Chapter 21: Number Selection (First Update)

When the bus carrying the contestants arrived at the villa in Jiulongtan, staff members were already waiting at the entrance.

After getting off the car, Li Sishi received her suitcase with the help of the staff, and then joined the group, entering the villa in pairs.

This villa is the private residence of Sir Zhao, the big boss of the TV station. It is not open to the public unless there is a major event. It is only approved for use during the annual Miss Hong Kong pageant training. Although the building has only three floors, the ceiling height is extremely high. There are five rooms on the second and third floors, which is just right to accommodate all the contestants.

The accommodation arrangement was two people per room, with pairings randomly drawn. After Li Sishi took a key from the box, she went to the leftmost room on the third floor according to the room number on the key.

"Oh, it's you?" Wan Jiamei, who came up from behind, glanced at Li Sishi and said in a strange tone.

"You know me?" Li Sishi turned to look at her.

“I saw you during the auditions. You seem to be quite popular with reporters.” Wan Jiamei waved her hand, holding the keys and gesturing for Li Sishi to make way for her and go inside first. “Besides, you’ve been getting a lot of media coverage lately.”

Li Sishi stepped aside to let her go in first, then followed her in, pulling her suitcase into the room and walking to the bed to start unpacking.

At this moment, Wan Jiamei had already dumped everything from her suitcase onto the bed outside. While rummaging through the things, she said to Li Sishi, "As for the wardrobe, I'll use the left side. You don't mind, right?"

"No problem." Li Sishi took out the clothes she had folded and put in her suitcase little by little. If she saw any that were scattered, she spread them out on the bed and folded them again.

Wan Jiamei glanced at Li Sishi's movements, which seemed incredibly slow to her, and couldn't help but say, "There's no need to get so neatly dressed. We're going to the venue to draw numbers this afternoon, and we're in a rush."

As a model herself, she knows best how to make the most of time when things are tight: separate outerwear and underwear, then separate dark and light colors, roll them up and stuff them in, and then you'll have more time to do your makeup and change clothes.

“I’m used to folding them neatly and putting them away separately, so they’re easier to find.” Li Sishi smiled. “The staff just said that it doesn’t start until 3 p.m., so there’s not too much of a rush. I think I should be able to get ready first.”

"Let's tidy it up a bit, so it looks better when others come in," Li Sishi added ambiguously at the end.

"On the surface"

"I'll just go. It's a beauty pageant, not a nanny selection. There's no need for all this." Wan Jiamei was too lazy to spend time getting ready. Anyway, she had already chosen the dress she would wear later. Putting on a pretty face of makeup was the most important thing.

Perhaps her roommate is still a student and doesn't know the importance of makeup to a woman's appearance—a while ago, she and her friend went to buy the "Summer Promise" CD at midnight and saw Li Sishi's appearance in the MV after returning home.

Compared to her current almost bare-faced appearance, Li Sishi looks much more radiant in the MV, prompting her friends to exclaim that Leo put a lot of thought into choosing a female partner for the MV, finding such a pure and beautiful girl.

Later, after some research, they discovered that the female co-star in the music video was actually the top scorer in Hong Kong's secondary school examinations last year and is currently studying at Diocesan Girls' High School. So, everyone in their little circle was overjoyed—because, as early as the early morning, they had said that this song was dedicated to his fans, so the female co-star in the music video was essentially the embodiment of his fans...

Who wouldn't want to be seen as a perfect person in their idol's eyes—good at studying and good-looking?

Unfortunately, since Li Sishi was only a temporary guest star, there was no further news about her, which left fans who were amazed by the MV feeling quite disappointed... It wasn't until the media started reporting on the Miss Hong Kong pageant that they saw this impressive girl again.

Wan Jiamei herself wasn't a very good student, so she admired the top students quite a bit. However, now that the top student was participating in the same competition as her, and was even a competitor, the mix of goodwill and competitive mentality made her extremely conflicted.

but

Despite her struggles with certain minor issues, she generously shared her experience honed in the real world with Li Sishi, offering some helpful tips.

Seeing Wan Jiamei give her a disappointed look as she changed her clothes and sat down at the dressing table, Li Sishi, who was tidying up her clothes, felt a little helpless: This was very likely the first trap set by the TV station.

Although she didn't delve too deeply into the details of the Miss Hong Kong pageant in her previous life, as an insider, there are some things that outsiders can't easily learn—for example, during the two-month Miss Hong Kong training, the staff in the villa and the "nannies" who were responsible for their daily lives most likely also served as informants.

