Kapitel 116: Chapter 115 fluent foreign languages

Autor: Qian Feifei Machinenübersetzung

"Go, go, go! Cheering for Shuishui!" Mu Qing nodded and indicated that she wanted to go. She was also very curious.

Zilin and Mu Qing both wanted to go to cheer.

Shuishui looked at it indifferently. "If you want to go, then go. It doesn't matter."

She felt that there would be nothing to see. Moreover, she knew Zilin's and Mu Qing's English skills were not that good. They would not be able to understand, and they would probably just feel bored. However, they were kind enough to want to support her. She just shrugged it off so she would not dampen their spirits.

At noontime, everyone went straight to the cafeteria. Jiang Xinyu went to eat with them.

Jiang Xinyu saw Mu Zilin, and she suddenly kept lowering her head and blushing, which made Mu Zilin feel embarrassed. He rubbed his nose and said, "Classmate, you don't have to be like this. We're all in the same class."

"Aren't you going to eat with your girlfriend today?" Mu Qing asked Zilin in puzzlement when she saw that he was following them.

Mu Zilin put his hands in his pockets and smiled wretchedly. "What's the matter? I can eat with whoever I want to eat with."

They walked faster along the school corridor when they saw that there were more and more people heading towards the cafeteria.

"Isn't that Yu Xiumin in front? What a coincidence!" Mu Qing said and winked at Shuishui.

Shuishui smiled faintly and patted Mu Qing's shoulder lightly. "Don't make a fuss. If there's a misunderstanding, it'll be awkward."

Shuishui was not even interested in Yu Xiumin, but Mu Qing had made such a big fuss about it. If Yu Xiumin noticed it, he would think that they were trying to catch his attention. That wouldn't be good.

She didn't even pay attention to Yu Xiumin. Mu Qing's loud voice earlier troubled her. When Yu Xiumin glanced at them, Mu Qing was still smiling at Shuishui. She felt that she was probably just being narcissistic and decided to ignore it.

They went to the cafeteria simply to eat. They didn't talk much because they had to go to the concert hall. Their class ended before noon, and by the time they lined up at the cafeteria, it was already five minutes past twelve.

They ate quickly. Shuishui was still eating slowly, but she ate faster than she did before.

By the time they finished, it was almost twelve thirty. They rushed to the concert hall.

They were full and couldn't really run. They just walked faster. Shuishui looked at the time. "We'll make it."

Jiang Xinyu was a little nervous. "Shuishui, do you feel nervous?"

"No. I don't think I'll make it anyway." Shuishui was still very relaxed and indifferent.

Jiang Xinyu couldn't be as calm as Shuishui. She was so envious of Shuishui, who didn't seem to be afraid at all. She seemed to be very brave. "Shuishui, do you have a secret? How do you make yourself brave?"

"My method might not be suitable for you. Besides, I'm so angry that I don't think too much about it. It's more casual." Shuishui couldn't say out loud that she had already experienced it.

Jiang Xinyu only said to herself, "It's okay. Don't be nervous. Other people can do it. I can do it."

When they arrived at the concert hall, a few audience members were already seated in the back row.

Shuishui and Jiang Xinyu walked farther down. They sat in the back row and waited.

They were given forms, which they filled out accordingly.

They approached a teacher to have their names signed up. The teacher checked the computer and said, "Fill in the form. Class name."

Shuishui picked it up and saw that the form was printed in English. She only needed to write her name and class. She then waited for further instructions.

A teacher stood up and clapped his hands. "All right, contestants. Line up. Now, one by one, go up to the stage and bring the form over. You can do as you please for two minutes. You can tell stories in English, or you can talk about your own experiences, or you can talk about something you've experienced that you want to share."

"You can start now. Line up. Go up one by one. We'll tell you right after if you've passed," the teacher said in a serious tone. There were more than thirty people, but they only needed three. They had to screen the contestants first and see whom they could choose.

The first person to go up the stage was a boy. He watched nervously and hesitated, but he was prodded to continue. He did not want to be the first to present, but he had no choice. He braced himself, stood up, and began to introduce himself in English. He stammered awkwardly in English. Perhaps he was too nervous. When he was done, the boy nervously glanced at the teacher below.

