Rebirth of the Entertainment Circle: Return of the Queen

Chapter 44 Queen Review Meeting

 The day of the judging meeting.

Many trainees who wanted to watch the show, who were curious and wanted to join in the fun, made an appointment in twos and threes to go to the scene.

Tan Ying did not stop him, but cooperated and canceled the class that morning. According to his words: "Ye Xingling, do you think it is so easy to be a queen? Hard work alone is not enough. You also need talent, musicality, stage style, field control ability, pressure resistance, aura, and charm. …If you don’t have one without the other, your weaknesses will be exposed in a live performance environment, and of course, your strengths will be magnified.”

She had no objection. Before going out, she looked at herself in the mirror.

 The girl in the mirror is wearing a white dance practice uniform, has clean and long hair, light amber eyes, and delicate features. There is nothing surprising about her appearance in the training camp filled with beauties. She is seventeen years old, but her body frame is still slender. In the shallow light of the morning, she looks like a quiet white bird.

She stretched out her finger and pointed at the floor-to-ceiling mirror. The girl in the mirror did the same thing as her.

“Xiao Ling,” she looked at the mirror and said to herself, “the journey from now on will depend on you alone.”

 There was a cold touch on my fingertips.

 She lowered her hands and turned around to go out.

 There were many people in the performance hall, gathering in twos and threes on the aisles and in the hall, waiting for the show to start. Xia Ling walked all the way in, glanced at the number of people, and found that about half of the trainees were there.

There were whispers coming from all directions—

"She is Ye Xingling? The one who refused to go to the emperor?"

"Yeah, I don't know why I'm so nervous. I heard that the emperor is very optimistic about her, but she just doesn't know what to do."

“Haha, you know you are incompetent and you are afraid of embarrassing the emperor, right?”

"Who knows, yet you are so brazen that you have the potential to be a diva. Is this because you are mentally ill? Do you think divas are just cabbages on the street? Hahaha..."

"That's right, just like her, she is still a queen of heaven. If she can become a queen of heaven, I can also become a god!"

 Then there was unbridled laughter.

Xia Ling remained calm despite the ridicule, her expression was peaceful, and her slender figure was graceful and straight. She walked forward steadily step by step. On both sides of the corridor, all kinds of eyes were peering at her. Gradually, some people were impressed by her calmness - the girl in the center of the vortex was obviously just pretty in appearance, but her grades were improving in training. He is not outstanding in the camp, and he has endured so much criticism. Why is it that he has an aura that is like a queen coming to dominate the world?

As she walked past, the jeers subsided unconsciously.

Xia Ling continued to move forward and met a man in a suit and leather shoes, holding a crocodile leather briefcase. It was Chu Chen.

"Ye Xingling," Chu Chen spoke first, sarcastically, "Do you really think you can become a queen? Stop dreaming. Things have reached this point, and you still have to struggle? It's still too late to follow me now. If you really get on stage, It will only make a fool of yourself. Not only will it not change the outcome, but it will also make people laugh in vain - why are you doing this?"

Xia Ling's expression turned cold: "Get out of here."

 The people around him gasped—

 Does she know who she is talking to? That's Chu Chen! The Emperor's prestigious chief agent! The former royal agent of the legendary queen Xia Ling! The person who Pei Ziheng trusts and relies on the most!

According to legend, even the emperor's big boss Pei Ziheng never said a harsh word to Chu Chen. Only Xia Ling, who was spoiled by Pei Ziheng and became lawless, arrogant and willful, would scold Chu Chen occasionally when she was unhappy.

Who does she think she is, Xia Ling? How dare you speak to Chu Chen like this!

However, no one could have imagined that Ye Xingling, who could only be described as pretty in appearance, was actually the stunningly talented and legendary queen Xia Ling herself. She had always been rude to Chu Chen, not to mention that she had experienced so much in her previous life. Something happened, now that she saw Chu Chen's true face clearly, Chu Chen offended her even more.

Seeing Chu Chen didn’t move, she said again: “Get out of here.”

Chu Chen didn't expect that she would scold him like this. He was startled for a moment, his face was uncertain, and then he laughed angrily: "Okay... very good! Ye Xingling, you have the backbone, you are just a young trainee. That’s all, how dare you be so arrogant and ignorant! Don’t cry and beg for mercy when you suffer later..." His voice gradually turned gloomy.

Xia Ling was too lazy to talk nonsense with him, so she bypassed him and walked to the judging hall.

 The judging hall was packed with seats. Seeing Xia Ling enter the room, everyone's eyes gathered like searchlights. Xia Ling adjusted her pace and breathed slowly. This was something she was used to doing before going on stage in her previous life. With her long breaths, she emptied her mind and didn't see, listen, think or eliminate anything. All distracting thoughts, let the spirit reach its best state.

 She came to the stage step by step.

 “Senior Ye, please come on stage.” came the sweet voice of the announcer.

Xia Ling walked onto the stage along the narrow stairs calmly and leisurely.

The announcer retreated, and all the lights went out, plunging him into darkness.

 Suddenly, spotlights from all directions converged on her at the same time, and the intense light almost blinded people. She had not experienced this familiar feeling for a long time, the brightness and heat that seemed to be able to burn everything out. She was in the center of focus, surrounded by endless darkness. In a trance, she seemed to own the entire universe.

 Here, she is the universe.

A voice came from not far away on the right: "Ye Xingling, are you ready?"

 She turned around and saw a hazy halo coming towards the other end - it was the judging panel. There were five people in total, including Tan Ying, Wei Shaoyin, and three senior executives of Tianyi, who were also recognized experts in music.

 The speaker was Tan Ying.

Xia Ling nodded and picked up the microphone: "You can start at any time."

Tan Ying continued to confirm with her: "Are you still insisting on singing a cappella instead of using accompaniment?"

 “Yes,” she said.

The audience immediately exploded with applause and boos.

Everyone knows that singing a cappella is much more difficult than accompaniment, especially when singing live. Even singers who have been famous for a long time do not dare to do such crazy things. However, the only thing that best reflects a singer's true skills is a cappella singing, which is why she insists on singing a cappella - either she doesn't sing, or she sings so hard that everyone is speechless.

 “He is crazy.” Wei Shaoyin cursed in a low voice.

She smiled at him. He raised his glass to her, with a hint of worry in his eyes, but more of an encouragement.

"Then, as you wish." Tan Ying's voice came, "Ye Xingling, you can start."

 The light beam on the judging panel dimmed, and she was the only one left in the world.

 This time, unlike previous trainee tests, she could not concentrate and had to devote herself wholeheartedly. She calmed down and imagined herself floating in the boundless darkness, an illusory world, and eternal loneliness...

 The first line of the lyrics slowly flowed out of the mouth: "Under the starry sky, above the night sea."

 There was an instant commotion in the audience, spreading like a tide—

 “It’s the ‘Siren’!”

 “It’s Xia Ling’s ‘Siren’!”

　　—

 (End of this chapter)