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As the end of the semester approaches, in addition to reviewing and preparing for exams, there is another big thing that needs attention.
After two months, the results of the Athena competition are finally out and the rankings are announced.
The teachers were naturally the first to receive the news.
Chen Yuan looked cheerful as he taught his students this morning.
Lin Yue asked with a smile: "Teacher, is there anything good happening today?"
Chen Yuan glanced at her and gave her a rare look of approval: "It's a good thing, and it has something to do with you."
Now Lin Yue changed from sitting leisurely and slumped to sitting upright with a bright look on his face.
"Really? What's the matter, teacher?"
Chen Yuan walked slowly to the podium and clapped his hands to draw the students' attention.
"I have good news for everyone. The results of the competition are out, and two people from our class have won awards."
The classmates immediately became excited, and many people focused their attention on Shen Anyan and He Qingtian.
A classmate asked: "Teacher, who are they?"
Chen Yuan did not keep the secret and announced it immediately.
"The first one is Mingyu, the first in the province."
"Wow--" The classmates burst into exclamations, accompanied by the sounds of clapping and applause.
He Qingtian also turned around and congratulated with a smile: "Congratulations, first place."
Mingyu, who was sitting at the back table, scratched his head, a little surprised. "It was just luck. I didn't expect to get first place."
Lin Yue pondered for a moment and asked expectantly: "Teacher, what about the second person?"
Chen Yuan smiled and said, "The second one is Lin Yue, who ranks 13th in the province."
Everyone applauded again. Lin Yue finally finished laughing, then suddenly realized what was happening. He turned around and asked in surprise, "Hey, that's not right. What happened to you two? You didn't win any prizes?"
He Qingtian held his forehead.
Shen Anyan said helplessly: "Is there a possibility that in addition to winning the award, there is also the result of participating in the winter camp?"
Chen Yuan on the podium also added: "There are two students from our class who have been shortlisted for the provincial team..."
She smiled and looked in the direction of Shen and He: "I guess you know it without me saying it, right?"
Everyone laughed together, turning their gazes to the two and applauding.
"Shengyan, He Qingtian, remember to pack your luggage for winter camp when you go home."
After the response, Shen Anyan couldn't help but ask: "Teacher, what about the situation in the class next door?"
Chen Yuan didn't think much about it and replied, "Oh, the winner next door is Jiang Xiaosong, who ranked fifth in the province. The finalists are Gu Cijiang and Zhou Tian."
When He Qingtian heard his friend's name, a smile appeared on his face.
Shen Anyan also smiled happily when he heard the name he wanted.
Chen Yuan jokingly said, "Look how happy you two are...Okay, that's enough about the competition. Let's start class now."
————
The distance from Haicheng to Fanhua City is not short. The competition team provides the contestants with free buses and temporary hotels after arrival. Let’s not talk about the latter for now, but if you really want to take the bus, it will take at least five hours.
Shen Anyan refused without a second thought and agreed with He Qingtian to take the high-speed train together.
After the two met at the high-speed rail station, He Qingtian looked at the backpack the other person was carrying—it was the only piece of luggage on the other side. He asked in surprise, "Is that all you're carrying?"
Shen Anyan said: “Well, a change of clothes, toilet paper, a water cup, a charger, an ID card, and a school bag will be enough.”
He Qingtian actually only brought a suitcase that barely reached her knees, but compared to Shen Anyan, it was nothing. She didn't say much, just instructed: "If you need anything, you can come to me."
There were ten finalists in total, including them. A temporary group was created, and the instructor asked the contestants to report to the group after arriving.
The competition team has no requirements for how to get to Fanhua City, but from Fanhua City to Changqing Mountain, the contestants need to gather and take a bus together.
The gathering time was set for the next day. Participants who arrived early could stay at the hotel reserved by the competition team. After discussing it, He Qingtian and Shen Anyan decided not to bother with the extra effort and decided to stay directly at the hotel provided by the competition team. After all, it was an official hotel and would definitely be safer than other places.
