Chapter 36: Conquering the World

“According to the conventions of the Miss Hong Kong pageant, based on the rankings of the top three, in addition to serving as goodwill ambassadors to promote Hong Kong, they will also represent Hong Kong in international beauty pageants such as Miss Universe and Miss World…” Zhuang Menghua said softly, looking at Li Sishi, who was sitting obediently across from her.

Unlike the dazzling beauty of the Miss Hong Kong finale, the young woman, without her heavy stage makeup, looked youthful and radiant with just a light touch of powder.

“The Miss Universe pageant, which follows the Miss Hong Kong winner, requires participants to be between 18 and 27 years old. You are not yet 18, so you cannot participate in Miss Universe.” Zhuang Menghua gently tapped the table. “However, in previous years, there have been contestants who were unable to participate in subsequent pageants due to age issues, so there will be adjustments to the participation requirements accordingly.”

"Before you, many of our contestants in the port city won awards but were unable to participate because they were too old, or because the competition dates did not match and the contestants could not be selected in time. So we would arrange for other contestants to take their place, such as those with slightly lower scores or those from previous years, to participate in this year's competition."

“Just like your nominee, Chang Baoning, because the Miss Hong Kong pageant was postponed from May to August that year, she couldn’t participate in the Miss Universe pageant. So she first participated in the Miss World pageant that year, and then competed in the Miss Universe pageant the following year…”

Having a precedent makes things easier. Fortunately, Li Sishi is truly talented and has a beautiful appearance. The TV station was reluctant to give up on this promising talent who could potentially create another "beauty pageant legend." Therefore, after weighing the options, they ultimately gave her the title of champion.

Although a 17-year-old contestant has appeared in the Miss Universe pageant, that was because she came from a small country in the Americas and only learned upon arriving in the host country that the age requirement was over 18. She was a few months short of the age requirement for the Miss Universe pageant, but she honestly told the organizers her real age. Ultimately, the organizers allowed her to continue participating in the competition, but she wouldn't be judged…

Their TV station would never do something that "wastes talent." Besides, Hong Kong is not some remote little country but an Asian Tiger. So their arrangement was to switch the follow-up tasks of the champion and the runner-up. The champion, Li Sishi, would participate in this year's Miss World, while the runner-up, Luo Heyin, would participate in this year's Miss Universe.

"The Miss World and Miss Universe beauty pageants are actually not that different, but the Miss World competition..."

"The age requirement is 17 to 25 years old, so you meet the requirements," Zhuang Menghua explained.

Li Sishi nodded to indicate that she understood: she could probably foresee that if she were lucky enough to win the championship, the subsequent tasks would definitely have to be adjusted according to the competition requirements, so she had already been mentally prepared.

"Of course, you don't need to feel too much pressure. This is just the usual practice of the TV station assigning follow-up tasks to champions. Just take it easy." Zhuang Menghua thought for a moment and then added.

Although the TV station has always been ambitious to send its own Miss Hong Kong to participate in international beauty pageants since Chang Baoning, every year among the top 20 who enter the training camp, you can always see several tall people who are over 1.7 meters tall or simply have mixed-race faces and overseas education - this is clearly because they are eyeing these beauties' appearance that meets the requirements of international beauty pageants and their foreign language speaking level after studying abroad.

Unfortunately, the results of international beauty pageants in recent years have not been very good.

If Li Sishi knew what Zhuang Menghua was thinking at this moment, she would probably be depressed for a while: What's the use of having ambition if you don't take it seriously and aren't generous? What good results can you get if you don't take it seriously and aren't generous? The two months of the Miss Hong Kong training camp barely turned an amateur into a newcomer with a little bit of beauty pageant experience.

If they were to go out and compete against those beauty pageant professionals who are extremely enthusiastic about beauty pageants and have received long-term, systematic, and standardized training for their country's contestants, these amateur contestants who still have to bring their own clothes, pants, shoes, and socks would already be considered to have achieved a good result if they could make it into the top fifteen out of more than a hundred contestants.

Fortunately, she had made some preparations in her life, and she and her cousin could work together to make a few decent competition outfits for themselves based on the current situation.

Despite her inner grumbling, Li Sishi didn't show it at all on the surface, appearing completely obedient and well-behaved.

Zhuang Menghua was very satisfied with Li Sishi's behavior of listening more and talking less, and softened her voice even more: "The most important thing for you now is to maintain your grades and get into a good university. I will try my best to arrange both your studies and tasks properly."

④

Anyway, you're young enough that I'll try my best to turn down any events you can avoid this year so you can have more time to study.

She understands better than anyone the importance of raising a golden goose to lay golden eggs. Back then, when she recruited Huang Qianyan from Taiwan, who couldn't even speak Cantonese very well, she deliberately kept her in a specially arranged dormitory, spending time and effort asking teachers to teach her for a long time to make sure she was ready to start working before she was willing to release her.

Without all the groundwork laid beforehand, Huang Qianyan

She wouldn't have grasped the concept and become a well-known movie star with a million-dollar salary so quickly.

