Volume One: Rising to the Peak from Debut Chapter 30: The Little Girl Has Grown Up...

If you think about it, it's easy to understand. For artists from major companies—contestants like Chen Jing or Xie Weiyu from Huafu—it’s incredibly simple for them to find a strong partner. Once the team is set, they just choose a song and practice their coordination.

But for independent contestants, even finding the right partner is tough. Then, just picking a song and figuring out how to divide the parts takes a lot of time—not to mention finding a place to rehearse.

Wang Menglan and her daughter Wang Youxuan suddenly understood; there was a deeper reason behind it all.

But Wang Youxuan never dwelled on such things; she only cared if the show was entertaining. Cuddling up to her brother, she asked playfully, “So that means your teammate must be strong too, right?”

Chen Jing smiled and nodded. “If nothing unexpected happens, this round should be his moment to shine.”

“Huh? No way! You mean he’ll outshine you?”

“Heh—you’ll see for yourself. No spoilers.”

“Alright then.”

Now Wang Menglan and her daughter were intrigued. They were eager to see just how impressive someone who even Chen Jing admitted was better could be.

After the recap of the previous episode, the main show began. The first two acts were still somewhat underwhelming. It wasn’t until the twelfth group—Xie Weiyu and Gu Tao—that the mother and daughter started to genuinely praise the performances.

“Brother, both of these ladies are amazing, especially Xie Weiyu. Wasn’t she ranked right after you in the first round?” Wang Youxuan pointed at Xie Weiyu on the TV.

Wang Menglan added, “Gu Tao is great too. I really liked her performance in the first round.”

Chen Jing nodded. “Both of them are indeed excellent. If nothing goes wrong, I believe they’ll be our strongest competitors.”

“Oh? But what about the teammate you mentioned? Didn’t you say he’s impressive? Isn’t he a strong contender?” Wang Youxuan asked in confusion.

Chen Jing smiled and shook his head, offering no explanation. “Just keep watching.”

Suppressing her curiosity, Wang Youxuan watched the next two acts until finally, it was time for Group 15—Chen Jing’s group.

But the moment Li Qingwei walked out alongside Chen Jing, both Wang Menglan and her daughter were surprised. Of course, they recognized Li Qingwei. It was because of his rap performance earlier that Wang Youxuan had argued with her mother.

“So this is the teammate you said would shine brightest in this round?” Wang Youxuan looked at Chen Jing, puzzled.

Chen Jing nodded. “Yes, it’s him.”

Wang Menglan was also a bit confused. “Wasn’t he the lowest scorer in the first round? Why…” She remembered him well—not only because he barely made it through, but also because she didn’t like rap, and he was the only rapper among the contestants.

Chen Jing explained, “I met him during the auditions. He’s a good guy, and for this song, I needed a rapper to collaborate with me.”

“Oh, so there’s rap in this song?” Wang Youxuan’s eyes sparkled as she looked at Chen Jing.

Chen Jing didn’t spoil anything further, just pointed to the TV. “Watch the performance.”

The music began, and Chen Jing’s voice filled the room. Wang Youxuan immediately exclaimed, “Wow!”

“My brother’s singing is always the best.”

Then Li Qingwei’s voice followed, startling both Wang Menglan and her daughter.

Wang Youxuan murmured, “Whoa, this guy’s rap is amazing…”

Even Wang Menglan, who didn’t care for rap, could feel the emotion in his performance.

After the performance ended and the scoring segment began, Chen Jing turned to the two women with a smile. “So, how was the song? Pretty good, right? Wasn’t Li Qingwei the star?”

Wang Youxuan nodded vigorously. “It was great! This song really suits male voices. Li Qingwei did well too, but I still think you sang better.” She hugged Chen Jing and added sweetly, “I’m not just saying that because you’re my brother—I really mean it.”

“Li Qingwei’s rap was indeed excellent. ‘Drifting North’… this song really speaks to a lot of people.” Wang Menglan thought aloud.

“Wow! 782 points—higher than last time! Brother, you’re the best!” Wang Youxuan jumped for joy when she saw the final score.

Wang Menglan smiled. “With this score, first place should be in the bag, right?”

Chen Jing nodded. “Yes, none of the later acts scored higher than us.” All the performances for this round had already been recorded, so Chen Jing knew he’d come in first.

