"Hmph." The man's disdainful snort was exceedingly cold, and despite speaking to his own father on the other end of the line, he made no attempt to conceal the revulsion in his eyes.
Wei Feng braced himself, breaking out in a cold sweat on his forehead in an instant. "They said they want you to go back for a visit..." It's tough being a subordinate, but even tougher being a subordinate to President Han.
After a moment of silence, Han Luoli finally gestured for Wei Feng to hand him the phone and coldly, with a strained firmness, said to the person on the other end, "Speak."
...
The much-anticipated day of the competition had finally arrived.
The exhibition's large screen was now open, and the host announced the judging rules, "Now, please submit your works, everyone. Once submission is complete, we will draw lots to select groups for intra-group judging. The best works within each group will advance to the next round of evaluation."
Gu Xiaoer sat below, sending his work to the designated platform. He checked and rechecked several times, only heaving a sigh of relief when he was certain the submission was successful.
Gu Xiaoer anxiously awaited his results.
This year's jury was quite impressive, featuring a splendid assembly of experts. Not only were there professors and teachers from the Nanyi Architectural Design Department, but also the renowned design department of Shenghan, and more importantly, two well-known masters of architectural design, Mr. Wu and Mr. Yu.
Gu Xiaoer had never been in such a gathering before, but seeing the master architects he looked up to filled him with incredible excitement.
Bai Xiaoyu sat in the middle of the jury, his expression indifferent, not paying much attention to others, yet he still elicited screams from a throng of young girls.
In the last row of the exhibition hall, two girls tiptoed around, discussing something in hushed tones.
"Kexin, rest assured, Gu Xiaoer will be utterly disgraced this time! In a moment, we'll definitely give Gu Xiaoer a show!"
"I did well this time. I want to make sure Gu Xiaoer doesn't even have a chance to recover!"
"Relax, Kexin, nothing can go wrong! We just need to sit here and watch the show!"
The tension-filled preliminaries continued through the morning, and Gu Xiaoer was so nervous that she hardly ate even during lunch.
Ai Le taunted her for not being able to hold herself together because of a competition that had her so anxious she lost her appetite.
But Gu Xiaoer covered her face, not daring to tell Ai Le that she was in debt for a huge sum of a hundred thousand and that her entire future hinged on this competition!
Returning to the exhibition hall early in the afternoon, the results of the preliminary round were quickly announced – twenty students had made it to the semifinals. As their identification numbers scrolled across the big screen, Gu Xiaoer was too nervous to look.
"Lele, I think I saw your name up there!"
Gu Xiaoer covered her eyes, cracked her fingers open just slightly, and squinted at the big screen. When she saw Ai Le's name, she forgot her own nerves, hastily congratulated Ai Le, and as the screen continued to scroll, she finally spotted her own name in a corner, prompting both friends to begin cheering excitedly.
Being selected from hundreds into the top twenty was recognition in itself. Considering that Nanyi's Architectural Design Department is among the top in the nation, being chosen among so many talented individuals was reason enough for both girls to be overjoyed.
If only, if only she could get through the finals in the afternoon, the results would be in at last! Gu Xiaoer clenched her little hands and couldn't help but pray inwardly, "God, let the prize money rain down on me!"
In the afternoon, the finals were even more nerve-wracking. Over a dozen judges deliberated over the twenty works for a full hour before reaching their verdicts. The judges showed varied expressions, and it was unclear whether differences of opinion had arisen during the evaluation.
The host took the stage, excitedly ready to announce the winners.