xu Heran would like Xin Nuo!

Then the assistant director presented the video to him and told him to wake up, that the sky had indeed fallen.

“You…” He looked at the atmosphere between these two. It didn’t seem like they had a bad relationship? Did Xu Heran realize? Did she change her mind? Did she understand her mistake? But to confess?

“No big deal,” Xu Heran waved her hand, looking like someone who had experienced much bigger scenes. “I didn’t say anything explicit. We’re all good friends, what’s wrong with being affectionate!”

Explicit?

The director’s face turned dark.

Good friends?

Xin Nuo’s expression twitched.

“And this is all about generating buzz!” Xu Heran slapped the table, being more director-like than the director himself. “Throughout the show, nearly eighty to ninety percent of the buzz was created by me, right? I’ve just added a little excitement to the show. You should be thankful to me!”

The director desperately needed oxygen.

Thank you indeed! Thank you for nearly sending me away?

“In a few days, everyone will forget about this little thing.” Xu Heran earnestly suggested, “If that doesn’t work, we can do a little interview!”

Suddenly, she looked at Xin Nuo, her blue-purple eyes sparkling with a smile, and she winked her left eye at her.

Cooperatively, Xin Nuo raised her phone like a mic and held it by her mouth. “May I ask, when you confessed to Xin Nuo, a fellow trainee, late at night, do you really like her?”

Xu Heran placed her hand on her abdomen and immediately sat up straight.

“Of course I do!”

Xin Nuo’s finger holding the phone paused.

“Who wouldn’t like a pretty little sister!”

Xin Nuo quickly retrieved the phone and placed it by her own mouth. “Please note, Trainee Xin Nuo is two years older than you.”

“Oh, oh, who wouldn’t like a pretty big sister!” Xu Heran immediately changed her tune. “I just wanted to be a fan of a pretty big sister, vote for the pretty big sister! Spend money! Help the big sister debut, let the big sister take the flower path!”

“Alright, alright, put down my phone…” The director looked weak, waved his hand, sighed, “Let me discuss with the production team how to handle this matter. You two go rest first.”

Xu Heran’s words actually reminded him that this matter needed to be coordinated with Universal Entertainment.

“Oh, by the way Heran, tomorrow, find the staff for an interview.”

Xu Heran raised her hand and made an “OK” gesture.

The two walked along the brightly lit path back to the dormitories. Along the way, there were sporadic trainees who had just finished their training, walking wearily in the same direction. From the corner of their eyes, they saw Xin Nuo and Xu Heran walking side by side not far away. The indifference on their faces was immediately replaced by astonishment. The exhaustion in their bodies suddenly cleared up due to the gossip. They turned their heads repeatedly, wanting to confirm if the girl walking alongside Xin Nuo was really Xu Heran?

“My eyes are messed up,” a girl muttered, raising her hand to pat her head. “It must be from training too much, my brain’s gone haywire.”

Seeing the receding figure of that trainee who was in a hurry, Xin Nuo’s eyes revealed a trace of amusement. While things didn’t go according to her plan, the fact that she wouldn’t have to deal with those disgusting individuals for the time being eased her mind. Her biggest advantage was that her enemies remained unaware while she gathered strength during this time, preparing for a reckoning.

In her mind, she tallied a list, writing down names with a red pen. At that moment, she suddenly heard a soft hum.

It was the highly renowned pop song, 《Five Hundred Miles》.

The night stretched long, with grass and trees gently swaying in the drifting wind. The moonlight was calm, melting into the warm glow of the lamps.

The quiet stone-paved road, the song’s notes falling among parallel shadows.

Xin Nuo let her arms hang at her sides, hands tucked into her pockets. Her heart, filled with hatred, felt as if it were cradled by gentle hands. Scenes from her previous life flashed through her mind like a carousel, tinged with a layer of gray and white. The names that had caused her pain were instantly blown away by the wind, a faint ache lingering in her heart.

Only the brilliant rooftop after the award ceremony, the wind cooling on the rooftop, the Best Actress trophy at her feet. In the late night, she gazed upon the city, closing her eyes and dancing and singing with outstretched arms in the fragrance of alcohol. Who would have thought that in the next moment, she would return to her youth?

Xin Nuo paused, then raised her hand to pull her coat’s hat over her head.

Xu Heran had her hands behind her back, swaying her body to the rhythm, her beautiful voice echoing in the night. The whole world quieted down along with it.

