Transmigrated into the Villainous Scummy Alpha in a Talent Show Novel - Chapter 83

The ten days of preparation passed quickly. After that incident where Lin Qi applied medicine for Jiang Ming, the girl had been avoiding being alone with her. Perhaps it was also because this dance was particularly challenging, aside from the few hours she spent sleeping in the dorm, Jiang Ming didn’t even eat meals with Lin Qi anymore, instead spending all her time practicing in the classroom with Yuan Li.

On the afternoon of the finals night, they ran through the dress rehearsal. During dinner, Tan Yi had teasingly asked if Lin Qi had fought with Jiang Ming. Lin Qi could only smile helplessly, what could she say? That she’d applied medicine for the little white rabbit and ended up being given the cold shoulder by the embarrassed and angry girl?

“Just a small issue. It’ll be fine after the finals.”

Though she felt a bit disheartened by Jiang Ming’s avoidance, the most important thing right now was the finals night. The song Glimmer placed high demands on vocal control requiring a soft yet powerful delivery, brimming with emotion.

The graceful dance moves couldn’t afford to disrupt her breathing.

The problem was, Lin Qi wasn’t particularly skilled at slow-tempo ballads like this. All she could do was make up for it with diligence.

This time, the production team had gone all out, providing each of them with their own dressing room. Since many segments needed to be recorded, they started by wearing pink uniform skirts for a grand group performance of the theme song. All one hundred trainees had gathered once more, bringing things full circle.

After that, the show’s host, the mentor representative An Zizi, and the senior group featuring Xia Lian took the stage to hype up the crowd.

Once their performances ended, it was time for the solo stages. Lin Qi glanced at her second outfit, a baseball cap paired with loose, brightly colored black top and pants, a style completely opposite to Glimmer.

Her third outfit was for the group performance. Looking at herself in the mirror, she wore a pure white blouse tucked into loose khaki trousers, her slender waist accentuated, legs straight and long, a color scheme that perfectly highlighted gentleness.

Feeling ready, she changed back into the pink uniform skirt and waited to record the upcoming group dance.

“Hello, everyone! Welcome to our finals night. Time flies, three months have passed in the blink of an eye. Out of our one hundred trainees, only eighteen remain on this stage tonight. Today, you will witness the birth of the second-generation girl group! Let’s give them a warm round of applause!”

They walked out in perfect formation. Lin Qi, ranked first, stood at the center, with Jiang Ming to her right. Subconsciously, she glanced at the girl beside her, only to find her head lowered, lost in thought.

Having rehearsed the sequence countless times, Lin Qi didn’t even need to listen to the host’s cues now. She nudged the clearly distracted Jiang Ming with her shoulder, silently asking, What’s wrong?

Jiang Ming sighed, scanning the audience until her gaze landed on a particular spot. Suddenly, her eyes reddened.

Following her line of sight, Lin Qi spotted her mom winking exaggeratedly at her, while her dad watched with a mix of helplessness and encouragement. Not far from them stood the host from the fan meeting, Qin Wei’s older brother, Qin Han. But beside him was a tall woman with sharp, striking features who looked oddly familiar.

After a moment of thought, it hit her, she was the driver who had picked them up when she and Jiang Ming went to the hotel!

Could she be Qin Wei’s sister, Qin Zhao?

She couldn’t help but marvel at how small the world was. Suddenly, she noticed a middle-aged man whose features bore a striking resemblance to Jiang Ming. One could still see traces of his youthful handsomeness, though he seemed weathered by life’s trials, his slightly tired and worn expression betraying the passage of time. His eyes, glistening under the light, appeared to be veiled with unshed tears.

Turning her head to glance at Jiang Ming, who was still staring in that direction, she understood. That section must be the seating area for the trainees’ parents. No doubt, her own mother and father had pulled some strings to secure Jiang Ming’s father’s release on bail, and the three of them had come together to watch the finale night.

