Pretending to Cultivate in Kindergarten-Chapter 121: The Tsundere is Only Left with "Dere"

"Another highly talented student? And this one also has a private tutor instead of learning with a team?

Just like last time with Taekwondo...

Exactly the same."

Jiang Jingshi found it hard to believe. No matter how talented Zhengran’s little brother was, could he really be this good at everything?

Training one girl could still be explained as a hobby or interest. But training two...

And both of them just happened to be closely connected to her?

She turned to the team leader and asked, "Do you know the name of that boy? Do you have any information on him?"

"Uh... I’m not sure, Miss Jiang. I only heard about it in passing. But I have heard Jiang Xueli sing before—she’s very talented."

At that, the team leader added, "Oh, right! Besides Jiang Xueli, since you paid to bring in some famous singers as judges, it seems another team from within the province has also joined after hearing about it. They’re called New Star. Supposedly, they have a rather mysterious background and are incredibly strong."

"New Star?" Jiang Jingshi didn't really care about that. Right now, her curiosity was entirely focused on Lin Zhengran.

It was one thing for her little sister to keep losing to him—she was still young. But she was an older sister. She didn’t obsess over winning or losing, but after investing so much money, constantly losing just didn’t sit right with her.

"Got it. Anyway, make sure you all give it your all in the competition on the 5th and 6th. Don't get careless. This time, there are two themes: one song with an ethereal style, and one fully original. Each person must prepare two songs. Understood?"

Everyone in the team nodded. "Yes, Miss Jiang!"

Jiang Jingshi glanced at her phone for the time, then stood up and walked out of the large office. "Meeting dismissed."

The sharp click of her high heels against the floor made everyone a little anxious. But the moment she left, they all let out a breath of relief.

Because despite her usual soft and gentle way of speaking, Jiang Jingshi’s actions were nothing like her words.

When it came to business negotiations and training students, she was strict and unwavering. If someone made a mistake, she had no mercy when handing out punishments.

This contrast—warm on the surface but ruthless in action—was what made Jiang Jingshi so unique.

Even though she came from the powerful Jiang family and could have simply taken over the family business or lived a carefree life after coming of age, she instead used her sharp business instincts to make a fortune in other industries. She even brought in numerous investors for the company.

Because of that, she was well-known within the Jiang Group.

She just hadn’t expected Lin Zhengran to suddenly appear out of nowhere and make her shift her focus from making money to figuring him out.

Back in the Rolls-Royce, the driver sat in the front seat, waiting silently. If Jiang Jingshi didn’t speak, he wouldn’t either.

In the back seat, the woman crossed her legs, the sleek curve of her black silk stockings accentuating the flawless shape of her calves and ankles.

She found a certain someone’s WeChat ID and sent a friend request from her alternate account.

A teasing smile played on her lips, lightly glossed with nude lipstick.

The note on her friend request read: Your fiancée.

Meanwhile, in his bedroom, Lin Zhengran was browsing something on his phone when a friend request popped up.

He often received requests from juniors and seniors alike, so he usually ignored them.

But today, after what his grandfather had told him, he happened to check it. And when he saw the words "Your fiancée", he froze.

"...Fiancée?"

What the hell?

Not to mention, childhood engagement and fiancé/fiancée were two entirely different things.

And wasn't his childhood engagement with Jiang Qian?

Would she really write a note like this?

Lin Zhengran clicked "accept."

Back in the car, Jiang Jingshi bit her lip, playing the role of an older sister teasing her younger brother. She began typing seriously:

"Hello, you're Grandpa Lin's grandson, right? I'm your fiancée. My last name is Jiang. You don’t have to tell me your name—let’s keep a bit of mystery between us."

On the other end, Lin Zhengran had a big question mark floating over his head.

"Hello. I'm free on the nights of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. On the 5th, I might be busy. I won’t be free on the 6th and 7th at all. Pick a time."

Jiang Jingshi raised an eyebrow. He really is straightforward.

She replied: "Why are you in such a hurry to set a date? Since this is a blind date, shouldn't we at least get to know each other first?"

Lin Zhengran: "This isn’t a blind date, right? It’s just a meeting. You probably think so too. We meet once and that’s it."

Jiang Jingshi smirked and responded:

"Who says I just want to meet once? To be honest, I do want a boyfriend. My family has been pressuring me to meet men I don’t like—rich heirs and businessmen—but I’m not interested in that type. I want someone I truly admire."

A full minute passed before Lin Zhengran replied:

"…6."

Jiang Jingshi couldn't help but burst out laughing in the car. Even with just a single number, this little Zhengran was so amusing.

