The key point is, what kind of girl does Vice Captain Yao like—who doesn’t know?

Liu Yumei leaned close to Zhao Qianqian’s ear and whispered, "Don’t mind them, old members are all like this. When I first came, they looked at me the same way. Just ignore them."

"I know." Zhao Qianqian nodded and replied quietly. In other people’s eyes, it was just the two of them whispering to each other.

In just that moment, quite a few pairs of white eyeballs had already been rolled at Zhao Qianqian and Liu Yumei.

Luo Ye, ignoring everyone else, looked over the group of troupe members sitting around the table, and sighed to herself. No wonder from the very beginning, Director Lei had told her and Zhao Qianqian to put on this act.

Looking at it now, Old Fox Lei must have investigated the situation in the troupe beforehand. With the old ones so old, the fat ones so fat, the two of them being transferred over like this—if their personalities weren’t a bit extreme, people probably wouldn’t buy it.

The "troupe flower" Wang Mingli mentioned should be Liu Yumei. After scanning the circle once, other than Liu Yumei, there was another woman in her early thirties who looked pretty decent, the rest mostly had very average looks.

The members of the Mine Art Troupe were mostly relatives of mine leaders, relatives of city leaders... anyway, just all kinds of leaders’ relatives. It was perfectly normal if they weren’t exactly easy on the eyes.

"What’s your name?"

The one asking was a woman in her fifties sitting next to Luo Ye.

"Luo Ye."

"How old are you this year?"

"Nineteen."

"Who’s in your family?"

Luo Ye gave her a bland glance. "Auntie, did you used to work in the household registration office?"

"Auntie?" The woman frowned and lifted a hand to twist a lock at her temple. "Do I really look that old?"

Luo Ye’s mouth twitched. She stared at the table in a daze and kept quiet.

But the woman wouldn’t let it go and jabbed Luo Ye. "Xiao Luo, how old do I look?"

Luo Ye sighed helplessly inside, gritted her teeth, hardened her heart. "Thirty-seven or thirty-eight."

"Really?" Disappointment flashed across the woman’s eyes. She repeated, "Really?"

God, what am I supposed to say you are—eighteen? Those big wrinkles over there are flashing and flashing, they’re about to blind people. I’m already lying through my teeth here, and you still want me to treat myself like I’m actually blind? Problem is, even if I were blind, that voice doesn’t sound like it belongs to an eighteen- or nineteen-year-old...

Luo Ye howled inwardly, but her face didn’t show much expression. She blinked her big innocent eyes. "Or, forty-seven or forty-eight?"

Mou Ye muttered inwardly: Old Auntie, I’m really sorry, but my character setting is a clueless, straight-talking artsy youth. Expecting me to sweet-talk is impossible. You’d better go find your balance from someone else.

Snickers of "chi chi" rose and fell; the woman’s face couldn’t hang on any longer. She swept a cold glance at Luo Ye. "Are you nearsighted?"

"No!"

"Farsighted?"

"Auntie, if you want me to say a certain age, just tell me directly, okay?"

"Hahaha..."

Amid the burst of laughter, the woman flounced off.

The image of Classmate Ye as a clueless artsy youth was firmly imprinted in everyone’s mind.

"What’s going on here?"

As if stepping right on cue, the main character always appears at the critical moment. No need to ask; this man with the puffy face, giant eye bags, fat body, and coal-black complexion was definitely Vice Captain Yao. Behind him followed Office Director Wang Mingli.

"Mr. Yao, here’s what happened..." A man in his forties wearing glasses hurriedly stood up, plastered on a fawning smile, and explained the whole story.

"Oh?" Big Eye Bag Yao turned his gaze toward Luo Ye and gave her a cold once-over; his expression grew stern. "Luo Ye, you don’t understand the principle of respecting your seniors?"

"I understand." Luo Ye stood up.

"You understand and still made Sister Li storm off?"

Luo Ye stiffened her neck. "I just told the truth."

"The truth..." The muscles on Big Eye Bag Yao’s face visibly twitched, or you could say he was "smiling." "The truth can be phrased more tactfully. You’ll be old one day too. Women don’t like others calling them old—that’s understandable. So, you need to put yourself in others’ shoes. At your age, you shouldn’t be so unaware of the depths, understand?"

Luo Ye nodded earnestly. "Next time she asks me, I’ll say she looks eighteen."

"Young people who know their mistakes and correct them—that’s good. So, we’ll leave it at that. Sit down."

After that string of "ma"s and "ba"s, Luo Ye felt goosebumps all over. As she sat down, she secretly pinched Zhao Qianqian, who had her head lowered and was about to laugh herself into internal injuries.

This girl, does she not realize how tempting she looks with her face flushed from holding back laughter? Isn’t she basically throwing herself at Big Eye Bag Yao, tempting him to make a mistake?