As the song ended, the two were already standing in front of the dormitory.

“Xu Heran, you’re right, you really can sing,” Xin Nuo whispered, her hat covering her brows and eyes, hiding her expression. The soft fabric rested on her straight nose, and her rosy lips curled up.

Xu Heran tilted her head and smiled, sticking out her tongue. In her previous life, she had wanted to enter the entertainment industry as a singer, you know!

“Nuo Nuo,” she whispered before parting, her expression earnest. “I didn’t lie today. I’ll always support you.”

A serious expression appeared on her face. “When I leave the show, I hope you remember that there’s a fan named Xu Heran who will always support you. Keep up the good work, Xin Nuo!”

Enjoy your new life!

Xu Heran gave Xin Nuo an encouraging gesture and waved goodbye.

Xin Nuo furrowed her brows slowly. The rosy corners of her eyes were like roses blooming in the night. Her black eyes watched Xu Heran’s bouncy figure as she walked away. Now, the live broadcast incident deviated from her previous life. Xu Heran wouldn’t be kicked off due to bullying and violence incidents. So, why was she still eliminated despite what she had said?

“Sigh.” Xu Heran sighed and opened her tablet—yes, she had once again retrieved it from the director’s hands.

The show had a rule that, except for major violations, every time a trainee committed an infraction, they would have 10,000 votes deducted from their total. This was lethal for many lower-ranked contestants. However, Xu Heran didn’t care about the rules at all. She blatantly violated them, using her status to avoid vote deductions.

Later, after the live broadcast incident, the audience demanded that Xu Heran leave the show. They zealously voted for the other contestants, effectively pushing her votes down and out of the advancing group. Subsequently, other contestants exposed Xu Heran’s violations. Under pressure, the production team recalculated her votes. She instantly plummeted to the last place, becoming the target of ridicule across the internet.

“While I won’t be bashed this time during the live broadcast, Xin Nuo’s fans probably won’t let me off the hook.” Xu Heran cried out, “Don’t hate me now, Nuo Mi folks. We’re all companions!”

The original host had already attracted the audience’s dissatisfaction and even instructed the production team to delete unfavorable scenes. But the internet will remember, and people don’t like being silenced. The harder they suppress, the stronger the audience’s resistance. After returning to the dormitory, Xu Heran messaged the director, asking him to address the original host’s violations. It was estimated that in the next ranking announcement, she would be eliminated.

Although according to the plot, she should be eliminated next time.

For Xu Heran, who had inherited everything from the original host, even if she left the show, she wanted to leave with a clear conscience.

She would do her best to make up for the original host’s mistakes.

Xu Heran sighed, lying on the bed, and opened the program 《Starlight Girls》 starting from the first episode to catch up. They were recording tomorrow, and she needed to quickly familiarize herself with the people on the show to avoid mistakes. Those 10,000 votes had to be used wisely!

After a long while, the army attacking Xu Heran dissipated. In the end, everyone reached a consensus, believing that Xu Heran’s continuous decline in rankings was an attempt to tie herself to Xin Nuo. She was young and cunning, so her intentions were clear!

However, in a small corner, a group of unique-minded fans emerged.

Small Bowl Can Eat A Lot: Hehe, stayed up all night to make a sticker, successfully feeling #Happy#! Hope the little princess behaves better and doesn’t cause trouble anymore! Otherwise, even if you’re good-looking, I won’t forgive you! Image, image.

The first image showed a girl standing in the darkness under the moonlight, with only the falling moonlight illuminating the two figures nearby. They looked relaxed, standing side by side, their bright eyes fixed on each other, smiles on their lips, as if they were each other’s most trusted friends.

This was a screenshot from the live broadcast, and even Xu Heran’s blue-purple eyes were clearly visible.

The second image was a meticulously drawn artwork. The pouting girl had a speech bubble next to her, saying, “Why are you so slow ~￣へ￣”

The girl with black hair gently smiled, “But I’m here, right?”

This artist, known as “Small Bowl Can Eat A Lot,” had over two hundred thousand followers. They had retweeted many photos of beautiful female stars and their artworks had been retweeted by the main character. They produced a lot of fan art, and they have a large following. Right now, people are reposting her Weibo.

Because the two main characters in the photos are too eye-catching, especially one person with blue-purple eyes, bystanders of the 《Starlight Girls》 program were intrigued by the girls’ beauty and curiously inquired.

As people continued to share the images, the number of reposts skyrocketed.

