Grab The Heroine and Run Away Ch. 39.2
In the trainee seats, Lin Weining stood up with empty seats on either side, smiling, waving at the camera, delivering her speech on stage, then sitting on the shiny silver chair, exhaling a gentle sigh, feeling a moment of relief.
Made it into the top seven again, that’s great.
At this moment, Xu Heran suddenly sat up straight, growing nervous. Xin Nuo glanced at her in confusion.
“Before the rankings got mixed up, I was fourth. I need to prepare,” Xu Heran whispered.
Xin Nuo raised an eyebrow. “So, who made you offend your fans?”
“How can you call it offending? Isn’t it a friendly and peaceful exchange?” Xu Heran muttered, then lowered her head timidly. “Nuo Nuo, they won’t really be angry, right?”
Xin Nuo playfully teased her, “I don’t know either. If it were me, I might be a bit upset.”
Nervous, Xu Heran suddenly regretted it. She should have just kept quiet!
In her moment of torment, Sun Lingxi suddenly breathed a sigh of relief and walked up on stage with excitement amid applause.
“Whew,” Xu Heran tactically leaned back. “Well, I think everyone will still vote for me considering the kids’ faces. Can I aim for third place?”
She glanced at the camera and whispered, “Sis, are you filming?” The approaching cameraman nodded.
Xu Heran quickly blew a kiss to the camera with her hand.
“Aren’t you trying to please everyone a bit too late now?” Xin Nuo playfully asked.
“Sigh, my relationship with the Pearl Babies is deep as the sea, how could I use the word ‘please’?” Xu Heran “muah muah muah” blew kisses to the camera.
On stage, Ning Yunfei smiled and spoke, “Now, I’ll announce the top three trainees of this round.”
“In third place, congratulations to you, with 3,003,541 votes, beloved by everyone, Song Fenghua from Years of Work Studio!”
“Wow!”
“Song Fenghua, wow—”
Among the trainee seats, a girl who had been silently out of place with the surrounding girls suddenly widened her eyes. She slowly stood up amidst the shoulder taps from Jiang Qiong and Xu Heran, feeling the voices around her fade from her ears. She couldn’t hear anything clearly anymore.
“Third place! You’re third!” Xu Heran shouted.
“…”
Subconsciously, Song Fenghua grabbed Xu Heran’s hand. She covered her mouth, walked up on stage, and took the microphone.
“I, I really don’t know what to say. Thank you, thank you to everyone who voted for me, thank you!” Song Fenghua lifted her head, her eyes slightly red. “When I first came to this place, I was more lost than everyone else. From the first round until now, I’ve disappointed many people, but standing here at this moment, does that mean that at least this time, I haven’t let you down?”
“Even if I briefly hold this position, I’m filled with gratitude. I’m content.”
“Thank you to the mentors who have helped me achieve this, allowing me to stand here. Thank you to Xu Heran, who takes extra time after training each day to teach me singing. Thank you to Xin Nuo, who corrected my mistakes and was willing to go through everything with me. Thank you to everyone from the second team. Thank you all so much!”
Song Fenghua bent down, smiled at the camera, her gentle smile reflecting in the black lens.
“Great,” Xu Heran leaned back in her chair, giving a thumbs up.
Xin Nuo watched her with a smile, thinking her hand must be tired, never getting a break.
“Next, in this ranking, the trainee who secured second place.” Ning Yunfei lowered her head, looked at the vote count again, and smiled. “Congratulations, from Universal Entertainment, trainee Xu Heran.”
“5,535,135 votes.”
“Wow—”
“Wow!”
“Wow!!”
“That’s such a huge difference!”
Xu Heran froze for a moment, then immediately smiled. She quickly hugged Xin Nuo, high-fived Jiang Qiong, and ran onto the stage.
“Hahaha!” Xu Heran raised the microphone. “It must be me!”
The trainees: “…”
“But I want to say something in particular,” Xu Heran looked at the camera, frowned, “Can we put aside grudges and stop holding onto overnight resentment?”
“Moms, I’m begging you!”
