AAAAAAAA hello I found some chapters that Sydney probably finished but was too lazy to post. SO HERE THEY ARE. But since school has started and I’m busy preparing for tests updates will not be on any schedules 😀 Also since Sydney is now in a different country than I am, I will be somewhat of a one-man team.

After the five judges evaluated their works, they returned to their seats. Inside each of their minds, they were pondering how they were going to evaluate this round.

In the face-to-face round, there were ten people in each group, and only two people could proceed to the next round. In this group, group 8, only two out of ten people completed their test.

Should they directly let the two pass?

Chen Jianqiu felt outrageous. He had nothing against letting Liu Man pass, but if Su Maolin, with his skills, passed, then this competition would be a complete joke. The art of calligraphy would be sullied!

However, none of the other eight people completed their tests and had a blank piece of paper. How would they evaluate them? Among those other eight people, Chen Jianqiu felt that the author named Wu Qu had a beautiful piece, which was handed in to hang up on the halls. Not only was it much better than Su Maolin’s, but it was also even a bit prettier than Liu Man’s. He would say that Wu Qu was number one, and Liu Man was number two. As for Su Maolin, he would be the worst one in this group!

Chen Jianqiu whispered his thoughts to Cheng Zikun, who lowered his voice and whispered back, “We should just let it go today. Even if Su Maolin’s not cheating, the seven other people who are not good enough would still be outed. This Wu Qu’s just having some bad luck, for he got sorted into the eighth group. Su Maolin just stole his number on rank. Why would we offend Su Xuezhen just for this Wu Qu, who we don’t even know about?”

“Next, we will still have to evaluate twelve other groups. If we have a farce right now, how will we proceed with our evaluation later? If this gets exposed, the public will definitely suspect the authority and publicity of our calligraphy exhibit. If the rumors get big, not will this hugely affect this exhibit, but it will also affect our exhibitions from now on. We have to look at the bigger picture and not lose something much bigger because of this small incident. Besides, you should also care about the association’s reputation.”

“But I just can’t tolerate Su Xuezhen and Wang Qinghai, colluding and cheating,” Chen Jianqiu complained.

“Even if Su Maolin passes the face-to-face round, there is still the last round — the free write. When it comes to that round, we will cooperate with the five judges from the Capital to evaluate. Do you still think Su Maolin can cheat and lie his way through?”

Chen Zikun thought more about this than Chen Jianqiu did. He guessed that the reason Su Xuezhen did so many things to get his son here was not to get the final rankings but to get some good reputation. If Su Maolin had something being presented as outstanding work at the exhibition, it would be a good title for him, and his future would be much more successful.

“In a week, Su Maolin would still get outed. Not only him but Mr. Su Yi’s beauty apprentice would also be kicked out too. The entire level of the eighth group is very bad, and it can not be compared to the third group from this morning at all.”

The third group was also a clerical script group. They had their face-to-face round this morning, and everyone in the group was very skillful. That face-to-face round was very competitive, and every writer performed magnificently.

It was like the world cup sorting system. There were two types of groups: the competing-until-you-die group and the lay-back-and-straight-up-win group. The third group was the former and the eighth group was clearly the latter.

Chen Jianqiu felt slightly better after listening to Cheng Zikun’s advice because he also felt that the eighth group could not be compared to the third group at all. Besides, they had two other clerical script groups to evaluate later. There would definitely be more excellent writers then.

At this time, Wang Qinghai asked them, “There is quite a lot of difference between the contestants in the eighth group. We’ll let Su Maolin and Liu Man pass, with Su Maolin ranked number one and Liu Man ranked number two. Is everyone okay with this result?”

Chen Jianqiu blurted out, “According to the result we see right there, Liu Man should be number one.”

Cheng Zikun shook his head. This idiot was really straightforward. He couldn’t even stop Chen Jianqiu. What even is the purpose of fighting for number one in the face-to-face round? In the end, they would both get kicked.

