There were countless cameras set up at the competition venue.
The staff members acting as examiners wore suits and walked back and forth through the aisles between the contestants’ workstations.
On the workstations of contestants who hadn’t finished their projects, the timer and the large screen both displayed the same glaring red numbers.
Out of the corner of her eye, Ke Ni saw the numbers constantly change.
The sound of contestants manipulating the sliding number blocks was urgent, rapid, and relentless, their muttered curses overlapping, reminiscent of the heavy rain that had poured onto the hotel’s glass cellar roof the night before.
The atmosphere in the venue was still thick with tension.
And in this tense air, Ke Ni forced herself to remain calm, keeping her gaze locked with Jing Sicun’s.
The examiner walked past them at a steady, unhurried pace, their figure briefly blocking the line of sight between Ke Ni and Jing Sicun.
When the obstacle moved away, he was still looking at her.
Ke Ni didn’t avert her eyes.
Jing Sicun didn’t either.
Maybe, for the sake of the program’s recording effect, the competition was held in a large, tightly sealed room with all doors and windows firmly shut.
The curtains were drawn perfectly, and the entire space relied solely on various lamps for lighting.
Over a hundred people, including staff, were gathered here, and with only three or four standing air conditioners blowing, it was impossible to dispel the oppressive heat lingering in the air.
Even worse—
The outfits provided by the production team were not only ugly, but made of stuffy, non-breathable fabric, and came in the form of long-sleeved jackets.
While maintaining eye contact, Ke Ni slipped her fingertips into her sweaty palm.
A breath caught in her throat.
Ke Lin knew why Jing Sicun was looking her way during the competition.
This was probably…
Just a genius’s curiosity about mediocrity, right?
Maybe, for someone like Jing Sicun, the competition was too simple, not challenging at all, so after breezing through his own challenge, he still had the leisure to prop up his head and look around.
And then…
He happened to notice her—this “stray dog” beside him, whose speed was much slower than his.
Ke Ni understood this logic.
She even felt that, in Jing Sicun’s emotionless gaze, there was a standard look of mockery.
Ke Lin felt a bit angry. During their stare-down, she silently lifted her chin a little.
You. Seen. Enough. Yet?
Jing Sicun clearly hadn’t.
He lowered his lashes, as if by right, keeping his gaze fixed on her brow and eyes.
Ke Lin refused to back down, continuing to stare back at Jing Sicun.
Jing Sicun wore his jacket carelessly, much like the way he’d worn a bathrobe the night before.
The zipper was pulled only up to his stomach.
The sleeves were pushed up to his elbows, revealing a slender, muscular forearm in a cool tone.
Maybe Ke Ni wasn’t the only one who found the competition venue stuffy; under the lights, it was easy to spot the damp traces of sweat sliding down Jing Sicun’s neck.
She stared at the faint, raised blue vein on his neck, her teeth itching, wanting to bite down hard.
After staring for over five seconds, Ke Ni’s breathing started to falter.
She couldn’t help but feel something was odd…
Suddenly, a shrill bell rang out at the venue.
The bell signaled that the last contestant had finished the digital sliding puzzle.
With that, the first round of preliminary competition was officially over.
The bell broke their eye contact, and the two of them simultaneously shifted their gaze to the front of the stage.
The host wore a professional smile, facing the cameras and clearly explaining the just-concluded competition process.
Whether contestants passed the preliminary round or not would only be decided after the judges from both venues compiled everyone’s results.
Contestants then recorded a few additional segments with the camera crew, and were dismissed on the spot.
Both venues upstairs and downstairs released people at the same time.
Whether it was the hallway or the elevator lobby, the routes were packed tight with people.
Ke Ni squeezed through the crowd, shoulder to shoulder, and heard someone behind her cough softly, twice.
The sound was very low, with a hint of retching.
She keenly noticed a few contestants ahead of her turning back frequently, exchanging glances full of hidden messages.
She didn’t need to guess to know who was walking behind her.
It took quite some effort to squeeze into the elevator lobby, only to find the elevator crammed with people, a warning chime sounding for overloading.
Two contestants voluntarily stepped out.
The space outside the elevator was even more crowded.
Ke Ni backed up with the people in front of her, making room for those exiting the elevator, careful not to step on the person behind her.
In the stifling heat, Ke Lin caught a whiff of something herbal mixed with the scent of sweat, but didn’t look back.
She just quietly said, “Excuse me.”
She didn’t wait for the elevator again, but squeezed out of the crowd, switched to the stairs, and after leaving the building where the competition was held, quickened her pace toward the hotel.
She’d only made it halfway down the block when Lin Xirun caught up from behind.
Lin Xirun patted Ke Ni on the shoulder: “Why didn’t you say anything before leaving? I was waiting for you downstairs.”
“I didn’t see you—”
“Could’ve texted me. How’d you do in the competition?”
Ke Ni replied, “Not bad.”
Lin Xirun looked like he hadn’t performed well, but smiled and asked, “Do you think you’ll make it to the next round?”
“Who knows.”
Lin Xirun didn’t press further, “Forget it, it’s all done anyway. Let’s just wait for the results. Ke Ni, where are you going? Want to share a cab back to campus with us?”
