“Alright, it’s my turn to give a speech.” Yǐn Nán Shān couldn’t stand Gù Cháo’s clinginess anymore.
He was a completely different person from when they first met.
Gu Chao snapped back to reality, lowered his eyes to look at Nán Shān, his heart softening immensely. He kissed the corner of Nán Shān’s mouth, then caressed her cheek, and said, “Don’t be nervous. If anything happens, I’ll handle it.”
Nán Shān’s face was expressionless. She didn’t want to get entangled with him further, so she just nodded casually and walked onto the stage from backstage.
“Next, we invite student Yǐn Nán Shān to the stage to give her speech.”
The school had invited a top host to MC this exchange event.
Some government leaders and business tycoons sitting in the front row below, now couldn’t help but discuss the situation animatedly, disregarding their image.
They were all planning for the upcoming situation.
Sòng Cí sat in the audience, watching Yǐn Nán Shān, who was the center of attention. A sense of pride welled up in his heart.
Even if they couldn’t be lovers in the future, they would be lifelong good friends.
This was unchangeable.
The young girl, wearing a clean and loose school uniform, stood gracefully center stage. The stage lights outlined her profile with soft contours. Her ponytail was tied high, exuding a clean and pure aura. She had rolled up her sleeves, revealing slender wrists.
During her speech, when she reached a funny part, she would curve her eyes into crescent shapes and reveal shallow dimples.
In the shadows, a viper was flicking its tongue, watching Yǐn Nán Shān, who was shining brilliantly on stage, with a predatory gaze.
Because Bai Qingqing had a good reputation on campus, no one suspected her intentions when she offered to help with the control booth, and they agreed.
Bai Qingqing now wore a chilling smile. The person on stage giving the speech was supposed to be her!
“Classmate, someone was looking for you just now. Go check it out; I’ll be here,” Bai Qingqing said, rushing over from outside with a concerned tone.
“But… aren’t you also in charge of the control booth?” the student wearing an earpiece looked at Bai Qingqing with some difficulty.
Bai Qingqing smiled gently and said, “There are enough people at the control booth. I came here to remind you. That person seemed quite urgent, and there seems to be some accident on stage.”
Upon hearing this, the student immediately stood up, took off their earpiece, and said gratefully, “Okay, thank you, classmate Bai. I’ll go see what happened.”
Bai Qingqing watched the student’s retreating back and smiled silently.
What a fool.
Bai Qingqing put on the earpiece, and an urgent voice came from the other end: “What’s going on? The sound system on stage isn’t working!”
Bai Qingqing looked at the wire she had unplugged and curled her lips. Yǐn Nán Shān, this time it’s just to make you look foolish.
Next time, it won’t be so simple.
Afterward, Bai Qingqing ignored the voice from the earpiece and left the room.
Meanwhile, on stage, Nán Shān, facing the sudden accident, felt like letting loose.
After all, Gù Cháo said he would handle anything that happened.
Gu Chao, sitting in the C position in the audience, frowned irritably upon seeing such a simple accident.
Useless people.
They can’t even handle something this simple. They’ve been rehearsing for nothing. They’re making my Nán Shān suffer on stage!
When the accident was discovered, someone had already rushed to the studio, but the door was jammed shut. They had to borrow a chainsaw.
This door was too well-made. By the time the chainsaw cut through, the speech would have been long over.
The person sitting next to Gu Chao was also of considerable status. Seeing Gu Chao’s low mood, they couldn’t decipher his emotions.
Afraid of saying the wrong thing, they decided not to provoke him.
At this moment, Nán Shān was not panicking at all.
After all, she was destined to become a Gold Medal winner.
This was just a minor situation.
So she walked off stage, her gaze fixed on her homeroom teacher.
The homeroom teacher: ???
“Teacher, there are reasons for this. May I borrow your microphone?” Nán Shān calmly looked at her teacher.
It was strange, but only their homeroom teacher used this type of microphone in the whole school, which clashed with the school’s general style.
The homeroom teacher, though unsure what Yǐn Nán Shān intended to do, quickly unclipped the microphone and handed it to Yǐn Nán Shān, fearing further complications.
Nán Shān clipped on the microphone and tested it. While it wasn’t as good as the sound system, there was nothing else available at the moment.
So, Nán Shān, like a teacher, walked back and forth on the steps in the middle of the audience.
Actually, Nán Shān knew that no one would really listen to the content of the speech. After all, the exchange event later was the main course.
It was also the reason they were all here.
Under the guise of a parent-teacher meeting, a transfer of power was taking place.
But Nán Shān didn’t know that Sòng Cí would listen, Sū Yǐqíng would listen, and Gù Cháo would also listen.
Seeing that no further accidents occurred on Nán Shān’s side, Gù Cháo breathed a sigh of relief.
Nán Shān deliberately walked in front of Sòng Cí and teasingly looked at him, “Classmate, do you think this school is good?”
Sòng Cí was caught off guard by Yǐn Nán Shān’s action but quickly regained his composure, a smile tugging at his lips. “Whether this school is good or not depends on whether my friend is in this school.”
The surrounding students, even if academically poor, were excellent at gossiping.
They made some cheering noises, looking back and forth between Yǐn Nán Shān and Sòng Cí, their eyes showing a “shipped it” expression.
“Then, which friend has such great honor that the great scholar Sòng holds in such high regard?” Nán Shān was also curious.
Why hadn’t Sòng Cí mentioned them?
Sòng Cí’s eyes were filled with a smile as he revealed an answer only the two of them knew: “She is a friend for whom I would be willing to write an academic journal article.”
Nán Shān couldn’t quite process it for a moment. Later, she realized it was a request she had made before and was surprised that Sòng Cí still remembered.
*Sniffle* So touching.
Gù Cháo’s eyes coldly watched the interaction between Yǐn Nán Shān and Sòng Cí.
Why isn’t Nán Shān looking at him!
It’s all that bitch’s fault!
Just as Gù Cháo thought Nán Shān would come to appease him, he saw her elegantly bypass him and ask the person next to him.
“Esteemed parent, do you think your child can do a backflip?” Nán Shān wanted to test Gù Cháo’s limit.
With such an absurd question, how would Gù Cháo react?
The parent being asked was a bit stunned, but he, accustomed to positions of authority, quickly reacted and said with a kindly tone, “Whatever my child does, I will believe in them.”
If it meant Gù Cháo would stop staring at him with such hostility, that would be even better, the parent silently grumbled in his heart.
Seeing that Gù Cháo was about to explode with anger, Nán Shān finally arrived, putting the microphone in front of him. “In your heart, what do you think is most important?”
Gù Cháo froze, then said without thinking:
“You.”
Immediately after, Gù Cháo realized what he had said.
It shouldn’t have been like this...
Gù Cháo felt a sense of fear for the first time in his eighteen years of life, something unprecedented.
From birth, his supreme status was predetermined; he would have no confusion or worries.
His family would eliminate any such nascent threats before they could even appear.
Gù Cháo looked at Yǐn Nán Shān with complex emotions. He never expected to fall for her in the end.
What a miscalculation.
Upon hearing this answer, Nán Shān smiled like a cat who had stolen some fish.
Young Master Gu, you lost.
As if sensing Yǐn Nán Shān’s thoughts, Gù Cháo smiled helplessly, but the doting in his eyes and the beating of his heart told Gù Cháo everything:
His feelings for Nán Shān were more than just liking.