In preparation for the competition, Jiang Mingqin hadn’t visited the orphanage for several weeks in a row. She thought to herself that since she had already shown kindness and taken action, the child must be deeply grateful to her and never forget it. Visiting once a month would be sufficient. Time would allow this goodness to settle and ferment into a long-lasting fond memory.
After all, wasn’t this what the girl in her original world did? She had learned about it at the salon tea parties of the rich ladies. There was a girl from a common background who, during her high school days, used to pass by an orphanage and gave a few pieces of candy to a boy about the same age as her brother. Initially, she did it to accumulate virtue, but little did she know that her unintentional act would lead to something remarkable. The boy eventually became a legendary figure in the business world.
As the boy grew up, he regarded the woman, who had already become a married woman, as his only salvation in a difficult situation. He showered her with affection, even stating candidly in a television interview, “She is the only light in my darkness.” The world labeled him as cold and ruthless, but in reality, he only showed a specific tenderness to one person, being cautious and gentle in her presence.
When she first heard this story, she was somewhat surprised and couldn’t believe it, her eyes widening with astonishment. Her heart fluttered like a deer, thinking that such a romantic plot was happening in reality. She then thought of her own husband, who spent his days in revelry. She found herself admiring that woman to the extreme and, out of longing, secretly gathered information about the big shot’s life.
Coincidentally, she was reborn.
She squatted at the intersection in advance and, when she saw a little boy who resembled the childhood photos circulating on the internet of the big shot, her eyes lit up. She approached him, took out the carefully prepared candies, and delivered her lines, successfully capturing the boy’s heart.
Unfortunately, the orphanage was too far from her home, and with the busy high school workload, along with her part-time job at a coffee shop, she couldn’t possibly pass by every day.
When she finally had some free time today and rushed over, she was surprised to find that the dilapidated and impoverished orphanage from her memory had been renovated. Everything looked newly painted, and even the bare walls had been adorned with numerous cartoon decorations. As she entered on a cold winter day, warm air greeted her, leaving her in shock.
She thought, “Is this still the small and desolate orphanage I remember? How did it change so much in just one month? Everyone here has new clothes, rosy cheeks, and they seem much more energetic.” She scanned the room and even noticed that the older kids were helping the younger ones with their homework, with no signs of the previous fights and quarrels.
Feeling confused, she randomly grabbed a little girl wearing a floral dress and asked, “Little sister, what happened here?”
The little girl was caught off guard at first and looked somewhat cautious, but when she saw that Jiang Mingqin was well-dressed and beautiful, not resembling a bad person, she obediently replied, “It’s because of the kind big brother who supports us! That big brother gave us lots of candies and dolls!” Oh, and clothes, stationery, and many other things. She counted on her fingers and realized she couldn’t count them all.
So, it was because of a kind-hearted person’s support?
With the prosperity of the economy this year, the industry was booming, and it seemed that more people were engaging in charity and doing good deeds. These people were truly well-off, with money to spare. Jiang Mingqin thought to herself that, amidst a sea of black-haired heads, she needed to find the little boy’s figure.
After searching for a while, she finally found him among a group of children writing. Her eyes sparkled as she approached him, gently stroking the boy’s hair and saying, “Nian Nian, are you writing? It’s been a long time since you’ve seen your sister. Have you missed your sister?”
Unexpectedly, the little boy turned his head away, furrowing his brows and saying, “Sister, who are you?”
He had forgotten her? It had only been a month! She had been his salvation during difficult times1narcissistic *****. Shouldn’t he have regarded her as his guardian angel? How could he say he had forgotten her? Jiang Mingqin was stunned, as if struck by lightning. Her temples throbbed, and she almost couldn’t catch her breath. After a while, her face turned black, and she remembered something.
That was, children of this age tend to have poor memories. Including herself, most people couldn’t remember things before the age of six or seven. Though she understood this, she still felt a bit upset. She had been thinking about a three or four-year-old child for half a month, which seemed rather foolish, especially when he didn’t regard her as important and had long forgotten her.
With anger burning in her eyes, she stood up and looked down at the little boy. She intended to express her displeasure with an angry demeanor. However, her stern face seemed to have frightened the surrounding children. They scrambled to get away and hid behind Aunt Director, only peeking out to tattle, “Auntie, there’s a stranger here! She’s scary and yelled at us!”