“You’re scaring people, wu wu wu…” Xu Heran pretended to wipe tears, shook her head with a sigh. “I won’t say too much thank yous. You know I’m really thankful to all of you, right? Can you keep this feeling until I debut, okay?”
In the camera, the girl smiled brightly, and the entire hall instantly lit up. She hopped and skipped, taking two or three steps to climb the stairs and sit in the highest seat.
She exchanged a glance and a light smile with Song Fenghua across the aisle.
Below the stage, the trainees shook their heads with a sigh. It was a familiar scene again.
Since Xu Heran wasn’t first, then who could it be?
Could there be another answer?
In the now-empty seats around her, the black-haired girl stood up under the gazes of everyone looking up at her. Her smile was gentle, her gaze calm. She took the microphone from a staff member’s hand with gratitude.
She looked back and waved to Xu Heran, who was gesturing to her from above.
“I can stand here not only thanks to the mentors who voted for me but also thanks to someone else who’s very important to me,” Xin Nuo spoke softly, her dark eyes blooming with a smile like fireworks on a summer night.
“She was willing to step down from the ‘Woof Woof Squad’ for me, becoming a little pearl from then on. This gesture is deep and significant, and I’m deeply grateful for it.”
“Little Pearl, I’ll always take good care of you. I hope you’re forever a happy and healthy little pearl. Big sister loves you.”
In the camera, the black-haired girl appeared alongside the girl with pink hair. The usually reserved girl raised her hand, formed a heart with her fingers, lightly kissed it on her lips, and then threw it behind her.
Laughter mixed with surprised sighs.
Xu Heran, who had been pretending to be angry by crossing her arms, lowered her head. She bit her lip but couldn’t suppress her inner joy.
She smiled slightly, forming a heart with both hands in response.
I like you too.
And thus, the fourteen trainees filled the first thirteen seats.
Ning Yunfei lowered her head, glanced at the last name, shook her head, and let out a soft sigh. Among the seats, the eight trainees took a deep breath, looking towards Ning Yunfei with a mixture of anxiety and hope.
“Now, only one seat remains. At this moment, I want to ask a special question to Trainee Jiang Qiong,” Ning Yunfei suddenly called out.
Jiang Qiong, who was nervously clasping her hands together and tapping her leg, stood up with a jolt, almost losing her balance. Xu Heran, who was nervous with her, burst into laughter all of a sudden.
“Hahaha!”
“You may speak,” Jiang Qiong touched her head sheepishly.
“70, 42, 21. In three consecutive rounds, you advanced as the last qualifier each time. Because of this, everyone calls you the ‘Gatekeeper.’ This time, do you want to be the ‘Gatekeeper’ again?” Ning Yunfei asked with a smile.
Jiang Qiong swallowed hard and nodded vigorously, “I do!”
“I really do,” Jiang Qiong wanted to say, that if she could, she’d be willing to be the ‘Gatekeeper’ all the time, until debut.
“Very well. Congratulations to you, Trainee Jiang Qiong from Fantasy Economy. With 1,664,172 votes, you have successfully advanced. The owner of this 14th seat is you,” Ning Yunfei exclaimed with a smile.
Jiang Qiong looked dazed, not knowing how she walked up to the stage. She held the microphone with trembling hands, repeatedly saying thank you.
“Jiang Xiaoqiong! Keep it up!” Xu Heran shouted loudly. “Stand up straight!”
“Get into your watermelon-eating posture!”
Jiang Qiong immediately straightened her back. “Thank you!”
Haya: “Hahaha!”
“Thank you, everyone, for supporting me, Jiang Xiaoqiong! Thanks to every mentor who voted for me! May you all become rich! Thank you to my teammates who supported me every time on stage. Thank you to my good friend Xu Pearl. I’m so happy to have met you as a friend, but I’m so sad that you left the ‘Woof Woof Squad.’ As a good friend, I can only bid you farewell with a heavy heart and, by the way, entrust Xin Nuono with my previous identity as a ‘Woof Woof Squad’ member.”
“Please take good care of Little Pearl!”
“She’s just a little pearl!”
Jiang Qiong exclaimed, clenching her fists.
