Transmigrated as the CEO's Top-Tier Stand-in - Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Backstage Whispers and Hard Truths

“The look in her eyes? What look?”

Qi Feng immediately tried to recall Ji Yu’s expression. Because Ji Yu’s appearance was outstanding among the hundred trainees, coupled with her completely unrelated hobby of cooking, he quickly remembered—

But before he could utter the answer, he saw Night raise his hand to his forehead, adopting a languid, “this is too much trouble, I don’t want to work” posture:

“I’m starting to feel this mentor fee is not easy to earn.”

Just as Qi Feng was about to speak, Night slapped his shoulder. The laziness vanished from his eyes, replaced by a dangerous gleam. He lifted his chin, curved his lips into a smile that shone as brightly as the long earring on his left ear.

“Let’s go, brother.”

“Our stage is starting!”

Hearing this, all other thoughts in Qi Feng’s mind were instantly discarded. As if by instinct, every cell in his body was mobilized, all accumulated energy poised for release on the stage

The Opening Stage

The moment the lights and music dropped on Qi Feng and Night’s duo stage, with the first beat of the drum hitting the eardrums.

The atmosphere of the entire hall was instantly ignited!

The power of TEB, the world’s number one boy group, was undeniable. Their figures leaped out from behind the stage’s dry ice fog. The moment they landed on the beat, every eye was instantly drawn to them, regardless of whether they liked heavy metal music or understood modern dance!

Jets of flames burst forth from the front of the stage. Flashing lights sliced the stage into shifting light and darkness. In this world of light and shadow, Qi Feng tilted his head slightly. The tear mole near his eye gave off a strange, seductive feeling in the dim light, adding a touch of wickedness to his lightly perspiring face. Night’s shimmering earring and the belt that fell casually like a tail at his waist amplified his charisma, which he projected through his vibrant dance moves.

The air itself seemed ignited by pure hormonal energy.

The girls watching in the audience forgot to eat or drink. They only listened to their hearts pound with the beat and rhythm, beating rapidly with every turn, every hip movement. Blood surged like a river in reverse, sweeping across a desolate plain, crashing again and again in the open wilderness, stirring up massive waves!

It wasn’t Ji Yu’s first time watching a boy group performance.

But in Qi Feng and Night’s near-perfect movements, she could see the effort of a thousand grueling practices crystallized into sweat. She could even imagine the countless times they had faced the mirror from every angle they presented to the audience.

The TEB stage should be the ultimate dream for all trainees.

Ji Yu had to close her eyes to suppress the trembling of her body.

Over countless years, she too had practiced like this, over and over. It wasn’t just her; the other girls around her had tasted that deep bitterness. Who could resist such a grand and brilliant temptation?

This was the sound of a dream blossoming…

“Yuyu.”

The System’s voice suddenly echoed in her mind.

Ji Yu’s attention shifted. Her eyelashes fluttered, and she replied, “What’s wrong?”

The System knew she didn’t want too much screen time and just wanted to quietly see out the rest of the plot, so it whispered, “The camera is turning this way. Stop crying.”

Ji Yu was momentarily stunned. She instinctively lifted her hand to rub her eye corner and indeed felt moisture. With no time to wonder why she was crying, Ji Yu tilted her head, quickly styling herself back to her previous appearance, using the curtain of her long hair for cover.

Just then, Qi Feng and Night’s stage performance drew to a close. The girls in the audience were momentarily dumbfounded, until a scream erupted from some corner.

Followed by deafening applause, like a rising tide, endless and building higher and higher!

Qi Feng and Night bowed deeply toward the hundred girls, just as they always did after a performance. Then, Qi Feng picked up the microphone, still slightly breathless:

“I hope the stage by Night-laoshi and me can bring you strength, allowing you to persevere through any difficulty you encounter in the coming time. Get through this journey, and trust me, one day you will shine brightly, crowned by this highest stage!”

As soon as he finished, the girls’ cheers grew much louder: “Feng Ge! We love you!”

Qi Feng smiled, exchanged a look with Night next to him, and laughed: “I’ll share half the love I received with you—”

A trace of a smile appeared in Night’s eyes as he quietly joked with him. Then, Qi Feng’s tone shifted: “Next, let’s invite our vocal mentor, An Ran, to perform her exclusive track for the show, The Voice of Dreams. Let’s listen to the story she brings you.”

Seat Selection and New Friends

The mentors’ stages continued to crescendo.

The girls had barely managed to eat anything, swept along by the mentors’ passionate or gentle rhythms, wave after wave. By the time they reacted, the food trays had been cleared, and the curtain was pulled back another layer, revealing a hundred white chairs arranged from high to low.

The chairs had shimmering numbers.

The highest seat was surrounded by what looked like countless interwoven feathers, like an angel’s descending wings. A delicate golden crown was fastened to the back of the chair, fitting Qi Feng’s earlier statement: they would compete across countless stages, and the one who achieved the highest honor would be crowned.

