I Became the Top Competitor in a Talent Show Novel - Chapter 39.1

The first episode of “Star Ascent” aired, and the production team officially announced the time and location for the first public performance: 7:00 PM on Saturday, July 1st, at the Downtown Sports Stadium in Dongjiang City.

Even before ticket sales started, the number of reservations exceeded thirty thousand on the first night. The TV station and production team were thrilled and went to negotiate contracts with other sponsors. The trainees, having seen the show, trained even harder.

The footage shown in the main episodes was the part of them that people would see. With one hundred twenty-six trainees and a four-hour program, most trainees didn’t get much screen time. True to the show’s motto—popularity first, skill paramount—trainees who performed better in the initial stage received more screen time, especially the trainees in Class A. After that, it went to those who were humorous and could create program effects.

The recording of the theme song was already finished, and the program would air on Sunday, July 2nd. This meant that the only thing they could strive for right now was the stage for the first public performance. After the performance, the results would be final, and elimination would begin.

The lights in Mingyi Building stayed on later and later into the night. Many trainees, crushed by the pressure and the looming shadow of elimination, couldn’t help but hide and cry, some even regretting joining the show.

A heavy atmosphere permeated the trainees’ hearts. So, one night, the production team gave everyone ten minutes of free phone time to chat with their families. Visible surprise lit up everyone’s faces. But while others happily went to make calls, in the Team One training room, Chi Meng was still training.

Her wet hair clung to her face, and her originally pale skin was flushed from the intense exercise. Her short-sleeved top was drenched and stuck to her body, revealing the curve of her slender waist. Outside, the night was a deep blue, and the room’s light shone on the wooden floor. Chi Meng adjusted her movements in the mirror, her dark eyes bright and fervent, as if a flame was burning in her pupils.

Song Jiaqi leaned against the mirror, sitting in front of Chi Meng. She slowly drank from a bottle of water, her rosy lips wet and glistening under the light. She watched Chi Meng’s movements and slowly said, “Lower your waist.”

Chi Meng pressed her waist down and asked, “Like this?”

“Lower it more,” Song Jiaqi instructed. “Lift your head, stick your butt out a bit… Yes, now you can ‘caw caw’ like a goose.”

The words had barely left her mouth when Chi Meng jokingly struck out.

“I don’t believe your nonsense,” she said, exasperated.

Song Jiaqi chuckled and patted the spot next to her. “Come on, take a break.”

Chi Meng shook her head, re-tying her wet hair. Everyone was bare-faced during training; they simply didn’t have time for makeup and removal. Chi Meng looked like she had been pulled out of water, her skin flawless and pristine. And her back, even after a day of training, remained perfectly straight.

The camera in the corner quietly focused on the two of them.

“Aren’t you going to call your family?” Chi Meng asked.

Song Jiaqi glanced up. “No need.”

“What about you?”

“No need for me either.” Chi Meng curved her lips and beckoned to Song Jiaqi, “Jiaqi, come on, practice that last section one billion more times with me.”

Song Jiaqi sprawled her two legs out, weakly saying, “I’m dead.”

Don’t ask.

Chi Meng smiled sweetly. “What about our promise?”

Song Jiaqi didn’t even want to lift her eyelids: Whoever is the big sister gets the final say.

If it weren’t for her future plans, she never would have agreed to that childish request, but now Song Jiaqi understood: this request wasn’t childish—it was terrifying!

When Chi Meng pulled her up, Song Jiaqi was expressionless.

It’s deadly to be too trustworthy.

After three repetitions, Song Jiaqi weakly said, “I’ll call you ‘Sister Chi’ now. Aren’t you tired?”

“I am,” Chi Meng said. She looked at Song Jiaqi in the mirror, her lips curled, her voice clear. “To be honest, I’m very tired, extremely tired.”

“But being tired now is so I don’t have to be tired later,” Chi Meng said. “Once my basics are solid and dancing comes naturally, I definitely won’t be this tired.”

Song Jiaqi was still expressionless: I believe nothing you say.

A normal person knows not to believe the words of a devil. Who was it that repeatedly pulled the team members up to practice their formations? Now, the sentence Shen Zhu said to Chi Meng the most was: “Sister Chi Meng, take five minutes to rest.”

