Coincidentally, the two of them happened to be participating in the same competition, but they wouldn't be in the same group this time.
In another city, like old friends meeting in a foreign land, they decided to travel together.
This competition was judged by three main judges. One person would be eliminated in each round, following a round - robin system. Finally, only four people were left to enter the finals.
"The people who have made it to the top four are Yang Dahua for *The Kite*, Mo Chunxiao for *The Past*..."
The host was reading out the list on the stage. Gu Sisi's palms behind her back were sweating slightly. Her eyes were fixed on the host's mouth standing in the center until the last name on the list.
"Gu Sisi for *The Little Boy in the Box*."
The audience burst into applause. Gu Sisi let out a sigh of relief. At this crucial moment, she had chosen to draw a portrait, which was indeed a major adventure. She had been on tenterhooks all this time, but it seemed that her gamble had paid off.
"Sisi." After the crowd had dispersed, a girl came over. This was the girl she had met on the plane that day, named Lü Tian. However, she had been eliminated in the semi - finals. But since she had taken a few days off and wasn't in a hurry to go back, she had been accompanying Gu Sisi throughout the competition.
Gu Sisi packed up her drawing board and washed the stains off her hands. With a beaming smile, she said, "If you're going to ask me to treat you to dinner today..."
Gu Sisi seemed to be in a good mood today.
Lü Tian stared at her without blinking. After a while, she said, "That's okay."
She let out a sigh for no reason and pouted. "I didn't come here just for you to treat me to dinner."
Changing the topic, Lü Tian looped her arm through Gu Sisi's and whispered, "We've been here for three or four days now. The finals are in two days, and then we'll be going back. It's such a waste! We haven't really had a good time here yet!"
Gu Sisi had originally planned to rest in the hotel for the next two days, but then she thought that these past few days had been really stressful. Moreover, the other contestants were very strong. Even if she did some last - minute cramming, she couldn't improve that much all of a sudden.
Forget it. She should relax a bit.
The two of them wandered through the alleys near the hotel, sampling all kinds of snacks. It wasn't until one of them realized something was wrong.
"Haven't we even been to the small alleys?" Lü Tian looked dejected, staring blankly at all the snacks in front of her.
Gu Sisi nodded. Indeed, it had been almost two days since the end of the competition that day, and the two of them had basically just been eating non - stop.
"No way. It would be so embarrassing if people found out!" Lü Tian quickly paid for the snacks and dragged Gu Sisi out.
"We have to go to a tourist attraction and take some pictures today!" Lü Tian looked as if she was going to her death.
Gu Sisi dodged and looked completely listless. "There's no need, right!"
However, once this girl had made up her mind, she dragged Gu Sisi straight into a taxi.
"Where to, miss?"
"Driver, take us to the most famous tourist attraction here."
"Sure thing~"
Then Gu Sisi and Lü Tian found themselves by a flowerbed, looking at a lake.
"Actually, it's quite beautiful." Gu Sisi finally came to a conclusion after looking for a long time.
"Uh..." Lü Tian was speechless. It was really different from what she had expected. They had originally been looking forward to a place like an amusement park.
Maybe the place was too big. There were only a few sparse figures in sight, making it extremely quiet.
There were small boats by the lake for tourists to take. Neither of them was in the mood for this activity, so they just took a walk by the lake. Gradually, they understood that the taxi driver hadn't just randomly taken them to a place.
After walking around for a while, Gu Sisi felt all the fatigue in her body fade away. The air around was so fresh, and the willow trees by the lake were so charming. It was as if they were walking in a painting.
"It would be great if I had brought my drawing board."
Lü Tian had the same thought. This place was really suitable for painting. She was idly looking around when suddenly her eyes lit up.
"Look over there!"
Gu Sisi looked in the direction Lü Tian was pointing and saw a few people sitting in front of their drawing boards by the fishing area of the lake.
"Let's go and take a look." Lü Tian was excited and pulled Gu Sisi towards them.
Gu Sisi was also a bit curious herself, but the clearer she saw, the more hesitant she became. By the time she regretted it, there was no turning back.
"Hey, aren't you Gu Sisi?"
Lü Tian looked at the people on the other side in surprise, her mouth wide open. Weren't these the other three people in the top four?
There was also another person... Lü Tian's eyes nearly popped out. It was actually one of the judges in the competition.
"Yes." Gu Sisi forced a smile and recognized that this person was Yang Dahua, a young man who seemed to have just graduated.
"What a coincidence." He looked a bit surprised. "Why didn't you bring your drawing board?"
"We just came here for a walk." Gu Sisi explained and was about to pull Lü Tian away.
Lü Tian whispered in Gu Sisi's ear, "Don't you think it's strange?"
Gu Sisi looked at her in confusion. The two of them exchanged a look, and then she continued to whisper in her ear, "Look, the judge is here, and all three people except you are here. Do you think they have some kind of deal?"
Gu Sisi hadn't thought about it like this before, but after hearing this, she really thought it was a bit strange.
"Some people are so confident!" a voice said, with obvious sarcasm in the tone. "Unlike us who have to work overtime and put in extra effort. Outstanding people really just play every day!"
Gu Sisi was a bit confused by this sudden hostility and was about to speak.
"Yeah! You're really self - aware." Lü Tian picked a fight.
The person wanted to say something else but was stopped by another person.
"Chunxiao, don't talk nonsense." The person who stopped her was also one of the other three.
The atmosphere suddenly became a bit awkward.
"It's not like that. The weather is just right today, so we thought we'd come out for some sketching. And Judge Ouyang happened to be free, so we thought we'd come out for an outing and ask Teacher Ouyang to give us some comments."
Yang Dahua scratched his head nervously as he explained. Obviously, he was at a loss about how the situation had turned out like this.
"Oh, I see~" Lü Tian glanced at Mo Xiaochun and disdainfully averted her gaze. "Then why is there someone who can't even talk properly? All they know is to bite people randomly."
"Who are you talking about!"
The atmosphere became even more tense.
Just then, someone broke the awkward atmosphere.
"Contestant Gu, later on, you contestants can have dinner together. I'll treat."
The person who said this was Judge Ouyang they had mentioned. He had been very quiet all this time, which had made people overlook him.
As soon as these words were said, the atmosphere relaxed a bit. Gu Sisi was just looking for an excuse to get out of this situation and was about to agree.
"But..." Gu Sisi hadn't finished speaking.
"The person beside you can also come."
Gu Sisi was speechless and nodded in agreement.
It was still some time before dinner. Since the others were busy painting, the two of them couldn't just stand there and watch. So they just agreed on a time to meet up later.
"Humph! What do you mean by 'the person beside you'? I'm a contestant too, okay! I'm Contestant Lü, Contestant Lü."
Lü Tian looked angry. With her baby - faced features, she looked extremely cute.
"Thank you just now."
Gu Sisi was truly touched. This girl she had only known for a few days had chosen to stand up for her.