There were nine debut spots, but the first place held even greater prestige. In an instant, countless gazes fell upon that position.

Ling Lan, previously left speechless by the performances, had recovered somewhat. She tugged on Ji Yu’s sleeve, pointing to the highest spot. Just as she was about to say something, Ji Yu noticed the camera quickly panning over and swiftly clapped a hand over her mouth.

Ling Lan, who had already attracted camera attention earlier by singing two lines during her self-introduction: “?”

Ji Yu gave a slight smile, retreated a little, hid from the camera, and motioned for her to continue.

Ling Lan’s desire for a dramatic announcement was interrupted. She paused, speechless for two seconds, having forgotten her line. She reluctantly rubbed her nose, then beckoned to Ji Yu again: “Come on, let’s find a place to sit. It’s not our turn anytime soon anyway.”

She seemed completely unbothered by Ji Yu’s actions and didn’t care where the cameras were pointing.

Ji Yu, however, felt a little apologetic and leaned in, wanting to explain. Ling Lan just pulled her by the wrist, leading her to the seats. They chose a relatively central position. Ling Lan took the outermost seat, Ji Yu was next, and there were a few empty seats beside Ji Yu. Soon, four or five people sat down next to her. The leader was a blonde girl whose waist-length waves reflected a light that made the surrounding colors look much brighter.

Ji Yu looked at the silver on her left and the gold on her right. She subconsciously reached up and touched her own hair.

Is this the trend now?

Just as the thought arose, she glimpsed the blonde girl slipping a decorative hair tie off her wrist and handing it to the girl next to her, because the latter complained that her hairstyle was slightly loose.

Over the next three minutes, Ji Yu watched this blonde girl achieve a series of feats: “temporarily braiding a new hairstyle for teammate number one,” “pulling out a packaged donut and giving it to teammate number two,” “handing a bottle of mineral water along with lip balm and matching lipstick to thirsty teammate number three,” and “casually bumping into the chairs of a girl group in the front row, quickly getting into a friendly chat, and exchanging dorm numbers for a visit”… and other such accomplishments.

Seemingly noticing her surprise, the blonde girl paused her conversation and smiled at Ji Yu:

“Your name is Ji Yu, right?”

“I’m Jiang Lianque. You didn’t seem to eat much just now. Was it because there were a lot of sweets on the table? I happen to have a bag of sea salt soda crackers here. Want to grab a bite? This filming will last a long time, and skipping food might lead to low blood sugar.”

Ji Yu: “…!”

She stared at the soda crackers offered to her, stunned for a moment, unable to keep up with the pace. She couldn’t help but ask: “I don’t think I saw these crackers on the table just now.”

Jiang Lianque casually tucked her long hair behind her ear and winked at Ji Yu with her right eye: “I smuggled them in. Enjoy them while you can; they’ll probably be confiscated by the production team when we go back.”

With that said, Ji Yu couldn’t very well refuse. As she thanked her and accepted the crackers, she apologized, “I don’t think I saw you nearby just now…”

The other person had noticed her dietary habits, and she knew nothing about the girl. That felt very impolite.

Jiang Lianque waved her hand dismissively. The remaining colorful wristbands on her wrist made her skin glow white. She explained gracefully: “I was sitting in the front, and you were at the back of the long table, so it’s normal that you didn’t see me.”

“Don’t worry about it, it’s not a big deal. I just happened to notice, including Ling Lan next to you, the one with the Peking Opera background. She mentioned her birthday is November 3rd during her self-introduction. Hmm, come to think of it, I guess sixteen people will have birthdays during the filming period.”

Ji Yu: “…”

She suddenly had a bold guess.

Ji Yu blinked, trying to ask: “Did you… have you memorized all one hundred people?”

Jiang Lianque pressed her finger against her chin, a subtle light in her eyes. Her red lips parted, and she smiled casually with an air of effortlessness:

“We were the first group to enter, so we got to hear everyone else’s self-introductions. Hmm, no need to deliberately memorize it. What I hear and see just stays in my head.”

Ji Yu: “…”

Just then, Ling Lan tugged on her arm, excitedly praising how amazing the people on the stage were. This time, she didn’t use her dramatic operatic voice, but spoke with profound seriousness: “Who can compare with the gentlemen on the stage? The gentlemen are more capable! Strength sweeps like the wind, legs split four feet, dashing and unrestrained!”

Ji Yu: “…There’s no need to be so poetic!”

She looked at the “Central Opera Channel” on her left and the “Ultimate Brain” on her right, and was suddenly struck by a powerful sense of awe for the current generation of girl group trainees!

The Letter F and the Realization

“Individual trainee Ji Yu, please prepare.”

When the director’s notice sounded in her earpiece, Ji Yu felt an inexplicable sense of relief. She was only wearing a white T-shirt and jeans. Her hair and makeup were done by a stylist the production team had hastily assigned because they realized she hadn’t prepared anything. She walked all the way to the stage entrance channel.