A day later, the 《Starlight Girls》 program team posted on Weibo, expressing deep apologies for the behavior of the trainee Xu Heran, who had shown dissatisfaction with other contestants on the show multiple times. They also mentioned her infractions and her voluntary deduction of one hundred thousand votes due to the negative impact caused by her actions. In total, she was docked 420,000 votes. Xu Heran, who was initially ranked fifteenth, suddenly dropped to fifty-ninth. Attached to the Weibo post was a short video recorded on a mobile phone.

“Because of my arrogant attitude, I have caused a lot of harm. Here, I want to apologize to all the trainees, especially to Sister Xin Nuo, and to the program team members. I also apologize to the fans who supported me. I’m willing to accept everyone’s criticism. I agree with the program team’s handling of this, and I will work hard to make improvements in the future!”

“???”

Audiences who were still awake suddenly widened their eyes. Was this real or was it a hallucination? Xu Heran apologized?

Just as they were about to type “Don’t believe rumors,” and before they hit send, in the video, the person holding the recording device smiled and said, “Do you really know you were wrong?”

Xu Heran, bowing with hands on her stomach, quickly straightened up and exclaimed with a red face, “I know!”

Audiences who had originally been mocking Xu Heran’s apology suddenly sat up. Hey, the person holding the camera in the video was Xin Nuo! Judging by their tone, had they made up?

Sssssss—This is really unbelievable!

Discussions about whether Xu Heran’s actions were a publicity stunt resurfaced. Just as everyone was engaged in heated arguments online, a netizen suddenly commented, “Whether it’s true or not, Xu Heran has dropped to fifty-ninth this time. 《Starlight Girls》 originally had 140 participants. In the first round, 42 were eliminated, and in the second round, 28 were eliminated. Now, only 70 trainees remain. Her ranking is really precarious! Now that everyone knows what she’s done, does she really think we will still vote for her and let her advance to the next round?”

This comment sparked a lot of discussion. 《Starlight Girls》 is known to have a foolproof voting system. Each person can only register once with their ID on the official website. In each round, they receive 7 free votes, which they can allocate all to one trainee they like or split among multiple ones. However, if anyone is caught privately buying or selling votes, not only will their account be banned, but also their traded votes will be multiplied by a thousand and deducted from the chosen trainee’s count. Furthermore, the program has an official reporting channel, and successful informants are rewarded with substantial cash prizes. The system is very strict.

A total of 420,000 votes were deducted, and there’s no getting around it. Unless Xu Heran’s family manages to secretly register a full 60,000 people on the official website without alerting the authorities, guaranteeing their silence, and then direct all 7 votes to Xu Heran. But, is that even possible?

Is Xu Heran’s entertainment company really planning to give up on letting her continue with the program? Isn’t this program designed by the Xu family to promote their little princess?

Everyone was utterly perplexed.

The wake-up alarm sounded, and Xu Heran opened her eyes. It took her a full five minutes to figure out where she was. It wasn’t until her memories returned that she slowly got out of bed and sluggishly began her morning routine. She returned the tablet to the staff as she headed to the training camp with an almost floating gait.

Her manager, Cui Qi, who had come to wake her up, opened the door and looked around the empty room. She exchanged glances with the makeup artist.

“Did her drop to fifteenth place really hit her this hard?” Cui Qi murmured.

The makeup artist patted her shoulder. “Miss Xu has always been pampered and adored. Now that she’s facing rejection and dislike from everyone, her self-esteem can’t handle it. She’s probably trying to salvage the situation.”

Recalling Xu Heran’s previous behavior, Cui Qi sighed. “Hopefully.”

Xu Heran’s ranking on her clothes had already changed to 59. Originally, the trainees from the 15th to the 59th position automatically moved up one spot. People heard about last night’s incident from the makeup artist sent by the company, and they were all increasingly surprised. As they entered, they couldn’t help but cast sidelong glances at Xu Heran.

Trainees who had encountered Xu Heran and Xin Nuo last night suddenly understood everything.

Fortunately, her eyes and mind were fine—nothing was wrong. What she had seen was indeed Xin Nuo and Xu Heran!

Xu Heran finished catching up on the sixth episode. Except for Xin Nuo and a few other trainees who had more screen time, she hadn’t remembered anyone else. She had only slept for three hours last night, and after finishing the episode, she watched Xin Nuo’s performance ten more times before feeling satisfied enough to sleep.

