At that moment,
Chu Yuanqing had, for the first time, entertained the idea of becoming A-Class.
Just imagine it.
A private practice room where no one peeked at her thighs or took advantage of teaching her to pinch her face.
A high-end massage pod that eased her aches without her having to stretch herself or ask anyone else for a massage.
And a virtual tutor she could convince Little Sakura to stop helping with, so she could handle things herself and customize the tutor's management scope.
What wonderful conditions!
What a happy future!
That moment of wavering seemed to prove just how terrifying Shining Dance was at devouring people's hearts.
Chu Yuanqing immediately cast aside her stray thoughts and temptations, returning to her usual unruffled state as she silently reminded herself to stay vigilant.
Don't fall for it. This has to be Dream Weaver Rabbit's scheme!
Remember! Becoming A-Class would feel good for a while, but getting eliminated right away would feel good forever!
Chu Wangshu had no idea how many twists and turns were churning inside the other girl.
Or perhaps, from her perspective, Chu Yuanqing was a diligent and earnest dreamer, a little aloof yet hardworking, devoted to the stage.
A girl with such unwavering resolve and picture-perfect features had nothing in common with laziness or giving up. She was constantly striving toward A-Class, and carried a unique aura, as though she had been born to stand onstage. She was someone Chu Wangshu admired.
Chu Wangshu lowered her eyes, letting her gaze wander over that lovely, vibrant figure. A little dazed, she murmured,
"You're so pretty."
Chu Yuanqing had an enviable waist-to-hip ratio. When she stretched her long legs taut, the wide hem of her garment happened to hang low enough to conceal her alluring curves. A glimpse of her waist showed now and then, slender and fair, with skin as smooth and lustrous as jade.
Even the hair around her temples looked carefully trimmed. Though her soft black hair was damp with sweat and fell in a wild tangle, from a distance it looked like an ink painting lightly washed with water, full of effortless elegance.
Her earlobes were pink, and her graceful neck extended downward in a smooth curve. Through the thin fabric, one could make out the lovely shape of her shoulder blades. When the base of her spine showed now and then, it revealed an enticing dimple there, too. Every part of her was beautiful.
Especially her delicate, youthful face. Others might have thought she was wearing natural-looking makeup, or some high-end no-makeup makeup.
But only Chu Wangshu, who had once sneak-attacked her and pinched her face, knew the truth: Chu Yuanqing had never worn makeup since joining the show. She had stood up to the cameras with nothing but her natural beauty, making her a Great Demon King in another sense of the word.
A beauty of this caliber was destined to shine, even if she couldn't do a single thing. And that was before you considered how hard-working and adorable she was.
Chu Wangshu's admiration was only natural.
This unknown blessing was the one extraordinary ability she had retained after paying the price to correct the Worldline.
The magical girls' belief that mind shaped reality had been carried to its fullest extent in the animation. Not only did it involve the authority to alter causality, but even the transformation of the soul and the reconstruction of the body followed the principle that appearance reflected the heart.
In other words, not only that withered, pallid Magic Armor, but even this nearly perfect body was an expression of Chu Yuanqing as the Savior, flawless as a saint.
If not for her magical power disguising her white hair and golden eyes, wrapping those jewels in dirt and hiding most of their charm and star power, her appearance before the public would have been a complete mismatch.
After all, just as no one could compare to a saint's perfection, no one could compete with the body that perfection had manifested.
It was simple enough: without the special nature of magical girls, it was impossible, even with technology, to have measurements like hers, legs of similar length, the same light weight, and equally perfect proportions. It was simply inhuman.
Chu Yuanqing was sixteen in her current state.
As long as she wanted to and stayed alive, she could naturally grow to seventeen, eighteen, and even more mature and alluring stages, each in its own perfect form.
But unfortunately, she wasn't grateful for any of it. She only felt like she'd been royally screwed.
—Well, screwed in the literal sense.
The only people enjoying this were the many lesbian fans in the Live Broadcast Room who practically wanted to lick the screen every day, the contestants in the practice room who were gradually acting weirder and weirder, the roommates in the dorm who were growing increasingly restless, and Dream Weaver Rabbit, who thought she'd found an idol in the rough.
