Chapter 22: Humiliated or Underestimated

“My-God! This…this is exactly the same as the person in the picture!”

“Goddess, you…are you a photocopier?!”

“I thought Zhuang Qianqian’s was already the most similar, but Zhuang Jianxi’s is even more alike! It’s almost 99% accurate, right?”

“Yeah, her memory is too strong! The legendary photographic memory!”

“Right, I remember Zhuang Jianxi, back in her freshman year, was rumored to have recreated a famous painting that Professor Liu accidentally damaged during a class, using only her memory!”

“Oh, I forgot about that! With this goddess here, what were we even competing for? We’re completely crushed…”

Even Lu Zhiyuan nodded in admiration, “Jianxi, this prize is rightfully yours.”

They had agreed earlier that the winner of the ‘drawing competition’ would get a prize: everyone would pool their money together to allow the winner to join a week-long luxury cruise for their graduation trip.

Zhuang Jianxi was startled by his words and shook her head, “I was just drawing for fun, I don’t need the prize.”

She used to have the desire to travel, but now she was no longer free. Even if she won the prize, she wouldn’t be able to use it.

After all, she had to report to him even for attending a graduation party tonight, let alone going on a graduation trip…

Despite everyone’s awe and admiration, Zhuang Jianxi remained calm and composed, as if she had simply drawn casually. No matter how much they praised her, her emotions remained undisturbed.

The smile on Zhuang Qianqian’s face had long vanished, replaced by undisguised annoyance. The drawing paper in her hand was crumpled with deep creases.

Why, why, why… Even after cheating, she couldn’t win even once?

Why did every opportunity to shine always fall on Zhuang Jianxi?

Unable to contain her inner resentment, Zhuang Qianqian suddenly spoke.

“Did you perhaps see the photo beforehand, since the drawing is so identical?”

As soon as the words left her mouth, the lively hall fell silent, everyone stunned, looking at each other in disbelief.

Lu Zhiyuan’s face darkened, “Qianqian, don’t talk nonsense!”

“Jianxi has been by my side the whole time, when would she have had a chance to see any photos?”

Immediately after, Zhao, the classmate who had planned this event, also raised his hand to confirm, “Yes, I took the photos and didn’t show them to anyone.”

Zhuang Jianxi’s calm gaze finally met Zhuang Qianqian’s, her black eyes deep and quiet.

If Lu Zhiyuan hadn’t asked her to stay, she would have left for home. This event had no real meaning or value for her.

But Zhuang Qianqian’s provocation and accusation somehow made her feel annoyed.

Zhuang Qianqian was speechless, but she wasn’t lacking in sycophants.

Sycophant number one immediately spoke up, “It’s just that the drawing is too realistic. No matter how strong your memory is, there’s no way you could remember every tiny freckle on her face.”

Sycophant number two chimed in, “Yeah, only someone who has carefully studied the original photo would have such a deep impression…”

Their words weren’t entirely unreasonable. After the initial shock and admiration, many people were also suspicious, thinking it was a bit too impressive, like something out of a “Brain Games” show.

Only a passerby in the crowd, a young man, was still puzzled, frowning in thought.

Seeing this, Zhuang Qianqian smirked, “Did you hear that? Now it’s not just me who doubts it. Zhiyuan, I’m not making things up.”

At that moment, no one noticed the owner of the Maybach entering the hotel from the main entrance.

His tall figure exuded an aura of authority and elegance, moving with an air of confidence.

Qiu Yixun’s deep, sharp eyes scanned through the noisy group of young people, landing precisely on the figure standing tall and composed.

Even though the atmosphere was tense and she was the target of everyone’s suspicion, the girl remained unfazed, calm and collected.

Qiu Yixun’s narrow eyes narrowed slightly…

Just as Lu Zhiyuan was about to argue in anger, Zhuang Jianxi spoke.

She looked directly at Zhuang Qianqian, her black eyes serene, her voice still flat, “Do you want to have another competition? Just you and me.”