However, when they arrived at their destination, they felt a little regretful.
Shen Anyan looked at the hotel, which was located in the night market, with a strong atmosphere of life and even had no front desk. His expression was very solemn: "I have never stayed in such a shabby hotel."
He Qingtian was also shocked: "I thought this hotel was extinct ten years ago..."
But as the old saying goes, they were already there. The two of them had been running around all day and it was almost night. They didn't know how long it would take to find another hotel, so they had no choice but to bite the bullet and go in.
After receiving the code from the hotel owner, the two took the key from the safe on the first floor... Yes, the door of the room did not even require a card, but a key to open, and then took the elevator to the floor where they were staying.
The corridor was dimly lit and several voice-controlled lights were broken, so He Qingtian had to turn on the light from his mobile phone.
The walls were covered in flyers and had large swathes of paint peeling off. Takeout containers, not cleaned up in time, were piled up at the door of the guest room. The couple had to be careful not to step on them as they walked in, otherwise, if they came across any leftovers, the soup inside would stain their shoes and trouser legs.
After finally finding their room, I encountered trouble opening the door.
He Qingtian inserted the key into the keyhole, turned it twice, and pressed down the door handle... nothing moved.
She let out a soft "eh" and tried turning it twice in the opposite direction, but the door handle still wouldn't go down.
After repeating this several times, she looked at Shen Anyan uncertainly: "Is this door broken?"
Shen Anyan stepped forward to take the key and tried to open the door several times, but the result was the same as He Qingtian's.
She frowned and said to the other party: "Forget it, ask the store manager what's going on with this door..."
As she spoke, she was about to pull out the key, but somehow the key was stuck in the keyhole. Shen Anyan tried hard, but the key still didn't move. Instead, the door opened with her force.
Two people: ...?
The boss just happened to send a message: "Hey, girl, the door handle is broken. Don't press the handle. Insert the key inside and pull it out, and it will open."
He Qingtian replied politely: "Oh ok, thank you boss, we have opened it."
Finally able to go into the house to rest, Shen Anyan took off his schoolbag and wanted to find a place to put it down.
I was about to put it on the table, but there was soup residue left on the table from the previous guest.
Shen Anyan curled his lips and turned to look at the counter... There was a thick layer of dust on it.
Forget it, let’s find a chair, but the seat is covered with hair and dead insects.
Shen Anyan: "...I regret this. Let's find a new hotel."
He Qingtian also saw this. Without saying anything, she took out her phone and started looking for other nearby hotels. After a few minutes, she replied dejectedly, "The nearest Standard Hotel is an hour away by taxi."
Seeing that it was almost ten o'clock and they had to gather at seven o'clock the next day, Shen Anyan finally managed to endure it.
He Qingtian opened the suitcase, took out the sheets and pillowcases from it and spread them on the bed.
"I brought this from home. We don't need to cover ourselves with the blanket. We have heating anyway. Just cover our stomachs with clothes."
After all, from the current point of view, the sanitary conditions of this hotel are horrific, and the two of them are unwilling to take a shower here. They just plan to make do for one night.
Shen Anyan didn't sleep well that night, probably because she was upset, so she couldn't sleep peacefully. Although she slept long enough, she still felt tired when she woke up the next day.
He Qingtian yawned and took out wet wipes and mouthwash from the suitcase for the other person to use.
Shen Anyan couldn't help but admire the other party's thoroughness. As she washed up, she sighed, "Your suitcase may not look big, but it contains quite a lot of things."
He Qingtian smiled and said, "This is just the basic operation of the storage master."
After the two of them finished packing, on the way to the meeting place, Shen Anyan complained: "I want to avoid this hotel, the experience is really terrible..."
He Qingtian opened his phone screen and showed it to the other person: "I thought of this. This morning when I was about to give a bad review, I saw that this hotel only costs 60 yuan a day."
