Chereads / Alfa from Shanghai / Chapter 2 - Chapter 2: A Girl from The Province in The Metropole

Chapter 2 - Chapter 2: A Girl from The Province in The Metropole

The competition started after the banker's speech.One by one the candidate came out in front of the audience to present their project.Dr. Ling was carried away by their enthusiasm, hopes and desires to improve life on this planet with new innovations.He liked the students' ideas on how to deal with climate change the most, there were many students who were doing a project on that topic, but his attention was drawn by a student who did not speak Chinese very fluently, but even with her accent, she was still able to complete the project by serving with pictorial illustrations and moving graphics that brought him back to his childhood, namely his mother knew how to prepare a pictorial show for him on Sundays, as a narrator she changed the color of her voice and acted like all the characters from the stories. Some sadness seemed to be throbbing in his heart, but he immediately concentrated on the speech of the candidate, a student who presented an innovative idea of ​​cleaning polluted air with a designer fan ellipse that automatically separated polluted particles from the air. Polluted particles then went to a reservoir where the incoming polluted particles were purified from toxins and negative elements that pollute the air through a chemical process.When she finished the presentation, he asked her to introduce herself once more."I'm Bianca from Italy," she said."And where did you learn the manual automatic motion picture technology, " Dr. Ling continued."Ah yes, it originates from the ancient Roman Empire, it is less used now, it used to be the pastime of the nobility.""Thank you, you did a great job," he said.Bianca went back to her place, "so this is good, I thought they wouldn't like this way of presentation, here they already use modern robots, and I just changed it with a motion picture mechanism."Bianca is from Venice, an old city on the canals, and as a girl from the provinces, she felt in the huge urban Shanghai that already touched the sky with its tall towers and skyscrapers.She wondered if she would make it to the finals and once again glanced at the jury and met his gaze.The banker continued to watch her intently, not paying attention to the next candidate.She quickly looked down blushing," uh, just so he wouldn't think I was dressed like this on purpose," it was raining days before, so she didn't have a dry wardrobe for the presentation, so she decided to wear a red Chinese traditional style silk dress that she had never worn before, so she could not walk beautifully and gracefully in a long tight dress like girls from China."It would be better if I wore baggy jeans, then I wouldn't attract attention, " she thought further, pulling her dress up with her hands. Bianca did not know that the banker was watching intently because of her presentation which made a special impression on him personally.While the jury was presiding, Bianca returned to her room on campus and changed her clothes. The previously prepared wardrobe had already dried, so she put on a black suit for women in an Italian casual style, the suit did not cling to the body, and the pants were wide-legged. Now she felt free walking back to the hall, she returned to her seat and only saw that she was being watched, she thought she was too late and sat down."We congratulate our colleague Bianca, " said the jury."We have decided to support your project as well, the other candidates have already received awards, so please approach the jury to hand over the award to you."The award consisted of a written charter and a sum of money in a thick envelope. Namely, the banker wanted to give the students cash right away, so that they could directly dispose of the finances and dedicate themselves to the realization of the project.Bianca approached the table where the jury members were waiting to hand her the award, Dr. Ling personally handed her the award and left a business card,"If you have any problems, call me, " he said and gave her the award, giving her a big hug."This is the Italian custom, but I will not kiss you on the cheek because it would be considered harassment here, unlike your custom, " said Dr. Ling.Bianca understood, here people don't show friendly emotions in public, especially kisses, but a friendly hug is fine, although in Italy, when greeting and congratulating, you hug less and kiss your cheeks a few times, that's why she laughed.The banker looked at her strangely, and she was uncomfortable, because how to explain to him that Italians don't hug each other tightly when greeting, that's more intimacy than a kiss on the cheek."My helplessness due to the speech barrier," she thought to himself"Okay, I'll call your number if I'm in trouble".She just thought to herself that she didn't need his number.