I Became the Top Competitor in a Talent Show Novel - Chapter 61.1

Chi Meng sat facing the screen, listening to the discussions around her.

The trainee sitting behind her excitedly said, “Let the audience vote to decide our teams? That’s so thrilling!”

“The key is that we don’t know the performance songs, so what kind of songs will the audience have us perform! What if some audience members want to see a spectacle and intentionally rig the ranks, like choosing “Qinghai-Tibet Plateau” for Xue Weiran? What should we do about that!”

Xue Weiran, who was talking to her friends and was suddenly called out, subconsciously furrowed her brows.

“Probably not,” Shen Zhu said. “Listening to Sister Tongyue announce the rules, only one audience member’s pairing will ultimately be chosen, and it will be the one with the highest overall network votes. For every person who intentionally messes up the rankings for fun, there will be people who seriously choose songs and teammates for us. I think the latter will be the majority. Everyone should trust the Star Makers who vote for us; they definitely want to see our wonderful stages.”

Shen Zhu’s words were met with approval from the crowd. Her cool, clear voice calmed everyone’s nerves. Their hearts, which had been feeling a bit lost due to the uncertainty, gradually settled down, and they continued to discuss the rules for the third public performance.

For some unknown reason, a hidden thrill also arose in their hearts. This feeling of completely not knowing who their future teammates would be—like opening a blind box—was truly interesting!

“Don’t you feel like… you can see their orientation from the audience’s pairing votes?” Chi Meng whispered to Song Jiaqi, “I mean, for forming the group.” She wondered if there would be a phenomenon where all the high-ranking trainees were crowded into one team.

The two put their heads together to talk, separated by the armrest of the seat. The short, narrow armrest was like a long, slender bar, but it couldn’t block anything. Song Jiaqi’s breath landed on the strands of Chi Meng’s hair near her ear.

She replied, “It’s possible.”

“But the performance songs given by the production team are likely to have distinct styles. After four episodes and two public performances, the audience is relatively familiar with our styles.” The management companies would consider the stage impact and work with major fans to guide and call for votes. In short, they wouldn’t sit back and do nothing.

Fans, well… they naturally want to see the stages that make their hearts flutter.

If someone asked Chi Meng if she wanted to see another song in the style of Song Jiaqi’s second public performance stage, Chi Meng would nod definitely.

She propped her chin up, her gaze falling on the lower half of Song Jiaqi’s face—her perky nose tip, her crimson, moist lips, looking as if a plump, mature fruit had been picked from a branch and then fished out of a stream. The skin on her jawline was smooth and fair. This was probably what was meant by “red lips and white teeth.”

“What are you looking at?”

The familiar, lazy voice asked from close by. Chi Meng chuckled softly and said, “Hey, Qiqi, do you like pomegranates?”

Song Jiaqi thought she was pondering something major, but she didn’t expect the question to be whether she liked pomegranates, and why pomegranates, specifically? Song Jiaqi felt a little confused but still answered, “It’s okay. Fruit has high fructose content, so I generally eat less, but I’m not picky.”

“So focused on maintaining your figure, huh,” Chi Meng muttered softly, reaching out to pinch Song Jiaqi’s waist. Under the thin fabric, the soft skin had no excess fat, so slender it felt like it could be encircled with just one arm.

“You think everyone is like you—and Su Mengyao,” Song Jiaqi paused, then snorted, “and Hua Xiaowei!”

Chi Meng was one thing, but the latter two were too much. People who eat a lot and don’t get fat are rare, but there were two of them right when she entered the camp. If Song Jiaqi hadn’t maintained her figure for years for the camera and had long lost her craving for food, she would definitely be upset.

The trainees behind them were buzzing about the rules of the third public performance, while these two were discussing topics like “Do you spit out the seeds when you eat a pomegranate?” Teng Jia felt a bit of a disconnect, glancing out of the corner of her eye at the girl who said expressionlessly, “I drink pomegranate juice,” and almost burst out laughing.

“Are you fixated on pomegranates?” Song Jiaqi was speechless.

Chi Meng sighed, indicating, “You don’t understand…”

It was all because Song Jiaqi was eating a pomegranate and biting right into the skin in her dream. If she didn’t ask clearly, how could she continue the dream when she went back? “What you think in the day, you dream at night.” Of course, the story plot should be as complete as possible.

Song Jiaqi: “…Then let me continue to remain ignorant.”

Chi Meng looked at her with a look of pity, saying, “Please don’t talk about yourself that way,” but Song Jiaqi, unable to bear it any longer, reached out and pushed her head aside.

After promising not to talk about pomegranates anymore, the two finally returned to the main topic. However, by this time, they had already forgotten where they had left off. Chi Meng slowly said, “There’s still one more question.”

Song Jiaqi gestured for her to speak, and Chi Meng parted her lips, then whispered, “Forget it.”