Shen Anyan:?
Her thoughts of giving a bad review instantly died: "Well, you get what you pay for. This place really embodies this saying perfectly."
He Qingtian also smiled bitterly and said, "One more thing, next time, don't be so superstitious about authority."
The meeting point finally looked presentable, unlike the shabby hotel we'd stayed in last night. It was spacious and bright, with excellent service and facilities, and a light, refreshing fragrance in the air. Shen Anyan finally felt a little more alive when he arrived here.
He Qingtian also visibly breathed a sigh of relief. The two of them found an empty seat and sat down, nestling on the soft, comfortable, and most importantly, clean sofa, taking a rare moment to relax and rest.
After he recovered, Shen Anyan stood up and looked around. He saw two familiar faces not far away, Zhou Tian and Gu Cijiang.
Her eyes lit up, and she waved over there and called out the names of two people.
"Gu Cijiang, Zhou Tian!"
The two people opposite also saw her and walked towards this side together.
As soon as Gu Cijiang walked up to him, he noticed Shen Anyan's listless look and asked with some concern: "Didn't you get enough rest last night? You look a little listless."
Shen Anyan shook his head and sighed: "It's hard to put it into words."
Zhou Tian glanced at the two of them and asked, "What's wrong?"
He Qingtian briefly explained the whole process.
Zhou Tiandao: "Why didn't you send me a message? The environment there is bad. You could have just stayed at my hotel."
He Qingtian explained: "It's mainly because it's too far and I have to get up early the next day, so I don't want to bother."
As they were talking, a timid voice suddenly interrupted.
"Excuse me, is this the meeting point for the competition?"
Everyone turned to look. The person who came was a boy about their age, with delicate features, as pretty as a doll in a shop window. His hair was soft, black, and the ends of his hair fell to the side of his face, making him look particularly well-behaved. However, his body was thin and slender, as if it would fall down with a gust of wind, which made people feel a little pity for him.
He Qingtian replied: "It's here."
The boy hummed softly. Perhaps he was a shy and timid person, so after thanking them, he quietly stayed beside the others, acting as a backdrop.
Chen Anyan and Zhou Tian were not very enthusiastic. Only He Qingtian and Gu Cijiang politely chatted with the boy for a few words, but when they saw that he was getting more and more nervous, they stopped chatting with him.
Not long after, another contestant arrived. He was wearing a sweater and trousers, clutching a down jacket he had just taken off. The sweater contestant glanced in the direction of Shen Anyan and the others, and after confirming that he was in the right place, he found a seat in a corner and sat down.
The last to arrive were four noisy boys. They seemed to know each other, so they came in together and seemed very familiar with each other as they talked and laughed.
The four boys hadn't walked a few steps when one of them noticed the sweater contestant in the corner and immediately greeted him enthusiastically: "Class monitor! You're here quite early!"
The sweater contestant raised his head upon hearing this, nodded to a few people, and then made no other unnecessary movements.
Upon hearing this, Shen Anyan looked at He Qingtian and said jokingly, "Hey, I thought that squad leader was calling you."
He Qingtian also responded with a smile: "Yeah, it's quite fate."
The group of boys laughed and greeted the class monitor. One of the boys wearing earrings suddenly asked, "Hey, I remember that guy was here too. Why can't I see him?"
The companion next to the man with earrings was dressed fashionably. Even in the middle of winter, she was bare-kneed and part of her thighs. She also had dyed red hair and looked very sexy.
The red-haired man fiddled with the pendant around his neck, narrowed his eyes and smiled when he heard this: "Maybe he got hit by a car on the way here, hehe——"
The remaining three people also laughed "hehe", and the malice in their laughter was particularly creepy.
The man with earrings looked around like a vulture searching for carrion, and soon his eyes were glued to the pretty boy who looked like a doll not far away.
He raised a finger, signaled to the red-haired man, and said with a grin, "Look, he wasn't hit by a car. He's over there."
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