The Tender Beauty is Sweetly Doted in the 20th Century Novel!-Chapter 227 - 226: Help, I Can’t Hold It Anymore!

The tone of American English is relatively smooth, with less variation in pitch, and sounds softer and more comfortable than British English. Many teachers tend to encourage students to practice American English, but to say their American accent is authentic, well, they wouldn’t dare.

After all, not many people have stayed abroad, and even those who have didn’t stay long.

But the judges do have some skill, and there’s even a female teacher among them who stayed abroad for half a year.

She looked at Ye Manman on stage, speaking slowly and clearly, making English sound as fluent as Chinese, and was so excited she nearly snapped the pen in her hand.

"Is this student from Qing University?"

"Which class?"

"What? A freshman?"

"..."

Ye Manman had never felt five minutes so long. Although she tried hard to remain calm and expressively recounted her dreams, all she could think was, "Why hasn’t this teacher raised the sign yet!"

"Could five minutes really be this long?"

"Help! I can’t hold it any longer!"

Ye Manman kept talking, sure that she had been speaking for over five minutes, maybe even close to ten. The judges still hadn’t raised the sign, and she couldn’t hold it any longer.

So she simply ended by asking in English if time was up.

This question snapped the judge responsible for time-keeping out of his trance and he quickly checked his watch.

He then nodded awkwardly to signal that she could finish.

Ye Manman breathed a sigh of relief inside, bowed quickly, and headed for the restroom.

She really couldn’t wait any longer; she felt like her bladder was about to give up any moment.

As for the scores, she decided to check in the afternoon. Anyway, before the finals, the teachers would announce the list of those who made it, which would be posted at the school.

After finishing in the restroom, she felt her body relax and, seeing that it was still early, she decided to skip watching the competition and went home for a nap instead.

As she left, the auditorium erupted in whispers with people discussing who she was, since many of today’s competitors were from other schools.

The judges also had expressions of lingering interest, frequently glancing back to see if they could spot her, but she was nowhere to be found.

However, they all seemed to agree silently that such a talent warranted full marks and a place in the finals. Even if she ran away now, she still had to return in the afternoon.

Ji Bowen was contestant number two, but he wasn’t drawn to go on stage early.

Originally, he wanted to go on stage early. He always thought his spoken English was quite good and wanted to finish quickly so he could get back to studying. Yet after hearing Ye Manman’s speech, he suddenly lost the courage to go on stage, at least not immediately after her.

If he did, the comparison might be devastatingly unfavorable. It could even cause him to lose confidence in public speaking for a lifetime.

He used to think that Ye Manman’s speech would be a mess, with accents and slip-ups, and he even took delight in this thought.

But now, the one who ended up embarrassed was himself.

He really couldn’t understand how she managed to practice and achieve such fluent English. Clearly from the countryside, even a social student, yet her grades were so good, and her spoken English was exceptional. It completely turned his worldview upside down.

His grandma said women couldn’t be all that smart, yet how did he feel that no school elite in this entire auditorium could outshine Ye Manman?

Turns out, his grandma had lied to him, or maybe she was just narrow-minded due to her age and hadn’t met a woman as outstanding as Ye Manman.

Anyway, he now wholly admired Ye Manman to the ground. If she returned to her seat now, he’d be sincerely apologizing to her regardless of anyone watching.

All his earlier thoughts about not being able to apologize or bow down to a woman seemed laughable now.

Anyone confident to the point of arrogance will admire strength. You’ll either appreciate an evenly matched opponent or find motivation to surpass someone stronger. But faced with an insurmountable gap, you surrender in admiration and desire to draw closer.

And Ye Manman was precisely such a gap.

Only now did he realize that avoiding her as he did before was such a cowardly behavior.

Clearly, his subconscious had already acknowledged and even longed to approach such a genius as her, hoping to gain even a casual piece of advice. Yet he used all sorts of excuses to convince himself to maintain his laughable and insignificant dignity.

The speech competition continued, and he reflected a lot more.

He might not realize it, but the arrogance that once looked down on others had long vanished from his face.

He waited a long time, nearly an hour, but Ye Manman never returned.

She probably wouldn’t come back.

Ye Manman seemed to understand how to balance work and rest. Liao Yonghe often saw her gazing into the distance in the hallway during breaks, so she probably wouldn’t torture her ears by sitting through the awkward English of others once she’d finished her speech.

Not to mention, was his English awkward...

Ji Bowen suddenly felt a bit insecure, but at that moment the host teacher called out number two.

He had no choice but to quickly shake off his chaotic thoughts and went on stage with a serious expression.

With Ye Manman as a precedent, the judges originally felt sparked with hope, but after an hour of reality hitting, they lowered their expectations again.

It didn’t seem like any particular university had outstanding English teachers, nor did she attend a school with many peers who spoke excellent English. Most contestants were the same—either too nervous that they forgot their lines and stuttered, or couldn’t overcome their accents.

So when they encountered someone with minimal accent and fluid speech, they objectively gave above-average marks.

Ji Bowen, ranked second in his grade, lived up to his reputation. While he couldn’t match Ye Manman’s speech, he practiced diligently. His fundamentals were solid, and he delivered the entire five minutes smoothly and articulately, proving to be quite a promising student.

The judges’ previously distressed looks brightened slightly with his performance. Several even gave him high scores of 9.5, which was quite impressive.

After leaving the stage, Ji Bowen didn’t hurriedly leave. His mindset had inexplicably become much steadier.

He stayed until the preliminaries were over.

He wanted to see if there was anyone like Ye Manman, and even if not, he could learn some language skills from other outstanding students.

All the people who came to watch were here with the same mindset. Many of them excelled in various subjects, yet they remained humble and eager to learn. Understanding this, he didn’t find himself special at all.

He wasn’t some unparalleled prodigy. His achievements came from day in and day out of diligent study. If he continued being proud and conceited, the next time, if not Ye Manman, there would be others just as diligent that would rise and surpass him.

He didn’t want that to happen.

He could lose, but not because of something like arrogance.

In just one morning, Ji Bowen’s mindset underwent such a drastic change, something Liao Yonghe had never anticipated.

But thinking back on Ye Manman’s practically educational performance that morning, it seemed quite reasonable.

Indeed, just as he wished, he was firmly put in his place by Ye Manman, and finally came to his senses.

"Well, that’s great."

On their way to the cafeteria for lunch, he whistled to express his cheerful mood.

Ji Bowen glanced at him, "What’s so great?"

Liao Yonghe gave a giggle but said nothing.