Unexpectedly, Su Xuezhen said, “Yes, Maolin surely didn’t meet his usual level of performance today. He has no right to be ranked as number one.”

Su Xuezhen’s words seemed to be humble, but they made others feel uncomfortable. What did he mean, “he has no right to be ranked as number one”? He had no right to even compete in this exhibition!

If Cheng Zikun hadn’t pulled onto Chen Jianqiu as if his life was on the line, Chen Jianqiu would’ve said that.

“Then Liu Man shall be ranked as number one, and Su Maolin as number two. Does anyone have any opinion on this result?”

Mo Qi, who did not take any side, was the first to say, “Nope.”

Cheng Zikun hurriedly said that he agreed.

Chen Jianqiu, after convincing himself for a very long time, finally said, “I agree with this result.”

Su Xuezhen and Wang Qinghai looked at each other and both sighed in relief on the inside. They finally got past this dauntless Chen Jianqiu. Chen Jianqiu was famous for being stubborn in the calligraphy circle. His calligraphy skills are very good, but because he was way too straightforward and didn’t know the ways of socializing, he didn’t have lots of friends and had no connections. There was no one to help him. No matter how good his works were, they could not sell for a high price!

Among these three judges, they were most worried that Chen Jianqiu would mess it up.

Luckily, this time, Chen Jianqiu was smart for once.

Before the final result was announced, the judges would make a summary regarding the entire group’s performance. The eighth group was one of the clerical script groups, so, in the end, Su Xuezhen would make the final word.

Su Xuezhen said, “The level of this group is overall pretty high…”

He first followed the official routine and spoke against his heart, then complimented everyone, “It’s only that some of you writers have not been prepared enough and do not have enough knowledge stored. That’s why some of you can’t completely interpret topics. I hope you all can practice harder and prepare for the exhibit seriously next time to bring us better pieces.”

“Now, I will announce the two writers that will advance to the next round in the eighth group. Liu Man is ranked first, and Su Maolin is ranked second.”

This result was definitely inevitable when the “Yun Yang Ding” topic appeared. Nobody was surprised.

Liu Man’s expression stayed the same. Compared to the results, she was more surprised that none of the others was able to write “Yun Yang Ding”.

Su Maolin felt upset. His father told him beforehand that he would definitely be ranked number one. How did he get “demoted” to number two? Number two sounded terrible.

Time was running out, and the participants from the ninth group were already preparing to come up. Zhou Budai stretched and exercised his wrists. The staff came up to clean the tables and change the name cards. The people who were out were about to leave, disappointed.

A cold and aloof voice abruptly sounded,

“I disagree with this result!”

Everyone else was stunned. The ones who were about to leave paused their footsteps, and Zhou Budai was still halfway through his yawn, his mouth still open. The judges all had complex expressions.

Everyone in the hall looked towards the source of the complaint. It was the man standing in the middle of the room — Wu Qu.

Wang Qinghai frowned, “The face-to-face evaluation for the eighth group has already ended. If you have any concerns or questions, you can privately give us your feedback after every group’s evaluation is finished.”

“It would be too late when the entire face-to-face evaluation is over,” Wu Qu’s expression was complex. It was as if he was smiling, but he wasn’t at the same time. His eyes ironically stared at Wang Qinghai and Su Xuezhen, “You only dare to do whatever you want and abuse your power because the calligraphy evaluation isn’t open to the public.”

All five judges’ expressions changed; especially Su Xuezhen and Wang Qinghai.

Su Xuezhen said with confidence, as if he was the one in the right, “Isn’t the outside gallery open to the public? Our entire contest is fair and justified from start to end. You are slandering the five of us judges by saying these words, and you are also sullying the reputation of the twenty other calligraphy association members sitting around us, watching.”

Translated by: I don’t really know, but it’s most likely Sydney

Edited by: Puppxteer