Taking hold of Jiang Ming’s hand, which was clenched tightly behind her back, Lin Qi shook her head gently. “Don’t be sad. You’ve finally seen him you should be happy.”

Of course, her unsettled emotions had been noticed. In truth, Jiang Ming had received a call from Lin Qi’s mother a few days earlier, informing her that her father would be allowed to attend the finale night to witness her debut. At first, she had avoided facing it out of shyness, but later, it was because the painful past had been dredged up once again.

Her father was like a scar. Of course, Jiang Ming loved him dearly, but she was equally afraid.

It had been years since they last saw each other. Like the trepidation one feels when returning home after a long absence, she yearned to see her closest family member yet feared it all the same. Before his imprisonment, the words her father had spoken to her most often were tearful apologies.

Jiang Ming wanted to say she didn’t blame him, but in her daze, she also realized that during those most painful years, she had harbored some resentment toward this irresponsible father of hers.

Not wanting her conflicted emotions to affect Lin Qi, who was also diligently preparing for the performance, Jiang Ming had been leaving early and returning late these past few days, even avoiding meals together and sneaking off to eat with Yuan Li instead. The longing had piled up deeper and deeper, and now, as their hands touched, it all came pouring out.

Taking advantage of the fact that the cameras in front couldn’t capture them, Jiang Ming selfishly spread her fingers, interlacing them tightly with Lin Qi’s.

Even this brief contact was enough to soothe the tangled emotions that had plagued her for so long. She let go of Lin Qi’s hand and flashed a sweet smile at those concerned peach-blossom eyes. Jiang Ming did this deliberately, this smile would surely let her father know that now, Lin Qi stood alongside her family as one of the most important people in her life.

The group dance was practically performed on muscle memory alone. Having never experienced hatred toward a beloved family member, Lin Qi couldn’t begin to fathom just how conflicted Jiang Ming was feeling right now. She could only rack her limited brainpower for ways to comfort her.

For the solo stage, the performance order was singing first, then dancing, so Jiang Ming’s group hurried off to their respective dressing rooms to change. Lin Qi, however, wasn’t in a rush. She leisurely made her way to Jiang Ming’s door and gave it a light knock.

The door opened quickly, perhaps thinking it was a staff member coming to hurry her along, Jiang Ming held the front of her dress with one hand as she pulled the door open. She was dressed in a bright yellow strapless tulle gown that made her look sweet and fresh, a never-before-seen fairy-like style.

“Why are you here? Don’t you need to change?”

“I came to check on you. I’m really worried. You finally got to see your dad today shouldn’t you be happy?”

After hesitating for a moment, Jiang Ming shook her head. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. When we weren’t seeing each other, I missed him so much. But now that we’re actually about to meet, I’m a little scared.”

“It’s like being nervous to return home, right? You’re afraid you and your dad won’t have anything to talk about? Afraid he might not actually be happy with the person you’ve become? Or maybe, afraid that you don’t miss him as much as you thought you did?”

After asking, realizing she had hit the mark, Lin Qi’s voice grew even gentler. “But you still shouldn’t ignore me. Even if I can’t guide you, I can at least comfort you and offer you a shoulder to lean on.”

This person could always guess exactly what she was thinking with just a simple glance. Jiang Ming’s eyes reddened once more, her earlier resolve to stay strong crumbling instantly. She hugged Lin Qi tightly, burying her face in that reassuring shoulder, and choked out, “I was so scared, but I didn’t want my emotions to affect you. I’m sorry for ignoring you these past few days.”

“What’s there to apologize for?”

Patting the back of the person in her arms soothingly, the dress was backless, so her hands were met with nothing but smooth skin, Lin Qi knew they couldn’t dwell on this any longer, as they were due on stage in just two minutes. Lowering her voice, she deliberately let it take on a teasing lilt. “Actually, it’s fine if you ignore me, as long as you don’t stop wanting me.