“Thank you Number 15 for that excellent performance. Now, let’s welcome Contestant Number 16, from…”
It was Number 16’s turn.
This meant today’s recording would end in just over an hour. The television staff were curious about Number 17, Xia Xiao Lan’s upcoming oral presentation.
They wondered about Xiao Lan’s true ability and whether the judges would show favoritism.
Perhaps Catherine, the British expert, was the only judge who couldn’t be bought off?
Yet Catherine’s opinion alone wouldn’t matter—the highest and lowest scores would be dropped, and the average calculated from the remaining scores. This scoring system was borrowed from sports competitions, supposedly to ensure fairness.
So even if Catherine gave a low score, it wouldn’t matter since it would be eliminated in the calculation.
“What we hear isn’t necessarily true. We need to watch carefully ourselves.”
The older staff members weren’t so naive; they thought more deeply. After the initial shock, things seemed increasingly suspicious. If someone wanted to use connections for a special prize, why inform the TV station?
If vanity made someone want TV exposure, winning the special prize would naturally bring more camera time.
From this perspective, Director Wang’s behavior at lunch in the private room was quite strange. But without knowing Xiao Lan, who would bother defending her? Everyone had different thoughts. While the Higher Education Bureau’s leadership might intimidate ordinary university teachers, someone like Professor Xu Guozhang wouldn’t need to heed Director Wang’s words.
The professor had specifically asked for her name and school—ah, far from helping, Director Wang had harmed someone!
Realizing this, the older staff member lowered his voice: “Why rush to judgment? Professor Xu and the others are trustworthy. While we may not qualify as judges of English proficiency, we can make rough comparisons with the previous contestants… Don’t worry, what’s fake can’t become real, and what’s real can’t become fake!”
The older colleague’s rich life experience provided a valuable lesson to the younger staff.
The younger staff remained skeptical but waited patiently for Number 17, Xiao Lan, to perform. After such analysis, the truth seemed shrouded in fog, raising numerous doubts, though they were initially prejudiced against Xiao Lan.
If Xiao Lan truly had the ability, Director Wang’s interference meant that even if she won a good ranking, with so many witnesses in the private room, rumors would spread that she won through connections.
Not knowing the inside story, they could only wait and watch.
As Number 15 finished and Number 16 took the stage, those who knew Xiao Lan became alert—it would soon be her turn, though they weren’t sure if she was ready.
Number 16 was a male student, fair-skinned and refined, immediately likable when he spoke.
Though ranked 16th in the written test, his oral performance was outstanding, surpassing many previous contestants with a final score of 97.5, second only to Number 1… If the remaining four contestants, including Xiao Lan, didn’t exceed this score, the male Number 16 and female Number 1 would take the top two places—the special prizes!
There were 2 special prizes, 6 first prizes, and ranks 9-20 would receive second prizes.
Grandmother Zhou didn’t understand English, but she could understand the scores.
“That’s a high score, ranking second now, right?”
Guan Hui’e nodded, “Number 1 got 97.9, and Number 16 got 97.5.”
Even 0.1 points mattered greatly. The inaugural English competition was highly competitive—they said Beijing Foreign Studies University’s English majors weren’t even allowed to participate, or the competition would have been even fiercer. Guan Hui’e didn’t expect Xiao Lan to win a special prize; a first prize would be quite good with some luck.
It would be nothing to be ashamed of—a first prize meant ranking in the national top 8. With such an honor, Xiao Lan’s path to any position requiring English proficiency would be smooth.
Of course, making it to the oral competition guaranteed at least a second prize, still within the national top 20.
Guan Hui’e was quite relaxed about it—Xiao Lan wasn’t her daughter, why should she have such high expectations? To be frank, if her son Zhou Cheng took this English test, he wouldn’t even pass the preliminary round!
But Grandmother Zhou had complete confidence in Xiao Lan. Hearing Guan Hui’e’s words, the old lady muttered to herself:
“Then Xiao Lan needs to score 98 to win.”
The audience members sitting near the old lady couldn’t help but keep glancing at her—surely she must be Number 17’s family member? What an attitude, acting like her child was the best!
Guan Hui’e felt embarrassed, but Grandmother Zhou remained unmoved, caring nothing for others’ opinions.
Finally, after the judges finished encouraging the high-scoring Number 16, they began introducing Number 17:
“Welcome our Number 17 contestant, from Hua Qing University. Hua Qing has two students in our top 20—Number 8 Zhong Cai, and now taking the stage, Number 17, Xia Xiao Lan—”
“Go for it, Xiao Lan!”
Zhong Cai gave Xiao Lan a quick hug before releasing her, and Xiao Lan walked down the passage.
She was truly beautiful!
Still vibrant after waiting for hours, even the cameramen found her face flawless. The camera adding 10 pounds wasn’t a joke—those with flatter features could look 20 pounds heavier on screen. Though there weren’t many overweight people these days, among all the thin contestants, Xiao Lan’s face remained exquisitely refined.
She was truly a sight for sore eyes.
Such a beautiful female student—wasn’t it natural to give her more camera time in such a competition?
“That’s her…”
“Yes, the one Director Wang mentioned.”
“Why would this need special attention?”
At least there was no need to specially inform the TV station—neither the cameramen nor the program director were foolish. It became increasingly puzzling, impossible to understand Director Wang’s thinking.
The host also found Number 17 strikingly beautiful, and there was a brief silence as everyone’s attention couldn’t help but be drawn to her lovely face.
“Miss Xia Xiao Lan, please introduce yourself to everyone.”
The English self-introductions were all similar, and Xiao Lan couldn’t necessarily do better than others. Every finalist had prepared their English introduction well in advance, incorporating not just the student’s ideas but also their teachers’ wisdom about how to speak naturally and make a memorable impression on the judges.
Regarding English learning methods, Teacher Lin was curious about Xiao Lan’s approach.
Xiao Lan had told Teacher Lin there was nothing special about it.
“I just repeatedly memorized from an old dictionary. I ignored the difficult words, first memorizing all the simple everyday words until I knew them well, then moved on to grammar. During the memorization process, I could sum up some patterns myself, and using these patterns to memorize improved efficiency.”
Teacher Lin had fallen silent for a moment then.
Without any master’s guidance, this was how Xiao Lan had accumulated her English knowledge bit by bit.
“Then in your self-introduction, just tell it like it is.”
Xiao Lan didn’t know if Wang Guangping’s underhanded move had worked. She saw Aunt Zhan on the judge’s panel, but this wasn’t something to be happy about—it supported the accusation of using connections, as she did know one of the judges!
Never mind, just tell it honestly.
“…In the countryside, there weren’t good conditions for learning English. I neither met English teachers who came to rural schools to contribute their youth, nor encountered relocated scholars living in cattle sheds who could guide me. An occasional old dictionary became my learning tool, memorizing page by page, trying to translate the Chinese textbook articles with the words I’d learned. I believed this was enough for daily use.”