Running Over The Head Of My Ex [Rebirth]

Chapter 4

The screen paused, and Yan Huan picked up the microphone again.

“There are still four contestants whose vote counts have not been announced yet. Their corresponding ranks are first place, second place, fourteenth place, and fifteenth place.”

“Who do you think I will announce first?”

The audience shouted various answers: “First place!” “Fourteenth place!” “Second place!” “Fifteenth place!”

Yan Huan smiled mysteriously and paused for a moment.

“We’ll take a commercial break, and we’ll be right back.”

“Ugh~” The crowd booed loudly.

Especially the four contestants whose rankings hadn’t been announced yet, their hearts were in their throats, and their faces were flushed red. Even the usually calm Zhuo Zhiwei frowned.

He Qingqi looked at them with sympathy. She had once been in their shoes, and that was the only time she had more votes than Zhuo Zhiwei.

Zhuo Zhiwei…

Thinking of this name, He Qingqi’s eyes darkened, and she bit her lip, staring intently at the owner of the name. The guilt rising from her heart almost overwhelmed her, making it hard for her to breathe.

I’m sorry…

“Qingqi, Yan… Mr. Yan is too mean,” Wang Qiyu, who was sitting diagonally in front of He Qingqi, turned around and whispered, “Look, Xiaoyu is so anxious; her face has turned green.”

He Qingqi was startled and stammered in agreement. “Y-Yes, he’s too mean.”

…

“Hello, everyone, welcome back to ‘Idol Era’. We’ll now announce the fourteenth place. Please look at the big screen.”

14th place: Zheng Xinnian, votes: 11,140,783, strength rating: B, final votes: 20,053,409.9.

Seeing this name, Zhang Xiaoyu’s heart sank. Immediately after, the fifteenth place was announced.

15th place: Zhang Xiaoyu, votes: 10,024,532, strength rating: A, final votes: 20,049,064.

Although she had prepared herself for this, Zhang Xiaoyu couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed. She gritted her teeth and stared at the big screen. If she had just 5,000 more votes, she could have made it to Class A.

Both of her roommates had made it, and she didn’t think she was any worse than them. She was determined that she could do it too! A fierce determination ignited within her, looking at the positions on the pyramid. She would secure a spot in the top three rows!

Zheng Xinnian came over and took her hand. “Let’s go, Xiaoyu.”

Although Zhang Xiaoyu lost the competition, she did not lose her composure. With a smile, she nodded gracefully.

As they walked closer, Wang Qiyu and He Qingqi stepped down to hug Zhang Xiaoyu.

“It’s okay, Xiaoyu; this is just the first time. There’s still a long way to go,” Wang Qiyu whispered in Zhang Xiaoyu’s ear.

“I know,” Zhang Xiaoyu said, forcing a smile.

Even though she said that Zhang Xiaoyu understood in her heart, she couldn’t help feeling disappointed.

Wang Qiyu couldn’t say much more, just patted her on the shoulder.

Zhang Xiaoyu was amused by her and laughed out loud, giving her a playful punch. “Alright, stop looking so worried. Anyone who didn’t know better might think you were the one in fifteenth place. It’s fine. Let’s go back.”

Finally, she whispered, “Cheer up, shorty.”

Wang Qiyu pouted, “!!!”

Mentor Yan Huan glanced at the contestants and slowly raised the two envelopes in his hand. “Just now, the director’s team handed me the vote counts for the first and second places. I will hand these envelopes to the respective contestants, and you will open them and take your seats accordingly.”

The two outstanding and beautiful girls each took their envelopes and exchanged glances, and something unspoken seemed to pass between them.

After three days of interaction, they had already determined that the other was their biggest rival for the top spot. But because of each other’s strength, they admired each other and felt honored to have such a worthy opponent.

Under the respectful gazes of the other ninety-six contestants, they walked hand in hand toward the pinnacle, stopping next to He Qingqi.

He Qingqi instinctively stood up, and the three tall girls stood in a triangle, exuding an impressive aura.

“Boom.”

The big screen displayed the votes for the two girls.

First place: Tao Jinghan, votes: 56,124,564, strength rating: A, total votes: 112,249,128.

Second place: Zhuo Zhiwei, votes: 52,751,231, strength rating: A, total votes: 105,502,462.

“Congratulations to Tao Jinghan and Zhuo Zhiwei for taking first and second place in the first evaluation! According to the competition rules, the center position for the theme song will be held by Tao Jinghan. Congratulations!”

He Qingqi came back to her senses, smiled, and went up to hug the two girls. When she hugged Zhuo Zhiwei, her expression was a bit unnatural, her eyes flickering, but she quickly returned to normal, whispering in her ear, “Congratulations.”

Zhuo Zhiwei pursed her lips, her delicate earlobes turning red from the other’s warm breath, but her expression remained unchanged, her cold voice pleasant. “Thank you.” There was an unspeakable elegance and pride in her tone.

He Qingqi was taken aback, then smiled. This was indeed the Zhuo Zhiwei she knew.

