The next day, the sun scattered its light over the entire city of London. As one of the most developed cities in the UK, it became bustling and crowded every morning. Of course, being a country that values etiquette, despite the crowds, it did not disrupt the order in place.
Kevin washed his face, had breakfast, and then found that all the players in the rematch had already arrived downstairs waiting for the London Publishing House's reception car, and he was the last one to arrive.
"Hey buddy, you seem to have woken up late today. Is it because you were drunk and arrived late last night?" a handsome contestant said.
"No, I didn't last night, I watched TV."
"Yes, this guy's room was playing the sound of a TV drama all night last night. I heard it as I passed by," another contestant chimed in.
"Alright, buddy, you're really amazing. I hope you have a good performance today. However, I don't think God likes lazy people."
As soon as the words were spoken, laughter erupted. It must be said that if the target of this joke wasn't Kevin, it could indeed be considered a witty one. However, for Kevin, it simply rendered him silent.
"Thank you, I think I can do it. Oh, the car is here, let's go," Kevin replied with a smile.
These contestants are here to compete in the semi-finals, most of them aiming to win the championship and gain some popularity in the British literary scene. Therefore, others' setbacks are actually beneficial to them. After all, this invisibly equates to giving themselves an opportunity.
After more than twenty contestants followed the reception car to the semifinal examination venue of London Literature Publishing, they discovered a problem: there were a lot of people today, and a large part of them were local media.
They were not surprised at all, after all, Mr. Cory had explained yesterday that this is a country that values literature, so such a large literary competition naturally attracts a lot of attention. It's like a Chinese singing competition or something similar.
"Friend, I'm a bit nervous, how about you?" asked one of the players who was walking closely with Kevin.
"Friend, this feeling is wonderful, I love this feeling," Kevin said confidently.
Yes, the more media exposure, the greater the chance of becoming famous. Eileen Chang of China once said: "It's best to become famous early." So, Kevin, who stumbled through his past life, has unexpectedly arrived in this country and must make a name for himself. Perhaps today is the best opportunity. "Contestants participating in the semi-finals, please enter the examination room, receive our questions, and write an article based on the given topic, with no restrictions on the genre."
Teacher Jian was adjusting the microphone, his face filled with excited expressions.
The media also cooperated quite well. In order not to disturb the contestants' thinking, they only chose to quietly take some photos outside the examination room, and then sat there quietly waiting.
Kevin walked calmly into the examination room for the semi-finals, then found his own seat. After everyone had taken their seats, the chief examiner for the semi-finals also entered.
"I am very pleased to meet all of you. Perhaps some of you here will be the pride of future British literature, but whether that will be the case, only time will tell. Now, let's get back to the point."
At this moment, all the contestants were staring intently at the chief examiner, including Kevin. Although Kevin possessed the memory system of English literature from his past life, he still needed to understand the topic of the rematch in order to write smoothly. Naturally, he dared not be careless at this time.
"My goodness, this examination hall is truly empty, so empty that I don't know what question to set. Oh, here's a broom. Everyone, let this broom be the topic for today's retest. Well then, good luck to you all."
After speaking, the chief examiner picked up a broom from the corner and brought it to the podium. Then he made a gesture of invitation to the contestants below, indicating that they were free to unleash their creativity. The contestants, upon seeing this, were all stunned. Each of them felt a sense of difficulty and despair in their hearts. Normally, when writing, they could just write freely with a given topic. But now, with no topic at all, only a broom in sight, how could they even begin to imagine and put pen to paper.
Including the media waiting quietly outside, they were also very puzzled by this phenomenon, whispering and discussing among themselves.
"Wow, why is this year's London literary competition so difficult, it seems like they're using a broom as the topic for the semi-finals."
"Yes, it is indeed a bit challenging for the contestants to write an article based on a broom, considering that many of them come from noble backgrounds and have never even touched a broom."
"But don't you think that only in this way can we truly discover the real talents of English literature?"
"Makes sense, but can young people today write profoundly about a broom?"
