I Became the Top Competitor in a Talent Show Novel - Chapter 27.1

Hearing Chi Meng’s assessment, Song Jiaqi wasn’t annoyed. Instead, she took hold of Chi Meng’s hand, and both of their hands squeezed with force simultaneously.

“The decision’s been made, no regrets after placing the piece, Chi-mei,” Song Jiaqi said unhurriedly.

Chi Meng also smiled, “Of course, I don’t regret it. And you shouldn’t regret it either, Song Xiaomei. A drawn arrow has no turning back.”

Song Jiaqi gave Chi Meng a slightly disgusted look and said, “How can you bring yourself to use such a corny nickname?”

“You think this nickname is corny?” Chi Meng’s smile deepened, and she said leisurely, “Then you’d better get used to it quickly. I’ll be calling you that every day starting five days from now.”

Song Jiaqi curled her lip indifferently: “Heh.”

The two held hands and glared at each other. Sparks seemed to flash in the air. Just then, a staff member came in from outside to check the cameras. Startled by the two people inside when the lights came on, Chi Meng and Song Jiaqi let go of each other and moved to separate corners to prepare for practice.

Chi Meng walked to the front of the classroom, turned on the stereo and computer. With her back to Song Jiaqi, she shook her hand and complained to 019, “This person says no but is quite competitive in reality.”

019 nodded in agreement. It had secretly observed; both their hands were red from the grip.

Its host is also very unwilling to lose!

As expected of its host.

Soon, cheerful music played in the quiet classroom. Chi Meng played it for Song Jiaqi to listen to while she held the booklet issued by the training camp and stood by the window, opening her voice with the vocal methods listed on it.

Song Jiaqi watched Chi Meng’s back from her corner as she did stretches. The bright light made the sky outside the window look dim. Song Jiaqi thought about the time she returned to the dorm yesterday and frowned.

Summer nights are short now, and she hadn’t considered this when she went out. How long did Chi Meng sleep last night?

“Hey,” she called to Chi Meng. When Chi Meng turned her head, she turned her own head to look at the screen and said in a casual tone, “You still have five days. Go easy on yourself. Don’t let your body break down before the competition even starts.”

Chi Meng was momentarily stunned, then immediately understood Song Jiaqi’s meaning. Her eyes curved into crescents, she took a deep breath, and used a loud, clear, standard broadcasting voice to say, “Thank you for your concern, Chi Meng received! But I’m quite familiar with my own body, don’t worry.”

Song Jiaqi: “…”

“Whatever,” she mumbled awkwardly, picking up a piece of paper printed with lyrics from the floor in the corner.

Next to her, Chi Meng reviewed the song and dance she learned yesterday along with the music. After one run-through, she confirmed with 019 and nodded, feeling satisfied.

Just then, the music started without vocals. Chi Meng slid over to the quietly singing Song Jiaqi, bent down, picked up a bottle of mineral water, offered it toward Song Jiaqi’s mouth, and opened with the first lyric.

A ghost of a feeling made Song Jiaqi sing along with her, her voice lower because of her unfamiliarity.

Their voices—one high, one low; one bright, one lazy—were like pouring sparkling water into a heap of crushed-ice coffee. The fine foam rushed out first, followed by the rich aroma of coffee, a perfect and refreshing combination.

At the front door, a staff member who had returned from setting up other classrooms peeked in and exclaimed delightedly, “Sounds great! Great, great, keep it up!”

“Thank you!” Chi Meng turned around and bowed to the staff member.

Song Jiaqi raised her hand, somewhat flustered, trying to adjust the cap on her head, but found nothing. Her fingers ultimately landed on her forehead, and she rubbed it awkwardly.

After the staff member left, Chi Meng smiled, tossed the mineral water to Song Jiaqi, and said with a laugh, “Amazing, student. You look so good and your voice is so nice. It would be a huge shame if you didn’t debut.”

