Transmigrated into the Villainous Scummy Alpha in a Talent Show Novel - Chapter 55

Upon arriving at the concert venue, Lin Qi struggled to keep her drowsy eyes open. Though she hadn’t fallen asleep earlier, the lingering drowsiness had settled in she was really exhausted.

Amidst the dazzling spectacle on stage, there were seven familiar seniors who had helped out last time, along with two others, all strikingly beautiful. Lin Qi merely rubbed her unfocused eyes, trying to snap herself awake. After all, they were all her seniors.

“Lin Qi, come here.”

It was Xia Lian calling her. The woman in the black chiffon dress waved, startling Lin Qi into alertness. She was genuinely afraid that Senior Xia might pull some stunt again. If she likes Teacher An, why does she keep teasing me?

Probably just to make Teacher An jealous.

A scheming bottom.

Not daring to voice her inner thoughts, Lin Qi obediently smiled and walked over to Xia Lian on stage.

“Have you listened to Drunk yet?”

She had meant to listen to it before coming, but the whole day had been spent teasing Jiang Ming and coaxing her instead. Lin Qi shook her head honestly. “I was training the whole time.”

“Liar.”

From chatting with An Zizi, Xia Lian already knew this girl had spent the entire day flirting with Jiang Ming. She rolled her eyes in exasperation, silently lamenting her own hopeless romantic prospects.

“Whatever. You’re talented anyway. Did you bring your phone?”

“Ah, I forgot. Left it in the dorm.”

“Wow, you really do have the memory of a VIP.”

Taking the phone Xia Lian handed her, still carrying a faint fragrance Lin Qi realized that in the absence of An Zizi and Jiang Ming, Xia Lian didn’t seem inclined to tease her.

Slightly relieved, Lin Qi smiled politely. “Password?”

Following the button presses, Lin Qi took the phone and noticed Xia Lian was already busy rehearsing again. She tried An Zizi’s birthday, and of course, it worked.

Now completely at ease, she opened the dance version of Drunk and began studying it.

The rehearsal lasted until 2 a.m. For the two-hour concert, everything was polished except for the group choreography for Drunk. So, all eighteen performers changed into flowing white dresses and gathered on stage.

As trainees with outstanding dance skills, they had already grasped the basics of the routine in the past two hours. Now, it was just about coordination and positioning.

“Put your arm around my waist.”

Now that Lin Qi was certain about Xia Lian’s feelings for An Zizi, she wasn’t as nervous anymore. She lifted her hand to rest on Xia Lian’s waist, her gaze clear and questioning what next?

Noticing the kid wasn’t as scared of her anymore, Xia Lian was puzzled but grinned wider. She leaned in closer, tilting her head. “Brat, did you see something in my phone?”

Lin Qi hadn’t snooped, so she shook her head without guilt. “No. Do you have secrets, sis?”

Xia Lian giggled sweetly. “Of course not.”

An unspoken tension thickened the air. Though the radiant beauty before her seemed indifferent, Lin Qi could detect the nervousness in her eyes, a feeling she knew all too well. She had been even more anxious when facing Jiang Ming’s uncertain feelings.

But at least now, she had some certainty. Xia Lian, on the other hand, was still playing games with her beloved Teacher An.

Fortunately, with the original novel as her cheat sheet, Lin Qi relied on her strong core strength to lean close to Xia Lian’s ear while holding her waist and spinning her in circles. “Don’t worry, I have no feelings left for Teacher An. As long as you don’t interfere with me and Jiang Ming, I can help you out too.”

As Xia Lian’s feet touched the ground again, her smile gradually faded. She forcefully pushed Lin Qi away during the dance moves, creating distance between them before closing in once more. Her smile now seemed strained. “What do you mean?”

“You know exactly what I mean you just don’t want to admit it.”

“Fine, I admit it. How are you going to help me?”

“Give her a strong dose of reality. I think Teacher An does care about you. Try stirring up some dating rumors with someone else. If she asks, give her vague answers, make her really think about whether what she feels for you is friendship or love. What alpha and omega can ever have a purely platonic relationship anyway?”

Following the dance moves, Lin Qi draped the red gauze over Xia Lian’s head like a bridal veil. As the performance neared its end, Xia Lian swayed drunkenly before being lowered to the ground with a hand supporting her waist. With a mischievous grin, she asked, “How did you know my agency wants me to stir up dating rumors with you?”

Startled, Lin Qi nearly dropped the long-legged, slender-waisted beauty but managed to steady her arms at the last second, her expression turning troubled. “Senior Xia, there’s no one else here please stop teasing me.”

Xia Lian laughed delightedly, feeling she’d gained the upper hand. She swung her legs and stood up as the song ended, removing the red gauze from her head with a sultry gaze. “Honestly, if I didn’t already have Sister An, you’d actually be quite fun.”

Lin Qi could clearly see the teasing glint in those alluring eyes and rubbed her throbbing temples in frustration. That look reminded her of Jiang Ming, especially the unusually moody Jiang Ming today. Biting her lip, she hesitantly asked, “Senior Xia, could I, borrow some money from you?”

“Oh? Let’s get one thing straight, you can scam my feelings, but not my money.”

Lin Qi forced an awkward laugh, thinking to herself, Who could ever scam a fox like you? Outwardly, though, she played the obedient role. “Of course I wouldn’t scam you! I just want to buy Jiang Ming a phone, but I didn’t bring mine to pay. Don’t worry give me your number, and I’ll transfer the money back to you as soon as we return to camp.”