Amidst bursts of laughter, Xu Heran shook her head, rolling her eyes in exasperation.
After the recording for the advancement ended, without much time for farewells, the fourteen trainees waved to the seven eliminated members from their seats, then followed Ning Yunfei to another recording room.
“You are the winners of this round of advancement. Although you’ve come this far, unfortunately, it’s not over yet. Before you reach the final victory, there’s still a journey ahead,” Ning Yunfei’s voice was gentle yet powerful.
“Please hold on a little longer.”
“Yes!”
“I will announce the rules for the next performance,” Ning Yunfei stood in front of the fourteen girls, smiling. “In the next performance, the fourteen trainees present here will perform a total of four songs!”
The trainees were momentarily stunned.
“Each stage will have seven performers, and each person can participate in the performance only twice. The choice of songs for the performance will be up to you,” Ning Yunfei explained with a smile.
Xu Heran raised her hand and asked, “Sister Feifei, how many people will be eliminated in the next performance?”
Xu Heran’s question immediately put the remaining thirteen on edge.
Yes, in the past, Sister Feifei would first announce the number of eliminations before revealing the performance rules. Could it be… that this time’s stage is the debut stage?
Everyone took a deep breath, their eyes fixed on Ning Yunfei.
“We will announce the eliminations directly on the stage this time,” Ning Yunfei’s words were like a bomb dropped into water, causing huge ripples in the hearts of the fourteen young girls.
“Meaning, in the next stage, in front of a live audience of ten thousand people and everyone in the livestream room, we will directly announce the rankings.”
Ning Yunfei’s voice was steady and powerful.
“The number of eliminations for this stage will not be disclosed. Please prepare yourselves mentally, trainees,” she looked at the fourteen young and beautiful faces, speaking gently. “I look forward to your performances. Everyone, give it your all!”
“Yes!”
“?”
“What happened to the rankings? Master Ge, where’s Master Ge?”
“Didn’t Teacher Ge promise to give us the accurate ranking information on Saturday? Quickly calculate it for us using your divination, and tell us!”
On Weibo, Ge Tao’s fans were all clamoring for their rankings in his comments. Hidden behind the camera, Ge Tao anxiously urged his contact within the production team, only to receive shocking news.
“What do you mean the footage hasn’t reached you?”
“I have no idea either! Director Liu replaced everyone in the production team except for his own team. The footage was sent to the company building for Xu Heng to edit! Xu Heng, that famous post-production artist in the industry, Universal Entertainment actually managed to poach him!” Ge Tao’s contact, his former classmate and old friend, a post-production specialist for Starlight Girls, angrily exclaimed.
“Don’t even talk about the footage, I don’t even know what’s in this week’s episode! All the people Liu replaced with are these young kids, one more obedient than the next. They won’t share a bit of information, it’s driving me crazy!”
Ge Tao was even more frustrated, “So what am I supposed to do? Don’t forget that I’ve split half of the money I earned from my current popularity with you!”
“Sigh, if it really can’t be helped, just make something up for now. Anyway, we’ve earned quite a bit already, this won’t make much of a difference.” The post-production specialist advised, “Aren’t you supposed to go on that program? Just go along with it, don’t bother about all this.”
Ge Tao’s heart tightened, he angrily closed the chat window. He wanted to ignore it, but many people in the comments section were clearly here to see him in a tight spot. Each comment had a sneering undertone, and he couldn’t just sit idly by!
These people were almost accusing him of being fake right to his face, and they kept tagging the production team, demanding an investigation.
The more Ge Tao thought about it, the more anxious he became. He refreshed the comments section on his phone repeatedly.
Just as he was thinking about how to avoid getting involved and pretend to be unbothered, the production team that had contacted him before suddenly got in touch. They asked him to appease his Weibo fans, or else the program would have to consider whether to sign the contract, considering the potential impact.
Ge Tao felt trapped. He began calling people he knew, people who had connections with the program, to inquire about the results. But he didn’t get any information and only faced a barrage of doubts and questions.
“Well, so you really didn’t guess it yourself? Ge Tao, be careful, alright? Director Liu has quite a standing in the industry. Don’t do anything reckless to offend him.”
