Chapter 6
1800 Words
This was practically a golden opportunity dropping straight from the sky. Xu Mei couldn’t help but be suspicious. “How did you get my number?”
“Didn’t you attend a prep class before the art exam?” the person replied. “Our teacher was the one who trained you. You left your contact info back then.”
Xu Mei had no memory of the original host, but after thinking for a second, she agreed, “Okay, thank you. How do I sign up?”
“I’ll text you the time and location. Just drop by and fill out a form before the registration deadline.”
A minute after the call ended, she received a text.
She looked up the address—Wuzhiling Training Center at Gaota Square. It would take nearly an hour to walk there from her apartment complex.
The deadline was in three days.
The next morning, Xu Mei woke up early and walked all the way to the training center.
On one hand, she wanted to save on transport; on the other, she figured it’d be a good way to get familiar with the area.
This part of the city was called Baihe Tower District, named after a tall pagoda in the western suburbs where, according to legend, white cranes once gathered. So, the tower was called Baihe (White Crane) Tower, the lake was Huahè (Painting Crane) Lake, and everything around here had names inspired by cranes or towers.
Gaota Square was an older plaza—nothing fancy, but it was bustling even early in the morning.
The training center wasn’t hard to find. Wuzhiling’s signage was a bit faded, but its location was decent.
Xu Mei wandered across the street to a convenience store, bought some bread and milk, and casually asked the shopkeeper, “Sis, do you know what time Wuzhiling opens?”
“They open kind of late—usually around ten,” the shopkeeper answered warmly. “You thinking of learning dance? You’ve got the figure for it. Totally made for dancing.”
“Now that’s a professional opinion,” Xu Mei smiled sweetly. “You must be amazing at dancing too.”
“I wish! I’m more of a square dancer these days,” the woman laughed, clearly pleased with the flattery.
During the chat, Xu Mei found out that Wuzhiling had been open for seven or eight years and had a solid reputation—matching the reviews she’d seen online.
Definitely not a scam.
Maybe her luck really was turning around.
Sure enough, at ten o’clock, the studio opened.
Xu Mei waited a bit longer before walking over to explain why she was there.
To her surprise, the receptionist was a handsome young guy. He glanced at her name and did a double take before handing her a registration form.
After she filled it out, she asked about the fees. The guy enthusiastically showed her around.
When she saw the full-length mirrored practice room, realization hit her like a truck.
No wonder her moves were off—she couldn’t even see herself. Of course they were deformed!
She now knew she'd made a mistake trying to save money. This wasn’t the place to cut corners.
No matter how well she did in this competition, she had to find a legit place to train. No more trial and error.
But first, she needed to compare prices with other studios.
Soon, the day of the event arrived. Wuzhiling had set up a full stage in Gaota Square, complete with banners. The place was lively and packed with people—it was the weekend, after all.
There were eight stages in total. Each stage had judges scoring the contestants. Whoever had the highest total score at the end would win.
But only those who completed all the stages could qualify for a prize.
Xu Mei wasn’t aiming to win. She just wanted to take it one step at a time. Do her best, that was all.
The first stage was called “Voice Resonance.” The task? Use your voice to shatter a glass.
Xu Mei understood the theory. Glass is fragile, and when sound matches its natural frequency, it vibrates until it breaks.
It was simple enough. There were tutorials all over the internet. Some vocalists even used this trick to train pitch accuracy—tap the glass first, that sound is the exact frequency needed to break it.
Xu Mei might not be good at dancing, but she had perfect pitch.
Let’s hope transmigrating didn’t mess that up.
Some contestants were already trying. Most of them were just screaming loudly. The scene was pure chaos, earning laughter from the crowd.
Xu Mei ignored the noise, tapped the glass, remembered the tone, and sang: “Ah—”
CRACK!
The glass shattered with a crisp snap.
The crowd went silent for two seconds… then exploded.
“Holy s**t!”
“That was badass!”
“She’s insane!”
“Lucky shot, right?”
…
One of the judges—clearly an expert—gave her a stunned look while scoring. “Our standard says three seconds gets you full marks. You did it in 0.3. I wanna give you 11 points. Girl, with pitch like that, you should be a singer!”
“Thank you, sir.” Xu Mei hadn’t expected things to go this smoothly. She bowed slightly and smiled. “I’ll seriously consider your advice.”
Unfortunately, her good luck only lasted 0.3 seconds.
