Transmigrated as the CEO's Top-Tier Stand-in - Chapter 58

Chapter 58

Ji Yu was once again the center (C-position) for this performance. When she sang the sad chorus that mobilized everyone’s emotions, a girl in the group specializing in high notes harmonized with her part.

By the time the song ended, many fans in the audience were wiping away tears. Some had seen the TV drama and naturally empathized, while others were hearing it for the first time but were still drawn into the sorrowful atmosphere by the melody. Undoubtedly, this was a successful adaptation.

i have a secret is a Western fantasy epic. Although it had cultural differences from China, after its introduction, it quickly achieved a score of over nine on Douban due to its exquisite production, grand world setting, and magnificent costume and set design. The tragic, beautiful story of the Witch and the Evil Dragon, in particular, moved countless viewers to tears.

Compared to the epic tragic sense of the original theme song, the adaptation by Ji Yu’s group members, along with the vocal coach An Ran invited by the program, diluted the grand background elements and added more lyrical components. Thus, even viewers who didn’t understand the lyrics could feel the sorrow in the melody.

The song was performed after a modern dance by a Dance group. Despite the intensity left by the previous group’s warm-up, this performance quickly pulled the audience into another dimension, showcasing its powerful appeal.

The scoring rule for this public performance was that all audience members on site could only vote for one contestant across all performances. Unlike the previous public performance where they chose between Group A and Group B in each round, the votes this time were much more precious.

After Ji Yu and her group members left the stage, there was only one Rap performance and one Vocal performance left before the voting process officially began.

Half an hour later.

Si Tian nervously turned to look at Meng Rendong, but finding her particularly engrossed in her phone today, she assumed she was busy with company matters and swallowed the words on the tip of her tongue.

Meng Rendong, however, noticed her gaze, shifted her sight away from the phone, and looked at her with some curiosity.

“What’s wrong?”

Si Tian pointed towards the stage, “The results are about to be announced.”

Meng Rendong nodded, closed her phone, and stopped looking at the ending of the Witch and the Giant Dragon.

In the story of this TV drama, the Witch this time did not want to be a pawn of the Empire, to be married off to a neighboring ally. The royal family was accustomed to this and had a complete set of countermeasures: confine the princess, drug her, and send her away on the day of the wedding.

But this time, they did not succeed.

The princess escaped before the wedding. Over the past decade, through playing hide-and-seek with the servants, she had become intimately familiar with the secret passages beneath the Imperial Palace.

When the armies of the two nations began a massive search within the country, she audaciously returned to the palace, attempting to rescue the person who had chatted with her since childhood, the one who, having committed some unknown crime, was to be eternally confined beneath the ground, never to see the light of day.

Because she realized that through years of conversation, she had fallen in love with the owner of the voice.

However, she was met not by a person but by a massive, mountain-ridge-like corpse: snow-white bones, interspersed with long and short scars, and some weapons and spears stuck in the skeleton, announcing the suffering it had endured.

Facing the Witch in such a visceral state, the Dragon’s lingering will felt immense pain, but the young princess who witnessed it all was in even greater agony…

She remembered everything.

She saw herself surrounded by the mages of the Empire, then reincarnated as a member of the Imperial bloodline, saying goodbye to her contracted Dragon time and again, going to distant lands, and only briefly reuniting upon death.

The Witch remembered everything, including her contract with the Dragon. The Imperial Palace began to collapse and crumble. The noblewomen and servants in the palace panicked, trying desperately to escape, but were all trapped in the terrible scene of devastation.

The Dragon’s skeletal remains rose from the ground, seeing the light of day again. The Witch’s curse, carrying all the power of the Dragon’s soul, echoed throughout the nation.

Immediately after, terrifying fire rained down from the sky, destroying all living creatures, houses, and forests on the ground. The world turned into an ocean of fire. All prosperity, wealth, poverty, and suffering were reduced to nothing. Mortals perished in the heavenly fire, and death returned the entire world to flatness. Until the fire burned out, leaving behind ashes and smoke… The mighty Empire was no more, becoming a barren Dragon’s grave, where the Witch’s final remains were also buried, and her soul and the Dragon’s scattered into the heavens and earth.

Meng Rendong watched Ji Yu and the other trainees walk out from backstage. For a moment, she couldn’t distinguish between Ji Yu and the Witch in the story.

But the next moment, she strangely calmed down.

The Giant Dragon had perished and could no longer protect the Witch by its own will, only watching her reincarnate and leave again and again. But she was different… She was still alive. This symbolized all hope and miracles. She could safeguard her treasure. Regardless of Ji Yu’s choice after learning the final truth, she would not change her original intention.

On stage.

