The organizers, it must be said, were quite considerate; at least the awards ceremony wasn't scheduled too late.
The awards ceremony was at 10 AM, and Qiu Xi and the others were up before 8 AM.
Washing up, eating breakfast, and then tidying themselves up, time passed quite quickly.
"Xiao Xi!"
"Don't move!"
"Let me take a picture first!"
The beauties were simply too captivating, and their hands itched, so they pulled out their phones and started snapping away.
"Hehe~ Let's take a group photo again~"
They'd take more pictures at the awards ceremony later, and their WeChat Moments for the day would be sorted!
The beauty and scholar's appearance~
The bar was set ridiculously high!
Especially after they had dressed up meticulously, it was even more so~
Throughout the entire process, Qiu Xi was very cooperative.
"Xin Xin, are you ready?"
"Ready~"
"Okay, can we go out now?"
"Of course~"
Grabbing their small bags, the two then went to meet up with their teachers.
One had to admit, teachers also liked good-looking children.
As soon as the two met their teachers, they were pulled over for a few more photos on the spot.
"Good!"
Looking at the photos in their albums, the two teachers exclaimed "Good!" in unison!
"Xiao Yu, you must send us these photos later!"
The way they feared the children might have bouts of forgetfulness and forget to send photos was truly a little endearing!
"Teacher, please rest assured!" Yu Xin Xin said, nodding, "After the awards ceremony ends today, as soon as these photos are ready, I'll send them to you teachers."
"Great~"
Having received the answers they wanted, the two teachers happily led their two students to the venue of the awards ceremony.
...
By the time the four of them arrived, the venue was already a bit lively.
"It inexplicably resembles a reception scene~" Yu Xin Xin said with a sigh after looking around.
Qiu Xi had already taken in the surroundings upon entering. "Mhm... it really does look a bit like it..."
It's just that the style was perhaps a little higher than that of an ordinary reception.
"Let's go, we should find our seats first. We can talk more after the awards ceremony concludes."
The two teachers led the two students to find seats.
This was a tradition of the Century Cup; the awards ceremony was always held separately, and after the awards, there was ample time left for everyone to mingle and communicate, ostensibly for mutual exchange and learning, and common progress.
However, in the eyes of most teachers, this was indirect boasting. Those with better results would keep talking about them, while those who were slightly worse off would put on a polite smile and have to engage.
If one were to talk about previous years, the two teachers had also fared quite well; at least they weren't the ones putting on awkward smiles.
But this year was different!
With a student who had taken first place, how could they not show off properly?
So, as soon as they entered, the smiles on the faces of the two teachers never ceased, their moods as bright as the sun, exceptionally radiant.
"...Welcome everyone to this year's Century Cup Awards Ceremony."
The host kicked things off, followed by speeches from the organizers.
Well... the actual awards ceremony would be after all that.
"...Now, we invite the organizers and the event committee... to present the awards to the recipients of the Excellence Award."
Since it was the finals, and there were quite a lot of participants, the number of award recipients was set to cover 50% of the participants.
As the saying goes, participation awards are also awards; these were given to participants ranked 20th to 30th.
Those ranked 7th to 19th were recipients of the Excellence Award.
Following that were three Third Prizes, two Second Prizes, and one First Prize.
As for the participants ranked 30th and below, they only received a participation certificate issued by the organizers. And in a way, that wasn't a complete loss, was it?
"Xiao Xi, I'm going up!"
As Qiu Xi was contemplating these awards, Yu Xin Xin's cheerful voice reached her ears. Without even looking, she knew the girl was very happy.
"Go ahead~" Qiu Xi smiled.
Yu Xin Xin had narrowly secured the 19th position, qualifying for the Excellence Award.
And the first batch of awardees were those receiving the Excellence Award.
After Yu Xin Xin went up, Qiu Xi stopped drifting off. Instead, she, along with the two teachers beside her, started holding up their phones, ready to take some good pictures of Yu Xin Xin.
"Xiao Qiu, remember to take plenty of pictures; our skills can't keep up with you young people~"
Even before it began, Teacher Huang was already worried about the quality of the photos she could take.
Qiu Xi chuckled, "Okay, Teacher."
Then she nodded, "I'll definitely take good pictures, and lots of them~"
"Mm!"
Just as they finished talking, the ceremony on stage had already begun.
More than ten people, looking quite crowded.
Fortunately, Yu Xin Xin was not short. By shifting sideways into a gap, she, being quite good-looking, was still very eye-catching even standing in the back row.
Seeing the people holding their certificates and preparing for photos, Qiu Xi quickly stood up straight, her fingers tapping away, occasionally adjusting the angle. She only stopped when they came down.
"Xiao Xi, how was it?"
Seeing the eager person, Qiu Xi understood, "Don't worry, I took a lot~"
"Hehe~" Hearing this, Yu Xin Xin was relieved.
"Okay, Xiao Xi, get ready; it's almost your turn."
Unlike the Excellence Award, the Third, Second, and First Prizes were awarded in that order. The recipients of the earlier prizes wouldn't leave the stage until after the First Prize was awarded and photos were taken, and then they would all take a group photo together.
So, by the time Qiu Xi went up, the rather large stage already had quite a few people on the sides.
"Congratulations~"
"Thank you~"
Taking the certificate and trophy handed to her, Qiu Xi smiled and shook hands with the presenter.
Then it was time for smiles and photos.
Next was a group photo of the six of them. Qiu Xi stood in the middle, firmly in the C position.
"Good! Let's give them a round of applause!"
"Next..."
At the end of the awards ceremony, there was a need for some ritual, so the final large group photo was indispensable!
All the participating contestants and those from the organizing committee who attended the awards ceremony filled up the stage.
With the shutter sound, the awards ceremony truly came to an end.
After this, it was everyone's free time~
To create a bit of atmosphere, plenty of drinks and beverages had been prepared in the venue.
"Come, come~"
"You two..."
At first, the two teachers called out to Qiu Xi and the other girl.
"Teacher..."
"Here!"
"Hold your things, let's go up and take a few more pictures!"
Now that the awards ceremony was over, the stage was empty, and there were still many teachers and students on it.
Since they were here, they didn't want to miss this opportunity!
The two exchanged glances and smiled, "Okay~"
It just so happened that they had the same idea!
Especially Yu Xin Xin, she didn't have any solo photos taken on stage earlier, so going up now was perfect.
As for Qiu Xi, from a distance, she wanted to take some close-up, good-looking pictures.
With that, the four of them walked onto the stage with smiles.