I Became the Top Competitor in a Talent Show Novel - Chapter 20

The eavesdropping trainees: “……”

Sitting behind Chi Meng, Chen Zhu also: “……”

Chen Zhu stared hard at the back of Chi Meng’s head, her mouth slightly agape.

Chi Meng turned her head and asked Chen Zhu, “So, what does the boss think?”

Boss… The so-called boss suddenly felt a trace of fear. Her mind even conjured up the image of Qi Yan singing The Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. She raised her hand and smacked her own head, startling everyone.

“Very good,” Chen Zhu finally said, lowering her hand under everyone’s horrified gazes. She gave a heavy smile. “Really… amazing.”

She tried her best to express her feelings.

Receiving the boss’s praise, Chi Meng turned back around and beamed at the others with a bright “the boss agrees with me” kind of smile.

The crowd: “……”

For some reason, they just felt… a little scared!

Onstage, Liu Yuexin, in order to seize this performance opportunity, chose to sing and dance. Singing and dancing without music would be extremely awkward, so the staff searched backstage for her music, delaying things a few minutes.

Very soon, the music started.

Holding the mic, Liu Yuexin took a deep breath, then suddenly bent forward, her long hair tumbling to the ground. With the low, sultry beat, her hands swept slowly upward from her ankles. As she straightened, her hair flared out, revealing a completely different expression from before.

“It’s now midnight, the seconds tick a little slow, but it’s fine—this moment is just right.” Liu Yuexin’s soft voice slid into the night-tinged melody.

It was an ambiguous kind of song.

Chi Meng heard Chen Zhu sigh.

She quickly understood why.

This wasn’t the kind of bright, high-energy sing-and-dance number people might expect. Instead, it reminded Chi Meng of Xinghuo’s earlier stage. Qi Yan, watching as well, raised a brow.

“You’ve grown used to the game of ambiguity, no fault in that—yet this fleeting pleasure feels bland.”

Clearly, Liu Yuexin had practiced this song before. Her dance and the music were perfectly in sync, probably why she chose it.

Her extended leg skimmed across the transparent floor tiles, black hair swaying with her movements. The sensual choreography made many trainees instinctively cover their faces—though still peeking through their fingers.

Across all the first-stage performances so far, only Xinghuo had done something sensual. The others were fresh and cute, full of energy, or grand and majestic like Renxing Entertainment—none of them touched “sexy.”

Including Liu Yuexin’s previous group stage, which was brimming with vitality.

And so, this sudden shift in style made her performance stand out.

“Why talk about love or not? Words aren’t needed—just hold me tight in this midnight moment. Ambiguity’s no mistake, words aren’t too much, not overboard at all.”

Standing center stage, Liu Yuexin lifted the mic and gave the camera a playful wink.

The trainees clapped, grinning with dazed, smitten expressions.

Her teammates shouted: “Xin Xin, you’re amazing!”

Liu Yuexin let out a breath of relief. Finishing the performance, she looked somewhat shyly toward Xue Weiran.

Xue Weiran calmly raised the mic and said, “Keep this same song. No need to change.”

She was going to PK Liu Yuexin with the same song?

Many eyes lit up with anticipation. Among all the trainees, Xue Weiran had shown the most aggressive aura. Her beauty was sharp, like a thorny bramble—intimidating from a distance, let alone when standing against her in a PK.

At her side, Liu Yuexin swallowed lightly.

The program staff immediately hit “continue,” letting the interrupted song resume.

Xue Weiran’s expression shifted instantly. Her lowered violet hair shadowed her long lashes. In her pupils seemed to flicker a flame. Slowly, she crossed her arms, the back of one hand resting against her cheek. She smiled faintly, swaying with the beat, then suddenly turned half-sideways. From behind her back, she drew out the mic, and a low, velvety voice struck right on beat.

“You want to have me all within your grasp, yet you never say a word.”

“You’ve grown used to the game of ambiguity, no fault in that—yet this fleeting pleasure feels bland.”

The moment she began singing, Chi Meng immediately understood the reason for Chen Zhu’s sigh.

She didn’t know much about dance, but with songs—Chi Meng could tell. Xue Weiran’s voice was really good. Especially when the song sat squarely in her comfort zone.

And even to dance-clueless Chi Meng, it seemed… Xue Weiran’s dancing was sharper than Liu Yuexin’s too.

Onstage, the violet-haired girl’s movements looked almost lazy, yet her voice flowed deep and smooth, like moonlight sliding into an old castle window, spilling across a velvet bed. She sang of closeness, yet exuded the queenly aura of someone who had everything in her grasp—watching pawns on a chessboard play clumsy moves, reeling them in with just a curl of her finger. A completely different interpretation from Liu Yuexin’s.

“Quickly put away your ambiguity—it matters, yes it does.”

“Don’t toy with allure. As you say, have me in your grasp—here, in this midnight moment.”

Xue Weiran suddenly raised her hands like clock hands, tilted her head between her arms, then let her hands fall to cradle her cheeks—smiling at everyone.

It was an utterly radiant smile. All her earlier coolness and sharpness vanished, replaced with something almost cute.

Chi Meng: “So this is the boss?”

That ending was way too charming. She had to learn it, had to.

The PK between two near-A-class trainees pushed the recording to yet another peak. Everyone felt this was the true highlight of the entire shoot!

As the thirty-second countdown appeared on screen, Chi Meng didn’t hesitate.

Side by side, Xue Weiran and Liu Yuexin faced the audience. Behind them, red and blue lights flickered across the transparent stage floor—until Xie Tongyue smiled and said: “Congratulations.”

Nervous Liu Yuexin instantly turned her head. The spark in her eyes dimmed. She had been prepared for this result, but seeing it still hurt. She turned back with a strained smile and said, “Congratulations.”

Xue Weiran hugged her briefly. “Sorry about that.”

Chi Meng looked up at the big screen. Xue Weiran had beaten Liu Yuexin by thirty votes, claiming the initial stage’s center position—seat number one at the top of the pyramid. From the very start of Star Journey, she showed no hesitation in exposing her strength and ambition. She wanted that spot, and she took it.

The lights lit her path as she ascended. Chi Meng and the others watched her step onto C-position, the cameras lingering on her—this was the strong one’s moment.

At the mentors’ table, Xie Tongyue organized the resumes in her hand, then suddenly stood, smiling brightly. “As you all can see, the nine A-class seats are now completely filled. Next, among the trainees who have yet to perform—will any new A emerge to challenge these nine?”

Among the unperformed trainees, someone muttered “No way,” drawing helpless laughter from those nearby.

But Xie Tongyue wasn’t finished. She looked at the many trainees who had lost their fighting spirit and continued: “In addition, one more piece of news. Please look up—Class B’s eighteen seats are also full!”

Everyone was startled. A moment ago, all eyes had been glued to the A-class PK and no one noticed Class B filling up as well.

In the B section, Chi Meng paused, folding her arms.

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