Transmigrated into the Villainous Scummy Alpha in a Talent Show Novel - Chapter 45

Spending the May Day holiday in the hospital, Lin Qi’s daily routine consisted of IV drips and plain noodle soup. Every time she washed her face, she could visibly see her once-plump cheeks thinning out, her jawline becoming sharper and more defined.

“Sigh.”

She exhaled, not particularly fond of being too skinny. With her naturally small face, if she became gaunt, it would look somewhat sickly.

Finally,

Actually, she had been keeping in touch via video calls these past few days. The production team had sent her an iPad, and Lin Qi had been practicing along with the group from her hospital room. The team had even reserved a spot just for her.

When she returned, Tan Yi immediately slung an arm over her shoulder the moment she pushed open the door, clearly excited. “Feeling better now?”

“If you keep pressing down on me, I might end up back in there.”

Embarrassed, Tan Yi withdrew her hand, grinning shamelessly. “Never thought our captain would turn into such a weakling.”

“Teacher An.”

Nodding at An Zizi in greeting, Lin Qi rejoined the group and followed them to the rehearsal site. Along the way, she happened to run into the seven members of Creative Group Three. Wei Xuanyue walked at the front, dressed in a deep red ancient-style riding and archery outfit. The intricate garments tightened around her arms, her long hair tied up completely, giving her the valiant and heroic aura of a female general on the battlefield.

Beside her, the girl laughing had the cold yet bewitching features of a fox, but her smile was as soft and sweet as a kitten’s. Jiang Ming, holding onto Wei Xuanyue’s arm, suddenly glanced over.

Their eyes met. Jiang Ming raised an eyebrow, her large eyes filled with confusion. “You’re back, why didn’t you tell me?”

Lin Qi had never seen her like this before. At some point, Jiang Ming had dyed her hair pink, making her already snow-white skin appear even more radiant. Her makeup was clean and fresh, her bright fox-like eyes seemingly hiding hooks within them. While others might play hard to get like Jiang Taigong fishing waiting for the willing to bite, Jiang Ming’s approach was to call her “wife” first, regardless of willingness.

Her thoughts momentarily frozen, Lin Qi licked her lips. “Well, we’re seeing each other now, aren’t we? The new hair color looks great on you.”

Truthfully, Jiang Ming had been a little upset, how could this person return without seeing her first? But hearing the compliment, her cheeks flushed slightly, her irritation melting away as she smiled happily. “The stylist said this color suits me.”

Before this, Lin Qi had struggled to imagine the “pink-haired fairy” described in flowery prose. After all, the entertainment industry she was in had rules against overly exaggerated hair colors. She couldn’t picture what the usually raven-haired, coolly elegant Jiang Ming would look like with pink hair.

Now, she had finally seen it.

And she realized how inadequate words truly were.

Lin Qi couldn’t quite describe it either the soft pink hue softened the aloofness of Jiang Ming’s features, making her appear even more delicate. Her already fair skin seemed to glow, perfectly complementing the deep red riding outfit she wore. The combination was both heroic and stunningly beautiful, with an added touch of innocence.

“It really does look great.”

For the first time, Lin Qi felt the limitations of language. No matter how she phrased it, all she could muster was “great.” She pointed at the retreating group, signaling that she needed to catch up. Oblivious as ever, she had no idea that Jiang Ming had deliberately arranged this moment alone for the two of them.

With a sigh, Jiang Ming frowned in confusion, biting her red-stained lips. “Just ‘great’?”

Not hearing her self-doubting words, Lin Qi arrived at their group’s lounge. Everyone had already changed into their performance outfits, so she quickly headed to the dressing room. The pure white suit was somewhat similar to the one from their last performance, but while the previous one had emphasized melancholy, this one embodied purity.

The well-fitted shirt was paired with the suit jacket, which had no shoulder pads, allowing her naturally straight shoulders to stand out elegantly. When she pulled back the curtain and stepped out of the dressing room, everyone fell silent.

The first to speak was Jing Sha, “Oh my god, Captain, you look amazing.”

Then Tan Yi chimed in, “Wow, maybe you shouldn’t even wear makeup, what’s the point of the rest of us performing?”

The barrage of compliments made Lin Qi chuckle helplessly. Had she not always looked like this? What was so surprising?

“Alright, enough joking. Where are the dolls?”

Tan Yi took a sip of watermelon juice and grinned. “On the prop truck. Teacher An has already gone to hurry them along.”

The seven of them settled into their seats as the makeup artists applied their stage looks one by one. However, even after all the other groups had finished their rehearsals, An Zizi still hadn’t returned.

What was going on?

A sense of unease spread among them. The makeup artist pulled out her phone and called An Zizi, then handed it to Lin Qi, who had the most authority. “Teacher An? Did something happen on your end? Why haven’t the dolls arrived yet?”

There was a long silence on the other end. An Zizi seemed to be seething with anger, her words clipped and heavy. “The driver was drunk. The prop truck caught fire. They said all your dolls were burned beyond use. I’m still in the car, heading over to assess the situation.”

Lin Qi tightened her grip on the phone, momentarily at a loss for words. Her delicate brows furrowed. “Were the wedding dresses burned too?”

“Most likely, yes.”

She nodded. “Teacher An, go check first. I’ll discuss with the team and see if we can find replacements.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Teacher An, this isn’t your fault.”