And Chi Meng would reply: “Gather in three minutes.”

Chi, the Devil.

“Mengmeng~ Sister~”

A passionate call came from far outside the door. Song Jiaqi heard the heavenly sound, laid down flat, closed her eyes, and waved at Chi Meng. Go, they’re calling you.

Knock knock.

The door was knocked, and then a small head peered in, eyes bright, voice sweet and enthusiastic: “Sister~ Sister, sister~”

Chi Meng nudged the “playing dead” Song Jiaqi. Learn from her.

Song Jiaqi: Dead.jpg

“Come on in and play.” Chi Meng took the opportunity to sit down and waved to Su Mengyao, but Su Mengyao stood at the doorway, shaking her head wildly.

“No, no, no, your classroom is too sacred, I dare not enter!” Su Mengyao swallowed.

Last night, An Kui specially came to the Team One office to ask for advice on what to do when teammates couldn’t handle the pressure and cried from being too tired. Shen Zhu patiently explained to An Kui how to comfort the team members. An Kui was very enlightened and then asked the Team One’s invisible leader for advice.

Chi Meng said: “Oh, let her cry. Take her to the bathroom to cry so she doesn’t affect others. Come back and continue training after she’s done.”

It was said that after Chi Meng finished speaking, the entire Team One classroom fell silent. After An Kui drifted away, both body and soul, Chi Meng still looked at everyone with a puzzled, gentle smile: “Hmm?”

That night, Team One trained with extraordinary seriousness.

Crying was absolutely not allowed. In Team One, tears would only turn into sweat. In the eyes of ‘Captain Chi’, if you had time to cry, you might as well practice a move one more time.

That night, Chi Meng’s reputation spread again. Everyone who saw her respectfully bowed and called her: Sister Meng.

But Chi Meng was always rooted in the training room, practically sleeping there, so everyone could only express their respect silently.

Chi Meng and Su Mengyao looked at each other across the training room. She smiled and asked, “What’s up?”

Su Mengyao tilted her head and happily said, “The results will be out tomorrow morning! Sister Lu said we should go find her if we want to check our scores.”

Chi Meng looked up and said gently, “Is tomorrow the 30th?”

Su Mengyao nodded like a chick pecking rice.

“Oh, no rush to check the scores. It won’t be too late to check after the July 1st performance,” Chi Meng said. Su Mengyao continued to peck the rice. “Yes, yes, I thought so too! And if the score isn’t ideal, it might affect the stage performance, which would be even worse.”

Chi Meng: “That’s right.”

Su Mengyao smiled with curved eyes. “I just came to tell you that. I’m leaving now! Let’s check our scores together after the performance, bye-bye!”

“Bye-bye!” Chi Meng waved at Su Mengyao. After watching her skip away, she sighed inexplicably, “So lively.”

This is what a real eighteen-year-old is like: innocent and cute.

019 said casually: “If Su Mengyao were in Team One, she probably wouldn’t be this lively!”

The fact that she can still jump around so happily means An Kui wasn’t harsh enough!

Chi Meng chuckled.

Hearing Chi Meng’s laughter, Song Jiaqi, who was lying peacefully on the ground with her hands on her stomach, softly “tsk-ed.” She opened her right eye slightly and whispered, “Sister, sister, I’m lively too. Can I lie here a little longer?”

Chi Meng reached out, brushed the stray hair from her forehead, and said gently, “Be good, no can do. If you practice hard now and debut as a big star in a few months, you won’t have to worry about repeating a grade.”

Song Jiaqi’s mouth twitched. “I sincerely tell you again, among art students, my culture class scores are quite good.”

“Mmm-hmm,” Chi Meng nodded, grabbing Song Jiaqi’s hand. She laced their fingers together and pulled her up from the floor. “I also sincerely invite you to continue practicing. Can you use some strength? I feel like I’m pulling a fish that doesn’t want to be caught.”

“A fish’s hometown is the sea,” Song Jiaqi said with a world-weary tone.

Chi Meng laughed out loud and pounced on Song Jiaqi. “Your home is my fish pond! Come on, let’s dance!”

Song Jiaqi: “Help me—”

Outside the door, Lin Xueyang, who had purposely passed by every day, peeked in, a deep smile on her face.