Being called “student” by a high schooler whose soul was ten years younger than hers, and being praised like this, Song Jiaqi felt a complex mix of emotions. She gave a light ‘hmph’ and said, “Now you know I’m amazing? It’s not too late to admit defeat now.”

She didn’t, however, think there was anything wrong with setting up a ‘sister pact’ with a “high schooler.”

Chi Meng stood up, raised an eyebrow at Song Jiaqi, and returned to practicing her dance. Song Jiaqi sat on the floor, watching her sing and dance repeatedly, and curved her lips into a smile.

On the other side, the staff member who had gotten up early to do inspection work returned to the control room.

The control room was large, filled with rows of desks and chairs, and screens on three walls. From the Mingyi Building’s lobby, practice rooms, and cafeteria, to the darkened dorms, the lit dorm hallways, the entrances to the bathrooms on every floor, and even the paths outside—cameras were set up everywhere, truly like a miniature Truman Show.

Inside the control room were the overnight B-team crew: some were staring at the screens with bloodshot eyes, some couldn’t hold on and were sleeping on their chairs, and others were standing up playing games.

The staff member who had just finished inspection work sat down, and the A-team staff came to switch shifts with them. The number of staff members needed to film a large variety show was no less than the number of trainees.

Head Director Cen Hongjie clapped her hands, telling them to go eat and rest. As she sat down, she casually asked, “Anything fun happen?”

The assistant director, who was staring at the screens, yawned, rubbed his face, and said, “Did you hear about the dorm ghost incident last night, Sister Cen?”

At the mention of this, everyone in the control room burst into loud laughter.

“These kids are interesting. Their imaginations are strong. I saw the braver ones even started telling ghost stories.”

“But everyone is pretty clear on their purpose for being here. Quite a few are doing extra practice, though not many went to the practice rooms because of the ‘ghosts’,” one director said with a smile.

Cen Hongjie chuckled lightly and shook her head.

Then, the woman in charge of the early morning inspection work said, “A few of the F-class practice rooms were used very late last night. When I went to the Mingyi Building just now, two trainees had already arrived. They were singing the theme song together, and it sounded very good. Sister Cen, one of them was Chi Meng, the one with the three consecutive drops in the initial stage.”

The incident of being selected for a three-time PK in the initial stage and being demoted three times made Chi Meng known not only to the trainees but also to the staff.

The B-team director nodded, lamenting with a ‘time flies’ sort of tone, “Chi Meng, she came to the practice room at 6:30, before 7 last night, and didn’t leave until almost 12 o’clock. She got up before dawn this morning to practice.”

Everyone was astonished. Someone said, “That dedicated? It’s only the first day. Can her body handle it?”

Cen Hongjie pulled up the F-class camera feed on the main screen. In the frame, besides Chi Meng, there was another slender figure. They were one after the other. The one in front was singing and dancing, while the one behind clearly hadn’t memorized the movements yet, but her posture was beautiful.

It was Rensing’s Song Jiaqi!

“Huh?” Cen Hongjie suddenly found this very interesting. She propped her chin on her hand and put on her headphones.

Song Jiaqi’s voice came through.

“Don’t call yourself Chi Meng, call yourself Chi Rigid instead. Your arms are stiffer than the plane trees outside.” Song Jiaqi’s tone was mocking.

The girl in front didn’t turn her head, saying calmly, “Qiqi, you’re so soft. Can you teach me how to do this move?”

Chi Meng performed a move from the latter half of the dance. Song Jiaqi stopped talking.

Then Chi Meng said, “Why can’t classmate Song Soft-Qiqi dance? Did you slack off yesterday, so now you can’t sing or dance?”

Song Jiaqi gave a soft ‘hmph’ and retorted, “You can be stubborn now, but we’ll see what you say when you lose.”

The screen showed a dance move. Chi Meng followed it, jumping back and winking her left eye at Song Jiaqi. She raised a hand, tapped her lips, and smiled, “What’s the matter? My mouth is quite soft. Do you want to try it?”