“You, a rapper, why are you trying to speculate about a talent show? What’s your relationship with this? Either apologize sincerely or stop making baseless guesses.”
“How are we supposed to know? They’ve signed a confidentiality agreement. If you really leak something, our future collaboration might be in jeopardy!”
Ge Tao immediately broke out in a sweat. When he tried to contact others again, they simply ignored him.
“Forget it… It’s better to be laughed at than to lose the program!” Ge Tao clenched his teeth, switched to his main account, and casually threw out three names.
“First, Tan Yutong. Second, Xu Heran. Third, Lin Weining.”
He hastily jotted down the three names and immediately logged off.
To his surprise, the next morning, the full episode that was supposed to be released in two days was pushed forward by the production team again.
A new set of rankings emerged. Everyone looked at the first place with 5.92 million votes, then the second with 5.53 million votes, and the gap of merely 2.66 million votes between Ge Tao’s proclaimed first and second choices. They almost burst out laughing.
“Don’t laugh, at least Grandmaster Ge guessed one right~ The Grandmaster’s skills are still intact! How would you mortals know the Grandmaster’s prowess!”
“Grandmaster Ge is struggling, huh? In the previous ‘guessing ‘, when he accurately guessed the top three, even the vote count, for Xin Nuo’s first place, how come he didn’t guess correctly this time, not even the vote count?”
“Xin Nuo has been first for two consecutive times, maybe he lacks confidence in her, that’s why he didn’t even place her in the top three? He even put Xu Heran second; Xu Heran’s fans vote for Xin Nuo every day!”
“Don’t ask, it’s all about the big company. Just lean towards the big company!”
“Being superstitious about big companies isn’t good. Look at Xin Nuo, Song Fenghua, Youyou, Haya, Laurel, and even Jiang Qiong—almost half of the trainees are from this small company!”
“Just laugh it off~”
Behind the screen, Ge Tao felt as if he had been slapped in the face. The recording for 《Starlight Girls》 had just ended yesterday, and after only one night, the production team had already released the full episode. It was like they were specifically waiting for him!
Ge Tao’s face was a mix of guilt and innocence. He tried to contact his insider, but found himself blocked. He angrily slapped the table, and suddenly noticed that the annoying name was still on the list of those who advanced.
Unbelievably, Laurel hadn’t been eliminated yet!
Ge Tao was both furious and anxious. He suddenly remembered the things he had done to Laurel in the past, and his heart started to race. He was afraid that Laurel would retaliate just like he had done to her.
“No, I absolutely can’t let her debut!” Ge Tao gritted his teeth fiercely, and despite the mockery, he logged onto Weibo.
T.A.O: “Sorry, everyone. I never claimed I could guess everything correctly, you know! I was just playing around, don’t take it seriously. Oh, by the way, Laotao has something to say to you all: Don’t be too sincere towards your idols. You never know what disgusting stuff they might be up to. Since you’re all following me, it means you trust me, give me some face. Remember, don’t be too sincere. To a certain someone, trash.”
“???”
“Why are you insulting people?”
“Does Ge Teacher know Xu Teacher? I clearly remember someone saying, ‘The accurate rankings will definitely be calculated by Saturday night.’ Aren’t you a Grandmaster? Weren’t you the one who calculated it? And now you’re guessing again?”
“Hitting yourself in the face. Do you still expect us to believe you?”
“Well, it’s just for fun, right? Nobody actually believes it, do they? He probably got some information from somewhere and is now showing off. When he couldn’t get it right this time, he went crazy and even wants to tarnish the girls’ reputation.”
“The oldest of those young girls is only 22, the youngest is 16. Isn’t Ge Teacher 36 this year? Those girls who have never debuted before, how can they be disgusting to you? Have you seen them, do you know them?”
Ge Tao responded to this comment, “I don’t want to say much, but I have indeed interacted with one of them. Tsk, not only lacking any bit of decency, but also lacking manners. Their eyes are on top of their heads, and when they speak to their elders, all that comes out is vulgar language. If you like this kind of person, I won’t stop you, hehe.”