Today is another beautiful day!

June 30th was the first day to check the college entrance exam scores in Dongjiang Province. This was a few days later than when Chi Meng had checked her scores in her past life, but it didn’t matter. The production team informed the few trainees in the training camp who had taken the exam this year, and everyone unanimously decided to wait until after the first public performance to check their scores.

Compared to checking scores, there was an important matter to decide today.

At 8:00 PM, the trainees gathered in the Mingyi Building lobby to film the selection of the performance order for the first public stage.

Xie Tongyue was approachable. Before the filming, she came over to chat with everyone. “You’re going to rehearse tomorrow. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.”

She and the other mentors had watched the later performances of each team one by one. They also heard that many trainees were crying due from stress and gently comforted them.

“Thank you, Sister Tongyue.” Jing Ming, who was closest to Xie Tongyue, couldn’t help but say, “Um… Sister Tongyue, I might be eliminated next week. Could I take a picture with you before I leave?”

Su Mengyao immediately covered her mouth. “I forbid you to say such things!”

The slightly sad atmosphere was instantly shattered by her sudden outburst. Before anyone could get emotional, they burst out laughing.

Xie Tongyue couldn’t help but smile, patting Jing Ming’s head. “Photos and autographs are always available, but about being eliminated, Mengyao is right—I forbid you to say such things!”

Jing Ming showed a blissful smile. “Sister Tongyue touched my head!”

Su Mengyao shook her head in disdain, No ambition, then showed the same look of envy as everyone else. Xie Tongyue’s smile deepened. She waved her hand. “Everyone will get one. We’ll all take a picture together then.”

“Okay!”

The filming was about to start, and everyone quickly stood in the formation of the pyramid. Chi Meng was already standing with her hands behind her back. She was tall and could see the scene below without having to stand on her tiptoes.

The lobby floor had a seven-sided figure marked out by four colored lines. In the center of the figure, a circle was placed on the ground, with seven elastic ropes attached to it. At each point of the seven-sided figure, there was a stand with a few bottles of milk on it.

“It looks like Sister Cen has secured a new sponsor,” Chi Meng commented.

Song Jiaqi nodded.

Sure enough, when Xie Tongyue recorded the opening monologue, the name of the milk brand—the one placed on the stands—was added to the sponsors. A cameraman carried a camera to film close-ups.

“Tomorrow will be the time for all trainees’ first public performance. Before going on stage, we need to decide the performance order!” Xie Tongyue announced.

The trainees’ eyes immediately fell on the ropes in the center of the field, looking puzzled. What are they going to compete in? Tug-of-war?

Xie Tongyue smiled slightly and revealed the answer: “Our fourteen teams can be divided into seven major teams based on the seven songs to be performed. In each round, one person will be sent out for a test of strength! The seven people in the competition will have an elastic rope tied around their waist and will launch an attack on our delicious and nutritious Qingyuan Fresh Milk. The team that first reaches and drinks a bottle of milk wins and gets seven points!”

“There will be a total of five rounds. The team with the highest total score will have the right to choose the stage performance order first, and so on down the line.”

After Xie Tongyue announced the rules, Xue Weiran immediately raised her hand and asked, “Can we send the same team member multiple times?”

“Yes, but you must drink the bottle of milk completely empty! Spitting it out counts as a failure!” Xie Tongyue joked.

Everyone burst into laughter. Some patted their stomachs, saying they had eaten too much tonight, and others said they couldn’t drink a whole bottle of milk.

“I can do it!” Su Mengyao patted her chest and told her teammates.

“You have two minutes to discuss who to send out!” Xie Tongyue instructed, having the seven major teams stand at each point of the seven-sided figure.

The two teams performing the same song now fought for a common interest. Instantly, everyone was harmonious, discussing who to send out. The originally nervous trainees also forgot their stress because of the little game. Laughter filled the recording hall.

Chi Meng and Song Jiaqi stood in the back, waiting for the captains of the two teams to make arrangements.

Shen Zhu and Team Five Captain Jiang Yingyue gave speeches about the importance of the performance order and encouraged trainees who were confident in their strength to volunteer for the competition. Shen Zhu’s eyes scanned her team, subtly signaling that this was not just a competition for the performance order—it was also a chance to gain screen time!

