"Qin Wei, did I choose the coffee you don't like to drink?"
Liu Xin blinked her eyes, looking concerned,
"Or should I get you a new one?"
Everyone else had taken a few symbolic sips, only Qin Wei held it in her hand without any intention of drinking it.
Why must Qin Wei drink it? What's the trick here?
Anyway, they're filming the show, she won't poison it...
Qin Wei picked up the coffee:
"How could that be? It's specially made, of course I look forward to it."
Qin Wei took a sip, the sourness immediately sent her soul to heaven.
This is a cup of coffee-colored lemon juice!?
"Sister Liu Xin has taste!"
The swear words reached her lips but turned into meaningful praise, Qin Wei took another sip,
"So this is Sister Liu Xin's taste? The flavor is really addictive... Since it's specially made and nameless, I'd like to call it 'Coffee Lemon Addict', so now it has a name."
Qin Wei said, facing the camera:
"Starbucks, did you hear that? Put it on the menu as the new seasonal specialty!"
So that later when the teaser trailer was released, many people watched it out of curiosity and ordered it, but they were all put off by the excessive sourness, and went online to scold Liu Xin——
【Damn, I didn't know Qin Wei's bitterness without drinking it, she had to force herself to praise such an undrinkable coffee, Liu Xin must have deliberately pranked her! What normal person would make someone else drink such an undrinkable beverage?】
【Tsk! Liu has no heart, having competed for Best Actress for years, she must resent Qin and see her as a rival! Now that Qin is down and out, she viciously targets her using such lowly means, knowing Qin can't fight back now, how despicable!】
【Qin Wei praised it against her conscience, didn't expect there to be such bitterness behind the scenes. She didn't dare to speak up, so those words were actually silent protest! Having been her fan, I also went to Starbucks to buy the Coffee Lemon Addict, only to find it a bit unpalatable...】
【If Qin wasn't suppressed, Liu couldn't have bullied her with her status... Sister Qin is also pitiful...】
...
But that was all later, at the moment Liu Xin was a little flustered, but she was flustered that Qin Wei had changed her temper and didn't get angry.
She had planned for Qin Wei to take a sip and surely couldn't stand the sourness and spit it out, immediately realizing she was pranked, she would get angry, maybe even splash the rest all over her, Liu Xin, then leave in a huff.
She had relied on Qin Wei's famously explosive temper, and others didn't know the taste of this specially made coffee... Later when it aired, online opinion would definitely one-sidedly blame Qin Wei for picking faults and making demands, while she, Liu Xin, kindly accommodated a colleague only to be bullied.
Just because the bought coffee didn't suit the taste of this big star, she was treated so badly, it would bring listeners to tears and upset viewers.
Qin Wei was no longer a top celebrity, but she had national influence and poor public image, using her to gain popularity and establish her own image was a sure profit for Liu Xin.
But Qin Wei didn't act as she had imagined?
"It's...really good?"
Liu Xin was stunned for a moment, and asked her.
There was definite news that Qin Wei disliked sour foods, even if she didn't, such sourness was unpopular among most...
"Yes."
Qin Wei nodded, and frowned to drink another sip.
Too addictive!
Liu Xin looked at her incredulously.
"Sister Liu Xin, why not try some?"
Qin Wei generously offered it to her.
Liu Xin coughed twice:
"I have a bit of a cold, don't want you to catch it, so I'll pass... Director Zhang, shall we talk about the trip now?"
And so she changed the topic, for now it was just a small interlude to them, Qin Wei didn't say anything more, and when the staff had things to say, she too found a place to sit down.
The staff announced details of the upcoming trip to everyone——
"This trip will take twenty-three days, during which you cannot bring assistants or other staff.
You cannot bring money, or your own phones, but since one of our sponsors is a mobile brand, teachers will each be provided a phone, so your agents can contact you anytime."
"Money will be given to the tour guide, and you can decide how to spend it yourselves, covering costs of food, housing, transport, etc.
Of course, just this money will hardly last the twenty-three days, so during the trip, our program team will also arrange some tasks for teachers to complete, and there will be rewards accordingly, to make sure everyone's travels don't become too straitened."
...
After hearing the details, everyone indicated no major issues, but there was still one obstacle in front of them——
Qin Kaili raised her hand:
"Director Zhang, I'm not very good at foreign languages, will we have interpreters throughout?"
Director Zhang pointed to Sheng Lin:
"There's only him as tour guide, you'll have to rely on yourselves for languages, that's why I called everyone today, to take a crash course and learn some conversational phrases, then practice more yourselves to prepare for the trip."
Sheng Lin pursed his lips, looking not very confident:
"Before coming, my agent didn't say I needed language skills, I passed the CET-4 in college, but only know how to do test questions, not speak, and haven't used English for many years..."
Director Zhang told him to stay calm, the language ability needed for this trip wasn't very advanced.
To be blunt, lacking language ability would cause communication barriers, not understanding each other, which was precisely the dynamic the program team wanted, otherwise it'd be no different from domestic travel.
Also, before inviting them, the program team had done thorough background checks, they were clear what level everyone's foreign languages were at.
After that, Director Zhang invited in a blonde foreign teacher to give everyone an English lesson, as it was the world language and offered the best cost-performance for short term study.
The foreign teacher got right into it, writing some key points on the whiteboard, then slowly teaching everyone to repeat after her sentence by sentence. Qin Wei, Liu Xin and Chen Chen followed fairly well, repeating after the teacher, while Sheng Lin and Qin Kaili were clearly less enthusiastic.
The teacher came to Sheng Lin's desk, asking him to read the sentences on the whiteboard, but Sheng Lin refused, saying his pronunciation wasn't good enough and reading it would be embarrassing.
The teacher expressed incomprehension, but the other celebrities understood what Sheng Lin was thinking.
For an idol-turned-actor, maintaining a perfect image was very important to them. If their accent sounded bad speaking a foreign language, it could easily become a target of ridicule, brought up over and over as a flaw.
Chen Chen was a singer, her English wasn't great either, but she cleverly imitated the teacher's pronunciation, who praised her English as very good after listening.
Because of what happened earlier, Liu Xin and Qin Wei weren't in the best moods, so when it was their turn, they just went through the motions.
When it got to Qin Kaili, her face flushed red, maybe because the previous performances had put pressure on her, plus her work rarely required foreign languages, she immediately tripped over her tongue. So the teacher kept correcting her.
Everyone encouraged her, but it had the opposite effect, and Qin Kaili suddenly burst into tears before getting up and leaving.
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