Chapter 162 Idol Filter
Not only did the woman wear a mask and a hat, she also used the hood of her sweatshirt to cover most of her head, making it impossible to see her appearance at all.

Chen Mo blinked, not understanding what was going on.

After the woman got in the car, she looked out the window cautiously and said without turning her head:

"Go, go, it seems we have been discovered again."

Chen Mo said helplessly: "Ms. Mei, this is not an online car-hailing service."

Hearing that the voice sounded quite young, Chen Mo habitually wanted to call her a beautiful woman, but then he remembered that he hadn't even seen a corner of the person's face, which seemed a bit like "telling lies with open eyes", so he changed his words and used a nickname.

The girl paused for a moment when she heard the unfamiliar voice, then turned around abruptly. Only a pair of eyes could be seen flashing, like a frightened deer, and she asked nervously, "Who are you?!"

"Shouldn't I be the one asking you this?" Chen Mo reminded him jokingly, "This is my car."

"Ah?" The girl was stunned for a moment. After realizing the situation, her ears instantly turned red. She immediately lowered her head and said, "Sorry, sorry, I got the wrong car."

The girl apologized and opened the car door to get out.

But at this moment, the sound of two girls talking was heard outside.

"Strange, the person seems to have disappeared. I clearly saw him walking this way."

"Maybe you made a mistake? Actually, that person is not Ningning."

Hearing this conversation, the girl quickly retracted the foot that had already stepped out of the car, closed the door again, and lowered her body as much as possible, obviously to avoid being seen by outsiders.

Chen Mo looked up in the direction of the voice and saw two girls who looked like students.

One of the girls with twin ponytails said confidently, "It's impossible. Although Ningning covered herself up very tightly, her ankles were still exposed. I couldn't have made a mistake."

Girl in the car: “.”

Upon hearing this, Chen Mo couldn't help but look down at the passenger seat with curiosity.

The girl noticed Chen Mo's gaze, and she shrank her feet back, unconsciously pulling her trouser legs down a little with her hands.

Another girl in a plaid skirt heard the "evidence" raised by her classmate, but she didn't think there was anything wrong with it. She just nodded and said, "I didn't see the ankle, but I saw the back and the walking posture just now, and they do look a bit similar."

"It's not a resemblance, it's Ningning." The girl with twin ponytails said confidently, "I didn't see Ningning among the members who just came out. Ningning is from Beijing. She must have temporarily separated from the other members and went back home by herself."

The girl in the plaid skirt thought about it and felt that it made sense, "Then let's look further ahead."

"Well, we're the only ones who discovered it. If there aren't many people around, maybe we can take a group photo." The girl with twin ponytails spoke with excitement.

The girl in the plaid skirt's eyes lit up when she heard that, and she couldn't help but look forward to it. She said anxiously, "Hurry up, if we can take a photo together, we'll post it in the group and make others envy us to death."

As they talked, they walked towards the direction where Chen Mo parked his car, looking around in search.

As the footsteps got closer, without waiting for Chen Mo to speak, the girl half raised her head, clasped her hands together, and whispered, "Excuse me, can you please let me hide for a while?"

Chen Mo glanced at her and asked, "If I say no, will you get off now?"

The girl blushed when she heard that.

Although Chen Mo couldn't see the specific expression, he could see that the girl's ears, which were already red, were obviously even hotter.

It can be seen that the girl is the type who is afraid of bothering others.

The characteristic of this personality type is that they are relatively thin-skinned. Once they finally muster up the courage to make a request to others and are rejected, they will immediately become stressed and enter a state of self-reflection.

The girl stammered and explained, "I'm sorry, I just saw that your car and license plate looked a bit like my brother's, so I made a mistake."

When Chen Mo heard this, he raised his eyebrows and looked at the girl in front of him seriously.

After the girl finished speaking, she turned her head, half bent over, and cautiously glanced at the situation outside the car, apparently looking for an opportunity to get out and leave.

