The boy glanced at her, Xiao ng was about to greet him, but he looked away and continued flipping through his review materials.
Su Xiaong could only take a deep breath, look up at the ceiling, and then slowly exhale...
Stay calm, stay composed...
"Hey!"
Just as Xiao ng was trying to enter a ditation state, suddenly, a girl on the left called out beside Su Xiaong’s ear.
Su Xiaong was startled.
She opened her eyes to see a girl with dark skin but very thin, smiling and showing a mouthful of white teeth.
"H... HEY."
"Are you very nervous?"
"... Uh, no, not really."
"Don’t lie, you’re stamring when you speak."
Su Xiaong sighed, initially she was quite nervous, but sohow, sitting in this position, her heart suddenly settled.
Thinking carefully, it’s not a big deal.
Everything that needed preparation was already prepared, and nothing was left out. If she really can’t pass, it only ans her level isn’t enough.
There’s always next year.
"My na is Qin Hui. You can just call Xiao Hui."
"Hello, my na is Su Xiaong."
Qin Hui’s eyes lit up, "You’re Su Xiaong!"
"You, you know ?"
Su Xiaong blinked, a bit at a loss.
Qin Hui hurriedly said, "You’re the one who took the test in Bath, right?"
"... Uh, yes."
Qin Hui lowered his voice, "My dad is the dean of the Foreign Language College, so he knows a bit of insider information. He said there’s a candidate who directly took the test in Bath and passed."
"The, the dean of the Foreign Language College?"
"It’s Beijing University Foreign Language College."
Wow...
Su Xiaong’s first reaction was that this girl’s English must be remarkable, having a dad who’s the dean of Beijing University Foreign Language College.
"When I got the second-round interview list, I sneaked a glance, and your na is so easy to rember, I morized it right away."
Qin Hui giggled.
"Don’t be nervous, my dad says the interviewers are nice, don’t think they’re too serious. You know Jian, right?"
"... Uh, yes."
One of the interviewers.
"Everyone who has dealt with her affectionately calls her Aunt Jian. She’s very gentle."
"Oh, really..."
"And there’s Uncle Louis, he’s a jokester."
Su Xiaong blinked, is that so...
"Anyway, don’t be nervous! Just wait calmly! Your test scores were pretty good, right? You’ll definitely pass. Hehe!"
"Xiao, Xiao Hui..."
"Hm?"
Qin Hui raised her eyebrows.
"Could you stop shaking your hand? I wasn’t really nervous at all... But you keep shaking, it’s making want to shake too..."
Qin Hui quickly pulled back her hand, awkwardly smiled at Su Xiaong.
Su Xiaong smiled too, feeling this girl was pretty easy to get along with.
An hour passed, the caller shouted, "Number 36, Qin Hui!"
"Here!"
Qin Hui jumped up, quickly stood and raised her hand! Which really startled Su Xiaong.
This girl... why is she more jumpy than her?
"Xiao ng, I’m, I’m going first!"
"Yeah, good luck."
After Qin Hui left, Su Xiaong sohow breathed a sigh of relief...
"You and her are close?"
Just as she relaxed, the boy on the right suddenly spoke.
"Ah? No, not really, I just t her."
Xiao ng said frankly.
The boy looked at the door and snorted, "What’s she got to be nervous about, it’s all an act. Her dad is the dean of the Foreign Language College, the back door’s already wide open, why worry."
Su Xiaong was speechless, not knowing how to respond.
Honestly, she felt the girl’s nervousness didn’t seem fake.
And she seed lively and cheerful, is there really a need to put on a show?
As for this boy...
"Just watch, she’ll definitely be admitted."
The boy’s expression was indifferent, his tone had so resentnt and disdain.
Su Xiaong took a shallow breath, without replying, just leaning on the table, she reviewed her prepared script once more and organized her self-introduction content for later.
Don’t talk about others opening back doors, actually, Su Xiaong vaguely felt...
Yin Shixiu also opened a back door for her.
Uh... Of course, Yin Shixiu said there’s no such thing, but it’s just her feeling.
No matter what, she’ll do her best first.
"Sue."
Finally, it was Su Xiaong’s turn.
This took almost two hours, only half of the candidates had finished their interviews, these interviewers were certainly tired today.
Su Xiaong tidied her clothes; she wore a light pink sweater, pale blue jeans, and a light gray coat.
With short boots on her feet, she looked fresh and spirited.
Her long hair tied behind her head, looking very elegant.
When entering the classroom, she lightly knocked on the door, slightly bowed, and greeted the interviewers.
The three interviewers sat in a row.
The one sitting in the middle was the professor known as Aunt Jian, with Professor Louis on her left and on the right...
