The next day, the five chosen papers were required to present again, but this time, it was in front of the five judges. Luo Jingyi kept her poker face plastered throughout, grilling each team with questions related to their proposal.
It didn't start with this though. It only happened after she made mental adjustments, based on Prof. Ma's expression. He was being a good cop. So, Dr. Li and Luo Jingyi were the bad ones, rattling each team member.
Luo Jingyi was beside Professor Ma. His actions of leaning on his chair and secretly peeping at what she wrote, didn't slip past her eyes. She even allowed him to look at the scores.
When the five teams completed their presentation, the program chair along with Dr. Bai tallied the result. Dr. Bai was weirded out by the scoring. Every time one judge gave the highest evaluation, another one wrote the lowest which resulted in three teams getting the same scores.
The panel deliberated to choose between the three. Luo Jingyi never changed her stance because she was aware that Prof. Ma was acting opposite of hers
Listening to the arguments between the judges, it didn't take long for Dr. Bai to figure out what was going on. She cast an amused glance at Luo Jingyi.
Dr. Bai buffered in between the discussion, pretending to be unaware of how Luo Jingyi was manipulating the conversation in order to achieve the results she wanted.
When they came to a decision, everyone sighed in relief. Dr. Bai went out to announce the result.
...
As Luo Jingyi gathered her things on the desk, Prof. Ma moved closer to her.
"Dr. Luo seemed unhappy with the results?" He asked, with a smile of triumph dancing on his lips.
"We are different." Luo Jingyi shoved her phone inside her bag and turned away.
Luo Jingyi paused in the middle, swung around to face him. She warned him, "You should consider your choices if you want to keep your position."
His brows shot up to his hairline. "Are you threatening me?"
"Threatening you is a way for cowards. So no." Luo Jingyi smiled. "I am informing you. I'd rather be forthcoming than stab people behind the back. After all, you were once my mother's friend. Isn't that right uncle?"
His smile faded. He was rattled when he was reminded of his friendship with the original's mother. He was another person she needed to deal with but she was saving him for the last.
"Stop pulling my leg. You won't have time to play around at this time when your father's eyeing a higher position. He's quite ambitious, isn't he?"
There was a threat in his statement, indirectly telling her that he had something against her father so she shouldn't act up.
"You are telling that to the wrong person." Luo Jingyi snorted, walking away.
Watching her leave the room, Prof. Ma admitted that he was ruffled but didn't take her seriously. He laughed. "You are just a small ant."
….
Someone called out Luo Jingyi as she entered the main hall where the conference was. She spun on her heel and found Dr. Li.
"Just so you know, I don't like being used." His expression was very grim.
"I'm sorry." Luo Jingyi said with sincerity. She wanted Prof. Ma to keep on pushing Wen Minghua's paper on top. So she blatantly gave her disapproval of it and utilized Dr. Li's opinion as her attacking points.
The man pushed his glasses up his nose. "I'll forgive. Anyway, I don't like him."
"Thank you."
He shrugged his shoulders and entered, leaving Luo Jingyi standing at the door. She pondered what kind of grudge Dr. Li had against Prof. Ma.
Luo Jingyi went inside the venue and waited for the conclusion of the conference.
A famous neurosurgeon was talking about the development and implementation of new technologies that his hospital was working on to improve the diagnosis and treatment of rare neurological conditions. Examining the people around her, nobody seemed interested.
While it was a case she would be interested to look at, at this point her brain has no ability to digest additional information. It was the same with the other people in the room. Three days of hearing nothing but medical cases and research full of medical jargons could drain one's energy. Everyone was just anticipating the result of the competition which was the highlight of this year's conference. Getting your research funded by two big healthcare corporations was a dream for most.
Everyone sat up straight when Dr. Bai took the microphone and began talking about the competition. Luo Jingyi was assigned for this task yet she managed to getaway.
Claps erupted when the two winners were announced and were requested to go to the stage.
"Wen Minghua. Enjoy my present for now." One side of her lips was drawn up as she watched Wen Minghua jumping in joy to receive the award from a representative of her company. The representative was the VP of Financial Service in NewLife Healthcare Corporation.