Chapter One Hundred and Fifty-Eight: Entering the Venue

Early in the morning, Yu Qian went to the provincial gymnasium to collect her number tag and wait for admission.

She was quite lucky; there weren't particularly many people when she arrived, and the number tag in her hand showed 193. They were entering in groups of ten, placing her in the twentieth group.

Following a staff member into the lounge, Yu Qian looked around at the other girls. They all had consecutive numbers, and the person sitting next to her was number 192. Yu Qian understood; these seats were assigned by number, and the person sitting on her other side shortly would be number 194, the other member of her group.

There were many people in the lounge. It is often said that three women are as noisy as five hundred ducks, but with this many people here, it wasn't even as loud as a single duck.

It was quiet, exceptionally quiet.

Aside from the sounds of the staff opening and closing doors as they led people in and out, and calling out numbers, not a single person spoke.

The girls all understood that everyone sitting in this lounge was a competitor—no exceptions—and everyone was quietly sizing up the others.

When Yu Qian walked in and sat down, she instantly drew everyone's attention.

That was because Yu Qian possessed exceptionally good body proportions and striking beauty, and the crucial point was that this beauty was not the result of makeup.

She wore no makeup.

After studying her for a long time, many could only notice that she had groomed her eyebrows; everything else was completely untouched, not even wearing any lipstick. Combined with her graceful temperament, she also looked quite young.

Uninvoluntarily, complex emotions arose in the room.

Every single person currently sitting in the lounge mentally categorized her as a formidable rival for this competition.

Yu Qian could sense the gazes fixed upon her, but so what? When she eventually stepped onto the world's runways, even more people would be watching her. If she couldn't handle this now, she would find it all the more unacceptable in the future.

She closed her eyes to rest and waited for her entry.

Although many people participated in the competition, because only a single evaluation item was being assessed, the pace was very brisk. After staying for about an hour, a staff member came to announce that the twentieth group should prepare in the waiting area.

Yu Qian stood up, lined up, and went outside to wait by the venue.

At this moment, she finally took a careful look at the people in her group.

There were those with pretty faces, those with fine figures, but there were also those of utterly mediocre aptitude.

At a single glance, the qualifications were uneven and varied. After scanning them over, she saw not much competitiveness among them. Knowing that she faced little pressure to advance, she calmed her mind and shifted her gaze toward the doorway, waiting for the previous group to emerge.

A few minutes later, the staff led the previous group out: "Group twenty, enter."

As they brushed past each other, Yu Qian glanced at them.

Some wore expressions of joy, while others looked utterly dejected.

Those with joy had naturally passed, while the dejected ones had been eliminated.

Entering the venue and standing firm, Yu Qian directed her gaze toward the people seated at the judges' table.

Two women and one man. They all looked quite young, and none seemed particularly famous. Yu Qian didn't recognize any of them, nor did she have any interest in doing so.

"One by one, give your self-introduction and then go to the side for the test," spoke the female judge sitting in the middle.

Blessed with 20/20 vision (5.0 vision), Yu Qian caught her name tag: Zhou Rui.

A row of beauties, each with her own distinct charm, standing together was a pleasing sight—a fact evident from the expression on the male judge's face.

The contestant with number 191 looked about 1.8 meters tall, yet her figure was extremely slender, seemingly fitting the standard of a size zero model. She looked to be in her early twenties, probably just graduating from college.

Being the first to step forward for her self-introduction, whether due to nervousness or something else, she stumbled through her speech haltingly, causing Zhou Rui's expression to sour slightly.

Zhou Rui's dark expression only made number 191 speak even less fluently.

When she finished, Zhou Rui gave a casual wave of her hand, told her to go aside for the test, jotted something down on the registration form, and told them to continue.

Number 192's performance was no better than 191's, and combined with a physique inferior to 191's, Zhou Rui's complexion grew even darker.

Until Yu Qian stepped forward.