And...
Chu Wangshu, who wanted to touch her leg right now.
Of course, she wasn't inclined to be a shameless daughter who made advances on her father.
Chu Wangshu had simply touched her once, thought it felt great, and wanted to do it again. It was like seeing an adorable ragdoll cat and being unable to resist petting it.
Unfortunately, this time,
Chu Yuanqing had sensed something amiss and promptly wrapped up her practice and stood up, leaving the other girl no chance to make a move. She glanced at her daughter's disappointed expression and felt a little troubled.
She didn't doubt her daughter's sexual orientation, but the way young girls showed affection to their friends these days was genuinely hard for her to get used to.
Well, being touched on the leg wasn't a big deal. Neither were the other places.
—In fact, the only reason she'd let them pinch her face and touch her legs that time was that she hadn't thought to dodge. Otherwise, her instincts alone would have let her evade anyone else's sneak attacks.
But the look on Xiao Shu's face when she touched her leg was exactly the same as when she'd crouched outside a convenience store in fourth grade to pet the stray cats and dogs!
That left Chu Yuanqing, who wanted to maintain her authority as a father, on high alert whenever her daughter tried to cuddle up to her, lest she be treated like some cute little animal and lose every last shred of her dignity.
Chu Yuanqing said tactfully,
"Xiao Shu, I've remembered everything you taught me. How about..."
Chu Wangshu caught her meaning and immediately picked up where she left off:
"How about we practice together for a while?"
Chu Yuanqing's pupils trembled at that suggestion. Like a frightened kitten, she nearly ran away on the spot.
As if! Dance practice explicitly required them to change into short skirts!
They were bound to perform together at the Public Performance, but the hundred-person dance would be divided into groups and rows. She and her daughter probably wouldn't be in the same section, so the embarrassment wouldn't be nearly as bad.
But practicing together was different. There was no doubt she'd be watched from every angle.
Chu Yuanqing forced herself to keep a straight face and said coolly,
"No need. I'm still breaking down the movements, while you're already working on controlling your breath while singing and dancing, right? We're at different stages. Practicing together would waste your time."
Chu Wangshu was about to say something else.
Just then, a young assistant carrying a camera walked into the practice room. She looked over and waved.
"Chu Yuanqing, sorry to bother you."
"Are you free to step outside for a short interview?"
PS: Heh heh heh, I stayed up writing until morning and cleared all the reward chapters in one go!
Volume One: 55. The Terrifying Succubus, and the DD Soul That Was Converted (5,200 words)
Chu Yuanqing froze for a moment, then was overjoyed.
Yes! Long live interviews!
She held back her excitement, gave her daughter an apologetic look and a slight nod of farewell, then followed the assistant out of the room with a light step.
Chu Wangshu watched her go with a little disappointment, but soon cheered up as she thought it over.
Qingqing being interviewed meant she might get more screentime on the show. That was a good thing!
But...
That would make the gap between them even wider.
At the thought, Chu Wangshu's anxiety and sense of crisis grew heavier.
After all, Chu Yuanqing was already nearly as popular with the public as that Sakura Girl.
And though Chu Wangshu's B-Class rating was higher than hers, she was still only better than some and worse than others. If she did poorly in the second evaluation, the gap between them would only widen further.
Suppose, just suppose, that she was eliminated while Chu Yuanqing debuted.
The latter would sooner or later be propelled to the top of Great Xia Nation, or even the entire Donghuang Federation, under the full support of Shining Dance, a global-scale project. She would shine on the world stage.
By then, even if Chu Yuanqing didn't mind,
her schedule and work would inevitably leave no room for someone who had permanently lost her idol status. Their relationship would surely grow more distant. Their paths in life would shift from crossing to parallel, and they probably wouldn't meet again.
Chu Wangshu didn't want that future.
Though they hadn't known each other for long, an inexplicable intuition had been sending her special signals ever since the moment they first met.
—Chu Yuanqing was special, and that specialness went far beyond mere friendship.
Even though she didn't want to admit it, and thought the whole thing sounded too fantastical,
the truth was, she could see past that girl's cool, youthful exterior to a mature and gentle heart. From it, she could draw sincere affection, even warmth that felt almost like tenderness.
