I Became the Top Competitor in a Talent Show Novel - Chapter 42

Can fate be broken?

– Yes, it can.

Song Jiaqi looked at Chi Meng. The light streaming down enveloped her as if she were encased in transparent seawater, quietly embracing Chi Meng. Song Jiaqi’s mind suddenly went blank as she gazed at the light. For a moment, she couldn’t clearly see Chi Meng’s face, but an outline appeared in her mind—Chi Meng smiling at her.

At this moment, many questions flooded to Song Jiaqi’s lips.

How do you know?

Have you seen it?

Do you know the feeling of failing again and again? Have you experienced the pain of being slandered to the point of self-destruction? Do you know that is her future?

Do you know… this world is a book?

But she didn’t ask anything. She just looked at the suddenly clear, young face of the girl, feeling the familiar warmth on her wrist, and quietly followed behind Chi Meng.

She was thinking: At least at this moment, nothing has happened.

Post-Performance Reactions

The cheers from the audience were enthusiastic, and the live stream comments passionately discussed Team One’s performance, especially the high note. Fans chatting in the super-topic while watching the live broadcast were equally fervent.

“The revised arrangement is even better! The high note practically blew the roof off my skull! Too powerful! The trainees this season are seriously talented!”

“Flying high, flying high.”

“I knew Chi Meng had a beautiful voice, I even downloaded her initial stage performance to listen to every day. Maybe it’s because she’s eighteen this year, but her voice has a kind of maidenly etherealness; listening to her sing makes my heart calm down. But the high note just now with Shen Zhu really gave me goosebumps, it’s indescribable.”

“Mermaid Dream!”

“Shen Zhu is very good, but Chi Meng’s high note was too beautiful; Shen Zhu felt more like a complement. To be able to overshadow the main C, Chi Meng is truly strong!”

“Chi Meng: I took music class every semester.jpg”

“Chi Meng is great! Shen Zhu is also great! It was Shen Zhu who let Chi Meng join in the high note to create this spectacular moment. I thank both beautiful girls for the treat to my ears!”

“I really love Team One. They combined the romance and grandeur of Chinese poetry with modern music and dance. The trainees’ brilliant performance brought it to life! Team One’s stage is my favorite today! Go Team One!”

Then there was another group of people.

“Mengmeng’s ending pose is so funny, like a dragonfly skimming the water, bewildered, standing still obediently, smiling.”

“Mengmeng: Face everything with a smile.jpg”

“Only Qi-Qi saw Chi Meng’s helplessness hidden beneath her smile and immediately put down her hand to face it with her. Aww, they love each other so much.”

“Chi Meng and Song Jiaqi really have a great relationship. They’ve been chatting with each other on and off since the initial stage. That short clip of the three of them chatting in the behind-the-scenes footage was hilarious.”

“Wuwuwu, they’ve been exchanging meaningful glances since the initial stage. I can’t wait to see the second episode right away! Both of them are in Class F! It must be very ‘intense’! Hehehe”

“Hehehe!”

“…I feel like the atmosphere is off. What are you guys talking about? Did I wander into the wrong place? Aren’t we supposed to be discussing Chi Meng’s performance? Scratching head.”

“Yes, yes, we are discussing it! Serious face.jpg”

“So what did Mengmeng say to Qi-Qi?! Hurry, can a sister who reads lips translate!”

“Qi-Qi looked a bit distracted, and Mengmeng held her hand to go off stage together. Hehe, a dominant sister?”

“Hehehe.”

“No, you guys are seriously strange! Gotta go, gotta go!” The lost casual fan fled rapidly.

Post-Performance Backstage

In the backstage area of the Star Journey public performance, Team One’s trainees collectively breathed a sigh of relief, then immediately surrounded Chi Meng and Shen Zhu.

“What was that? Was that high note really sung by Sister Meng?” Yuan Sike was shocked, reaching out to touch Chi Meng’s neck. “Why didn’t you bring that out during rehearsal? I was about to be scared to death!”

The others nodded repeatedly, with only Song Jiaqi still spacing out.

