crushing defeat
In the auditorium, the first row was the seat for school administrators. Yu Li sat in the middle of the second row, only a few meters away from Zheng Ruizhen. She could clearly see the expression on Zheng Ruizhen's face.
"Didn't she say it was just ordinary?" Song Minjing muttered to herself, looking at Zheng Ruizhen's determined yet somewhat uncertain expression. "Is she throwing in the towel or something?"
"I think it might be an unexpected surprise." Yu Li supported her forehead with one hand on the armrest. She didn't believe that Zheng Ruizhen didn't have some ability. The look in her eyes when she looked at her just now clearly said "Just wait and see."
Soon, the speeches began. Zheng Ruizhen stood on the stage with full confidence. Her face, which was usually sullen, now had a smile on it. After a simple greeting, she got into the topic.
Student speeches at the beginning of the school year usually focus on encouraging students to study hard and share learning methods. Zheng Ruizhen did not talk about generalities, but instead mentioned the differences between Jiutang private students and ordinary middle school students.
"I know most of you have families with a certain amount of wealth, and your future isn't limited to just getting into a good university. I've thought about it, and now that we're in the final year before the college entrance exam, I can provide assistance based on each student's different future plans."
As far as Zheng Ruizhen knows, if there are good suggestions for the opening speech, the school administration will be happy to adopt them, and all expenses will be borne by the school, so she doesn't have to worry about the money when making suggestions.
"Perhaps there are several broad categories, such as attending university in China, studying abroad, and joining a company. For example, when it comes to studying abroad, there are many different options, from studying business and law to going to different schools in different countries. I think we could target this by having the school invite successful individuals in each field—not necessarily famous, but simply someone who successfully made the transition from a domestic high school to their desired school abroad—to share their experiences and answer questions from our students. I've attached the specific implementation plan."
…
During Zheng Ruizhen's presentation, the audience remained quiet and no one disturbed her. She deliberately looked at Yu Li several times, but Yu Li just smiled and didn't say a word.
Zheng Ruizhen narrowed her eyes and went straight to the next topic: planning extracurricular activities. She mentioned that she had made a joke before: "My previous school is very different from this one. When I asked you to recommend extracurricular activities, I didn't think I could fool everyone with a 'Top Ten Campus Singer Competition.'"
Some students in the audience laughed out loud.
Zheng Ruizhen gestured for everyone to look at the large screen. Her presentation was beautifully presented, with all the activities clearly laid out. There was a tour of the United Nations headquarters, and Zheng Ruizhen said that if she happened to be there and happened to be holding a UN meeting, she would like to have the opportunity to sit in on it, and they could also simulate the meeting.
You can also travel with the National Geographic expedition team and go to any corner of the world. Professional experts will lead the team, and the North and South Poles are no problem. It is not only a trip but also a way to broaden your horizons.
Finally, Zheng Ruizhen pointed to the Wuxi Mountain event and said, "I know that if you want to watch a meteor shower, the first choice is the observatory. However, maybe it's just my selfishness as an ordinary person. I have never been to the observatory. I just think that climbing the mountain together during the day, having a barbecue together at night, and finally watching the meteor shower together at the end is a beautiful memory of my youth, so I decided to hold the event at Wuxi Mountain."
"This event will be held in November, and we'll be able to see the Leonid meteor shower. I haven't seen a meteor shower yet, so I hope the board will keep this event so I can catch one."
"This concludes my speech. Thank you everyone."
…
After her speech, Jung Seo-jin stood erect on the stage, for she had already anticipated the outcome and didn't even want to bow. The group of people sitting below the stage were all in the same group. All it took was a glance from Kwon Wook-ri, and no matter how well she did, they would say she came from a lower-class background, had limited thinking, and her work was a shabby, unsightly mess.
Quan Yuli said that as long as her opening speech satisfied everyone, she would win, but would everyone be satisfied? No, Quan Yuli was the first to disagree.
So she secretly replaced the manuscript. Knowing that it would not be successful, she simply gave up writing her own manuscript. She had indeed been trying hard to memorize the manuscript these days, but the manuscript she was memorizing was not her own, but Kwon Yu-ri's.
That’s right, everything she just explained, whether it was the suggestions she made or the outings she arranged, were all Kwon Yu-ri’s ideas.
Kwon Woo-ri probably didn't expect that the USB flash drive she gave contained not only the manuscript of the previous opening speech, but also the latest one this year. Kwon Woo-ri had already made plans for this year, but she didn't expect that she would be replaced in the middle, and the manuscript was useless.
Next, there will probably be a chorus of criticism.
Zheng Ruizhen was very sure that Quan Yuli's lackeys would jump up and say something about what she had done, accusing her of being brainless and whimsical, and using all kinds of vicious words on her.
After everyone has scolded her enough, she will explain that the manuscript was actually written by Quan Yuli, making everyone feel embarrassed. Then she will expose this matter to the public and let everyone see the joke of Jiutang Private School.
Let the world know how shameless and ridiculous this group of rich second-generations, including Kwon Wook-ri, are.
She had designed this plan long ago. She had only gone through the process and even prepared an extra mediocre version of the speech, all to prevent others from discovering what she really wanted to say.
