CHAPTER 368: CHAPTER 368: LETTING IT ALL GO

Ji You: "..."

What can Ji You say to this?

Audience?

The audience isn’t reliable.

Judges?

The judges are not to be relied upon.

Director Wang?

This bloodsucker, Director Wang, was all talk, but now he doesn’t even want to show his face.

Faced with this barrage of challenges, Ji You couldn’t help but cover her face with her hand: How can she step down gracefully? Is it just going to end like this?

Suddenly——

A faint sound of footsteps approached quietly, and someone raised their hand to lightly pat Ji You’s back, asking softly, "Ji You, shall we... head back now?"

It was Chu Jiaojiao. She was peering at Ji You’s expression cautiously as she spoke, fearing that Ji You might suddenly do something irrational.

Ji You lifted her head, her teeth gritted: "Go back? Why go back? I spent a full 600,000 credit points to set up this competition!" 600,000!

Of course, Ji You did not mention that she used points to pay the bill.

Chu Jiaojiao hesitated and said, "But... but no one’s coming."

Ji You clenched her fist and said, "No one? Who says no one? Aren’t there still 100 people?"

Saying this, she raised her hand and pointed towards the crowd beneath the spectator seats. Then, she saw some of the 100 spectators, who were originally sitting properly, ready to watch a challenging competition, now seeing the situation and guessing the competition might not start, lost their patience to wait and planned to leave.

At first, it was one or two people.

Then, it became groups of four or five leaving together.

After that, groups of more than a dozen headed toward the exit.

...

In the blink of an eye, out of the original hundred spectators present, fewer than fifty remained, with more than half leaving in just a few minutes.

Ji You: "..."

Ji You took a deep breath and said, "There are still 49 people left." Her eyes were as sharp as a computer’s, counting the exact number of those remaining with just one glance.

Chu Jiaojiao hesitated again, saying, "But... but they are just spectators. No one... no one is willing to come up and compete."

What’s the most important part of a competition?

The competitors, of course.

This——

Without competitors, there’s no competition.

Ji You’s mouth twitched slightly, then she took another deep breath and said, "It’s fine, let it just be the audience. Since no one is coming to challenge me, I will just change the rules myself."

Chu Jiaojiao still wanted to persuade her further, but Ji You raised her hand to stop her, saying, "I know what I’m doing."

Chu Jiaojiao did not try to persuade any further, but felt truly sorry for her. To think that Ji You, who always looked so attractive, had now fallen to the point where no one attended her event.

Ah!

Chu Jiaojiao took a step back and returned to her previously chosen seat.

At this moment——

Ji You turned on the loudspeaker to ensure that everyone in the auditorium could hear her. Then, standing tall with the poise of pine and bamboo, she slightly lifted her head, her gaze sweeping towards the spectator seats below:

"Fellow students, there was a slight mishap, and up to this moment, not a single student has come up to compete with me. Since that’s the case, we cannot delay any longer, so I will perform a show for everyone."

Audience: "..."

A show?

So——

Now, they were here to watch a performance, not a competition?

As soon as she said this, many of the quietly seated spectators began to squirm on their seats, contemplating whether to leave.

To leave or not to leave?

That is the question.

While the audience was hesitating, Ji You’s clear voice rang out again from the stage. She chuckled lightly, then continued, "Of course, when I say a performance, I don’t mean singing a song or dancing for you, nor am I going to do splits or anything..."

Audience: "..."

Audience A: "She sure has a sense of humor."

Audience B: "If it’s about singing or dancing, I don’t have time to watch; I’m busy."

Audience C: "Right, I came to watch a thrilling duel, not a boring song and dance show."

Audience D: "So, what is she talking about when she says ’performance’?"

...

For a moment, the restless spectator seats suddenly became stable again, as everyone moved their buttocks back and sat down firmly.

Ji You caught all the reactions of the audience below in her eyes, feeling neither disappointed nor desolated, but energized, and said: "Since this is a material processing competition, I believe most of the audience present are students from the Material Department, so the performance I will give is about material processing."

Eh?

The moment she uttered these words, the 49 spectators instantly became interested.

Without further delay, Ji You said, "I won’t waste any more words. On this display table, we have three types of materials: liquid, solid, and gas. All are very basic material properties that are commonly available on the market, and I will start processing them now; please remain quiet."

With that, Ji You became silent.

Most of the spectators in the audience were students from the Material Department, who undoubtedly knew the importance of silence during material processing, so no one intentionally made any noise to disturb Ji You.

The students responsible for maintaining order were also very professional and did not make noise to interrupt Ji You.

Then——

Ji You, standing on the platform, slowly sat down. She put on gloves, a mask, and other protective equipment and began her silent work.

minute.

minutes.

minutes.

...

The auditorium was equipped with holographic devices, and even spectators who were too far away could clearly see every movement of Ji You. Her hands, clearly articulated and calloused with cocoons, seemed to possess a magical ability at that moment, and in just a few short minutes, they had the power to turn decay into something miraculous. The liquid material was being decomposed, reassembled, decomposed again, and reassembled...

minutes later, the 10 milliliters of liquid material transformed into a colorless, odorless, transparent liquid. It was encased in a transparent glass tube, making the tube appear almost empty.

But——

The audience on-site instantly widened their eyes.

No one dared to overlook this tube of transparent material, for everyone knew, indeed, it existed.

After processing, Ji You casually placed the tube of liquid material to one side and then raised her hand to pick up another piece of solid material.

Suddenly——

Someone shouted loudly, "Wait!"

Hmm?

Ji You’s fingers paused, and she looked toward the source of the voice, finding that the speaker was a male student, who, seeing Ji You looking over, said urgently, "Can we test the material you just processed first?"

As soon as the male student spoke, several people next to him quickly chimed in, "Yes! Don’t rush to process the next batch of material; let’s go through the data for the previous one first and show us."

If they continued with the next material, it would take another half hour before they could know the results of the liquid. As students from the Material Department, they all knew well that what Ji You had just demonstrated may seem simple and uncomplicated, but it actually required very sophisticated skills.