“This time, it only takes five minutes.”

Zhuang Jianxi tapped the drawing paper on the table with her curved fingers, her voice clear and pure, tinged with a hint of icy coldness.

“I can make you convinced… die with understanding.”

As soon as these words fell, Zhuang Qianqian’s face changed. The initial confrontation and schadenfreude in her heart immediately turned into unease and fear.

This rematch meant drawing another stranger, without sufficient memory and preparation, how could she possibly draw anything in five minutes?

And she was competing against Zhuang Jianxi, a freak like her, wasn’t this self-humiliation, letting everyone witness her incompetence once again?

Lu Zhiyuan looked at Zhuang Jianxi, falling silent. This was indeed the best way to prove her point.

Although he knew Zhuang Jianxi actually disdained and wasn’t interested in proving anything, but since she came to his graduation party, someone raised such a question, he couldn’t let her lose face. She was doing this for him…

Lu Zhiyuan looked deeply at Zhuang Jianxi, the emotions in his eyes were about to overflow.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Zhuang Qianqian felt the taste of being trapped between a rock and a hard place, like being roasted over a fire.

She couldn’t agree to compete with Zhuang Jianxi, but refusing would make people look down on her…

Should she be humiliated by losing or be dismissed?

Just then, the passerby couldn’t stand it anymore and couldn’t help but look at Zhuang Qianqian and said, “I say, you look human, but how do you steal like a thief?”

“To be honest, when Zhao classmate asked me to take a picture earlier, I noticed you holding your phone behind me and taking pictures secretly.”

“At that time, I was confused, but now I finally understand.”

Then, under the surprised gazes of everyone, the passerby walked over and took Zhuang Qianqian’s drawing and compared it to the screen photo.

“The expression she drew is completely different from me in the photo. The former is me being formal and letting Zhao classmate take the picture.”

“But the one she drew is the surprised expression I had when I was secretly photographed. You can see the difference if you compare them carefully.”

The passerby spoke clearly and pointed to Zhuang Jianxi’s drawing, marveling in amazement.

“But this fairy’s drawing, whether it’s the details of the features or the smiling expression, is exactly the same. I can only say she’s too powerful, she only looked for a minute, and she deeply engraved my appearance in her mind and was able to reproduce it.”

“If possible, I really wish I could collect this portrait…”

For a moment, this reversal and truth stunned everyone, they were shocked and amazed, their mouths wide open, not knowing what to say.

Everyone looked at Zhuang Qianqian and Zhuang Jianxi again, their eyes were about to split.

“It seems that’s really the case, although the person in the drawing looks very similar, but if you look closely, the expressions are really different.”

“No wonder I felt a little awkward just now, so that’s how it is…”

The moment Zhuang Qianqian’s truth was exposed, her face turned pale, she almost couldn’t stand, she quickly denied, “You’re lying!”

“When did I take pictures of you?!”

Zhuang Qianqian’s lapdog number one also barked immediately, “That’s right, you look like a crooked melon and cracked dates, how could our Qianqian take pictures of you and not me?”

“…” The passerby didn’t argue with them, even if they proposed to check their phones, maybe they had already deleted them.

Anyway, he, the real person, could say it out loud, it was the truth, there was no need for any evidence, anyone with a brain could understand who was right and who was wrong.

Those who reached this circle and age weren’t fools either, for a moment, everyone basically understood the truth.

Zhuang Qianqian’s face was pale, her body trembled slightly, she didn’t dare to look at Lu Zhiyuan’s direction, only feeling that the various gazes falling on her were like sharp needles in her back.

Faced with everyone’s admiring gazes, Zhuang Jianxi didn’t have any expression, she handed the drawing paper to the passerby, the passerby held his self-portrait and thanked him happily.

Zhuang Jianxi had no interest in the second half of the party, she was about to say goodbye and leave when there was a commotion at the front door.

“This is… Mr. Qiu?”