I Became the Top Competitor in a Talent Show Novel - Chapter 43.1

After Chi Meng preemptively declared her victory, before Song Jiaqi could retort, the voice of the host, Xie Tongyue, reached the two of them through the layers of people. The overhead camera rose to film the combined shot. Song Jiaqi pressed her lips together, controlling the habit formed over ten years of presenting her best angle to the camera, and looked straight ahead.

“Not chatting anymore?” Chi Meng stood up, a little disappointed. They stood side-by-side, their shoulders occasionally brushing due to the movements of the trainees to their left and right.

On the center stage, the sparkling Xie Tongyue listened to the producer’s prompts in her earpiece and said, “Three seconds countdown… Three, two, one, stop!”

The trainees immediately looked up at the large screen, which was fixed at 0. Three seconds later, the number disappeared, and the large screen flew out with photos of all 126 trainees. In the photos, the trainees wore unified pink blazers, revealing white shirts at the collar. Some trainees had bow ties, some had neckties, and all wore confident, bright smiles.

“The voting results are out! Next, we will announce the names of the trainees ranked 4th to 9th in the ‘Star Voyage’ first stage performance’s Best Stage!” Xie Tongyue announced loudly, “Please look at the big screen!”

The trainees on stage turned around, their eyes fixed on the large screen, their hands clasped together. They weren’t aiming for first or second; being selected for the fourth to ninth place would be great. Although there was no prize, it would bring immense confidence and encourage them to continue working hard.

Besides, the public performance only announced the top nine trainees by vote—9 is the debut number for “Star Voyage”!

Amidst the expectant and hopeful gazes, the image on the large screen changed, dividing into two. The trainees’ headshots dropped to the bottom of the screen, where all the photos spun, their backs showing the “Star Voyage” logo. Just as Xie Tongyue said, “Please reveal,” a girl’s photo flew out from the sea of pictures and magnified on the large screen.

Team Two, Lin Yuxin, had just shown a surprised expression when she was hugged by the others.

“Xin-jie is awesome!”

“As expected of Xin-jie!”

Lin Yuxin smiled, waved to the enthusiastically applauding audience, and bowed.

The voting for the Best Trainee of the public performance did not require a speech. After the camera panned over Lin Yuxin, the trainee ranked eighth was announced. Before long, Jiang Yingyue’s photo from Team Five appeared. Jiang Yingyue, still wearing the maple-red ancient costume, opened her mouth wide. Liu Yuetong next to her let out a shout and immediately hugged Jiang Yingyue.

It’s me? Jiang Yingyue was both surprised and delighted, staring intently at her photo. She hadn’t cried when she lost to Team One, but seeing her selection for Best Eighth Place, her lips trembled, and tears instantly streamed down.

“Captain, you worked hard.” The members of Team Five surrounded Jiang Yingyue, patting her head and telling her not to cry.

Best Seventh: The girl with a red high ponytail looked like she was posing for a poster facing the camera, her smile very proud. On stage, An Ran smiled brightly and hugged her teammates.

Best Sixth: Du Bi of Lehaian. The girl with two bun hairstyles instantly clutched her heart and let out a huge sigh of relief. During the initial stage, her team’s “performance was poor,” and she was rated C. Although she successfully entered Class B during the theme song assessment, her team was up against Xue Weiran’s team in the public performance, and the vote difference was a bit large. The continuous setbacks had disappointed her, but she didn’t expect to get this ranking in the Best Trainee selection. The pent-up frustration instantly vanished. Du Bi flashed a brilliant smile and waved to the audience.

Below the stage, Lehaian’s fans responded enthusiastically.

Best Fifth: Among the 126 photos, one with the logo facing away from the audience flew up to the screen. As it flipped over to reveal the photo, the girl next to Chi Meng moved. Song Jiaqi crossed her arms and glanced at the large screen.

In the photo, the girl with a tilted head and brilliant smile had a kind of innocent childishness. Her beautiful face was youthful and adorable, with crescent-like eyes. Her naturally upturned outer corners of the eyes showed no hint of seduction, only pure innocence.

Chi Meng: “Wow!”

She clapped and said, “Amazing, Mengyao.”

Team Ten’s Su Mengyao happily bounced around, hugging everyone, like a joyful little puppy who had found a bone, practically bubbling with happiness.

Song Jiaqi wore a look of cold indifference.

