Although it was Cheng Cheng who gave Qiao Nan the application form, the actual competition wouldn’t be held until early September—over three months away from now. 

At the moment, however, the biggest challenge and headache for the young girl was choosing the music. 

That was because on her birthday night, Tuan Tuan had prepared a surprise for her. 

Well, actually, the first half was a surprise, but the second half was kinda terrifying. 

After more than three and a half months of hard work, the girl finally pushed her stamina past 30, unlocking the system’s in-game shop. 

And conveniently, Tuan Tuan also told Qiao Nan how many points she had so far. 

-523 points—made up of 500 rebirth points and 23 daily expense points. 

According to system rules, if the borrowed points go over 500 and last more than half a year, all the user’s points get wiped, and the contract is terminated. 

For Qiao Nan, who used most of her points to “rebirth,” this was no different from a hand around her neck issuing a final warning. 

Even though she hadn’t reached the level of “losing even her last pair of pants,” as Tuan Tuan once predicted, she wasn’t far from it either. 

And the second task from the system clearly pushed her right on that edge: 

⌈ Raise your public influence to 5 or above within 3 months. ⌋ 

⌈ Reward: +25 points. ⌋ 

“Tuan Tuan, can I ask… what are points even for?” 

The girl, sitting on her bed surrounded by gifts from the day, calmed herself and asked after hearing about her huge debt. 

⌈ Qiao Qiao, think of points as currency inside the system, and the system is like a shop. ⌋ 

⌈ You can use points to buy items from the system store. ⌋ 

⌈ Even the capsule you got as newbie rewards are things you can buy with points. ⌋ 

Qiao Nan didn’t buy Tuan Tuan’s nonsense. A store? What kind of store threatens your life to make a sale? 

“How many points for those newbie capsule?” she hesitated but still asked. 

Tuan Tuan paused. 

⌈ Physical enhancement pill: 100 points. Effect: Accelerates muscle growth in targeted areas. ⌋ 

⌈ The store has a wide variety of items, including some medicines that can help mitigate your body’s injuries and strain. ⌋ 

“You need points for that?” Without thinking, the girl shot back. 

As someone barely hanging on at the poverty line, if she had known the panel needed points earlier, she would never have spent a dime. She would’ve played the cheapskate to the end. 

⌈ Yes. ⌋ 

Hugging a panda plushie someone had given her, she snorted at the answer like it was nonsense. 

“What does stuff that costs points have to do with me?” 

Tuan Tuan seemed to realize something and went quiet. 

Sure enough, in the very next second, her host gave a passionate speech titled “Everyone Has a Duty to Save Points.” 

“From now on, if any system panel or feature asks for points, just cancel the subscription for me.” 

⌈ Understood. ⌋ 

⌈ There is a feature where you can spend 1 point to unlock a module that converts popularity into points. Would you like to enable it? ⌋ 

⌈ Once activated, every 100 popularity points will be converted into 1 system point. ⌋ 

Silence filled the pink-decorated room. 

Giving a look that said, “Why didn’t you say this earlier?” at the little floating ice crystal, Qiao Nan snapped: 

“Turn it on. A deal where you pay a little and get a million times back? Of course, I’m in.” 

✵✵✵ 

Three months wasn’t too long or short. Luckily, the girl was almost on break, so she didn’t have to awkwardly ask her teacher for time off like last time. 

Lately, Teacher Ning had been trying to coax her into various competitions, constantly bringing up the many benefits of participation whenever she caught her. 

It got to the point where Qiao Nan was kinda scared just seeing her homeroom teacher. 

After reaching an amicable understanding with Tuan Tuan, the major issue of music selection came back to the forefront. 

With the system’s requirements in mind, choosing the right song for this competition had become even more crucial. 

In her initial plans, Qiao Nan had been leaning toward using symphonic music. 

Not for any particular reason—mostly just because of a rebellious streak she caught from Marlon. 

She didn’t have a deep understanding of classical music because the cultural gap between her and the background of the song was too large. For her, the song itself didn’t add much to her performance. 

However, after receiving the costume that Xie Luoying prepared for her, Qiao Nan did have some other thoughts. 

The costume Xie Luoying prepared was intended as a keepsake for the young girl. Since the design inspiration came from the same song as the costume used in a previous competition, many elements from that earlier sky-blue costume were reused. Although some modifications were made, it retained the segmented skirt hem like the previous costume and added numerous rhinestones decorating the skirt. 

Moreover, because of a casual remark the girl once made, Xie Luoying deliberately chose a water-red color for the costume and incorporated a lot of gold threads interwoven within it. 

The rich red color, mixed with crushed gold, combined with the rhinestone embellishments hidden in the skirt’s hem. 

This made the girl inevitably think of a song. 

“The New Drunken Imperial Concubine.” 

Of course, she was thinking of the arrangement version. 

Although the timelines in her past life were different, from what she’d observed in recent years, the world events lined up pretty closely overall. 

