Chapter 9

Chapter 9

At 8 PM, in a small private room on the second floor of the Bubble Tea House near the entrance of Minghua Middle School.

"Ningning, do you know what the individual competition is about?" Qiao Yingxue asked.

Yan Ning shook her head.

"Yan Ning, do you have any... probably not." Shi Lei bit his straw, frowned, and then trailed off, shaking his head.

"What?" Yan Ning scooped a spoonful of double-skin milk pudding, smooth and tender, with a rich milky flavor. The taste could only be described as "comforting," which made her generously ignore Shi Lei's dismissive attitude.

Zhou Ye pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, looking as serious as a little old man: "Shi Lei wants to ask if you have any special talents, something that can really impress people."

"Ningning just standing there is enough!" Qiao Yingxue said.

"Come on, all the participants in the competition are handsome guys and beautiful girls. Even if Yan Ning is... decent-looking... she still can't compare to the school belle," Shi Lei said.

"So, Shi Lei, you're into the school belle type, huh? I think Ningning is prettier than her," Qiao Yingxue said.

"I don't like her, what are you even saying!" Shi Lei blushed, turned his head away in anger, and ignored Qiao Yingxue.

Yan Ning glanced at her desk mates, the two in front, and the class monitor Zhao Xiaolu, and asked, "So, why aren't you guys heading home after school?"

"..."

Facing four pairs of eyes filled with resentment and a bit of hurt, Yan Ning waved her hand in surrender: "Alright, alright, I get it. Don't look at me like that, like aliens or something."

"Where are these aliens from?"

"What kind of aliens?"

"...Uh, it's from a sci-fi movie I watched before. Aren't we supposed to talk about the competition?" The person who slipped up awkwardly changed the subject.

"Oh, right, we're planning to give you some special training," Qiao Yingxue said.

"Special training?"

"The theme of the individual competition hasn't changed in three years—it's all about beauty. No matter the form, the starting point is to let the participants showcase beauty from various angles. So, for the next week, we will give you intensive training in four areas: fashion, physique, etiquette, and talent," Qiao Yingxue said, her eyes lighting up as if she'd found a fun toy. "By the way, I'm Ningning's etiquette teacher, so just call me Teacher Qiao."

"I'm the physique teacher, you can call me Teacher Zhou."

"Talent teacher, Teacher Zhao, why don't you call me that now?"

"Fashion teacher, Teacher Shi, seriously, your taste is awful," Shi Lei said disdainfully.

The serious looks on the four little devils' faces were both amusing and oddly comforting.

"...Hello, teachers." Not knowing where to start with her complaints, Yan Ning simply gave up and chose the least troublesome and most boring response—compliance.

--

After finally managing to brush off the teachers at the bubble tea house until 8:40, Yan Ning dragged her tired self back to the Yan residence. Feeling like she had no energy left to deal with anything else, she immediately went upstairs and quickly retreated to her safe space.

Pushing open the door, she saw Yan Yu sitting on the chair in front of her desk. Hearing the noise, he turned around, his brows furrowed with impatience: "Why are you back so late?"

"I was out hanging out with classmates for a while."

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

Yan Ning casually threw her bag aside, looking slightly exhausted: "What do you want? If there's nothing, please leave. I need to take a shower and rest."

"Humph, I came to tell you that you've already embarrassed yourself enough. Don't expose your identity at school, don't talk to me, and don't get Sister Lily involved."

"Oh, got it," Yan Ning said, drawling as she headed to the bathroom with her pajamas, too tired to argue.

Yan Yu sat for a while, waiting until he heard the sound of water from the bathroom before getting up and leaving.

He thought scolding her would make him feel better, and she had complied, but he still felt uneasy.

Seeing the posts on the school forum in the morning and hearing the mockery from classmates, every word cut like a knife, making him unbearably ashamed and angry.

No, this wasn’t nearly enough.

He wanted to get rid of her completely. The eldest daughter of the Yan family only needed Sister Lily.

This woman was just a backwater girl, with no relation to him at all.

--

After her shower, Yan Ning sat on the bed, drying her hair and starting to think about the competition.

She had participated in many competitions, involving physical tests, skill tests, cultural tests, and more, but she had never competed in a beauty pageant. She always felt she had nothing to do with beauty and had no idea how to showcase it.

This wasn't to say Yan Ning had no sense of beauty, but on Planet M20, no one had ever called her beautiful, and she had never cared about it. Now, suddenly having to explore her own sense of beauty, she was totally clueless.

In fact, she had studied etiquette and physical training on Planet M20, played a few instruments, and learned dances from several planets, excelling in ballroom dancing, which she often used in her work. But all her knowledge and skills came from the interstellar realm and were based on what she needed for her job. Here, without any cultural foundation, it would be hard to connect with others.

Public opinion was also stacked against her. Because of that forum post, many people who might not have had a negative impression of her before might now look down on her.

The path ahead was difficult... No matter what, she had to make it into the top 20 first, before thinking about the next steps.

Yan Ning lay down on the bed, bundling up in the blanket.