Song Jiaqi: “…”

Cen Hongjie: “???”

You know there are surveillance cameras in the practice room, right? Is this how seventeen and eighteen-year-old high school students communicate now?

In the screen, Song Jiaqi’s chest rose and fell slowly. She sneered, “Just you wait.”

Chi Meng had the upper hand, and being skilled in the principle of ‘striking while the iron is hot,’ she gave Song Jiaqi a slight smile, “Pouting again? I’m Chi Rigid, and you’re Song Soft-Mad, as in ‘angry-mad.'”

“Song Qiqi is very mad-mad.”

As soon as she finished teasing, a warm body pounced on her. Song Jiaqi pinned her in her arms. As a proponent of action over verbal sparring, her hands frantically kneaded the soft flesh on Chi Meng’s stomach.

“Are you going to stop talking now?” Song Jiaqi kept scratching.

Chi Meng burst into laughter and reached back to grab Song Jiaqi. The two tussled and fell to the floor, neither giving an inch, determined to decide the victor in this great tickle war!

Sounds of “Aah! Aah!” were incessant.

Just then, footsteps came from outside the door, but the two people intensely focused inside couldn’t hear them at all.

Several F-class trainees who rushed to the classroom after finishing breakfast heard the commotion inside, shouting, “Do you admit your mistake?” “Facts speak louder than words!” “I think you’re pretty good at making things up, prepare to die!” and other fiercely worded exchanges.

The trainees outside looked at each other blankly, then cautiously pushed the door open. Their faces instantly froze, and their eyes looked horrified at the two people wrestling—from their perspective—on the floor.

“Someone’s here,” Chi Meng quickly reminded Song Jiaqi after seeing the newcomers out of the corner of her eye. She patted Song Jiaqi’s shoulder. Song Jiaqi instantly became even stiffer than Chi Meng was when she first learned to dance. Her smile vanished instantly. She slowly released Chi Meng and climbed up from the floor.

Chi Meng’s face hurt a little from laughing too much. She rubbed her face, sat up from the floor, and explained to the others with a smile, “We’re just playing around.”

The other trainees: “Oh, oh…”

They didn’t dare say whether they believed it or not. They walked in cautiously, huddled against the wall, holding up their lyric sheets, and secretly looking towards Chi Meng and Song Jiaqi.

After they entered, the two who had been “wrestling” moved far apart, one to the left and one to the right. Their clothes were rumpled and messy, and their hair was even more disheveled, making them look more like they had just been in a fight.

Song Jiaqi lowered her head, avoiding looking at anyone, and adjusted her clothes with her hair a mess.

“Isn’t Chi Meng the person with the best relationship with Song Jiaqi, besides the Rensing people? How could they be fighting?” one trainee asked the person next to her in a whisper, shielding her face with the lyrics sheet.

“Don’t ask me, how would I know? But Song Jiaqi always has a black face, and Chi Meng always smiles at everyone. I don’t think it was Chi Meng’s fault if they fought. Song Jiaqi must have provoked Chi Meng first!” the trainee next to her supported Chi Meng.

The trainee next to the next person nodded in agreement: “I think so too. Chi Meng has a great temper; how could she start a fight!”

Chi Meng re-tied her hair, feeling that the atmosphere in the room wasn’t right. She was surprised, Could it be that my laughter wasn’t loud enough just now?

This is awkward. She twisted the ends of her hair, smiled at the row of secretly watching small eyes in the distance, turned to Song Jiaqi, and raised her voice: “Jiaqi, it’s hot. Go turn on the air conditioning.”

Song Jiaqi, still tidying her hair, immediately said, “You go, I’m busy.”

She gave Chi Meng a look that said, “I’m busy because of who.”

Chi Meng returned a look that said, “You brought this upon yourself.”

The onlookers who witnessed this eye contact felt like they were watching the God of Thunder and the Mother of Lightning launching attacks at each other, and they secretly gasped.