“I… I want to try.” Hua Xiaowei said softly. Everyone’s eyes fell on her. Hua Xiaowei shyly pursed her lips.

She was of average height, with long, straight black hair hanging down. Her small face had eyes like autumn water, and coupled with her slender build, she looked every bit like a delicate and introverted girl.

Jiang Yingyue cautiously asked, “Um, are you sure you can do it?”

Hua Xiaowei clenched her fist and nodded. “I will cheer up!” (I will work hard!)

“Then let her try! Raise a pig for a thousand days, use the pig for one moment,” Yuan Sike said with a laugh, putting her hands on Hua Xiaowei’s shoulders. After saying it, she felt something was wrong and turned her head to Shen Zhu. “This pig has nothing to do with the Captain!”

Shen Zhu: ?

Everyone: ??

Yuan Yixin inhaled sharply and covered Yuan Sike’s mouth. “In the name of sharing the same last name, I will remember you when you die!”

Yuan Sike looked mournful and slapped Hua Xiaowei’s back: I paid a heavy price for you!

Hua Xiaowei smiled brightly and raised her fist again.

I will work hard!

What do you think of this competition method? It seems fun, but also quite a physical challenge!

After some discussion, Team One decided to send out Yuan Yixin and Hua Xiaowei, while Team Five chose Zhou Chunfei, Liu Yuetong, and Zhan Zhuo. The five stood in line by their corner point, with Hua Xiaowei in the lead. Across from her was Su Mengyao from Team Ten.

The two looked at each other from across the corner. Su Mengyao grinned, showing a mouthful of white teeth, while Hua Xiaowei offered a gentle smile. Not far away were two familiar faces: Qi Yan from Team Two and Xue Weiran from Team Nine. Both had their jacket sleeves rolled up above their elbows, looking determined to win the performance order.

The first seven participants entered the ring and secured the loop at the end of the elastic rope around their waists. This part was about the size of a palm. Hua Xiaowei held it in place with her hand, adopting a starting position.

The referee in the middle grasped the central iron ring, said “Ready,” and the seven elastic ropes immediately became taut. The referee took a deep breath and blew the whistle.

Poo—

In an instant, all the elastic ropes moved in seven different directions. The trainees who were spectators—or rather, those who weren’t chosen to contribute to their team—shouted encouragement loudly from the finish line.

Chi Meng watched Hua Xiaowei, who stood motionless in a running stance. The central ring behind her had already begun to shift in a certain direction.

Behind her, Su Mengyao roared and exerted her strength.

“Go, Xiaowei!” Chi Meng cheered for Hua Xiaowei. “Can you do it?”

Hua Xiaowei clenched her fists tightly and gave Chi Meng a determined look. She gritted her back teeth and forced out a few words: “I’m feeling it out.”

The Team One and Team Five members were confused: Feeling what out?

Feeling the strength of the others, and it’s nothing special!

Hua Xiaowei’s smile vanished. She gritted her teeth, retreated slightly, and in the moment the tension slackened, she tightened her grip on the rope around her waist and lunged forward. In the overhead camera, it was visibly clear: the girls in all seven directions were caught off-guard and stumbled. Hua Xiaowei seized the opportunity.

Xue Weiran: “Fuc—”

The unbroadcastable exclamation was swallowed back just in time. Yuan Sike started mocking: “That’s all you’ve got, Xue Weiran!”

“What’s wrong, Xue Weiran!”

Xue Weiran’s entire body was sideways, pulling the rope like a barge hauler, her face beet red. Suddenly, a strong tug from an unknown direction yanked her, and Xue Weiran, along with the trainee next to her, fell onto the pre-laid foam mats.

You try it!

“Who was that!” Xue Weiran was incredulous and turned her head.

Yuan Sike laughed playfully: “A pig, there’s a pig.”

Xue Weiran subconsciously looked at Shen Zhu.

Shen Zhu squinted.

“Ahem.”

Chi Meng and Song Jiaqi stood on the side, arms crossed, wearing identical expressions.

In the seven-sided battleground, only two warriors remained, besides the trainees who were futilely resisting: Hua Xiaowei and Su Mengyao.

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