Chapter 17
Chapter 17
When Jiang Xuxu, Tong Luo, and Qi Wu walked into the hall, many of the contestants who had witnessed what just happened outside reflexively turned to glance at them.
Jiang Xuxu hurriedly pulled Qi Wu over to the side and sat down.
As Tong Luo did not want to drag anyone else into her mess, she was going to sit somewhere else to show that Qi Wu had nothing to do with her. Hence, she did not follow Jiang Xuxu and Qi Wu.
However, just as she was about to walk away, Qi Wu turned and looked at her.
Qi Wu’s eyes were so calm and clear. It felt like a whole world could fit in those eyes, yet they were so empty.
In an instant, Tong Luo felt as if her entire being was exposed to those eyes. It felt like her entire mind, from the inside to the outside, was being carefully dissected and analyzed.
Qi Wu had not said a single word, yet one look from her was enough to render Tong Luo speechless and hesitant to walk away.
Thus, after a few moments of silence, Tong Luo walked over and sat down not far away from Qi Wu.
When Jiang Xuxu witnessed what happened, she could not resist whispering to Qi Wu, “Sweetie, why are you so nice to Tong Luo?”
“She’s not a bad one,” Qi Wu softly answered.
The stars representing Tong Luo’s fate might be feeble and weak, but they had never gone out. It meant Tong Luo had the courage and perseverance to be reborn after being pushed to the brink of death.
As the most talented priestess of her era, Qi Wu had seen too many individuals suffering from the same fate as Tong Luo.
However, she would always lend them a helping hand without hesitation.
Perhaps it was because she was envious that they had the chance to change their fates.
Jiang Xuxu silently stared.
It took her a long while before she could speak again.
On one hand, it felt like Qi Wu was just too kind for this world. That type of kindness would only lead to Qi Wu’s destruction in such a competitive talent show.
On the other hand, Qi Wu was capable of pushing someone like Tong Fei into stomping off in anger with just a few words.
Was her silly little angel… secretly a devil?
*
The moment Song Qi walked in, silence immediately fell in the hall previously bustling with chatter.
No one dared to make a single noise when Song Qi was around.
He scanned everyone in the hall with his stern eyes. When he noticed Qi Wu who acted as relaxed as always, he could not help but spend a few more seconds observing her.
There were cameras stationed near the doors, so Song Qi heard everything Qi Wu had said just now.
He just did not get it. Qi Wu was clearly someone who had a sound mind, so why was she so lazy when it came to her own future?
She should fight for herself as well!
What a waste of her great beauty.
While Song Qi was not a man who cared a lot about beauty, he had to admit that Qi Wu was completely capable of earning big bucks with that face of hers.
“After our morning run, I’ve realized that many of you are very idle in your life. Perhaps you think that physical exercise is useless.”
Song Qi’s voice boomed through the entire hall. “However, you will have to rehearse over and over again for the next three months on the show. How can you survive without sufficient stamina?”
His brief speech terrified everyone so much that no one dared let a single peep out. Some of them even began to hold their breath in hopes of making less noise.
“If you’re going to be this lazy tomorrow morning, you’ll be running an extra lap.”
Song Qi’s declaration terrified the contestants even further, causing looks of agony to flash across their faces.
After all, one lap around the area was around two miles. If they had to run two laps, just how long would it take for them to finish the two laps?
Many rumors circulated through the industry about Song Qi and his temper, but this was the first time most of them personally interacted with him. None of them had the right to work with Song Qi prior to the talent show.
The contestants only started relaxing once the talent showcase started and Song Qi’s oppressive presence went away.
Jiang Xuxu patted her chest to calm herself down. “I have finally witnessed just how strict Mr. Song is.”
Qi Wu tilted her head. Her pink lips parted as she said, “You’ll be witnessing it for three whole months.”
That rendered Jiang Xuxu speechless.
Her angel really was a devil! Why else would Qi Wu say something so heartbreaking?
However, she soon snapped back to her senses and promptly wrapped her arms around Qi Wu in an excited hug. “Are you saying that I can stay until the very last round?”
Qi Wu steadily stared at Jiang Xuxu in response.
Her calm and honest eyes seemed to be lost in thought as she seemingly analyzed Jiang Xuxu, causing Jiang Xuxu to feel very weirded out and uncomfortable.
With an awkward chuckle, Jiang Xuxu said in an attempt to break the tension, “I’m just joking…”
Before she could finish speaking, Qi Wu had looked away.
As Qi Wu did so, she said, “As long as you set your mind to it, you can do it.”
Jiang Xuxu stared in confusion.
After a while, she started grinning to herself.’
For the first talent showcase, the order the contestants performed was decided by lottery.
There were one hundred contestants. Even if all of them only got to perform for one minute each, the entire process would take at least two hours.
When it was time for Tong Fei to perform, Jiang Xuxu could not resist glancing at Tong Luo.
She found that Tong Luo was silently looking down in deep thought. She sighed once more at how complicated rich families were.
Tong Fei chose to sing for her performance.
The song she selected was a song that had been sung by someone who used to be extremely famous.
Whenever a contestant performed a song on the show, they had to buy the rights to perform from the rights holders. As for this extremely famous singer the song belonged to, he had retired decades ago and the right to perform any of his songs could cost at least a million.
Tong Fei chose this specific song because she wanted to flaunt the wealth of the family that was the source of her pride.
With the Tong family supporting her, she could easily afford to pay millions for the right to perform a song. It showed that Tong Fei could have anything she wanted!
Unfortunately, no matter how rich she was, she was not that strong of a singer.
Her voice started trembling hard just a few bars into the song. In fact, she was even off-beat and nearly sang faster than the backing track.
Disdain shimmered in the eyes of many professional singers present.
Even Jiang Xuxu could hear that something was off about the way Tong Fei sang. She was instantly filled with glee.
“She was so arrogant that I thought she was quite talented.”
In the end, Tong Fei performed worse than someone like Jiang Xuxu who only sang and danced for her streams.
Qi Wu nodded in agreement. “She has focused her efforts on the wrong aspects.”
She had sounded so much like an old woman commenting that Jiang Xuxu instinctively pinched Qi Wu’s tender cheeks.
Ever since she found out that Qi Wu had a soft heart and could not resist it when others pleaded cutely, she had gotten bolder.
“Just how old are you? Just listen to how old you sound.”
“I’m twenty-two.”
Qi Wu answered while her cheeks were being pinched.
However, because her cheeks were being pinched, her face looked rather cute and goofy while there was a hint of a cute lisp as she spoke. It was so cute that Jiang Xuxu was shrieking with joy on the inside.
“I’m also twenty-two, but I don’t sound as jaded as you do.”
Finally, Jiang Xuxu set Qi Wu’s cheeks free. Her mood had instantly improved upon seeing the dazed look on Qi Wu’s face.
She leaned in close to examine Qi Wu’s face. Then, she let out a gasp of surprise. “You’re not wearing any makeup!”
She initially assumed Qi Wu was only wearing a thin layer of makeup. That was why it did not look that obvious, especially since Qi Wu’s skin was very fair and smooth.
However, upon a closer look, Jiang Xuxu realized Qi Wu did not have any makeup on at all! Her smooth skin and enthralling radiant glow were all natural!
Jiang Xuxu could not help but feel a pang of envy hit her.
Qi Wu was so blessed that the world truly was her oyster!