Miss Witch, even if we're poor, we can't sell ourselves!

Qinyin felt that it was already a miracle that she had made it to the cafeteria alive today.

She was dragged out of bed at six in the morning to rehearse, without even having time to drink a sip of water.

The new choreographer was brought in from outside, and he was said to be a formidable figure with a small reputation in the industry. He lived up to his reputation when he started choreographing, spending almost an hour meticulously working on just the first eight counts of the opening.

So she has lost all feeling in her fingertips now.

The moment the rehearsal ended, Qin Yin felt like a towel that had been wrung out, with no strength left to squeeze out.

What devastated her even more was that her band's lead singer sent her a message this morning saying that he had started having a fever last night and his voice was so hoarse that he couldn't speak, so he definitely wouldn't be able to perform at tonight's welcome ceremony.

Just thinking about these trivial matters made Qin Yin's stomach start to ache.

Logically speaking, shouldn't freshmen take their time to stroll around campus, make some new friends, and slowly adapt to the new environment?

But this happens to be the Star Orbit Academy.

The heart of the entire Bellavita idol industry, the rule-maker in the industry, sends more debut idols to various agencies every year than any other school combined.

Here, it's common to perform on stage on the first day of school; the stage for the welcome ceremony is the new students' first calling card.

"Oh dear..."

Qin Yin buried her face in her arms and let out a sigh that came from the depths of her soul.

She found a corner to sit in on the second floor of the cafeteria by the window, and slumped over the table as if she had been completely drained.

The back of her school uniform was soaked with sweat, and her light pink hair slipped down her shoulders, with a few strands sticking to her cheeks, but she was too lazy to brush them away.

Lena, who was being led by the hand the whole way, was as energetic as ever.

The little witch with white hair and a jellyfish-like hairstyle stood next to Qin Yin, a lollipop dangling from her mouth, her cheeks bulging out in a round arc.

She looked down at Qinyin, who was sprawled out in a puddle, blinked her pink eyes, then squatted down, reached out, and gently stroked Qinyin's head, like teasing a kitten.

"Kotone, what would you like to eat?"

Lena's voice is soft and gentle, just like a real cat's.

Qinyin barely managed to lift half of her face from her arms, revealing tired eyes. She looked at Lena's carefree face and was incredibly envious.

This little guy jumps around from morning till noon just like me, so why does he still look like he just woke up and is full of energy?

"I'll eat whatever you eat, just bring me a portion."

She tugged at the corners of her mouth, forced a smile, and then buried her face back down.

Lena tilted her head and stared at Qinyin for a while, as if she was thinking about what to eat.

A moment later, she stood up, a lollipop dangling from her lips, and slowly walked toward the order window. A little while later, she returned with two bowls of porridge.

Kotone was stunned for a moment when she saw the porridge, but she was too tired to complain, so she just accepted Rakuna's strange idea.

"Thanks."

Qin Yin took the spoon and stirred the porridge in the bowl. The steam hit her face, slightly easing the fatigue between her brows.

She sipped her drink slowly, not really having much of an appetite, but she still needed something to eat.

Le Nai sat opposite her, and the way she drank the porridge was very much in her usual style. She held the bowl with both hands, buried her face in it, and drank more than half of the bowl in one go. Then she raised her head, completely unaware that there was a ring of white porridge paste around her mouth, and went to pick up some pickled vegetables.

Halfway through her drink, the iconic tuft of hair on her head suddenly twitched.

It trembled slightly at first, then slowly turned in a certain direction like a compass.

Lenai, biting her spoon, looked in the direction the ahoge was pointing, and her pink eyes reflected the figure of a short, light blonde hair.

The little witch was sitting in the corner by the window, with three empty bowls in front of her, her cheeks bulging and her mouth stuffed with noodles.

Lena put down her spoon, slid off her chair, and walked briskly through the cafeteria.

Then he walked over and sat down opposite Miya, placed his hands on the table, rested his chin on the back of his hands, and stared at Miya without moving.

He didn't say a word, he just stared at me.

Miya's chopsticks were suspended in mid-air, and she hadn't yet swallowed the noodles in her mouth.