If she was discovered at this time, not only would she attract more fans, but the fact that she got off a strange man's car would be difficult to explain, and she would definitely be subject to rumors.

Chen Mo suddenly asked, "Are you back from South Korea?"

The girl turned back in surprise, "How did you know?"

As soon as the words came out of her mouth, the girl immediately realized that saying this was equivalent to admitting it, so she quickly covered her mouth, her eyes flashed, and she asked tentatively: "Do you know me?"

Chen Mo said coldly, "I don't know you, but I saw you acting in a Korean drama here, with a scene where a female star hides in someone else's car to avoid reporters."

The girl felt relieved after hearing Chen Mo's tone, and quickly explained: "I'm not a star, I just came back from traveling."

Chen Mo couldn't bear to watch this poor acting, shook his head and started the car.

"Wait, wait a minute, what are you doing?"

When the girl saw Chen Mo start the car, she suddenly panicked.

"Normally, at this time, you shouldn't be a 'hero saving the damsel'." Chen Mo smiled and stepped on the accelerator. "How long do you want to hide in the car? I'll give you a ride and take you out."

"No, thanks," the girl hurriedly wanted to refuse. She didn't dare to just sit in a strange man's car.

But the car had already slowly driven out and passed by the two girls. The girl was afraid of being seen, so she quickly lowered her head.

After leaving the airport, Chen Mo reminded them, "You can sit up now. They can't catch up with you."

The girl then sat up straight and said, "Thank you. Please just find a place to put me down."

Chen Mo glanced at her and said, "It's not easy to park here. Fasten your seat belt first. Safety is the most important thing."

The girl forced a smile and fastened her seat belt.

Seeing the airport getting farther and farther behind the car, the girl bit her lip. She couldn't help but feel a little nervous. Although it shouldn't happen, what if it did?
"Well, let me make a phone call."

The girl looked at Chen Mo tentatively, but Chen Mo said nothing.

Seeing this, the girl breathed a sigh of relief and took out her cell phone to make a call.

"Hey."

"elder brother!"

Chen Mo couldn't help but laugh when he heard the girl's "rescued" tone.

"Are you out? Why didn't I see you?"

The girl glanced at Chen Mo and said, "I'm out. I got on the wrong bus and am leaving the airport now."

"Did you get on the wrong bus? Where are you now? I'll pick you up." The voice on the other end of the phone sounded a little worried.

The girl turned to Chen Mo and said, "Brother, my brother is coming to pick me up. Please drop me off on the side of the road."

Chen Mo said, "Put the phone on speaker."

"Huh?" The girl didn't understand, but still turned on the speakerphone.

A concerned voice came from the other end of the line: "Hello? Which direction are you going? I'll be there now."

Chen Mo said in a "cold" tone: "Your sister has been kidnapped by me, prepare the ransom."

One sentence made the hearts of both people on the phone tense and relieved.

When the girl heard this, her body tensed up.

The person on the other end of the phone recognized the voice and felt relieved immediately.

"Chen Mo?" Ning Zhijian on the other end of the phone was stunned for a moment, but then guessed what was going on, "I was wondering, how could you recognize the wrong car?"

The day before yesterday, Chen Mo went to Ning Zhijian's bar. His car ran out of gas, so he switched to Ning Zhijian's car.

Ning Zhijian forgot to tell his sister that he was driving another car.

When Ning Zhihe heard her brother's words, she blinked, leaned slightly forward, and looked at Chen Mo carefully.

Chen Mo joked, "Don't you recognize me?"

Ning Zhihe finally relaxed and said angrily:

"Brother Chen Mo, why didn't you tell me you recognized me? You even tried to scare me on purpose."

Ning Zhihe naturally knew Chen Mo, but they hadn't seen each other for a long time, so she didn't recognize him at first.

Chen Mo shook his head and denied, "I didn't recognize you. Your face was covered so tightly, how could I recognize you?"

Ning Zhihe puffed up her cheeks. She knew very well that Chen Mo was teasing her on purpose.

Ning Zhijian heard the conversation between the two and said unhappily, "You are trying to scare my sister on purpose, right?"