Before she could explain that it was all a misunderstanding and that she was just playing with the kids, she was chased away by the gatekeeper and ended up on the orphanage’s visitor blacklist. She wouldn’t be allowed to come back again.
This infuriated Jiang Mingqin, and her face turned pale as she trembled with anger. She couldn’t believe that after making a special trip despite the cold, she would be treated this way. The orphanage had really started acting arrogant after receiving support from a wealthy person. They even kicked out visitors! If it weren’t for her ulterior motives, she wouldn’t want to come to this remote and inconvenient place in the first place.
The young girl wrapped her scarf tightly around herself, suppressing her anger as she returned home.
Upon entering the house, she didn’t look pleased at all. She walked straight to her room, closed the door with a loud “bang,” making it clear that she was seething with anger.
Her mother, Kong Jinghua, wiped her apron and walked out of the kitchen. She said to her son, who was busy on the computer, “Stop fooling around with that computer of yours. Go check on your sister; she seems upset.”
Jiang Mingyao, lifting his weary face from a tall stack of reference books, replied, “Really? I’ll finish organizing the things my little sister wanted, and then I’ll go talk to her.”
He copied a few files onto a storage device from his computer desktop and then proceeded to the only princess-themed bedroom in the house. He knocked on the door and, upon receiving a response from inside, entered.
As soon as he walked in, he saw his sister lying on the bed with disheveled hair, hugging a doll while looking gloomy. Had someone really mistreated her? Jiang Mingyao furrowed his brows and asked with concern, “Mingqin, what’s wrong? Did someone bully you?”
Who had dared to bully his sister? He was about to enter society, and he knew very well how troublesome boys of this age could be. Often, their characters were not very gentlemanly, and they could be quite reckless. His sister had always been beautiful from a young age, making her an easy target for those boys.
“It’s nothing…” Jiang Mingqin said with a lack of energy. “I just cared about a boy, but he quickly forgot about me. I feel like I did a good deed for nothing. It’s so hard to be a good person!”
Although the boy was only four years old, she still felt like she was taken for granted. Jiang Mingyao didn’t know the details but believed that his sister had genuinely tried to be kind and was then ignored. He felt somewhat upset about this, especially seeing his sister’s downcast expression with her fair, melon-seed-shaped face. It was heart-wrenching to watch, but he could only console her, saying, “If he forgets about you, then let him. People like him aren’t worth your anger. Just don’t go out of your way for people like that in the future.”
With that said, to shift the focus, he took out the storage device and offered it, saying, “These are the things you wanted. Brother has prepared them for you. Are you happy?”
As expected, he immediately saw the joyful look in his sister’s eyes. She kicked the doll beside her without any care, letting it roll into a corner. She eagerly took the storage device, excitedly saying, “Brother, you’re amazing! Did you really help me make the game? I love you so much! You’re so capable!”
However, Jiang Mingyao’s immediate attention was drawn to the doll lying on the floor. That doll was bought with his first paycheck when he was seventeen years old. Although he believed that gifts given away should not be judged by how they were treated, seeing his sister carelessly kick it aside made him somewhat uncomfortable.
But that feeling was fleeting, and it quickly disappeared in his sister’s joyful expression. He, too, revealed a happy smile and humbly said, “It’s not just thanks to me. My classmates and some junior students majoring in computer science helped a lot.” It had taken them a month of collective effort, seeking external assistance and working overnight to produce the final product. They hadn’t neglected the expertise of art majors either. All of this was aimed at ensuring that his sister would excel in the competition, so their efforts wouldn’t go in vain.
Although the current version of the product was not refined enough, he had confidence that, after it was handed over to professional studios for post-production, it would surely impress everyone. His confidence was unshaken.
Speaking of the game’s creativity and script, it was truly remarkable. All the work revolved around it. Jiang Mingyao had never seen a domestically produced game of this genre before, with such smooth and natural main and romance storylines. He couldn’t help but immerse himself in the game during the test play, feeling like he had read several novels and experienced the protagonist’s real life.
His handsome face was filled with excitement, and he couldn’t help but say, “Sis, did you write the script for this game? Our schoolmates all praise it and say they’d love the opportunity to meet you and have a chat.”
