Her Majesty The Empress Has Made Her Debut In The Center Position [Ancient to Modern] - Chapter 30.1

“Hey! I’m here—” Song Jiangjiang’s cheerful voice rang out from the entrance, interrupting their awkward standoff. “Everyone gathered here is family! Long time no see, girls!”

Silence.

More silence.

Eternal silence.

Song Jiangjiang flailed awkwardly for a moment before stamping her foot. “Why are you two staring at me like I’m an idiot?!” She waved the sign in her hand. “Rap Group, right? Nobody picked it, did they?”

She squinted at their choices and gasped. “Zhaozhao, you picked dance? Yu Cheng, you picked vocal?!”

She pointed at Yu Cheng, then at Ji Zhao. “Did you two swap souls? Or are you just challenging yourselves? Why joke around about the public performance?”

“It’s not a joke,” Ji Zhao said, her lips curving into a smile, a faint dimple appearing. “I want to be with her, and she wants to be with me. That’s all.”

When Yu Cheng heard “I want to be with her,” a flicker of surprise crossed her eyes, followed by a surge of indescribable emotions. Her heart skipped a beat, almost… joyfully?

She lowered her gaze and murmured, “What a strange turn of events.”

Song Jiangjiang, oblivious to Yu Cheng’s tender feelings, grimaced in frustration. “Can you two stop feeding me relationship goals? This time, I’m definitely going to find a partner. Just you wait!”

More footsteps echoed from the entrance. Yu Cheng returned to her seat, while Ji Zhao simply replied with a nonchalant, “Oh.”

Song Jiangjiang: “……”

Desperately seeking a new teammate! Shen Yican! Miss you!

As if summoned by her thoughts, Shen Yican quickly emerged from the entrance. She had also chosen the Rap Group, but not as Song Jiangjiang’s partner. The two sat side by side, waiting for their new teammate to arrive.

Zhou Yuting finally arrived and chose the dance track, pairing up with Ji Zhao. She waved at Ji Zhao and walked over. “You picked this one too?” she asked, sitting down next to her. “Actually, I originally wanted to choose vocal, but the company said it’s best to show fans different sides of us, so I ended up picking this song.”

“What about you?” Her voice was soft and gentle. “Why did you choose this song?”

Before Ji Zhao could answer, Song Jiangjiang, a few seats away, chimed in to explain Zhou Yuting’s question: “She thought Yu Cheng would pick this song, and now it’s turned into a disaster.”

Yu Cheng shot her a glare.

Song Jiangjiang immediately shut her mouth. “Forget I said anything.”

Ji Zhao held up the card in her hand. The song was called “Dramatic,” an English track. She’d listened to the sample provided by the production team and found it fresh and innovative. The dance portion also didn’t seem too difficult—certainly not beyond her capabilities. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have chosen it.

Repeating Zhou Yuting’s earlier words, Ji Zhao said, “To show our fans a different side of us.”

Zhou Yuting nodded in agreement. “I think that’s great.”

Zhou Yuting glanced toward the exit. “I wonder who our next teammate will be.”

Neither Ji Zhao nor Zhou Yuting could have imagined their next teammate would arrive so quickly. It was Qian Xingxing, the sixth contestant. Upon seeing Ji Zhao among her teammates, she clutched her head and exclaimed, “Oh my god! How many lifetimes of good luck did I accumulate to meet my idol—Zhaozhao—”

She lunged toward Ji Zhao. Yu Cheng’s expression hardened, and the card in her hand shot out, striking the chair beside Ji Zhao.

The chair teleported to block the overly enthusiastic Qian Xingxing just in time. Unable to brake in time, she crashed onto the chair, landing on her knees. Her body leaned forward, and her arms shot straight out in front of her: “!!!”

Ji Zhao stared at the two hands extended toward her.

She looked left, then right.

She reached out and shook the hand on the left, then the one on the right, smiling at Qian Xingxing. “I remember you, Qian Xingxing. ‘Money is everything’—it’s great to be teammates.”

