Chapter 180

She posted a photo, holding the trophy for the top ten singers first place and twenty thousand yuan prize money, smiling very silly.

Her final score was 9.5 points.

After she finished singing, Little Heavenly Queen Ding Nan took the stage to perform.

Ding Nan sang calmly, after all she's a celebrity, and the reaction from the audience was still quite enthusiastic, but because of the contrast with the previous performer, it still felt unsatisfactory. The few singers after also performed normally.

The last contestant sang an English song, a boy with a very strong stage manner, and sang well too, 8.6 points, second place.

Wu Xinyue got third place.

Xiaoqi's score was so high, first because her image was clean and lovely, second because the song she chose was very thoughtful. As soon as the tune of "Exploring Qingshui River" came out, even the foreign teachers at the scene thought they were seeing the essence of this magical country, when it was actually just a Beijing ditty, with the addition of modern pop elements sung again.

But it was accidentally pleasing, if it really was Peking opera, Xiaoqi wouldn't know how to sing it either, and many people wouldn't understand it either. So this simple Beijing ditty was very rhythmic, plus the pop elements, the story was simple too, so everyone could understand it.

There were twenty songs on site, most of them chose pop songs. If you want to win the twenty thousand yuan first prize money, it would still be quite risky, because everyone would get aesthetic fatigue.

As for bel canto, Xiaoqi's vocal cords were restricted, and may not sing as well as Teacher Lu who had practiced singing for decades.

And Xiaoqi found that she was quite good at empathy when singing, which was probably a specialized level+ ability. Obviously, if she sang foreign language songs, the empathy ability would not be useful, as not all students on site would have good foreign language skills.

Like Wu Xinyue choosing a Japanese song, her singing was just average to begin with, she interacted more and could dance, but there were still very few people who could understand it on site.

So her choice of a foreign song was actually playing to her strengths and avoiding weaknesses.

Out of the twenty songs, Xiaoqi carefully chose "Exploring Qingshui River" as her preparation for the top ten singers competition, it was her tactic.

She won.

She accomplished her initial goal, she was very happy when she got the prize money, just like when she got the swimming championship, only this time she was more determined, believing that with effort, goal-oriented effort, and wisely exerted effort, she could ultimately succeed.

Li Weijin also saw Su Xiaoqi’s WeChat moments, she looked so good on stage, like a fairy under the moonlight when she sat there alone singing, any random photo could be used as a phone wallpaper. Yet she chose this one, smiling so silly, involuntarily reminding him of the photo when she won the swimming championship...with the exact same silly smile...He thought back to when reporter asked Su Xiaoqi during an interview: What was your motivation for participating in the competition? Su Xiaoqi said: the prize money...

Now it clicked for Li Weijin, could it be that Su Xiaoqi participated in the top ten singers competition for the prize money again?

Thinking of her taking the work-study job, Li Weijin felt a little sour in his heart, could it really be so.

After the competition ended, Xiaoqi took a group photo with the other contestants and judge teachers, unexpectedly even adding a few of the judge teachers on WeChat, though she didn't add School Governor Su, who hurried off after the event ended.

Luckily there wasn't the same level of socializing over dinner after competitions here on campus as there would be in society, they just took some photos, added each other on WeChat, and Xiaoqi went to find her roommates to head back to the dorm together.

Whereas Wu Xinyue stayed behind, having finally added these people on WeChat, she naturally wanted to socialize a bit. In her eyes someone like Su Xiaoqi simply didn’t know how to take advantage of resources available to her, running off silly to find roommates and head back, saying her roommate was waiting for her. Who cares about roommates at this time, you have to seize opportunities for relationships, at least get acquainted.

She didn’t expect herself to actually get third place, she thought she had first place locked down, but first place was snatched away by Su Xiaoqi. She never imagined that Su Xiaoqi with make-up on would be so stunning. Seeing Su Xiaoqi everyday she felt her features were pretty good, the girl looked quite naturally beautiful, not shockingly gorgeous at first sight. But when she touched up her make-up backstage and saw the person on the big screen, she was shocked speechless.

Su Xiaoqi looked so gorgeous on screen, practically legendary screen-worthy looks from every angle. Meanwhile she had to pay close attention herself, feeling that her right cheek looked fatter, her left side was better, and straight on she can look a bit fat, very disadvantageous for photos.