The only variable is whether Kwon Wook-ri will stand up and accuse her of plagiarism in the middle of her speech, but there are rules in the opening ceremony that no one can interrupt the speaker on the stage no matter what happens, and if there are any questions, they can be raised after they have finished speaking; besides, even if Kwon Wook-ri really wants to say something, she is not completely helpless.
But what surprised her was that Quan Yuli was very calm from beginning to end, and listened to her explanation carefully, with a smile on her face the whole time, as if she had expected her to do this.
This is impossible. Zheng Ruizhen suddenly felt a little flustered. She looked at Quan Yuli in a daze, but found that Quan Yuli was the first to applaud.
Snap, snap, snap.
Then the students, management, and trustees all applauded, and the auditorium was filled with prolonged applause.
Zheng Ruizhen was stunned. How could this happen?
"It looks pretty good, who told me it was rubbish?"
"I didn't expect that she could have such vision coming from a small place. I looked down on her before."
"She's really capable. I'm going to ask the special student in our class if he's as good as her."
"Hey, let's have lunch together. I've never participated in group activities like Wuxi Mountain. Let's optimize it together."
Some students who liked to have fun directly called out to Zheng Ruizhen. Zheng Ruizhen seemed surprised by everyone's enthusiasm and just stood there stupidly on the stage.
Everyone expressed their understanding of this. Zheng, who was doing this for the first time, must have been very nervous.
The director smiled particularly kindly. He had selected these special recruits for the sake of the school's reputation. The success of these special recruits was the success of the school.
Someone gave Zheng Ruizhen a thumbs-up. Song Minjing and Zheng Zhihe were dumbfounded: "What's going on? She really has something."
"Okay, student Zheng can come down now." After that, another director spoke. The staff smiled and waved at Zheng Ruizhen to let her go off the stage. Zheng Ruizhen opened her mouth, but her throat seemed to be blocked and her mind was blank. She went down the stage unconsciously, feeling as if every step was stepping on cotton.
How could this happen? Why are everyone praising her? Shouldn't they be scolding her?
Zheng Ruizhen suddenly remembered what Quan Yuli said. Quan Yuli asked her whether in her eyes, this group of people were synonymous with selfishness, extremes, cruel means, and bullying, and whether they were disgusting just by looking at them.
She was once extremely sure of this idea, so no matter what Kwon Woo-ri did, she felt that Kwon Woo-ri was trying her best to bully her. Even if Kwon Woo-ri's tennis ball did not hit her, she felt that it was because of the wrong force, not that the ball was not intended to hit her.
Now, the behavior of this group of people clearly told her that she was wrong?
How could that be? Zheng Ruizhen pursed her lips, it must be fake, they are the best at acting...but everything was arranged by her, how could they have time to act.
And she has the weight to make the whole school and even the board of directors perform with her?
After the new semester opening ceremony in the morning, everyone went to the cafeteria for lunch. Zheng Ruizhen walked alone in the cafeteria. People who passed by her looked at her curiously, but did not do anything out of the ordinary.
When the meal was served, Zheng Ruizhen couldn't eat it. She poked the food in the bowl with her chopsticks, but didn't touch it even after it was torn to pieces.
The two specially recruited students who had been asked for help earlier came over to Zheng Ruizhen and happily thanked her: "It's all because of you that we changed our class's view of specially recruited students. We used to think you couldn't win. We were too narrow-minded. I'm sorry."
Zheng Ruizhen stammered, "What did they say?"
"The young lady from the Xu family who runs the hotel greeted me and told me to study hard and work for their group in the future."
"I originally thought she was deliberately insulting me, saying things like, poor people like us are only fit to work for them forever. But I saw her eyes were sincere, so I mustered up the courage to ask her if she was serious. She said, 'Don't your words sound like the lines of the vicious female supporting characters in idol dramas?'"
At this point, the two laughed. "That lady is so cute. She said the group has a recommendation system where you can get a bonus by recommending a capable employee. She wants to use this to apply for a bonus increase."
"These rich people are really different from what they show on TV." The two of them said with gratitude at the end, "Seo-jin, you will definitely succeed in the future."
Zheng Ruizhen responded reluctantly.
After the two left, she poured out the food. All the special admissions students were congratulating her on her success, but only she knew what a dead end she had embarked on.
When she returned to the classroom, Yu Li and others were there. Song Minjing was sharing the delicious milk tea she had bought recently. When she saw Zheng Ruizhen come in, she curled her lips in displeasure, but didn't say anything too harsh.
Zheng Zhihe couldn't help but sarcastically say, "You're such an impolite fellow, but you do have a good brain. You must be very proud to hear everyone praising you. If your deeds were to be exposed, I'll see how you'd end up."
Zheng Ruizhen ignored it and just looked at Yu Li in the middle.
Yu Li turned her head and realized that classmate Zheng was on the verge of collapse. His beliefs collapsed overnight, his hatred had no place to go, and he was like a dandelion in the wind, unable to go up or down.
If she were a good person, she should comfort Zheng Ruizhen, tell her that everything was forgiven and they could get along well in the future.
Unfortunately she is not.
"Mr. Zheng," Yu Li said with a gentle smile, her tone sending shivers down Zheng Ruizhen's spine. "I think I should congratulate you. You won the bet this time. However, I'd like you to tell me the result yourself."
"Did you win?"
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