To perform a song with vocals, she’d have to wait until after 2014. 

Figure skating music selections naturally require more than just being instrumental. When Qiao Nan brought the song list to Cheng Cheng, the man was a bit stunned looking at the songs the girl had chosen on the form—even though he was somewhat prepared. 

Because of the agreement with Xie Luoying, Cheng Cheng couldn’t forcibly change Qiao Nan’s song choices. As a result, the man’s earlier sense of relief about her suddenly vanished. 

Turns out, he could only trust the girl’s skills. But with how stubborn she was about her music choices, Cheng Cheng figured he’d be driven crazy sooner or later. 

“New Drunken Imperial Concubine? Qiao Nan, you don’t actually plan to perform face-changing during the competition, do you?” Cheng Cheng looked up, heavily staring at the girl who was still less than half his height. “Are you sure you’ve thought this through? The artistic score difference between Western classical music and Eastern music isn’t just a little.” 

Face-changing wasn’t impossible, but unfortunately this competition didn’t have a gala (exhibition) segment. 

Otherwise, performing a black-to-red face change on ice wouldn’t be impossible for Qiao Nan. 

She almost joked back but caught Cheng Cheng’s serious gaze and quickly changed her mind. 

“How could I possibly do face-changing?” Qiao Nan seriously explained to Cheng Cheng, adding quite a few justifications for her song choice. “This competition is held right at home. Why can’t I use a Chinese song?” 

“Besides, I’m competing for artistry, not music.” 

Even though Western judges didn’t know much about Eastern music, Qiao Nan wasn’t about to give in at a domestic competition. 

She was the strongest skater on the team by far. This city-level competition was basically a walk in the park for her—aiming straight for first place in the children’s division. 

Like how Marlon wanted Qiao Nan to join the Violin Memorial competition, the main goal was just to get the judges familiar with her face. 

“New Drunken Imperial Concubine” it was. As long as she didn’t stress him out at a bigger competition, Cheng Cheng quickly gave in. 

“Alright, you win.” He glanced at her neat registration form and suddenly noticed something off. “But you listed New Drunken Imperial Concubine for your short program. What about your free skate?” 

✵✵✵ 

The 2005 Beijing Figure Skating Championships was the city’s fifth time hosting this event. 

In China, winter sports weren’t really popular, and with few ice rinks, not many cities could hold figure skating competitions. Opportunities to compete and build experience were rare. 

Most skaters didn’t have the skills or connections to compete abroad like Qiao Nan. Most just trained hard under their club coaches. So even a city-level event had tons of participants—not just locals, but also some who paid to join under different clubs. 

After three years of this, the organizers started limiting who could enter to keep the competition from dragging on too long. 

They restricted it by skill level, then by team size. Only the top skaters from clubs were allowed to compete. 

Cheng Cheng still handled the draw. After Qiao Nan finished practicing once, she got a slightly annoying message from her coach. 

First. 

Qiao Nan, feeling unlucky, almost wanted to push Cheng Cheng onto the ice and force him to perform a Biellmann or something. 

But despite the frustration, after registering, she gave Cheng Cheng a high-five, took off her blade covers, and stepped onto the ice. 

She wore the water-red costume, which stood out brilliantly against the white ice. 

It had to be said that Marlon’s initial competition choice was extremely correct. Although the girl wasn’t very experienced in competitions, she felt much less nervous about this one. 

Having participated in international competitions, a city-level competition really wasn’t that much pressure for her anymore. 

Cheng Cheng leaned on the rink’s railing, watching quietly as she prepared to skate. Though he trusted her, the sudden silence in the rink made his heart race. 

Then someone broke the moment. 

“Hey, Cheng Cheng, bringing a new student?” 

A coach suddenly walked over and patted Cheng Cheng on the shoulder. Though smiling broadly, this man represented considerable ill will in Cheng Cheng’s eyes. 

It was Zhang Lezhang from the Jixing Club—a man who’d been stealing his students for five years, pushing them too hard without caring about their feelings. 

Although Cheng Cheng had expected to see this man when bringing Qiao Nan to the competition, he couldn’t help but tense his face when Zhang Lezhang appeared. 

“What do you want?” Cheng Cheng asked coldly. 

Zhang Lezhang just laughed, then followed his gaze to the girl skating in red. 

“Remember Qian Hongdou? She recently landed a triple toe loop (3T). Thanks to Coach Cheng’s training.” 

“This new student looks pretty talented too, Coach Cheng, what do you think?” 

Cheng Cheng’s voice dropped: “You’re dreaming…” 

Before he finished, a guzheng melody started, and the girl glided gracefully to the music around the rink. 

The competition began. 

Author’s note: 

Qiao Nan: If there had been an exhibition gala, I totally would’ve worn a mask and done face-changing on ice. 

About the song: 

New Drunken Imperial Concubine 
Lyrics & music: Hu Li 
Performed by: Li Yugang