Chu Wangshu had been raised by a single parent. She had never known a mother's love.
Perhaps because of that, she had always been the model student in her relationships with others: polite and obedient, hardworking, disciplined to the point of having no social life, and keeping her distance from everyone. She was never used to softening or compromising, and took everything seriously.
She was like a famous blade forged through countless trials, its body bright and its edge keen. When it cut through the water, it blended with the moonlight, as if it could shatter at any moment.
People like her rarely had many friends.
And Chu Yuanqing was the only person in all these years whom she had gone out of her way to approach, to the point that she no longer felt like herself.
Because she reminded her so much of the older sister she'd never met, and even of the mother she had no memory of—both as warm and accepting as she had imagined, like a cradle gently rocking beside a fireplace.
Sometimes Chu Wangshu wondered if she was simply too starved for a mother's love.
Otherwise, why would she find a love as addictive as opium in someone her own age?
She had always tried to suppress those feelings, even ignore and forget them, wanting to be nothing more than a simple friend to the other girl.
But somehow, whenever they were close, she couldn't help acting spoiled, even childish and clumsy. She was intoxicated by the helplessness in that girl's eyes and the smile at her lips, greedy in a way that didn't feel like her at all.
—Chu Yuanqing.
A girl whose name differed from her father's by only one character. She was like a sweet spell, or a belated gift from fate.
Well, if it hadn't meant making her own father a criminal, Chu Wangshu had even considered asking Chu Yuanqing to be her stepmother.
Of course, she had already given up on that dangerous, terrifying, unrealistic, and downright outrageous idea. Now, all her thoughts were focused on staying on Shining Dance. She'd decided to act spoiled in the name of friendship and be a little thief of motherly love!
So she absolutely, absolutely couldn't be eliminated early!
Chu Wangshu's spirits suddenly soared. Her gaze turned serious, as if a roaring fire had ignited in her eyes. With firm steps, she left the room and headed for the B-Class practice room.
The interview room.
It was on another floor in a different building. Like the other structures in the underground base, it was decorated in the same stark metallic style. Its exact look and visual effects were determined by the Virtual Reality System.
Chu Yuanqing's skin glowed like jade beneath the fill lights. Her long lower lashes fluttered, their fan-shaped shadows shifting with the light. Her cherry-colored lips were moist and full, and her gaze was clear and limpid.
The girl's youthful, pretty face was as serious as ever. She sat upright, her back straight. Her loose short sleeves hid her full curves, though the gentle rise and fall of her breathing still showed through.
It was a bewitching aura, made all the more sacred and pure by how unaware she was of her own charm.
Assistant Chen Xiaoxiao stared without blinking. Her heart gave a sharp thump, and she couldn't help looking away from Chu Yuanqing's gaze.
Damn, what kind of innocent succubus is Qing Bao? She's too sexy!
Chen Xiaoxiao had spent years in the idol industry and had gradually lost faith in the Chinese Entertainment Industry's talent shows.
When she graduated, she'd wanted to work in a similar field, thinking she could use her access to insider information to prevent herself from suffering a devastating scandal involving an idol in the future.
By chance, Shining Stage had appeared out of nowhere and established state-owned enterprises in various countries as its outposts.
Chen Xiaoxiao had landed the job and signed a thick stack of confidentiality agreements. Then she'd started living the happy life of a worker who got to look at pretty girls while she worked.
Well, at the moment, all the pretty girls in DShining Dance were hers to look at, and that included Chu Yuanqing.
So this interview opportunity was nothing less than a reward!
Chu Yuanqing looked at the distracted Chen Xiaoxiao and asked politely,
"...Um, what would you like to ask me?"
Chen Xiaoxiao came back to herself at once. She coughed a few times without thinking, then hurriedly pulled out the proposal the Program Group had given her, just in case she had a brain freeze and asked something ridiculous. Only then did she notice the beads of sweat at Chu Yuanqing's temples. She said considerately,
"No rush on the interview. There's a shower room nearby. You can shower first, then come back on camera."
That was what she said, but...
Before you continue