I Became the Top Competitor in a Talent Show Novel - Chapter 32.1

Song Jiaqi was holding a bag of books, full of questions. Just as she was about to ask Chi Meng what she meant, she looked up to see Chi Meng, followed by three others, excitedly crossing the street to buy snacks.

Before long, Chi Meng returned, holding a bag of Oden in one hand and two grilled sausages in the other, with a plastic bag containing hot corn dangling from her fingers. The three people behind her were eating as they walked back.

“Here,” Chi Meng distributed the snacks to Chen Zhu and Song Jiaqi.

Chen Zhu looked hesitantly into the courtyard and whispered, “Let’s eat first before we go in.”

The others immediately nodded.

Song Jiaqi had a stern expression and quietly squatted by the roadside, gnawing on a skewer of radish. The radish was boiled until translucent and melted in her mouth, carrying the savory flavor of the soup. Soon, her light-colored lips were tinged red by the heat, like a flower hidden in the dark in the flowerbed behind the street lamp.

Chi Meng stretched and stood up, tossing her trash into the bin. Hearing the staff inside the courtyard call for everyone to gather and get on the bus, she waved to the others. The others quickly sped up, but Song Jiaqi remained unhurried, stuffing the last fish ball into her mouth. Her lower face immediately puffed up. She took the bag from Chi Meng’s hand and leisurely walked inside. Chi Meng couldn’t stand it, so she went around to Song Jiaqi’s back and pushed her to run inside.

The hurried pace crossed the parking lot, and the hot wind completely blew against Song Jiaqi’s face. She kept her eyes wide and her face tense. Standing at the door of the bus, she slowly breathed a sigh of relief.

The staff member calling the roll looked at her puffed cheeks in shock: “Did you run out and sneak a meal?”

Takeout wasn’t allowed at the training camp.

But they hadn’t gotten takeout; they dined in—on the curb across the street from the hall.

Song Jiaqi, who had been pushed while running with a fish ball in her mouth, finally had a chance to chew. She struggled to speak: “I was hungry.”

Chi Meng’s head popped out from behind her, and she smiled: “We ate a little something.”

She pinched her fingers a tiny distance apart to indicate ‘a little.’

Song Jiaqi suppressed a burp that was about to rise in her throat and nodded.

The staff member was helpless, assuming their company’s manager had bought them food, and waved for them to get on the bus.

No one had eaten since the program recording started; they had only had milk tea and ice cream when they arrived at the TV station in the afternoon. However, the trainees usually ate little, and they were quite excited after recording the theme song, so they didn’t feel much after getting on the bus.

That is, until an aroma mixed with grilled sausage, Oden, and sweet corn wafted slowly past the door.

Everyone: “…”

Someone’s stomach rumbled, and everyone burst out laughing.

“Who was that?”

“Was it Su Mengyao?”

Su Mengyao was reaching out to greet Chi Meng when she heard that and her eyes went wide: “Don’t falsely accuse me! I took the last ice cream from the freezer when we walked out after recording the theme song, so I’m not hungry at all now!”

It was better left unsaid. Now that she’d mentioned it, everyone laughed even louder. The girl sitting next to her curved her eyes and touched her stomach, “Hmm, let me see if your stomach is growling?”

Su Mengyao immediately tightened her abdomen and smiled sweetly at the girl.

Hua Xiaowei chuckled, “Looks like the culprit isn’t you.”

Chi Meng sat down in the seat behind them and casually said, “You got off lightly.”

Su Mengyao knelt in the seat, leaning over the backrest to talk to Chi Meng. She sniffed, looking on the verge of tears, “Smells nice, hungry.”

“Yao Yao is crying.” Chi Meng heartlessly pushed Su Mengyao to sit down, and gently said, “Good girl, sleep.”

“Sleep for a bit, and there will be food.” Chi Meng smiled, her voice low and deep, sounding like she was saying, “Once you fall asleep, I’ll eat you.”

Su Mengyao gasped, immediately pulled her head back, and turned to find the girl next to her even more terrified than she was. The two exchanged glances and huddled together, trembling.

