The Tender Beauty is Sweetly Doted in the 20th Century Novel!-Chapter 226 - 225: Damn, What an Unlucky Coincidence

Chapter 226: Chapter 225: Damn, What an Unlucky Coincidence

After a whirlwind of thoughts, Ji Bowen finally gathered the courage to wake her up.

"Ye"

However, just as he started speaking, a teacher on stage began adjusting the microphone.

"Students, the speech competition is about to start. Please return to your seats and remain quiet..."

He was startled, quickly sat up straight, and instinctively tightened his grip on the armrest, not daring to glance beside him.

Only then did he notice that all the contestants who hadn’t arrived before were now in place, and every seat was filled.

Ye Manman was also awakened by the sudden noise.

She opened her eyes, her expression briefly bewildered.

It took her a while to realize that she had fallen asleep sitting and slept quite deeply, even having a sweet dream.

She dreamed about last night, but in the dream, it was even more thrilling than last night.

She dreamed she wasn’t pregnant and brought He Chen to her big room in the modern times. Her bathroom was large and spacious, and they were... in the bathtub.

Just as they were about to move to the most critical step, she was startled awake.

Goodness, suddenly feeling quite lusty.

In broad daylight, having such a daydream in such a big setting, and it’s that kind of dream.

She awkwardly sat up straight, glanced around to ensure she hadn’t affected anyone with sleep talk, and then felt relieved, starting to wait for the competition.

The preliminary round is a broad selection, so each contestant’s speech time is fixed at five minutes. After each speech, ten judges will score them on the spot and add them to the ranking. The top thirty will advance to the finals.

In the finals, the speech duration is longer, fixed at twenty minutes.

A five-minute speech might just require most students to write a draft, rehearse it, and recite it on stage. A twenty-minute speech is different, with fifteen minutes of self-presentation and five minutes of Q&A with the judges.

The first fifteen minutes assess vocabulary, pronunciation, and logic skills, which those advancing should manage.

But the last five minutes involve listening and real-time communication.

It’s safe to say this is the most feared part by most participants in the competition.

This section is the key part of the competition—screening talents capable of real-time translation and communication for the country.

The order of the competition is decided by drawing lots.

Everyone has their sequence number, drawn by the hosting teacher on stage. When your number is called, you go up.

This method is very random, mixing up participants from different schools and grades, really testing courage and adaptability.

After all, nobody knows if they’ll be next, remaining tense and ready.

Finally, once the host teacher adjusted the microphone and confirmed the judges are ready, he announced the speech competition officially began.

Ye Manman’s number is 1, particularly simple and easy to remember.

Probably because she was the first-year first student at Qing University, hosting the event, she was naturally first according to school grade and ranking.

The teacher never mentioned how many students are in the competition, and this auditorium is too large—even if only the first few rows were participants, it’s hard to count how many just by looking.

She really wanted to go up early, finish quickly, and go home to catch up on sleep—she really didn’t sleep enough yesterday, still feeling a bit drowsy now.

"The theme of this speech is dreams. When your number is called, please come up and start your speech. The speech duration is five minutes, with judges signaling the half-minute mark. Please manage your time well."

The hosting teacher casually drew a slip of paper, "Would number 105 please come up to speak."

Hearing this number, Ye Manman’s once-upright body instantly slumped back onto the chair, suddenly feeling even more tired.

There must be over a hundred people here; if she’s not called, she’ll have to wait endlessly.

The issue is that five minutes isn’t enough to head for a bathroom break. What if she urgently needs to go?

Ye Manman felt troubled, leaning dispiritedly on the chair.

The first contestant to speak didn’t seem from Qing University, making his way up from somewhere relatively distant, appearing shy and nervous.

Probably never having spoken using a microphone before, he instinctively grabbed it, which resulted in a piercing sound. Though he swiftly let go and started his speech, this speech score was destined to be low.

Ye Manman’s seat was relatively close to the podium; she leaned back in the seat and yawned.

Watching the contestant fumble through his script so much only managed two minutes before freezing, standing there helplessly, she felt mixed emotions.

Honestly, this student’s English wasn’t great either, with a strong accent, but he was probably someone many pinned hopes on, rehearsing long and hard, yet ending up in an uncomfortable situation.

In five minutes, he spent half a minute calming his microphone-induced nerves, spoke for two minutes, and then stood awkwardly for the remaining two and a half, amidst some murmurings from the audience.

Not a good start. Even their teachers didn’t look pleased. After stepping off stage with teary eyes, acknowledging the lack of chances, he left directly.

The judges quickly scored, and the host drew again, starting another round of speeches with subsequent speakers.

Tension lingered throughout the huge auditorium, even those sitting at the back just watching felt nervous.

Though most students had stage fright, making their speeches fragmented or accented, occasionally one or two delivered smoothly and without accent, earning fair scores between seven to eight from the judges.

As time went by, over twenty participants had spoken, and Ye Manman subtly felt the urge to use the restroom; over an hour had passed, drinking little water in the morning, yet still needing to go.

A new contestant began their speech. Ye Manman felt she couldn’t hold it anymore, promptly getting up to head to the restroom.

But this time, the new speaker struggled, petrified, speechless. She hadn’t yet slipped out; reaching the rear auditorium door, suddenly the host called the speaker down, then announced,

"Next, would number 1 please come up to speak."

"..."

Damn! What bad timing!

So wanting to go to the bathroom!

Can’t hold it!

She cursed inwardly a couple of times.

Neither early nor late, naturally once urgent, her turn comes.

Reluctant as she was, she still had to smile, turn around, and amid curious gazes, make her way up on stage from the rear.

As the timer began, she gently blew into the microphone, checked sound and volume, then swiftly slipped into speech mode.

Hearing over twenty speeches, none clear or accurately pronounced, the judges were becoming disheartened, murmuring their predictions of yet another fruitless year.

Yet, as Ye Manman started, her fluent American English was immediately refreshing.

The ten previously weary judges suddenly opened their eyes wide and straightened up.

The more they listened, the hotter their gazes became; their expressions resembled those of monsters seeing Tang Seng, eager to tie her up immediately.