Whereas when Su Xiaoqi sang, Wu Xinyue already understood she was no match back then.

She thought she could resign herself to an second place, but second place was actually taken by a sophomore boy who breezily sang an English song.

If not for Su Xiaoqi, he probably would've been first place.

In the end Wu Xinyue stayed behind. First place Su Xiaoqi rushed off to her dorm, and second place Zhou Chanxin also left after taking photos together.

In fact the judge teachers actually wanted to chat with the contestants, especially first-place Su Xiaoqi, second-place Zhou Chanxin didn’t seem bad either, still young with good looks and singing skills, though it was too risky to groom male stars now with competition so fierce.

Yet these two left...

Back at the dorm, Xiaoqi ate another large piece of the fresh meat mooncake Yunshu's family brought over. Worried it would make her throat scratchy before singing, she didn't dare eat much earlier, now she could relish it unrestrained.

It really was great, the oiliness when you bit into it, you could taste the sesame fragrance, the meat fat, the layers of sweetness from the baked skin. This fresh meat mooncake had to be eaten today when fresh, if left til tomorrow when the oils solidified, it would become cloying.

Seeing Xiaoqi eat two whole fresh meat mooncakes in one go, her roommates finally completely recovered from the shock of seeing her dazzling stage appearance earlier. At first they still felt some distance, was that person on stage really their roommate?

Now watching Xiaoqi attentively eating mooncakes, alright, this was still their Xiaoqi.

After eating the mooncakes, Xiaoqi rested briefly then started practicing her calligraphy. There was no class today for the Mid-Autumn festival, so dorm lights out was an hour later at midnight.

Seeing Xiaoqi obtain first place in the top ten singers contest, yet carry on as usual, studying and practicing calligraphy just like everyday... simply incredible... Clearly she was not actually that nonchalant about it.

There were still intermittent visits from people in other dorms coming over, she really couldn’t handle entertaining them, so she might as well practice calligraphy for the best. Practicing calligraphy could settle her mood and recover her condition. The top ten singers competition had ended, she accomplished that small goal. Next was the marathon in October. Running was very simple for Xiaoqi, now it was like eating and drinking everyday. 30,000 steps daily had already become Xiaoqi’s daily life.

Yet winning would still not be easy. Through several competitions Xiaoqi realized, in competitions there’s only first place, no second or third.

This thinking was a bit extreme, but it indeed reflected reality. Because once a competition ended, the only person people would remember was the first place, the champion. Rarely would the second and third places be mentioned again.

So after finishing calligraphy practice, Xiaoqi still went downstairs to run a few laps. Her thoughts flowed freely while running.

Facing the night breeze felt very comfortable.

She finally completely exited from that stage tonight.

Practicing calligraphy just calmed her mood somewhat, like suppressing those emotions.

While running dispersed those emotions.

Yes, for a moment there, Xiaoqi was also enraptured by the stage too.

Captivated by that feeling of being the center of attention, as if entering another world, as if she really was a successful figure, walking into the fairy tale world she once heard about.

Mesmerizing.

But that was only an illusion.

Merely a campus top ten singers competition, nothing else.

If she indulged in it, that's where she would stop.

The world was still so vast, still so much more out there.

Like little heavenly queen Ding Nan, cheered on stage by thousands, Xiaoqi also felt envious. But thinking back now, she envied Teacher Lu even more.

Gentle and refined, almost 70 years old, still brimming with wisdom. Singing was just her hobby, part of enjoying life. Gracious onstage and offstage.

Such a life even more wonderful.

If chasing applause, how to conduct oneself when applause disappears?

Running dispersed that sneakily sprouting sense of utilitarianism and vanity in Xiaoqi’s heart, dispelling it, sobering up again. Clearly she was still just a student for now. Most important was studying, nothing else.

The road of life was long with many temptations and forks. But certainly the initial main road was the brightest. The forks seem like shortcuts but actually of unknown destination. The end of the main road had her original goal. She must continue on.

After finishing running, I returned to the dormitory to take a shower.

After taking a shower, I went to sleep and calmly drifted off.

Before falling asleep, I thought that I could put this 20,000 yuan into my bank savings account. My parents would definitely be very happy when they see it.