Chapter 62.2

Soccer Ball .

‘Ladies and gentlemen please sit in your assigned seats,’ the MC said . ‘All contestants must come onto the stage before the commencement of round one otherwise they’ll be disqualified . The winners of round one will be eligible to move onto round two . Contestants not abiding by the rules will be instantly disqualified by the judging panel . There’ll be an intermission between round one and round two for the judging panel to judge and to setup round two . The third round will commence tomorrow morning . ’

The contestants sat at their assigned tables on stage . Zhen Wu sat in the middle row on stage and La Ba Te sat behind him .

Zhen Wu carefully read the instructions for round one then he began to code a program onto his computer .

La Ba Te read the instructions of round one . It was a challenging round one, and he saw many contestants forfeit the competition . He was startled to see Zhen Wu calmly start round one in front of him .

‘Zhen Wu, do your best!’ Lucy cheered .

Lucy stood on her chair in the front row, and she waved her hands in the air to cheer for Zhen Wu . Her guard held her waist because he was scared she would fall off the chair .

Zhen Wu looked up and he felt shy to have Lucy cheer him on in the audience when everyone else were quiet . He saw the head judge turned around and gave Lucy a stern look . Lucy smiled, sat down on her chair and he looked back at his computer screen and continued to code .

One second before the end of round one, La Ba Te uploaded his completed program . He looked up, and as he expected Zhen Wu was sitting still in front of him . He felt confident Zhen Wu would be knocked out in round one .

The contestants who received a fail from the judging panel cursed or cried because they were knocked out of the competition . When Zhen Wu received a pass, he calmly walked off stage toward Zhen Zhen .

La Ba Te obstructed Zhen Wu’s way and he spoke to Zhen Wu in Italian .

‘Congratulations for passing round one,’ La Ba Te said .

Zhen Wu replied in Italian too .

‘Thank you,’ Zhen Wu said .

Zhen Wu walked around La Ba Te and he didn’t look back .

‘The little boy got lucky,’ John said to La Ba Te .

‘The little boy isn’t bad if he can pass round one,’ La Ba Te said .

‘Anyone who wins first place today will be sought after by the biggest companies,’ John said .

‘I only want to be accepted into Dawson’s company,’ La Ba Te said .

Zhen Wu ran to hug Zhen Zhen .

‘Mum,’ Zhen Wu called .

‘Zhen Wu, you did well,’ Zhen Zhen praised .

‘Round two doesn’t start until the afternoon,’ Ling Jia said . ‘Let’s go and eat lunch . The competition rules state all family members of contestants who pass round one are rewarded a free lunch . ’

Zhen Zhen smiled at the way Ling Jia’s eyes lit up at the sight of a free lunch .

The richest companies sponsored the extravagant lunch buffets for the competition . Luckily Ling Jia didn’t know Yue’s company was one of the sponsors otherwise she wouldn’t be happily eating lunch at the table reserved for Zhen Wu’s family .

‘Congratulations Zhen Wu,’ Lucy said .

Lucy held her grandpa’s hand to walk to Zhen Wu’s table .

‘Thank you,’ Zhen Wu said politely .

Zhen Wu recognised the old man holding Lucy’s hand was the head judge .

‘Grandpa, I want to sit and eat lunch with Zhen Wu,’ Lucy said .

‘Lucy, behave,’ Dawson Brenda said affectionately .

Lucy pouted her lips .

‘It’s OK,’ Zhen Zhen said . ‘There are many free seats at this table . ’

Zhen Zhen smiled at Lucy . She moved to sit next to Louis for Lucy to sit next to Zhen Wu . She thought it was a good opportunity for Zhen Wu to become friends with Lucy who was close to Zhen Wu’s age .

‘Thank you,’ Dawson Brenda said . ‘I’m Dawson Brenda and this is my granddaughter Lucy . ’

‘Hello, I’m Zhen Zhen,’ Zhen Zhen said .

Zhen Zhen introduced her family but Louis introduced himself before she could .

‘Dawson, it’s a pleasure to meet you,’ Louis said . ‘I’m Louis . I’ve heard good things about you . ’

Zhen Zhen didn’t read business articles, which was why she didn’t recognise Dawson Brenda was the CEO of Dawson’s company, a renowned IT company around the world .

