I Became the Top Competitor in a Talent Show Novel - Chapter 37.2

Voting Begins

As the second half of the episode concluded, host Xie Tongyue appeared, standing on the stage and smiling at the camera.

“Viewers in front of the screen, 126 uncut gems shine in your hands; 126 stars will be brilliant because of your choices. You are the dream weavers, the driving force of their dreams, the star makers for these 126 stars!”

“At this moment, the voting channel for ‘Star Journey’ is about to open. The star journey of these 126 trainees will be decided by you!”

A timer and a ten-second countdown simultaneously appeared on the TV broadcast and the “Star Journey” section of the app.

The camera pulled back, showing the entire pyramid. The nine seats on the top three layers glittered. The 126 trainees were smiling brightly. The camera landed on the center trainee, Xue Weiran’s face. She curved her lips and raised her microphone.

“Star Makers.”

All the trainees bowed.

“Please give us your guidance!”

The countdown hit zero, and golden stars leaped out of the screen, scattering into nine stars, each pasted with the photo of one of the top nine A-class trainees from the initial stage. The production credits rolled, accompanied by Xie Tongyue’s voice-over.

“Head over to the Dongjiang TV app to cast your valuable vote for your favorite trainee! Non-member viewers can cast one vote daily, and member viewers can cast nine votes daily. Member viewers also have access to special weekly bonus footage~”

Voting had begun!

The trainees’ complex emotions in the auditorium instantly vanished, replaced only by the thought of voting. Their excited hearts pounded. They were about to be chosen! Xie Tongyue, who had watched the show with them, stood up and smiled, encouraging everyone to continue working hard and deliver even more brilliant performances in the coming episodes.

The crowd disbanded on the spot.

In the back, Chi Meng, who had been sitting for four hours, stood up and stretched lazily, casually remarking, “Will every episode be this long from now on?”

If they were all this long, she’d consider skipping this part, or half-skipping it—completing the needs of ‘Boss A’ before leaving, if Boss A had any needs.

“The first episode, both parts, is long. The following episodes will be controlled to under two hours,” said the assistant director with a beaming face as she walked by.

Chi Meng nodded, put on her small backpack, and patted Song Jiaqi.

Song Jiaqi was still sitting lazily, looking up at Chi Meng.

“Come on, let’s go train.” Chi Meng said with a smile, tying up her long hair. “The spring grass dream in the pond is untold, the training of other teams reaches its end. Student Jiaqi, the four questions of the training camp: Can you sing the songs? Can you dance the moves? Have you memorized all the stage positions? Can you guarantee no mistakes on stage?”

“Please, stop meditating, Monk Chi,” Song Jiaqi covered her head.

Chi Meng flicked Song Jiaqi’s forehead with her finger. “I’m your older sister, and you have to listen to everything I say!”

Song Jiaqi sighed softly, “Since when was that the rule?”

“Now,” Chi Meng reached out, pulled Song Jiaqi up, and half-hugged her from behind, pushing her forward. Her voice sounded gentler than usual.

“Come on, just come with me as company.”

Song Jiaqi chuckled, grabbed her wrist, pulled her closer, and whispered, “Just you wait. You won’t be my sister for long.”

“Oh, really? I don’t believe you. Heh.”

With all the elements of a taunt present, Song Jiaqi was speechless. She raised her hand and draped it over Chi Meng’s shoulder. The two walked side-by-side into the night, against the flow of the lively crowd.

The Frenzy of Voting

On the same night, shortly after the episode aired, major entertainment companies quickly mobilized to promote and build momentum for their trainees. The show’s publicity team and the TV station were equally proactive. Before long, “Star Journey” related topics dominated major news headlines and trending searches everywhere.

The full initial stage performances of the trainees, which appeared simultaneously with the voting channel, along with bonus clips of content not included in the main episode, circulated across various video platforms.

According to the show’s rules, the voting channel would only display the vote count for the first week, and the data would be hidden in the second week. To prevent vote manipulation, all voting had to be done under real-name verification, and the age on the voter’s ID had to be between fifteen and sixty years old. The production team displayed the text “Subject to Supervision by Relevant Authorities” on the voting page and encouraged people to report any vote-rigging or vote-buying behavior. Once confirmed, a reward would be given, and the corresponding votes would be deducted from the trainee. The production team had also devised countermeasures for malicious vote-rigging and buying, along with an official reporting method.

