CHAPTER 378: CHAPTER 378: THE COMPETITION BEGINS

As he spoke, there was a sudden silence around.

Quiet.

An eerie kind of quiet.

The boy initially felt proud of the impact his words had made, but — just seconds into his pride, he began to feel something was odd, not just him, but also the people around him felt the atmosphere was inexplicably strange at this moment.

On the stage.

Ji You gently put down her tools and stood up, looking at the boy who spoke and asked, "Are you challenging me?"

The boy shouted loudly, "Yes! Aren’t you openly setting up this challenge? I am the first one who will defeat you. If you know what’s good for you, step down from the platform now and publicly apologize to Siyu Xu in front of everyone. I can let bygones be bygones."

Hmm?

Such an arrogant tone.

However—

She liked it.

Ji You pursed her lips and smiled, "Dear senior, we’re short on time, let’s not delay any further, please come up."

The boy lifted his chin arrogantly, "You better think this through."

Audience:

"Isn’t this Gao Jie from the 130th Material Department?"

"It is Gao Jie; I heard he is very strong."

"They say Gao Jie comes from a family with a history in materials research, his father, his mother, his grandfather, his grandmother... all are well-known material researchers in the Alliance."

"!!! So formidable? Doesn’t that mean Ji You is going to lose?"

"Not to mention anything else, Gao Jie has undergone systematic material knowledge training since he was young, with a solid foundation and profound knowledge. Compared to Ji You, who has blazed her own trail, his advantage seems too great."

"Could Ji You truly lose?"

"It’s very possible."

"Now that you say it, I’m even more excited to see the outcome of their competition."

...

While the audience was murmuring, Ji You naturally heard some of it, but she didn’t care at all. If this guy named Gao Jie hadn’t shown up, she would have nearly forgotten why she was standing on the stage today.

Challenging on stage.

It’s been half the day, and finally, the first challenger appeared, which could almost bring her to tears of joy.

So—

Ji You wanted to pull him onto the stage immediately, how could she afford to let him go?

Ji You spoke loudly, "Dear senior, I have thought it through, don’t worry, I will ensure you step down with dignity."

Gao Jie: "..."

Everyone: "..."

Gao Jie shouted, "Don’t be too confident. If you lose, you must publicly apologize to Siyu Xu!"

Ji You frowned upon hearing this, "Why should I apologize to Siyu Xu if I lose? This platform is open to everyone, not just her alone. If she wishes to challenge me, I welcome her, but to apologize? Sorry — that’s never going to happen. I, Ji You, have never done anything wrong to her which warrants an apology."

Upon hearing this, Gao Jie’s face instantly turned sour: "You plagiarize and copy her work, dare say you haven’t done anything wrong to her?"

Ji You’s smile faded, her voice neither loud nor soft, but enough for everyone present to hear: "Did Senior Gao Jie come here today pretending to challenge me, just to forcibly press my head down and make me admit to things I’ve never done?"

Gao Jie shouted, "Whether you did it or not, you know it in your heart."

Ji You’s face darkened slightly, she spoke lightly, "Fine, I apologize—because I shouldn’t have wasted so much time talking nonsense with you. Now, Senior Gao Jie, please come up to the stage. If I lose, I will apologize."

Wow~

This statement caused a stir around.

Ji You apologizing?

Is she going to apologize?

This means she admits to plagiarizing Siyu Xu’s work.

But Ji You quickly shifted the tone, her voice resounding clearly, "But if I win, my only request is that whenever Senior Gao Jie sees me in any situation in the future, he must keep his mouth shut!"

Huh?

Following this statement, the audience was somewhat speechless.

Not asking Gao Jie to apologize, just to keep his mouth shut?

She—

Is this an implicit criticism of Gao Jie’s babbling, unable to stand his talking?

Pfft—

The audiences in their seats, after a slight brainstorm, found Ji You’s idea a bit funny.

Upon hearing this, Gao Jie’s brow twitched. He knew the comment was uncomfortable and odd, but he absolutely believed in his own capabilities, thus Gao Jie did not hesitate to respond: "Can do."

Ji You pursed her lips, smiling, "Senior is really straightforward! So, please come up to the stage."

Gao Jie leapt onto the stage.

His companions also wanted to follow him onto the stage but were stopped by Cheng Jing, who was in charge of maintaining order, who said, "Only challengers may come onto the stage."

After hearing this, they looked at Gao Jie, then at Professors Ye Hong and Jiang Yulan, both with stern faces on the stage, and did not dare to act rashly, so they retreated according to the instructions and took their seats.

After Gao Jie came onto the stage, he first greeted Professor Ye Hong and Professor Jiang Yulan, "Professor Ye, Professor Jiang, good day."

Ye Hong glanced at him and snorted coldly.

Jiang Yulan didn’t outright snub him, but simply said indifferently, "Since it’s a competition, focus all your effort into it."

Gao Jie nodded, "Yes."

Ye Hong paused for a moment at three groups of materials, snorted coldly and returned to the judges’ seat.

Jiang Yulan also reluctantly put down her tools and returned to her original seat.

Since it was a competition, it was, of course, about processing materials. Gao Jie then said, "I heard you’ve never attended a complete material class, which shows you haven’t deeply studied this subject. So, I won’t take advantage of you; let’s directly compete in basic materials. Both of us will prepare 3 sets of basic materials, and the quality of the final product will determine the winner."

Wow~

As soon as he said this, there was a brief pause in the audience, many people lifted their heads, looking at Gao Jie with slightly complex expressions:

This Gao Jie, who has been playing with materials since he was young, has a solid foundation that is renowned throughout Lanyue Star, even the new talent Siyu Xu cannot compete with him in producing basic materials, let alone others?

So, everyone understood that despite Gao Jie’s righteous words, in truth — Ji You was at a great disadvantage.

For a moment, many eyes were on Ji You. Would she accept or refuse?

In the audience’s view, Ji You’s only chance of winning against Gao Jie was through her unique creativity and innovation, not by competing in basic knowledge—

But who knew—

Ji You hooked the corner of her lips and readily said, "Can do."

Gao Jie’s pupils shimmered with triumph, which disappeared in an instant, he waved his hand, playing the magnanimous part, "You can choose the materials first."

Ji You smiled, "The materials are the same, no difference; whoever picks first doesn’t matter. Time is precious, wasting it isn’t good. I’ll start now, Senior Gao Jie, please feel free."

After hearing this, Gao Jie’s expression grew slightly unpleasant. He only wanted to show a bit of gentlemanly demeanor, but Ji You didn’t give him any face at all.

Gao Jie was a bit angry.