Volume 2 Chapter 52: A Big Crisis from Guessing the Topic Wrong?
As the test papers were handed out quickly, the girl took hers and immediately sucked in a sharp breath.
She looked closely at the clean white paper.
The question read: [Sketching — please draw a sketch based on the following picture.]
Usually, questions like this use very “down-to-earth” people as subjects. The faces often look very familiar, like someone you might see in daily life.
But this time…
The art contest clearly went beyond the usual kind of topic.
Th-this…
After taking a quick look at the picture on the paper, the girl’s lips twitched.
The image was actually very familiar, but not in a casual way. It even felt a bit… too “foreign” or classy?
That’s right.
The picture was a famous painting, the Mona Lisa.
Doing a sketch based on a famous painting?
The girl’s mouth twitched again.
Wasn’t this a bit… much?
She fell silent for a moment and looked around. To her surprise, the other contestants already looked ready. Some of them had even started drawing.
Heh… heh…
Everyone was so calm.
Was she just inexperienced?
Now she was starting to worry. While everyone else drew with ease, Lin Lin found herself stuck.
This subject was way too specific. She hadn’t practiced this at all. Gao Liang’s topic guess didn’t help either. She…
She had no idea where to start.
Her expression slowly turned bad. Holding her pencil and staring at the paper, she hesitated.
She tried drawing a few lines, but…
Clearly, she wasn’t the type who could adapt quickly.
So she began to panic, grabbing her hair. The little she had drawn already looked wrong to her, no matter how she looked at it.
It’s over, over, over…
I’m doomed—!
The situation became chaotic in her mind.
At that moment, Han Kui glanced toward Lin Lin with a look of contempt. Seeing how flustered she was, Han Kui let out a cold smile.
A hard-to-describe sense of pleasure rose in her heart. She felt secretly happy about it.
So it’s your turn now, Lin Lin. How does it feel to do something you’re completely bad at?
This time, the one being crushed by anxiety in the room is you!
And this time, she would step on Lin Lin and win for sure!
………………
When Gao Liang went to report to the volunteer area, he was actually quite late.
As a volunteer, he should have arrived earlier to help manage the contestants entering the venue.
But…
He had to send Lin Lin there. How could he ask her to come even earlier just to match his schedule?
Even though Lin Lin complained a lot that morning and blamed him for waking her up, he had already chosen the latest possible time to pick her up.
In the end, after apologizing several times to the female volunteer leader, she finally handed him an armband with an annoyed look and said:
“Go be a volunteer at Competition Room 35. Help the supervisors and contestants handle any issues.”
“Room 35?” Gao Liang froze, then blinked. “Really?”
“Hurry up and go!”
“Heh, okay, okay!”
Room 35, wasn’t that Lin Lin’s room?
Well, well. What a coincidence, no effort needed. Gao Liang chuckled softly and turned around in a good mood.
When he arrived at Room 35 and stood at the door, of course, he wasn’t a competition supervisor. Unless something urgent happened, he couldn’t go inside.
So he could only stand at a distance and quietly watch from afar.
He looked inside and saw that the girl was staring blankly ahead. Gao Liang’s heart tightened right away.
Was the test question that hard? From the looks of it, Lin Lin seemed to be really struggling.
He couldn’t help feeling worried, but there was nothing he could do. All he could do was stand at the door, fidget with his fingers, and nervously watch what was happening inside.
Just then, the girl suddenly lifted her head and absent-mindedly glanced toward the door.
And then…
Their eyes met!
Oh no!
With just one look, Lin Lin saw her rival staring straight at her.
Her whole body shivered. She started trembling in fear. W-w-w… what was going on?
Wasn’t Gao Liang supposed to have left already? Why was he suddenly back?
And why was he standing at the door like a guardian statue, staring right at her?
Th-this…
That was terrifying!
Why did other people have no problems during the competition, but she not only guessed the topic wrong, she also got an extra “invigilator” watching her?!
Ah…
The situation became very awkward. Seeing the girl avoid his gaze, Gao Liang grew even more nervous.
Did Lin Lin run into some kind of problem?
Did she eat something bad?
Otherwise, why did she look so tense? Her condition looked really bad…
She was shaking all over. She looked completely frightened. Was she just too scared because this was her first competition?
It seemed like his mental support earlier wasn’t enough…
The more Gao Liang looked at her, the more uneasy he felt. Something was definitely wrong with her!
No, he had to go in. Even if she couldn’t finish the competition, she couldn’t force herself like this. What if her health got worse?
But…
Right now, Lin Lin hadn’t said anything herself. Would it be wrong for him to rush in like this?
The competition supervisors probably wouldn’t allow it. And Han Kui was there too, someone who knew him, which would make things even more complicated.
Besides…
He had no idea what was actually happening with Lin Lin.
If he misunderstood the situation, that would be even worse.
So what on earth was going on?!
Gao Liang paced back and forth at the door, desperately wanting to rush inside, but forcing himself to hold back.
However, the strange sounds he made outside only added more pressure on Lin Lin inside the competition room.
She lowered her head and fell into a depressed state. When she looked at other people’s papers, she realized she was probably the slowest one there.
There was no hope of advancing anymore.
Her lips twitched, and she heard Gao Liang’s footsteps again.
That guy…
She was already in this state, and he was still making things worse!
Lin Lin couldn’t hold it anymore. After a moment of wanting to cry but being unable to, she let out a deep sigh.
But then…
Suddenly, a flash of lightning seemed to strike in her mind!
An idea hit her.
This was it, her last lifeline!
Lin Lin closed her eyes and silently prayed for a moment. Then she suddenly opened the system shop in the air.
Being woken up suddenly by Gao Liang that morning, she had completely forgotten to check what new items had refreshed today.
Please, let there be something useful!
She clenched her teeth in anticipation. But what appeared in front of her felt completely unhelpful.
Better skin, better digestion…
They were all useful, sure. But totally useless right now!
Until she saw the last item.
The girl froze.
Sp… spirit vision?