Just like international beauty pageants, they occasionally conduct surprise inspections of each contestant's personal belongings... It's said that there's also a hidden score sheet recording the daily scores of each candidate, which can serve as a reference for the subsequent semi-finals and finals.

Li Sishi left the entertainment industry early in her previous life, and in the end, she still didn't know whether these rumors were true or false. But there must be a reason for such rumors. Regardless of whether the rumors are true or false, it's always good to be more cautious.

After packing her clothes and personal belongings, Li Sishi quickly changed her clothes and sat down at the dressing table to start applying makeup.

This time, it can't be the simple "no-makeup" makeup from before. To maintain beauty in front of countless flashing lights, the makeup needs to be more dramatic.

Combining later makeup techniques with contemporary aesthetic trends, Li Sishi created a striking yet refreshing makeup look for herself. Paired with her budding youth, the person in the mirror exuded a pure yet subtly seductive charm.

Seeing that Li Sishi sat down after her but stood up before her, Wan Jiamei subconsciously glanced at her, and her breath suddenly caught in her throat.

It has to be said that her roommate is really good-looking—aside from being too young, she possesses an extreme beauty, yet also retains a touch of youthful naiveté that sets her apart from other beauties.

Wan Jiamei, who has grown into a mature and charming woman, admires and likes this unique beauty, but inevitably prefers her own appearance, which is more in line with the aesthetics of the times. So after being amazed for a while, she began to nitpick as much as possible: her youthful appearance is not good for the subsequent evaluation, just like Cai Shaozhen, who came to participate in the competition at the age of 17. No matter how beautiful she is, she can only stop at the third place.

Unlike her, who, despite being young, looks mature and has a great figure, she is clearly a top contender for the title!

Li Sishi really had no idea that this girl, who was only half a year older than her, had so many complicated thoughts in her mind. After carefully checking her own condition one last time, she asked, "How much longer are you going to stay? Let's go out together in a bit?"

"I'm ready too, let's go." Wan Jiamei put down the powder puff in her hand and stood up nimbly.

Although this kind of relationship, which is tinged with competition, makes it difficult for those involved to develop any genuine friendships, they still have to maintain a facade of harmony on the surface, no matter what happens in private.

Moreover, among the 20 candidates, these two are the youngest, and their styles are different. Under normal circumstances, they won't overshadow each other, and they even have the chance to share a room... Wan Jiamei is determined to develop a friendship with Li Sishi that won't affect the competition.

Li Sishi readily accepted this suggestion: since they were already sharing a room, it was always better to have more friends than more enemies.

So, with both of them showing mutual interest, they managed to become somewhat like friends over the next few hours, even choosing to sit together in the car and at the venue.

Of course, looking around, most of the other contestants also chose to sit with their roommates. A group of young girls gathered in a hall inevitably led to a lot of chatter.

The hall only quieted down after three people who looked like high-ranking officials arrived.

"...From this moment forward, you are already contestants for the 1993 Miss Hong Kong pageant, which means you have become part of our company..."

"The first thing I'll do is introduce you to all our staff in this regard—because from now until the finals in June, you'll be spending every day with them..."

"Just take good care of your bodies and your appearance, that's enough. Everything else will be taken care of by the staff. You won't even need to take your own photos. If your families want to know about your training, just tell them to follow the news on TV..."

"Alright, the number drawing officially begins. Starting from the left in the first row, each person will draw a small ball, then loudly announce their number to the others and give a brief self-introduction..."

Watching the people around her go up one by one, Wan Jiamei silently prayed in her heart: Please don't draw a number that's too early in the list, please don't draw a number that's too early in the list...

She had watched many old Miss Hong Kong pageant videos. The best numbers were those from the middle group, who could always stand in the very center during the large group and get more screen time than other numbers.

With this in mind, Wan Jiamei reached into the box and pulled out a small ball marked with the number "11".

That's fantastic! This number is incredibly lucky; the Miss Hong Kong winner from a few years ago, Yan Yingyi, also had number 11!

Seeing Wan Jiamei return to her seat with a smile, Li Sishi quickly got up and took the next seat.

As she reached into the box to pull out the small ball, she let out a barely perceptible sigh of relief and looked at the ball in her hand marked with the number "2".

As expected, there was no change; it's still number 2.

In her past life, some mischievous Hong Kong media outlets made a big deal out of her runner-up ranking and number 2 after the final night, saying that the outcome was predetermined from the beginning, and that it wasn't a case of a favorite failing miserably, but rather that there were signs all along...

"I am MayLee, number 2. I am 17 years old and currently a Form Six student. Thank you everyone..."

Even if the number remains the same, so what? Many other things have changed thanks to her efforts over the years.

All the trials to come

Bring it on, all of you!