Transmigrated as the CEO's Top-Tier Stand-in - Chapter 46

Chapter 46

“Kala…”

A fine, crisp sound, as if glass was about to shatter under unbearable pressure, or like the silence when heavy winter snow has covered a road past a person’s knees, and a boot has deeply trod into it.

Chu Nanxing was sitting with her parents in a temporarily empty makeup room backstage. She had originally been aloof and rarely spoke, but her expression suddenly changed upon hearing this sound.

Yu Su, who was constantly watching her expression, couldn’t help but ask with concern:

“Why do you look so pale? Are you feeling unwell?”

Chu Nanxing shook her head. Yu Su was about to hand her a glass of water when she suddenly got up from her seat and rushed outside, her tone impatient even in her departing words:

“I’m going to the restroom!”

Yu Su failed to call her back and sat there helplessly, unconsciously sighing: “This child…”

Saying this, she looked at Chu Huaide beside her and subconsciously asked: “Are you sure she’s doing well on this show? I’ve seen how tough people in this industry have it—their schedules are upside down, day and night are mixed up, and they rarely eat on time. And she’s a girl; I’ve recently seen online how female celebrities like to diet and take medication randomly…”

She made herself nervous, her demeanor carrying a sense of impending disaster. Chu Huaide saw her look and interrupted:

“That’s enough.”

“The child is all grown up. She knows what path she wants to take. What good is it for us to worry? If you’re really uneasy, I’ll go talk to Director Wang later and ask him to take good care of her… She chose this profession herself; no matter how tough it is, she has to walk it herself.”

Yu Su wanted to refute something, but the words reached her lips and turned into a long sigh.

She knew her husband was right.

But a mother looking at her child, no matter how much the child has grown, always feels like there’s little difference from when they were small, so she subconsciously wants to shield them from the wind and rain.

This was her instinct.

Thinking of this, Yu Su’s gaze followed the direction Chu Nanxing had left, and she murmured softly: “Is she really okay…”

Empty Corridor

Chu Nanxing didn’t have time to reach the restroom and was forced to unfold the semi-transparent water curtain that contained the story of this world.

One glance.

Her eyes involuntarily widened.

All the text in Meng Rendong’s original experience that she had modified years ago (the 2.0 personality version) was completely shattered and gone. The content that was still brightly shimmering had changed to another passage:

Personality Experience: Due to being unfavored at home, Meng Rendong’s personality initially became very isolated, cold, and disliked interacting with people. However, through meeting and getting to know Chu Jianyu, she gradually learned to open up, retracting her sharp cold thorns, and became gentle and considerate. Unfortunately, Chu Jianyu suffered an accident in her nineteenth year, drowning.

Meng Rendong was extremely grieved by this. She constantly refused to accept the fact, and her dreams at night were always about the scene of Chu Jianyu’s death, leaving her greatly self-reproachful and uneasy… until she had a unique encounter. However, due to the “yearning” of the female lead, Chu Nanxing, Meng Rendong’s encounter ended abruptly, leaving certain after-effects.

Three years later, she met the female lead of that encounter again in her own life. Unfortunately, she had lost that period of memory and failed to recognize the old acquaintance. After four years of being together, she ended up being dumped, leaving her extremely annoyed and even full of regret.

In this state of mind, she slowly began to remember something. (Still being completed)

Chu Nanxing: “…!”

She read the long passage several times. She vaguely felt she understood something, yet she hadn’t received any effective information. This made her furious. She subconsciously raised her hand, clenched her fist, and pounded the semi-transparent light screen.

The text on it vibrated silently but firmly refused to change.

For some reason, Chu Nanxing felt utterly fooled. She pointed her right index finger at the last line of text, lowering her voice, suppressing the hysterical edge:

“What do you mean?”

“What did she remember?”

“Tell me! What exactly did she remember? And who is this Ji Yu? What are you hiding? Your story is from God’s perspective, you must know… Didn’t you make me the female lead? Then give the female lead the treatment she deserves!”

She ignored her slightly reddened palm and fingers, stubbornly staring at the rows of golden text, as if she could find the answers she wanted between the lines.

As if moved by her persistent attitude, the text on the light screen subtly shifted, rippling like lake water. After circles of waves spread out, a line of text appeared:

[BUG detected, world line is obscured, unable to fully display]

Chu Nanxing grasped at this last straw like she was seeing hope, quickly exclaiming: “Bug? What bug? What are you referring to?”

The light screen stopped moving again, only showing that one line.

Chu Nanxing closed her eyes, starting to guess:

What caused her life to change?

Meng Rendong’s resistance after Chu Jianyu died?

No.

That unique encounter?

It is that!

Chu Nanxing carefully re-read Meng Rendong’s current personality experience. A guess gradually surfaced:

Ji Yu… is the bug referred to here.

She is the loophole in this world, someone Meng Rendong met, God knows where, back then. Regardless, everything started changing after Ji Yu came into Meng Rendong’s life. Otherwise, no one could affect Chu Nanxing’s status.

