The Tender Beauty is Sweetly Doted in the 20th Century Novel!-Chapter 230 - 229: His Second Place Is Well-Deserved

Chapter 230: Chapter 229: His Second Place Is Well-Deserved

Actually, Ye Manman herself didn’t have much technique in this area; she was simply suggesting according to the original purpose of hosting the speech competition.

Translation talents must excel in improvisation; adaptability is not closely related to English scores or vocabulary reserve, as those who can enter the finals certainly won’t lack vocabulary.

What everyone lacks most is the ability to adapt, and that should be what the judges value most.

Ji Bowen listened earnestly to her words, and as the students ahead were questioned by the judges, he also simulated in his mind how to answer, what gestures or expressions to use as connectors, and so on.

Gradually, he even felt less panicked, because the questions from the judges were really not that difficult; most were casual, irrelevant queries, some even asked about today’s weather.

This question and answer style truly matched what Ye Manman mentioned; they just wanted to see if you could adapt and communicate naturally.

"Next, please welcome number 2 to come up and give a speech."

It was Ji Bowen’s turn.

Before taking the stage, he looked at Ye Manman again, as if he could gain courage from her.

Ye Manman certainly wasn’t stingy, giving him an encouraging glance.

For some reason, now Ji Bowen gave her a feeling as if he had voluntarily taken off the defensive shell he had built for himself over many years, revealing a real him inside who was somewhat like a spoiled but still pure-hearted child.

Why then would she think a young man over 1.8 meters tall seemed like a child; could it be maternal instincts running wild due to pregnancy?

Frightened by her own absurd thought, she hurriedly rubbed her face and found a comfortable posture to lean back and listen to his speech.

All along there were many people in the class discussing them, after all, Ji Bowen used to be quite arrogant, with good scores and a clear disapproval of her; many had secretly compared the two.

Yet neither of them ever cared much about this.

Well, not exactly; she never cared, but about Ji Bowen, she wasn’t really sure.

Judging by the looks, his second place wasn’t a false reputation.

She hadn’t gotten to listen to him when she left in the morning; now she finally heard his speech.

Ji Bowen indeed had his reasons for pride. In this era, being a first-year student just starting college with such good oral English skills was truly strong, with eloquence, no accent, adequate vocabulary reserve, and diligent practice; his first half of the speech was almost flawless and pleasing to listen to.

If it weren’t for someone like her who had learned in modern times, besides this competition, he would likely have maintained the top spot at Qing University as a first-year student, possibly dominating the rankings throughout his college journey, surely becoming the freshman representative.

No wonder he used to be so conceited, even mocking her for earning the freshman representative title undeservedly.

After clicking her tongue mentally, it was time for the judges’ question segment; Ji Bowen obviously became a bit tense, his face slightly taut.

But maybe he had indeed absorbed her words; she saw him smiling, lowering his head to tidy his attire, and when he raised it again, he appeared much more relaxed.

The judges clearly valued him; the initial questions were casual, but later on, they intentionally increased the difficulty; however, Ji Bowen had already mentally simulated it several times, so he answered the subsequent questions naturally.

As five minutes ended, the judges all showed satisfied smiles, several of them giving him a high score of 9.8.

After dismounting the stage, he quickly returned to his seat; initially, Ye Manman wanted to compliment him with a couple of nice words, but turning her head, she found him pressing his hand on his chest, breathing deeply.

"..."

What’s that? Gathering all the tension only to release it once offstage?

Ye Manman felt like laughing.

However, before she could burst into laughter, the hosting teacher called number 1.

There weren’t many people in the finals, so calling on her quickly wasn’t surprising.

Ye Manman was no longer desperately needing the restroom as in the morning, and quickly got on stage.

Just as she hadn’t started her speech yet, the judges suddenly became excited, seemingly eager to ask her questions right away.

Ye Manman chuckled lightly, and after mentally reviewing her previously outlined main points, started her speech directly.

She had no manuscript, just an outline, allowing her to incorporate thoughts spontaneously during the speech, sometimes adding little stories or idioms; a full fifteen-minute speech was like storytelling, engaging and leaving a lingering enjoyment after hearing.

Ji Bowen was still recovering the tension trying to leap out of his throat, listening to her engaging speech before realizing it was fun and joined everyone’s laughter; the sensation of a heart beating so fast it transmitted to the brain had unknowingly vanished long ago.

Suddenly, he realized the gap between himself and Ye Manman.

He did speak well, but his speech was purely memorized, even with added gestures, expressions, and efforts to vividly present, it couldn’t match her naturalness.

The following question segment was naturally more brilliant.

The judges had already set their sights on her, even customized complex, challenging questions for her, yet all these troublesome questions felt headache-inducing to other competitors were humorously resolved by her.

Did she not answer the questions?

She answered, and not only that, she engaged in a wide-ranging conversation with you.

But did she answer them?

Yet, she didn’t entirely answer them, as she kept giving ambiguous answers then referenced classic works to divert the topic to something else.

Talents like her made the judges love and hate, lamenting her late appearance and making them wait for years.

Fortunately, during the chat, Ye Manman mentioned the job she wanted in the future, differing slightly from what they desired but broader and beneficial to the country; they didn’t make things difficult for her, chatting over about five minutes before letting her step down.

Ye Manman was already aware of those judges’ penchant for overstaying; but she wasn’t urgently needing the bathroom this time, so she chatted away, feeling no dissatisfaction, as long as those folks scored her accordingly.

Dragging can linger, but the prize money is what counts.

Her mindset was content.

After stepping off the stage, Ye Manman indeed wanted to leave, but it was the finals, and soon scores would be announced and awards presented on-site; she couldn’t leave even if she wanted, so she idly leaned back on her chair, staring into space.

Ah, miscalculation, she should have borrowed a book from the library to kill time.

She sighed, visibly bored on her face.

Ji Bowen was correctly listening intently to other students’ speeches, hearing her sigh out of boredom, seeing her as if mushrooms would grow atop her head, his mind suddenly became restless, pulling out his pocket-sized notebook.

"Ye, could you help me with solving these problems?"

He had a habit of jotting down interesting, difficult problems he encountered while reading in the library, and later, in his dorm, working them out; sometimes he’d check them before bed or during idle times for inspiration.

This small notebook recorded many intriguing problems, mostly competition questions, mainly mathematics and physics, with the first problem being that major mathematics question from the college entrance examination he hadn’t solved.

Ye Manman was just bored, hearing him mention there were problems to solve, her spirits instantly lifted.

"Let me take a look."

"Eh? Isn’t this the major math problem from the entrance exam? You didn’t solve it?"

Ji Bowen nodded very honestly, then looked at her with great expectation, "Did you solve it?"

"I solved it; very simple, first look at this condition..."