Just when everyone thought it was over, another headshot suddenly rose from the sea of photos beneath the screen. To the surprise of the trainees and the audience, it flipped over and displayed alongside Su Mengyao’s photo.

In the photo, the black-haired girl’s expression was aloof, her eyelashes slightly lowered. Her gaze towards the camera was casual, as if this wasn’t a bust shot meant to show enthusiasm to everyone, but a poster for a certain theme.

But what was eye-catching was not her thick, seaweed-like black hair, nor her crimson thin lips, but her eyes, which were dazzling even when she didn’t intend to draw attention. Chi Meng still remembered Song Jiaqi’s cold gaze in the dim light the first time she saw her—a gaze unforgettable to this day.

Song Jiaqi possessed a breathtaking beauty—vibrant and alluring. Especially her fox-like eyes, which carried a charm that could easily captivate with just a glance, without needing to say a word. Yet, she was stingy with this charm, always cold and calm, detached from the crowd, which subtly added a sense of aloofness to her beauty—as if a Mandrake that should have flourished in a decadent place had suddenly grown on the peak of a snowy mountain.

More importantly, Song Jiaqi was only eighteen years old. Regardless of her temperament, her physical presence still carried youth and purity. This conflicting allure needed no further embellishment. Moreover, in Chi Meng’s eyes, this person had one more very contradictory point.

Song Jiaqi was very serious about the stage.

As long as it was a performance with others, she was never the one dragging the team down. Although she slacked off during the theme song assessment, usually she barely communicated with anyone, didn’t participate in jokes to gain camera time, and tried to avoid the cameras every day. Yet, whether it was the initial stage or the public performance stage, she completed it seriously.

Someone who wants to be eliminated doing this… Chi Meng chuckled, raising her hand to pat Song Jiaqi’s shoulder. Regardless of the story Song Jiaqi hid in her heart, deep down, she probably hadn’t given up yet.

Song Jiaqi stared motionless at the photo on the large screen, then slowly lowered her head.

The sight of two utterly beautiful trainees’ photos side-by-side was stunning. The image paused for quite a while before the camera moved on, but Song Jiaqi’s face was dark. She stood with her arms crossed, glaring at the hair of the person in front of her with a cold sneer.

Yuan Sike felt a chill on the back of her neck and couldn’t help but touch it.

“Meng-jie…” Song Jiaqi gnashed her back teeth, believing that Meng Limin hadn’t kept the agreement they made before she came to “Star Voyage.”

“Jiaqi’s rank is so high.” Chi Meng looked up at the photo, which had shrunk and was now displayed after the number five, and frowned, “I thought I had that older sister title secured.”

At this moment, Hua Xiaowei in the front row turned around and smiled at the two of them. Besides Chi Meng and Song Jiaqi, she was also paying attention to their votes, as she was the only one privy to this sisterly rivalry besides the parties involved.

Chi Meng pouted at Hua Xiaowei, showing a pitiful expression.

“Don’t give up!” Hua Xiaowei pumped her fist, “There are four spots left!”

“What, what?”

Yuan Sike next to Hua Xiaowei turned her head curiously and, upon asking, exclaimed in surprise, “Someone actually wants to be our Meng-jie’s older sister?”

Song Jiaqi gave her a cold look.

Yuan Sike sighed dramatically and clapped her hands, laughing, “Everyone is amazing if they have a dream!”

Song Jiaqi’s eyes grew colder. Yuan Sike immediately spun her head back. She felt completely fearless as long as she couldn’t see Song Jiaqi!

Chi Meng didn’t mind Yuan Sike’s joke. Her expression grew slightly more serious, and she even turned sideways to look at the few trainees whose ranks had already been announced.

Excluding the top nine, besides Su Mengyao, all were trainees from major companies. Could she enter the top five?

Chi Meng suddenly felt nervous.

Sensing her emotion, 019 immediately said, “Host, you can do it! Host, take first place! Host is the best!”

019 loved its host so much. It watched Chi Meng’s performance very carefully, even recording it to watch repeatedly later.

“Okay,” Chi Meng said, then imitated others by lacing her fingers, pressing her hands together in front of her, and closing her eyes.

Song Jiaqi: “…What are you doing?”

Chi Meng didn’t open her eyes, “Casting a spell.”

Fine.

While they were talking, the headshot of the fourth trainee appeared: Ning Yuze.

