Chapter 291
The stage curtain was a deep red, unusually thick. The table in front of the stage curtain was exceptionally lonely.
Xiao Qi walked onto the stage. She did not receive a warm round of applause like the previous contestant, Tang Baolin. After all, this was Qingmeng University. Hardly anyone recognized her.
The students were still somewhat curious about Enhua University. It was rare for a private university to be rated as a second-tier university. There were many private universities in China, but respectable second-tier ones were scarce.
A few of Xiao Qi’s dormmates sat in the back rows, watching her go on stage. Mi’er tried her best to clap, but she did not garner much momentum. The applause was sparse and scattered.
At this moment, even her friends felt immense pressure. Before coming, they were confident Xiao Qi would do well. Some even believed she could clinch first place. After all, Xiao Qi had always created miracles for them, even breaking records in marathon running.
But after watching contestant after contestant, even Xiao Qi’s number one fan, Mi’er, was uncertain. The Qingmeng University students were truly exceptional, each one more outstanding than the last. They had assumed all college students would be on par with each other. In reality, there were vast discrepancies.
It made sense when they thought about it. Qingmeng University accepted students with over 600 points on the college entrance exam, while they had 400-something points for Enhua. There was already a 200 point gap. Even the worst Qingmeng student would be better than them.
The stark contrast between Qingmeng and students from other universities was even more disheartening. Their confidence plummeted; even the usually absent-minded Yunshu’s face seemed more vacant.
Wei Cheng’s cheeks were puffed up, deadly serious, extremely nervous - as if she were the one on stage.
On the other side, Lin Min’s roommates nudged him and whispered, “Damn, your girl is so pretty, on par with Tang Baolin. No wonder you have zero interest in Tang Baolin.” Xiao Qi had not put on any makeup. Although it was only a small auditorium stage with some distance, makeup would have made her facial features clearer and more sculpted. But considering her speech content, she felt she might have difficulty controlling her emotions and end up crying, smudging her makeup and looking strange.
Her speech theme was “Become a Person Useful to Society.” During late night dorm discussions, she had told her roommates that she wanted to become someone useful to society, someone with value.
Her initial draft centered around her life experiences, mostly from childhood. Recalling those memories still easily moved Xiao Qi to tears. Many said the misfortunes of childhood required a lifetime to heal. Some spend their whole lives healing the wounds of an unfortunate childhood.
If not for the later transformations and changes in her life, Xiao Qi felt she might have lived a completely different life - no college, working at factories like the other village girls. At a certain age, she would start thinking about getting married for the bride price. The poorer the place, the higher the demands for a bride price. She would marry another equally poor man and repeat her parents’ life, possibly having children of her own. If the child did well in school, they could continue their education with financial aid subsidies, as she could not provide the best conditions. If the child did poorly, they would drop out and start working outside like she did.
The same life repeated over generations, never changing.
Xiao Qi did not want that fate. From deep in the mountains and forests of her remote village to the small town of Huanghe to the Lvshan City and finally Meng City, a seed had been planted in her heart at some point and had persistently grown roots, sprouted, and flourished. She wanted to forge ahead, move upward, break out of her existing social class to explore those above and even higher. She wanted to become an even more useful and valuable person to society. She needed to keep striving upward tirelessly.
Xiao Qi’s spoken English was excellent, better than Tang Baolin’s sweet voice. Standing on stage, she showed no nervousness. At the moment, her emotions were extremely rich. She had moved past nervousness to full concentration. From mounting the stage to beginning her speech, she did not smile once, just a touch of somberness, oddly giving off an imposing aura. Although there was no applause below, there was also no private chatter like during other contestants’ speeches. It was very quiet.
Even the judges were watching her attentively.
“I was born in an extremely poor mountain village...”
And so Xiao Qi slowly recounted her experiences - first drinking bottled water in 4th grade and thinking it was a prank since the 1 yuan water tasted the same as free water...her disabled father whom everyone called “Su the Cripple” instead of his real name, even his own mother...getting an apple and a thin ham sausage as New Year’s gift one year and thinking they were the most delicious foods on earth...
As Xiao Qi spoke, she shed tears. She was telling a story, her own story, of her trek from the deep mountains to Huanghe Town to Lvshan City and finally Meng City.
Her failures, her successes, her efforts, her sorrow, her anger, her grievances, her perseverance...leading her to this stage today.
During her speech, there was no humor. Though some things seemed laughable in hindsight, the humor was overshadowed by sorrow.
At this time, every student and teacher was immersed in her experiences. When Xiao Qi cried, so did they - not for Xiao Qi herself, but for their own lives. Parts of the girl’s bitter experiences, small portions, involuntarily evoked memories they preferred not to recall, touching on the most fragile corners of their hearts.
Wei Cheng wept bitterly as she thought of herself before college when she had struggled to continue and even contacted a garment factory for a job.
Mi’er thought of the unfairness she endured at home for being female. Her brothers always got priority.
Even the usually stoic Yunshu felt stifled, wanting a more independent life instead of one controlled by her parents, especially knowing of her father's affair. She had seen her mother secretly cry before pretending nothing had happened. In Lin Min’s mind, there was only the endless dark tunnel he felt trapped in like a maggot, buried deep in darkness.
The judges, older in age, recalled even more bitter past experiences from their youth.
Even happy Tang Baolin cried. She seemed to see the pain and hardship endured from ballet and piano lessons forced by her mother.
The girl who had gone second and scored only 5.9 points sobbed the hardest. She already felt awful that tonight had turned into an embarrassing spectacle for her.
Xiao Qi went on.
Tears still wet on her cheeks, she spoke of her hopes and dreams - that despite everything, she still wanted to become a good person, someone useful to society. She was constantly striving towards that goal. In conclusion, Xiao Qi’s voice rang loud and clear, for this speech embodied not just words, but the lifelong goal she was determined to realize, possibly even her life’s purpose.
Everyone who had cried now seemed to feel that power and resolve.
Perhaps not extremely strong yet, but firm and forceful enough.
It was like a tiny, tender seed had been planted in the depths of every listener's heart to later take root, germinate, and grow over time.
Xiao Qi finished her speech and bowed as she exited the stage.
There was no applause.
It was only after she had returned to her seat that reactions gradually set in, and thunderous clapping rang out, even more orderly and enduring than when previous top contestant Tang Baolin had appeared.
The judges dabbed their eyes as they gave their scores.
Many had not cried for a long time, not because life was perfectly smooth without cause for tears, but because weeping felt weak. Unwilling to face their own weakness, they would force smiles no matter what.
But this speech today had driven nearly every audience member to tears.
The final score: 9.7