Chapter 9

At 8 o’clock, in a small private room on the second floor of the Bifeng Tang Milk Tea Shop near the entrance of Minghua Middle School.

“Ningning, do you know the content of the individual competition?” Qiao Yingxue asked.

Yan Ning shook her head.

“Yan Ning, do you have any… well, probably not,” Shi Lei said, biting the straw and furrowing his brow. He started to say something but stopped halfway, shaking his head instead.

“What?” Yan Ning scooped a spoonful of double-skin milk, silky and tender, with a rich milk flavor. The taste could only be described as “healing,” so she generously ignored Shi Lei’s dismissive attitude.

Zhou Ye pushed up his glasses with one hand, looking mature like a little old man. “Shi Lei wants to ask if you have any special talents, something that could really impress people.”

“Ningning just standing there would be enough!” Qiao Yingxue said.

“Pfft, all the people participating in the competition are handsome guys and beautiful girls. Even if Ningning looks… okay… she can’t compare to the school beauty,” Shi Lei said.

“So, Shi Lei, you like the school beauty type? I think Ningning is more beautiful than her,” Qiao Yingxue said.

“I don’t like her! What are you talking about!” Shi Lei blushed, angrily turning his head to the side, ignoring Qiao Yingxue.

Yan Ning glanced at her desk mates, the two people in the front row, and class monitor Zhao Xiaolu, then asked, “By the way, why aren’t you guys going home after school?”

“……”

Facing four pairs of eyes filled with grievances and a bit of resentment, Yan Ning waved her hand in surrender. “Alright, alright, I get it. Stop looking at me like that, like the little dwarf from Mogu Star.”

“What’s Mogu Star?”

“What’s little dwarf?”

“……Uh, it’s from a sci-fi movie I watched before. Weren’t we talking about the competition?” The person who blurted out, awkwardly changing the subject.

“Oh, I see. We’re going to give you special training,” Qiao Yingxue said.

“Special training?”

“The purpose of the individual competition has been the same for the past three years—it’s about beauty. No matter the form, the goal is to let participants showcase beauty from all angles. So, for the next week, we will focus on four aspects: fashion, posture, etiquette, and talent to enhance your skills,” Qiao Yingxue said, her eyes sparkling as if she had found a fun new toy. “By the way, I’m Ningning’s etiquette teacher, so please call me Teacher Qiao.”

“I’m the posture teacher, just call me Teacher Zhou.”

“I’m the talent teacher, Teacher Zhao. How about you call me now?”

“Fashion teacher, Teacher Shi, seriously, your taste is terrible,” Shi Lei said disdainfully.

The four little “teachers” acting so seriously made people want to laugh, yet there was also a strange sense of healing in the air.

“……Hello, teachers,” Yan Ning gave up trying to make a witty comment, choosing the least troublesome and most boring response—obedience.

—

After staying in the milk tea shop until 8:40, Yan Ning finally managed to brush off the teachers. Dragging her exhausted body back to the Yan family home, she felt she had no more energy for anything else. She immediately went upstairs and quickly hid in her cozy zone.

As soon as she pushed open the door, she saw Yan Yu sitting on the chair at her desk. Upon hearing the sound, he turned his head, his face full of impatience: “Why are you so late?”

“I was hanging out with some classmates.”

“Tsk, you really have no shame, hanging out with a bunch of middle schoolers,” Yan Yu sneered.

Yan Ning casually tossed her school bag aside, her expression showing signs of fatigue. “What’s up? If there’s nothing, please leave, I want to shower and rest.”

“Hmph, I’m here to tell you that you’ve already embarrassed yourself enough. At school, don’t expose your identity, don’t talk to me, and don’t drag Lily into this.”

“Okay, I know.” Yan Ning grabbed her pajamas and walked toward the bathroom, her voice trailing off as she was too lazy to argue.

Yan Yu sat for a while, and when he heard the sound of water coming from the bathroom, he stood up and left. 

He thought that scolding her would make him feel better, and she had listened, but the frustration in his heart still wouldn’t go away.

Earlier that morning, he saw a post on the school forum, and hearing the ridicule from his classmates, every word felt like a knife to him, making him feel humiliated and angry.

This wasn’t enough. 

He had to get rid of this woman completely. The eldest daughter of the Yan family already had Lily, and that was enough.

This woman was just a wild girl from the countryside, and she had nothing to do with him.

—

After Yan Ning finished showering, she sat on her bed drying her hair and began thinking about the competition.

She had participated in many competitions, involving physical tests, skill tests, and cultural tests, but never a beauty contest. She had always felt that beauty had nothing to do with her and didn’t know how to showcase it.

This wasn’t because Yan Ning lacked an understanding of beauty, but because in M20, no one had ever called her beautiful, and she had never cared about it. Now, suddenly being asked to discover her own beauty, she had no clue where to start.

Actually, she had studied etiquette and physical education at the M20 star system, knew how to play several musical instruments, and had learned dances from various planets, especially ballroom dancing, which she frequently used in her work. However, all of this knowledge and skill came from interstellar learning, based solely on the requirements of her job. None of it had a cultural foundation here, and it was unlikely to resonate with others.

The public opinion environment was also very unfavorable to her, as that post on the forum might make many people who originally had no negative opinions of her view her differently.

The road ahead was tough… No matter what, she had to get into the top 20 first before anything else could be discussed.

Yan Ning collapsed on the bed, wrapping herself up in the blanket.

The next day, the class sports representative mobilized the class. The school sports meet was just around the corner, and there were still some events with insufficient participants, so the representative urged anyone interested to sign up with him.

