Chapter 288

Xiao Qi noticed that the system seemed to have become more verbose recently.

It didn't use to describe things in such detail.

But without the ability to love others, the person who loves himself the most, could he be talking about Li Weijin?

In fact, Li Weijin was looking at her from the window, and she had noticed.

She had very good eyesight now, and Li Weijin was just too conspicuous.

The most conspicuous thing wasn't Li Weijin himself, after all he was quite far away, but rather the at least one carat diamond earring on his left ear, which was reflecting a dazzling brilliance in the sunlight.

Flashing and flickering, it made it hard not to notice.

If other boys wore jewelry they would seem effeminate, but when he wore it, it seemed perfectly natural and very attractive.

And even though he wore different accessories every day, it didn't feel repetitive or annoying.

So was it because he loved himself the most...

As for the update to becoming aware of first love +1, Xiao Qi didn't know what level she was at anymore.

Others experienced first love awakening, while she got a sensitivity +1, and felt like a monkey the whole time.

Interrupted by the system, the mood she had barely managed to brew up was gone, and Xiao Qi didn't memorize her speech anymore, but called her dorm mates out to eat instead.

With three missing from the dorm room, Wei Cheng was eating at the stables, so only Yunshu and Mier were left.

While eating, Mier gestured excitedly and said, "The president of our external liaison club just told me that the sponsorship I pulled in last weekend has come through."

Xiao Qi still didn't understand what pulling sponsorships meant, so she curiously asked, "How much money?"

"Three thousand. Don't look down on this three thousand, this is the first sponsorship I've pulled in independently."

Three thousand yuan was quite a lot, enough for a thrifty student to last two or three months.

Yunshu also asked, "What did you promise the other party to get them to give you money?"

"It was a Korean restaurant. I hadn't actually planned on asking them for sponsorship, I just went there to eat. I ordered a bowl of cold noodles, wow, it was so delicious, sour and icy cold, with a touch of sweet and spicy, all kinds of flavors blended together, it was unexpectedly really good. It also had ice cubes, watermelon, sweet radish, tomatoes - not only were the cold noodles tasty, the side dishes and kimchi were also very delicious. The kimchi tasted even better than what Xiao Qi pickles. This was the first time I'd eaten something so great, so I went to find the boss."

Mier took a sip of soup and continued, "I just felt the boss's food was delicious and deserved an in-person compliment. I didn't expect the boss to be a middle-aged Korean auntie who was very friendly and chatted with me enthusiastically. She asked what I did, and I said I was from a school club on a mission to get sponsorships. The boss lady laughed and said it was just asking for money. At that time I started rambling, saying it wasn't just about money, we could advertise, hand out flyers, hang banners, etc. I didn't expect the boss to actually let me distribute flyers for her shop, and said she would also provide sponsorship, and told me to eat there for free next time I wanted cold noodles."

Mier spoke extremely fast, babbling on and on, and even left Xiao Qi a bit dizzy after recounting the whole story. It felt like a blind cat running into a dead mouse, randomly obtaining a sum of money.

The club rewarded students who pulled in sponsorships with a 20% commission.

That meant Mier could still get 600 yuan herself.

On top of that, Mier also had a WeChat group where she sold clothes from her family's factory, so she was living quite comfortably.

Xiao Qi felt that Mier seemed to have opened up a strange new direction.

Yunshu still listened with a smile, reading her novel while eating.

During evening self-study, the class advisor brought Xiao Qi the list of contestants for the upcoming speech contest, with 20 candidates total.

Qingmeng University alone had 8 contestants, while the remaining 12 were from other schools in Jingnan Province.

As the best university in Jingnan Province, and one of the top schools nationally, Qingmeng University had also produced many famous historical figures and literary masters.

It could be said to be one of the best universities in the south.

It looked as if this was an internal freshman competition for Qingmeng University, while students from other schools were just there to broaden their horizons.

There were definitely more than 12 junior colleges, bachelor’s, and private colleges in Jingnan Province, some schools probably hadn’t even sent anyone to participate.

Enhua University was a second-tier private school, its level possibly not as good as some of the third-tier public schools, but it likely took advantage of its proximity to Qingmeng University in Meng City to get a spot.

Xiao Qi looked at the list of contestants, which had basic introductions for each.

The Qingmeng University students' profiles were simply astounding.

There was the provincial math olympiad champion, national second place in an essay contest, provincial English speech contest winner, best exchange student...

All kinds of award-winning experiences filled up their profiles.

Of course hers was also there, but the introduction was very simple: Su Xiaoqi: First year computer science student at Enhua University. Award-winning experience: Jingnan Province 200m women’s freestyle swimming champion.

