Drama Queen Reborn as a Top Student!-Chapter 987 - 491: Gossip

Shen You’an’s words boosted Rong Xianning’s confidence.

Taking a deep breath, expelling negative emotions, Rong Xianning forced himself into a focused state.

After the break, the second half started.

This time it would be a showdown between Shen You’an and Liu Runxi, with Rong Xianning and Zhang Yan providing support.

The points between the two teams were very close, with each chasing the other, making the tension palpable.

Rong Xianning regained his composure and became the strongest support for Shen You’an.

Zhang Yan was also strong and quick to react, but in the world of genius confrontations, she felt somewhat inadequate.

This blow to her self-confidence quickly showed in her performance.

In this clash of titans, if she couldn’t help Liu Runxi, she would undoubtedly be a "burden".

It soon reached match point, with Shen You’an scoring ninety-nine and Liu Runxi ninety-six.

If Shen You’an won this round, she would undoubtedly advance directly to the next round.

The final promotion list would still depend on the total ranking of points.

As expected, Shen You’an won the match point, and she and Rong Xianning advanced to the next round ahead of time.

The final promotion list was Shen You’an and Rong Xianning, Liu Runxi and Zhang Yan, Leng Yunyang and Jiang Yumo.

The list was unsurprising to everyone.

Next was lunchtime, and recording a show with studious participants was highly efficient; this was almost the fastest recording pace for the program director’s variety shows so far, and the resulting footage was excellent.

At noon, the program group provided lunch boxes for several contestants, which were quite good, with two meats, two vegetables, soup, and fruit.

The six people entering the ultimate challenge gathered in the lounge to eat lunch, with three boys at one table and three girls at another.

The other five people were either friends or classmates, all familiar with each other. Zhang Yan felt out of place and could only bow her head and eat quickly.

"I saw the official competition rules, and the ultimate challenge looks a lot like the proposition questions of the MT International Mathematics Challenge. An’an, you have experience, give us some advice."

Jiang Yumo asked.

Zhang Yan secretly perked up her ears.

Shen You’an put down her chopsticks, thought for a while, and said, "No advice, it depends on your usual accumulation."

Jiang Yumo sighed, "That’s the confidence of a genius."

Unlike her, she was too nervous to eat.

Zhang Yan sneaked a glance at Shen You’an, and the more she looked, the more captivated she became.

She had long known Shen You’an’s name. When Shen You’an became famous last year, she was just an ordinary student from a remote village in Yunzhou. The reason she got lucky enough to appear on this show and compete with all these celebrity prodigies was due to the director’s connections.

The director was a close friend of her homeroom teacher, who recommended her to the director. Plus, the director wanted contestants of various types, so after two interviews, she was selected.

Before coming, she really had no confidence. She was just an ordinary person; how could she compete with so many top students from prestigious schools?

But her homeroom teacher encouraged her time and again, telling her not to be discouraged, just work hard, and have no regrets; it was an opportunity to broaden her horizons, which would directly determine her future.

She never expected to make it to the finals, to secure a place among a group of genius prodigies, experiencing the atmosphere of competing on the same stage with urban geniuses, witnessing large-scale events, she thought of her teacher’s words.

This experience of broadening my horizons will directly determine my future.

Indeed, she decided that she would apply to the top university in Jingzhou, she loved this atmosphere surrounded by the strong.

Shen You’an was of course her favorite; she had never seen such a perfect person, though she didn’t realize it, her gaze at Shen You’an was full of admiration, like a young fangirl adoring an idol.

Jiang Yumo noticed Zhang Yan and, to prevent her embarrassment, took the initiative to talk to her, "Zhang Yan, where are you originally from?"

Zhang Yan snapped back to reality, lowered her head, and spoke quietly.

"Yunzhou."

Despite her strong demeanor during the competition, privately Zhang Yan was quite a shy young girl.

"Yunzhou, the scenery is beautiful there. I’ve wanted to visit for a long time. If there’s a chance, could you be my guide?"

Jiang Yumo had a gentle demeanor, making it easy for people to feel close to her.

Zhang Yan sensed the goodwill and immediately felt closer to her.

Zhang Yan was moved to tears.

"I’ll be your guide."

Leng Yunyang heard the conversation and said to Rong Xianning, "I remember you’re also from Yunzhou, right?"

Rong Xianning lowered his gaze and nodded silently.

Zhang Yan lightly coughed and cautiously looked back at Rong Xianning, then whispered to Jiang Yumo and Shen You’an, "Actually... actually Rong Xianning and I are from the same hometown."

Jiang Yumo was surprised, "Really?"

What a coincidence, Zhang Yan had never mentioned it before.

Zhang Yan’s voice grew smaller, "We attended the same elementary school; he’s two years younger than me, probably doesn’t remember who I am. I was also surprised he became a big star and that we’d meet on this show."

The younger student from the same elementary school later became a big star; when Rong Xianning first became popular, her elementary school group chat exploded.

She had never thought a big star would come from a remote town.

She was self-aware; this slight acquaintance wouldn’t make any difference. They probably didn’t know who she was.

To draw closer to Shen You’an and Jiang Yumo, Zhang Yan shared some "gossip" about Rong Xianning.

"His mom is my aunt’s card-playing friend. I stayed at my aunt’s house during middle school, and I often saw his mom there."

Shen You’an, who had been quietly eating, looked up at Zhang Yan upon hearing this.

Zhang Yan’s heartbeat suddenly quickened, she hastily waved her hands to explain, "I didn’t mean to badmouth Rong Xianning, I really admire and respect him."

Shen You’an said, "You can continue."

Seeing she wasn’t blamed, Zhang Yan continued, "His mom loves to play cards and often boasted about how outstanding her son was, and how well he studied, but I heard from my aunt that the reports of family violence online were true. It’s amazing he made it out of that family, and I hope he never goes back."

The three spoke in very low voices, and the three boys across the table only saw them whispering, unable to hear what was said.

Jiang Yumo shook her head, "One cannot choose their birth, let’s hope his parents have the decency not to bother him again."

As soon as she said that, it was contradicted.

A staff member from the program group came running in, whispering something in Rong Xianning’s ear.

Rong Xianning’s previously calm expression was suddenly clouded.

He slowly put down his chopsticks, got up, and went out with the staff member.

The others looked at each other, not knowing what had happened.

It wasn’t long before they all knew.

It was Rong Xianning’s biological mother who had come. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Why did she come? To bring food, of course.

Bringing food was a pretense; causing a scene was the real intent.

The staff had never seen such a troublemaker, they couldn’t stop her as she rushed in, threatening to make a scene if they didn’t let her in, accusing the TV station of bullying.

They had to urgently find Rong Xianning to deal with it.

Honestly, they had only heard rumors online about Rong Xianning’s unreliable parents, but seeing it in person was like a metaphorical eye-opener.