Chapter 161: The Best Gratitude

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You have to understand that in this world, only things connected to professionals can truly be considered top-tier.

From below the stage, Tang Ruotong watched Meng Liwen smiling with a hundred different charms, and could not help feeling sick.

Especially when she heard Meng Liwen say, “Above all, I want to thank my teammates. Their support allowed me to achieve such an outstanding result,” Tang Ruotong nearly threw up.

If even thirty percent of what Meng Liwen had said was sincere, then every gold chain sold at Luzhou’s night market would be pure gold.

Seeing Tang Ruotong’s reaction, Wang Chen more or less understood what she was thinking. She had mentioned some things about Meng Liwen to him before.

So Wang Chen comforted her. “There are still many hypocritical people and things in this world. Until you become strong enough to tear through them, all you can do is go with the flow.”

Tang Ruotong silently nodded.

The awards ceremony continued.

“The second-place team! Captain Lu Shiyu, please come up to receive your award!” the host called.

Lu Shiyu went up onto the stage and accepted five advanced magic scrolls, along with several other small prizes, from the representative of the Luzhou Scroll-Making Association.

Her aloof, beautiful face, like a flower blooming atop a lonely mountain, left countless students staring in a daze.

“Is that Lu Shiyu, one of the main characters in the flame war on the forums?”

“My goodness, she’s gorgeous.”

“She’s so beautiful that ‘good-looking’ doesn’t even begin to describe her. The only word that fits is ‘badass’!”

“Exactly. She’s unbelievably badass-looking!”

“Now I’m really curious what Wang Chen looks like, if he was able to make Lu Shiyu fall for him.”

“...”

Although many people were looking in Wang Chen’s direction, the venue was enormous. Not everyone could see him, let alone recognize him.

As the students’ anticipation reached its peak, Wang Chen’s name was finally called.

“First-place team! Captain Wang Chen, please come up to receive your award!” the host announced in a ringing voice.

Wang Chen did not hurry onto the stage. Instead, he asked one of the Academic Committee organizers nearby, “Can my teammates come up with me? There are only three of us, so the stage won’t be crowded.”

The organizer froze. He had attended five or six editions of the intercollegiate competition, but this was the first time a contestant had made such a request.

Unsure what to do, he glanced at the senior colleague beside him.

The senior colleague was also hesitant. It was a minor matter, but any exception naturally made employees of the public system wary.

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Wang Chen simply watched them in silence, waiting for their answer.

The host stood onstage. Seeing that Wang Chen had not come up for quite some time, he called Wang Chen’s name a second time, his tone slightly more urgent.

The senior colleague gritted his teeth. “You’re in first place. It’s only natural for you to receive some special treatment. The three of you can come up together.”

Seeing the firmness in Wang Chen’s eyes, he understood that refusing would probably lead to another drawn-out argument.

Delaying the awards ceremony would be the real problem. Compared to that, letting a few extra people onto the stage was insignificant.

Wang Chen thanked him, then led Long Wushuang and Tang Ruotong toward the stage.

At once, every student in the venue fixed their eyes on Wang Chen. Without any deliberate restraint from their teachers, they stopped making noise as well, and the entire venue fell silent.

As the host watched Wang Chen approach, he unconsciously swallowed.

Why was he feeling nervous?

He had hosted many large-scale events, yet facing this young student gave him the same oppressive feeling as standing before the head of the Academic Committee.

Fortunately, years of experience as a host steadied him. With a genial smile, he asked, “So this is Wang Chen. You certainly look like a champion.”

“Your team has claimed first place today. Wang Chen, how do you feel? Is there anyone you would like to thank?”

As he spoke, the host handed his microphone to Wang Chen.

Wang Chen took it and replied neither humbly nor arrogantly, “I don’t have any particular thoughts. If I have to say something, then I’d like to thank the Academic Committee for capturing so many vicious beasts and sending them into the secret realm. My teammates each gained several levels. You can’t find leveling efficiency like that in an ordinary public secret realm.”

“As for the people I’d like to thank, first, I want to thank Director Zhang of the Taoli Orphanage in Luzhou. Thank you for placing enough trust in me throughout my growth.”

“I’d also like to thank all the teachers and seniors who supported me along the way. They gave me enough freedom.”

“Finally, I want to thank myself. Thank you for never giving up and continuing to persevere, which allowed me to reach this point. That is the most important thing.”

“That’s all.”

After finishing, Wang Chen handed the microphone back to the host.

The host felt a headache coming on. The first-place winner’s speech was rather impossible to follow.

What did “the teachers and seniors along the way gave you enough freedom” mean? Put less tactfully, it meant they had barely managed him at all.

And the person he was most grateful to was himself for persevering?

It was not exactly wrong. Under the same conditions, others had failed while he had succeeded.

But that hardly encouraged unity!

The host scratched his head. “Then don’t you want to thank your teammates? Without their support, even with your exceptional strength, you wouldn’t have made it this far, would you?”

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Wang Chen smiled faintly. “Of course. They are an important source of strength for me. But there is no need for me to mention them here. First, I already invited them onto the stage, so everyone can see them. They will not be overlooked. The glory does not belong to me; it belongs to our team.”

“Second, I entrusted my life to them long ago. That is the finest thanks I could give them. In the same way, I am also a source of strength for them, but I would not want them thanking me over and over either.”

Wang Chen’s voice was calm, his gaze unwavering.

“For teammates, the trust that allows you to place your back in one another’s hands is the greatest expression of gratitude.”

After hearing Wang Chen’s words, the venue fell silent for a brief moment before erupting in thunderous applause!

“Well said! People who keep thanking each other aren’t real teammates! True teammates have an unspoken understanding in their eyes. Why bother with all those formal words of gratitude?”

“Exactly! The speeches from the earlier teams were painfully awkward, nothing but official nonsense!”

“Wang Chen is right. If you want to thank your teammates, bring them onto the stage with you! Why just talk about it without doing anything?”

“Wang Chen! You’re amazing!”

“The coolest captain ever!”

“...”

For a moment, the cries of “The coolest captain ever!” nearly lifted the roof off the venue.

The reporters watching from a distance excitedly snapped photo after photo.

The two people standing beside Wang Chen were also deeply moved.

Long Wushuang put an arm around Wang Chen’s shoulder and punched him lightly. “Damn! You managed to show off again!”

Then he threw his head back and laughed. “Still, that was well said! Brothers like us don’t need any of those fake formalities!”

Tang Ruotong, meanwhile, lowered her head, her cheeks burning and her eyes already moist.

Below the stage, Lu Shiyu gazed at Wang Chen in a daze and murmured, “The person who should have been standing beside him was supposed to be me...”

Watching the scene before him, filled with deafening cheers and applause, the host helplessly announced that it was time to present the prizes.

Let’s just finish this quickly. I really can’t control this boy’s stage.

The host was on the verge of tears.

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