Hmm, originally, there should have been an Indian teacher on the right.
But sothing ca up, and he didn’t co. The substitute... anyway, he’s a handso guy!
"Su, please have a seat."
Aunt Jian was indeed gentle; her voice had a particularly friendly feel.
"Please introduce yourself first."
"Oh, okay."
Su Xiaong took a shallow breath and briefly introduced herself. She observed the expressions of the interviewers...
Louis was smiling over there, but she didn’t know what he was amused by.
Because Aunt Jian was so approachable, Xiao ng kept looking at her.
Little did she know, a pair of blue eyes next to her had been fixed on her, carrying a hint of amusent, never leaving.
It wasn’t until the presentation was halfway through that Su Xiaong suddenly noticed those eyes.
Startled at first, she slightly adjusted herself and finished the second half of her presentation.
Aunt Jian nodded, offering praise, "Your spoken English is very good, and the content of the PRESENTATION is deep and well-presented."
"Thank you."
Su Xiaong actually felt a bit embarrassed; the presentation had been revised by Yin Shixiu, and the final draft was also based on his ideas.
She primarily had to morize and understand it.
After this part, it went on to on-site interpretation.
First, they played a news clip for Chinese-to-English translation, a part Su Xiaong did quite well.
But when it ca to the English-to-Chinese portion, Xiao ng was a bit baffled.
She understood about half of the content, but when translating, she hesitated and guessed, making it not very fluent.
However, she still managed to get through this question with so effort.
"Your written exam showed better Chinese-to-English translation compared to English-to-Chinese. Why is that?"
Louis asked.
Su Xiaong touched her head and said, "Maybe it’s due to a lack of vocabulary; too many new words can be confusing. But I will make sure to improve in this area quickly."
Aunt Jian smiled and nodded.
Su Xiaong let out a sigh of relief.
The last part involved the interviewers asking questions, generally just one question that you should answer well.
"I’ll ask then."
Eric spoke up, and Aunt Jian teased, "Look at this pretty young girl, Eric couldn’t sit still either?"
Eric glanced at Aunt Jian, "You all know she’s married."
"Haha! I thought you didn’t know."
Aunt Jian laughed.
"What? You’re already married?"
Louis, who really didn’t know about this, looked surprised.
Seeing Louis’s surprise, Su Xiaong didn’t dare to make a sound...
"Su also has a pair of children, right?"
"Uh, yes."
"What?"
Louis was even more astonished.
Xiao ng feared that if she told them she was also pregnant, they might just ask her to leave the room directly.
"Wow, you look so young..."
This Professor Louis probably didn’t know much about her, but Aunt Jian seed aware of her background.
As for the handso guy with the enigmatic smile over there...
Su Xiaong couldn’t quite understand.
"Alright, back to the main topic, just one question."
"Okay, go ahead, teacher."
"How do we resolve the issue of overcrowded prisons?"
Su Xiaong blinked, looking at Eric. He seed to be holding a topic sheet.
This question he asked probably ca from the list.
Seeing that she didn’t respond, Eric lifted his eyes to look at her and repeated, "How do we solve the issue of too many prisoners, Su?"
To be honest, Su Xiaong was truly baffled at this mont...
What kind of question is this?
How to solve the issue of too many prisoners?
Politics, economy, military, and even so obscure diplomatic issues of small countries, she had prepared quite a bit.
Yet—
"Su?"
"May I ask if I have preparation ti?"
Su Xiaong asked nevertheless, though she knew by the rules, no preparation ti was allowed...
"Sorry, No."
Eric raised the corner of his mouth, lightly shook a finger.
Su Xiaong could only force a smile, took a deep breath, and then said, "The issue of too many prisoners is not the problem of the prison but of the country, the society, and the legal system. You’re asking how to solve it... that’s like asking — with problematic national policy, economic system, social moral codes, and legal rules... how to solve these?"
Su Xiaong raised her eyes and t Eric’s blue eyes...
"I think I can’t answer that; all I can say is... when sothing goes wrong, you must tackle it at the root, not just look at the surface."
"The overcrowding of prisoners ans the cri rate is high, which is a national issue. I think there needs to be specialized governntal agencies to sort it out."
"Determine exactly which aspect of the country has the problem leading to such a high cri rate, and then address it specifically."
As Su Xiaong was saying these words, she suddenly felt like she was channeling Yin Shixiu.
Before speaking, she didn’t have such thoughts, but as she spoke, the words just ca out.
Trying to express her thoughts as completely as possible in concise English...
After speaking, Xiao ng quietly looked at the three interviewers.
The interviewers exchanged whispers briefly, and Eric chuckled, "Su, your interview is over. We hope to see you on Bath’s campus."
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