But if she kept talking, she might give herself away. It was enough teasing for today—what mattered was the actual meeting.

"Alright, let’s talk about our meeting. By the way, why did you only list evening times? Aren’t we spending the whole day together?"

Lin Zhengran: "Let’s meet in the evening first. I have things to do during the day over National Day. I really can’t make time."

Reading the words busy during the day, Jiang Jingshi had a gut feeling.

So the teacher behind Jiang Xueli... was Lin Zhengran?

That meant... he was training someone in the same field she was?

What a strange coincidence.

"Fine, then. The 5th at night. I'll come find you."

"The 5th? I really might not be free that night."

"You will be. We'll definitely meet. That's that. I have things to do, so let’s end the chat here. I’m looking forward to it."

"?"

Lying in bed, Lin Zhengran finally gave up trying to figure it out.

He picked up the photo Grandpa Lin had given him of Jiang Qian, looked at it, then glanced back at the chat.

This is Jiang Qian?

Then why did he feel like...

He sighed, staring at the photo again.

He really couldn't tell who his childhood engagement was with anymore.

But whatever.

It didn’t matter.

It was just a meeting to trigger a "fortunate encounter" event reward, anyway.

Lin Zhengran woke up early as usual and headed to Jiang Xueli’s house.

The talent agency had issued a new announcement about the competition on the 5th and 6th.

Sitting on Jiang Xueli’s bed, Lin Zhengran scrolled through the details while Jiang Xueli sat cross-legged beside him, curiously reading over his shoulder.

Lin Zhengran: "They just posted a new notice about the competition. And it’s kind of long."

Jiang Xueli read aloud:

**"New Notice: The competition on October 5th-6th has undergone some changes. Instead of an elimination system based on cover songs, the competition will now use a ‘Little New Star’ ranking alongside professional judges’ votes.

Each contestant must compose two original songs. The top ten will receive prize money and an additional mystery reward."**

Jiang Xueli’s eyes widened. "Two original songs?! And this New Star ranking… it’s the one I’m thinking of, right? But there’s a ‘Little’ in front of it..."

Lin Zhengran: "New Star? You mean the ranking for rising music talents?"

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Jiang Xueli nodded.

"It has to be that New Star ranking, right? The one for top music candidates at the festival in Magic City? As long as you make it into the top 100, you can join the Music Candidates Show—and every singer who gets on that show becomes famous! The only difference is how big their fame gets!"

Lin Zhengran had looked into this Music Candidates Show before. It was similar to The Voice from his past life—a massive, high-profile music competition.

It was, without a doubt, a top-tier stage for musicians.

Jiang Xueli frowned. "But this competition has the word Little in front of it. Does that mean it’s different?"

Lin Zhengran: "Let’s keep reading."

Still in shock, Jiang Xueli nodded and continued:

"This time, for the judging panel, we’ve specially invited famous music stars Steady and Qiang Jie to participate—wait, what?! Those two are huge names!"

Even Lin Zhengran knew them. In this world, they were incredibly influential music icons.

The kind whose net worth exceeded billions.

He hadn’t expected such big names to show up for a small town competition.

Normally, judges of this caliber only appeared in high-level competitions. Yet, here they were.

Jiang Xueli, now fully hyped, kept reading:

"Each contestant must create two original songs—one with an ethereal theme, and one completely free-style. The judges will determine who gets eliminated. Anyone who isn’t eliminated will be listed on the Little New Star ranking.

The final winner will be decided by online voting.

Prize money has also been increased from the original 1,000–10,000 range to 10,000–70,000 yuan.

These are all the updates. We encourage every contestant to take this competition seriously."

Jiang Xueli was so worked up by the end that she couldn’t sit still.

"Wasn’t this supposed to be just a small competition?! Why did they suddenly make it so huge?! First, they introduce a ranking system, then they bring in celebrity judges, and now the prize money jumped from 10,000 to 70,000 yuan?! What the heck?!"

Lin Zhengran skimmed through the competition details again.

That’s when he noticed a familiar name among the list of investors—Jiang Jingshi.

He sighed inwardly.

So, this whole expansion was probably Jiang Jingshi paving the way for her music team.

Still… even though she had a lot of money, this level of investment was overkill. The only explanation was that her funding had created a snowball effect, attracting other wealthy investors who wanted in on the action.

Lin Zhengran opened the talent agency’s group chat.

As expected, it was blowing up.

The singers in the agency were freaking out:

"Holy sh*t! Did you guys see the new announcement? Steady and Qiang Jie are coming to our town’s competition! Those two are my idols!"