As Ge Tao’s words fell, the onlookers among the fans became interested. Everyone asked him who it was, challenging him to reveal the person, but Ge Tao remained silent.
His half-revealing attitude instantly piqued the curiosity of internet users. Everyone started digging into who this person could be that Ge Tao was referring to as using vulgar language.
“First, let’s rule out Xu Heran. Little Pearl only returned to the country this year, so there’s no way they could have interacted.”
“The big companies are out of the question too. Ge Tao licks the big companies so much, he wouldn’t dare offend them. There are some good guesses left.”
“Could it be Haya or Laurel?”
Inside Universal Entertainment, Ge Tao’s new message was being closely monitored by the PR manager. Both Haya and Laurel were good friends of Xu Heran, so Cui Qi instructed the PR department to stay vigilant and report any developments.
Just as netizens were excitedly discussing the matter, a person named “Han Meimei Fen Mei” appeared, and their tone was fiery.
Han Meimei Fen Mei: “I’m really laughing my head off here. I remember it crystal clear, three years ago, someone participated in a rap competition. A thirty-three-year-old ‘artist’ couldn’t measure up to a fifteen-year-old girl. They used dissing as an excuse to insult the girl’s entire family, but ended up raising fists against the disses. It escalated until the event organizers had to step in to calm things down. Oh, so now this matter, in your mouth, becomes baseless accusations and vulgar language? For someone like you, we naturally wouldn’t bother paying attention. You’re even worse than dog shit on the roadside. You forced that young girl to withdraw from the competition and even sneaked around smashing her stall at night and refused to own up to it, you pathetic chicken! You must really think highly of us, huh? Three years have passed, and you’re still holding a grudge, chasing after us. You’re truly something, holding onto this incident for so long. Impressive!”
Han Meimei Fen Mei: ‘Of course, we wouldn’t dare lump ourselves in with you. In the world of tough society scum, where connections matter both inside and outside of prison, we confront each other head-on. After all, we have parents, while you, you don’t.’
These two comments were instantly boosted, Ge Tao’s face turning bright red in an instant. He quickly dialed a phone number.
‘Why is Han Meimei still active? Wasn’t her company messed up by us?’
‘It was indeed messed up. Those few people from her band, aren’t they all selling aphrodisiacs now?’ The voice on the other end of the phone laughed heartily. ‘A few little bugs, they’re behaving well now, not daring to come out.’
“Nonsense! Haven’t you seen that Laurel is almost climbing up to a spot in 《Starlight Girls》? When she becomes popular, it’s over for me!”
Ge Tao had done quite a lot of despicable things before. He was afraid of being exposed, so he quickly deleted his Weibo. But after deleting it, he realized he didn’t know what to do now. He used to suppress Laurel’s band, not giving them any chances to rise, but Laurel had secretly participated in ‘《Starlight Girls》 and was climbing up the rankings! How was he supposed to meddle with ‘《Starlight Girls》 now?
“Get in touch with this person.” Cui Qi told the PR manager over the phone, “Contain this matter, investigate thoroughly, and don’t disturb the kids’ normal competition.”
“Got it, Sis Cui.”
Cui Qi hung up the phone and glanced at Weibo.
With the guidance of the PR team, everyone’s attention quickly shifted to the live stage a week later. Ge Tao’s issue was like a small bubble that burst before it even had a chance to make a sound.
“Friends, His Majesty Hua said that next week is a holiday, and she wants to treat us to a barbecue!” Xu Heran raised her hand, joyfully announcing.
The fourteen girls were divided into four groups for the stage, training in the morning and evening. Resting in their rooms at this moment happened to be the Old Ten team.
Laurel touched her nose and said shyly, “I wanted to treat everyone to a meal for a long time. I have a few friends who run a barbecue stall, it’s clean and reliable.”
“After this competition ends, no matter the result, how about we all get together?”
“Sure, hahaha,” Haya laughed. “Should we invite the other teams too?”
There were fourteen of them, divided into four teams, with each person belonging to two teams.
“Sure.” Laurel smiled. “We’ll need plenty of meat.”
