195 The Finale (four)
On the Internet…
@ThisYoungMaster— [What’s up with this judge? Can’t he use Chinese? I don’t even understand the meaning of these two English words. What are they?]
@MrsChina—[This is one of the toughest questions to be asked in the history of Miss Sunshine. My good wishes to An Xiulan.]
@Ihateauthors—[If An Xiulan successful answered this question, I will be her fan for all my life.]
@ThisYoungMaster—[@Ihateauthors My glitter queen’s English is fantastic. I’m sure she will answer this question. She has a way with words. However, it’s a different story if she will win the contest when we all can see how strong Xiao Xinyi emerged in the finale.]
@Ihateauthors—[I didn’t say anything about the win @ThisYoungMaster. I only said if she successfully answered the question. I’m just waiting for the answer. Nothing else.]
@MrsChina—[I need to cook food for my son is studying and he must be hungry from studying all day but I don’t want to miss the live stream. I want to see if she would answer this question or not.]
@User101—[I wish they had a system-like school where the contestants had to choose one question out of the two.]
@ThisYoungMaster—[Come to Jingyuan High, you will see that there is no such system. They set the toughest question paper in history.]
@MrsChina—[@ThisYoungMaster are you from Jingyuan High? My son goes to the same school as well. In which class do you read? What’s your name? I will ask him if he knows you?]
@ThisYoungMaster—[Nod. Nod. My name is Wang Yuxi and I’m in Class Ten K. The best class of the grade.]
@MrsChina—[Wang Yuxi!!!!!!! You said you are studying!!!]
@ThisYoungMaster—[Mom?]
At Wang house, Wang Yuxi’s mom came with a slipper as she entered his room. She hit him with his slipper and grabbed him by his collar.
“You son of a witch! You said you are studying!” Wang Yuxi’s mother who goes by the alias Mrs China raged. “How dare you lie to your mother? I will teach you a good lesson that you will never forget!”
“Mom. Mom. Please, beat me later, “Wang Yuxi fell to her feet. “I beg of you to not disturb me right now. My glitter Queen … I mean my An Xiulan… oh no…my classmate is going to answer the question. I don’t want to miss the legendary moment.”
His mother harrumphed at him. “I am postponing your beating only for a few minutes. I am telling you that I am going to beat your lying ass later. For now, I am going to watch the show and see my favourite contestant winning.”
Wang Yuxi nodded his head. “Mom, who is your favourite contestant?”
“Whoever wins is my favourite contestant, “Mrs Wang said looking at the screen.
“Mom, that’s very shallow. You sound very sensible on the internet, “Wang Yuxi said with a pout.
Mrs Wang laughed at him. “You are so naive.”
…
Meanwhile, it was time for An Xiulan to stop thinking and start answering. In her head, she broke the question asked to her into two parts. In the first part, she tried to think of five points about why the beauty pageant was degrading in nature and in the second point she think of five points about how the beauty pageants were empowering in nature.
“Beauty pageants are both degrading and empowering in nature. There is no refusal to the statement, “An Xiulan said in a confident and firm tone. “However, it depends on in what context we are talking about this subject. Many critics claim that beauty pageants are degrading in nature as they objectify a woman and promote a patriarchal type of society. They are true too. Regardless, it can’t be denied how empowering the platform has been for the young woman all around the world. Beauty pageants have also come to represent a form of feminism. They provide a big platform for women to increase their self-esteem and confidence. It’s a platform for empowering women, showcasing their hardships, issues and struggles. It gives a chance to all of us who are not taken seriously to be seen and heard. Every beautiful thing comes with flaws and faults. Let’s make this platform as empowering as possible and lessen its degrading aftereffect by introducing some reforms.”
She didn’t hear a single clap this time when she finished her answer. For a moment, the people didn’t even know how to react because this was the type of answer that they weren’t hoping for from a sixteen years old girl.
The answer couldn’t be said to be perfect but it was enough. Maybe more than enough.
In the crowd, when An Qinyan saw how the people had hushed, she was the first one to stand and clap for her daughter. She didn’t care if her daughter won or defeat at this moment. However, she had never been so proud of her daughter than this moment.
As she called loudly and proudly for her daughter, Lu Zhaolin stood up too to clap. After him, the children of the family clapped and soon the entire studio full of people was clapping for the girl standing proudly and tall on the stage. ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀꪶ
The judges took a small break to discuss about the results while people were anxiously waiting for the result.
On the stage, Ji Mao’er, An Xiulan and Xiao Xinyi were holding each other’s hands tightly while waiting for their results.
On the internet…
@Ihateauthors—[I’m an An Xiulan’s fan. I don’t care if she wins or not but I’m going to worship her as my goddess all life. As a future student of City B University, I wish for her to join the university in future. I would love to have such an intelligent junior. I would love to talk to her on the topic of feminism for hours.]
@ThisYoungMaster—[Keep dreaming @Ihateauthors. What makes you think my Glitter queen will clear the entrance test of City B’s University? She is not that good at studies.]
@Ihateauthors—[Fuck off! If I say, I will welcome her. I will welcome her!]
….
The arena was silent as the host was holding the packet that contained the name of the winner. The girls were holding each other’s names and praying in their hearts.
“The winner is…”
The girls swore that they could hear the loud beating of their hearts in their ears.
They had worked too hard to be standing on this stage.
Two girls would have to step down and only one would wear the crown.
“The winner is….”
The people were stilled and the judges were smiling at the camera, their lips tied.
“…..An Xiulan!”
An Xiulan’s eyes widened in disbelief. She knew that she had done her best but she couldn’t say that she was the best. Twinkle had given an extraordinary performance. It wouldn’t be a surprise if she won the contest.
The two girls hugged her and congratulated her. She looked in the crowd, her gaze fell on her family who was hugging each other.
This moment was going to change her life. Her body was trembling from the intensity of it. She was happy and so overwhelmed that she couldn’t stop her tears from falling.
From a neglected daughter of a Duke to getting dead and then waking up in the body of a young girl in a very different era. She couldn’t understand how god could be so benevolent to her to give her such a beautiful chance at life.
She sat on the chair while someone put the Miss sunshine crown on her head. She took her first walk as Miss Sunshine, waving at the crowd.
She could discern that this was the moment that was going to shape her future for the better…
Finally, her hard work had paid off…
After the finale ended, she had to answer so many questions from the media. She had back-to-back interviews and then she had to get ready for the after party of the finale.
Backstage, a few hours later….
“Congratulations, ” Jiang Yao said as she saw An Xiulan alone for a moment.
An Xiulan who had just excused herself to use the restroom saw Jiang Yao in a different dress. She said in a detached voice, “Thank you.”
“You know, don’t you?” Jiang Yao softly said. She could see a look of impatience, anger and irritation flashing in An Xiulan’s eyes. She didn’t have to guess that An Xiulan knew everything that she had done. This girl had always been a keen observer and even without saying she noticed everything.
She stared at An Xiulan as she recalled how she created a rift between Ji Mao’er and the other girls. There were some girls who still followed Ji Mao’er because the latter was a rich girl.
It was her who put the idea in Ji Mao’er’s head to maintain the image of an angel. When she was talking to her teacher, she knew that Ji Mao’er was hiding behind the door listening to the conversation. She intentionally told her teacher that she would be using the image of a goddess that she had created in the mind of the netizens to win the contest.
This was the reason why Ji Mao’er was so obsessed with being an angel.