Shen Zhu chuckled, “It was Chi Meng and I who decided not to tell you. I prepared two plans. Plan A was to perform exactly as the instructor arranged. Plan B is the version you just saw, where my solo high note was changed to a duet.”

As she spoke, she looked at Chi Meng, her smile deepening. Her originally cool and clear eyes were like a hundred flowers deep in the forest, breathtakingly beautiful. The others, accustomed to being hit by the visual beauty of their teammates, maintained a relatively calm expression, perking up their ears to listen. Chi Meng continued Shen Zhu’s explanation: “Actually, I wanted to see if I could sing the high note, and I was afraid of disturbing you guys in the practice room, so Xiangxiang and I found a secluded spot and asked her to teach me.”

Each member of Team One had a half-hour of “free practice time,” also called “relaxation time,” daily. This free time was set up by Chi Meng after learning that trainees in the training camp were crying under pressure. The purpose was for everyone to freely go and cry… Everyone immediately remembered Chi Meng’s heartless remark about crying in the bathroom and not affecting others’ training, and their eyes glazed over.

Yuan Sike mumbled, “So, you guys found a small grove?”

Chi Meng was surprised, “You even know that? We really did practice in a small grove not far from the dorm building. It’s very quiet, with a small pavilion, perfect for reading and studying in the afternoon.”

Song Jiaqi’s gaze rested on Chi Meng.

The others who heard Chi Meng’s words: “…”

“More like suitable for young love,” Yuan Sike couldn’t help but say. “The future dating spot of Mingde Academy, hahaha. I didn’t expect you guys to use it first!”

Everyone laughed, “Hahaha!”

Chi Meng raised an eyebrow. Song Jiaqi’s gaze then fell on Yuan Sike. Yuan Sike’s loud laughter gradually disappeared.

What’s wrong? Yuan Sike felt a little apprehensive.

Shen Zhu looked up, ignoring their jokes, and said happily, “Xiaomeng is very talented and a quick learner; one lesson and she gets it. You all heard her high note, right? I was also shocked then. After practicing back home, I had this idea. We only decided to use this version during today’s rehearsal!”

Music fragments still seemed to linger in everyone’s minds. They nodded subconsciously after recalling Chi Meng’s voice.

Hua Xiaowei whispered, “Sister Meng got a guaranteed admission to J University, of course her learning ability is strong.”

Now that the stage performance was over smoothly, everyone could say whatever they wanted, including the astonishing topic of guaranteed admission. When this was mentioned, everyone looked at Chi Meng with even more admiration, involuntarily calling out, “Sister Meng.”

Chi Meng smiled gently and immediately replied, “Yes!”

Completely convinced, thought Yuan Sike. She clasped her hands behind her back and lightly patted Song Jiaqi, directly asking, “What are you thinking about, so lost in thought?”

Chi Meng, standing opposite Song Jiaqi, naturally looked at Song Jiaqi.

Song Jiaqi was initially surprised. In the training camp, besides talking to Chi Meng, she wasn’t very familiar with even her own company’s trainees. Shen Zhu’s sense of responsibility prompted her to often supervise, and the two only slowly became familiar. Since she didn’t communicate with the others, the other trainees naturally didn’t dare to talk to her. Yuan Sike’s sudden familiar gesture made her feel a strange sensation. The others, except Chi Meng, looked over with smiling eyes. Song Jiaqi pursed her lips and smiled, saying, “Nothing, still savoring the performance.”

Everyone was stunned at first, then broke into bright smiles and began discussing the performance again. Yuan Sike smiled and said, “I also heard Sister Meng tell Song Jiaqi ‘You can do it’ during the ending pose. It seems Jiaqi performed very well, but Sister Meng still cared about her teammate’s situation on stage. Your relationship is really good!”

She mentioned it casually. Shen Zhu, next to Chi Meng, looked at Chi Meng and Song Jiaqi separately and slowly said, “Yes, it is.”

Song Jiaqi hadn’t expected Chi Meng’s words to be heard by others. She was momentarily stunned, then recovered her usual demeanor, lazily humming in agreement. Chi Meng curved her lips and said warmly, “I already said, I really like Qi-Qi and want to hear Qi-Qi call me ‘Good Big Sister’ every day.”