After ending the call on speakerphone, the once high-spirited group of seven now wore grim expressions. Lin Qi scanned the room. “Does anyone have any ideas?”

The spacious lounge was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. What ideas could they have? They had practiced for so long with the dolls in mind, now both the wedding dresses and the dolls were gone.

Jing Sha timidly raised her hand. “Maybe, we could use the practice dolls?”

Tan Yi nodded in agreement. “Yeah, and we could just buy seven new wedding dresses tonight.”

This was practically their last resort, but…

Sure enough, two other teammates frowned and spoke up. “Captain, our practice doll… its leg is broken.”

Lin Qi had already known about this, which was why she hadn’t suggested using the practice dolls right away. What were they supposed to do now?

At that moment, Team Three from the creative group, the last to rehearse, returned to their lounge. Jiang Ming, unaware of their predicament, knocked on the door cheerfully with Wei Xuanyue.

When the two stepped inside, they immediately sensed the tense atmosphere and asked in unison, “Wh-what’s wrong?”

Lin Qi sighed and forced a smile. “The dolls we were using for our performance were on the prop truck… There was an accident. They were all burned.”

“The dolls are gone?! Then what are you going to do?”

Wei Xuanyue had seen their group’s training, they had been dancing with the mannequins almost the entire time. If the mannequins were gone, what would they do?

Truly living up to the name The Last Waltz it really had become the last one.

“I don’t know yet. Still trying to figure it out.”

This was Tan Yi’s response. She glanced at Wei Xuanyue’s worried expression, the earlier joy completely gone from her face. Their group’s rehearsal had clearly gone smoothly, so there was no need to spread negativity. “It’s fine. We still have a day. The performance isn’t until tomorrow night. We’ll think of something it’ll be okay.”

Meeting Jiang Ming’s similarly concerned gaze, Lin Qi steeled herself and began earnestly discussing with the team. “Actually, the wedding dresses can be solved. We have the designs, they can probably be produced within ten-plus hours. If we distribute the work to different factories, it might only take a few hours. The main issue is the mannequins. We used high-end bionic ones, and there’s no way to produce replacements within a day.”

The more Jiang Ming listened, the more worried she became for Lin Qi. Then, inspiration struck. “Can’t we replace the mannequins with people? I can be your mannequin.”

It sounded reasonable to Wei Xuanyue, who also raised her hand. “I think that could work. I can help too.”

Was this actually feasible?

“But what about the choreography? Can you learn it overnight? And you won’t get any sleep, which will seriously affect your performance tomorrow.”

Lin Qi’s concerns were valid, but while she was thinking for Jiang Ming, Jiang Ming also wanted to do something for her. “I don’t need sleep. I can just cover up the dark circles tomorrow. Right now, the most important thing is your performance.”

“But ”

Before Lin Qi could finish, the door to the break room was knocked on again, and a makeup artist handed her a phone.

“Hello, Teacher An?”

“I’ve checked none of them are usable. They’re pretty much all burned. Right now, I need to go to the hospital with the production team. As for tomorrow’s performance, I’ve already thought of a solution.”

“You should go to the hospital first. We’ve also come up with an idea here.”

“Go ahead with yours first. My solution still requires contacting someone else, I’ll let you know later.”

The call ended abruptly again. Lin Qi hesitated, looking at Jiang Ming and Wei Xuanyue, who were eager to help, then at the rest of the team, all wearing troubled expressions. Finally, she sighed. “Can you find friends in the camp who’d be willing to help as mannequins? If so, we should hurry back to the practice room and start rehearsing.”

Everyone had their own friends, and though they felt terrible asking others to stay up all night learning a new dance, it was the only option left.

As for the wedding dresses, they’d have to wait for An Zizi to return and then contact factories for emergency production.

After splitting into pairs, Lin Qi and Jiang Ming took a separate area after all, among the seven volunteers, Jiang Ming had the weakest foundation.

Jing Sha, the social butterfly, had somehow managed to recruit a skilled dancer to help. That was good, one strong dancer paired with one weaker one.

“Jiang Ming, put your hand on my shoulder.”

As she spoke, Lin Qi naturally wrapped an arm around Jiang Ming’s waist. The downside of having long arms and a slender waist became apparent, her hand almost immediately reached the sensitive small of Jiang Ming’s back, eliciting an involuntary shiver.

“Ticklish?”

“A… a little.”

Her face flushed crimson with embarrassment, she wasn’t usually this ticklish! So why did her legs go weak the moment Lin Qi touched the small of her back?

Compared to the comedic atmosphere of Wei Xuanyue and Tan Yi hurling insults like “simple-minded, brawny-limbed” at each other while deliberately stepping on each other’s feet, or Jingsha’s wails as she was forced into a backbend, the dynamic between Lin Qi and Jiang Ming was undeniably charged with something far more intimate.

They moved like dance partners at a ball, one guiding with gentle patience, the other following with earnest effort. One arm draped over a shoulder, another wrapped around a waist, their free hands clasped together as their gazes locked, the affection between them nearly melting the air.

It wasn’t until the early hours of the morning that An Zizi, exhausted, pushed open the classroom door. She blinked in surprise at the sight of fourteen people paired off in couples, raising a skeptical eyebrow had her good intentions backfired?

Trailing behind her were seven others, each exuding the polished aura of seasoned idols. At the forefront was a woman with smiling eyes Lin Qi didn’t recognize her, but she could easily guess: this was Xia Lian, the so-called “Queen of Allure.”