Having figured this out, Chu Nanxing’s furious brain gradually calmed down. She even stopped caring that the shackles she had so painstakingly placed on Meng Rendong were broken.

She stood there exceptionally quietly, looking at the golden screen in front of her. It seemed like she thought for a long time, but the decision was instantaneous. Her whispered voice was only heard by herself:

“A bug, huh…”

“Should be purged.”

End of the Corridor

Ji Yu had just taken a step out when she saw the figure ahead and reflexively took a step back, hiding herself behind the wall again. She stood there, staring at her toes for a while, and asked the system:

“Was that Chu Nanxing just now?”

“Huh? Why do I feel so guilty seeing her?”

The system cooperated and answered honestly: “Maybe it’s because you’re trying to sneak out again, so you instinctively want to hide when you see anyone.”

Ji Yu agreed, thinking it made sense.

Then she stood quietly by the wall. Because the distance was too great, she couldn’t hear when Chu Nanxing would leave, so she decided to wait patiently. During this time, she inadvertently recalled the scene just now.

“Speaking of which, did I just see a strange… golden box?”

The system had a better memory than her. With a brief backtrack of the image, it reconstructed the scene Ji Yu had glimpsed and corrected: “To be precise, it was a semi-transparent box with text-like images distributed inside, which were golden.”

Ji Yu: “Ah…”

The system echoed her: “Ah…”

After a simultaneous silence, Ji Yu spoke first: “Actually, I’m not a person who is curious about others’ privacy, you know?”

The system nodded: “Mhm.”

Ji Yu: “The main thing is that the person is Chu Nanxing, and of course, I’m not targeting her, but combining the strange stories happening around me recently, plus the fact that I was once very likely pushed to the dangerous edge, like a large bird spreading its wings—”

The system interrupted her: “Yuyu.”

It said: “If you want to look again, then look again. Don’t worry, I won’t misunderstand.”

Ji Yu quickly acknowledged, then swiftly peeked her head out slightly for another look.

It was this glance.

She was sure she saw a scene that would only appear in a sci-fi movie.

Chu Nanxing was now facing her direction, and right in front of Chu Nanxing, suspended in mid-air, with no glowing projection equipment nearby—

A semi-transparent rectangular box was floating there.

The center of the box had large patches of gold.

With the system’s excellent resolution, those large patches of gold appeared to be Chinese characters.

Ji Yu retreated her head, leaning against the cold wall, hearing her heart pounding, her face still showing a look of disbelief.

“Sci-fi movie…”

Is this world really a sci-fi movie?

Ji Yu moved her lips, silently chewing on this conclusion. She was about to share her shocking discovery with the system, but on second thought, she could encounter a system whose real body was a dog, transmigrate into a book, and find her previously known good friend resurrected in this world—

What else was there to be surprised about?

With a feeling of “I’ve already seen the world,” Ji Yu managed to suppress the astonishment in her heart. She finally regained her train of thought and asked the system:

“Does this female lead, Chu Nanxing…”

“Also have a cheat?”

The system responded ambiguously: “Hmm…”

Ji Yu misunderstood its meaning and rounded off the topic with a self-answered question: “That’s true. I’m just an unimportant minor character with a system, so it’s normal for her, as the female lead, to have a cheat.”

The system finally reacted and quickly replied: “No.”

“Yuyu, I didn’t mean that.”

Hesitating for a moment, it said: “I’ve actually seen Chu Nanxing and spent some time with the Chu family… but I’m certain that this thing never appeared around Chu Nanxing when she was young.”

Ji Yu: “Huh?”

The system carefully sorted through its memories and confirmed again: “That’s right, she wasn’t born with this thing.”

Then…

When did Chu Nanxing acquire this cheat?

The system once again thought of the summer seven years ago, when Chu Jianyu died.

At that time, Chu Nanxing was the closest person to Chu Jianyu when she drowned.

It recalled the light screen in front of Chu Nanxing, especially the fluctuation of world energy it perceived when it saw the object with its own eyes, and an uneasy premonition arose.

Ordinarily, while attached to Ji Yu, it was in close proximity and contact with Chu Nanxing every day—

But it had never detected the existence of this thing.

Thinking again that the original protagonist of this world was Chu Jianyu, but now it has become Chu Nanxing, and this huge loophole has appeared, it felt somewhat negligent.

Ji Yu also sensed something from its silence and stood in the corner with the system, spacing out, until she realized that all the performances on the stage had ended. The director was notifying everyone to gather on the stage to await the final results announcement.

Ji Yu poked her head out to look down the corridor again and found that Chu Nanxing was nowhere to be seen.

It was now much harder to sneak out to find someone. Ji Yu sighed heavily. Hearing the director team’s repeated urging to everyone, she had no choice but to head back.

Café, Private Room

Meng Rendong checked the time and said to Si Tian opposite her: “It’s almost time to announce the results. Should we go back and watch?”