Everyone heard the playful tone in Chi Meng’s words and immediately started booing and teasing: “Good Big Sister, don’t you like me?”

“Sister, Sister, I like you too, can you like me a little more, please?”

“Sister Meng! My only sister!”

Chi Meng chuckled, deliberately spreading her arms and tilting her head back, enjoying the adulation of the girls. Shen Zhu couldn’t bear to look directly, quietly stepped back, and exchanged glances with the similarly retreating Song Jiaqi.

Song Jiaqi lifted the corner of her mouth, defining the scene: “Decadent.”

“Hmm…” Shen Zhu’s lips moved, and she couldn’t help but say, “Don’t be sad, you’re still her favorite.”

Song Jiaqi: “…” Thanks a lot.

Team One chatted and laughed, then watched Team Five’s performance backstage. The girls in Team Five had very Chinese-style makeup and costumes, wearing uniform maple-red dresses with slight pearl and jade ornamentation in their dark hair. Each one looked as if she had stepped out of a painting. Moreover, Team Five’s leader, Jiang Yingyue, was very suited for the Chinese style. She was a trainee from Fengguang Culture, and all the trainees from their company had this kind of demeanor, suitable for forming a Chinese-style girl group and also very suitable for historical dramas.

Jiang Yingyue was thoughtful about her team selection, as the team she chose to PK was Shen Zhu’s Team One. She selected Liu Yuetong from her own company and then chose trainees suitable for the Chinese style.

Facing Team One, everyone in Team Five was under immense pressure. They also trained diligently, and their stage performance was highly polished, but unfortunately, Team One’s stage wasn’t just completed—it was surpassed!

When the vote difference of 2398:602 appeared, Team Five’s leader, Jiang Yingyue, gently sighed, smiled, and hugged Shen Zhu: “We lost fair and square!”

“Your stage was great. Let’s keep working hard in the future,” Shen Zhu said gently.

After the results were announced, the two teams went off stage. At this point, the trainees from the other teams were already waiting in the holding area, still in their stage costumes, completely filling up the space. Xie Tongyue returned to the stage, first thanking everyone for their support of the show, inviting everyone to tune into the second episode of Star Journey tomorrow night at 8 p.m., and then announcing the end of the live broadcast. Before signing off, she didn’t forget to mention to the camera that the three thousand audience members at the public performance still had to vote to choose tonight’s Best Trainee for a solo stage performance, and everyone should watch the main episode then—words that made the live stream audience anxious.

Out of love for Xie Tongyue, they naturally wouldn’t criticize her; they would only “insult” the production team for using such a wicked method to “tempt” them!

Director! How are you any different from the person dangling a carrot in front of a donkey!

As a director, one must be shrewd. Cen Hongjie calmly waved his hand and cut the live broadcast signal without mercy. The viewers watching the live stream only managed to glance at the densely packed trainees on the stage, and before they could even find the trainees they were rooting for, the screen went black. Frustrated and anxious, they could only wait for the front-line audience’s fan-cam footage later.

But! The shrewd director wouldn’t overlook this. She had already arranged with the live audience beforehand that private filming was strictly prohibited. She didn’t even activate the recording function for the live stream. Although some people on site would inevitably film, the production team would patrol all platforms before the main episode was released to delete any videos related to the public performance.

No big deal.

Best Trainee Vote

At this moment, one hundred and twenty-six trainees stood on the stage simultaneously. Now, voting would take place among these 126 trainees to select the one everyone felt had performed the best today.

Xie Tongyue stood in the center of the stage, her star power undiminished by the sea of trainees behind her. The beautiful woman in a long dress was still radiant after hosting for so long. She loudly announced: “Before entering, everyone received a commemorative gift bag for the public performance, which contains a small booklet printed with all the trainees’ names. Each trainee has a dedicated number. The individual voting time is about to begin. Select the trainee you believe performed the best in the entire show, enter their exclusive sequence number on the voting pad, and press the OK button!”

“Voting time is one minute. Timer—start!”