Xu Heran and Jiang Qiong immediately raised their hands and cheered.
“I also have a friend who wants to open a barbecue stall!” Xu Heran shouted loudly. “Who doesn’t love barbecue!”
Xin Nuo nodded. “Yeah, and if we run out, we can bring our own.”
She knelt behind Xu Heran, reached out with both hands from the back, rested them on Xu Heran’s shoulders, and gently rubbed her face. “Freshly slaughtered and cooked, a tender little piglet.”
Xu Heran: “!!!”
“Too much!”
Xu Heran immediately turned around, pinning Xin Nuo down, and the two engaged in a “fierce” struggle.
“Combined, they’re not even ten years old,” Jian Yueyin shook her head with a helpless smile.
“But Xu Pearl only contributes one year to that,” Jiang Qiong immediately added salt to the wound.
Song Fenghua remained silent, loosening the caps of two mineral water bottles and placing them beside the two “fighting” kids.
“All right! Friends, let’s continue! For the roast piglet in seven days!” Jian Yueyin clapped her hands.
The next second, whether sitting on the ground, lying down to rest, or huddled up in a “playful tussle,” the girls all raised their hands simultaneously.
“One team, let’s go!”
“Three team, let’s go!” Xu Heran raised her hand, inviting Lin Weining and Youyou to a barbecue after training.
“We have a roasted piglet.” Jiang Qiong said with a smile.
Xu Heran immediately lifted her foot and playfully kicked her butt. “Then we have a roasted dog, woof woof!”
“Sorry, woof woof is already in the past, please call me Jiang Daqiong.”
“You’re asking for it, Qiong!” Xu Heran’s “malicious” words prompted an intense counterattack from Jiang Qiong, and the two started playfully chanting spells at each other.
Haya slipped between their wriggling fingers, shaking her head. “Together they’re only four years old, split down the middle.”
“Come on, Fairy Fairy, who doesn’t love free food!”
Lin Weining: “…”
“I’m in too.” Lin Weining said with a smile. Sasa and Youyou readily agreed as well.
“For the barbecue!”
“For not being barbecued!”
“Charge, duck!”
A week later, the familiar sports arena, the familiar stage.
Tonight, there were no stars or moon, but the brightest star would stand at the center of the stage.
Ning Yunfei strode forward, beginning her familiar introduction and then swiftly transitioning to the topic at hand.
“As you all know, tonight’s stage will directly involve eliminations!” Ning Yunfei looked at the sea of lights and announced loudly, “Regrettably, to all the trainees present and behind the screens, for this performance, there will only be four stages!”
“After the four stages conclude, all voting channels will be closed! Among the fourteen trainees present, four of them will be eliminated directly! Among the remaining ten trainees, seven of them will debut on the stage in two weeks!”
“Ah ah ah ah!!!”
“Ha…” Backstage, the trainees who also heard this news covered their mouths in astonishment.
“Only ten will remain!”
“There’s one more round!”
“My heart can’t take it.”
Xu Heran immediately turned around and looked at Xin Nuo.
The girl in the mirror tilted her head up, her expression unchanged as she heard Ning Yunfei’s words. She seemed to feel Xu Heran’s gaze and looked toward the mirror.
The two exchanged a glance in the mirror, and Xin Nuo smiled gently.
“You’re going to debut, Xu Heran.”
Xin Nuo whispered softly.
“Let this limitless passion ignite a passionate performance, come a little closer.”
“Just like this, a little closer.”
“Moonlight becomes a song, telling stories of night to me, every strand of sorrowful sentiment, depicted by the storyteller’s pen…”
“Bang bang into the room (I know you want it)①”
Sexy, lyrical, hot, adorable…
The four stages almost flashed by in the fervent cheers. Fans in the audience almost crushed their voting devices, chanting a certain trainee’s name in their hearts, supporting her with all their might.
“The top seven rankings for this stage are now set, and the winning team will evenly share one hundred thousand votes!” Ning Yunfei hosted methodically. Perhaps because she was broadcasting the qualifiers in front of everyone, the cheers tonight were exceptionally loud.
