Chapter 23: I Will Definitely Win
"You can say that again!"
Liu Yingzi rolled her eyes.
"I don’t know what goes on in Zhang Yunhua’s head. She can’t have kids of her own, so she takes in some stray girl and dotes on her like this. She must be possessed."
"Heh."
Cao Daqiang sneered, gripping the cigarette in his hand.
"That little girl who doesn’t know a thing? You think she could get picked? My Jiajia sings better, dances more steadily, and has ten thousand times more class than her. Isn’t that right, Jiajia?"
"Daddy’s right!"
Jiajia skipped over and threw herself into Cao Daqiang’s arms, her voice sweet and loud.
"Jiajia is the best! She doesn’t deserve to be on stage. She can’t even speak properly!"
Beside them, Liu Yingzi beamed as she watched the father and daughter’s affectionate display, her eyes filled with smug satisfaction.
"That’s right, our Jiajia is the most outstanding. If you get picked this time, Daddy will buy you another pretty little dress, how about that?"
When Jiajia heard this, her eyes immediately lit up like stars.
"Uh-huh! I’ll definitely win! I’m the best!"
「The day of the competition arrived in the blink of an eye.」
All the children were meticulously prepared, and Liu Yingzi had dressed Jiajia up like a little princess.
Her long hair was impeccably combed, her braids adorned with delicate crystal accessories.
The lacy, puffy dress she wore was covered in sequins.
Even the tips of her shoes were encrusted with tiny diamonds, jingling as she walked.
The moment she entered the venue, she began looking left and right, focused solely on finding Shanshan.
’I have to show off right in front of her!’
’I have to make her see what it means to be worlds apart!’
Seeing the bustling crowd, Liu Yingzi didn’t want her daughter running around everywhere.
But she was afraid that disciplining her too harshly in front of others would make her seem unloving.
"Jiajia, sweetie, slow down. Be a good girl and don’t run too far."
Her tone was so soft it didn’t intimidate the child in the slightest.
Instead, Jiajia grabbed her hand and dragged her all over the venue.
In no time, she had locked onto her target.
"Ha! I finally found you!"
Liu Yingzi looked in the direction her daughter was pointing.
A little girl stood quietly in the corner, her calm gaze falling upon the two of them.
’Those brows, those eyes, the slight purse of her lips...’
’Why does she look so much like Cao Daqiang?’
"Cao Xueshan! My, you really are a country bumpkin. How dare you come to a performance dressed like that?"
Jiajia immediately held up her arms to show off her own outfit.
"Look at this! My parents bought me this new designer outfit. Isn’t it beautiful? Those rags you’re wearing aren’t even good enough to line my shoes!"
"Oh, is that so."
Shanshan replied casually, her expression completely unfazed.
This reaction was not at all what Jiajia expected.
She instantly felt humiliated and snorted with her nose in the air.
"You must be so jealous right now, aren’t you? If you apologize nicely, I might not mind letting you touch my new dress."
Shanshan just rolled her eyes.
She simply turned away and focused on a girl twirling on the stage.
Jiajia was about to hurl a few more vicious insults at her but was pulled back by the arm by Liu Yingzi.
"Um, you’re Cao Xueshan, right?"
Liu Yingzi deliberately lowered her voice.
"I thought your name was Cao Shanshan before..."
"What’s your mother’s name? Where’s your hometown? What’s your house number in the village?"
As she asked, she crouched down, her gaze locked tightly on Shanshan’s little face.
The more she looked, the colder her heart grew.
That face, that expression... it was a spitting image of Cao Daqiang.
A BOOM went off in Liu Yingzi’s head.
Cao Daqiang always used to say,
"We members of the Cao family all look alike. We have the same nose, the same chin, and especially the same eyes."
She’d always thought he was just bragging.
But now...
She had no choice but to believe it.
"I was just talking to you, didn’t you hear me?"
Liu Yingzi’s voice suddenly shot up.
"When an adult asks you a question, you answer immediately! Hasn’t your mother taught you any manners?"
Shanshan kept her head down, not saying a word.
Liu Yingzi was so angry she felt like her lungs would explode.
"What kind of attitude is that?! You ill-mannered brat!"
Shanshan suddenly lifted her eyes.
"You’re a bad person. There’s black smoke coming off you."
She took two small steps back.
"Shanshan doesn’t talk to bad people."
Liu Yingzi froze.
In her thirty-seven years of life, no one had ever dared to call her a "bad person" to her face.
And no one had ever dared to look at her like that.
As if she were a pile of trash, too dirty to even spare a second glance.
The color drained from her face, and she gritted her teeth so hard they audibly ground together.
"Jiajia, let’s go!"
She grabbed Jiajia’s wrist.
"You have to make me proud this time and win this spot! Mom is counting on you for vindication!"
Cao Jiajia nodded obediently.
"Okay, Mommy, don’t worry. Jiajia can definitely do it!"
The mother and daughter straightened their backs and strode off with their heads held high.
But before they had even set foot on the third step to the stage, a small figure in the audience quickly made a funny face at Cao Jiajia.
Cao Jiajia’s mind went completely blank with a BUZZ.
’What line was I just reciting?’
"The spring wind blows, the flowers smile, I sing..."
’No, that’s not it...’
’It’s "The bright moon shines, the night is young..."’
Countless pairs of eyes in the audience stared at her, and the flashing lights made her dizzy.
She froze on the spot, her throat feeling as if it were being strangled, unable to utter a single word.
"Waaa... It’s all your fault!"
She finally broke down, her voice choked with sobs as she shrieked at the audience below.
"You did that on purpose to distract me! That’s why I can’t remember! You little villain!"
Liu Yingzi sneered and whipped around to face the judges’ table.
"Are you just going to ignore this deliberate attempt to interfere with a performance? This is completely unfair!"
"Well..."
A thin layer of sweat broke out on the staff member’s forehead.
This was the first time he’d ever encountered such a situation, and the rulebook had nothing about how to handle it.
But Shanshan didn’t give him a chance to agonize over it. She pouted, and her voice rang throughout the entire venue.
"She wasn’t focused. She forgot her lines just because I made a face. Whose fault is that? Does this mean that in the future, everyone in the audience has to close their eyes, cover their mouths, and not move? If she panics at the slightest disturbance, how can she ever be a performer?"
The tense atmosphere in the audience suddenly dissipated, and many people couldn’t help but chuckle.
The weight that had been pressing on the judge’s heart finally lifted.
He immediately seized the opportunity to speak, looking directly at Liu Yingzi.
"If even a child can understand the reasoning, we don’t need to discuss it any further."
When it was Shanshan’s turn, the entire venue suddenly fell silent.
The little girl wore a small pink dress and pigtails, clutching a cue card in her hand.
When the music started, the actor she was supposed to perform with suddenly changed his lines.
But not only did she not panic, she blurted out a perfectly fitting response.
The audience was collectively stunned for a moment, followed by a burst of enthusiastic applause.
"Excellent! This child has a real spark! Director Jiao, let’s just pick her!"
One of the judges was so excited he slapped his thigh and shot to his feet.
Down in the audience, Ling Zhiyu was the first to start clapping.
He turned his head and said with a low chuckle to the person beside him,
"We all saw what just happened. She’s daring, she’s quick on her feet, and she has a sharp mind. This kid is something special."
Director Jiao didn’t rush to agree.
He turned to the side and said softly to Ling Zhiyu,
"Don’t be hasty. Let’s keep watching."
Since this was an open audition, every child had to be given a chance to get on stage and perform.
You couldn’t cut off someone else’s chance just because one or two contestants were outstanding.