In front of her was a table with several tall stacks of square cloths marked with A, B, C, D, and F.

Director Wang Luoshui’s voice came from near the camera: “Please choose a desired grade, stick it on your clothes, and then go on stage.”

Ji Yu clenched her right palm, suppressing the tremor of stage fright. Her gaze swept over the letters, and finally, she walked towards F.

Wang Luoshui, watching through the live feed, asked her, “Why did you choose F?”

Ji Yu smiled faintly, looking down: “Because… everyone is very talented. Someone has to be F, right?”

Wang Luoshui behind the camera: “…”

Something’s wrong.

This “poisonous chicken soup” is wrong.

She wanted to say something, but remembering how Ji Yu had continuously dodged the camera, she only managed to utter after a long pause: “You need to work hard.”

Ji Yu nodded.

But after she went on stage, Wang Luoshui knew Ji Yu had completely ignored her advice. The song Ji Yu performed was the same one she had sung during the audition. Night, seeing her dance specialty, asked her to dance. She thought for a moment and performed a popular girl group dance that was common on the streets recently. The moves were simple, ordinary.

There was no intentional goofiness, nor any standout moments.

Wang Luoshui would have to be out of her mind to edit her performance into the first episode.

Director Wang, sitting behind the camera, rubbed her forehead, leaned back in her chair, then felt a wave of growing frustration. She reached out and fanned herself.

After a long while, she sat up and sent a message to Meng Rendong:

“What’s up with your ex-lover?”

“She seems completely uninterested in getting famous.”

The Bittersweet Truth

Meng Rendong received the message while she was on the top floor of the resort hotel. This floor was exclusively reserved for the Meng family, a truly luxurious presidential suite with an outdoor pool.

Seeing Wang Luoshui’s message, she sat there staring at her phone for a long time, unsure how to reply.

After a long while, she finally moved her fingertips and typed out a response: “If she wants to work hard, she works hard. If not, so be it. Don’t make things difficult. Follow your work ethic. You don’t need to give her any special treatment because of me. I know how long you’ve prepared for this show.”

Wang Luoshui’s side showed “is typing.”

Meng Rendong suddenly remembered something and added: “She likes sweets. Provided it doesn’t inconvenience others, can your restaurant offer desserts to the trainees?”

Wang Luoshui saw this line, deleted what she was typing, and replaced it with a string of ellipses.

“Desserts? This is Chasing Dreams 100, not Weight 100. Rendong, please spare me.”

“Wait, that’s not right. Are you sure she likes sweets?”

Meng Rendong’s eyes narrowed upon seeing this message: “What do you mean?”

Wang Luoshui recalled the audio recordings from when the trainees were eating. Since they didn’t want to miss any material, everyone’s mics were on at the time, although they would be selectively amplified in post-production. Due to Ji Yu’s unique qualities and her proximity to Ling Lan, Wang Luoshui had paid attention to their conversation.

She was certain she had heard Ji Yu say “can’t eat sweets.”

Not likes sweets.

Just then, the editor next to her was selecting video material. Wang Luoshui walked over and saw the exact moment Ji Yu declined Ling Lan’s offer. The editor was about to fast-forward, but she patted the person’s shoulder, signaled a pause, and after confirming, she picked up her phone to reply to Meng Rendong:

“You must be mistaken, Rendong.”

“The footage here shows she didn’t touch any sweets, and she told her new friend she doesn’t like them.”

When Meng Rendong saw these two lines, the first reaction that flashed through her mind was—

Impossible.

She remembered that whenever she and Ji Yu were together, Ji Yu would always cook sweet dishes. If it wasn’t because she liked them…

If it wasn’t because she liked them.

Then what could it be?

The next second, Wang Luoshui’s phone call came in. Meng Rendong instinctively slid to answer. Her throat moved, wanting to say something, but Wang Luoshui’s voice came first:

“Rendong.”

“When she registered for the show, we confiscated phones and snacks, so we did a personal item check. She brought stomach medicine. I checked, and it’s for treating chronic gastritis and stomach ulcers.”

“People with serious stomach problems can’t eat things that are too sweet, too sour, or too spicy, because these things harm the digestive tract, and sweets stimulate stomach acid secretion.”

“You…”

Wang Luoshui stopped, as if she didn’t know what to say next.

Meng Rendong’s breathing stopped along with her words, but her hand gripping the phone inexplicably trembled.

She suddenly remembered celebrating Ji Yu’s belated birthday. That night, Ji Yu was hospitalized for acute gastroenteritis. At the time, the doctor asked her if the patient had eaten anything she shouldn’t have.

She didn’t know then.

Now, she finally understood.

It was the sweets.

What she thought was honey was Ji Yu’s poison.

And she had convinced Ji Yu to consume it, mouthful after mouthful.

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