She really was far too kind

The accompaniment slowly faded.

Jiang Nian held her final pose until the audience's enthusiastic cheers filled the venue. Only then did she relax and break into a radiant smile.

"Aaaaah, Jiang Nian!!! You were amazing!"

Tan Xuguang squirmed in his seat, waving both hands and cheering loudly as he watched Jiang Nian onstage with an excited expression.

Song Jici stared speechlessly at the overexcited Tan Xuguang and quietly shifted away, ignoring the strange looks people around them were giving them.

He didn't know this guy.

Don't look at him.

But as he watched Jiang Nian shine onstage, Song Jici's eyes still curved into a smile. He picked up his voting device and gave her all his votes.

Shen Hui and Wen Jincheng did the same.

Jiang Nian caught her breath, steadied her breathing, and stood onstage waiting for the judges' scores.

To her surprise, the judges gave Jiang Nian a score of 92, making her the second contestant besides Tong Chuhe to score over 90 so far.

Jiang Nian was delighted by the score.

After politely taking her bow, she raced backstage to share the good news with Tong Chuhe.

But the moment she opened the door, she saw Tong Chuhe sitting quietly inside.

Overjoyed, Jiang Nian completely ignored Tan Zhuishi standing nearby and happily threw herself at Tong Chuhe. "Chu He, you're here! How's your foot? Is the injury serious?"

Tan Zhuishi looked decidedly sour. He turned his head away with a huff.

Hugs, hugs, hugs. Didn't she have a wife of her own? Why was she always hugging his?

He went straight for the out-of-sight, out-of-mind approach.

Tong Chuhe, however, remained calm. "It's nothing. Just a few cuts. A couple of days' rest and I'll be fine."

She often got injured during dance practice herself, though usually they were just bumps and bruises.

Hearing that it was nothing serious, Jiang Nian relaxed and happily shared her results with Tong Chuhe:

"I got 92! I should be able to qualify with you."

Tong Chuhe nodded with a smile. "I watched your performance just now. It was great! All those days of practicing without stopping to eat or sleep paid off."

If Jiang Nian had beaten her, she wouldn't have been nearly so upset. But just thinking about Fu Zhenzhen's dance made her eyes hurt.

At Tong Chuhe's praise, Jiang Nian bobbed her head in satisfaction. Then she glanced down and spotted Tong Chuhe's right hand resting on her knee.

She looked uncertain. "Chu He, have you... been practicing Iron Palm?"

Why was her palm so red?

Tong Chuhe looked unconcerned. "It's fine. A dog bit me just now, so I bit it back."

Jiang Nian's expression was indescribable.

Chu He, do you want to hear what you just said?

She opened her mouth, wanting to ask what had happened, but gave up when she saw that Tong Chuhe didn't want to elaborate.

There was still a while before the competition ended. Jiang Nian had some snacks to tide her over, then took out her phone to pass the time.

The moment she opened it, she found her messaging app flooded with notifications.

They were all congratulatory messages from her classmates.

She patiently replied to them one by one, then spotted Tan Xuguang's messages.

[Tan Xuguang]: Jiang Nian, you danced so well! I guarantee you'll qualify!

[Tan Xuguang]: My leg's been recovering pretty well these past few days, and the club president has cleared me to compete. Just you wait. I'm going to crush everyone!

[Tan Xuguang]: Looking cool.jpg

Jiang Nian burst out laughing and indulged the cocky puppy.

[Jiang Nian]: Sure, sure, sure. I'll be watching you crush everyone!

[Jiang Nian]: But if you get absolutely destroyed, I'm switching sides and cheering for Canghai.

At that message, Tan Xuguang, who had been grinning foolishly a second earlier, instantly flew into a huff.

[Tan Xuguang]: Don't you dare!

[Tan Xuguang]: Just you wait. Vast Sea is definitely going down!

Little old Canghai wasn't even worth mentioning!

Even through the screen, Jiang Nian could picture Tan Xuguang's confident expression.

She shook her head, replied to Shen Hui's effusive praise next, then opened her chat with Wen Jincheng.

[Wen Jincheng]: You were excellent. Congratulations on your score.

[Jiang Nian]: Hehe, thanks!

Jiang Nian was about to close the chat when another message from Wen Jincheng arrived.

[Wen Jincheng]: Ji Ci doesn't have a phone, so she asked me to pass this on: You were amazing. Thanks for all your hard work these past few days.

Jiang Nian made a puzzled sound.

[Jiang Nian]: Where's her own phone?

Wen Jincheng answered flatly.

[Wen Jincheng]: I took it.

[Jiang Nian]: ?

Were they doing some new kind of cosplay?

Time slowly passed. By the time the last contestant finished performing, it was already quite late.

The somewhat weary audience perked up, waiting for the results.

The host asked all the contestants to return to the stage and wait. Jiang Nian supported Tong Chuhe as they slowly walked forward, catching sight of Fu Zhenzhen standing quietly in a corner.

Fu Zhenzhen had gone to the infirmary before even finishing her dance. Naturally, she had no score and had lost her chance at a place outright.

Jiang Nian gave her only a brief glance before looking away.

She had brought it on herself.

Once the audience votes had been tallied, the host walked onstage with the results.

"Next, I'll announce the top ten contestants in this competition!"

Jiang Nian held Tong Chuhe's hand tightly, waiting for the rankings to be announced.

Though she thought she had danced well, she was still a little nervous.

"In tenth place, Liu Xiaoxiao!"

"In ninth place, Zhang Duo!"

"In fifth place, Fang Fei!"

The contestants' rankings were announced one after another. Even after third place was announced, neither Jiang Nian nor Tong Chuhe had been called.

"In second place."

Jiang Nian's grip tightened again.

"Jiang Nian!"

She relaxed at once and let out a long breath. She was very happy with that result.

If she was second, then first...

"And the champion of this competition is-"

"Tong Chuhe!"

Just as she'd thought!

Jiang Nian's eyes sparkled as she spun around and hugged Tong Chuhe.

"Chu He, you're amazing! First place!"

Tong Chuhe's lips curved into a smile, and she hugged Jiang Nian back.

It seemed her taste was still in line with that of young people today.

Once her excitement subsided, Jiang Nian released Tong Chuhe and felt Fu Zhenzhen's hostile gaze on her again.

She glanced toward the corner. One side of Fu Zhenzhen's face was red and swollen as she stared fixedly in their direction.

What was this?

Jiang Nian looked at Fu Zhenzhen in confusion.

She hadn't looked closely earlier. Now, suddenly noticing Fu Zhenzhen's bright red cheek, Jiang Nian felt rather bewildered.

Had someone hit her?

Standing beside her, Tong Chuhe kept her eyes straight ahead and shook out her slightly reddened hand, quietly keeping her handiwork to herself.

She had only slapped her once. She really was far too kind.