Xie Shu and Liu Ping finally settled down to listen to the lecture after their little scuffle.

Halfway through the lecture, Ruan Qin started asking a few questions to interact with the students. Standing at the front, he couldn’t hear the students clearly, so he casually mentioned picking two students at random to come on stage for interaction.

The gymnasium was large, unlike a tiered classroom. Even if he wanted to hand the microphone to a student, the distance was still an issue. The school leaders listening nearby felt it was unnecessary.

However, seeing Ruan Qin’s insistence, they had the student council prepare a few more topics to randomly assign to the students below.

Several classes of students were seated in the middle of the gymnasium. The student council members intended to give the microphones to the students sitting nearby, leaving those on the second floor without a chance.

Ruan Qin was aware of this, so he stopped the student council member from taking the microphone down.

Covering the microphone, he spoke a few words to the school leaders. The students saw the school leader take out a phone, tap and swipe a few times, and then hand it to Ruan Qin.

Returning to the center of the stage with the phone, Ruan Qin spoke into the microphone, “I asked your principal for a list of all the students. I’ll randomly call out names for interaction. It’s just a few simple questions, so don’t be nervous. If you don’t want to come up when called, that’s fine; I’ll pick someone else.”

As he spoke, he scrolled through the list on his phone, causing a brief stir among the seated students.

A few seconds later, the gymnasium’s sound system announced a name:

“Xie Shu.”

At that moment, Xie Shu, who was in the middle of another tussle with Liu Ping, was stunned: “???”

Ruan Nianxi, sitting in the middle of the sports field, also froze.

To avoid any confusion with similar names, Ruan Qin added, “Hmm… seems to be a student from the Art College.”

Seems?

Xie Shu suspected Ruan Qin had called his name on purpose.

“Where is this student?” Ruan Qin scanned the crowd.

“Here!!!” Some students from the class started jeering, and Liu Ping pushed Xie Shu out of his seat, forcing him to stand.

Following the noise, Ruan Qin quickly spotted Xie Shu standing on the second floor.

The distance was too far for him to see clearly, but the figure seemed to match the boy Ruan Nianxi had just taken away.

Could it be him?

“Would this student like to come up for interaction?”

Unable to hear Xie Shu from such a distance, Ruan Qin watched as Xie Shu walked down the steps and headed towards the stairs.

His intention was clear—he was coming.

Ruan Qin then continued looking at his phone, this time genuinely calling out a name from the list. After announcing the college, another student stood up.

By the time Xie Shu came down from the second floor and entered through a side door to the stage, the other student was already there.

Approaching, Ruan Qin gave Xie Shu a once-over.

After several years, he had changed quite a bit.

Xie Shu noticed Ruan Qin’s scrutinizing gaze. He wanted to call him “Uncle Ruan,” but seeing so many people around the stage, he worried others might hear and instead called him “Mr. Ruan.”

Ruan Qin’s expression remained unchanged. He nodded slightly as the student council members handed microphones to both students.

Though called an interaction, Ruan Qin mainly wanted to confirm if the boy his daughter had taken away was indeed Xie Shu. Interaction wasn’t part of his original plan.

But he couldn’t help it; he needed to confirm this matter face-to-face and see how the boy had grown over the years.

Now, with Xie Shu standing before him, his height, build, and clothes matched what he had seen earlier. It was him.

Ruan Qin felt a mix of emotions. The situation was becoming increasingly complicated.

Maintaining a neutral expression, he faced the audience, standing with Xie Shu and the other student, and said, “Why don’t you both start with a self-introduction?”

Standing next to Ruan Qin, Xie Shu was naturally the first to speak.

Holding the microphone, he almost blurted out his usual joke, “I can use a smartphone, I can eat, and I know to run home when it rains,” but he caught himself in time. After a light cough, he formally introduced his name, class, and college.

His classmates burst into laughter.

Everyone remembered the unique self-introduction Xie Shu had given during the freshman orientation, which had left everyone in stitches. Even in subsequent public courses, he used the same line, leaving a lasting impression on both teachers and students.

This time, given the formal setting, he didn’t dare to joke around.

His stark contrast in behavior made his classmates laugh even harder.

Students from other colleges and majors, however, looked on in confusion, not understanding what was so funny about his introduction.

On stage, after both students introduced themselves, Ruan Qin asked them a few questions about their future plans, which they answered conventionally.

“You both are juniors now. Over the past three years, what certifications have you earned? Have you received any awards?” Ruan Qin suddenly asked.

Xie Shu thought for a moment, about to speak, but the other student beat him to it: “I’ve earned a Level 2 Computer Certificate, passed the English CET-4 and CET-6, obtained a Mandarin Proficiency Certificate, recently got a Teacher Qualification Certificate, and out of boredom, I also got a Tour Guide Certificate. As for awards, just some class and college-level ones, nothing major, except for the National Inspirational Scholarship.”

The student rattled off a long list, and Xie Shu glanced at him.

He had also earned most of the basic, useful certificates. As for awards, he hadn’t run for class committee positions in his freshman year, so he didn’t have those awards.

The only difference was that he had participated in a provincial competition in his sophomore year, winning a place and receiving a national award last year, which was different from the National Inspirational Scholarship.

But mentioning just one seemed too little.

After a few seconds of thought, Xie Shu, with a serious expression, calmly said, “I’ve earned most of the certificates too. As for awards, I’ve received a national award, been named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year, won the 2008 Touching China Special Award, the United Nations’ 2019 Earth Guardian Award, and thrice received the Olympic Cup.”

——

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