Tokyo: My Girlfriend

The host called out to the next contestant, who was Aoki Akemi from Kabasaki.

Akemi Aoki took a deep breath, exchanged a glance with Shinichi Kitagawa, and quietly walked onto the stage.

This was Aoki Akemi's first time officially stepping onto a large stage for a performance.

Although there weren't many people in the audience, perhaps even fewer than the singers in the rest area, the judges today were all very professional.

She gazed at the lights below the stage.

Picking up the microphone, she flashed the smile she had practiced countless times, her fox-like eyes brimming with laughter: "Hello everyone, I'm Aoki Akemi. Today, I'll be performing an original song called 'Screaming at the Top of My Head.' I hope you enjoy it."

As the accompaniment played, Akemi Aoki parted her red lips slightly and slowly but rhythmically uttered the lyrics. Her melodious voice immediately caught the attention of the judges and the audience.

They all perked up.

From the setup in the first half to the release of the song's climax.

The judges were constantly amazed by the song's near-perfect melody.

Shinichi Kitagawa also witnessed all of Akemi Aoki's performance backstage.

Other new singers around him felt inferior after hearing this comment:

"My God... is this girl... is she even on our level?"

"It seems this girl even has her own makeup area; apparently, she's been specially trained."

"No wonder! She's a fellow new singer, but her skill level is so different from ours. And she's so beautiful!"

Shinichi Kitagawa looked at her quietly, and her dazzling and unreserved demeanor moved him deeply.

So Akemi has always been so eye-catching in the crowd? I never noticed before.

After the performance, Aoki Akemi bowed deeply and left the stage amidst thunderous applause. However, the moment she reached the bottom of the stairs, she pursed her lips, her body trembling with nervousness, and her voice trembled with a hint of coquettishness: "Shinichi-kun! Come quickly, I'm so scared I can't stand up!"

Shinichi Kitagawa quickly went over to support the guy. He was acting so naturally, but it turned out he was just putting on a brave face.

She has a real talent for disguise.

Aoki Akemi gripped his arm, and after stepping off the stage, she seemed to have lost all her strength. She let out a heavy sigh and sat down in the private rest area, her forehead covered in sweat. "How was it, Shinichi-kun? How was my performance? By the way, when will the scores be released?"

Shinichi Kitagawa praised it as truly excellent, and as for the rating:

"The results won't be available until tomorrow morning. Since this performance was voted on online, the judges only account for 30% of the weight. The remaining 70% comes from the audience members present and the online reviews after the performance was posted. But Mingmei, you seem to care a lot about the competition, yet you don't know when the results will be out?"

Akemi Aoki bit her lip and said coquettishly, "I know, I just wanted to ask again to make sure. Did I really do a good job just now?! I really, really did a good job!" She clenched her little fists with both hands.

Shinichi Kitagawa smiled and repeated, "It's really good, even better than I imagined."

The competition ended at 10 p.m., but the singers who had performed on stage were allowed to leave; there was no segment where everyone had to appear on stage after the performance.

Because this wasn't exactly a formal performance.

It's just one step in the process by which entertainment companies select popular singers.

As she left the stage, Akemi Aoki was still greeting some female singers. It seemed that, without Shinichi Kitagawa's knowledge, Akemi Aoki had already added many of the female singers' contact information.

The hot girl's social life skills also came in handy at this time. Although becoming friends with those people might not necessarily be useful, at least Akemi could get some strange and interesting gossip in a timely manner.

They took a taxi together to a nearby hotel, and Shinichi Kitagawa was on the phone with Rena in the car.

Aoki Akemi waited quietly for the call to end, then excitedly tugged at Kitagawa Shinichi's sleeve: "Shinichi-kun, look! The online voting has started, and I'm third in votes! I'm so happy!"

Shinichi Kitagawa glanced at the vote leaderboard. It was clear that the voting had just begun, but the singers who were popular with the audience were already showing a clear upward trend from the very beginning.

Akemi Aoki is one of the popular singers, and her votes have consistently been roughly equal to those of several talented newcomers.

Akemi Aoki covered her mouth and whispered, "Shinichi-kun, do you think there might be some kind of inside story behind this online voting?"

Shinichi Kitagawa didn't hide anything, because Akemi Aoki wasn't stupid: "There will definitely be some. These online polls are a mixed bag, and many people definitely have their own groups of friends and family."

Akemi Aoki blinked her fox-like eyes, looking somewhat flustered: "What should we do then? Should I ask my best friends to vote for me too? I know quite a few people who do."

Shinichi Kitagawa smiles:

"No need for that. Although the voting might be rigged, the bosses who organized this performance aren't stupid. The vote count on this website is just the data on the surface; the final result will actually be decided by a small group of people."

They will only allow you to be cultivated or have someone help you get votes if they believe you have potential. Otherwise, you have no value, and even a large network of relatives and friends won't help; you can't be cultivated.

Akemi Aoki responded with an "oh," and said with a grin:

"Xin Yijun knows a lot."

Shinichi Kitagawa jokingly said, embarrassed, "I don't believe Akemi would know nothing about this kind of thing."

"I've heard some things, but hearing Shinichi say it in person makes me feel safe!"

After getting out of the taxi, I arrived at the hotel entrance.

As she entered the lobby, Aoki Akemi thought of the night before and wondered if she would have another chance to sleep in the same room with Shinichi tonight.

Since it's the weekend, it should still be possible.

When the two of them went to the front desk, Kitagawa Shinichi said he wanted two rooms, and the front desk staff quickly recorded the information and handed over the room keys.

"Your rooms are 303 and 304. The elevator is over there."

Akemi Aoki blinked her fox-like eyes blankly, how disappointing...

Upon reaching their respective rooms on the third floor, Kitagawa Shinichi swiped his room card to open his own room and looked at Akemi in the next room:

"Don't stay up too late, Mingmei. The results will be out tomorrow morning anyway, so there's no need to worry too much about the rankings tonight. I think the final results will be very different from the current rankings on the website."

Akemi Aoki hummed in agreement, but before the other person entered, she asked, "So... is it only after winning the championship that we can go on a date? Or are there some other criteria or something?"

Kitagawa Shinichi paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "No need. No matter the result, I'm already very satisfied with Akemi's performance today. Let's go on a date next week, otherwise we might not have enough time tomorrow. And we can't make it for a long date, since we still have to take the bus back."

Akemi Aoki exclaimed in surprise, "I can go on a date with Shinichi already?! Yay!" She raised her little fist, eagerly adding, "Well... maybe we shouldn't wait until next week. If we don't go to the movies, we should have enough time, right? Even just two hours would be fun! Can we go catch the bus after our date in the morning?"

Shinichi Kitagawa hesitated for a moment, then nodded: "Okay, let's go on our date tomorrow morning. We can just get up a little earlier."