She stared blankly at the white-haired little witch who had suddenly appeared in front of her, her mind racing.

Who is this?

No, no, never mind who it is, why are you staring at me like that?

Did I eat too much and get complained about by the cafeteria ladies?

No way, didn't you say you could order anything?

Or is this seat actually her reserved seat?

But there was nothing on the table when I arrived.

So, did she simply want to get to know me?

No, no, if she wants to get to know me, she has to say something first. What's the point of her just staring at me?

As Miya's inner monologue was playing out its third act, Kotone finally realized that Rakuna was missing.

She looked up and saw Lena sitting opposite a strange little witch, the two staring at each other.

Qin Yin's heart skipped a beat. She quickly put down her spoon and ran over. Her first thought was that Le Nai had done something strange again that was bothering others.

"Lena, you can't just stare at people like that—"

Qin Yin's hand had just touched Le Nai's shoulder when she stopped mid-sentence, her gaze naturally falling on Mi Ye's face.

The little witch wearing the cat-ear hat looked up, her eyes blinking in confusion. She looked like a cat whose meal had been interrupted, a little wary and a little bewildered, but of course not really angry.

Qin Yin recognized her.

Yesterday afternoon in the dance studio, I met that little idol whom Teacher Qingxingmeng had personally praised.

How did she end up in the Star Orbit Academy's cafeteria?

The words Qin Yin wanted to say were caught in her throat, but were cut off by another thought.

"Excuse me... are you a student at Star Orbit Academy?"

Miya shook her head, swallowed the noodles in her mouth, and placed her chopsticks on the edge of the empty bowl.

"No, I'm here to take on a part-time job."

"A commission?"

The melody was repeated.

"What type of commission?"

"It's just helping the student council move equipment, one hundred Loren per hour."

Qin Yin's eyebrows twitched, and her expression changed subtly in that instant, as if she had just gotten some incredible bargain and was trying hard not to laugh.

She took a deep breath, and then, with lightning speed, grabbed Miya's hands, which she had just put down her chopsticks.

"How about you come join our group temporarily to make up the numbers?"

Miya blinked.

"……what?"

"Just one day, someone in our group suddenly fell ill, and we were short one person for the welcoming ceremony performance."

"It's not a complicated job, just one song, a formality, and the salary is three—no, five thousand Loren."

Miya was putting the last bite of noodles into her mouth.

The moment the five thousand Loren entered his ear, the mouthful of noodles got stuck precisely in his throat, impossible to swallow or spit out.

She pounded her chest suddenly, tears welling up in her eyes.

After finally managing to swallow the noodles, she wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes with her sleeve before raising her head to stare at the piano music.

"real?"

Without saying a word, Qin Yin took out her phone from her pocket, opened the WW payment interface, and handed it to Mi Ye.

The five thousand numbers on the screen have been typed in; all that's missing is the confirmation button.

"Should you sweep or should I sweep?"

As Miya stared at that number, only one thought remained in her mind.

This beautiful young lady touched me with her sincerity.

So I just opened my phone.

Ding.

The next second, my phone vibrated; five thousand Loren had been deposited into my account.

Qin Yin stuffed her phone into her pocket, and the forced, tired smile on her face finally turned into a genuine smile.

She didn't give Mi Ye any chance to back out, and pulled her hand to walk out.

"Wait a minute! My bowl isn't ready yet—"

"The cafeteria ladies will accept it."

"I haven't returned my meal card yet—"

"I'll pay it back for you, I'll send it back for you, you can just go."

Qin Yin pulled her hand and walked towards the cafeteria entrance without looking back, leaving a half-eaten bowl of porridge on the table in the distance.

Lenai stood there watching the two figures disappear into the distance, a faint smile appearing in her pink eyes.

She ran over, picked up Qin Yin's unfinished bowl of porridge, tilted her head back to drink the last mouthful, then stacked the bowl on top of her own, and carried the tray to the recycling area with both hands.

Finally, he pulled another lollipop from his pocket, unwrapped it, and popped it into his mouth. He then followed slowly, like a cat walking in the sunlight.