What puzzled the Chinese team leader greatly was that this awards ceremony was much more formal than in previous years.
In the past,
the host simply announced who had won which award,
then the winners went onstage, collected their trophies, and that was that.
This time, however,
an interview segment had been added.
Every award winner would enter a room filled with cameras to be interviewed.
And,
the team leaders were not allowed to accompany them.
As the awards and interviews proceeded, one contestant after another,
the Chinese team leader finally realized that this was meant to create opportunities for the event staff to speak with the contestants alone.
That was simply unacceptable.
The moment she figured this out, the team leader moved over to Yan Xiao.
She felt too awkward to ask Yan Xiao outright to refuse every invitation. Much as she wanted to, she feared that doing so would put him off and lead to an irreversible outcome.
But,
she could not just say nothing.
If she kept quiet and things really did turn out the way she dreaded, she knew she would regret it to death.
How to phrase it was an art.
She needed to achieve her goal without putting Yan Xiao off.
Unable to think of a good approach right away, she stayed beside Yan Xiao, fidgeting anxiously, looking just like a young boy who had spotted the girl he liked but dared not confess his feelings.
Puzzled by the team leader's behavior, Yan Xiao asked, "Ma'am, what's wrong?"
"I... nothing..."
That was what she said, but anyone with eyes could tell that she was anything but fine.
"It's all right. If there's a problem, just tell me. I can handle it."
As Yan Xiao replied, he felt he had figured out what was going