It gave a strange feeling of simple-minded brawn over brains...like she was there to make up the numbers.

She was like a varsity athlete who had stumbled into a group of bookworms.

If it had been written after the marathon, it probably would have added another line - Meng City Marathon women’s second place...which made her muscles seem even bigger.

“Teacher believes in you, do your best,” the class advisor said before leaving.

Xiao Qi felt the class advisor had changed brands of cigarettes recently, the smell on her was different than before.

She really came and went in a hurry.

Mier was also very curious about what the class advisor brought, she took a look and immediately became excited.

What kind of divine opponents were these? One Qingmeng University student's profile took up nearly half a page, full of all her awards and achievements. Was this type of person exempted from taking classes and just went around participating in competitions all day, or traveling to take part in them? Most importantly, the other schools' profiles were just profiles, but the Qingmeng University students had photos with theirs.

The half-page profile student even had a photo - she looked very pretty in it, with long hair, delicate features, she could hold up a cup of milk tea and probably pass for an internet celebrity milk tea girl.

She looked amazing in a high-neck sweater, goose egg face, the standard beauty look.

The other Qingmeng contestants also looked great in their photos.

It was as if attending a good university made you grow more attractive.

Looking at these people's profiles put a lot of pressure on Xiao Qi.

She was so far behind them in elementary, middle and high school.

She was already at a disadvantage from the starting line.

The others probably started attending the best elementary schools from childhood, with all kinds of hobby classes and competitions, while at that time Xiao Qi was at a village school in Gumu La, where the teachers were villagers and spoke Mandarin with a thick rural Gumu La accent, mostly not even using Mandarin, just the local dialect.

Some teachers who came from the city only lasted a year or two before running away, simply unable to adapt to the high altitude, impoverished and remote countryside with poor transportation and nothing there.

Xiao Qi's memories of elementary school teachers were not friendly ones.

Moreover, in that terrible school, Xiao Qi was even one of the students who owed tuition, essentially the poorest of the poor, because at that time her dad was guarantor for a foundation's loan, and went from guarantor to debtor.

As for middle school, at Huanghe Town Middle School, there was even less of a studious atmosphere. With the original factories shut down, no one had any life prospects, so most students from those families drifted into becoming local ruffians and hoodlums. Still, those hoodlums looked down on Xiao Qi and the other country kids.

What Xiao Qi experienced was all kinds of fighting and brawling, even teachers being hit, going to internet cafes, drinking, dating, dyeing hair - a bizarre world.

Meanwhile, these outstanding Qingmeng University students had probably already entered an even wider and more intense competitive learning environment, with parents preparing school district housing for them, hiring the best tutors, and sending them to all kinds of contests and activities.

While Xiao Qi could only accomplish not following her friends to go to internet cafes or out to play, and it wasn't because she had more willpower, just that she was poorer than the others.

In high school, she finally stood out among her peers and entered a better learning environment, but did she transform? No, she became more lost. She realized no matter how hard she tried, she could never catch up to her classmates. She was always the last place, lacking so much knowledge, as if she had gone to a different middle school from the others. She didn't understand a lot of common sense that the other students knew, she even got nervous about turning a computer on and off, afraid she'd break it.

She drifted through school in a daze.

While other excellent students had already participated in various competitions and even studied abroad, seeing everything was different.

Xiao Qi was still spinning around in her own inferior small circle, because she didn't have money to buy the latest Xinhua Dictionary and was made to stand as punishment by the teacher; because she wore a new piece of clothing, she was criticized by the teacher for not working hard enough. It wasn't that the teacher was biased, but she had always had the label of a poor student on her. In the eyes of others, she should look like a poor student, a model.

She had always lagged behind.

Without better conditions, she also didn't know how to learn better.

These were the differences between Xiao Qi and those other Qingmeng University prodigies. Her resume was very simple, while those students had very impressive resumes that made people feel they were outstanding as soon as they looked at them.

When Xiao Qi saw this list of contestants, her original uneasiness was actually reduced a little. There was an inexplicable sense of continuous motivation in her heart. She had missed a lot of time and wasted a lot of time, but it wasn't too late. She was only seventeen years old. Speaking when she was eighty years old, she was just starting out now. If she worked hard now, there was still time.

What was happening now also proved this point. She had started learning English over the summer vacation, and now she could already go and take part in this speech contest. At least she could stand in the same place now, so it was never too late to work hard at any time.

It wasn't too late.

After that day, Xiao Qi's roommates discovered that Xiao Qi was studying even harder, and her time management was tighter. Although she had worked very hard before, it felt like her condition was a little different recently. In the past, they would sometimes see Xiao Qi running club activities and such, but now whenever they saw her she seemed to be studying.