196 The Finale (five)
Ji Mao'er was a stupid girl and it was easy for Jiang Yao to control her. And she made use of the stupid girl to get rid of all the contestants. All she had to do was provoke the stupid girl and all the roadblocks would be cleared for her.
However, as time passed, her own 'friends' became her stumbling blocks. The reason why Jiang Yao befriended Xiao Xinyi and An Xiulan was that they were weak contestants and she never overestimated. She became anxious when both of them entered the top five.
Jiang Yao arranged the water armies to soil the image of An Xiulan because it was the lost harmless way to hurt that cute girl. She didn't have the heart to hurt An Xiulan because she genuinely like her but she wanted to win. She wanted to win at any cost to enter Miss China.
She placed the nail in the grass to harm Ji Mao'er. At most, the nail will pierce through Ji Mao'er feet and she wouldn't be able to walk.
She shared her skincare products with Twinkle. That girl was a huge fan of skincare products. Jiang Yao was someone who clearly knew which kind of skin care would have a certain effect on a particular skin type. When she gave her products to Twinkle, she knew that the latter's skin was sensitive and those products were not made for her. She still shared her products without saying a word. In the end, those products really destroyed Twinkle's face.
"I don't know what you are talking about, " An Xiulan said, ignoring her. She tried to enter the restroom but Jiang Yao held her hand.
"Xiulan, look at me, " Jiang Yao said. "I'm sorry."
An Xiulan looked at her in annoyance. "Are you really? Jiang Yao, I thought we were friends but what did you do? Instead of saying sorry to me, why don't you say this to Xinyi and Mao'er."
"Mao'er is a bitch, " Jiang Yao said. "She schemed on me too. She burnt my interview outfit. I think we are balanced. We don't owe anyone anything."
"What about Xinyi?" An Xiulan said. "She only treated you as a friend but what did you do? Look at her face. I refuse to believe that she got boils on her face naturally. She used the products given by you."
"I will say sorry to her, " Jiang Yao whispered. She really felt guilty for doing all the bad things. She didn't want to do that but the devil inside her got heavy on the angel inside her. More than anything, she was guilty and sad for sabotaging. However, she was desperate to survive.
"Do you feel guilty?" An Xiulan asked.
"For hurting Xinyi, yeah, " Jiang Yao truthfully said. "For using the wrong means? No!"
"Then, what about buying questions?" An Xiulan asked, crossing her arms on her chest.
"What questions are you talking about?" Jiang Yao asked with furrowed brows.
"Did you not bribe the team member to hack into the judges' computer?" An Xiulan asked.
"What are you saying?" Jiang Yao asked, horrified. "I am fucking broke and this is the reason why I had to choose this contest. If I had money to pay the team member, why would I be here?"
Before An Xiulan could say or react, Twinkle came running toward them.
"Yaoyao! Xiulan! Chen Jia bribed the judges. She purchased the questions. The matter is all over the internet. She is taken to custody for cheating and involved in bribing the assistant producer with sexual favours, " Twinkle shouted as she ran towards them.
An Xiulan stood there, shocked and horrified. She didn't know what was happening? If Chen Jia bribed the judges, then why was Jiang Yao shocked and terrified on the stage? Did Jiang Yao not cheat by buying the questions?
She watched Twinkle taking Jiang Yao with her outside to share some news while she was standing rooted there.
"An Xiulan?" Madam Li came towards her. "Congratulations on your win. I hope you will make all of us proud by winning Miss China teen."
An Xiulan let out a small smile. "Thank you, Madam Li." She paused for a second and then asked, "Is it true Chen Jia was the one who bought the questions?"
Madam Li sighed and nodded her head. "The girl was stupid enough to use the sim card that was registered under her name to contact that person. She is underaged and it's hard for her to be sent to prison but she would be sued and have to go through other punishments. Not just this, she even added some kind of drug in Jiang Yao's water to make her sleepy and lethargic."
"I don't understand, " An Xiulan murmured.
"The reason why Jiang Yao was not able to perform well was because of the drug in her body. She had to keep her eyes widened from time to time to stop from falling asleep on the stage, " Madam Li said. "The girl could have performed well if not for the drug in her body."
"Where is Jiang Yao now?" An Xiulan asked.
"Xiao Xinyi took her to the doctor, " Madam Li said. "By the way, your family is waiting for you outside."
An Xiulan nodded and entered the restroom. After coming out of the restroom, she sat on the first bench she saw and collapsed there. She shuddered as she thought back to all the scheming and plotting that she was oblivious to.
Did she feel bad for what happened to Jiang Yao?
No, it was karma.
Someone had rightly said that Karma had no menu. You get served what you deserve.
....
A/N: Let me share a quote-- " Karma comes after everyone eventually. You can't get away with screwing people over your whole life, I don't care who you are. What goes around comes around. That's how it works. Sooner or later the universe will serve you the revenge that you deserve."
"If you're really a mean person you're going to come back as a fly and eat poop."
I found these quotes on the internet and thought about sharing these.
Since we are reading teen books, let's just learn some basic lessons. What goes around comes around. Karma is just like gravity, we don't see it but it's always here.
--End of Beauty pageant arc---
A few months later.....
They say that progress is incomplete without change and maybe they are right.
Change is the powerful law of nature.
Nothing in this life is constant. Not even human or his nature. Maybe, especially human and his nature.
Seventeen and a bit more mature than earlier, An Xiulan was standing on the gates of Jingyuan High. Her mother had dropped her and Lu Xuan on the gates of the school before going to office.
Lu Xuan ran faster to reach the football ground for his morning practice while she was standing there.
If one year ago, someone had told An Xiulan that one day she was going to miss not coming to school for a few days, she would have laughed at that person.
Instead of going inside school earlier, she took a detour to the breakfast stall near the school.
"Boss, two rice balls for me!" An Xiulan said as she sat on the empty chair of the stall.
A very familiar woman came with rice balls that looked irresistibly delicious soaked in a mouthwatering syrup. She said sorry to her diet in her heart and digged in.
"Boss, they are still as good as ever, " An Xiulan praised the shopkeeper.
"Little girl, why do you like her?" The shop owner asked as she took a seat next to An Xiulan.
"Like who?" An Xiulan blinked at the lady.
"Like her, " The lady pointed at the huge banner on the wall of the Jingyuan High. On the banner, there was an image of a very adorable girl in her uniform with quotes written all over it along with ten other small images of the same girl in fancy dresses.
"Oh, I do?" An Xiulan reacted as she looked at the huge banner that read out 'Miss China (Teen) year Xxxx'. Not only this, there were many quotes mentioned in the banner. It boldly writesa��� Jingyuan High's pride Miss China Teen -- An Xiulan.
"I think the girl is very pretty, " An Xiulan said as she took a bite of the rice ball.
"I think that's you, " The stalk owner said once again. "You're not pranking me, right?"
"Why would I?" An Xiulan innocently said.
"You are right, " The shop owner said. "The girl in the banner looks more beautiful and adorable."
.....
A/N: Hello everyone, I feel so relaxed after publishing this arc. This arc was the toughest arc I ever wrote in all of my books. I couldn't muster up more than one chapter a day. Sigh, I would say that all the things written are not true. It would be best if people let fiction be fiction. Sorry, if I suck. We went a little fast-paced because all the other contests would have similar content and it would be highly boring for you and me. I can't write slow paced novels. I swear, I am so bad with slow paced books.
We took a small leap. The kids are in the new grade. New struggles, problems and hardships. And yes a lot of new fluff awaits for you all!
The source of this c𝓸ntent is fr𝒆e(w)𝒆bnovel