The principal, seeing the situation, grew somewhat flustered and was about to step onto the stage when Lin Youchen suddenly spoke up: “Everyone, quiet down! If you want to debate which country’s martial arts are stronger, you can settle it after the conference! For now, let Miyagi-kun continue with his speech!”
“Fine! True warriors don’t waste time arguing!” The person from the Thai delegation said before sitting back down.
The Korean representative didn’t say anything and simply took his seat.
Miyagi Sawano smirked disdainfully, then turned to Lin Youchen and said, “Thank you, Youchen-kun, for helping me out!”
“Miyagi-kun, you should finish your speech first,” Lin Youchen replied with a smile, giving a slight bow before stepping off the stage.
Honestly, this Lin Youchen really loved showing off. Even when it had nothing to do with him, he had to step in and make his presence known. But this also proved that the forces behind him weren’t simple.
In fact, I even got the feeling that the power backing Lin Youchen might not be weaker than the four great families of the capital.
After Miyagi Sawano finished his speech, the Korean representative took the stage.
Surprisingly, Korea’s freshman representative was a girl—quite pretty, though not stunningly so, but pleasant to look at.
Then again, given how advanced Korean plastic surgery is, she might’ve been “artificially enhanced”.
“Yeoreobun (everyone), annyeonghaseyo (hello)!” The Korean beauty greeted the students of Shenghua with a sweet smile.
Even though I didn’t understand what she said, her voice was melodious, and her smile was charming, giving off an inexplicably likable vibe.
“Annyeonghaseyo!”
“Hello, beautiful!”
“I drank day-old mineral water today!”
A bunch of rowdy guys in the audience shouted nonsense, and I couldn’t help but chuckle. The students of Shenghua were certainly enthusiastic.
“I’m Song Kexin from Korea. Like our Japanese friends, we’ve come to this exchange to learn from the profound culture of China…” Song Kexin spoke fluent Mandarin without any hesitation, and her words didn’t come off as annoying. Unconsciously, I found myself staring a little longer.
“Hey! What are you looking at? Don’t forget Mei’er is right beside you!” Sister Lin smacked me and glared.
I forced a laugh. Was it really such a big deal to glance at a pretty girl a few times?
At this moment, Mei’er giggled and said, “Everyone appreciates beauty. That girl really is quite pretty—there’s nothing wrong with Xia Tian looking a few extra times.”
Ah, my Mei’er is the best! To honor her words, I decided to take a few more looks.
But as soon as I raised my head again, the Korean girl had already left the stage without me noticing.
Now standing on stage was the Thai freshman representative—a guy who didn’t seem interesting at all.
I yawned, ready to close my eyes and rest.
“Hello, Shenghua friends!” A crisp voice rang out. I looked up and saw the American freshman representative—a voice that sounded extremely feminine, but it belonged to a guy.
He was handsome, but something about him rubbed me the wrong way. If I had to give a reason… well, maybe because he wasn’t a girl.
“My name is—” The American freshman continued in English, which I barely understood, making my head hurt.
“Speak Chinese!” My voice, infused with True Qi, boomed loudly.
The American representative froze, about to say something else, but the crowd below followed my lead.
“Speak Chinese!”
“What’s with the ‘name this, name that’? We can’t understand you!”
The audience erupted into chaos.
The American freshman looked momentarily panicked but quickly regained his composure.
“Sorry, my mistake…” He bowed before continuing in broken Mandarin, “My name is Allen. Nice to meet you all…”
After all the representatives finished their introductions, the principal returned to the stage and said with a smile, “Let’s once again welcome our international friends with a round of applause!”
Clap! Clap! Clap!
Another wave of enthusiastic applause followed.
“Alright, next, let’s invite representatives from Peking University and Tsinghua University to introduce themselves!” The principal finished, and the students obediently clapped.
Honestly, this intercollegiate conference was pretty dull. What I was really looking forward to was the martial arts showdown afterward.
I had high expectations for Thai boxing. Like that Thai student who had spoken up earlier, in terms of lethality and practicality, Muay Thai had the upper hand.
After all, Muay Thai fighters used fists, legs, knees, and elbows—every limb was a deadly weapon.
“Hello everyone, I’m Sun Jing, the freshman representative from Tsinghua University.” A familiar voice reached my ears, and I immediately looked up.
The Tsinghua representative on stage was actually Sun Jing! That girl who always felt like the girl next door—my last desk mate in senior year, and the only female classmate I had after transferring to Third High.
Sun Jing had always been a top student, so her getting into Tsinghua wasn’t surprising. I had wondered where this sweet former classmate of mine had gone—turns out she made it to Tsinghua.
Though Shenghua had an excellent reputation and strong faculty, there were still areas where it couldn’t compare to prestigious old-school institutions like Tsinghua and Peking University.
Sun Jing hadn’t changed much—still the same sweet smile.
Seeing her made me reminisce about my days at Third High.
I wondered how Fatty and Zhang Yu were doing. That idiot Zhang Yu hadn’t called me in ages, and Fatty was even worse—no contact at all.
Was Sister Qian still teaching senior year? I felt a little bad for her current students, but also happy for them. Even though Sister Qian had a temper, she genuinely cared about her students.
My thoughts drifted to Zhou Feng—the guy who didn’t make a sound even after I slashed him multiple times.
After dropping out, Zhou Feng had completely vanished. Even Wang Hu didn’t know where he went. After getting to know Zhang Peng, I’d asked him, but he didn’t have any answers either.
I still wasn’t sure if the person negotiating with Zhao Gao back then was Zhou Feng. The voice had been similar, but I hadn’t seen his face, and the tone wasn’t an exact match.
No matter how capable Zhou Feng was, there was no way he could’ve gained enough influence in such a short time to negotiate with Zhao Gao as an equal.
After Sun Jing finished speaking, it was the mentors’ turn to give speeches—all of them equally boring.
I closed my eyes, waiting impatiently for the conference to end.
“Today’s conference is now over! Everyone, please stand and disperse!”
As the principal’s voice rang out, I slowly opened my eyes. Finally, this d*mn meeting was over—it had been pure torture.
Even though it had ended, none of the students left.
“Fight! Fight!” Someone shouted, and soon, the entire crowd—men and women alike—started chanting, “Fight! Fight!”
“This is a friendly exchange. Let’s save the martial arts competitions for another time!” The principal laughed awkwardly. “Everyone, please disperse!”
“Boo!” The students collectively rolled their eyes, some even flipping the bird.
But I understood the principal’s reasoning. Fights were unpredictable, and with these foreign students all itching to prove themselves, things could easily escalate. If someone got seriously hurt, the principal would be held responsible.
“Come on, Xia Tian! Why are you just standing there?” Sister Lin patted me, looking puzzled.
I smiled. “You guys go ahead. I see an old friend—I’ll catch up after saying hello.”
“Then hurry back!” Wang Ziyan said, eyeing me.
Nodding, I made my way toward the Tsinghua delegation.
When I reached their area, I saw Sun Jing chatting with her classmates. Seeing that familiar smile suddenly made me feel at peace—it had been a long time since I’d felt this relaxed.
“Sun Jing, long time no see!” I called out.
Hearing my voice, Sun Jing froze for a second before turning around. When she saw me, her face lit up with excitement.
“Deskmate!”
Heh, even after all this time, she still called me that.