Ninety-seven, Mislove (4)

  "What's wrong, Mu Xian?"

  "Oh, nothing," said Ouyang Xiaoxiao, looking at me with a puzzled expression. To avoid revealing anything, I quickly shifted my gaze away and changed the subject, "How about we take a walk around the campus?"

  "Alright," said Ou Yang Xiao Xiao as she stood up.

  He and Ouyang Xiao walked around the campus for a few rounds, chatted about some aimless topics, then Ouyang Xiao's phone rang. On the other end of the line was a girl asking her to go to self-study class.

  So I said goodbye to Ouyang Xiaoxiao.

  In the evening, Gu Xue Lin returned.

  The two of us went downstairs to eat, and suddenly Gao Xuelin said, "This afternoon, someone in our dormitory said that they saw you with a girl on the basketball court, chatting and laughing together. You even gave her a back massage."

  I was taken aback for a moment.

  "Is that girl Ouyang Xiaoxiao?"

  "Uh-huh," I nodded.

  Gu Xue Lin's tone was a bit cold, and I knew I was in the wrong so I lowered my head.

  To ease the atmosphere, I changed the subject.

  "When is your match?"

  "Next Tuesday." Gao Xue Lin bit her lip, it was clear that she still had something to say in her heart, but with her personality, no matter what, she would never speak up.

  "Today is Friday, which means there are still three days?" I continued to find topics while sneaking a peek at her.

  "Uh-huh," Gu Xue Lin nodded, after a few seconds, she continued, "After the competition, there will be plenty of time, right?"

  "By the way, I remember you mentioning that there's a preliminary round and a final round, right?" I asked again.

  "The preliminary round was held in local cities, and the final round was held in Shanghai."

  "Do you think you can make it into the finals?"

  "Haven't I told you before? In our school, over the past decade or so, we've only produced one second prize winner in the preliminary round and one third prize winner in the final round. There are more than 20,000 participants from all over the country in the preliminary round, with less than 200 winners, and more than 2,000 participants in the final round, with only around 20 winners. This award is very prestigious, and those who win in the preliminary round can usually enter one of the world's top 500 multinational corporations after graduation."

  "Uh, but I believe in you, you'll definitely make it to the next round."

  "I don't know either, I think I'm quite diligent, training, reading books, doing exercises, but I think others must not be less hardworking than me. So, I think that if I can get an award in the preliminary round, I'll be satisfied. I don't expect to get another award in the final round."

  Gu Xue Lin's mood seemed to be gradually improving.

  I saw the situation and continued to please her, "Next Tuesday is the preliminary round, and the rematch will be held a month later. Does that mean that if you win an award in the preliminary round and prepare for the rematch, you'll be even busier?"

  Gu Xue Lin smiled slightly, "You can say that, but there are also many people who won the preliminary round and gave up in the final round."

  "Give up?" I was stunned for a moment. "Why?"

  "It's too tiring to prepare for the rematch, and besides, the chances of winning are too slim. It's better to use this time and energy to do something else." Gu Xuelin explained.

  "If you win in the preliminary round and enter the final round, will you give up the final round?"

  "I don't know, maybe I will, maybe I won't."

  "Uh-huh."