That Girl Who Skipped Class — You're In Big Trouble! - Chapter 24

Chapter 24

The day of the competition was clear and sunny. An Qingyang arrived at the office where An Dong, Liu Jinghuan, Chang Tao, and Li Huai’an were all preparing. A tense atmosphere permeated the air. She had put on light makeup before leaving, wearing the suit and well-cut utility pants Xiao Xuan gave her, paired with a white V-neck shirt. Her calm and capable attire, coupled with her clean face, stunned the four people present for several seconds, and the tension seemed to ease somewhat.

Xiao Xuan walked in, a phone in one hand and a bag slung over her shoulder: “Is everyone ready? The school bus is waiting for us downstairs.”

The group of six boarded the school bus bound for Zhongding University. The bus, which could seat over 20 people, felt empty with just the six of them. An Dong and his advisor, Chang Tao, kept rehearsing the speech content, while Liu Jinghuan sat with his eyes closed, seemingly resting, but his fingers drummed incessantly on his thigh. The earlier, somewhat relaxed atmosphere grew tense again.

Xiao Xuan and An Qingyang sat in the corner of the second-to-last row. The familiar scent of perfume wafted from next to her, and An Qingyang suddenly felt a sense of peace and grew drowsy. Slowly, the voices of An Dong and Chang Tao in the front seemed to fade away.

“Teacher Xiao,” Chang Tao’s voice drifted over, “Do you want to practice again? How are the preparations coming along? I see An Qingyang is not like An Dong; she doesn’t have much presentation experience. This still requires practice, you know. It wouldn’t be good for us to lose face for the school. But with you here, we’re reassured, ha ha ha ha.” An Dong echoed, “That’s right, An Qingyang. I’ve participated in many student union activities and organized a lot of class monitor work. For this product design, you absolutely must follow the competition rules and the judges’ preferences.”

Xiao Xuan leaned her head forward and calmly said: “It’s fine if she just goes with the flow. It doesn’t matter if she doesn’t make it to the finals.”

“How can Teacher Xiao say that?” Chang Tao was slightly agitated. “This is a competition among the major universities in City C, concerning the school’s honor. We can’t just do as we please; we must be meticulous.”

The school bus was passing a bus stop. Two young people stood on the platform, chatting and laughing. Next to them, a person with a backpack and headphones looked completely engrossed. Xiao Xuan looked out the window, a playful tone entering her voice: “The principal never told me that. Teacher Chang, she is my student; how I teach her is my business.”

Li Huai’an intervened to mediate: “Teacher Chang, I think everyone has a point. The competition is starting soon. Let’s let them rest and gather their spirits.”

Chang Tao awkwardly fell silent, and the bus compartment became quiet.

After a while, An Qingyang gently asked in Xiao Xuan’s ear: “Teacher Xiao, do you miss your life in Australia?”

“Hmm? Why are you suddenly asking that?”

“I was thinking, I have you accompanying me in my competition, advancing and retreating with me. But when you were in Australia, did you meet someone like yourself who could help you through difficult times?”

Xiao Xuan smiled, her eyes narrowing into a pair of bright black gems: “I am too capable; ordinary people couldn’t help me. Don’t worry about this time. Just do your best.”

When the school bus arrived at the stop, An Qingyang was gently woken up. She realized she had been leaning on Xiao Xuan’s shoulder, and a few obvious damp spots had stained her cappuccino-colored collar a bitter coffee color.

…

The waiting area in the Zhongding University Exchange Hall was already crowded with contestants from various universities. After drawing lots, An Qingyang and her group began their final wait. Teachers like Xiao Xuan also went to the audience seats. As the noise level grew, An Qingyang’s heart pounded louder and louder. She looked at her two classmates: An Dong was standing in the corner, muttering to himself, and Liu Jinghuan was sitting in his seat, seemingly meditating like an old monk.

Applause rang out. The first contestant from Zhongding University took the stage, facing a panel of over ten professors and executive judges and a packed audience. She began to present with a trembling voice… A total of 20 student groups were participating in this competition. An Qingyang had drawn the 15th spot. To alleviate the anxiety of waiting, she began counting her heartbeats.

