I Became the Top Competitor in a Talent Show Novel - Chapter 38.1

On the screen, the bright-smiling girl touched her forehead with her right index and middle fingers, turned her wrist, and saluted everyone outside the screen.

“Song Jiaqi.”

In the auditorium, the trainees watching the show paused, their eyes widening uncontrollably.

This strange, yet irresistible feeling that made one’s mouth curve upward—what was it?

The trainees in the second-to-last row simultaneously turned their heads, staring at the two people who made their “hearts flutter.”

Chi Meng showed a puzzled expression. She tilted her head slightly, her clear eyes reflecting scattered light, like the summer night outside the auditorium—peaceful and quiet, dotted with stars, making the people throwing mysterious glances her way seem overly dramatic.

“Hmm?” Seeing that they weren’t speaking, Chi Meng smiled faintly, wearing an innocent expression that suggested, “What’s wrong?”

Sitting in the direction she tilted her head was Song Jiaqi. Her freshly washed hair carried a faint floral scent, draping smoothly over Song Jiaqi’s shoulder. The black strands lay on top of other black strands, creating an intimacy that seemed to blend them together.

As the person mentioned in the video, Song Jiaqi’s lips moved slightly, and a faint glint flickered in her dark eyes. However, when she thought of Chi Meng’s age, the light in her eyes became subtle.

She had been liked by many people—fans, audiences, artists, directors… men, women. She had also witnessed many forms of love, whether deep or fleeting; countless fleeting romances and superficial acts, and some long-lasting tenderness too. But during the golden age of her career, she had no thoughts of love and was completely immersed in her work. Even when scandals arose, they were quickly clarified.

But what did being liked matter?

So many people who once spoke of loving her left her in a single night. Yesterday’s sweet words turned into sharp swords that pierced her heart. The friends who once surrounded her also quietly drifted away, saying ambiguous, covering-up things while lightly stepping on her.

She was immune to so-called feelings now. Moreover, Chi Meng’s affection was likely just the closeness a young girl feels toward a peer. Under eighteen, not yet stained by the complex world, her liking was pure, without any impurities.

Thinking this, Song Jiaqi wore a smile and said softly to Chi Meng, “You like me?”

Her tone carried a deliberate joy.

Chi Meng’s beautiful eyebrows immediately turned to her, and the smile in her eyes instantly spread open, “Yes, I do like you.”

“Don’t you like me?” Chi Meng asked curiously, raising a hand to rub her cheek, “I look decent, right?”

Song Jiaqi gazed at Chi Meng for a long time, from her delicate eyebrows to the tip of her nose, from her gentle eyes to the corners of her lips. Her gaze was like the clear bottom of a deep pool, washing over her, flushing away the sludge that covered her own eyes.

“I do like you,” Song Jiaqi said. She curved her lips, rested her chin on her hand, and quietly met Chi Meng’s gaze. Her lazy voice was pleasant as she whispered, “I like you quite a lot.”

“You look very decent.”

In the row in front of the one directly in front of them, Lin Xueyang twisted her head, looking back anxiously. She mumbled urgently, “What are those two talking about?”

Behind her sat Chen Zhu, whose calm eyes rested on Lin Xueyang’s face. She spoke quietly, “They are confessing their feelings.”

Lin Xueyang: !!!

The others: Huh?!

Yuan Sike hugged her arms, crossing her legs. She shook her foot and sighed with emotion, “This superficial world that only cares about looks!”

The others: ???

Regardless of the atmosphere in the auditorium, the rumors, or the mood of the trainees, the bullet comments and comments section for the “Star Journey” program were very exciting.

Comment Section 1L: Huh? What? Isn’t it my turn to choose my concubine? 2L: Internal consumption! Let them all be internally consumed! 3L: I thought I was drawn in by the abundance of pretty girls, but I’ve fallen into the pit because pretty girls like pretty girls, hahaha! 4L: Who doesn’t like pretty girls! The leader of Renxing said in her backstage interview that she didn’t know Chi Meng before and this was their first time meeting. If that’s not love at first sight, what is! 5L: Meng Zai is very proactive! Renxing was still choosing seats when she already spotted Song Jiaqi! Decisive action, winning the chance to sit with her crush! Congratulations! 6L: I don’t understand, Renxing’s stage was so explosive, why did Renxing get three A’s and one B, and Song Jiaqi go to F? 7L: Song Jiaqi went to F? Why didn’t I see Song Jiaqi’s rating? It only mentioned finishing B and then stopped. And besides going on stage, sitting in their four-person rows, and a glimpse on the stage, Song Jiaqi didn’t have any other screen time? 8L: That’s quite a lot. There are so many trainees. The production team can’t allocate time with a stopwatch, right? 9L: Don’t worry, the official Weibo said there will be exclusive behind-the-scenes footage released later. During voting, you can also click on the trainee’s avatar to see their personal interviews and initial stage performance. I think it’s okay. 10L: Quick, go check! Something happened! Meng Zai Zai was demoted! Ah!!!

The comment section immediately caused a thousand waves, quickly rushing towards the second part of the first episode.

Only a few viewers, who felt the same way as Lin Xueyang, kept flipping through the first part, watching Chi Meng’s appearance, Renxing’s appearance, and then the clip of the two talking secretly. Finally, they landed on the frozen image of the beautiful girl’s smile at the end, and chuckled along.

Idol survival show? No. Dating show? Nodding!

If the trainees’ appearances and a few performances in the first part of Episode 1 were the climax of the first half, then the continuous appearances of trainees from the three major companies and the class-level PKs in the second part pushed the entire first episode to its climax.