Xia Lian nodded, deliberately misinterpreting her. “So, you’re asking for my number?”

If this were a comic, Lin Qi would have three exasperation lines above her head. Gnawing on her lower lip, she finally surrendered to the “villain.” “Whatever you say, as long as you lend me the money.”

By the time the rehearsal ended perfectly, it was already 5 a.m. In May, with the sun’s direct rays reaching the Arctic, the days were long and the nights short. The sky outside was nearly bright by then. Lin Qi yawned, setting off a chain reaction of yawns among the group.

Everyone’s exhausted.

The trainees had spent the whole day practicing for the third performance in camp, followed by several more hours here high-intensity training to master an intricate dance in such a short time.

As for the seniors, they had been busy all this time. With their impending disbandment, they were juggling recordings for their farewell album, song selections and rehearsals for their farewell concert, and solo magazine cover shoots.

The eighteen of them were so exhausted they could have fallen asleep right on stage. The promised late-night snack gathering was canceled, and they all headed to the same hotel, deciding to get some sleep first.

After collecting her key card and wearily swiping into her room, Lin Qi freshened up and just wanted to collapse onto the soft bed too tired to even shower.

She had just lain down when a knock sounded at the door. Confused, she glanced at the mostly drawn curtains, which showed it was around six in the evening. Who could possibly be knocking at her door?

Peering through the peephole, she saw Xia Lian standing outside, dressed in a bathrobe.

“Senior Xia, what’s up?”

Her eyes barely open, Lin Qi leaned against the doorframe, intending to hear Xia Lian out before going straight back to sleep.

Though clearly exhausted herself, Xia Lian seemed to be struggling with something. “Let me in first,” she said.

Instinctively suspicious, why would Senior Xia need to enter her room at this hour? Lin Qi was too drowsy to think straight. Numbly, she stepped aside, yawning widely.

“I’m sorry.”

The moment the door closed, before Lin Qi could even lower the hand covering her mouth, Xia Lian’s low, apologetic voice reached her. The usually charming, ever-smiling beauty now stood with her head bowed, none of the teasing playfulness that often left Lin Qi speechless in sight.

“W-what’s wrong?”

Her drowsiness fading slightly, Lin Qi widened her bewildered peach-blossom eyes, utterly lost.

“My manager told me to seize this opportunity to stir up rumors with you. There were paparazzi she arranged outside just now, they’ve already taken photos of me entering your room. I’m sorry. Even though I didn’t want to, I couldn’t refuse.”

Lin Qi had heard about Xia Lian’s manager’s “iron-fisted” methods. The flicker of blame rising in her dissipated when she saw Xia Lian’s reddened eyes, though the discomfort of being used remained. Her voice turned stiff. “Fine, whatever.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll cover the cost of Jiang Ming’s phone tomorrow. Don’t worry once the rumors break in the morning, I’ll have them suppressed immediately. Jiang Ming at the training camp won’t find out.”

It didn’t sound like the losses would be too great. Lin Qi nodded, her expression inexplicably solemn. A gut feeling told her something unexpected was bound to happen.

Hopefully, her worries were unfounded.

“Okay, Senior Xia. You should go back and sleep. I’m seriously about to pass out.”

Alone in the room, lying in bed, Lin Qi found herself unable to sleep despite her exhaustion. Tossing and turning, she closed her eyes, only to see Jiang Ming’s tear-streaked face her reddened eyes accusing as she gripped Lin Qi’s collar in heartbroken betrayal.

Just like Jiang Ming, who was sporting dark circles in the training camp, she had woken up early that morning. After listlessly washing up, she headed to the now much quieter First Love group, only for Wei Xuanyue to pull her aside.

“Jiang Jiang, did you see the news this morning?”

Her delicate brows furrowed in confusion, the dark circles under her eyes faintly concealed by a rare application of foundation. Suppressing the clamor of alarms blaring in her chest, Jiang Ming forced an appropriately puzzled expression. “What’s wrong?”

“Ahem”

Clearing her throat lightly, Wei Xuanyue couldn’t help feeling a pang of sympathy. Out of habit, she had checked Weibo early in the morning and was shocked to see a familiar name trending at the top of the list “Lin Qi Xia Lian Hotel,” followed by an explosive “HOT” tag. And it was only 8 a.m.; she couldn’t even imagine how much hotter the topic would get later.

“Didn’t Lin Qi go out yesterday to perform as a backup dancer for the seniors? This morning, rumors about her and Senior Xia are all over the hot searches. Paparazzi photos show Senior Xia entering Lin Qi’s room in the early hours”

She didn’t continue, even switching from the affectionate nickname “Qiqi” to Lin Qi’s full name. Wei Xuanyue was clearly indignant, feeling aggrieved and upset on behalf of her close friend Jiang Ming.

“What?”

Though she heard every word clearly, Jiang Ming wished she could go back to a time when she didn’t understand Chinese. She bit her lower lip hard, until the lipstick that had once made her lips a vivid red turned pale. She smiled faintly, cutting off Wei Xuanyue before she could say more. “The teacher will be here soon. Let’s focus on practice.”

Her usually soft and warm voice when speaking to friends now carried an unmistakable chill, laced with an inexplicable tremor.