Qian Xingxing’s face instantly flushed crimson. After a long moment, she covered her face and shrieked, throwing herself into Zhou Yuting’s arms. “Aaaaaah! I’m so embarrassed!”

Zhou Yuting patted her head and said to Ji Zhao, “She’s got thin skin.”

Ji Zhao: “……”

Why are my teammates so weird again?

Hmm? Why did she say “again”?

Dark clouds silently gathered overhead. Perhaps the Assistant Director had urged the schedule along, because the next group of trainees rushed in quickly. Some who chose rap embraced Song Jiangjiang, others who picked dance sat down with Ji Zhao, and those who opted for vocals chatted with Yu Cheng. Occasionally, a brave soul chose create, immediately receiving the admiring gazes of the entire room.

“…Well, there’s no need for that,” Pei Jia said, smiling awkwardly as she sat with the Create group, returning the bow of the trainees. “I just wanted to challenge myself.”

Then Ji Zhao glanced at her.

Pei Jia immediately lowered her eyes guiltily. Alright, I admit it—Ji Zhaozhao’s reward system is incredibly tempting. But I’ve already advanced and earned the 100,000 yuan prize. I’m not greedy. Whether I advance next time or not shouldn’t be too goal-oriented.

Since I’m not being goal-oriented, I might as well go home early and pick a deliberately bad option that no one will choose. That way, no one will vote for me, and I’ll get eliminated and go back to the company to slack off. Wouldn’t that be great?

Ji Zhao understood Pei Jia’s thoughts perfectly, but ultimately, this was Pei Jia’s own choice, and she didn’t want to interfere too much.

In Ji Zhao’s group, it wasn’t until the thirtieth rank and beyond that their fourth teammate arrived—Li Yunyue from some obscure small workshop, a trainee who had once been in Class A but was reevaluated to Class B due to her social anxiety.

Under everyone’s gaze, Li Yunyue lowered her head awkwardly, wanting to pull out her mask and put it on but remembering she was filming and forcing herself to resist. She quickly ran to the Dramatic group, swiftly found a seat, and gave her teammates a polite smile: “Haha, eh hehe.”

The song Yu Cheng had chosen was a hit, and it didn’t take long for five people to gather. Putting aside their personalities, they all looked like sweet girls with charming dimples when they smiled.

Including Yu Cheng.

Before her teammates had fully gathered, Yu Cheng received a message from Ji Zhao: Fit in with the group, don’t keep a stiff face. This isn’t a battle—smile sweetly and sincerely. Ideally, try to make dimples.

The messenger thought the last request was a bit unreasonable. Dimples were innate, and Yu Cheng didn’t have any. How could she possibly smile like that?

Then she saw Yu Cheng ponder for a moment before poking her cheek with her index finger.

The dimples looked sweet.

The messenger: “……”

Respect. Blessings!

Ji Zhao found Yu Cheng’s diligent efforts to create dimples and her sweet smile quite adorable. She couldn’t help but steal a few extra glances. Just as she was about to look away, she heard a scream: “How is it you?!”

The air was quiet for a moment.

Ji Zhao finally realized that the “you” in “How could it be you?” referred to her. She calmly withdrew her gaze and saw Tong Wei standing before her, glaring angrily. The sign in her hand boldly read Dramatic.

“We’re in the same group? I have to be teammates with you? You’ve got to be kidding me!” Tong Wei continued to rant, growing even more furious when Ji Zhao didn’t respond. “Why aren’t you saying anything?!”

Ji Zhao clicked her tongue softly. “I’m just wondering.”

Zhou Yuting asked quietly, “Wondering about what?”

Ji Zhao asked, “Who was first place?”

Qian Xingxing lifted her head from Zhou Yuting’s arms. “You were!”

Ji Zhao asked again, “Then who picked this song first?”

Qian Xingxing lifted her head even higher. “You did!”

Tong Wei: “……”

“So,” Ji Zhao asked her, “do you know what I’m wondering about now?”