Si Tian nodded, subconsciously looking at her, a little unsure of what effect her appearance would have on Ji Yu. Meng Rendong chuckled and said:

“It’s fine.”

She would take responsibility for her own actions.

She had made quite a few mistakes anyway; one more wouldn’t hurt.

Si Tian followed her to pay the bill and walk out. As they approached the venue, she suddenly said: “How about… next time?”

Meng Rendong raised an eyebrow.

Si Tian pointed to the large venue in front of them and said to Meng Rendong: “Strictly speaking, compared to the last public performance, Ji Yu will be facing a lot of fans this time. Today’s result is also very important to her—”

“If the result is very good, she should be very happy. If she learns the truth now, the extreme happiness followed by great sorrow won’t be good for her health, and she might not even believe us.”

“If the result is not good, this would be a double blow to her.”

“So… should we perhaps choose a milder approach on another day to slowly tell her the truth?”

Meng Rendong looked at her thoughtfully.

Meanwhile.

Inside the Venue

Only the results for the final two groups remained to be announced.

Sun‘s Group A and Group B.

Currently, Chu Nanxing’s team was in the middle of the ten teams, neither high nor low, because the votes for the other four members weren’t very high. Qi Feng smiled at this moment:

“Let’s first look at the first place votes for Group B… Chu Nanxing.”

The light on the screen flashed.

Chu Nanxing: 382 votes

The girls in the entire venue exclaimed: “Wow!!!”

This was the individual record for the most votes so far. Because of Chu Nanxing’s runaway vote count, her team directly surpassed the group with Jiang Lianque and Ling Lan, temporarily taking first place.

The trainees became even more nervous.

Ji Yu and Rong Bai stood one after the other in the team. Despite being the only two people in the entire venue whose results hadn’t been revealed, they wore the same look of calm. Qi Feng saw they weren’t nervous at all, so he decided to be mischievous. Without any buffer, he went straight to the point:

“Alright! Let’s announce the results for Group A as well!”

He gave no face to the final act.

The trainees and audience who were halfway through their “wows” had their breath caught and held, immediately choking up.

The screen boldly displayed:

Group A

First Place: Ji Yu Votes: 528

First Place: Rong Bai Votes: 528

“Aah-aah-aah-aah!”

“We won!”

“Oh my god?!”

“They really are tied for first place!”

“Their vote count is the highest in the entire venue too…”

Ji Yu smiled at Rong Bai over her shoulder. Seeing Rong Bai raise her hand, she also raised her right palm and clapped hands with her, then tightly squeezed: “Bonus votes secured.”

Qi Feng looked at the two Sun groups occupying the top two spots, picked up his cue card, and faced the audience: “Congratulations to the first-place group of this public performance—”

“They are Sun Group A!”

“The reward for the first place of this public performance is a bonus of one hundred thousand votes for each winning group member, and the first-place member within the group receives an additional bonus of one hundred fifty thousand votes! Congratulations to them!”

“In five minutes, I will announce the ranking results of the first round of voting since Dream Chasing 100 opened for voting. Please stay tuned.”

Audience Back Row

Si Tian stood next to Meng Rendong, subconsciously clutching the orange glow bracelet on her wrist. She whispered: “What rank do you think she’ll get…”

Meng Rendong, however, stared at the glowing object on her wrist and seriously asked: “What is this?”

“Why don’t I have one?”

Si Tian: “…Huh? I got this when I passed Ji Yu’s fan club on the way in. It’s one of her support merchandise.”

Meng Rendong frowned, her gaze fixed on Si Tian’s wrist, as if she could see through the bracelet.

Si Tian couldn’t help but move her hand. Finally, under that undeniable gaze, she tentatively asked: “Should I… give this to you?”

Meng Rendong’s expression immediately brightened, and she said cordially: “How can I accept this?”

But her sight still hadn’t moved away from Si Tian’s glow bracelet.

Si Tian: “…”

She helplessly took off the bracelet and gave it to Meng Rendong, saying “It’s fine.” Then she looked toward the stage, realizing it was now the intermission. She had no choice but to suppress the excitement in her heart and wait for the results of the first-round ranking to be announced shortly.

Next, she also glimpsed Meng Rendong solemnly putting the bracelet, which probably cost less than a dime and was barely glowing, right next to her very expensive-looking gold diamond-encrusted watch.

She even looked slightly disgruntled that the watch didn’t match the bracelet.

Si Tian was speechless. She felt that if the watch had consciousness, it would be shedding innocent tears. She subconsciously said:

“Meng…”

Meng Rendong thought she was still asking about the ranking and answered without lifting her head: “No hurry.”

Si Tian: “I’m not asking about that.”

Meng Rendong: “?”

She finally looked up, willing to give her attention to the person in front of her.

Si Tian whispered to her: “I was just suddenly curious…”

She looked left and right, then leaned closer to Meng Rendong so others wouldn’t hear, and very quietly asked: “Back then, why did you care so much about Ji Yu the moment you first saw her?”

“What exactly is your relationship?”

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