Chi Meng got up and walked towards Song Jiaqi. The air conditioner was right next to her. She pressed the on switch and imitated Song Jiaqi’s cold snort, “Too lazy to move, huh?”

She suddenly reached out, smiling, and fiercely ruffled Song Jiaqi’s newly smoothed hair, then turned and ran.

An angry roar echoed in the air.

“Chi Meng!!”

A new batch of trainees entering the door flinched in fright and looked at Song Jiaqi in terror. The trainees who had arrived earlier rushed forward, pulling one of them towards the wall, and winking at them.

“Ahem, you’re here. Hurry and practice with us! I forgot all the lyrics after sleeping all night! Does anyone else remember them and can teach me?”

“Yeah, yeah, we’re officially learning the theme song dance today. I’m so nervous!” The young girl was clearly reading her lines.

Chi Meng looked at their actions, wanted to laugh but dared not. She walked over and said, “I remember the song. Let’s practice together.”

“Oh, right, that sound just now was Song—”

“Cough, cough!”

“Cough, cough, cough!”

The coughing sounds rose and fell. Chi Meng couldn’t help but laugh, and explained the incident again. Whether or not anyone believed her, they looked at Song Jiaqi who was sitting alone by the air conditioner with a dark expression, and then drawled out a long, slow:

“Oh…”

Sigh, you’re not fighting back.

Chi Meng lamented, deliberately turning to look at Song Jiaqi.

Song Jiaqi just happened to look up and give her a cold, indifferent glance.

Song Jiaqi: What?

Chi Meng pouted, raised her hand, and gave her a flying kiss.

That should shatter the rumors, Chi Meng thought. But she saw Song Jiaqi staring at her with a peculiar expression. The people nearby didn’t see Chi Meng’s flying kiss, only Song Jiaqi’s strange look as she stared at Chi Meng. They were even more convinced that the two had fought, and pulled Chi Meng even further away from Song Jiaqi.

By the time they were dismissed for lunch, all thirty-eight other trainees in Class F had heard about Chi Meng and Song Jiaqi’s big fight, with detailed and seemingly factual descriptions.

At lunch, Su Mengyao worriedly asked Chi Meng why she fought with Song Jiaqi.

The tables had turned. The fate of being choked on one’s food, which Song Jiaqi avoided that morning, had now befallen Chi Meng. She gulped down water and slowly said, “We didn’t fight. Our relationship is great.”

Afraid Su Mengyao wouldn’t believe her, she looked into Su Mengyao’s eyes and seriously declared, “Really, I really like Song Jiaqi!”

Su Mengyao looked at Chi Meng’s sincere gaze, nodded lightly, then pouted, and started whimpering: “Dreamy-sis, don’t you like me? Waaah!”

Chi Meng: “…”

“Be normal! Or you’ll get two extra hours of practice tonight!” Instructor Chi threatened.

Su Mengyao immediately straightened up, smiling cheekily as she lowered her head to eat. After a while, she cautiously looked up, leaned next to Chi Meng, and whispered, “Fighting means affection, scolding means love. Did your fight make your relationship even better? Jiaqi can do it, so can I!”

Jing Ming sitting across from them, looked vacant, “I beg you, please don’t fight anymore! If you must fight, go do it in the practice room!”

Chi Meng, who was unfamiliar with internet culture: “?”

Su Mengyao giggled and high-fived Jing Ming. Cui Qiang from Starry Sky Entertainment came over to find her company-mates Jing Ming and Mu Qintong Hearing Jing Ming’s voice, she said disdainfully, “That’s a hundred-year-old meme.”

Jing Ming laughed and said, “You wouldn’t know. Chi Meng and Song Jiaqi fought in the practice room today! It was a fierce fight!”

Cui Qiang gasped: “Hiss—”

Then she got excited, squeezing in to sit between the two, practically reaching for a handful of melon seeds, “Quick, tell me everything!”

The person who was the subject of the rumor, sitting right across the table: “???”

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