At Jingrun Entertainment, when Lin Xi and Lin Zitan received the data from Hunan TV, they breathed a sigh of relief. Chen Jing’s group had decent popularity and even boosted the ratings by a few tenths of a point.

Lin Xi said to Lin Zitan, “Tell them to upload the single ‘Drifting North’.”

“Got it, Xi.”

Looking out at the night, Lin Xi murmured to herself, “Perhaps… it’s time to move faster.”

After watching “The Voice of China,” Chen Jing declined Wang Menglan’s offer to drive him home, deciding instead to take a cab.

But he didn’t return to his apartment right away. Instead, he got off at a park on the outskirts of the city. By now it was past ten, and the gates were already closed—but that didn’t stop him.

When no one was looking, Chen Jing easily vaulted over the fence and walked into the park.

The darkness was absolute, the silence deep, and the rustling trees in the wind made the place feel sinister and eerie—as if warning of unseen danger.

But Chen Jing was unfazed. He walked deeper into the park. Suddenly, he stopped—a shadow darted toward him at breakneck speed.

Narrowing his eyes, Chen Jing opened his arms, and—

The shadow flung itself into his embrace.

“Brother…” The familiar voice belonged to Xiao Jiu—Xie Yuanshan, from his former team.

Chen Jing closed his arms around her slender figure and laughed. “Haha, my Yuanshan has grown up—she’s heavier now.”

“No way, you’re just making things up. I’m not heavy at all,” Xie Yuanshan protested.

Chen Jing was speechless. Are all girls this sensitive about their weight? You’re only nineteen—saying you’ve grown up isn’t weird at all, is it?

Sighing, Chen Jing changed the subject. “Did you finish your mission here?”

Xie Yuanshan nodded. If she hadn’t, she wouldn’t have arranged to meet him. Their missions were always classified, so Chen Jing never asked about them, and they never volunteered information either. It wasn’t about trust—it was simply the safest arrangement for everyone.

“Brother, I watched your performance on ‘The Voice of China’!” Xie Yuanshan looked up at him, her eyes full of adoration. “You looked so cool on stage.”

“Really?” Chen Jing looked down at his little sister, who had always stuck to him since childhood. She’d grown up now, no longer needing him to clean up her mistakes when she messed up a mission. He couldn’t always be there to protect her anymore…

“Of course! My brother is the most handsome in the world—no, in the universe!” That was Xie Yuanshan, forever the little girl whose world revolved around her brother.

Chen Jing gently stroked her hair, gazing at her radiant smile, a pang of sadness in his heart.

If only he didn’t have to leave them…

When Chen Jing returned to his apartment, he found that Molly was already asleep. She was truly a good child; once he taught her something, she understood it completely, never making a fuss—so obedient that Chen Jing sometimes felt a twinge of guilt.

It’s worth mentioning that Molly’s household registration had been sorted out, and she had taken Chen Jing’s surname—so now, she was Chen Molly.

Chen Jing peeked into her room. Seeing her asleep, he quietly closed the door without waking her.

After washing up, Chen Jing logged onto Weibo. “Drifting North” had been released that evening, and he’d almost forgotten to post about it.

Once online, he saw that he already had tens of thousands of followers, all leaving him messages. Chen Jing ignored them for now, wrote a post promoting his new song, and logged off.

He checked the data Lin Zitan had sent him about the show’s ratings—nothing out of the ordinary.

Scrolling further, he saw Lin Zitan’s second message, which contained the rules for the third round of “The Voice of China.”

The third round would retain the current groupings from round two, but would now shift to a group-vs-group duel format. The rules were as follows:

1. The system would randomly match groups as opponents.
2. Once the match began, there would be two 1v1 battles, with the group that scored higher in round two deciding the order of appearance for the opponents.
3. After each 1v1, the judges and audience would vote for the two contestants. Each judge had one hundred votes to distribute between the two as they saw fit; audience members had only one vote to give to their favorite.
4. The group with the highest combined votes would advance, while the losing group would be eliminated.

After reading the rules, Chen Jing was surprised. He hadn’t expected the group format to continue.

These rules were interesting—the challenge for each group was even greater, since both members had to perform well. Even if one did exceptionally, if the teammate faltered, defeat was still likely.

Lin Zitan’s third message told him to contact Lin Xi as soon as he’d read the new rules.

But Chen Jing glanced at the time—it was already past one in the morning. He decided to wait and visit Lin Xi at the company the next day.