Ning Yuze let out a huge sigh of relief in the crowd, while Chi Meng slowly sighed. Chen Zhu and Xue Weiran were bound to be in the top three. So far, Liu Yuexin from the first episode, Song Yingjun from Renxing Entertainment in the same group, and Qi Yan, who performed exceptionally well at the start of the public performance, had not appeared. Plus, there were other trainees with very endearing personalities…

Chi Meng’s mind was meticulous. The more she thought, the more possibilities arose. This was an occupational hazard from years of work; every detail had to be thought through clearly. Previously, a plan could range from Plan A to Plan G—even more than the show’s class divisions.

Just as she was mentally ranking the trainees, the photo on the large screen flipped over. In the front row, Hua Xiaowei excitedly patted Chi Meng, pulling her back to reality from her various mental rankings.

Blinking, Chi Meng heard a soft “Tch” from Song Jiaqi, which was slightly different from her usual disdain, carrying a hint of helplessness.

Chi Meng looked at the large screen and smiled widely.

Among the hundred-plus photos, Chi Meng’s was quite noticeable. Putting aside her looks, which alone could attract countless fans, in her photo, her arms were crossed below her chest and above her abdomen. She was slightly sideways, and if her suit were a different color, she could directly write “XX Manager Chi Meng” on a WeChat business card.

Many office workers in the audience, struck by the sense of déjà vu, chuckled. But they didn’t know that besides this photo, Chi Meng had taken several others, such as facing the camera with crossed hands and fingers resting on her arms, or slightly turned sideways with hands placed on her abdomen… all standard professional shots.

When taking the photos, the photographer and the follow PD had mysterious smiles on their faces. While agreeing with Chi Meng’s poses, they struggled to choose this particular one from several photos that could easily be displayed as model photos in a portrait studio.

Chi Meng saw her photo displayed after the number three. Her usually calm and gentle face showed unprecedented excitement. She let out a surprised “Ah,” and fireworks seemed to erupt in her eyes. The overhead camera accurately found Chi Meng behind the crowd and filmed her. Chi Meng, who hadn’t learned how to catch the camera yet, turned her excited face fiercely toward Song Jiaqi.

Hua Xiaowei and Yuan Sike put on their “watching the show” faces.

Having anticipated this, the expressionless Song Jiaqi said coldly, “Jie-jie.”

Chi Meng curled up the corners of her mouth and sweetly replied, “Ehn!”

The two spectators: “Hehe…”

This is too much fun!

Chi Meng had not expected to rank third in a three-thousand-person vote. Based on her experience from previous shows, comparisons of the trainees’ abilities, company marketing influence, and the effect of the

first episode’s broadcast, she had estimated her popularity to be around 20th to 30th among the 126 trainees, and whether she could maintain it would depend on later performance.

It seems I was still too young and knew too little about the entertainment industry!

Chi Meng thought happily. She raised her hand and rubbed her face, feeling she could slightly raise her expected rank. Let’s set the first ranking expectation at fifteen!

As she thought about this, Chi Meng blinked her bright eyes, leaned onto Song Jiaqi’s back, and whispered softly, “Qiqi~”

Song Jiaqi was instantly reminded of an actress on a film set calling her pet cat with the exact same tone: sweet, layered, and delicate.

She cautiously replied, “Speak.”

“Thank you for letting me win this time. I reluctantly accept the role of older sister again, but don’t give up, okay?” Chi Meng said with a smile.

Song Jiaqi felt like she had just drunk a cup of 1982 Longjing tea. She hadn’t expected Chi Meng to be so potent once she spoke—Su Mengyao was nothing compared to this. What, is she so good at learning that she’s picking up this too?

Song Jiaqi snorted coldly.

Chi Meng’s smile became even sweeter after hearing the snort. She lowered her voice and whispered in Song Jiaqi’s ear, “Let’s set our next wager. Eliminations start next week, so how about we bet on whose rank is higher?”

She changed the terms of the bet: instead of the higher rank determining who was the “older sister,” the bet was simply on whose rank was higher. Song Jiaqi could choose Chi Meng, and Chi Meng could choose Song Jiaqi.

But Song Jiaqi merely glanced at Chi Meng, appearing uninterested in the wager. Chi Meng raised an eyebrow, “What do you think?”

“Let’s bet on something more fun,” Song Jiaqi whispered, her lazy voice like a note rolling across velvet, falling into Chi Meng’s ear.

Chi Meng was all ears.

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