Reborn: The Return of the Villainous Mr. Liu

"The third and the final writer who will proceed is…"

At that moment, Jun and Ai's hearts were in perfect sync as they awaited.

"MissImperfectlyFine!"

The second her name was out, Ai's face bloomed with joy. The light in her brown irises gleamed brighter than the golden lights in the venue.

I got through…

Xing Bi was shining the brightest of all, proud of Ai that she won.

"Ai!" She could hardly contain her voice. She hugged and kissed her cheek. "You are the best!"

From above, Jun's tense muscles visibly relaxed as a smirk formed on his lips. He watched her beautiful face glow with pure bliss. Her smile was so infectious that the chilliness from his gaze settled down.

The judges made the right decision. That's good, otherwise I would have shown them what the consequences of a wrong decision could be, he sneered.

Yunru peeked a glance at him and cleared his throat. "Bro. She won."

Jun's lips formed a smile filled with pride. "Of course, she did. She is talented even though she writes annoying stories."

"..."

Can you pick one? Is she talented or annoying?

He noticed Jun's gaze that was transfixed at Ai for a long time with warmth in his eyes that he had only ever seen for Shui. For another woman to make Jun look like that…

Yunru smiled with mixed emotions. He wasn't sure if he felt melancholic over his and Shui's break-up or happy that Jun seemed to be moving on in his life and possibly…in his love too.

Yating, on his side, clenched his palm victoriously.

Yes! I knew it! Ai would easily win the batch. Now only the final round…

He saw Ai on the other table, smiling brightly with Xing Bi. His gaze softened, watching her joyful expression.

It feels like it has been so long that I have seen Ai laughing freely like that…without any inhibitions…

He dreamt of the day when he would become her boyfriend and bring this smile on her lips that he was seeing right now. Every day, he would make Ai happier than the previous day.

He clapped in delight.

Guiying also joined him eagerly. "Did you hear that, Zhan Yahui? Ai also got through!"

Zhan Yahui stared at her with a squinted gaze. "...Yeah, she did."

She gazed towards Ai's table with a thoughtful expression, slightly digging her nails in her palm.

Though Jun, Ai, Xing Bi, Yating and Guiying celebrated her victory, the same sentiments weren't shared by others present at the venue.

MissImperfectlyFine didn't receive the same round of applause as CherryBlossom and MysticMidnight had. Contrary to that, pure silence ruled the venue.

The murmurs filled with dissatisfaction slowly reached the ears of the other tables.

"What? MissImperfectlyFine won?"

"But she is the one who lied to get to Sky!"

"How can the judges pass her submission through?"

"Yeah, what if she is really a plagiarizer?"

"I don't accept this."

"Yeah, somebody more deserving should win!"

When Jun noticed the unrest in the atmosphere, he immediately sprung on his feet to give everyone a piece of his mind.

How fucking dare they badmouth Ai!?

The iciness was quick to replace the warmth in his eyes.

Yunru grabbed his arm. "Bro! Where are you going!?"

He snarled. "To remove the garbage from their brains! She won fair and square, and now these worthless people are judging her capabilities? Who the fuck they think they are!"

Yunru slightly panicked. It was the first time he saw him so riled up and furious.

"So what do you want to do? Take her side and insult everyone else?"

Jun sneered. "That's my plan. Who will stop me?"

"I will stop you, Bro!"

"Yunru…" his quiet voice was like a death sentence.

Yunru remained firm. "Bro, if you want Zhou Ai to win this, then she has to prove this herself. You will only agitate people if you blindly take her side."

"She has already proved herself!"

"No! She will prove it when she recites her story in front of the audience. She will prove it when she wins this Summit," Yunru sharply countered. "Don't the judges know her reputation? They do. Even so, they selected her story to be the best in the batch. Why they selected her despite her bad reputation is something the others will understand only when they hear the story MissImperfectlyFine has written. If she can move the judges' hearts, then she can move the hearts of everybody present here! Don't you have that faith in Zhou Ai?"

Jun gritted his teeth, and his chest huffed in indignance. "Of course, I trust her!"

"Then you cannot take her side when she hasn't shown her merit yet. It wouldn't affect you, but it will to Zhou Ai because everybody will feel that maybe your influence is the reason why she got selected."

He shut his eyes. On one hand, he agreed with Yunru but on the other hand as he heard the crowd gossiping against Ai, made his blood boil.

"...Once. I will let this go only once. If anybody speaks even a word against her after she wins, nobody - not even you will stop me," Jun coldly warned him.

—

Ai had expected this response from everybody, but she wasn't deterred.

Xing Bi softly said, "Don't worry about other people. Your story will shut everybody's mouths. Remain put for now."

"Xing Bi. I have decided to reveal myself."

She was taken aback. "Really? You don't have to. The Summit doesn't force any author to show their face if they don't want to."

"I know. But after everything that has happened, I feel it is only right that I show myself instead of hiding."

Xing Bi hesitated and was worried a lot. "If that is what you want…"

The emcee cleared his throat to dispel the awkwardness in the air. "MissImperfectlyFine doesn't wish to reveal herself so-"

Ai got up from her chair and faced everyone. The crowd looked at her in surprise.

She bowed. "I am MissImperfectlyFine. Thank you for selecting my story."

Sharp gasps echoed in the air.

"OMG, she is the one!"