Tong Wei’s face flushed red and then pale. She knew what Ji Zhao was thinking. Ji Zhao was ranked first and had chosen the song first. As someone ranked seventy-first, a latecomer, Tong Wei had no right to complain.

Tong Wei reluctantly sat down behind Ji Zhao.

The lower a trainee’s ranking, the fewer choices they had. The Vocal Group had been quickly selected and closed off. Next was the Rap Group. Tong Wei, at the bottom, was lucky to even get into the Dance Group.

After group selection, Cheng Feiwan entered and asked the trainees, “Are you satisfied with the song selection?”

Some trainees answered with enthusiasm: “Yes!”

Others sounded disheartened: “Yes—…”

Still others replied half-heartedly: “Yes, yes.”

Cheng Feiwan chuckled. “Alright. Regardless of your choices, you must embrace them. Whether you like it or not, you must love every stage. I announce that the second public performance of Debut, Girls! will take place next Sunday at the City Stadium. In other words, you have exactly one week to prepare.”

“This week, the mentors and I will teach you, and the production team will arrange other activities. But remember, the stage comes first. I can’t wait to see your performances!”

The trainees cheered, “We definitely won’t disappoint Teacher Cheng!”

After Cheng Feiwan left, the rain still hadn’t come. The dark clouds swirled and settled above the maze, refusing to move. The production team urged the trainees to return to the practice room for a meeting, but most were too lazy to budge, waving their hands and saying, “Let’s wait until the rain starts!”

The Dramatic team was no exception.

Tong Wei was particularly displeased. She stood up and protested, “I don’t want to get rained on! Let’s go back to the practice room now!”

The four members of her team sat silently, watching her.

Ji Zhao was too lazy to talk to her.

Qian Xingxing was pretending to look deep in thought.

Li Yunyue simply didn’t want to speak.

Only Zhou Yuting gently smoothed things over, “It’s okay. The rain won’t come anytime soon. Even if it does, the production team has umbrellas.”

Tong Wei glared at Zhou Yuting. “I don’t—”

“Sit down while we’re still talking nicely,” Ji Zhao said without looking up. “Don’t waste time.”

This blatant threat didn’t escape the other team members’ eyes—

Qian Xingxing: She’s so boss. I love it.

Zhou Yuting: Sigh, being nice and talking reasonably gets you nowhere. If I could, I’d make everyone happy, but what can I do? I… got off-topic.

Li Yunyue: “I can’t see… I can’t see… I can’t see…”

After a moment, Tong Wei sat down heavily.

Zhou Yuting sighed in relief and looked around. “Shall we choose a captain first?”

Qian Xingxing nodded. “I agree!”

Then, no one raised their hand.

It wasn’t surprising that no one was enthusiastic. The position of captain was all work and no reward. They had to plan strategies, supervise training, and even mediate team conflicts—all tedious tasks that wouldn’t make it onto the stage. The audience would remember the Center Position, not the captain.

“I’ll run for captain,” Ji Zhao said, raising her hand.

Qian Xingxing immediately declared, “It’s you, then.”

Tong Wei refused to back down. “I’ll run too!”

Qian Xingxing organized the vote. “Those who agree Ji Zhao should be captain, please raise your hand.”

She raised her own hand immediately, followed by Li Yunyue and Zhou Yuting. Satisfied, Qian Xingxing announced, “Those who agree Tong Wei should be captain, please raise your hand.”

Tong Wei quickly raised her hand high.

Qian Xingxing pulled her hand down. “You can’t vote for yourself. Zero votes. You’re out.”

Tong Wei: “……”

Ji Zhao pinned on the “Captain” badge and said, “Alright, now let’s choose the Center Position. Anyone who wants to run, please raise your hand.”

The entire team raised their hands in unison.

The third team task—the second stage performance—was still a group performance, but it would be a personal battle, with teammates becoming rivals. That made the Center Position crucial.

The Center Position—the spot in the team that gets the most attention, the most solo parts, and the longest time in the spotlight—was something every trainee longed for.

Except Li Yunyue.

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