As the applause ended, An Dong took the stage. He was obviously much more stable than the previous students. He introduced his concept for a gaming community, even interacting with the audience once. After his presentation, several judges in the audience stood up to applaud, mostly the school professors. However, an executive voiced some opinions about his design. When the microphone was handed to an executive wearing rimless glasses and a pink shirt, he said: “This student’s design plan is very comprehensive, but developing a cross-university gaming community is very common. Your content lacks originality, and the upfront investment cost is too high. It would likely be difficult to implement.”

During the competition, a girl in a short skirt gave a thick stack of materials and a local beverage from her hometown to the judges in the first row before her presentation, causing a stir among the students in the back rows.

Perhaps because he was scheduled after An Dong and several other excellent speakers, Liu Jinghuan’s performance was a bit disappointing. His design concept was truly eye-catching, fully demonstrating his understanding of lacquerware, but his extreme nervousness made his voice very soft. Many audience members lowered their heads to play on their phones. After a sparse round of applause, the judges kindly offered their suggestions.

“A University, An Qingyang.”

She heard her footsteps on the wooden floor. She was met with a sea of dark heads, and a wave of heat rushed towards her. She felt countless eyes fixed on her, and her body involuntarily stiffened. Even moving her head required a great effort.

Suddenly, a slender arm reached out from a dark spot, giving her an OK sign. She remembered the warmth of that hand pulling her arm that night at Zhang Xiaoxiao’s house.

An Qingyang bowed deeply to the audience.

“My father works in Australia, so that’s my other home,” she heard her own slightly trembling voice. “Several years ago, a Chinese guest accidentally left their phone at the hotel and specially flew back to retrieve it. That phone was ordinary, with cracks on the screen. It didn’t seem valuable. My father was curious and asked about it. The guest opened the phone and showed my father a picture—this picture.”

An Qingyang took two small steps forward. A photo appeared on the large screen: a Chinese girl smiling at the camera, wearing a sexy bikini. “My father later said that the figure in the photo was much better than her real body. At that time, photo editing wasn’t very convenient. She had hired an Australian photographer during her trip. That’s when I realized that we humans are too narcissistic, and our pursuit of travel photography has never stopped…”

Gradually, the flashes from phones and cameras in the audience grew more frequent…

An Qingyang then displayed the design pages for the travel photo generator. These pages turned into a video, showing finger swipes on a phone, accompanied by lively music. The atmosphere in the entire hall became as relaxed as a holiday.

An Qingyang signaled to the staff to turn down the volume: “We want to place this product on a travel website…”

Suddenly, the screen went black, and the music stopped abruptly.

An Qingyang’s mind buzzed. She frantically looked toward the staff. The judges below whispered to each other, and the murmuring of the audience grew louder. She felt fine beads of sweat rolling down from her hair.

It’s over, what should I do!

Out of the corner of her eye, she glimpsed that slender arm reaching out again, raised high, still holding the OK sign.

Xiao Xuan’s clear voice whispered in her ear: “I am too capable; ordinary people couldn’t help me.”

An Qingyang gripped the microphone, raising it back to her lips. She was thankful the microphone still worked: “Students, this screen is getting revenge on me! I’m a bad student who has never paid attention to it in class.”

The audience burst into laughter.

She slowly took a few steps, tucking one hand into the pocket of her utility pants: “I can perform magic, do you believe me?”

The audience shook their heads.

“Now, please open your phone browser and search: XX Hotel, space, Travel Generator. Do you see anything? I’ve already implemented it and placed it on the official website of the XX Hotel. Nearly 6,000 users have tried this product since yesterday.”

The audience discussed for a while. Moments later, the executive in the pink shirt was the first to stand up and applaud. All the judges stood up, and instantly, the applause was thunderous.

“Student An Qingyang, come to the capital during the holiday and intern at our company.”

An Qingyang walked into the waiting area. Before she could find An Dong and Liu Jinghuan, she was intercepted by several students who had just finished their presentations. They congratulated her and asked for her WeChat. Finally sitting down, she glanced toward Xiao Xuan’s direction. The seat was empty, only Teacher Chang Tao and Teacher Li Huai’an remained. Chang Tao was looking at her with a complicated expression.

“An Dong, where is Teacher Xiao?”

“Didn’t you check your phone? She just sent a message saying she had an urgent matter and had to leave.”

An Qingyang quickly opened her phone. Xiao Xuan’s profile showed an unread message: “Congratulations. I’m not feeling well, so I left early. Call me if you need anything.” The message even included a playful emoji at the end.