I Became the Top Competitor in a Talent Show Novel - Chapter 43.2

“The same content, different people. We’ll bet on…” Song Jiaqi’s gaze swept across the crowd, which obscured her view. Her eyes dropped, looking at Chi Meng’s slender, pale fingers resting on her shoulder, and she let out a slight laugh.

“We’ll bet on Su Mengyao and… Ning Yuze’s rank—who will be higher or lower.”

Chi Meng keenly sensed that Song Jiaqi actually wanted to compare ranks with someone other than Su Mengyao, but she didn’t call her out. She nodded with a smile: “Deal.”

The magnanimous older sister, Chi Meng, let the younger sister, Qiqi, choose first. Song Jiaqi pursed her lips. Considering she had lost twice, she didn’t refuse and unhesitatingly chose Su Mengyao.

“Mengyao would be thrilled if she knew you picked her, (wuwuwu, crying sound),” Chi Meng said, laughing. Song Jiaqi couldn’t help but picture the scenario and frowned like a child before high-fiving Chi Meng to seal the third round of the sisterly rivalry.

While they were chattering, the first and second place rankings had already been announced. First place was, reasonably, Chen Zhu, and second was Xue Weiran.

Their ranks were revealed, separated by fifty votes. Xue Weiran said nothing after seeing the result, resting her arm on her teammate’s shoulder. She glanced sideways at Chen Zhu’s photo, raising her eyebrow slightly. When she turned back, her composure was restored, and the corners of her mouth curled into an ambiguous smile.

“Time to go back and practice high notes,” An Ran joked to Xue Weiran across the people.

Xue Weiran shrugged.

The first-place trainee walked out from among all the trainees. She stood center stage. The rankings on the big screen disappeared, replaced by a picture of Chen Zhu alone. The cool, gentle girl gave a sweet smile, and the audience below shouted her name excitedly.

“Thank you. Thank you, everyone, for your love,” Chen Zhu said softly, bowing deeply.

The production team had previously solicited song choices for individual stages from the trainees. After Chen Zhu nodded to the camera, slow piano music began. Accompanied by the gentle melody, Chen Zhu sang softly.

“That summer when we were fifteen, we rode our bicycles to the sea. The distant dike, the white sand, the morning glories climbing the grass behind the railing…” Chen Zhu’s clear voice, full of tenderness, echoed in the quiet stadium.

Below the stage, fans, regardless of who they came for, swayed their light boards in unison with the rhythm, responding to the soft singing on stage, as if recalling their first love stories.

“The summer of fifteen had a swing rocking the leaves and a ‘her’… If white clouds drift by, memories are loaded onto white sand. The story is being written; it’s the summer of fifteen, it’s her.”

“The summer of fifteen.”

The song ended. Chen Zhu opened her eyes, smiled at the camera and the audience, and bowed again. Amidst the enthusiastic cheers, she turned and walked back to where she came from. Her gaze swept over the many trainees in the front row behind her. Their faces were alight with brilliant smiles, excitedly clapping along with the audience.

Amidst all the smiles and enthusiasm, only one person stood quietly.

Xue Weiran lowered her eyes, her expression faint. When a trainee next to her exclaimed, “Sister Xiangxiang’s singing is really beautiful,” she lazily raised her eyes and met a pair of calm ones.

Their eyes met, like a match quickly striking an oxidant. Both simultaneously looked away.

One corner of her mouth curled in a lazy, disdainful smirk, while the other’s face maintained a gentle smile as she clapped with the others.

Fervent yet serene.

With that, the first public performance of “Star Voyage” successfully concluded. The audience who attended in person was fully satisfied. The viewers following the live stream, although they missed the final individual stage, were equally happy to have enjoyed the wonderful performances.

Through this performance, many viewers’ impressions of certain trainees were renewed, especially those who were unnoticeable or performed ordinarily in the first episode. This surprise led to more intense voting this week.

The voting data for the individual stage was acquired by the major management companies for research, to continue building momentum and promotion for their trainees. On the night the performance ended, the official “Star Voyage” channel mosaiced all trainee voting data; the final results could only be seen during the show.

What could the fans do? They could only curse the terrible director while frantically casting their votes!

While the outside world was “surging,” the trainees who had worked hard for two weeks received news late at night upon returning to the camp: It’s a holiday! Holidays start tomorrow!

The first elimination recording was scheduled for July 8th. During this period, everyone would return home. To ensure safety, the production team would transport the trainees to the Dongjiang TV station parking lot the next morning, or they could arrange for family or company staff to pick them up.

The staff returned their phones, reminded them, “You must not disclose the location of the training camp,” and “You must not discredit the show in any form,” before leaving.

The trainees, exhausted from two weeks of work, were stunned for a moment, then screamed loudly. The entire dormitory building was filled with shrieks.

The taste of freedom!

Tired? No! Let’s get hyped!

Sleep? Why sleep? Let’s play, sisters!

Older sisters and younger sisters, let’s be happy!

In the control room, Cen Hongjie cracked sunflower seeds, watching the excited trainees in various dorms jump, play games online, watch movies, dramas, read novels, sing, dance, tell ghost stories, and watch horror films…

What rankings? What eliminations? Don’t know, don’t care about any of it!

Amidst the laughter and joy, only one person was out of sync with the environment, full of worry.

