Xiao Lan’s self-introduction used no particularly difficult words and wasn’t fancy.
Compared to her appearance, this introduction was almost excessively plain.
Yet why was it so captivating?
Even Catherine gave Xiao Lan a second look. In just a few sentences, Xiao Lan hadn’t complained or tried to stir emotions, hadn’t made everyone laugh—she’d simply described her method of learning English.
The imagery was powerful!
Closing one’s eyes, one could almost see a rural girl lovingly poring over a worn English dictionary.
The judges and audience were too naive, not realizing there was a type of self-introduction that included “selling hardship”—the low-level version was like Xianglin’s Wife crying and wailing, while the sophisticated version was smiling while telling of past hardships. While Xianglin’s Wife became annoying, the latter approach easily moved people’s hearts.
What Xiao Lan said wasn’t false.
It had just happened in her previous life when she started intensively studying English after graduating college while working in sales.
That was the millennium, when English tutoring schools were everywhere, with countless ways to improve English skills. Xiao Lan could only choose the most basic, oldest method, picking up English again after college graduation, nearly wearing out a dictionary, and studying intensely for two years. Perhaps after accumulating enough foundation, she had a breakthrough after those two years… her English level soared, all thanks to poverty’s influence.
It was her true experience, so she spoke without hesitation.
What kind of speaker was Xiao Lan? A salesperson!
Sales wasn’t about having a smooth tongue, but about gaining customers’ trust. Now the judges were the customers, and Xiao Lan was selling herself.
Xu Guozhang thought: Her story matched the file records.
As for whether memorizing a dictionary could lead to ranking in the top 20 of the National College English Competition, Xu Guozhang couldn’t arbitrarily deny it. Everyone had different talents and levels of effort—just because others couldn’t do it didn’t mean Xiao Lan couldn’t.
This self-introduction was very smooth, whether prepared in advance or not, and her pronunciation was spot-on.
Some students could score perfect marks on English tests but stutter and stammer when speaking, leaving Xu Guozhang struggling to understand—that was poor oral English!
Xiao Lan spoke for exactly five minutes, neither more nor less.
Catherine looked at her notes and couldn’t help asking:
“You’re just a freshman? You got a perfect score on last year’s college entrance English exam. You know, even in England, that’s not easy to achieve, and you’re a rural student—learning English in the countryside is even harder.”
Catherine wasn’t exaggerating—in Hua Guo, many couldn’t even get perfect scores in their native Chinese.
“Yes, Teacher Catherine, I’m a Hua Qing freshman. The college entrance exam was just one test. My perfect score came from my efforts plus a bit of luck, but that’s all in the past. I think what’s more important is focusing on the present.”
Getting 100 points certainly involved luck.
Even if all the multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank questions were correct, if the grading teacher didn’t like her essay and deducted even 1 or 0.5 points, what could Xiao Lan do about it?
Xiao Lan’s answer was very sensible.
Zhan Aiqun had wanted to ask questions to give Xiao Lan more opportunities to perform, but remembering their acquaintance, she forcefully held back.
If discovered later, it would invite criticism—why take the risk when Xiao Lan was performing so well already?
The host roughly translated Xiao Lan’s self-introduction, not for the audience below but for later television broadcasts.
Without translation, how could ordinary viewers understand?
Below, hearing the translation, Grandmother Zhou immediately said to Guan Hui’e:
“This girl Xiao Lan hasn’t had it easy. She studied so well despite poor conditions—compared to her, Zhou Yi and the others aren’t working hard enough.”
Of course, Zhou Cheng didn’t count; Grandmother Zhou was most partial to her grandson.
Her eldest grandson joined the army at 15, so his poor academic performance was understandable. Setting aside Cheng Min and Gu Siyan who were still in school, Zhou Yi, the eldest granddaughter, hadn’t set a good example. Despite the excellent conditions the Zhou family provided, Zhou Yi still performed so poorly… truly disappointing in her lack of ambition.
Guan Hui’e nodded absently.
Fortunately, her sister-in-law and Zhou Yi hadn’t heard these words, or they would have taken offense.
Guan Hui’e hadn’t recovered from Xiao Lan’s fascinating past revelations when Zhan Aiqun sent tickets and called about making the oral finals. If Guan Hui’e hadn’t come, Zhan Aiqun would surely have been suspicious.
When she told Grandmother Zhou, the old lady was even more excited than her. Guan Hui’e thought to herself that she hadn’t come on her own but to accompany the elderly lady.
Hearing Xiao Lan talk about repeatedly memorizing words from an old dictionary to learn English, Guan Hui’e felt the same sympathy as Grandmother Zhou. Yes, while no family was wealthy these days, those poorer than Xiao Lan didn’t even have old dictionaries, couldn’t even attend school, let alone learn English—but those people weren’t in front of Guan Hui’e, she didn’t know them, so she naturally felt Xiao Lan had it tough.
Below the stage, Teacher Lin, Professor He, and eliminated contestants like Ji Jiangyuan all knew Xiao Lan’s self-introduction.
Hearing it in practice versus in the finals felt different.
Standing at the peak had its advantages—people would seriously listen to whatever you said. Xiao Lan’s sophisticated way of expressing hardship truly touched people’s hearts.
Ji Jiangyuan thought: While Ning Xue was undoubtedly a genius, how was Xiao Lan any different? What resources had Ning Xue enjoyed since childhood, going abroad in high school? At the same age, Xiao Lan was probably still flipping through her worn dictionary!
On stage, they’d reached the second section.
Listening to a short passage and retelling the story.
The venue was completely silent; no audience member would disturb Xiao Lan’s listening to this story.
Something felt increasingly strange—familiar names like “Melanie” and “Scarlett,” the epic work “Gone with the Wind,” its plot compressed into a short passage. When the recording ended and Xiao Lan had to retell it, her mind was racing—where should she begin?
The judges were all watching her.
Catherine and Zhan Aiqun found it strange—this wasn’t the previously prepared question at all.
Why had it been changed at the last minute?
“Miss Xiao Lan, please retell the story you just heard.”
As a straightforward science student, Xiao Lan’s literary knowledge wasn’t extensive, but she had read “Gone with the Wind.” The passage had just described its plot, though rather dryly.
Simply translating it would surely spell disaster.
Xiao Lan spoke based on her reading of “Gone with the Wind”:
“In 1861, Scarlett, a young woman living in the American South, was deeply influenced by Southern cultural traditions, yet wild rebellion flowed in her blood…”
The author of “Gone with the Wind” had spent ten years crafting it, publishing only this one novel in her lifetime, which quickly captivated the world. Even among these college students who had reached the national top 200 in the English competition and their accompanying teachers, very few hadn’t read the original work.
This question—why did it seem like they were giving Xiao Lan an easy score?
The TV station’s veteran staff also grew suspicious. Was Director Wang’s influence so great that even Professor Xu Guozhang’s position had wavered?!