Ling Jia was a skilful surgeon and a computer programmer, it wasn’t unusual for her to know who Dawson Brenda was . But she was surprised Lucy was Dawson Brenda’s granddaughter . She decided when she and her family returned home, she was going to speak privately with Zhen Wu . She would tell him the advantages of marrying Lucy . If Yue’s company and Dawson’s company merged through marriage, Zhen Wu would be king of the business world . If Zhen Wu wouldn’t agree then she would ask Yue Cheng Tian to persuade Zhen Wu to marry Lucy in the future . She thought Lucy could be groomed to be the perfect wife for Zhen Wu since Lucy was a sweet and a loveable person by nature .

‘Zhen Wu, let’s go play in the children’s playground,’ Lucy said .

Lucy ate half her lunch, and she was restless to play in the sandpit .

Zhen Wu hesitated and he looked at Zhen Zhen’s eyes for advice .

‘Zhen Wu, you should go and play with Lucy,’ Ling Jia interrupted .

‘Grandpa…’ Lucy pleaded .

Dawson Brenda nodded his head . Lucy jumped off her seat, held Zhen Wu’s hand and they walked to the children’s playground .

At the children’s playground, Lucy and Zhen Wu took off their shoes to play in the sandpit . Zhen Wu lined up his shoes and Lucy’s shoes together outside the sandpit . He sat next to Lucy, she built a sandcastle while he played games on his computer .

Dawson Brenda approved Zhen Wu being friends with Lucy . Louis smiled at the match-making gleam in Ling Jia’s eyes, he knew Ling Jia wanted Zhen Wu to marry Lucy and conquer the business world . Zhen Zhen was happy to see Zhen Wu to play with someone close to his age .

Zhen Wu put his computer down when he noticed Lucy was crying and a taller girl was holding her soccer ball .

‘Lucy, what happened?’ Zhen Wu asked .

‘Zhen Wu, she stole my soccer ball,’ Lucy said .

Lucy showed Zhen Wu her red hands . He was angry someone hit her hands . He gently rubbed her red hands .

‘You played with the soccer ball for too long,’ Ni Lei said .

Zhen Wu stood in front of Lucy to protect Lucy . He glared at Ni Lei .

‘There are many free soccer balls over there,’ Zhen Wu said . ‘You didn’t need to steal Lucy’s soccer ball . ’

‘I want this soccer ball,’ Ni Lei said .

Zhen Wu took back Lucy’s soccer ball from Ni Lei’s hands, and he gave it to Lucy .

Ni Lei’s mum saw Ni Lei crying and she ran to the children’s playground .

‘What happened?’ Ni Lei’s mum asked .

‘Mum, those two kids stole my soccer ball,’ Ni Lei said .

‘Xiao Ni Lei, don’t cry,’ Ni Lei’s mum said . ‘I’ll help you get your soccer ball back . ’

‘Give me the soccer ball,’ Ni Lei’s mum said to Zhen Wu and Lucy .

Ni Lei stood behind her mum, and she stuck out her tongue at Zhen Wu and Lucy .

‘Aunty, Lucy and I were playing with this soccer ball first,’ Zhen Wu explained . ‘It was your daughter who stole our soccer ball . ’

‘I don’t care who the soccer ball belongs to,’ Ni Lei’s mum said . ‘Give the soccer ball to my daughter . ’

Ni Lei’s mum snatched the soccer ball from Lucy’s hands .

Zhen Wu thought Ling Jia was right about some people didn’t know how to listen to reason . He was about to take back the soccer ball again for Lucy, but their family came to protect them .

Yue Cheng Tian held Zhen Wu in his arms and Dawson Brenda held Lucy in his arms .

‘You have guts to bully my grandson,’ Ling Jia said to Ni Lei’s mum .

‘It’s those two bad kids who stole my daughter’s soccer ball,’ Ni Lei’s mum said .

Dawson Brenda fumed and he glared at Ni Lei’s mum for insulting Lucy .

La Ba Te ran to his mum and his little sister when he saw they made Dawson Brenda angry .

‘Mum,’ La Ba Te called .

‘This is my son La Ba Te,’ Ni Lei’s mum said proudly . ‘Don’t think my family is easy to bully . My son is going to win today and he’s going to be accepted into Dawson’s company . ’

‘Mum, apologise to them,’ La Ba Te said .

