AMBTICBPIB Chapter 20

 

As the competition drew nearer, Chu Yi and his teammates stayed after school every day to practice. Although they had initially said they would just wing it, they took their practice sessions very seriously.

They all understood that losing was acceptable, but losing due to laziness or half-hearted effort was not.

After several days of practice, their teamwork and coordination improved significantly.

During discussions, the teammates discovered that Chu Yi had come up with numerous potential strategies their opponents might use, which proved incredibly helpful.

The teammates were deeply impressed. “Chu Yi, how did you think of all this?”

Chu Yi blinked, knowing that these ideas had actually come from Shen Jin.

Every evening after returning home, Chu Yi would practice with Shen Jin for over an hour, focusing on controlling his emotions.

Whenever Chu Yi entered the practice mindset, Shen Jin became relentlessly strict, firing off rapid-fire questions that left Chu Yi struggling to keep up. Several times, Chu Yi’s lips would tighten, and his eyes would redden.

If Butler Wen hadn’t known both Shen Jin and Chu Yi so well, he might have genuinely believed Shen Jin was harshly scolding Chu Yi in the study.

He thought,

*Chu Yi really does cry easily.*

But what seemed more significant was that Shen Jin had tacitly allowed Chu Yi to shed tears in his presence.

From the beginning, Chu Yi’s eyes would redden whenever Shen Jin frowned. Gradually, Chu Yi seemed to grow accustomed to it. Now, when Shen Jin’s expression darkened, Chu Yi no longer tensed up as much. He would blink, suppress his tears, and deliver his speeches fluently.

Uncle Wen clapped from the sidelines. “Excellent, excellent! You’ve improved tremendously, Chu Yi. You’re amazing!”

Chu Yi smiled shyly.

Shen Jin said, “If you maintain this composure tomorrow, winning the competition should be no problem.”

Chu Yi replied, “I just want to avoid embarrassing myself on stage. I haven’t even thought about winning.”

Shen Jin raised an eyebrow. Chu Yi quickly added, “Thank you, Mr. Shen, for helping me practice these past few days. I’ll definitely give it my all tomorrow.”

Shen Jin hummed in acknowledgment.

Butler Wen also offered encouragement: “Good luck tomorrow!”

The day of the debate competition arrived swiftly.

This week was the preliminary round, starting with class-versus-class debates. Winning classes would advance to the next round, followed by department-versus-department matches, and finally, college-versus-college competitions.

Finally came the grand finals. Based on past years’ experience, the ultimate debate champion was almost always a student from the law school.

In Jiang Xu’s words, they were just cannon fodder, participating for the sake of participation.

Since it was only the preliminary round, the venue was rather spartan—an empty classroom with just the judging professors and a few scattered students.

The auditorium would be packed for the all-school finals, every seat filled.

Unlike now, where the debaters outnumbered the audience. But the small crowd was a blessing; it meant less pressure. Chu Yi wished there were even fewer people.

Both sides took their positions, and the debate officially began.

The opposing team members were formidable, each citing scriptures and classics with ease. One particularly tall, stern-faced boy looked downright intimidating when he wasn’t smiling.

In the past, Chu Yi might have felt intimidated. But after facing Shen Jin’s sharp gaze and relentless demeanor every day for the past week, he had become somewhat desensitized and felt little fear.

Faced with the opposing team’s relentless pressure, Chu Yi and his teammates, having prepared thoroughly, responded with calm, logical arguments.

During the preliminary rounds, debate sessions are usually quite dull. After all, the participants are all freshmen, and their arguments tend to be formulaic and somewhat forced, rarely sparking any real passion.

The judges, however, were pleasantly surprised. This particular group exceeded their expectations, delivering a surprisingly engaging performance.

When the debate concluded, Chu Yi and his team were astonished to find they had won.

Their homeroom teacher beamed with pride. “Excellent work! You were all outstanding—truly impressive!”