As soon as Xie Tongyue finished speaking, the large screen behind her displayed a 60-second countdown. It was much longer than the stage voting time, suggesting they wanted to give everyone more time to think. Even with this short amount of time, the trainees eagerly interacted with the live audience to solicit votes. After more than half a month of filming and these three stage experiences, the trainees were much more relaxed than they were at the start.

Among everyone, Chi Meng and Song Jiaqi, the two tall and slender figures, stood at the very back, maintaining a calm demeanor and not participating in the interaction.

Song Jiaqi was definitely not going to participate, but she was puzzled why Chi Meng was so calm.

Chi Meng was naturally calm; she simply didn’t think she would win the Best Trainee award! In her eyes, an excellent trainee must be good at both singing and dancing. She only had a slight talent for vocals, and her pronunciation techniques and singing methods were still a work in progress. As for dancing, there was no need to mention it—she was currently a kindergarten student in the dance field and hadn’t even touched the passing line.

No matter how well she sang, it couldn’t cover up the fact that she was a poor dancer. She only managed to keep up with the others by practicing the theme song and the public performance choreography non-stop day and night.

Hearing Chi Meng’s self-assessment, Song Jiaqi: “…”

“This isn’t an exam,” Song Jiaqi whispered. “It’s a vote, and a popularity vote at that.” What misunderstanding do you have about yourself?

Chi Meng looked at Song Jiaqi in surprise, with a look of “Oh, you know this is a popularity vote,” and Song Jiaqi averted her gaze from Chi Meng’s stare.

“Precisely because I know it’s a popularity vote, I’m not worried,” Chi Meng explained. “How many of the audience members here do you think genuinely like me?”

And how many are fans of trainees from big and small companies?

Chi Meng was very clear-headed. As an individual trainee, she had a natural disadvantage compared to trainees with companies. Just as the saying “Good wine needs no bush” is no longer popular, she worked hard on the show, but that was all she could do on the show. Other trainees were different. The moment they started filming, the professional teams behind the company trainees were already planning various promotional strategies. Without even mentioning the professionalism of each company, let’s just use the simplest example:

No matter how much Song Jiaqi, who didn’t want to appear in the main episode, wanted to be eliminated, if Renxing casually had a popular star post on social media that their company’s Song Jiaqi was participating in the audition show and asked everyone to like her and vote for her, would Song Jiaqi’s votes not increase just because she avoids the camera?

Song Jiaqi was stunned and speechless for a long time, looking at this young woman who was excessively clear-headed. Even while speaking these harsh realities, she maintained a gentle smile on her face.

“Don’t you feel,” Song Jiaqi described Chi Meng’s mindset, “that you are too rational? The effect of celebrity promotions is only temporary. People who are genuinely attracted to the show and like you will vote for you continuously, and they will actively promote you.”

“Yes, I know,” Chi Meng nodded, agreeing with Song Jiaqi, and said with a smile, “Plus, I’m this good-looking, have a good temper, my studies are decent, I sing well, and I’m very motivated, so how could no one like me?”

Song Jiaqi, who had been trying to figure out how to praise Chi Meng subtly, felt her expression gradually freeze, staring at the girl who was praising herself so earnestly, calmly, and without the slightest blush.

Although you are right, but???

After praising herself, Chi Meng stood with her hands behind her back, her chin slightly raised, and declared proudly, “Although it’s highly likely I won’t get the Best Trainee award for this public performance, I think winning against you will be easy.”

The black colon on Song Jiaqi’s head was about to materialize. She folded her arms, raised an eyebrow, and met Chi Meng’s gaze. In the other’s clear pupils, there was a small reflection of herself.

“So, don’t struggle anymore,” Chi Meng smiled, putting a hand on Song Jiaqi’s shoulder, patting it with the posture of an elder, and kindly lecturing, “Continue to obediently call me ‘Sister.'”

Detecting the enemy’s fighting spirit rising sharply, should our side continue to use the [Provocation] skill?

Player Chi Meng: Activating Super Transformation Mode, using skill: Wild Provocation! Baring teeth and brandishing claws.jpg

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