Group first-place results were announced one after another. The rankings between different teams kept changing. Si Tian was too nervous to even blink, even though Ji Yu’s votes hadn’t been announced yet.

Watching group after group, keeping Ji Yu’s song suppressed below them, Si Tian constantly calculated the gap between Ji Yu and the first place, while tightly clenching her fingers.

Meng Rendong saw her looking as if she was holding her breath and couldn’t help but chuckle softly:

“Don’t be nervous.”

Si Tian thought she had received some prior information, and her eyes sparkled as she turned to look at her.

Meng Rendong’s next sentence, however, was: “Even if her song can’t move everyone, it’s still excellent as long as the people who love her remember it.”

At this time, the group temporarily ranked first was Chu Nanxing’s Dance group. Their performance, which came just before Ji Yu’s, had evoked a heated reaction in the venue.

Meng Rendong was aware of the advantage Dance performances held in this type of selection. She wasn’t entirely sure Ji Yu’s song could win—although she had hoped it would.

Because Chu Nanxing’s group had such a fiery atmosphere. Everyone loved such intense expression, and in comparison, a lyrical performance was slightly inferior.

Qi Feng, holding the microphone, asked Ji Yu: “Only your votes are left. How many do you think you can get?”

He was wearing a silver suit with a dark pattern today, as handsome as ever, with scattered applause accompanying his every movement.

Ji Yu sincerely shook her head: “I don’t know.”

After saying that, she added a sentence, as if something came to mind: “But those who vote for me must be those who particularly love me and our song, right?”

A voice from the audience loudly shouted: “Yes!”

Scattered orange starlight was waving in the audience, attempting to give her strength. Ji Yu saw those tiny, fragmented lights, and the smile on her face widened.

Qi Feng gracefully extended his arms and dropped them to his sides, revealing the final answer:

“Then, please announce Ji Yu’s votes—”

On the big screen, Ji Yu’s vote count began to soar. The three-digit number started climbing from 1… 300… 400… 500…

The highest number of votes before this was Rong Bai’s individual 568 votes, followed by Chu Nanxing’s 545. Ling Lan and Chang Xue were together in the Rap group, splitting 350 votes each. Jiang Lianque was also Vocal, but her performance seemed somewhat off this time, only receiving just over 200 votes.

Everyone’s breathing changed with the increase in Ji Yu’s votes until they watched the count break 600 and continue rising.

At this point, Ji Yu’s group ranking had changed from second to last to the second-highest, but they were still 200 votes short of surpassing Chu Nanxing’s first-place group.

So the fans held their breath, as if they could empower the vote count with their will. The venue was divided into two factions locked in a constant tug-of-war: the fans of Chu Nanxing and her teammates silently wished for the count to stop, while the ‘Yu’ fans and other members’ fans loudly chanted for it to increase.

Finally, the vote count reached around 750, and the growth rate gradually slowed down…

However, even then, it stubbornly climbed to 790. The last digit kept bouncing, finally stopping at 801.

And at this moment, the final ranking of all performances was completed.

The first and second places swapped positions. Ji Yu successfully led her group to a comeback victory!

The moment the ranking settled, the ‘Yu’ fans in the venue erupted in cheers. Almost in unison, they raised their hands, wearing the merchandise bracelets. A gentle, pleasant sound like a flowing stream spread out. Countless golden-orange lights gathered from small sparks, and finally, that faint light formed a tower of sand, illuminating the entire venue!

The golden-orange ocean flowed open, like a majestic Giant Dragon, inspecting its territory!

Meng Rendong heard the thunderous screams coming from all directions. Even Si Tian, sitting next to her, joined the cheering crowd without reserve. The joy of the celebration was almost breaking through the ceiling of the venue!

She, too, lifted the corner of her lips, watching Ji Yu surrounded by her teammates on stage, feeling her heartbeat rise along with the surrounding uproar.

In this instant, Meng Rendong no longer tried to distinguish between Ji Yu, who hadn’t had time to change her costume and still wore the spade makeup, and the Witch from the song. She only gazed at the radiant Ji Yu with an intoxicated and captivated look.

She was so outstanding that even having lost her original identity, she could still earn the world’s favor. It was as if she was born to stand on this high platform, to be crowned queen, and to receive all the cheers and love.

Meng Rendong was also willing to transform herself into that Dragon, carrying her to see the broader heavens, mountains, sun, and moon, guarding her forever, both in life and after death.

Having seen such an astonishing person, the Dragon’s eyes could surely no longer hold the glitter of any other treasure.

This buoyant mood accompanied Meng Rendong even after the performance ended, through the four or five hours of the long-distance drive to the suburban mountains, never diminishing in the slightest.

