Chapter 123: Victory and Flight

Mo Qi gritted her teeth; Shen Yijue was using the power of the audience to hold her hostage! Yet, for the sake of the competition, she had no choice but to continue the performance.

Forcing out two tears, Mo Qi finally reached out her hand, her face filled with emotion amidst the enthusiastic cheers of the crowd. Shen Yijue’s eyes crinkled with amusement as he slowly slid the ring onto her finger. Mo Qi looked at the ring, which Shen Yijue had deliberately placed on her index finger, and felt an urge to lunge at him and bite his neck. This bastard was definitely doing it on purpose!

Shen Yijue pulled her up by the hand and drew her into his arms. Mo Qi felt so frustrated she could have coughed up blood, yet she had to keep up the pretense of being blissfully moved. After two seconds of embracing, she pushed him away as discreetly as possible and bowed to the audience.

"Thank you."

Meng Weiliang, not expecting the scene to end so abruptly, paused for half a second before hurrying onto the stage. "A beautiful and romantic love story is always touching and inspiring. Thank you, Mo Qi, for bringing us such romantic emotion." After some sentimental remarks, he added, "Now, let us bring Lin Zheng onto the stage as well!"

Lin Zheng walked onto the stage amidst applause and stood beside Mo Qi. The four judges offered words of encouragement and advice based on their performances. However, as this was the championship round, they kept their comments brief. Even the newcomer, a veteran actor known for his harsh criticism, only told them to keep working hard.

"Alright, thank you to our four judges." Meng Weiliang turned to the camera. "Now, we reach our most thrilling moment. Producers, please open the SMS voting window; we will count for sixty seconds."

As soon as the voting window opened, their numbers began to climb rapidly. At first, the bar charts representing their votes showed no discernible gap. But in the final seconds, Lin Zheng’s growth slowed significantly, while Mo Qi’s numbers continued to jump wildly.

"Time is up!" Meng Weiliang clicked his stopwatch, and the SMS voting system stopped.

Lin Zheng’s final tally: 2,580,067.
Mo Qi’s final tally: 3,008,308. Mo Qi had won with an absolute lead of over 420,000 votes.

"Both contestants have extremely high support. Congratulations to Mo Qi for her temporary victory. Next, Lin Zheng will defend her position, and Zhou Tingzi will challenge."

Mo Qi turned to give Lin Zheng a hug, smiling and patting her shoulder. Lin Zheng said, "I lost. Congratulations."

"There are more challenges awaiting us on the road ahead. Let’s keep working hard together."

Everyone who made it to the finals possessed real strength. Zhou Tingzi had displayed a lively and sunny personality on stage, also garnering her own base of fans, though her final vote count fell short of Lin Zheng’s. Thus, the gold, silver, and bronze medalists of *Soaring Dreams* were finally determined.

"Let us offer a round of thunderous applause to congratulate Mo Qi on becoming the grand champion of *Soaring Dreams*!" Meng Weiliang stepped forward to shake her hand in congratulations. "At the same time, congratulations to Lin Zheng and Zhou Tingzi for winning runner-up and second runner-up respectively. Congratulations to you all!"

The audience erupted in applause. While the fans of the three contestants might argue over the final results, for most of the audience, the rankings were not particularly controversial. Of course, it was an undeniable fact that having Shen Yijue’s support had given Mo Qi a significant advantage.

Finally, all five contestants gathered on stage to sing the closing song. The live broadcast had only two very short breaks. By the end, everyone was exhausted. After accepting congratulations, Mo Qi took the champion’s trophy and a check for her prize money to remove her makeup and change.

Shen Yijue was waiting for her outside the dressing room. When Mo Qi emerged, she handed him her bag and said, "I'm going to the restroom; could you hold my bag for me?"

The unintended intimacy and casualness of her words put Shen Yijue in a good mood. "I'll wait for you in the dressing room."

"I'll be right back."

The restroom was at the end of the dressing room hallway. Shen Yijue watched her enter before opening the door to the dressing room. He glanced at her bag, the corners of his mouth lifting in a nearly imperceptible smile. After all this time, Mo Qi’s attitude was finally softening.

Sitting on the sofa, Shen Yijue thought happily that they should celebrate tonight. Should they cook at home, or go out to eat?

As soon as Mo Qi saw Shen Yijue enter the dressing room, she stepped back out of the restroom, bypassed the hallway, took the fire stairs down a level, and then took the elevator. There was no one in the elevator, so she pulled out the phone she had tucked into her pocket earlier. She was nervous, her fingers tightening on her arm. "Why aren't you answering at a time like this! Pick up!"

Finally, after many rings, the call was answered. "Master Chen, could I trouble you to come to the entrance of Apple TV and pick me up? It's an emergency!"

"Miss Mo Qi?" Master Chen’s voice was thick with sleep.

"Master Chen, I’m so sorry to wake you. But I really have an urgent matter; could you please help me?"

Hearing the urgency in her voice, Master Chen climbed out of bed. His wife woke up too, muttering, "What’s so urgent in the middle of the night?"

"Go back to sleep." Master Chen patted his wife, then said, "Miss Mo Qi, don't worry! My place isn't far from Apple TV. I'll change and head over right away."

"Thank you, Master Chen!" After hanging up, Mo Qi took a deep breath.

*Ding!* The elevator reached the first floor, and Mo Qi walked out quickly.

He Shuai, who had likely been out buying late-night snacks for the production team with his assistant, saw her and walked over with a smile. "Mo Qi, I bought some snacks, let's eat together."

Eat with you, my foot!

Mo Qi gritted her teeth, but she had to stop. "I have a friend outside, I'm going to go see her. You guys go ahead and eat."

"I'll save your portion for you." Seeing that Mo Qi seemed to be in a rush, He Shuai didn't press further and left with his assistant.

Mo Qi let out a sigh of relief, trying to keep her composure as she walked out of the station lobby. He Shuai, stepping into the elevator, had glanced at her with a strange expression.

The assistant, Xiao Liu, asked, "Brother He, what's wrong?"

He Shuai shook his head. "Nothing." The elevator doors slowly closed.

Mo Qi left the lobby, deliberately avoiding the cameras at the entrance, and skirted the edge of the small plaza to reach the road. Master Chen hadn't arrived yet, and time was ticking away. If too much time passed and Shen Yijue couldn't find her, he would definitely grow suspicious. To avoid his suspicion, she had only taken a hundred dollars and her ID card; her wallet was still in the bag.

Five minutes passed, and Master Chen still hadn't arrived.

He Shuai pushed open the dressing room door with a snack in hand. "Heavenly King Shen, Mo Qi went downstairs to see a friend; you should hold onto her snack for her..."

Before He Shuai could finish his sentence, Shen Yijue had already stood up and strode out of the dressing room!

"What a guy, I bring him a late-night snack and he gives me a sour face!" He Shuai scoffed, tossed the snack onto the vanity, and left.