"Sorry. Your English is pretty good, but you still need to work hard. Don't be discouraged. Another opportunity will come your way," the teacher said. He then called for the next person to go up on stage.

The boy lowered his head and walked away.

The next student was even more nervous. When she went up on stage, her hands were still shaking. "That—"

She had accidentally spoken Chinese at the beginning of her spiel, so she quickly changed her words.

Jiang Xinyu was beside Shuishui. She patted her small chest. "So scary. That teacher was too serious and straightforwardly told her that she is unqualified."

"It's okay. Don't worry too much. Just be yourself." Shuishui comforted Jiang Xinyu when she saw that Jiang Xinyu was nervous. She smiled at Jiang Xinyu, not to mock her, but to ease her nervousness.

Jiang Xinyu took a deep breath and said, "It's okay . . . It's okay."

Shuishui smiled at Jiang Xinyu and nodded. "Good luck."

Soon, it was Shuishui's turn. She handed in the form and stood on the big stage, and she was looking down at the judges with a smile.

Mu Qing was cheering and still giving Shuishui two thumbs-up.

Shuishui looked at the three judges and spoke in fluent and bright English. She talked about physics and a new discovery made in the study of the galaxy.

Many words were unfamiliar to most of the English teachers.

Of the three judges, only the foreign teacher understood Shuishui completely. He kept nodding his head with a satisfied smile on his face. The two third-year English teachers originally thought that it was because of Shuishui's vocabulary, but it was not the case. They felt that they did not understand the words because only the foreign teacher seemed to have understood as they saw that he smiled so happily.

After two minutes, Shuishui smiled and nodded. She looked at the three examiners, who had said a few words to each other before she was told she had passed the test.

Twelve people had passed the test. Those who passed were asked to remain in the concert hall.

It was almost time. The foreign teacher said a bunch of words at a very fast speed.

When the teacher stopped, Shuishui replied in fluent English. The foreign teacher had asked them how they felt about the competition or what they had to say about it. She hoped that they would be able to voice out their opinions.

The contestants were then asked to freely express their opinions in English.

Shuishui could not be bothered to wait any longer and directly expressed her views. She felt that such a model would easily strike down the students' self-confidence. She continued to talk.

Some of the better English teachers also started to express their views, but the other remained silent.

The foreign teacher nodded. He listed down the seven people who answered his question. "Tomorrow at noon, all seven of you will come back here."

The foreign teacher still spoke to them in English. After all, he did not know Chinese.

When they were dismissed, the foreign teacher stopped Shuishui and said, "You passed. You don't need to go through the second round tomorrow. Leave your e-mail address. I will send you the details through e-mail."

"Okay. Thank you." Shuishui realized that there was a large difference between the standards of the local teachers and the foreign teacher. She was not surprised that the foreign teacher would let her pass.

Although she did not study abroad, she had put in a lot of effort and studied many books. When she attended university, she memorized words every day. She had persisted for four years. At the same time, she listened to the English radio in the morning. When she had the chance, she would chat with the foreign students to practice her spoken English. Therefore, she had nothing to worry about in this aspect.

"Wow. That girl is so amazing. Her spoken English is very good. Does she not need to think about what she is saying?" Some students could not help but talk about Shuishui's performance.

Not one person said that the decisions were unfair. Everyone had seen Shuishui's performance. They were just amazed and curious as to why she did so well. When they asked around, they were surprised to find out that she was still a first-year high school student.

Jiang Xinyu didn't pass. She was too nervous. She didn't pass, but she didn't immediately leave the hall. She just sat at the back and watched the others. When she heard Shuishuis speech, she suddenly realized that she wasn't as fluent as Qian Shuishui even though she had attended so many cram schools. She didn't even understand what Shuishui had said. "Shuishui is so powerful. Her spoken language is so fluent. Others were a little hesitant, but she just went for it and spoke so confidently. Did she study abroad before?"

She was sitting next to Mu Qing. They had all witnessed Shuishui's performance.

Mu Zilin knew about Qian Shuishui's history. "How can she study abroad? Shuishui has never been abroad before."