Inside the VIP lounge, many young faces had gathered.
They were, on average, in their early twenties, yet their Life Force all remained above the baseline of ninety-five.
It was easy to imagine that, over the next few years, these young men and women hailed as "geniuses" would become the brightest Professional Level talents in Hengzhou.
"Is that Qin Shi?"
"Yeah."
"You don't know him?"
"This guy never showed his face even after taking first place. He's way too low-key. It's my first time seeing him in person!"
"Tsk, tsk. He looks even younger than me..."
Over the course of a little more than ten minutes, twenty people had entered the VIP lounge.
Their gazes all turned toward Qin Shi, who was holding a cup of water and chatting with the big man, Yan Ren.
When Secretary Huo returned to the VIP lounge and saw the scene, he couldn't help but pause.
The words "a sky full of brilliant stars, with the blazing sun overhead" came to mind.
It seemed the Minister had made the right bet.
Student Qin was already beginning to show his brilliance.
Holwen approached Qin Shi with a smile at the corner of his mouth and said:
"The Top 100 Competition participants from the other cities have all arrived today. The registration process took a while, so we were delayed.
"About fifteen minutes from now, the Governor's Mansion's car will be waiting outside the airport. We'll head straight to the state guesthouse to check in."
Qin Shi crushed his paper cup and tossed it into the trash can at his feet, then said:
"Sorry for the trouble, Brother Huo."
The siblings Xia Hong and Xia Ying huddled nearby, whispering:
"Big Sis, it's the state guesthouse in Central City!"
Xia Ying's eyes sparkled.
"Don't be so pathetic!