novelraw Chapter 340 - 298: Withdrawal_3
Chapter 340 - 298: Withdrawal_3
In the past couple of days, Cen Jin has been in the studio, as she was wrapping up a project and needed some modifications. She was thinking about design inspirations while helping Ling Quan and her team make adjustments in their designs.On the final deadline, Cen Jin was busy until after five in the afternoon to finish drawing the last submission for the competition.
On the day of the competition, Cen Jin, confident and enthusiastic, went to the venue with Ye Lingran. As they wished, they met Master Made. Among the jury, every designer had to explain the essence and meaning of their work. Cen Jin happened to be the last one, right after Ye Lingran finished her explanation, and next was An Yuyao.
When An Yuyao presented the design drawing, Cen Jin’s breathing suddenly stopped, as if the whole world had gone silent. Her eyes widened in disbelief, watching as An Yuyao proudly elaborated on her work with such relish that Cen Jin was completely stunned.
Ye Lingran saw this and widened her eyes in astonishment. She suddenly turned her head to look at Cen Jin sitting behind her and gave her a puzzled and concerned look.
Cen Jin slowly came back to her senses, noticed Ye Lingran’s glance, shook her head, and looked down at the work draft on the table. It was exactly the same as the one An Yuyao was holding, even the color and all details in the effect drawing were identical.
After An Yuyao finished her explanation, all the jury members cast satisfied glances and nodded in succession, except Yun Qi, who squinted his eyes, clearly noticing the surprise in Cen Jin and Ye Lingran’s expressions. His lips pressed tightly together just as the member next to him leaned over to discuss with him, Yun Qi merely smiled faintly and concurred.
"Good, next is Nie Cenjin." The leading jury member, after recording in his notebook, raised his voice to call for the next participant.
Cen Jin, hearing this, had a beautiful face filled with anger and indifference. She slowly stood up, tightening her grip on her work draft, crumpling the paper in her hand. Everyone was puzzled by her actions at the moment. An Yuyao looked at her with a smug smile, supporting her head with one hand, clearly enjoying the scene.
"Nie Cenjin? Where is your work? Please present it and explain it." The jury urged her again after seeing her stand up but remain silent.
"Sorry, I’m withdrawing." Cen Jin bowed her head, her face solemn, red lips tightly pursed, her sidelong glance coldly sweeping towards An Yuyao in front, her lips moved with a chillingly weak sound.
"Cen Jin..." Ye Lingran immediately stood up upon hearing this, her eyes wide open as she shouted.
Cen Jin slowly raised her head, smiled slightly at her, but there was no light in her eyes, reiterating, "Apologies, for this competition... I’m withdrawing."
"Are you sure?" Her words astonished everyone present, making them look at her blankly, including the leading jury member and Master Made with a complicated look in his eyes.
"Yes, I’m sure." Cen Jin smiled gracefully, her gentle tone carrying a hint of determination. She nodded slightly towards the jury and then took her work draft and left the venue.
Yun Qi saw this, and he originally wanted to follow her out to inquire about the situation, but he was a jury member and could not have any involvement with the competing designers at this moment, otherwise, it would affect the fairness of the competition. After Cen Jin left, the jury began discussing the voting issue.
There were six jury members this time, each having three votes, while Master Made alone had four votes. Yun Qi also noticed from Cen Jin’s reaction something was amiss. Looking at the work, An Yuyao’s wedding gown design was indeed distinct, but Yun Qi felt something was off. He split his three votes between Ye Lingran and two other designers, not giving any to An Yuyao.
In the end, the result was An Yuyao won first place with eight votes, while Ye Lingran had an advantage of six votes to secure second place. The third place went to another designer with some fame in the circle, whom An Yuyao had deliberately praised before, earning five votes. She was obviously not satisfied with this result and shot a fierce glance at Ye Lingran and An Yuyao.