She smiled and said, “Don’t be a spoilsport.”

Song Jiaqi immediately understood what she wanted to say, and her dark eyes met Chi Meng’s. She nodded.

Just then, among the trainees behind them, someone suddenly shouted, “There’s an elimination round before the third public performance. If someone in the decided team is eliminated…”

The room instantly fell silent. Chi Meng and Song Jiaqi simultaneously closed their mouths and looked at Teng Jia, who had stood up.

Due to the topic of elimination, some trainees looked uneasy. Teng Jia seemed to have been waiting for this moment. She picked up the microphone and said, “The second round of elimination will start on July 22nd, and the performance songs will be announced on the same day. If the confirmed performance team has three or more trainees, the stage will definitely not change. If the number of trainees for a performance song is less than three, they will be distributed to other teams. The specific allocation will be decided on the day of the recording.”

Everyone nodded, unsure what expression to show. The new round of voting would clear the previous round’s vote pool. The broadcasted episodes and public performances were likely to change the situation. Apart from the highly popular trainees who didn’t need to worry about elimination, most trainees were uncertain about their current ranking. Yesterday, after the public performance ended, many managers were vague, only telling them to perform well.

However, the topic didn’t end there. Teng Jia handed the microphone to Xu Shenglin, who continued, “To showcase the trainees’ charm to the Star Makers and allow the audience to see a different side of you within the training camp, discovering the chemical reactions that result from personality clashes and helping them choose the perfect teams, the production team will upload more small stories from the training camp via the Dongjiang Satellite TV app this week.”

All the trainees immediately realized why they had seen photographers everywhere today. What! This wasn’t a break at all!

They were lied to!

Xu Shenglin smiled and said, “To uncover everyone’s shining points, the production team has specially prepared multiple live broadcasts, with various talent shows and mini-games waiting for you~”

As soon as she finished speaking, many eyes lit up. Talent shows could demonstrate their strength, and mini-games were the time to showcase their personality charm. This live broadcast was a solid way to garner votes!

Many people resolved to perform well in the live broadcast. Tomorrow was the start of a new week with new voting tickets. As long as they had a little more opportunity, they had a greater chance of staying!

“Also, in the third public performance team competition, the team with the highest votes will no longer receive a vote bonus, but rather a collective stage reward. The trainee who receives the highest number of overall votes will continue to have a personal stage opportunity,” Teng Jia added.

Xu Shenglin gently said, “In the second round of voting, 28 of the 81 trainees present will leave our show. To compete for the 56 spots in the third public performance, please continue to work hard this week and show your best selves to the Star Makers.”

The trainees stood up straight and answered loudly, “Yes!”

They thought the recording would end here, but to their surprise, there was more!

Mentor Teng Jia smiled faintly, delivering the final blow under the confused gaze of the trainees. She looked at the camera and said, “Starting from the third public performance, the live broadcast segment will be canceled. The live audience will increase from three thousand to five thousand people, and the program’s broadcast time will be swapped with the performance time. It will change from the public performance every Saturday to Sunday, and the program will be broadcast every Saturday at 8 PM. Please continue to tune in.”

“All matters have been announced. Dismissed in place.” Teng Jia waved her hand, declaring the bewildered trainees free to do what they wished.

The girls shuffled around like lambs, grabbed their belongings, and gradually left the auditorium. It wasn’t until they breathed in the fresh air that their minds slowly cleared, and they pulled friends from the same company to continue discussing the public performance with complex expressions.

At the same time, when the program broadcast ended and the third public performance section opened, the official accounts released news on various social media platforms about the audience pairing the trainees into teams. Suddenly, the number of users on the Dongjiang TV app’s Star Journey section surged, with everyone passionately discussing personnel pairings after viewing the songs.

However, in the subsequent updates from the Star Journey official account, the program broadcast time and performance time were minor matters, but why were they canceling the live broadcast of the public performance!!!

How were they supposed to appreciate the trainees’ stunning stages right away! Production team, what are you doing!!!

Five thousand people! A mere five thousand people! How were they supposed to get tickets!

Some even speculated that the official action was a ploy to secure exclusive viewing tickets for the winners of the third public performance pairing! The dog director was very capable of doing something like that!

In response, Cen Hongjie thought: …Not so, truly not so.

“But this way, the public performance’s influence on voting decreases! The week after the public performance there are new voting opportunities, but now they can only vote based on the trainees’ performance in the main episode,” someone sighed.

“The production team must have considered this. They should have their own ideas!” someone else said.

“True. After all, we’re only human. How could we guess the intentions of the dog director! Hehe, grinding-my-knife.jpg”

Just as everyone was wondering what the production team was planning, the next day at noon, the Dongjiang TV app suddenly released the full episode of the second public performance, the full episode! Including the trainees’ training camp stories!

People who were stuck in the “Monday curse” feeling irritable and unmotivated were stunned by the production team’s extravagant move!

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