Zhuo Zhiwei finally stood on He Qingqi’s left, while Tao Jinghan, feeling both respectful and honored, headed towards her rightful place.

Once all 98 girls were seated, Yan Huan announced the rules for the next round of the competition.

In the next evaluation, the 98 girls would be divided into 14 groups, with each group competing head-to-head.

The songs for the performance were to be chosen by the contestants, but each group must consist of one Class A, one Class B, one Class C, two Class D, and two Class E members, with the center position automatically held by the Class A member. They had two weeks to prepare.

The competition would be judged by the mentors and the audience’s votes. The team with higher audience votes would receive an additional 0.2 times their base votes. This means that on the winning team, Class A’s votes would be multiplied by 2.2, Class B’s by 2, and so on.

Seven songs and their samples appeared on the big screen: “Wake,” “Deep Love,” “Trick,” “Lie,” “Youth,” “My Sky,” and “Immigrant Song.”

He Qingqi thoughtfully touched her chin. She liked both “Deep Love” and “Immigrant Song,” one focusing more on singing and the other on dancing.

Last time, she chose “Deep Love,” so this time she’d go with “Immigrant Song.”

“Excuse me, I can’t quite see the song titles.”

Zhuo Zhiwei leaned over, her face full of apology.

He Qingqi was a bit surprised. “You’re nearsighted?”

Zhuo Zhiwei nodded.

He Qingqi couldn’t help but look at Zhuo Zhiwei repeatedly. Her long eyelashes fluttered like butterfly wings, and her almond-shaped eyes and willow-leaf eyebrows combined coldness and passion perfectly, making her both untouchable and alluring.

Her dark eyes were as clear as gems, reflecting her personality—serious, noble, and proud, He Qingqi silently evaluated.

But it was a pity that such beautiful eyes couldn’t see the distant scenery.

“He… Qingqi?”

He Qingqi came back to her senses and smiled at Zhuo Zhiwei to show her apology. “Just call me Qingqi.”

Zhuo Zhiwei readily agreed, “Alright, Qingqi, you can call me Zhiwei.”

He Qingqi was slightly surprised. In her past life, Zhuo Zhiwei had also said something similar, but until her death, Zhuo Zhiwei had always addressed her formally, never showing closeness or even seeming a bit distant.

She couldn’t figure out what caused the difference between the two lives, so she just nodded and, feeling the guilt from her past life, patiently read the song titles to Zhuo Zhiwei across the aisle.

She didn’t know why, but she even hummed the samples she had heard and sang snippets of the original songs, sharing her analysis of the seven songs.

Tao Jinghan looked at the two chatting happily, feeling puzzled. She seemed closer to Zhuo Zhiwei, so why didn’t Zhuo Zhiwei ask her? They were roommates and should be more familiar with each other. Besides, Zhuo Zhiwei could still hear and think clearly. Why did He Qingqi need to explain everything so thoroughly?

Although they hadn’t spent much time together, Tao Jinghan considered herself quite familiar with Zhuo Zhiwei’s habits. For example, she didn’t like people who talked too much. Tao Jinghan thought He Qingqi would surely be interrupted by Zhuo Zhiwei.

However.

“Thank you.” Zhuo Zhiwei listened to every word seriously and thanked her sincerely.

What a surprise.

Tao Jinghan’s expression became even more puzzled.

What they didn’t know was that all of this was captured by the camera next to them. Because of this footage, the first batch of fans for the He Qingqi and Zhuo Zhiwei pairing was born, and Tao Jinghan’s expression was made into a meme.

After discussing for a while, the mentor let the ABCDE class members choose.

their songs and teams in order of their ranks.

He Qingqi soon welcomed her teammates: Zhang Xiaoyu, Qiu Ming, Lu Youran, Gu Mingying, Liang Chuang, and Liu Ningzhao.

Seeing Zhang Xiaoyu standing behind her, He Qingqi couldn’t help but give her a big hug.

“Xiaoyu, if Qiyu sees you come to my team, she’ll be heartbroken!” Sure enough, when she looked to the other side, Wang Qiyu was staring at them with a resentful look.

Zhang Xiaoyu waved her hand grandly, “Doesn’t matter! Stage first, feelings second.”

He Qingqi raised an eyebrow and said, “Oh? Feelings second? And then you come to me?”

“Stop it. Don’t nitpick,” Zhang Xiaoyu rolled her eyes. “Why else wouldn’t I go to the other team?”

“You couldn’t choose, right?” He Qingqi still used a teasing tone.

“Nonsense, I’m the first in Class B,” Zhang Xiaoyu playfully punched He Qingqi’s shoulder.

He Qingqi laughed with her and greeted the other team members.

Qiu Ming seemed familiar with He Qingqi as well. She touched her head, a bit embarrassed. “Qingqi, I’ve come to you again. I hope you don’t mind.”

He Qingqi thought for a moment, vaguely remembering this person but unable to recall any interactions. Not wanting to show her confusion, she smiled and said, “Why would I? I’m already happy you want to be on my team.”