The votes for one team were stably among the top. Xu Heran quickly exchanged high fives with her teammates, then hugged Xin Nuo, the double standard couldn’t have been more obvious.
“The voting channel is about to close, the last five seconds, five, four, three…”
“Two!”
“One!”
“Voting ends!” Ning Yunfei shouted loudly amidst the cries, “Voting results are being tabulated, let’s wait for two more minutes.”
She breathed a sigh of relief in her heart, smiled, and looked at the trainees. “Girls, are you nervous?”
“Nervous!”
“Do you have confidence in advancing this time?” Ning Yunfei asked.
The girls dared not speak.
“Hey… everyone, be more confident!” Ning Yunfei laughed, her eyes brightened, “Our trainees weren’t allowed to use their phones during training before the stage, so they might not be very familiar with some news online. But I’ve heard that after this qualifying round, some people are really missing the time of the second performance with the Ten Teams!”
“As everyone can see, they’ve cleverly come together; they are the winning team for this stage!” As Ning Yunfei’s words fell, the fans of the winning team quickly raised their hands and applauded, waving their support items.
Ning Yunfei continued with a smile, “It seems our winning team is indeed quite popular. I’d like to ask Jiang Qiong from the team, will you still be the goalkeeper this time?”
Jiang Qiong, who was trembling slightly, raised the microphone, “I want to! Please, give the child a chance!”
“Jiang Qiong, charge!” Jiang Qiong’s fans shouted.
Ning Yunfei smiled, then looked at Xu Heran.
“Xu Heran, you’re always campaigning for Xin Nuo, and every time you’re overshadowed by her. Last time, you were both in the top ranks, with her at number one and you at number two. Didn’t you ever think about surpassing Xin Nuo?”
Xu Heran raised her hand, intending to take the microphone from Jiang Qiong, but then she saw Xin Nuo’s gentle smile and her tender gaze landed on her face.
Why would she want to compete for first place with Nuo Nuo? First place should rightfully belong to Nuo Nuo.
Xu Heran thought to herself as she took the microphone and was about to speak, “I didn’t…”
“Xu Heran! You better stand up straight! You better get ahead of Xin Nuo for me! You better top her!!!”
From the audience, a voice rang out even louder than the evening’s performances.
Yu Wan, who was waving a support sign, was taken aback.
The trainees on stage were stunned, even the host was startled and blinked in surprise.
Did someone just shout something that couldn’t be broadcasted?
Director! Director!
“Ahem, Xu Heran, right?” Ning Yunfei gestured toward Xu Heran.
Xu Heran’s round eyes stared dumbly at the audience below. Her blue-purple irises sparkled like shattered stars, and her expression seemed to say, “What, what are you saying? Is my hearing not working properly?” She raised her head in alarm, locking eyes with Ning Yunfei’s reassuring smile.
“Trainee Xu Heran, have you ever thought about surpassing Trainee Xin Nuo and capturing the first place?”
Xu Heran’s mind raced, under Xin Nuo’s subtle gaze, she slowly nodded.
“Well… I think, yeah, I’ve thought about it, wanted to… mmm…”
Beside her, Xin Nuo covered Xu Heran’s mouth.
Her demeanor remained calm, her smile serene, at peace with the world. Yet, beneath her lowered eyelashes, a trace of a murderous intent was concealed.
You fool, you’ve had it.
The author has something to say:
Silly author: Why are you covering our little Pearl’s mouth? What’s wrong with our little Pearl wanting to—uh—?
Little Pearl: Yeah!
Silly author: Our little Pearl is Number 1! Naturally fierce! The kind that crushes Xin Nuo with a roar!
Little Pearl: (crossing arms) Absolutely right!
Silly author: Our little Pearl wants to—what’s wrong with saying it out loud?
Little Pearl: No problem!
Silly author: Love should be proclaimed loudly!
Little Pearl: Right! Nuo Nuo, I love you—
Xin Nuo: (sharpening knives)
① Bang Bang by Jessie J, Ariana Grande, and Nicki Minaj
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Translator: Glariosa
Editor: Sinensis