“Pfft.” Song Jiaqi watched Chi Meng scare the kids and put the novel Chi Meng had bought on the floor. The rustling of the plastic bag drew the attention of the girl next to them, and a head quietly peeked over. Seeing the words printed on the bag, her eyes “flashed” brightly.

The staff member stood at the front counting heads. Everyone quieted down; some closed their eyes to rest, some were still chatting with friends, and some were scratching their heads.

When the bus began to shake its way back to the training camp, Lin Tingxia couldn’t take it anymore. She plucked up her courage and cautiously poked Song Jiaqi.

The girl across the aisle had her eyes closed. Her long lashes cast a shadow on her flawless skin, and her thin lips were straight, cold, and emotionless, like an elf in a thorny, ancient castle who shouldn’t be awakened.

When she opened her eyes and looked over with those dark pupils, Lin Tingxia subconsciously clenched her hands and regretted her impulsiveness. She smiled awkwardly at Song Jiaqi.

Song Jiaqi: “?”

“That… what book did you buy?” Lin Tingxia mumbled softly, scratching her head, “Is it good?”

Song Jiaqi, who hadn’t heard what she said at all, frowned and looked at Lin Tingxia in confusion.

“N-never mind! I’m sorry!” Lin Tingxia said, her face completely red.

Her eyes were fixed longingly on the plastic bag at Song Jiaqi’s feet.

Song Jiaqi followed her gaze downwards and raised an eyebrow, “Do you want this?”

Lin Tingxia pursed her lips and shyly said, “Not really…”

Song Jiaqi immediately bent down and threw the bag and its contents into Lin Tingxia’s arms. Lin Tingxia went from shy to happy in a second, “Can I really look at it?”

“Mm.”

“But they haven’t been unwrapped yet, can I really unwrap them?”

Song Jiaqi glanced at Lin Tingxia, who immediately looked serious, “Then I’ll get started!”

Chi Meng, sitting inside, chuckled and deliberately said, “Oh, a gift bought by big sister, so heartlessly given away to someone else.”

“My sister’s heart is made of iron!”

Song Jiaqi’s mouth twitched. As Chi Meng was saying, “I sincerely offered my heart to the bright moon, but the bright moon only shone on the sister next to me,” she reached into her pocket with her left hand, fumbled around, and slipped something into Chi Meng’s hand.

A gag.

Chi Meng looked down. It was chocolate. She was a little surprised, looked around, and asked in a low voice, “Where did you get it?”

“Took it from Sister Meng’s car,” Song Jiaqi said. Meng Limin had few but elite artists under her. Brands would send products to her artists for endorsements, holidays, and birthdays. As a manager, and a gold-medal one at Renshine, Meng Limin’s car was constantly stocked with gifts from brand sponsors.

The first thing Song Jiaqi did when she went to see Meng Limin was rummage through the car.

“Thank you, Jiaqi,” Chi Meng whispered, carefully unwrapped the chocolate, and put it in her mouth.

Three seconds later, Su Mengyao in the front twitched her nose and “whooshed” her head around.

Behind her, Chi Meng looked at Su Mengyao curiously. Song Jiaqi… still looked like she didn’t want to talk to anyone, and lazily glanced at her.

Did she smell wrong?

Su Mengyao scratched her head and smiled at Chi Meng. Chi Meng also curved her lips, her palm holding the chocolate Song Jiaqi had slipped to her again.

She understood the principle of ‘it’s not about scarcity, it’s about fairness,’ and since there were so many people on the bus, she would just have to suffer through this alone!

It was already ten o’clock at night when the bus returned to the training camp. The trainees who had slept on the bus lined up to get off and prepared to eat something in the cafeteria before going to sleep. When getting off, the staff reminded everyone to wash their theme song recording outfits when they got back, as they would need to wear them for the recording tomorrow afternoon. Everyone nodded in agreement.

Chi Meng hid behind Song Jiaqi, unwrapping and eating chocolate. Her head was resting on Song Jiaqi’s back when she heard a commotion nearby.

Instructor An Kui was confiscating extracurricular books, and Lin Tingxia refused to cooperate.

“Wait until I finish this chapter! The protagonist is being threatened and is about to turn the tables!” Lin Tingxia tightly gripped the novel she was halfway through, with the plastic bag full of novels looped over her arm.