The classmates kept their heads down, afraid to make eye contact with the sports representative, fearing they would be “recruited.”

Class monitor Zhao Xiaolu stood up. “Which events are still short on participants?”

“The girls’ long jump, 50-meter sprint, and 800-meter run each lack one participant,” said the sports representative, Chen Kai, scratching his head in frustration.

“Is anyone interested in signing up? If you are, please quickly go to Chen Kai to register,” Zhao Xiaolu said, walking up to the podium.

The classmates couldn’t help but lower their heads even further. Zhao Xiaolu was more assertive than Chen Kai, and if she caught you, you’d be in trouble.

It wasn’t that they didn’t want to participate, but the girls who were good at sports had already signed up. Most of the students who hadn’t signed up were not good at sports, and signing up was just to fill the spots.

A hopeless battle was something no one wanted to experience.

“I want to sign up,” Yan Ning raised her hand.

“Can you do it?” Chen Kai hesitated, as he didn’t know much about the new transfer student.

She was tall, but she looked so thin, not like someone who excelled in sports.

Yan Ning stood up. “Yes, I’m confident in sports.”

“Which event do you want to sign up for?” With no other volunteers, Chen Kai could only pin his hopes on Yan Ning.

He was a sports specialist and valued every competition, even those that seemed insignificant to others. He hoped his class could win, even if by the smallest margin.

“The three events that no one has signed up for, if I can sign up for more than one, I’ll do all three,” Yan Ning said casually.

She wasn’t showing off. During PE classes, she had observed the abilities of her classmates and other senior students. Years of physical training would come in handy at times like this, something Yan Ning had never considered before.

“Ningning, can you really do it?” Zhao Xiaolu interrupted, worried that Yan Ning might be overestimating herself.

“It’s fine,” Yan Ning waved her hand.

“No matter what, she’s already seventeen, she’s definitely stronger than us,” a girl said.

“Exactly, what’s there to worry about?”

“Just don’t lose. If you lose to a freshman, it’d be really embarrassing,” another girl said.

Yan Ning froze, and a picture involuntarily appeared in her mind… It seemed like she had accidentally dug a hole for herself…

There shouldn’t be any problems, right…

—

April 27th, Saturday, the first round of the individual competition was held at the school auditorium.

The first round of the individual competition was entirely managed by the sponsors, and it took place before the sports meet began.

The first round was a brief interview, where all participants would receive a number and wait for their turn to be called for the interview. Until their number was called, they had to wait in the lounge.

Yan Ning was assigned number 216, almost at the very end.

Family and friends were not allowed in the lounge, so Yan Ning sat alone in the corner, holding her number tag, waiting.

The lounge was filled with many girls dressed up extravagantly. Some were extremely exaggerated, with floor-length gowns and luxurious jewelry, which were considered normal. The most eye-catching, however, was a girl who was wearing a wedding dress.

Yan Wan stood in the center of the crowd, wearing a pure white off-the-shoulder long dress. The skirt was shorter in the front and longer in the back, and she wore a pair of strappy little heels that gave her an ethereal look. She still wore the light blue gemstone necklace around her neck, and a simple pearl hairpin in her hair, along with matching earrings, making her appear pure and elegant.

The girl beside her, wearing a wedding dress, looked like a child who had stolen an adult’s clothes, appearing comical and bulky in comparison.

In contrast, the young men were much more restrained, the most eye-catching among them was wearing a formal suit. However, due to their age, they looked somewhat awkward and out of place.

Yan Ning’s gaze moved past the formally dressed young men and landed on the back of a young man in a white shirt.

Although she could only see his back, he was tall and slender, wearing a minimalist white shirt with long pants. It was casual to the extreme but still very eye-catching. Yan Ning thought his back resembled the male lead from an animated movie she had recently watched—Hal, the beautifully delicate young man.

The awkward part was that she too was wearing a simple white shirt and long pants, just like the minimalist style that a fashion expert had suggested. The expert said that today’s competitions were too flamboyant, and everyone was trying to grab attention, so she needed to go against the trend.

To stand out in the midst of grandeur and excess, like an unknown wildflower by the roadside, coming from nowhere but becoming a landscape in itself…

At this moment, Yan Ning only wanted to go back and pour out the water in Teacher Shi Lei’s head, and when the young man turned around, the urgency of this thought became even more intense…

It wasn’t Hal, but a beautiful young man with symmetrical tear moles at the corners of his eyes.

Yes, a super handsome young man.

This was the first time Yan Ning saw Lu Fengfeng from the front. In an instant, the scene seemed to freeze, and it felt as if cherry blossoms were falling gently. The person before her was like the snowflakes at the peak of a snow-covered mountain—unattainable, distant, yet fragile and fleeting.

Ah, I can’t compare.

She wasn’t like that. The deliberate, feigned air of grace and laziness could not compare to the natural poise and effortless elegance in every gesture and movement.

Yan Ning lowered her head, looking at her clothes, wondering how she could avoid this awkward situation.

Indeed, even if she couldn’t beat him, it didn’t mean she couldn’t make it into the top 20, but for some reason, she didn’t want to lower her head here. It seemed more unbearable than being in Grade 7, Class 5.

“Hey~” His deep, pleasant voice sounded like a fine musical instrument, with a playful, slightly off-key ending.

Yan Ning raised her head. The young man with the tear mole stood in front of her, showing a gentle smile that bloomed like a flower: “We’re dressed like a couple, huh~”