Cen Hongjie’s reputation was far-reaching, and she was trusted by many. People dutifully voted for their favorite trainees and called upon their friends. Suddenly, many viewers who had already chosen their favorites during the initial stage went into a frenzy sharing links on their social media. Fans with deep pockets set up giveaway raffles for sharing. After one night, many people who weren’t following the show woke up to their phones plastered with news about “Star Journey,” which piqued the curiosity of many passersby to watch the rerun of the episode.

In a VIP room at a KTV in Dongjiang City.

An Xue and Lü Shifei clutched their phones, their fingers “clacking” on the keyboard.

“Everyone wake up! Don’t sleep! How can you sleep after Meng Jie was demoted three times! Hurry up and vote for Meng Jie!”

The two furiously dumped links into their group chats. An Xue turned to look at her mother, who was wearing a facial mask, holding her phone. Her fingers might not be as fast as the young people’s, but they were careful and steady. Even An Xue’s maternal grandfather was not spared.

“It’s a good thing! Your grandfather’s sixty-first birthday is only in two months. Then he wouldn’t be able to vote!” Aunt An said, her heart fluttering. “I’m going to see your grandparents tomorrow anyway. I’ll get them to vote for Little Meng.”

An Xue gave her mother a thumbs-up. She looked at Sister Ling next to her, whose fingers were flying. Everyone was working hard in her sight.

What a vibrant scene!

An Xue sighed, held her buzzing phone, and was surprised to see a reply from her class teacher.

“An Xue! Several students in the class asked for leave today and didn’t come back for evening self-study. So you were secretly doing this!” The class teacher sent two angry emojis.

An Xue immediately felt guilty and yelled, “Mom!”

Aunt An answered, “What’s wrong?”

Class Teacher: “Never mind. Don’t let it happen again. If you don’t do well on the monthly exam, I won’t approve any leave in the future! Remember that!”

An Xue sighed in relief, “It’s nothing, you can go back to what you were doing!”

“You startled me, child. Oh, right, I accidentally sent the information to your class teacher just now, asking her to vote for Chi Meng. She replied with three thumbs-up emojis. It looks like your class teacher knows Chi Meng too.”

An Xue: “…”

So that’s the kind of class teacher you are! Tell the truth, are you secretly watching the show right now because you can’t sleep?

Lü Shifei burst out laughing, “Is there any teacher in our school who doesn’t know Meng Jie? They probably all know she’s in a survival show. The teachers only know Meng Jie is good at studying. They must be curious about her performance on the show. Watch my Meng Jie surprise them!”

Everyone laughed too. An Xue refreshed her social media and saw that her math teacher had reposted the voting link for Chi Meng, adding, “What a pity!!!” to the post. The laughter grew even louder.

A few students still had school tomorrow, so their passion-fueled night ended, and they followed An Xue’s mother to a nearby hotel to sleep.

Aunt An had just seen the news about the first public performance of “Star Journey” and promised to take them to the live venue if they studied hard when they returned. The students became even more excited and didn’t want to sleep even after arriving at the hotel, so they took out their phones. Lü Shifei put on her headphones, watched Chi Meng’s stage twice, and the clarity of Chi Meng’s singing made her a little drowsy. She slid her thumb and accidentally moved to the next video.

Lü Shifei paused, her sleepy eyes staring at the video thumbnail, a question mark appearing in her eyes.

The thumbnail was a split image of two screenshots. In the picture on the left, the girl in the corner of Class F was turning her head to look. In the picture on the right, the girl walking off the stage was looking up at the girl looking at her.

Having just watched the show, Lü Shifei immediately realized this was the moment Chi Meng went to find her seat after losing her third PK. She had thought Chi Meng was looking for the last available seat, but when the screenshot was isolated, Chi Meng looked like she was looking for Song Jiaqi. Unfortunately, in the reality of the show, the two girls who met, exchanged names, and sat side-by-side at the beginning, were scattered in opposite directions at the end of the episode.

But in this collage, they looked at each other across the gap in time.

She then looked at the video title—

“Where the Gaze Falls, Jiaqi is Like a Meng“: “Star Journey” Real-Person CP Video, Private Shipping, Only for Self-Enjoyment!

Lü Shifei: “…Huh?”

Lü Shifei: A strange thing. Let me take a look.

Bo Bo Bo Bo Bo~

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