An Kui was furious: “Read, read, read! You’ll definitely stay up late secretly reading it tonight, I’m taking it now!”

Lin Tingxia’s eyes were fixed on the novel, and she mumbled, “Mhm, mhm, mhm,” “Soon, soon, just this little bit!”

“Lin Tingxia!” An Kui roared.

Lin Tingxia rapidly flipped through the pages, skimming through them, and yelled back, “Take it! M—”

“You brat!” An Kui smacked Lin Tingxia’s butt with the book, put the book in the bag, and brought it over to Song Jiaqi.

Song Jiaqi, who had seen everything, slowly said, “Take it back, it’s for the kid.”

An Kui subconsciously said, “No, I can’t accept it.”

If she accepted it, Lin Tingxia would definitely sneak it back and read it under the covers late at night!

“It’s just a few books, take them.” Song Jiaqi lowered her eyes to look at them, then added, “They’re already unwrapped anyway.”

An Kui choked up, and cautiously glanced at Song Jiaqi.

Chi Meng was shaking with laughter behind Song Jiaqi and said, “Take it, take it. It’s Jiaqi’s kind intention.”

Song Jiaqi: “…”

Chi Meng: “…”

Song Jiaqi: “Yes, Teacher Chi is the one who truly cares for the child.”

Upon hearing this, Chi Meng suddenly raised her hand and patted Song Jiaqi’s hair, smiling at An Kui, “Our child doesn’t like them. Since your child likes them, just give them to her. Returning them would just be a waste.”

An Kui: “Oh!”

Song Jiaqi slowly raised her head and slapped Chi Meng’s butt.

The little pink skirt trembled, and Song Jiaqi suddenly looked at her palm and smirked, though no one knew what she was thinking.

An Kui carried the plastic bag to the cafeteria. Lin Tingxia followed eagerly behind her like a puppy whose bone had been snatched away. Everyone else went to the cafeteria. Chi Meng and Song Jiaqi, who had secretly eaten extra, returned to the dorm to shower and wash their clothes.

The empty road was very quiet. They could see the stars in the suburban sky. Their two shadows were stretched long by the street lamps, following closely behind their steps.

“Oh, I forgot,” Chi Meng suddenly slapped her forehead.

Song Jiaqi, who had her hands in her pockets and was enjoying the quiet walk, looked at Chi Meng in confusion.

Chi Meng helplessly said, “I forgot to buy a few MP3 players and download some songs to listen to back at the training camp. I forgot.”

She thought for a moment, then smiled, “But it’s no loss.”

There would be many other opportunities to learn songs.

Song Jiaqi looked at Chi Meng in surprise, and quietly said, “For the upcoming stage performances, the production team will provide the songs and dance routines for learning, so you don’t need to prepare them yourself.”

“Yes… but I still want to learn more,” Chi Meng said with a bright smile. “You never know where it might come in handy.”

Song Jiaqi was infected by her smile and curved the corner of her lips.

“But it’s such a pity!” Chi Meng sighed. “I didn’t get to stand on the same stage as you. I really wanted to perform with you.”

Song Jiaqi didn’t say anything.

Chi Meng raised her hand and patted Song Jiaqi’s back.

The two walked up the steps into the dorm. Chi Meng, having returned to Class B, moved her room to the second floor, while Song Jiaqi still had to go to the fifth floor. They stood at the second-floor stairwell, and Chi Meng watched her go up.

Song Jiaqi stepped onto a stair, then seemed to remember something and looked down at Chi Meng: “Hey.”

“Call me ‘Jie-jie’ (older sister),” Chi Meng immediately said.

Song Jiaqi: “… Chi Meng Jie-jie.”

She gritted her teeth and asked, “Why did you give me books?”

Song Jiaqi asked in confusion, “To pass the time since you thought I was bored?”

Chi Meng looked up and gave a brilliant smile, “Next time, I’ll give you Wusan (a famous test-prep book).”

Song Jiaqi immediately strode away, climbing the stairs without looking back.

Without new training assignments, everyone cleaned up after returning. Chi Meng found Qi Yan, asked her to teach her a few basic moves, and then went to a secluded stairwell to practice. After practicing until midnight, she took a refreshing shower and went to sleep.

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