They promised room and board, so why a holiday?!

She wasn’t tired! She could continue training!

Chi Meng rested her face in her hand, sitting on a stool, playing with her “Big Genius Watch,” and sighed again.

Behind her, Yuan Sike held her phone, singing loudly: “Then let’s play a game together! If the opponent doesn’t cheat~ What’s the point of me struggling, when my jungle master skills were all for nothing~”

“Log in! Xue Weiran, log in!” After singing, she used the voice command to call people. She looked around the dorm. There were six people in their dorm. Hua Xiaowei and Chi Meng from their team were there, but Hua Xiaowei was sitting cross-legged on a stool in a nightgown, barefoot, with a tuft of hair tied on top of her head. She was holding a large bag of Cute Mika crisps and munching them, while her phone next to her was playing Peppa Pig, in English no less.

Chi Meng was twirling the watch on her finger, seemingly in deep thought, looking difficult to interrupt.

“What are you thinking about?” someone asked from behind.

Chi Meng answered softly, “I’m thinking about… where to sleep this week.”

After she spoke, she paused, then turned around with a smile. The girl, who had just showered and had dark hair draped over her wet body, looked down at her. Chi Meng patted her leg, “Sit.”

Song Jiaqi glanced at her slender legs with a hint of disdain, then leaned against Chi Meng’s cabinet and placed the items she was carrying on Chi Meng’s desk.

Not far away, Hua Xiaowei, crunching crisps, twitched her nose, and her green eyes slowly landed on Chi Meng’s desk.

The takeaway bag was stuffed full: fried chicken, pizza, hamburgers, and cola—an entire feast for a happy late-night snack. Chi Meng exclaimed in surprise, “Thank you!”

“Aren’t we not allowed to order delivery?”

Song Jiaqi showed her the time on her phone: twelve-thirty, officially a new day.

“The holiday has started.”

Everyone else in the dorm was startled, especially Hua Xiaowei, who quickly shoved a handful of crisps into her mouth and opened the food delivery app on her phone.

A minute later, she lamented in indignation: “Delivery fee is two hundred twenty yuan?!”

Why don’t they just rob me?!

Chi Meng chuckled and glanced at Song Jiaqi, who nodded.

“Let’s eat together. Qiqi is treating, and this is too much for me to finish,” Chi Meng said.

Everyone cheered, sincerely thanking the generous benefactor. They felt that Song Jiaqi was truly approachable and kind at this moment.

The “approachable benefactor” took a single french fry handed to her by Chi Meng and ate it little by little. She asked casually, “Nowhere to sleep?”

Chi Meng nodded naturally, “My apartment is rented out. It’s the family you ordered BBQ from before. I occasionally stay overnight to rest when I help them, but it’s summer vacation now. Their daughter is home all the time, and it’s not appropriate for me to crowd in with them.”

“Forget it, I’ll stay at a hotel,” Chi Meng said indifferently. There were a few things she wanted to do anyway.

Song Jiaqi looked at Chi Meng, the astonishment in her eyes quickly hidden. In those two simple sentences, Song Jiaqi understood something. She suddenly recalled that when the production team told the trainees to contact their families, Chi Meng had smiled and said to her, “No need.”

Her “no need” was because she didn’t want to hear her manager nag, but Chi Meng’s “no need”…

“I’m going to wash my hands,” Chi Meng murmured, getting up and pressing Song Jiaqi down onto the stool.

Song Jiaqi’s gaze swept over Chi Meng’s desk. Tucked against the cabinet were a bottle of shower gel and a bottle of shampoo, both practical family sizes. Besides those, there was a facial cleanser and a box of face cream—incredibly simple compared to the various skincare and makeup products of the other trainees.

The large desk was covered with the takeout Song Jiaqi had brought, with only Chi Meng’s phone watch quietly lying in the corner.

Song Jiaqi’s expression was serene. She recalled Chi Meng’s calm smile when she mentioned being guaranteed admission to J University during the public performance; she recalled her tireless practicing of singing and dancing, smiling through sweat and saying, “Let’s do it again”; she recalled the gentle smile that was always on her face, and the thin blanket she was covered with on the night they first met.

What kind of life could cultivate a personality like Chi Meng’s?

Song Jiaqi pondered blankly.

The protagonist occupying her mind walked back, looked at Song Jiaqi with a puzzled expression, picked up a golden, crispy fried chicken piece, tore off a strand of clean meat inside, and brought it to Song Jiaqi’s mouth. “What are you thinking about so intently? Are you tired?”

Song Jiaqi blinked, opened her mouth, and took the strand of meat, chewing the small piece carefully.

“I was thinking…” Song Jiaqi paused, then said, “My house is quite big, and I have many rooms. There’s no need to crowd in with anyone.”

Chi Meng’s fingers paused. She brought the newly torn strand of meat to Song Jiaqi’s mouth and smiled, “Then can I get room and board without having to work?”

Song Jiaqi raised an eyebrow.

Naturally.

The smile on Chi Meng’s lips deepened, “Qiqi is generous!”

After the compliment, she showed a slightly mysterious smile and said gently, “However, they say crowding together to sleep is warmer. We should sleep together when the weather gets cooler!”

Chi Meng: Friendship should be reciprocal. I’ll remember to return the favor—I’m talking about the sleeping part, of course. (Thumbs up emoji)

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