183 Attention attracts trouble
Whoever said that Attention attracts trouble was absolutely right.
It was only one day when An Xiulan had been trending on the Internet. However, as the night ended and the new day began, there were many negative posts about her floating on the internet. It was unlike anything that everyone had expected to happen to her.
The fire ignited was not intentional but there were many people who put oil in the flames to get their own benefits.
Someone had shared an old post from a new channel in the USA where a teenager got into an accident due to a drunk driving case. The accident was a massive one that had created headlines back then and it might be the reason why people still remembered about it.
An American-Chinese officer who had been pretty interested in the Miss Sunshine contest shared how one of the contestants resembled a girl he had rescued months ago. This person had been involved with the rescuing team back then. Never had he ever expected to recognize that girl months later on the internet.
The news caught fire when someone claimed that An Xiulan had indeed been in an accident a few months ago. Nobody knew who tipped the paparazzi about it but all the news agencies that had been covering the event began discussing the same.
If the news had not already had a negative effect on her, several famous content creators started voicing out how someone who had been raised abroad return only to enter the Chinese contest. The questions fired at her were ridiculous but some people began entertaining it. For a foreign girl to return to China to enter a beauty pageant was ridiculous.
Someone else came and said that the girl who was involved in a drunk and driving case was a negative role model for the youth. The same girl who they were considering positive for the country’s image was all of a sudden guilty.
A famous politician made a statement on a late-night show about how the Chinese raised abroad had forgotten about their motherland and their values. Although he had nothing to say about the contest or the contestants, people twisted his words and made everyone think that he was talking about An Xiulan.
To be involved in a drunk and driving matter was a huge scandal.
But when random people started the allegations like how she was not a real Chinese and why she must be disqualified, it created a lot of controversy on the internet.
People started spamming the official page of Miss Sunshine asking them to disqualify An Xiulan.
For the whole day, the debate went on the Internet while the contestants were preparing for the talent-showing round. The girls were giving her stares but she had been quiet. They all began thinking that she was a pushover and ranked her all day.
An Xiulan was getting scolded both online and offline but she had been extremely quiet, contrary to her nature.
Currently, it was An Xiulan’s turn to show her talent. She stood on the stage while the judges were sitting in the line ahead of the audience. The whispers of sarcasm and looks of mocking didn’t scare her. She had gone through worse in her last life. If she couldn’t handle such a little criticism, what rights did she even have to dream about something so big?
“Hello, my name is An Xiulan and I would like to show my talent in embroidery, ” An Xiulan said with a smile as she faced everyone. She didn’t know that the skill she learned in her last life for surviving could come in handy in this life too. They didn’t specify about what kind of talent she could show. They just said that she couldn’t run there. So, she said that she would show just her talent in embroidery. “Back in my middle school, my mom had put me in this club because she believed that I had a talent for it.”
Coincidentally, the real An Xiulan had joined the Embroidery club but it was a different thing that the girl never picked up the skill. It was too exquisite and intricate for her. Before she could leave the club, middle school ended and she reached High School.
The judges looked at the girl sitting on the high chair and embroidering on a piece of cloth. Her movements were swift but graceful. She looked calm and dignified sitting there. It was as if that nothing about this world scared her. She appeared like an epitome of strength at this moment. Her thread of spirit was thin but strong.
The light fell on the piece of art in her hand and it was shown on the big screen behind her. Initially, they couldn’t understand what she was doing but as minutes passed by, they all sat there in awe.
She had not created any kind of aesthetically beautiful design on the cloth, only a few words that said– Don’t judge a human by his past.
The words were simple but heavy. It left a bitter taste in everyone’s mouth. How many people were there in the audience who hadn’t been judged because of their past?
As she finished the words, she showed them to the camera hovering over her and stood up to now her head to the judges and the audience. ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀꪶ
A woman who was in her mid-forties leaned over to say in the mike, “Hello, contestant XX. We have seen your talent in embroidery. I have one question – why did you decide to showcase this talent?”
She had been one of the judges and she was asking questions because the management wanted the judges and contestants to interact for the live stream. The better the conversation more would be the views and likes.
“Good evening, Madam. The reason I chose to showcase embroidery as my talent on such a big platform is that I believe in being talented in it, ” An Xiulan replied. Mr Yun had told her that the secret if being a beauty queen is to be always confident. No matter what, she must always be confident in her answer. “I could have showcased my talent in sprints but I was not allowed. Apart from the reason, I’m good at embroidery, the second reason would be that I wasn’t allowed to show my running talent here.”
The audience laughed at her funny remarks. They didn’t understand that she wasn’t being funny but just honest and once again they all didn’t take her words seriously again. People usually don’t take cute people seriously.
It was at moments like this when she hoped to grow up quickly so that she and her words could be taken seriously.
The female judge wrote marks on her screen and it wasn’t shown to anyone. The marks would only be revealed at the end of the event. The young male judge next to her asked the question this time.
“My question is why do you inscribe those words?” He asked. Actually, he had been pretty curious about why she chose these particular words.
An Xiulan looked at the judge and sighed. She looked troubled for a moment but her graceful smile didn’t leave her face.
“Is my question that hard?” The judge joked to lighten up the atmosphere.
“Not at all, ” An Xiulan replied with an honest smile. “I am just trying to search in my mental vocabulary about how to say to kill two birds with one stone in the most graceful manner.”
The judge laughed along with the audience.
“Did you find out?” The judge asked with a chuckle.
“Well, no. Being bilingual has its own disadvantages. One couldn’t find the most needed words at the right time, ” An Xiulan replied and the Judges nodded their heads as if they could resonate with it. “Back to your question, I chose those words because I wanted to give out a message. My message is simple. It’s not lengthy or something that is hard to believe.”
She just hoped that people would use their super imaginative minds to understand the given message. They were cracking their brains on the internet in vain. She just hoped that they would stop burning their brain cells in vain.
“What message do you want to give out?” The third judge asked. He had been silent all this while.
“We should never judge a person by his/her past, ” An Xiulan replied. “The mistakes a person makes in the past might not be repeated. We make mistakes and we learn a big lesson from them. Once we learn the message we avoid doing the same mistake. Along with this, we shouldn’t be hard on ourselves for that one mistake. Until and unless we don’t forgive ourselves for the mistake we committed, how will everyone else?”
“Are you saying these words to media for putting allegations on you?” The first judge asked.
“Well, yes, it has been my intention, ” An Xiulan replied. “I’m not denying it.”
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A/N: I was on the verge of a panic attack when I posted the wrong chapter. When I checked it was too late, I tried writing the new chapter then, but I couldn’t.
I was so busy with my books that I missed my university entrance date. I’m so down. I can’t understand how could I make such a silly mistake. I think Cold is messing up with my system.