La Ba Te knew the head judge was Dawson Brenda . He didn’t want his mum’s temper to ruin his chances of being accepted into Dawson’s company .

‘Big brother, why does mum need to apologise to them?’ Ni Lei asked .

‘I’m sorry on behalf of my mum and little sister,’ La Ba Te said .

La Ba Te’s family was poor . He knew he would be his family’s bread winner in the future . But he would have no future if his family offended Dawson Brenda .

‘I’m sorry,’ Ni Lei’s mum said .

Ni Lei’s mum knew La Ba Te only apologised to someone with a high status .

Yue Cheng Tian and Dawson Brenda carried Zhen Wu and Lucy back to their table .

John ran to La Ba Te because he was curious why La Ba Te apologised to Zhen Wu and Lucy’s families .

‘Why did you apologise to them?’ John asked .

‘Didn’t you see the old man was on the judging panel?’ La Ba Te asked . ‘All the other judges valued his opinion the most . It means he has a high status . ’

La Ba Te wanted to win and to receive a college scholarship from Dawson’s company .

Minutes before the second round, Dawson Brenda couldn’t coax Lucy to stop crying .

Zhen Wu took out a gold pearl from his pocket and he gave it to Lucy .

‘Lucy don’t cry,’ Zhen Wu said . ‘This is for you . You won’t be beautiful if you cry . ’

Lucy held the gold pearl in her hands and she stopped crying .

Ling Jia smiled because she was happy Zhen Wu gave her priceless gold pearl to Lucy .

Dawson Brenda was grateful for Zhen Wu . Dawson Brenda knew Lucy wasn’t someone easily coaxed when she was upset . Dawson Brenda had reviewed all the contestants’ entries from round one . He was impressed with Zhen Wu’s program the most, and he thought La Ba Te’s program was good too .

The second round of the competition commenced . The one hundred contestants remaining were given three minutes to crack the program’s password . By the end of three minutes only fifty contestants passed .

The final hurdle of the second round was the contestants needed to gain administrative control over a program . It was a challenging task because Dawson Brenda was the creator of the program, and he coded a new firewall each time a contestant attempted to gain administrative control .

‘Zhen Wu’s mum, do you think Zhen Wu can win?’ Lucy asked .

Lucy thought her grandpa was the smartest person she knew . She was worried Zhen Wu would lose to her grandpa’s challenge .

‘Lucy, don’t worry,’ Zhen Zhen said . ‘Let’s believe in Zhen Wu . ’

Zhen Zhen didn’t care if Zhen Wu won or lost as long as he was having fun in the competition .

It was a fierce competition between Zhen Wu, La Ba Te and Lien Shen . Lien Shen couldn’t bypass firewalls as fast as Zhen Wu and La Ba Te . After the end of the second round, both Zhen Wu and La Ba Te passed .

Zhen Wu calmly walked off the stage . Lucy ran to him and she kissed his cheek .

‘Congratulations Zhen Wu!’ Lucy said and smiled .

Dawson Brenda carried Lucy in his arms so she wouldn’t run to Zhen Wu’s home .

‘Grandpa, let’s invite Zhen Wu to our home to play with me,’ Lucy said .

‘Lucy, tomorrow morning Zhen Wu needs to compete in the next round of the competition,’ Dawson Brenda said . ‘We can invite Zhen Wu to our home after the competition ends . ’

‘Oh…’ Lucy said .

Lucy was disappointed Zhen Wu couldn’t come to her home to play that day .

Zhen Wu didn’t know why he was sad to see Lucy look disappointed .

‘Lucy, don’t worry,’ Zhen Wu said . ‘After I win the competition, I’ll visit your grandpa’s company . ’

‘Um, that’s right,’ Dawson Brenda said . ‘Then Lucy will be Zhen Wu’s tour guide . ’

‘Really?’ Lucy asked .

‘Yes,’ Dawson Brenda said .

Dawson Brenda said bye to Zhen Wu’s family and he took Lucy home .

La Ba Te was jealous Zhen Wu was the star of the competition . The other contestants were envious of Zhen Wu’s family’s luxury cars, and the smaller companies wanted to recruit Zhen Wu because Dawson Brenda praised Zhen Wu’s programming skills .

***

End of Chapter Sixty-Two (Part 2 of 2)