Chapter 292: Zhuangzhou’s Dream Butterflies

Chapter 292

In the finals of the Jingnan Province college freshman public speaking competition, the first place winner was surprisingly not a student from Qingmeng University, but rather from a private university.

It was shocking.

However, Enhua University had always promoted itself as having many foreign teachers and strong faculty. No one had believed them before, but now quite a few people were inquiring about Enhua University after this incident.

Enhua did have a comparatively large number of foreign teachers. Compared to other universities, they had an absolute advantage in terms of the number of foreign teachers, with each class assigned one or two foreign teachers. Things like English corners, while ambiguous to those unfamiliar, gave off an air of mystery and intrigue.

Even Qingmeng University's own students were a bit confused. They had assumed the first place winner would be Tang Baolin. After all, Tang Baolin had been the MC at the freshman gala, speaking fluent Chinese and English, especially articulate, with a long face. They did not expect the winner would be a student from Enhua.

And it happened at their home court, so they could not even claim unfairness. Out of curiosity, some people went to check out the competition video on the school website, leaving them with nothing more to say. Watching the video and listening to the other student’s speech left them inexplicably moved to tears.

Tragedies always seem to have more power and leave a deeper impression than comedies.

Additionally, the girl standing on the stage in the video was especially beautiful, with an aura distinctly cooler than Tang Baolin’s sweet and delicate beauty. If Tang Baolin resembled the girl-next-door type that everyone had a first love crush on, the girl in the video was more like the type of girl who would steal your heart, then break it.

Some curious people even went to find information on this dark horse champion. According to the competition program, she was the women’s 200m freestyle champion of Jingnan Province. This was already mind-blowing by itself. At first glance, people wondered if Enhua also recruited varsity athletes. They needed varsity athletes just to get into Enhua University? Then how bad must their academic scores be...

In contrast, Qingmeng University did actually recruit varsity athletes.

Students could use their athletic talents to make up for lacking cultural course scores.

But this girl was also the women’s category record breaker in the marathon this year. She excelled in calligraphy and singing, comparable to students at Qingmeng University in every aspect.

On the bus ride back after the competition, Xiao Qi felt rather tired and rested with her eyes half-open, half-asleep.

She heard a sudden, abrupt mechanical voice next to her ear: “The host has opened her heart and shared her growth story, moving countless people, spreading positive energy, and harvesting 899 sincere tears. She is rewarded with a chance to revisit a dream from her life. Would you like to use it now?”

She seemed to have fallen asleep yet also awake, hazily nodding her head.

Yet that extremely vivid and detailed dream which struck such a deep emotional chord made her feel frightened. Even now, she felt a tingling numbness in her hands and feet, as if still immersed in that despairing mood.

After rounding this bend and continuing a bit further, the bright lights and lake views of the city would come into sight. They were close to Enhua University.

The dazzling lights slowly emerged, growing ever brighter. The bus dropped Xiao Qi and her companions off at their dorm entrance.

Their supervisor reminded them to rest well as he boarded the bus again to return to the faculty housing.

The four girls disembarked and returned to their dorm room, collapsing onto their beds feeling rather tired.

None felt like even checking their cell phones.

Still, Xiao Qi got up to change and go for a run.

Lying on her bed, Honey stuck out her head and asked: “Aren’t you tired? Why not take today to rest? You’ve brought honor to our school, you should celebrate properly!”

As Xiao Qi walked to the door, she casually ruffled Honey’s hair. In the dream, Honey’s father had died unexpectedly in their sophomore year due to binge drinking. With the factory bankrupt and swarms of creditors coming to collect, she also ended up eating white rice broth with Xiao Qi and Wei Cheng, gathered in their dorm room no longer worrying about dieting.

No longer so lazy and carefree, laughing merrily without a care in the world.

“I still need to go. If I miss a day I feel off. You guys shower first. By the time I get back from my run, it’ll be my turn!” Xiao Qi said with a smile.

Jogging into the night breeze, the cool air also cleared her head, dispelling the dreamscape. Unlike usual, she did not immediately forget it—instead, it seemed to lodge itself in a corner of her heart.

One grayed-out tab disappeared from the interface.

She continued running, sprinting forward.

She did not look back. She did not glance behind her.