Despite the victory, Chu Yi found himself worrying. Winning meant advancing to the second round of the debate competition, and heaven knew he had no desire to participate further.

He never imagined they would actually win. Recalling Shen Jin’s reaction the previous night, it seemed as if he had already known they would triumph.

On the way home, Uncle Wen noticed Chu Yi’s gloomy expression and assumed he was upset about losing the debate. Shen Jin, too, found it strange; Chu Yi’s team shouldn’t have lost.

Butler Wen asked, “What was the outcome of the debate?”

“We won,” Chu Yi replied.

“You won? Then why are you so worried?”

“Because winning means we have to participate in next week’s debate too, Uncle Wen. I really don’t want to go! The opponents’ speeches were so intimidating!”

Shen Jin, standing nearby, couldn’t help but smile, though it was subtle, just a slight upturn of his lips.

The housekeeper, who was coming down the stairs, startled at the sight of Shen Jin’s smile. She always found his smiles a bit unsettling, as if it would be better if he didn’t smile at all.

Sensing her gaze, Shen Jin glanced over. The housekeeper quickly lowered her head and hurried away, feeling as if he had seen through her.

Practice makes perfect. This time, the teammates’ synergy was even stronger, and they were more proactive than before.

In the second round of the competition, Chu Yi and his team lost. After all, every team that advanced to the second round was exceptionally skilled, and they accepted their defeat gracefully.

Despite losing the debate, the teammates were all in good spirits.

During the competition, Chu Yi had managed to control his emotions. For him, avoiding any embarrassing blunders during the debate was the greatest success, all thanks to Shen Jin’s grueling training.

As Chu Yi and Jiang Xu exited the competition venue, someone called out to Chu Yi.

The young man introduced himself: “I’m the vice president of the Debate Club. I happened to watch your match earlier, and I think you have great potential. Would you be interested in joining our club?”

Realizing what was happening, Chu Yi hurriedly declined, “Thank you, thank you, but I’m not joining. I’m not good enough.”

The boy had happened to watch two of Chu Yi’s debate rounds and was impressed by his clear logic and potential. He approached Chu Yi immediately after the competition ended.

Still trying to persuade him, the boy added, “Our Debate Club offers excellent benefits. Members get frequent opportunities to participate in various debate competitions.”

Hearing this, Chu Yi’s refusal became even more resolute. “I’m sorry, but I’m really not suited for the Debate Club.”

*Frequent debate competitions? Absolutely not.*

Seeing Chu Yi’s firm stance, the boy finally gave up. “Alright, if you ever change your mind, you can come find me at the club anytime.”

Chu Yi was certain that would never happen.

Despite their competition loss, Chu Yi and his teammates decided to celebrate their hard work with a group outing that evening.

As Chu Yi was about to text Uncle Wen, he scrolled down his contacts list and his finger stopped on an unfamiliar profile picture at the very bottom.

Chu Yi didn’t recognize this person and had never chatted with them before. Why were they on his friend list?

He racked his brain for a long time, trying to remember when he had added this person, but came up empty.

**Chu Yi:** Excuse me, who are you?

Chu Yi planned to delete the contact immediately if there was no response.

After waiting a minute, as expected, there was no reply. Just as he was about to delete the contact, a message popped up from the other end.

Chu Yi’s hand jerked, and his phone nearly slipped from his grasp.

**Shen Jin.**

Chu Yi quickly scrolled through his chat history with Uncle Wen and found the business card Uncle Wen had sent him—it really was Shen Jin.

But he distinctly remembered that Shen Jin hadn’t added him back then. Chu Yi checked the timestamps again and realized that Shen Jin had accepted his friend request on that very day.

Feeling awkward, Chu Yi decided to say something to ease the tension, relieved that Shen Jin wasn’t physically present.

**Chu Yi:** Mr. Shen, I’m having a gathering with my classmates tonight, so I won’t be home for dinner.

**Shen Jin:** Understood.