As for Li Sishi in front of us, putting aside the still somewhat distant issue of talent, her starting point alone can be said to be even better than Huang Qianyan's. If it weren't for the decline of Zhao's films and the fact that the Zhao family has begun to shift its business focus to TBL and concentrate on TV dramas, Zhuang Menghua would be confident that she could cultivate another new leading actress in film.

"I understand. I also really want to get into a good university. It would be best if you could help me coordinate my study time. I will definitely study hard. Thank you!" If it were someone like me, a commoner from the grassroots, even if I had a Miss Hong Kong title, the school would not pay any attention to me. Only a powerful figure like Zhuang Menghua with extensive connections could persuade the school leaders to give me "preferential treatment".

Looking at Li Sishi's obedient and compliant manner, and thinking about all the troubles Huang Qianyan had caused recently, Zhuang Menghua couldn't help but feel a sense of helplessness from the comparison.

Seeing the subtle traces of genuine distress on Zhuang Menghua's face, and drawing on her past experiences with "Miss Zhuang," Li Sishi quietly added a question: "Um... Miss Zhuang, could I... could I ask about my friend Wan Jiamei..."

Miss Zhuang likes people who are obedient and trustworthy, and she can hold them in her hands. Asking about her friend in distress at this time will make her feel even more secure in "holding this loyal person firmly in her hands".

"Oh, you mean that girl Wan Jiamei?" Zhuang Menghua looked over. "Her matter isn't a big deal, but it's not insignificant either. Fortunately, she wasn't too naive back then. She was just photographed shirtless, and she was too young when the photo was taken. Naturally, the company will help her sue that jerk."

“It’s hard to keep something like this a secret once it’s been rumored. It’s better to be open and honest about it. Even reputable reports will blur the photos, just like when you were competing in swimsuits…” Zhuang Menghua looked into Li Sishi’s eyes. “At that time, as long as your friend, who has grown a lot, knows to follow the company’s arrangements, this storm won’t be too big and won’t affect her future career too much.”

"Yes, I understand. Thank you, Miss Zhuang." Li Sishi nodded again.

"In short, you don't need to worry too much about her. I don't object to you having private interactions, but you'd better not be too obvious about it recently. Although it sounds a bit harsh, that's just how it is..." Zhuang Menghua added.

Li Sishi lowered her head

She lowered her eyes and said, "I understand. We've already made it clear that we shouldn't have any contact recently."

“You’ll be going abroad to compete later, which will make it inconvenient for you to travel back and forth.” Zhuang Menghua put down a document she had just finished reading and said, “You’ve already taken care of your passport and other things before the location shooting. I’ll have my assistant help you pack your luggage. When she comes over later, have her take you to the costume warehouse to pick out a few outfits for the competition.”

Li Sishi nodded repeatedly in agreement. Zhuang Menghua gave her one last satisfied look before instructing her assistant to come in and take Li Sishi away.

However, looking at the tightly closed door to her room after Li Sishi left, Zhuang Menghua began to think about what kind of agent she should find to manage her "new favorite".

Unfortunately, Lu Yiting, whom I had high hopes for, had just decided to temporarily withdraw from the busy production industry because of her marriage. She would only work as a film planner at Zhao's company and take a break to recuperate and recuperate on the body that had been overworked by years of hard work.

But... Lu Yiting's personality is that she likes to cultivate people with good looks. Will she be able to use Li Sishi's pretty face to "coax" Lu Yiting back?

Let's wait and see how Li Sishi behaves next.

I have no shortage of patience—although when dealing with certain people, I also lack patience the most.

After glancing at the old photo of the shoulder-length-haired girl on the cabinet in front of him, who could spin a basketball with just one finger, Zhuang Menghua pondered for a moment, then got up and took out a new blank photo frame from the cabinet drawer, placing it next to the basketball girl.

Meanwhile, Li Sishi, who was led to the clothing warehouse by Zhuang Menghua's assistant, was immediately greeted by a dazzling array of colors that seemed to be hidden behind a thin mist.

Even though tens of thousands of garments are carefully stored in dust covers and hung on hangers, staff take photos of each garment from different angles, number them, and archive them. Then, when needed, they can find the corresponding storage location based on the records in the computer.

According to the requirements of the Miss World competition, Li Sishi focused on the swimwear, period costume, sportswear and everyday wear, and tried to select the latest productions. In the end, she spent an entire weekend afternoon looking at countless photos and actual items before finally selecting two sets of each type of competition outfit.

It was tiring, but absolutely worth it—compared to the other two TV station executives who simply provided swimsuits and period costumes for the competition, while the runners-up and third-place winners had to prepare everything themselves, she was fully equipped from head to toe.

Sure enough, having a powerful backer and not having one really makes a difference in how you're treated!

A week later, Li Sishi, carrying a large suitcase, rushed to catch her flight. She took one last look at the beautiful city and her family who had seen her off, then smiled and waved goodbye, preparing to set off for the "world".