"Sisters, I'm back~"
"Xiao Xi!"
"It's so late, why are you back?"
The few people who were already sitting on the bed poked their heads out upon hearing the sound.
Due to the tight competition schedule, Qiu Xi hadn't told them she was returning along the way.
"Mm."
Qiu Xi put down the things in her hands.
"We're few in number, and the school's bus is here, so the teachers didn't let us stop anywhere and took us straight back to school."
The entire bus had less than ten people, and there were indeed few of them.
"So, what were the results?"
As Qiu Xi tidied her things, she replied, "For this small competition venue, there was no suspense for me, of course."
The others nodded, "That's true..."
To them, Xiao Xi was like a human bug; with her participating, there was indeed little suspense.
Qiu Xi continued, "Alas!"
"We're still far from finished. After this comes the sectional finals, in November."
"Mm..."
Even though they couldn't go, they were still aware of it because Xiao Xi was going.
Today's preliminary round was, in essence, a selection match to pick out outstanding individuals from the larger competition zones, so there would be sectional finals later.
As for the true battleground, that would be the national rotating city competition in March and April of next year.
"It's okay, with your abilities, Xiao Xi, you'll be fine!"
"I'm not worried. On the contrary, hearing you talk now makes me feel like it's not me competing, but you all."
As Qiu Xi finished organizing her things, she looked at the people still sitting by the bed, occasionally whispering to each other, and slowly shook her head.
The three of them rolled their eyes, "..."
Really!
They shouldn't have had these thoughts!
This woman didn't need them at all!
Sensing a few less-than-friendly glances, Qiu Xi could only chuckle, "Alright, let's not talk about me anymore."
Qiu Xi turned to look at Song Daiyao, "Daiyao, what about you? How is it going?"
Before the competition, to familiarize themselves with the venue, the participants had departed in advance.
And coincidentally, Song Daiyao was already starting formal offline training with Teacher Yang Yue.
Qiu Xi had seen someone lamenting in the group chat earlier, so she was quite curious now.
At this moment, upon hearing Qiu Xi's words, Song Daiyao's smiling mouth suddenly drooped.
"I knew Teacher Yang Yue's classes were very strict before, but I didn't expect it to be so difficult when there are fewer people!"
Speaking of this, Song Daiyao felt miserable and began to recall her difficult days over the past two days.
"Xiao Xi!"
"You have no idea! Teacher Yang Yue is really... she's even more ruthless than Grandma Li!"
Thinking about their group of four or five people, she gave each of them one-on-one attention, with each person looking at and practicing different things at every given time.
Even so, she would just practice hard!
But after the training intensified, they sometimes had to pay attention to the content their companions were practicing.
She didn't have multiple heads!
She was already overwhelmed with her own portion, and having to manage everything else simultaneously was a bit too much to handle.
"Ah, this..."
Qiu Xi hadn't expected that Teacher Yang Yue's training methods were indeed quite rigorous.
It was similar to the set she received as a system reward, except that the environment she faced was with a teammate who was just like her, and the memory content had risen by more than one level.
Qiu Xi asked, "Daiyao, can you still bear it?"
Song Daiyao pouted, "What else can I do!"
"I chose this path myself, so I'll move it forward even if I have to crawl!"
The other three, "..."
The three of them gave a thumbs-up, "Daiyao! You're the best!"
"Admirable!"
This was something they also admired!
Although Daiyao loved to eat and was sometimes a bit slow-witted, once she committed to something, she would definitely do it well.
Being friends with someone like that, apart from anything else, it definitely made one happy!
"Mm....."
"Thanks for the praise from all you great people~"
"You're welcome~"
"......"
She still seemed spirited, indicating she had a good mindset.
...
The dormitory lights were just switched off.
"Right!"
"Xiao Xi, what are you doing?"
Qiu Xi's sudden exclamation startled Shen Yan, who had just turned off the lights and gotten into bed.
"We agreed, no funny business in the middle of the night!"
Fortunately, she had already climbed into bed...
Qiu Xi paused noticeably, "No, it's something I remembered when I got back."
It was something she had planned to write about tomorrow, and she had just recalled it, so she wanted to mention it to them.
Song Daiyao and Liang Yunfei asked, "What is it?"
"Well, it's about the certification exam next month, the TOEFL in October. Do you want to join?"
As soon as the words fell, Song Daiyao and the other two, "..."
Was this something to discuss late at night?
And hadn't this person just returned from the competition?
How was she still so energetic and thinking so far ahead...
"Xiao Xi, how about we talk about this tomorrow?"
"Yeah, there's no rush."
Qiu Xi smiled upon hearing them, "I just wanted to mention it in advance, in case I forget to tell you, so you don't blame me for not informing you."
"Okay, okay!"
"We know. Just sign up and then tell us!"
"We'll follow the main group's pace!"
"Alright~"
"Then I won't say anymore. Everyone should get some sleep~"
"Okay~"
"Goodnight~"
After bidding each other goodnight, Qiu Xi lay down and entered the system's classroom.
She had accumulated too many things recently and needed to seize the time.
The first thing she worked on was Old Yan's questionnaire.
She had already provided Old Yan with the organized newspaper and document materials, but the questionnaire was still pending.
Since Old Yan wasn't rushing this, she had put it off until now.
The questionnaire was a minor matter, and with Xiao Hua's help, she finished it quickly.
Next was the thesis that Teacher Su had mentioned earlier.
Considering their situation, the four of them, Teacher Su had thoughtfully provided an outline.
They just needed to follow these points, and there wouldn't be any major issues.
As for her part, it wasn't much, but it was rather troublesome.
Because besides the part she was analyzing, the teacher had also assigned her the conclusion.
She said that she had many innovative points, and during the project follow-up, she had offered many refreshing ideas, so entrusting her with the conclusion and outlook would surely result in an excellent completion...
She was truly grateful! (Sarcastic)
With this, she would have to read quite a lot of literature, otherwise, she wouldn't know what to say.
It was fortunate that she had learned a lot from her master; the theoretical aspects were not a problem at all, otherwise, she might be in an even worse situation.
Alas!
If only she had listened to her master and started engaging with thesis literature earlier, would she be in a better state now?
...
Whether it was better or not, she didn't know!
In any case, she was now close to exhaustion...
She hadn't been this busy even when rushing her summer homework!
With that, Qiu Xi finished reading the required content and took her notes before preparing to sleep...