Chapter 54 Part 1

After the judges for this competition were introduced, the first contestant took the stage. Meng Xin brushed past her as she lifted her skirt and returned to the backstage lounge.

The atmosphere in the lounge felt somewhat strange: Shen Yuze sat with his legs crossed, leaning back in his seat, his fingers rhythmically tapping the table beside him, his expression as calm as still water—no one could tell what was on his mind. Teacher Feng, seated next to him, looked displeased, her brows furrowed as she scrolled through messages on her phone.

No one spoke, a far cry from the harmonious vibe before the competition started.

Meng Xin sighed inwardly. She knew the reason for this awkwardness—just moments ago, Teacher Feng had brought Wang Shiya over to Shen Yuze and suggested they bond a bit before the match began. Unexpectedly, Shen Yuze didn’t give her an inch, responding coldly, “I have nothing to bond with Miss Wang about.”

Teacher Feng’s face had immediately soured.

Wang Shiya, however, reacted quickly, smiling as she said, “I think what my junior means is that I’m a judge and he’s a contestant—if we get too chummy, others might talk.”

She had barely smoothed things over.

But anyone with a shred of emotional intelligence could tell these two already knew each other! And they had beef!!

One was the pride of her alma mater, the other the top seed in the competition—and they’d already clashed before the event even started… Teacher Feng’s temples throbbed. She strongly suspected the prize money was slipping away again.

She wanted to ask Shen Yuze what was going on several times, but as a teacher, she couldn’t just pry into her students’ personal affairs.

When Meng Xin returned to the lounge, Teacher Feng stood up and said she needed some fresh air outside. Once she left, Meng Xin’s gaze immediately landed on Shen Yuze.

The young man’s face remained perfectly calm, utterly unfazed by her scrutiny.

Meng Xin beat around the bush. “Junior, what number did you draw for your turn?”

Shen Yuze: “Eighth.”

“Ah, I remember Experimental Middle School is seventh.”

“Mm.”

“…” Meng Xin was out of words. She really wanted to gossip, but she and Shen Yuze weren’t close enough for that.

Seeing her hem and haw, Shen Yuze cut straight to it. “Senior, that’s not what you want to ask, is it?”

Meng Xin’s eyes lit up. “Can you tell me?”

Shen Yuze glanced at her and said flatly, “No.”

Meng Xin: “…” No, she couldn’t get mad. She’d done her makeup so beautifully today, worn such a pretty skirt—she couldn’t ruin her goddess image over this infuriating Shen Yuze!!!

She patted her chest lightly twice, reminding herself that one step back leads to a vast sky ahead, but one step forward might cause breast hyperplasia—and at eighteen, she couldn’t afford that!

Meng Xin composed herself and sneakily jabbed at Shen Yuze. “Regardless of whatever grudge you have with Senior Wang, she’s a judge this time. Aren’t you afraid she’ll give you a low score?”

“Not afraid,” Shen Yuze replied without batting an eye. “Because she wouldn’t dare.”

Meng Xin: “……………………………”

…

“—How dare that woman?!?!” In the audience seats, Qian Jie cracked her knuckles with a series of pops. If her minions around her hadn’t held her down desperately, she might have charged to the front row of judges’ seats and pointed right in Wang Shiya’s face to curse her out.

Just moments ago, the North Shore High School contestant who drew sixth had finished his prepared speech. In the judges’ Q&A session that followed, Wang Shiya had critiqued him with extreme pickiness and harshness, tearing his performance to shreds and leaving the poor guy red-faced and unable to respond.

In the first round of scoring, Wang Shiya had given a field-low of 75 points!

Sure, the North Shore High School contestant was indeed weaker than others, and he’d gotten nervous onstage, forgetting words and stumbling. But the other four judges had all given at least 80 or above to encourage him.

When calculating the first-round average, the highest and lowest scores were dropped—but that glaring 75 still felt like a slap in the face to everyone from North Shore High School.

The Jiaojiang No. 1 Middle School students in the North Shore High block looked embarrassed, heads down, not daring to make a sound.

Wang Shiya was their senior alumna; logically, they should side with her. But in today’s competition, she’d made them sweat with her judging.

She was an extremely strict judge, nitpicking every contestant onstage. For the first six, she’d given the lowest score four times, drawing side-eyes from the other judges. One foreign judge had politely reminded her, “Miss Wang, this is a high school competition. We should focus on encouragement, not discourage their enthusiasm for English learning.”

Wang Shiya had smiled back gracefully. “I have my own scoring standards. I’m strict with them because I have high expectations. My scores reflect their actual level. And if I inflate scores for later contestants to match, that would be unfair to the earlier ones.”

Logical and airtight—no one could argue.

Fine, whatever. She gave low scores to everyone, almost always the “dropped lowest,” so her style didn’t really affect the outcomes.

And so, the stage welcomed the seventh contestant.

The moment the seventh contestant appeared, cheers erupted in the auditorium—this was Experimental Middle School’s representative! Students from Experimental Middle School crowded in the aisles, clapping nonstop and chanting her name.

She was a petite girl wearing glasses and a simple, elegant fishtail skirt suit. As soon as she spoke, her captivating British English flowed out.