Upon hearing this, Jiang Mingqin’s expression briefly flickered with discomfort. The joy she had shown earlier faded slightly, and she put on an aloof facade, saying, “Yes, I wrote it, but let’s skip the chatting part. I still need to prepare for the competition, so I may not have the time.”
The reason was quite appropriate, and Jiang Mingyao had no choice but to give up. He returned to his classmates who were eager to meet the game’s scriptwriter. After all, there was no rush to meet in person; they could do it after his sister finished the competition.
On the other side, Yin Minglu was also preparing her own game and was completely unaware of the red-hot post on the school forum.
The post’s title was: “Yin Corporation’s First Game Design Competition – Whom Will You Cheer For?”
The post contained official photos of the contestants posted on the official website. Both photos featured a blue background with the contestants wearing white attire. The boy looked handsome, and the girl was beautiful, exuding a youthful vibe.
Comment 1: “I clicked on this thinking it was some ad spam, but after seeing the comments, I shut up. So, students from our school are also participating.”
Comment 2: “Ah, my crush is here! I’m swooning! I’ve saved the pictures!”
Comment 3: “OP, you’re something else. It’s just a competition for the school’s beauty and handsome guys, but why post it for the whole school to see? What if neither of them wins? That would be awkward, wouldn’t it?”
Comment 4: “Of course, I’m rooting for Miss Jiang Mingqin! She’s beautiful, has a sweet voice, and a great figure. I really like her!”
Comment 5: “Rooting for Miss Jiang Mingqin +1. I didn’t expect her to be a game designer too. She’s amazing! Let’s support her, and I hope she wins!”
Comment 38: “Didn’t they confiscate your phones? You guys are quick to comment. I’ve never seen you this active for physics or math competitions. You’re just obsessed with appearances! But, the comment above makes sense; it’s just a competition for school beauties and hunks, why are you all spamming the thread?”
Comment 39: “Is it just my imagination, or does it seem like there are traces of water army activity here? Thinking about it, it’s unlikely because spamming a school forum with a water army is even more boring than what we’re doing.”
Comment 71: “Not a water army, just people who want to support the beautiful schoolgirl. I’ve played her game, and it’s super fun. She’s definitely making it to the finals.”
Comment 77: “Yeah, it’s super fun! She’ll definitely make it to the finals. Everyone should go support her! She’s a talented 15-year-old beauty!”
Comment 81: “This is getting weirder. Never mind the game; why is this post filled with fans of the school’s beauty and handsome guys? Did they die or something?”
Comment 82: “Hey, the person above, watch your language. Who are you saying died? I believe that all the girls in the school, each spitting a mouthful of saliva, can drown you.”
Comment 95: “The game has nothing to do with us +1. If you want to cheer, at least wait until they make it to the finals.”
Comment 99: “My focus is different from yours. When I saw that the school’s handsome guy was participating, and the school’s beauty followed, I thought it was some talent show audition. Turns out, it’s a game design competition, huh?”
Comment 103: “Maybe it really is an audition. I read on the official website that Chu Run, the mentor, is bringing ten female trainees to support the finalists. The winning game will have the endorsement of these ten popular female trainees. This is probably a collaboration between the competition organizers and the training program.”
From this point on, the discussion completely shifted away from the original topic and focused on the popular female trainees from the training program. Since these girls were sweet and beautiful, they were well-known among the student population, and the main post’s content was largely ignored. It wasn’t until both contestants made it to the finals that this post, which had gradually become quiet, gained attention again.
“Oh my, oh my, it’s really time to decide who to support! Handsome boy and beautiful girl, who should I choose?”
Amidst the suspicion of water army activity in support of the school’s beauties, supporting the school beauty became the prevailing trend.
The class teacher, Lao Yu, had no idea that both students from his class had made it into the fiercely competitive finals. When he heard this news while sipping tea and chatting in the office, he was so surprised that he nearly knocked over his tea. Amidst the envy and blessings from other teachers, he sat there in a daze for a long time, thinking, “Since they’ve both made it to the finals, should I take the class to support them?”
He wasn’t sure if there would be seats available at the event, but if there were, who should he support? He found himself in a deep yet slightly sweet dilemma.
—
Author’s Note:
Thank you to the angels who voted for me or provided nourishment~
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