Chen Mo laughed and said, "I was just teasing her. Your sister is very cute."

Ning Zhihe wrinkled his nose, "You can't even see my face, how do you know I'm cute?"

Chen Mo said as a matter of course: "I have seen your photo. You can find it by searching your name on the Internet."

Ning Zhihe widened his eyes, feeling somewhat "indignant".

"I'll take you home directly, and then we'll change the car back later."

"Okay." Chen Mo said to Ning Zhijian, and the two ended the call.

In front of familiar people, Ning Zhihe no longer needed to pretend, she took off her mask and hat.

The platinum hair spread out like a waterfall, revealing a pure and lovely face, sweet yet a little sexy.

According to the judging standards of the fan circle, this is a canine-like appearance, pure lust style.

Therefore, fans’ nickname for Ning Zhihe is “Stupid Puppy”.

Chen Mo took a look and said with a smile: "Girls really change a lot when they grow up. The little girl back then has become so pretty."

Ning Zhihe smiled shyly.

"But I didn't recognize you. How come you didn't recognize me either?" Chen Mo touched his face. "My appearance should have remained stable over the years."

Ning Zhihe glanced at Chen Mo and said, "When I was young, you and my brother both had long hair and looked uncouth."

"Cough cough." Chen Mo coughed twice awkwardly, the past was too painful to recall.

When he and Ning Zhijian were hanging out together, rock and shamatte were popular.

"Is your impression of me so old?" Chen Mo touched his nose, "It shouldn't be that bad."

Ning Zhihe recalled and said, "It seems that after I entered junior high school, I had my own friends and didn't like to follow my brother as much. After that, I saw him less often."

"Really?" Chen Mo couldn't remember, "Why did you go to South Korea?"

"I went there after finishing junior high school, when I was fourteen."

"Wow, that's been ten years, right?"

"Well, exactly ten years."

Chen Mo still had some vague memories, "I seem to have heard your brother say that your grades were pretty good back then, and you were in the top ten in the grade?"

Ning Zhihe nodded, "Yeah."

Chen Mo sighed: "I didn't expect that uncle and aunt would agree to let you become a trainee."

Given the Ning family's financial situation, Ning Zhihe must have attended a key school at that time.

With such achievements in a key school and a local hukou, it can be said that admission to Peking University and Tsinghua University is within reach.

And what are trainees?
South Korea is said to have millions of trainees.

According to statistics, there are currently more than two million trainees in South Korea.

What is the concept?
You have to know that South Korea has a population of only 50 million, and these two million are all teenagers.

How many of these two million people can make their debut?

Every year, there are about ten new groups launched by big and small companies. It sounds like a lot, but in fact, there are less than a few hundred people debuting.

And even if they debuted, most of them just became runner-up groups, and there are only one or two groups that can really become popular.

But the problem is not the terrible elimination rate, but that being a trainee is not glamorous.

Before their debut, trainees have basically no "human rights" in front of their agency.

The agency doesn't care about your personal health and feelings. The training is to train you to death. If you don't perform well, you will be insulted and beaten.

Can't bear it? Then terminate the contract and pay compensation.

Ning Zhihe said: "The condition my mother agreed to at the beginning was that I couldn't give up my studies. So when I went there, I was a trainee while studying."

Chen Mo smiled and asked, "Will you feel uncomfortable when you go there?"

Ning Zhihe thought for a moment and said, "Everything else is fine, but I still can't get used to the culture of seniors and juniors there."

South Korea’s culture of seniority and juniority is notoriously “strictly hierarchical”.

When South Koreans get to know each other, one thing they cannot avoid is comparing their ages, and they have to be specific about the month.

In South Korea, only people of the same age can be called friends, which is called "qingu" in the language there.

Since we are not the same age, we cannot call each other friends. We can only say "seniors or seniors with whom we have a very good relationship" or something like that.

If you meet an older acquaintance and don't greet them, they may scold you rudely in public or even hit you.

This seems "reasonable" over there.