Chen Miaomiao whispered to Lu Ping, “That’s her! Experimental Middle School’s ace! Her dad’s the vice professor of English at Jiaojiang University. Back in elementary school, he was sent to the UK as a visiting scholar, so she studied there for a few years. Listen to that accent… pure London!”

Lu Ping couldn’t tell London from anything else, but her pronunciation and intonation did remind him of British shows he’d seen. He noticed the front-row judges nodding along, looking especially pleased.

Even with 100% faith in Shen Yuze, Lu Ping had to admit this Experimental Middle School girl was a real threat.

Soon, she finished her speech. After the Q&A, the five judges revealed their scores one by one.

96, 93, 94, 95, 88.

In a sea of 90s, that 88 stuck out like a sore thumb… No need to guess—it had to be Wang Shiya’s!

Hushed boos rippled through the audience but faded quickly. Still, faces lit up with anticipation, as if saying: If she lowballs someone this good, is there anyone who can satisfy Wang Shiya?

After getting her scores, the Experimental Middle School girl bowed to the judges’ table and stepped offstage.

Right after, a young man in a suit strode into the spotlight. Handsome with sharp brows and keen eyes that swept like blades—the moment he appeared, the entire auditorium fell silent for a few seconds. Everyone seemed enchanted, like wooden puppets, their gazes locked on that figure.

“—(English) Hello, judges. I’m Shen Yuze from Jiaojiang No. 1 Middle School.”

His cool voice shattered the eerie quiet, quickly giving way to a buzz of chatter in the audience.

“Damn, that face is killer! No. 1 High doesn’t just have nerds—there’s a school hunk like this too?!”

“My neighbor goes to No. 1 High. Gotta ask about him when I get back!”

“He’s at least 1.85m… no, 1.88m for sure!”

“Such a small face, legs for days—is this a speech contest or a modeling show?”

“Girls, can you quiet down? Good looks don’t win scores; judges aren’t grading faces.”

The murmurs mixed chaotically until the staff enforcing auditorium discipline finally quieted everyone.

Just then, a group of students in the fifth row, not in uniforms, unfurled banners. They featured a photo of the boy onstage, Jiaojiang No. 1 Middle School’s logo, and eight big characters: 【No. 1 High Pride, Dominating the Field】. This surprise cheer instantly amped up the support vibe.

At the center was a round-faced boy who hoisted his banner high, shaking it nonstop at the onstage youth. His smiling eyes curved into pretty arcs. Though silent, his gestures screamed support and trust.

Under the spotlight, when Shen Yuze spotted the banner waving in Lu Ping’s hands, he hooked his lips into a faint smile. That smile bloomed like a flower in the snow, impossible to look away from.

Eyes met from stage to seats; surrounding noise vanished. In the empty hall, only their connected hearts remained—he and he.

“Go for it.” Lu Ping mouthed silently, knowing Shen Yuze would catch it.

Only when the timer prompted him to start did the boy onstage pull back his thoughts and focus on the competition.

The first-round prepared speech topic had been sent to schools ten days prior, themed around the environment. With ample prep, Shen Yuze’s script was polished and substantive. Center stage, his fluent American English poured out.

Poised and measured, brimming with confident pride.

Lu Ping had previewed Shen Yuze’s script and even practiced reciting it privately. But his English was too poor—many words stumped him, his reading choppy and Chinglish. This script, complex and profound to Lu Ping, flowed from Shen Yuze like poetry, paced perfectly, drawing smiles from the judges.

When the three-minute speech ended, Chen Miaomiao beside him couldn’t hold back a “Great!” and started clapping vigorously.

Lu Ping jumped at her outburst and asked helplessly, “Did you understand it?”

“Experts watch the technique, amateurs watch the show—clap first, ask questions later!” Chen Miaomiao clapped like an otter while urging Lu Ping. “Don’t just sit there, clap!”

So Lu Ping clapped like an otter too.

The two of them were like big otters floating in water; the other No. 1 High students were little otters. A whole otter family clapped till their hands hurt.

After the speech came the familiar judges’ Q&A. Everyone braced for Wang Shiya to strike… but oddly, she said nothing.

After the editor from the English paper finished questioning and passed her the mic, he even said, “Miss Wang, no questions this time?”

“No need.” Wang Shiya smiled sweetly. “This Shen classmate is my junior from No. 1 High. I trust his English level completely. His pronunciation is so standard, and the speech is excellently written—I have no issues to raise.”

…How to put it? Each word was fine on its own, but together, it felt off. She was “praising” Shen Yuze, yet Lu Ping was convinced she meant no good.

After the Q&A session ended, it was time for the first round of scoring. The five judges’ scores appeared one by one on the big screen. Once the audience saw those numbers, the entire auditorium fell silent for a moment before being filled with noisy discussions.

——97, 93, 94, 93… and 100.

Yes, that’s right—the notoriously harsh Wang Shiya had actually given Shen Yuze a perfect score!!

“Damn, this favoritism is way too obvious!”

“Insider dealing! A No. 1 High School judge gives full marks to a No. 1 High School contestant—hilarious!”