Hearing these words, Jiang Ling immediately snapped back to herself and shook her head.
“It’s nothing, I just zoned out for a moment.”
Maybe it was just my imagination.
After all, how could Mo Ran possibly show such a cold and sharp expression?
She’s always been the super-friendly, mom-type character who treats everyone so well!
After convincing herself with just a few words, Jiang Ling let go of her unease and sat down naturally.
“Hehe, time to eat!”
Mo Ran nodded, turned to get the plates, but her smile faded in an instant.
The next day, Jiang Ling and Mo Ran reported the song they had prepared to Bai Xue, and performed it in front of everyone.
They cooperated seamlessly, with perfect pitch, no forgotten lyrics—almost a flawless performance.
After finishing, Jiang Ling steadied her breathing and looked up to see everyone’s reactions.
She felt pretty confident about this song—it was in her comfort zone, and her coordination with Mo Ran was very smooth.
“Not bad at all.”
Xu Nuo was the first to applaud, smiling broadly as she offered her approval. “But I thought you two would pick a more ‘extreme’ song…”
“Ha, what did you think we’d sing?”
Jiang Ling chuckled softly, looking a bit helpless.
“Um, Listen to Your Mom?”
Xu Nuo answered in all seriousness, causing Jiang Ling to instantly cough, her face turning red as she yelled out, “Shut up!”
While the two of them stared each other down, Lin Xiaoyu gave her succinct evaluation, “I think it sounded pretty good.”
“It really was nice,” Fang Wannian added, but her brows were slightly furrowed, as if she was puzzled about something. “But it still feels a little… odd…”
Hearing this, Bai Xue, who had remained silent, also nodded.
“Yeah, I feel that too. No doubt, both of you sang beautifully, but there’s just something… missing?”
She looked at the somewhat nervous Jiang Ling, her gaze subtly shifting to Mo Ran, who was still smiling at her.
“Not enough emotion.”
Bai Xue was looking at Mo Ran as she said this, which surprised Jiang Ling. In her mind, Mo Ran was the one closest to the ACE position, an all-rounder in singing and dancing, almost without any shortcomings.
But now, between the two of them, Bai Xue actually pointed out that Mo Ran’s performance lacked emotion.
So Jiang Ling snuck a cautious glance at Mo Ran beside her, only to find her expression utterly calm, not at all rattled or hurt. Instead, she quietly nodded in agreement.
“Now that you mention it, I guess that’s true.”
As someone outside the group, Xu Nuo found it easier to give her opinion, and spoke honestly about how she felt. “Honestly, your vocal skills sound pretty similar to me, but Lingling-chan’s performance just feels more immersive. As for Xiao Ran’s, well, it’s not bad or anything, but it just doesn’t have that—uh, pika kind of feeling!”
Jiang Ling listened to Xu Nuo’s animated explanation with an utterly speechless expression, feeling oddly exhausted.
What on earth is a ‘pika’ feeling supposed to be…
“Yeah, I think I get what you mean.”
While Jiang Ling looked on, confused and helpless, Mo Ran smiled gently and nodded.
“You actually understand her?!”
Jiang Ling was shocked, her jaw nearly dropping.
Bai Xue added from the side, “The emotion really isn’t there—it didn’t reach me, at least. It felt like you were just completing a task. Xiao Ran, this is both your strength and your weakness.”
Her expression was unusually serious, but not intimidating—she simply looked at Mo Ran and explained. When she finished, her voice faded away and she didn’t continue.
Even after being called out, Mo Ran’s face remained unruffled as she nodded slowly.
Seeing the atmosphere grow a bit awkward, Jiang Ling pressed her lips together, then quickly raised her voice, “Ah, it’s my fault for making Xiao Ran go shopping with me yesterday and taking up her practice time. That’s probably why it turned out like this!”
Everyone’s eyes shifted to her, but Jiang Ling pressed on stubbornly, “Don’t worry, after some more practice, Xiao Ran will definitely pull it off, right?”
As she spoke, she nervously nudged Mo Ran with her elbow.
Mo Ran looked at Jiang Ling, who was going all out to defend her, and her expression finally softened a little. After a brief silence, she squeezed out a slightly awkward reply from her throat.
“…Right.”
Seeing this, Bai Xue narrowed her eyes, but didn’t press further. She changed the topic without missing a beat, “Let’s do the dance one more time and then wrap up for today.”
“Okay!”
After practice ended, everyone tacitly left the two of them space to practice alone.
Jiang Ling played the instrumental track and looked at Mo Ran, testing the waters.
“Want to sing through it once?”
“Sure.”
Mo Ran nodded crisply, and together they sang the whole song from beginning to end.
While singing, Jiang Ling watched Mo Ran’s expression.
She wasn’t fragile like Jiang Ling herself, but since she’d just been publicly called out, Jiang Ling still worried about her.
But Mo Ran’s expression stayed perfectly composed—no trace of disturbance. She always smiled at everyone, her manner warm and gentle, just like the mom-type idol who could accept everyone, making it comfortable and happy to be around her.
But over these past two days, Jiang Ling kept noticing something off in that perfect smile. After hearing Bai Xue’s words today, she suddenly understood what that sense of dissonance really was—
Her attitude towards everyone was the same gentle friendliness, but she always kept herself at a safe, unchanging distance.
Thinking about it, Jiang Ling recalled her days with Mo Ran and was startled to realize that she didn’t really know her at all. Or rather, Mo Ran never talked about herself. Unlike Lin Xiaoyu’s natural coolness, Mo Ran felt as if she’d built an invisible, untouchable wall all around her.
“What are you spacing out for?”
Mo Ran waved her hand in front of Jiang Ling’s face, sounding a bit surprised. “We finished singing a while ago.”
“Ah… Sorry!”
Realizing she’d been lost in thought for too long, Jiang Ling hurriedly snapped out of it, waving her hands in embarrassment.
“It’s fine. Want to listen to the recording?”
Mo Ran played the track they’d just recorded. Her gentle, soft voice filled the empty practice room.
Jiang Ling listened carefully and found that Mo Ran’s singing was still flawless, but just as Bai Xue had said, it felt a bit too calm for a song meant to express emotion.
Thinking this over, Jiang Ling mulled it over in her mind for a long time, then finally spoke up, hesitantly.
“I think you sing really well, but—”
“You feel the same way as Sister Bai Xue?”
Mo Ran finished her sentence for her, curving her lips into a faint smile.
For some reason, Jiang Ling thought she saw a trace of bitterness in Mo Ran’s expression.
“Ah, um… yeah.”
Jiang Ling still wasn’t good at lying. She hemmed and hawed for a long time, then finally nodded, a bit dispirited.
She really wanted to brush things off with a light, comforting remark, but that sort of thing was just too hard for Jiang Ling.
“It’s alright. Don’t worry about what you say—just be honest,” Mo Ran patted Jiang Ling’s head to comfort her. “Otherwise, we’ll never get better.”
Hearing this, a few scattered thoughts flashed through Jiang Ling’s mind. She cautiously looked up and asked in return, “Really?”
“Really.”
Facing Mo Ran’s calm reply, Jiang Ling deliberated for a long time in her heart. Then, summoning up all her courage, she looked straight into her eyes, her voice trembling a little:
“Then… could you tell me something about yourself?”
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