The small gathering was mainly a barbecue. After making a few dishes, the boys immediately started ordering people to skewer the ingredients.
Barbecue grills were set up in front of the villa, and the pavilion was filled with vegetables and meat prepared for grilling.
After working together, everyone sat down, chatted, and drank beer.
The tension of the past three days eased, and the atmosphere gradually became lively.
Just as the mood was right, the grilled fish was served.
The air was filled with the fragrant aroma of grilled fish, which whetted many people's appetites.
"I've only been here for eight days for the competition, but I feel like I haven't eaten barbecue in five years!"
"Me too. When the competition ends, no matter the result, I'm going to treat myself well!"
Qin He listened to the chatter around her, her heart aching a little.
She didn't miss food, but she missed Lele dearly.
She hadn't seen her son in eight days, and she had even dreamed of the little guy last night.
Qin He didn't intend to reveal Lele's appearance, so she hadn't video-called him for these eight days.
As the atmosphere was at its liveliest, a loud noise suddenly erupted.
After a "bang," everyone looked at each other, then turned their gazes to the source of the sound.
It was the sound of an umbrella on a pavilion, from which a wine bottle rolled and fell, shattering on the ground.
"What's going on?"
"It must have been thrown from the second floor. Who's on the second floor?"
A girl shouted angrily.
The woman next to her gently tugged her arm and whispered, "Who else could it be? Keep your voice down, that's Fang Ruonan's room."
But in that short time, Fang Ruonan had already stood by the window with her arms crossed, looking arrogant and disdainful. "Oh, I didn't realize you were having a gathering downstairs. I accidentally dropped something. I hope I didn't disturb you."
Seeing that everyone dared not speak, Fang Ruonan smirked triumphantly.
Qin He stood in the crowd, watching coldly.
"Falling objects from a height, it's no small matter if someone gets hit. Miss Fang, don't you have any awareness of the law?"
Fang Ruonan's face flushed with anger when she saw Qin He's face. But thinking of Qin He's fate tomorrow, her lips curled up immediately, and her mood improved.
"Qin He, who do you think you are? Falling objects? I often throw things out of my house. This is only the second floor, and no one was hit, right? Besides, you're shouting at me here today. Tomorrow, you might not even be able to stand here."
Qin He narrowed her eyes slightly. "What do you mean? Why don't you say it more clearly?"
The people around them didn't dare to confront Fang Ruonan directly, but they dared to chime in.
"Miss Qin He is Master Ding Xiang, how could she not even make it into the top twenty."
"Unlike you? Such poor skills, and you still have the nerve to participate in the competition."
Fang Ruonan's arrogant and overbearing behavior had long since aroused public indignation.
Hearing the accusations and ridicule, Fang Ruonan's face fell.
She glared fiercely at the two women who had spoken. "I remember you."
The words were full of threat, and the faces of the two women changed.
Qin He narrowed her eyes slightly. She could tell that Fang Ruonan's words had a hidden meaning.
And tonight's dinner was only attended by Zhang Caiyu, Fang Ruonan, and Li Ai did not come out—
Fortunately, it was just a small episode. After the window on the second floor was closed, everyone quickly resumed their conversations.
After the dinner, Qin He returned to her room.
She sat by the window, resting her chin on her hand, her brows furrowed.
Her phone vibrated softly.
It was a WeChat message from Lu Mingxi. Qin He opened it and glanced at it.
Lu Mingxi: [I saw your live stream. Don't worry, I'll deal with that Fang person for you.]
Qin He pursed her lips. She hadn't contacted Lu Mingxi for a while.
Lu Mingxi had sent several WeChat messages, but she had intentionally not replied.
Qin He typed: [No need, this has nothing to do with you.]
There was no further reply from the other end.
Qin He sighed. Li Ai's choice would be revealed tomorrow.
After washing up in the bathroom, she covered the camera with a towel and lay down on the bed.
In the live stream, the viewers were lamenting.
[I like watching Qin He's live stream, but it's already bedtime.]
[Qin He has good sleep habits. Aren't masters supposed to forget to eat and sleep?]
The discussion continued, interspersed with curses at Fang Ruonan.
On the northern edge of Pink Beach, in a white villa, Gu Qichen sat on the sofa, watching the darkened large screen.
Bullet comments floated across it. He stood up.
In the glass fish tank next to the sofa, a silver-banded sea snake was swimming—
Gu Qichen returned to the bedroom on the second floor and hesitantly opened Qin He's WeChat, sending the message "Goodnight."
The screen went black. Just as Gu Qichen lay down, the screen lit up again in the darkness.
Qin He: [Goodnight.]
...
Ten-thirty in the morning.
On Pink Beach, all the contestants gathered in one place.
"Didn't they say the results of the top twenty promotion would be announced in twenty-four hours? Why so fast this time?"
"Who knows? I was just about to do a task when I was notified by the loudspeaker to come over temporarily."
Amidst the discussions, four people in the crowd remained silent.
Qin He stood at the front. Fang Ruonan and Zhang Caiyu stood together, one on each side of Li Ai.
She glanced back.
When everyone had arrived, the staff from the organizing committee also appeared.
This time, not only Wang Qide, who had appeared before, but also a judge from the organizing committee had arrived.
The chief director stood beside them, his expression stern. Everyone sensed that something was wrong.
"What's going on? It doesn't look like they're announcing the competition results."
"Could something have happened in the competition?"
"Don't jinx it. I don't want to retake the competition!"
Amidst the discussions, Qin He noticed that the chief director and the judge were looking at her.
"Since everyone is here, please be quiet. We have a very important matter to investigate today."
The contestants quieted down. Wang Qide from the organizing committee spoke.
"We emphasize fairness and impartiality in this competition. However, we never expected that there would be two identical spices in this competition, with the same formula!"
"Spices?" someone asked curiously.
Most of them here were perfume makers, using various raw materials for blending.
Few people present would use anything that could be called a spice.
Immediately, many people looked at Qin He.
"We have studied the formulas, and it's an incredible coincidence that two people used the same dozen or so spices, even the proportion of each spice is the same," Wang Qide said sternly.
Everyone present understood. Such a coincidence was impossible in the world. This could only prove one thing: someone must have plagiarized!
"These two are contestants Qin He and Fang Ruonan," Wang Qide said, looking at Fang Ruonan with a hint of disgust in his eyes.
Last time, Fang Ruonan's assistant had sneaked into Qin He's room. They had let her go because they couldn't find any evidence.
Unexpectedly, this kind of thing happened again.
However—this time Fang Ruonan submitted her work before Qin He, so there was "evidence."