Many people were lamenting about the somewhat biased and difficult topic of the rematch, but only one person was furiously jotting down notes.
Not bad, this person is Kevin. With the knowledge of the British literary system from his past life on Earth, he quickly thought of Swift's "A Meditation Upon a Broomstick."
Swift is an outstanding satirical writer from 18th-century England, as well as a renowned essayist. In this piece, he associates life with a broom, displaying a humorous and thought-provoking writing style.
"Reflections on a Broom" can also be considered one of Swift's classic masterpieces, with the most famous paragraph being:
Are humans not also like brooms? When nature first sends them to the world, they are strong and powerful, full of energy, with a head full of black hair. If humans are compared to rational plants, they are lush and verdant. However, before long, indulgence becomes like an axe, cutting off their green branches and leaves, leaving only a dry twig. So they quickly seek artificial help, wearing a wig full of powder and taking pride in it. If our broom were to make an entrance like this, proudly collecting dust on its body from other branches, in reality, these branches are all covered in dust, even the most.
The dust in the room of the noble lady, we must surely laugh at how vain it is! We are such biased judges, leaning towards our own virtues and others' faults!
Of course, as a short essay, "Musing on a Broom" is a classic throughout. This is why Kevin wrote it down without hesitation. Such an article and the broom brought up by the chief examiner can be said to be extremely appropriate.
Kevin's writing was also mentioned by the media outside, and for a moment, they began discussing it as well.
"Hey, what's that guy doing? He's already started writing so early. It's less than a minute before the chief examiner announces the retest topics."
"Yes, it seemed to me that his hand kept writing on the paper, as if the inspiration never broke."
"But none of the other participants have even started writing. How does he have such quick inspiration?"
"Perhaps this will be the next Shakespeare, let's wait and see."
"I don't believe it, he can really have inspiration so quickly. Perhaps he is painting, or perhaps he is practicing his brushwork."
The contestants inside didn't have as much time to care about others as the media outside did. At this moment, they were all racking their brains on how to start writing. Of course, they still had plenty of time left, so they could think slowly.
Only when they were about to start writing, a man named Kevin had already written the article, and every word and sentence would become a classic.
"Wait, oh my goodness, why is he standing up? Is he going to hand in his paper?"
"Really, in just over ten minutes, he's already finished writing?"
"Unbelievable, is this for real? Is this kid here for entertainment?"
"If he were the champion of this literary competition, perhaps he would be truly a literary genius of England."
After Kevin handed in his completed article to the examiner, the examiner also looked at him in surprise.
"Dear Kevin, are you sure you have finished writing? The topic for the semi-finals is to let a broom express itself freely," the examiner reminded him.
"Yes, I have finished writing it. Thank you for reminding me," Kevin said confidently.
"Alright, once you submit your paper, you can leave. The results of the next round will be announced the day after tomorrow," the chief examiner said.
Other contestants saw Kevin submit his article in just over ten minutes, their eyes widened in astonishment. Since they were still searching for inspiration themselves, their surprise quickly turned into nervousness.
After Kevin walked out of the semi-final exam room, the media immediately surrounded him. They wanted to personally ask how this person who submitted the article in just over ten minutes managed to do it.
"Hello, may I ask what topic you wrote about for this round of the competition?"
"Suspicious, according to the organizer's requirements, the title of this article cannot be disclosed for the time being," Kevin replied.
"Hello, may I ask how you manage to complete an entire work in just a short ten minutes? Your speed has already made history in this literary competition." "The purpose of historical records is to be broken," Kevin replied.
"Do you think you will be the champion of this literary competition?"
"I can only say that I have confidence in my own articles, as for the results, we'll have to wait for the announcement the day after tomorrow," Kevin replied.
As Kevin walked out of the semi-final area, the media's questions came to an end. However, even though the questions had ended, the matter was far from over.
Many people began to post about Kevin on their own Twitter accounts, and discussions about Kevin submitting articles within just a few minutes started spreading like wildfire.