The second stage was called “Rhythm Master”—basically a dance arcade game.
It sounded easy. Just follow the moves.
But for Xu Mei right now, it was tough.
Luckily, she’d been practicing at home. Her moves wouldn’t impress a trained dancer, but for the arcade game, they were barely passable.
She was nervous, knowing this was her weak point. Her reaction time slowed, and her moves got sloppier.
She scraped through with a score of six. Barely made it.
Her first-round advantage? Gone in a flash.
At least she still had a shot at the next round.
Stage three had a pretty name—“Fairy of Grace”—but it was all about flexibility.
Backbend limbo, under a pole without touching it. Two attempts allowed per height. The lower the pole, the higher the score.
This body’s flexibility wasn’t bad. Xu Mei glanced at the pole and called out, “One-ten.”
Just then, another voice echoed beside hers, also calling “One-ten.”
She looked over. A short-haired beauty—tall, long legs, no makeup, exuding cool confidence.
Xu Mei gave her a friendly smile. The girl winked back.
The host, ever the hype-man, jumped in. “Wow, two gorgeous girls! One aced the first round, the other aced the second. How about a little face-off in the third? See who grabs another full score?”
The crowd was already huge, and now they were eating it up. Cheers erupted all around.
Xu Mei gave the girl a thumbs-up, then turned her focus back to the pole.
She nailed it smoothly.
Applause erupted. She turned to look—the other girl had also cleared the height.
Both asked to lower the pole again.
And so began their showdown.
By the time the pole hit 75 cm, the area was so packed you couldn’t move. The heat from the bodies alone made it feel like the temperature had gone up five degrees.
They both made it.
“Seventy,” they said in unison.
Xu Mei slid into a perfect split, her back nearly parallel to the ground. She passed—but felt a sharp pull in her inner thigh on the way up.
The crowd’s cheers turned into gasps halfway through.
Xu Mei turned to check on her rival. The girl had cleared it too—but on her way up, she knocked the pole over.
“It’s okay! You’ve got one more try!” people shouted encouragingly.
Xu Mei smiled at her, offering silent support.
On her second try, the girl nailed it.
More cheers.
The judge said, “Seventy’s the highest scoring level. Anything lower gets the same points. You girls don’t need to go further.”
The short-haired girl walked over and said, “One more round? Not for the score. Just you and me.”
The host jumped in, fanning the flames.
Xu Mei moved her leg—it still hurt. She hadn’t fully merged with this body yet.
“No.” She smiled politely. “This is only stage three. I want to save my energy for the final round.”
The other girl frowned.
Xu Mei added, “If you still want to do it after the competition, I’m game.”
That got her a grin. “Deal! Let’s make it to the end and see who wins.”
“Let’s go!” They high-fived.
This girl was seriously good. For the rest of the stages, they kept trading leads, scores neck and neck.
By the final stage, they were tied.
And since most contestants had dropped out already, it came down to just the two of them.
Whoever won the last game would take the crown.
The host made sure everyone knew that.
Xu Mei hadn’t thought she’d make it this far. She’d just wanted to give her all in each round. No pressure.
But now, standing at the edge of victory, it hit her all at once.
Win this—and she’d earn free professional training.
“Let’s do this!” the short-haired girl said, walking beside her to the last challenge.
Xu Mei saw the name and went stiff—Three-Legged Race.
Yup. Two people, one leg tied together, race to the finish.
Simple enough… if you had a partner.
“Don’t tell me… you don’t have one?” the short-haired girl asked, instantly reading her face.
She waved a tall boy over, leaned into his shoulder.
Boyfriend. Great.
Of course couples would have better rhythm.
Xu Mei was about to lose and get force-fed public displays of affection.
“…Great.”
The judge reminded her, “You can still ask someone from the audience to help.”
“Pick me, beautiful!”
“I’m super fast!”
“Speed doesn’t matter! I play this all the time!”
“Girl, I’m your height! We’re a perfect match!”
…
The crowd roared louder than ever. It felt like the whole square was watching.
Xu Mei wasn’t stupid. This kind of close-contact activity? Definitely not something to do with random guys—especially not in front of a cheering crowd of all men.
She felt overwhelmed—until her gaze landed on a familiar figure stepping out from behind a speaker, holding a voltage tester.
“Fu Shuyang!” she shouted instinctively.
- Writer
