Chapter 172 - 168: Good-for-nothing x Pure-hearted Little Tyrant 7

Chapter 172: Chapter 168: Good-for-nothing x Pure-hearted Little Tyrant 7

Ji Xiaosong changed into a little black Chanel-style dress before heading out.

Her first stop was the hospital to see Shen Fengming.

She had surgery yesterday, but because she had promptly drunk the diluted Spiritual Spring Water Ji Xiaosong gave her beforehand, her recovery today was going very well.

"Xiaosong, the doctor just finished his rounds and said my wound is healing nicely. I should be able to go home in a few more days. You don’t have to come take care of me every day. The caregiver you arranged for yesterday is very good."

"Mom, I found a new job yesterday, and the pay is pretty good. If you don’t have other plans after you’re discharged, why don’t you come live with me? I don’t want to live with the Ji family anymore. You left me there because you wanted me to have a better life, but I can provide a good life for myself now."

"Xiaosong, if you stay with the Ji family, your future marriage prospects will certainly be better than what you could get by staying with me."

Shen Fengming knew very well that with the Ji family’s status, even a cast-off marriage arrangement from them would be far better than anything she could find on her own.

After all, they moved in different circles, and family background was the price of admission.

"But, Mom, I’d be unhappy. You don’t want me to follow in your footsteps, do you? This isn’t ancient times anymore. If I can support myself and live freely and happily, what’s so bad about that?"

In the end, Ji Xiaosong managed to persuade Shen Fengming.

After staying for a little while, Ji Xiaosong paid for a few more days of the caregiver’s service and left.

Jiang Yao had already sent a driver to wait for Ji Xiaosong at the hospital entrance; he didn’t come to pick her up himself.

As a recent graduate himself, Jiang Yao was now the Vice General Manager of Star Group.

He was already so overwhelmed with work every day that he really couldn’t find the time to waste on the road picking someone up.

Upon arriving at Starry Entertainment, Ji Xiaosong went straight to the recording studio.

The arrangement team had created a new arrangement for Ji Xiaosong’s song. After that, Ji Xiaosong only made three changes on the spot before successfully recording "Graduation Season."

When she came out, she saw Jiang Yao sitting in the tea room by the entrance.

"You’re a busy man. What brings you here?"

Ji Xiaosong smiled and walked over to greet him.

"I came to see how my newly signed artist’s first recording session went."

"So, did you listen?"

"Mhm, not bad. Once it’s mixed, we can release it directly. Now, I’m taking you to meet your agent, Luna. If there are no issues, we can initiate the third phase of your debut plan."

"Luna? You mean the Luna who’s managed countless A-list singers?"

Ji Xiaosong cried out in astonishment. She couldn’t believe Jiang Yao would give her such an amazing resource.

"Yes."

The two arrived at the dressing room. Just then, the "Star-Making Witch," powerhouse agent Luna, strode in on ten-centimeter red-soled heels, holding three hangers.

"A retro silk blouse with wide-leg trousers, an off-the-shoulder knit dress, or..."

She shook out the third item, a biker jacket covered in tiny diamonds. "A subversive image?"

Ji Xiaosong took half a step back, her hand touching her dress, but a stylist pushed her down in front of the vanity mirror.

As a powder brush swept across the corner of her eye, Jiang Yao’s voice came from the mirror. "Do you remember the arts festival in our senior year of high school? You were hiding in the equipment room writing a song. I listened from outside the door before pretending to pass by."

He picked up a diamond hair clip from the vanity. "I knew back then that a phoenix must rise from the ashes to be reborn."

Ji Xiaosong’s heart pounded. ’This is the original owner’s emotion.’

’To be appreciated by someone—this was what she had always longed for.’

"I prefer this phoenix version of you. So, keep it up. I believe in you."

Luna tossed the diamond-studded biker jacket onto the makeup counter, its metal chains making a crisp sound as they hit the glass.

She pinched Ji Xiaosong’s chin, examining her from side to side. The tiny diamonds on her nails reflected a cold light under the vanity lamps.

"The soul of a dark lead singer hidden under a good-girl exterior. Heh. President Jiang didn’t misjudge you."

As the makeup artist used a deep purple eyeshadow to draw a winged eyeliner, Ji Xiaosong stared at the increasingly unfamiliar self in the mirror.

Her once straight black hair was now curled into lazy waves. A phoenix with outstretched wings was drawn in gold powder on her collarbone, which, along with the diamond clip Jiang Yao had left, shimmered under the magnesium lights.

"Arms up!"

In the photo studio, Luna’s sharp commands mingled with the continuous clicking of the camera shutter.

Ji Xiaosong, wearing the off-the-shoulder knit dress, knelt on a surface of shattered mirrors, a projection of raging flames burning behind her.

The moment the stylist poured gold powder onto her shoulder, the camera flashes lit up like the Milky Way.

「Late that night」

The hashtag #JiXiaosongBreaksOutOfHerCocoon# shot to number three on the trending list.

In a nine-panel photo grid, the girl’s transformation from a pure white school uniform to a dark leather outfit was made into a dynamic comparison GIF, which finally froze on a face-on close-up, a tiny diamond sparkling at the corner of her eye.

The comment section exploded with countless viewers of *Star Generation*:

"The good girl who sang a folk song in the preliminaries can actually pull off a dark style!"

"Excellent. The contrast between her innocent image on the first stage and this is enough to generate buzz."

Luna scrolled through the data on her tablet, then slapped a newly printed schedule on the makeup counter. "Special training starts tomorrow. ’Graduation Season’ will be released as the song for the second round of Fenxing’s Star Generation selection competition. I want you to learn how to perform the same song with three different emotions in three days."

Ji Xiaosong touched the gold-stamped cover of the *Image Positioning Manual*. The title page prominently displayed "Project Siren"—to use an aggressive beauty and a destructive vocal style to shred the cookie-cutter sweet-girl template of the talent show market.

As she put on a blazer with shoulder pads to shoot her promotional photos, her phone vibrated with a text from an unknown number:

"The girl who wrote songs in the equipment room is finally standing in the spotlight."

Outside the floor-to-ceiling window, the lights were still on in the vice general manager’s office on the 99th floor of the Star Group building.

Jiang Yao loosened his tie and paused the security footage on an image of the girl growing more and more comfortable in front of the camera.

He opened the official *Star Generation* Weibo account he had favorited and gave the first "like" to the newly released poster featuring the dark-styled young woman.

After a busy day of work, Ji Xiaosong returned to her confinement room in the Ji family’s house.

She had just removed her makeup, changed her clothes, and sat down on the floor when the door was suddenly thrown open with great force.

As the bronze door slammed open, the screen of the phone clutched in Assistant Li’s hand was still lit up with the hashtag #DarkVocalistJiXiaosong#.

"Turn on the lights. I want to see for myself how this little bitch managed to walk out of the Ji family home from a place even the security cameras can’t see."

The butler flicked on all the lights in the confinement room. The piercing glare made Ji Xiaosong reflexively shield her eyes.

At the same time, she cast an Illusion Technique, making them see her as if she had been locked up for days, starved to the point of being barely human.

"Water... water..."

Ji Xiaosong begged in a hoarse voice.

"Assistant Li, look at the young miss. She doesn’t look like she could’ve gone to any competition, let alone do a photoshoot."

The butler stood to the side, refusing to believe that Ji Xiaosong could have escaped the Ji family’s inescapable net.

After all, the Ji family had forty staff members, including the butler, other maids, and bodyguards.

Combined with the various infrared detectors, the possibility of her escaping right under their noses was practically zero.