Until the car stopped in front of a dilapidated mud-brick house, with overturned roof tiles, looking as if a heavy rain could destroy it.

A thin, tall girl held a candle, accustomed to living without electricity in the darkness.

She lit the candle, dripped some wax onto the wooden table, firmly sticking the candle’s base there. Hearing the sound of a vehicle pulling in outside, her eyes brightened, and she quickly walked out.

When she saw the unmistakable luxury and high-end aura of the car body in the dark night, she became reserved.

The driver got out, walked to the back seat, and opened the car door.

Meng Rendong tilted her head, looked the person up and down, and spoke slowly:

“Were you in the Binjiang B&B area seven years ago?”

The girl nodded, ignoring the man who emerged from behind the house and greeted Meng Rendong politely as “Boss” by the car. She only stared at Meng Rendong, seemingly trying to gauge the character of this wealthy person.

Meng Rendong looked at her steadily: “Tell me what you know, and I will give you the corresponding remuneration based on the usefulness of your words.”

The girl opened her hand and gestured a number to Meng Rendong, indicating how much money she wanted. Meng Rendong was noncommittal:

“Speak.”

The girl quickly said: “My mom worked at that B&B then. I secretly went out. After a while, I heard movement by the lake, and I was curious and walked over there, thinking someone had caught a big fish again. I saw a jiejie (older sister) standing there, and there was a splashing sound in the lake… I secretly watched her from behind the house, waiting for her to pull up the fishing rod…”

“I waited for a long time, but she just stood there without moving. The commotion in the lake stopped. I wanted to remind her to reel in, but I was afraid she couldn’t pull up a big fish, so I decided to go back and call my mom for help, lest the jiejie fall in if she couldn’t manage the fish herself.”

“But when my mom and I were halfway back, we heard crying by the lake. All the uncles and aunties around rushed out, saying someone had fallen into the water and to quickly go down and pull them out!”

“Later, the police came. My mom rushed me back to the house to do homework and left after saying a few words. I was young then and didn’t understand, so I thought it was just a normal thing. I only realized later when I grew up and my friends worked by that water too, after seeing more things…”

“The splashing in the water back then wasn’t caused by a fish at all, it was a person!”

Meng Rendong looked at her steadily, feeling her heart gradually sink. She maintained a calm voice and asked: “When did you arrive? How long did the sound on the water last?”

The girl immediately froze, seemingly forgetting the answer, yet afraid she wouldn’t get the money if she couldn’t speak.

Meng Rendong saw through her thoughts and repeated: “I said, say what you know and are certain of.”

She asked again: “I’ll ask you another question. How old were you then?”

The girl still remembered this: “Ten years old.”

Meng Rendong: “Did you tell the police officer who was taking statements at the time?”

The girl: “My mom told me to go do my homework, and I didn’t see those people later… And then they said the person who fell in had died. My mom thought it was bad luck and forbade me to mention it. Plus, I had nightmares every day, and she thought I was haunted by a water ghost, so she quit and took me somewhere else. I had even less chance to tell anyone.”

“It’s only because you looked for my mom that I remembered this. Anyway, this is all I know, so you should give me the money now.”

Meng Rendong looked at her coldly: “How do I know you’re not lying?”

The girl widened her eyes and looked at her: “How can you say that! You said you’d give a reward to anyone who knew about this. I’ve told you everything I know. Are you trying to back out? Why would I lie! I don’t even know that woman! I don’t know who drowned in the water! If I didn’t keep having those nightmares when I was little, I wouldn’t even remember this!”

“I thought Heaven was giving me a chance to get rich. Turns out you rich people are just messing with me…”

Meng Rendong listened for a while, seeing the genuine indignation in her anger, and finally interrupted again:

“Enough.”

“One last question. I will transfer the money you asked for. But I must warn you—”

“If there is one false word in what you’ve said today, no matter where you are in the future, I will find a way to track you down. Do you understand?”

The girl nodded, a look of post-disaster relief on her face, as if she had just realized she had once brushed past some kind of psycho killer.

Meng Rendong sat in the car, closed her eyes, and leaned back in the rear seat, hearing Uncle Zhang ask her:

“CEO Meng, should we find a hotel here or…?”

Meng Rendong waved her hand, answering tiredly: “Go to Lincheng.”

It was already the second day after the public performance. Ji Yu and her group’s travel program would start early from here. Meng Rendong had already learned the program’s recording location from Wang Luoshui and sent the specific address to Uncle Zhang’s phone.

And she had promised.

To arrange a meeting between Ji Yu and Si Tian.

Today.

No matter what direction fate took afterward, she accepted it. Now, she only wanted to… fulfill Ji Yu’s every wish as much as possible.

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