Now that she saw the exquisitely made-up faces of others, she realized she had forgotten to put on makeup. By the time the host came in, she had her hand tucked into her sleeve and used it to cover her face, turning to the quiet girl next to her.

“Sister, do I have heavy dark circles?”

Xu Heran was 1.68 meters tall, and the girl beside her was 1.60 meters. She was taken aback by the fact that Xu Heran “condescended” to talk to her. She felt a somewhat overwhelmed sense of being treated favorably. The girl tilted her head and earnestly examined Xu Heran’s face.

And then took another look.

The girl’s makeup-free face was fair and tender, as smooth as a peeled egg, without a hint of blemishes or bloodshot eyes. Her clear, bright eyes had the sparkling innocence typical of characters in anime and novels. The whites of her eyes were pristine, and her gaze was lively and adorable. Not to mention that she was naturally beautiful, with a straight nose, rosy lips, and cheeks glowing with health.

Where were the dark circles?

The girls who hadn’t put on makeup yet, despite being meticulously dressed, widened their eyes in shock, a mix of embarrassment and indignation on their faces. One of them stomped her foot and turned to embrace the girl beside her, complaining, “She’s using her good looks to undermine my confidence!”

“She’s such a Versailles¹! Waaah…”

Xu Heran: ????

I didn’t do anything!

Really, cross my heart!

The girl she was hugging was two centimeters shorter than her, and she struggled to look up, carefully glancing at the bewildered Xu Heran. She whispered, “It’s okay, it’s okay, you’ll get used to it, you’ll get used to it.”

The girl pulled her head out of the other girls embrace, sniffed, and said with a pitiful tone, “She even called me ‘little sister’! I’m four years older than her!”

“Humiliating, shamelessly humiliating!”

“It’s alright, you’re young, you look young.”

“I wasn’t old to begin with!” the twenty-year-old girl retorted indignantly.

Laughter immediately filled the surroundings. People turned their heads one after another, taking this opportunity to openly observe Xu Heran.

Xu Heran scratched her head. She had a bad habit of calling younger girls shorter than her “sister.”

In the third row of the lineup, where only four people were standing on the far left, a girl who still stood out and shone among the young and beautiful women raised her hand. She tucked her long hair behind her neck, making it look effortless as she looked back.

Xu Heran stood somewhat reservedly in the last row, casually glancing around. Her gaze unexpectedly met Xin Nuo’s through the crowd’s gaps, four rows and a bustling crowd of people away.

Xin Nuo curled her lips, raised an eyebrow at Xu Heran, and silently mouthed,

“Go for it, little princess.”

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The author has something to say:

Xin Nuo: Enjoying the show.

Can’t think of a good CP (couple pairing) name, so let’s go with “Xinran” for now (offering a cup of sympathy tea to the fans who are shipping them at the moment).

《Five Hundred Miles》 by Justin Timberlake & Carey Mulligan & Stark Sands version.

Just want to let you all know, for the song lyrics that appear in the text, the ones that exist in reality will be indicated with remarks from me, and any songs or lyrics without remarks are dreamily concocted by Mengmeng. Any resemblance is purely coincidental!

Posting the lyrics of 《Five Hundred Miles》

If you missed the train I’m on

You will know that I am gone

You can hear the whistle blow a hundred miles

A hundred miles, a hundred miles

A hundred miles, a hundred miles

You can hear the whistle blow a hundred miles

Lord, I’m one, Lord, I’m two

Lord, I’m three, Lord, I’m four

Lord, I’m five hundred miles away from home

Away from home, away from home

Away from home, away from home

Lord, I’m five hundred miles away from home

Not a shirt on my back

Not a penny to my name

Lord, I can’t go back home this ole way

This ole way, this ole way

This ole way, this ole way

Lord, I can’t go back home this this ole way

If you missed the train I’m on

You will know that I am gone

You can hear the whistle blow a hundred miles

A hundred miles, a hundred miles

A hundred miles, a hundred miles

You can hear the whistle blow a hundred miles

You can hear the whistle blow a hundred miles

You can hear the whistle blow a hundred miles

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Translator: Glariosa
Editor: Sinensis

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1. In this context, “Versailles” might refer to the Palace of Versailles in France, which is known for its opulence, luxury, and extravagance. The Palace of Versailles is a symbol of lavishness and grandeur. So, when someone is referred to as a “Versailles,” it could imply that they are elegant, sophisticated, or display a certain level of high-class behavior or appearance. ↩︎