Cen Hongjie watched the main episode’s feedback while receiving news about the ratings from the TV station and the number of online users on the app. A satisfied smile appeared on her face. Various management companies and the managers leading the trainees also sat in front of their screens, anxiously watching their trainees’ performances.

Meng Limin was also present. She stood in the Renxing office, one arm crossed, her right hand resting on the bridge of her nose. The smile that had initially emerged due to Renxing’s perfect performance slowly faded into a frown because of the seemingly invisible Song Jiaqi. However, she now remembered that Chi Meng was the server from the KTV that day.

She didn’t expect her singing to be that good!

While watching Chi Meng’s stage, numerous packaging plans flashed in her mind, only to be regretfully dismissed. With that voice and appearance, debuting as a singer wouldn’t be bad either.

Starting from the next segment, Meng Limin’s attention was on the trainees from the three major management companies. She glanced at a few promising individuals but didn’t dwell on them. When the two A-class trainees from Xinghuo became three, Meng Limin thought, Here it comes.

This should be the climax of the second half!

All the management companies and viewers watching the show simultaneously showed nervous smiles. The highlight of the next segment was here!

Then, it was the trainee named Chi Meng who, with a three-time consecutive demotion, showed everyone what a true explosive moment was.

“Sister Cen! It’s up, it’s up! The audience is going crazy!” The assistant director’s phone buzzed twice when Chi Meng was demoted for the first time, rang for two minutes during the second demotion, and has been buzzing non-stop since the third demotion.

Without her needing to say more, Cen Hongjie refreshed the interface and dragged the program’s progress bar to the result of Chi Meng’s third PK, which was near the end of the episode.

The dense bullet comments were even more intense than when Chi Meng first appeared, and as the assistant director said, many viewers were frantically questioning.

“She lost to this? You’re telling me she lost to this? And she lost three times?”

“Why! With Chi Meng’s initial stage performance, she could have gotten an A! How could she be demoted three times in a row? What are the trainees at the venue doing!”

“Don’t panic, everyone. The PK is about the performance at the moment. Chi Meng really can’t dance and knows few songs. Her completion level was too low. It’s normal for her to lose the PK to the opposing trainee.”

“Normal?”

“I won’t say anything about the first two rounds of PK, but in the third match, the trainee named Meng Xiaofei first tried to challenge a higher class, was refused by the mentors, and then asked to compete with Chi Meng in dancing. She treated the rules as a joke, saying that rules are meant to be broken. Ha, then why bother with ABCD classes? Everyone should just PK with the A class. PK however they want. Whoever wins the PK debuts. The show shouldn’t be called an idol survival show; it should be called a PK show.”

“And in her backstage interview, this person implied that her teammates dragged her down, otherwise she would have gotten a better score. Can’t she see other people’s abilities?”

“Hey, I understand the desire to move to the front, but I don’t agree with breaking the rules!”

“Don’t be angry, everyone. Look at it this way: Meng Zai only lost to herself.”

“Yes, Meng Zai isn’t even angry. She’s been smiling the whole time, and she even dared to bet a prize with the opposing trainee. She was still smiling happily after losing. Oh my god! Is Meng Zai a silly kid!”

“Meng Zai’s smile when she looked up as she went back to Class A at the end hurt me so much, boohoo. Is the production team doing this on purpose? Giving Meng Zai such an amazing entrance only for her to end in disappointment.”

“Began with F, ended with F.”

“Could it be a script?”

“A script? Look at who the director is before you say that!”

“…Stop talking! Why hasn’t the voting channel opened yet! I’m going to vote like crazy for Meng Zai! I absolutely won’t allow Meng Zai to stay here!”

The mixed bullet comments reflected various opinions on the first episode. Judging from the popularity, the number of viewers watching online, and the satellite TV ratings, “Star Journey” Season 1 had a perfect start.

Director Cen Hongjie and the production team members breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to compile the data to send to current and future sponsors.

The trainees who had watched the episode also felt complicated. Recording and watching the show through a screen were completely different experiences. For example, they, too, were currently unsettled by Chi Meng’s three consecutive demotions. While recording, they were influenced by the atmosphere on site, but watching the show gave them more perspective. Given the limited runtime of the show, many were now second-guessing their votes during the on-site evaluation, influenced by Chi Meng’s initial stage performance.

Chen Yunyue, who was the first to choose Chi Meng for a PK, leaned against the girl next to her, whimpering, “I’m a bad person.”

Her companion laughed heartily and quickly rubbed her hair. “No, you’re not! What are you talking about? Without your choice, we wouldn’t have this amazing program effect!”

“Exactly! You are the founder of the dramatic twists and turns!”

Chen Yunyue whimpered louder, “You guys are terrible at comforting people!”

In one row, Meng Xiaofei’s expression was a little sour. She turned to the person next to her and said, “Why does the show make it look like I did something wrong? Chi Meng agreed to PK with me at the time.”

Wei Xin and Jin Jingqian, who were from the same company and sat next to her, merely smiled and didn’t speak. Meng Xiaofei was the trainee the company was strongly promoting, a key development focus, and she was also the child of a company shareholder. The training teachers at the company were very nice to her, and she was used to everyone accommodating her. For instance, the song and choreography for their initial stage were created by the three of them and the company’s teachers, with the teachers as the main creators. But on the show, it all became Meng Xiaofei’s achievement alone.

And during the backstage interview segment, when the staff called them, Meng Xiaofei told the other two to go back, denying them an interview. Now, Wei Xin and Jin Jingqian realized what Meng Xiaofei had said in her interview—that she felt they had dragged her down.

Meng Xiaofei sat there angrily, while the two next to her were filled with disappointment and had no desire to comfort her. The atmosphere among the three was awkward.

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