Chen Mo scoffed at this, "They learned our Confucian culture, but ended up 'carrying forward' the bad parts."

Ning Zhihe just smiled when he heard this.

Although she thought so, she had to make a living there and could only "follow the local customs" if she was not used to it.

You can't expect a foreigner like her to change the social concepts that are deeply rooted in people's minds, right?
Chen Mo asked, "You weren't bullied over there, were you?"

Ning Zhihe shook his head. "The relationships among our team members are pretty good. We are not the kind of people who appear friendly on the surface but fight behind their backs."

"What about the company?"

"My dad found me a personal agent. When I joined the company, the agent followed me in to take care of me." Ning Zhihe pursed her lips. "I guess he knew that I came from a wealthy family. Plus, I'm not from South Korea, so I can always find a way out. That's why some of the messy things in the industry didn't happen to me."

Obviously, the girl is not completely ignorant of those dark things.

Chen Mo didn't find it strange either.

After all, his family runs a bar and nightclub, which is an industry full of mixed people. It is inevitable that he has been influenced by it since he was a child and is not too naive.

"That's good." Chen Mo nodded. "I remember your brother even went over to accompany you because he was afraid you would be bullied."

Ning Zhihe smiled, "My brother was waiting for me to regret it. If I regretted it, he would take me home immediately. I didn't expect that I would grit my teeth and hold on."

"You are just trying to endure the hardship." Chen Mo shook his head. "If you were to enroll in an art school in China and then take this path, it would be much easier."

The main reason why there are so many trainees in South Korea is that they have no choice. The social class is too rigid, and there are only a few options for ordinary people.

There is a saying in South Korea: There are three things that South Koreans cannot live without in their lives: taxes, death and Samsung.

When a company's name appears in a sentence like this, you can imagine how serious the monopoly in the industry is.

Therefore, becoming an idol artist is one of the few channels for advancement that is not monopolized, and it is a way out that people without family background and connections can also have a chance to try.

But this is not the case for Ning Zhihe.

Ning Zhihe stuck out her tongue and said embarrassedly, "I liked a boy band more at the time, but I don't know why I just wanted to join a girl band regardless of anything else."

Obviously, her family had arranged other options for her, but she was just willful.

Chen Mo smiled and said, "After you went there, did you see your idol?"

Ning Zhihe nodded, "Although we are not in the same company, I have met him on a show after our group debuted."

Chen Mo asked with interest: "How does it feel?"

Ning Zhihe thought for a moment and said, "Well, it's like the toy you longed to buy when you were a kid, and you finally got it when you grew up."

Chen Mo waited for a while, "And then?"

Ning Zhihe blinked, "No more."

Chen Mo raised an eyebrow, "That's it?"

Ning Zhihe shrugged. "When I grew up and bought the toys I wanted as a child, I found that they were not that fun. I couldn't understand how childish I was back then."

Chen Mo couldn't help but laugh. "I met my idol in person, and even became an idol myself. Without that filter, the fantasy I had as a girl instantly became 'distorted', right?"

Ning Zhihe nodded slightly.

Once you enter the industry, some of the artists' deeds that were previously thought to be private are actually easy to find out.

When Ning Zhihe first learned about the rumors about her idol in the circle, she was still a little skeptical. But when she came into contact with the real person and saw his private words and actions, the filter was instantly shattered.

Chen Mo asked: "How did you arrange your trip this time?"

"Tomorrow is my last book signing event, and I have to fly to South Korea the day after tomorrow morning." Ning Zhihe said, "The company knows that I have no intention of renewing my contract, so they have given me all the possible offers in the remaining two months. My schedule is already full."

Chen Mo nodded. This was the agency's final attempt to squeeze out as much value as possible.

"You finally get home, so spend some time with your parents today. I'll come find you tomorrow and we can talk about your contract."

Ning Zhihe smiled sweetly, "Okay, thank you Brother Chen Mo."

"You already call me brother, why are you being so polite?"

"hey-hey."

(End of this chapter)