"Yeah, I saw it! I seriously can't believe this little competition got this big. Weren’t we told it was just a small event?!"

"Apparently, a ton of investors poured money into it over the past six months. That’s why it expanded so much. Even singers from outside the province are coming now."

"Then how the hell are we supposed to win? There are gonna be so many pros!"

"What’s really crazy is this New Star ranking. Isn’t that usually an annual thing? How are we even getting into that?"

"Did you guys read carefully? This is the Little New Star ranking—it’s a special one just for this competition. But I heard from an insider that the ‘mystery reward’ for the top ten is a direct invitation to the Music Candidates Show! Even if you get eliminated in the first round, you’ll still be on TV! That’s huge!"

Even in the age of the internet, people still had an undeniable obsession with being on television.

Lin Zhengran skimmed through the chat, then put his phone away to think.

Meanwhile, Jiang Xueli was completely losing her mind.

She sat there in a daze before snapping out of it, then grabbed Lin Zhengran’s arm and started shaking him wildly.

"This competition just got huge! What do I do, Zhengran?! Can I even win now?!"

Lin Zhengran watched her panic. "Why are you freaking out? Even though the competition is bigger than we expected, your music level is already high. Plus, I’ve been teaching you for so long. I seriously doubt many of these newcomers can beat you."

Jiang Xueli’s eyes sparkled. "Really?! REALLY?!"

She was so excited she kept shaking his arm, eyes squeezed shut.

"But I’m so nervous! And I have to write two original songs! The competition is only a few days away! The songs I wrote before don’t feel good enough for a stage this serious!"

Lin Zhengran sighed and flicked her forehead with his knuckles. Thwack!

Jiang Xueli let out a yelp and instantly quieted down, holding her head.

"Why do you always hit me?!"

Lin Zhengran knew she was just panicking because she was young. The moment she heard small stage turn into big stage, she lost her composure.

"Why are you freaking out? Sure, the competition got bigger, but it’s actually easier now. There’s no elimination round. You just go on stage, sing your two songs, and the judges cut the filler contestants. After that, the real competition is decided by online voting."

Jiang Xueli hugged her head. "That sounds easy, but—this is my first big competition! Of course I’m nervous!"

She clenched her tiny fists.

Lin Zhengran flicked her forehead again.

"Ow!" She winced but quickly calmed down.

She was always getting hit.

Lin Zhengran spoke seriously. "Just believe in yourself. As for the original songs, I’ll help you write them over the next two days."

The moment he said that, Jiang Xueli’s confidence soared. "Really?! You’ll help me write them?! Then I won’t be nervous anymore!"

"I said I’ll help, but mostly I’ll just give you suggestions and edits."

"That’s more than enough! Let’s start now! It’s already the 2nd, and the competition starts on the 5th—we don’t have much time!"

"Alright, let’s get to work. Go grab some paper and pens."

"On it!"

Jiang Xueli jumped off the bed, found a notebook and pen, then climbed back onto the bed, placing the notebook on Lin Zhengran’s lap. She sat cross-legged, thinking hard.

And then…

Thirty minutes passed.

Still no words on the page.

She turned to him with a sheepish smile. "Zhengran… do you have any ideas? How do you even write an ethereal-style song? My mind is completely blank."

Lin Zhengran: "..."

Jiang Xueli rarely acted this soft. She pouted, her big eyes staring at him with pure helplessness.

Lin Zhengran sighed. "Alright, listen—I’ll explain how to compose it."

For the next three days, he barely left Jiang Xueli’s room.

Thanks to his deep understanding of music and his natural talent, he grasped the essence of "ethereal" almost instantly. Sitting on the bed, he broke it down for Jiang Xueli.

Jiang Xueli’s eyes lit up as she listened. Her tiny fangs peeked out when she spoke, her gaze filled with excitement.

"I get it! So we should base the song’s theme around the ocean?"

"Anything works. Deep sea, forests, even a quiet city at night—all of them can evoke an ethereal feel," Lin Zhengran explained.

"Then let’s go with the deep sea! I’ve got it!"

After three days of brainstorming, tweaking, and way too much playful arguing, they finished writing:

"Whale" (An ethereal-themed song)

"You Are My Star" (A reworked version of a song Jiang Xueli had written long ago)

With those two songs, she was ready for the competition on the 5th and 6th!

On the afternoon of the 4th, she raised her notebook triumphantly.

"I’m definitely getting into the top ten with these!"

Lin Zhengran smirked. "Not aiming for first?"

Jiang Xueli grinned. "Gotta set a small goal first. But of course… my real goal is first place. If I win, I get to go on a date with you, after all."

The next day, the music competition finally began.