The next day, the sports committee member rallied the class. The school sports day was approaching, and there were still a few events lacking participants. The sports committee member urged anyone interested to sign up with him.

The classmates kept their heads down, avoiding eye contact with the sports committee member, afraid of being "voluntold."

Class monitor Zhao Xiaolu stood up: "Which events are still short on participants?"

"For the girls, we're missing one person each for the long jump, 50-meter dash, and 800-meter run," the sports committee member Chen Kai said, scratching his head, frustrated.

"Are there any classmates who want to sign up? If you're interested, sign up with Chen Kai," Zhao Xiaolu said, walking to the podium.

The students below couldn't help but sink lower in their seats. Zhao Xiaolu was more assertive than Chen Kai, and getting caught by her would be worse.

It wasn't that they didn't want to participate, but the athletic girls had already signed up. Those who hadn't signed up mostly weren't skilled, and signing up would just be filling a spot.

The thought of a hopeless battle was utterly despairing, and no one wanted to have such a terrible experience.

"I'll sign up," Yan Ning raised her hand.

"Are you sure?" Chen Kai hesitated, not knowing much about the new transfer student.

She was tall, but she looked so thin, not like someone who was good at sports.

Yan Ning stood up: "Yes, when it comes to sports, I'm confident."

"Which event do you want to sign up for?" With no one else volunteering, Chen Kai could only pin his hopes on Yan Ning.

As a sports scholarship student, he took these competitions seriously, even if others didn't. Even the slightest chance was worth pursuing, hoping his class could win more.

"If it's possible to sign up for multiple events, I can do all three that are missing participants," Yan Ning said nonchalantly.

She wasn't trying to show off. During physical education classes, she had observed the level of her classmates and other upperclassmen. Years of physical training would prove useful at this moment, something Yan Ning had never anticipated before.

"Ningning, are you really up for this?" Zhao Xiaolu interrupted, worried that Yan Ning might be overestimating herself.

"I'm fine," Yan Ning waved her hand.

"After all, she's seventeen; she must be stronger than us," one girl said.

"Exactly, what's there to worry about?"

"You better not lose; losing to a first-year would be really embarrassing," another girl added.

Yan Ning was stunned, images involuntarily popping into her mind... It seemed she had unintentionally dug a hole for herself...

It shouldn't be a problem, right?

--

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

The first round of the individual competition was entirely organized by the sponsors and took place before the school sports meet.

The first round was a brief interview. All participants were given a number tag and were interviewed in order. Before being called, they waited in the lounge.

Yan Ning was number 216, nearly at the end of the line.

The lounge didn't allow friends or family to enter. Yan Ning sat alone in a corner chair, holding her number tag.

The lounge was packed with girls dressed in elaborate outfits, some quite exaggerated, with floor-length dresses and luxurious jewelry being common. The most eye-catching was someone actually wearing a wedding gown.

Yan Wan stood at the center of the crowd in a pure white, off-the-shoulder long dress, with a front-short, back-long hem and a pair of lace-up high heels, looking very ethereal. She still wore the light blue gemstone necklace around her neck, with only a simple pearl hairpin and matching earrings, appearing pure and elegant.

The girl in the wedding dress next to her looked like a kid who had raided her mom's closet, appearing both comical and bloated.

In contrast, the boys were much more restrained, with the most eye-catching merely wearing a suit. But because of their young age, it still looked a bit out of place.

Yan Ning's eyes skimmed over the boy in the suit and landed on a guy in a white shirt.

Though she could only see his back, the guy was tall and slender, wearing a minimalist white shirt with trousers, looking extremely casual yet very noticeable. Yan Ning thought his back looked like the male lead from an animated movie she'd recently seen—Howl, the beautiful, slender youth.

Awkwardly, she was also in a white shirt and trousers, going for ultimate simplicity. A fashion guru had said that today's competitions were too flashy, with everyone trying to grab attention, so she needed to go against the grain.

Amid all the extravagance, she needed to stand out, like an unknown flower by the roadside, coming from nowhere but forming its own scenery...

Right then, Yan Ning just wanted to go back and shake some sense into Shi Lei. This thought became even more urgent when the boy turned around...

Not Howl, but a gorgeous boy with symmetrical tear moles at the corners of his eyes.

Yes, a super beautiful boy.

This was Yan Ning's first time seeing Lu Fengfeng from the front. Suddenly, the scene froze, like pink cherry blossoms were falling. The guy before her was like scattered snow on a mountain peak, lofty and unattainable, yet seemingly fragile and fleeting.

Ah, she was no match.

She wasn't like that. The deliberately feigned casual elegance couldn't compare to the natural grace and ease in every movement.

Yan Ning lowered her head, looking at her clothes, thinking about how to avoid this awkward situation.

Even if she couldn't win against him, it didn't mean she couldn't make it into the top 20. But for some reason, she didn't want to be overshadowed here. This seemed even more unbearable than being in Class 5, Grade 7.

"Hey~" A deep, pleasant voice, like some elegant instrument, with a playful, off-key tail.

Yan Ning looked up. The boy with tear moles stood in front of her, revealing a gentle smile like a blooming flower: "We look like we're wearing matching outfits~"