Ke Lin declined.
She often stayed in the library or lab until late, and so as not to disturb her roommates, after the first semester of sophomore year, she’d already applied with the dorm manager to stop living in the dormitory.
Previously, Ke Luo had always lived in the house next door to their father’s, but recently her stepmother’s elderly relatives had fallen ill and come to visit.
Ke Ni’s father had discussed it with her: the elders were frail and couldn’t handle much fuss, so he wanted to let them temporarily stay in the apartment Ke Ni was living in.
Ke Ni had been house hunting, planning to move out during the Qingming Festival holiday.
Since the elders from her stepmother’s family were there, she wasn’t in a hurry to go back, and decided to stay at the hotel for another night.
When she got back to her room, Ke Luo received a call from her father, “I heard from Lin Xirun that the preliminary competition is over. How did you do?”
Ke Ni replied flatly, “No idea, let’s wait for the results.”
Her father said, “Okay, Dad believes in you.”
It was this “Dad believes in you” that kept pushing Ke Ni down a path she never really wanted to take.
She gave a dispirited “hmph.”
“Are you coming home tonight?”
Ke Ni tried to maintain her relationship with her father, “I’m staying at a friend’s place, Dad. Aunt Zhang’s mom and dad can stay at my place, no need to get a hotel.”
Her father laughed, “Alright, I’ll let them know.”
After hanging up, Ke Ni sat dazed on the bed with pure white sheets.
Her mind drifted back to that moment of eye contact at the end of the competition.
It hadn’t lasted long, just seven or eight seconds.
Jing Sicun had eyes like a trap—look long enough, and you’d feel yourself falling in.
Ke Ni recalled some old memories—
Back then, she’d been a carefree elementary schooler.
As long as she finished her homework after school, she could squeeze onto the sofa with her mother’s two big dogs, watch TV, drink soda, and eat ice cream.
Everything seemed to change from the afternoon she first heard about Jing Sicun.
That afternoon, she was sitting in front of the TV, gnawing on sunflower seeds, when she heard the door open.
Delighted, she hopped over to the entrance: “Mom, Dad’s home!”
Her mother put down her jewelry design sketches and came to the foyer.
Ke Ni’s father picked her up, and the family’s two Labradors wagged their tails and trotted over.
Ke Ni remembered that they’d had braised carp that day.
She didn’t like fish—too many bones—so she sat restlessly at the table, scheming to secretly return the fish her father gave her to the round serving dish.
Her father always said fish was good for her, urging Ke Lin to eat more.
Ke Ni had to act carefully.
That day, she succeeded.
Because her father wasn’t watching her at all—he was too busy excitedly sharing what he’d heard.
Ke Ni’s father said that near their project site, there was an old grocery store.
When they went to buy things, they chatted with the elderly shopkeeper.
The shopkeeper’s grandson was especially brilliant, had participated in a TV quiz show, and had even defeated contestants more than ten years older than him.
At the time, Ke Ni had no idea that a storm was coming her way.
She watched the fish being sent back, pouted, and secretly giggled with the two big dogs who’d witnessed her mischief.
Her father said, “That kid is about the same age as Ke Ni, right?”
That night, Ke Ni’s father gathered her and her mother in front of the TV and found the episode where the shopkeeper’s grandson competed on the quiz show.
That was the first time Ke Ni saw Jing Sicun on TV.
Jing Sicun was composed and calm.
Compared to the other contestants—clenching their fists and almost shouting out answers as the clock ticked down—elementary schooler Jing Sicun was indeed dazzling.
Jing Sicun’s steady performance on the show lit up Ke Ni’s father’s eyes.
Ke Ni remembered her father saying: “Look at other people’s kids—at this age, they already have such a wealth of knowledge.
And he’s from an ordinary family. I checked—his parents aren’t even well-educated.”
“My Ni Ni is so smart. She’ll definitely surpass them in the future.”
Ke Ni looked away from the TV and turned to her father.
Ke Ni’s father smiled: “Dad believes in you.”
After that, Ke Ni never had a full weekend again.
Her weekends were filled with all kinds of classes:
Math Olympiad training, abacus, logic development, memory and reasoning bootcamps, whole-brain development courses…
Ke Lin was exhausted.
She even fell asleep in her favorite after-school art class, waking up with watercolor paint smeared all over her face.
That night, Ke Luo heard her parents arguing fiercely in the living room.
Her mother said, “Ke Ni is still so young. Taking so many classes will wear her out.”
Her father said, “It’s all for Ke Ni’s own good. We can’t let her lose at the starting line.”
“You’re forcing her.”
“Don’t you know the story of Wang Ying? Ke Ni will thank us when she grows up!”
Ke Ni’s mother shouted, “Ke Jiangcheng! No wonder you can’t get promoted at work—your way of raising kids is the problem!”
Ke Ni’s father shot back angrily, “Genli, say that again! Is your job so noble? Without me, you and your two dogs would be out on the street!”
Ke Lin stared at the snow-white pillow in the hotel, as if Jing Sicun’s face was appearing there.
She knocked her forehead and smacked her hand on the pillow: “Arrogant bastard, you menace!”