"But if your sister isn't coming, then you won't be able to give her the flowers you bought?"
You Xiya looked at the large bouquet of pink roses in her arms, a look of regret on her face.
She was Ye Zizheng's deskmate. This morning, Ye Zizheng had asked her if she wanted to come watch the competition, and she had happily agreed.
In the afternoon, before coming to the assembly hall, Ye Zizheng had first taken her to a flower shop near the school, bought a large bouquet of pink roses, and thrust them into her arms.
At the time, she had been so excited and shy.
So her deskmate liked her too!
Great, she had already planned for a Western-style wedding and two children.
And then...
"After my sister finishes her speech, you go up on stage and give them to her," Ye Zizheng said.
He then muttered, "It's too silly for a grown man to hold flowers."
You Xiya: "..."
Oh, so she was just a tool.
Ye Zizheng: "Then..." let's throw them away.
"Hello everyone, I am Yu He, and I apologize for the delay in the competition due to some personal matters..."
A clear, cold female voice suddenly sounded from the stage speakers.
The previously noisy venue fell silent, and the audience turned their attention to the stage.
However, the vast stage was empty, with no one there.
But the speaker's voice continued:
"I will arrive at the venue in five minutes. To avoid wasting everyone's time, I will deliver my speech remotely..."
The audience members looked at each other in confusion, whispering amongst themselves. Even the judges found it strange and asked the host what was going on.
The host immediately contacted the backstage audio control personnel via walkie-talkie, "What's going on?"
"The audio has been connected to an unknown external device. We tried to forcibly disconnect it, but we couldn't, unless we pull the power plug for the speakers..."
"Don't interfere. Let this student finish her speech in this unusual way," Professor Smith took the host's walkie-talkie and said.
The host was surprised. Wasn't Professor Smith here to watch Gu Ze's speech?
"Hello, everyone. I'm Yu He from..."
At this moment, Yu He's speech began to play through the speakers.
As soon as her English started, the noisy venue instantly quieted down.
Even the six judges in the front unconsciously straightened their bodies.
Was this fluent and authentic American English truly Yu He's own speech?
They were told she came from the mountains, had poor grades, and barely knew any English words.
Listening to this pure American pronunciation, the fluency and cleverness of her grammar, and even some words not found in the second-year high school English textbook, she even used them. Wasn't she a native American?
Just now, they had thought Gu Ze's British English was proper and well-pronounced. In comparison, his was stiff and his grammar was rigid.
In the backstage lounge.
The students who had finished their competition heard the fluent and authentic American English from the speakers. Apart from Lu Chenyu's look of amazement, the other students were all shocked and confused.
Is this really Yu He's voice?
Gu Ze and Lan Jiaojiao recognized Yu He's voice.
Especially Gu Ze, his face was ashen, as if he had eaten a fly, his expression indescribable.
This bumpkin actually knows English? And speaks it so well?
This is unscientific!!
"Impossible, that bumpkin's English can't be this good! This must be a processed audio!"
Lan Jiaojiao couldn't believe it and blurted out, "With today's high technology, you can create identical audio based on someone's voice!
"She's cheating! If she didn't dare to compete, she should have just said so. Why all this theatrics."
"Do you think the school is your family's property? You can just accuse someone of cheating?" Lu Chenyu reprimanded with a dark expression.
He strongly disliked the word "cheating," as it reminded him of his past disgrace.
He even more disliked people demeaning his goddess in front of him!
"But she herself didn't come..."
Lan Jiaojiao trembled at Lu Chenyu's scolding and cast a pleading look at Gu Ze, feeling wronged.
This delicate look instantly ignited Gu Ze's protective instincts as a man, as well as his dissatisfaction with only scoring 94 points earlier.
"Chenyu, why are you always biased towards that bumpkin? She has a history of cheating. She even copied your test paper during the entrance exam, and you're still defending her. Have you lost your mind?"
Gu Ze continued impatiently, "And Jiaojiao has a point. She didn't come in person, only sent an audio. Who knows if it's her real ability?"
"Who has lost their mind is another matter," Lu Chenyu cast a contemptuous glance at Lan Jiaojiao and said through gritted teeth, "Don't jump to conclusions if you don't know the truth!"
Lu Chenyu and Gu Ze's eyes met, and the air was thick with tension.
The other students were bewildered. Weren't these two good brothers?
Why did they turn on each other so quickly?
"It's not fake, it's real!" At this moment, Pei Shiyi's calm voice suddenly sounded.
She pointed to the screen connected to the front camera, which had been turned to the audience and zoomed in.
A tall figure appeared in the middle of the doorway, her expression cool and detached.
The girl held her phone in her slender fingers, placed it in front of her full lips, her lips moved, and she continued her speech.
It was none other than Yu He.
She was wearing Kaiwei's winter grey school uniform. Beneath the pleated skirt, her legs were long and straight. Her long hair was casually tied into a bun at the back of her head.
Her cool, beautiful face was naturally radiant, requiring no makeup. Standing there, she made the nineteen meticulously dressed female students in front instantly pale in comparison.
Some people are born gifted, and Yu He is one of them.
She had already won based on her beauty alone.
"Wow—"
Someone in the audience noticed Yu He's arrival and couldn't help but let out a scream.
Everyone turned their heads and was stunned!
It was really her!
And it was a truly pure and beautiful English speech!!
Yu He walked confidently, unaffected by the scene, continuing her speech as she walked towards the stage.
You Xiya looked on with admiration, clutched the flowers tighter, moved to the aisle, and as Yu He walked over, handed them to her, whispering, "Sister, you're amazing!"
Yu He took the flowers, gave her a faint smile, and continued her speech. By the time she reached the stage, her speech was just ending.
In just ten minutes, from another location to the assembly hall, the entire speech was smooth, stable, and flawless, completed with excellence!
This requires extremely high concentration from the speaker!
And Yu He achieved it so easily, even receiving a bouquet of flowers midway!
"Finally, I would like to thank Teacher Zhang for providing me with this wonderful speech draft," Yu He said and bowed.
The venue fell into an eerie silence. Everyone seemed to be still reeling from the shock of this bumpkin's surprisingly fluent English.
"Correction, I provided the speech draft, but this entire American-style spoken English translation was completed independently by student Yu He herself! And her translation is even better than mine!"
Teacher Zhang, sitting in the audience, stood up, holding his stomach, his voice filled with undisguised excitement.
"Good, very good!" Professor Smith stood up and applauded.
"Clap, clap, clap, clap—" A large wave of applause erupted from the audience, lasting for a long time.