I followed Si Jiangchen upstairs with a nervous heart.
Sure enough, half of the ninth floor belonged to Tao Ran Media.
On the glass curtain wall in front, the promotional VCRs of those entertainers were playing on a loop. Each one looked glamorous and oozed an air of money.
It was after - school time. Many parents were standing in front of the office areas converted into training rooms with their kids who dreamed of becoming stars, waiting for the training teachers to show up.
"Hello, parent. Which field do you want your baby to develop in?"
A receptionist in a professional suit, looking authoritative, walked up. She sized up Si Tong and then fixed her eyes on Si Jiangchen's face, showing a look of amazement.
Si Jiangchen still wore his sunglasses. He probably did so to avoid the trouble of being recognized.
"… Uh, we're Sun Wenwen's classmates. May I ask which classroom she's in?"
I had no intention of dealing with this kind of kids - training institution. I just wanted to find Sun Wenwen quickly and persuade Wang Yingxiu to go home.
Although Song Yixuan was a star of Tao Ran Media, he was paralyzed. He shouldn't show up here… right?
"Wenwen!"
The receptionist suddenly realized. "Are you introduced by Mrs. Sun?"
"Yes!"
I nodded repeatedly. As a first - time "parent", I was nervous and embarrassed when facing the teachers of the training institution, even though our purpose wasn't to enroll in the star - training program.
"Wenwen is a little star receiving all - round training. She's making progress in acting, singing and hosting. She'll definitely be a top - notch influencer in the future! I think your baby… has even more star potential than her…"
The receptionist's words were very persuasive. She was trying hard to convince me to buy their training courses. I felt dizzy and couldn't help tugging at Si Jiangchen beside me.
Si Tong was his son, but this guy just stood beside me with a faint smile, watching my embarrassment like it was a show!
Seeing me blushing and asking for help, the curve of Si Jiangchen's lips became even more obvious. He rubbed my shoulder and then said to the receptionist, "Miss, we'd like to take a look at their training content first, so that the kids can have a clear direction to strive for."
"No problem, no problem!"
The receptionist was dazzled by Si Jiangchen's smile. For a moment, she seemed even more embarrassed than me. "Then, let me show you the content of each training program!"
Saying that, she made a "please" gesture and led the way in front.
Si Tong had never seen such a training institution before. He found it interesting to see many kids jumping and dancing in the big rooms with mirrors, looking around curiously.
But as I followed them and saw the situation inside the training rooms, I became more and more frightened.
Each teacher standing in front of the kids had a wisp of black qi rising from between their eyebrows. As their expressions changed, countless faint whirlpools appeared, looking like one - eyed monsters floating on the ceiling, staring covetously at the kids listening attentively below.
"What's wrong?"
Si Jiangchen held my hand. Noticing that my palm was full of cold sweat, he whispered in my ear.
"This is the training institution opened by Ma Su!!"
I still remembered what Ma Su had said to me before leaving the Future Water World. She said she would invite me again!
Could this be her invitation?!
I knew that Tao Ran Media had been using the fan appeal of the traffic stars to absorb the energy of their followers. But I never thought they wouldn't even spare these kids. Looking at the dark eyes of those attentive kids, even in this brightly - lit and bustling environment, I still felt a chill running down my back like ice - cold water, and the creepy feeling made me can't help but hug Si Jiangchen's arm.
"Yeah! They've always liked making dirty money."
Si Jiangchen couldn't see the strange phenomena in the institution. He didn't know how terrifying it was here.
I leaned on Si Jiangchen, my body shaking constantly. I felt that the scenes I'd seen in the underworld were not as gloomy and terrifying as this place!
Because this was the human world, but it was occupied by countless evil spirits. Outside the building was a world full of yang energy, but inside the building was like a den of demons. Even the kids were calculated to be tools for absorbing the power of faith.
Si Jiangchen's Fir Capital had also invested in film and media companies, but they never bothered with this kind of kids - training institution that created illusions. These so - called programs that promised to turn kids into future star idols were just to satisfy the greed and vanity of the parents.
"Little Princess Sun Wenwen is studying in the modeling class!"
The receptionist had led us to the outside of a training classroom inlaid with two huge mirror walls.
There was a whole glass wall next to the corridor, allowing parents outside or kids with potential to see the teaching situation inside.
I could already see Sun Wenwen with a pale face standing behind four or five kids in strange clothes, holding a paper cup from a hamburger restaurant and gulping down hot water.
"Wenwen." The thin and elegant teacher standing in the team pointed at Sun Wenwen and said with a smile, "Come to the front and let the teacher see how you've done your assignment!"
"Teacher, it's too cold. I don't want to perform!"
Sun Wenwen shook her head, holding the cup in her hand.
"Go on, go on!"
I found that Mrs. Sun was clinging tightly to the glass window, winking at her daughter.
The teacher cooperated and reached out to pull Sun Wenwen's arm. The water in the cup splashed out with a "whoosh" and splashed on the teacher's hand.
"Ouch!"
The teacher immediately shrieked and jumped back two steps. "You, why did you pour boiling water?!"
It turned out that the cup in Sun Wenwen's hand had been filled with boiling water at 80 - 90 degrees from the water dispenser. The teacher's skin was scalded with a series of blisters by the splashed boiling water.
"Cold!!! I'm cold!"
Sun Wenwen ignored the teacher's scream at all. She lifted the cup and poured the water into her mouth.
"Don't let her drink!"
Mrs. Sun finally noticed something was wrong with her daughter at this moment. She desperately slapped the glass and shouted.
The teacher couldn't let the kid get scalded in her class, so she quickly knocked the cup out of Sun Wenwen's hand. But it was already too late. A whole cup of boiling water that could burn the skin had all gone into her stomach.
"Ahhhhh!!"
The teacher was so scared that she quickly picked up Sun Wenwen and rushed outside. Mrs. Sun kicked open the door of the training room, took her daughter and checked her mouth. While checking, she screamed and scolded the teacher, "How do you teach? How could you let the kid get boiling water? If anything happens to our Wenwen, I'll sue you until you're bankrupt!!!"
"… Wenwen's mom, check the kid first!"
The teacher had never seen such a situation before. What kind of silly kid would pour boiling water into their own mouth?!
At this time, many parents and students also crowded over to watch the commotion. In the crowded corridor, I felt the cold and evil qi becoming even stronger…