Chapter 151: Worst Case Scenario

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

After the introduction of the program, the host introduced the 30 participants one by one. The camera would then pan to those who were present.

Upon seeing this, Lin Xiaowan sighed in relief, thinking that it was a good thing that she decided not to go. Moreover, there were cameras everywhere in the studio. She knew how observant the netizens were. If she appeared on camera, there was a chance they would discover the video and make the connections again.

The judges’ evaluations were naturally very helpful. However, after listening for a while, Lin Xiaowan was confused by the professional terms they used.

At this time, Lin Xiaowan’s phone suddenly rang. She thought it was Huo Zheng since he knew today was the final round of the Venue Hope Competition. However, she soon discovered it was Hong Minhua, whom she had not seen in half a month.

“Happy new year, Grandma Hong,” Lin Xiaowan said softly as soon as she answered the call.

Hong Minhua chuckled and said, “Happy new year! When are you coming back from the Huo family’s old residence? I’ll give you a red packet when our lessons resume.”

“Okay, we’ll be coming back soon,” Lin Xiaowan said. Then, she asked curiously, “What’s the matter, Grandma Hong? Why did you suddenly call me?”

“I saw the artwork you submitted for the Venus Hope Competition. Your painting is very good,” Hong Minhua said with a smile. She was clearly satisfied with the artwork Lin Xiaowan submitted.

Lin Xiaowan tried to adhere to the principle of fairness as much as she could. Apart from showing her draft to Hong Minhua in the beginning and listening to the other party’s suggestions for improvement, she did not ask for any help after that. The entire thing was completely her own creation.

It was her first time painting so many details. It was very different from her previous paintings of various sceneries and anthropomorphic characters.

Lin Xiaowan was satisfied with the artwork she submitted, but the feeling of being praised by Hong Minhua gave her a different feeling. After all, a professional praised her work. It was definitely something to be happy about. Even if she did not win, it did not matter.

Lin Xiaowan smiled and said sweetly, sounding a little shy, “Thank you for your praise, Grandma Hong.”

After praising Lin Xiaowan a few more times, Hong Minhua said, “I’ve seen the other works as well. Yours is very good. Although it’s a little difficult to win the first prize, it’s not impossible. In any case, whether you win or not, I hope you won’t be discouraged or sad, okay?”

Lin Xiaowan naturally did not care about this. “Grandma Hong, I know. I don’t worry.”

There were a lot of participants, and many of them did not even pass the first round of selection. This was Lin Xiaowan’s first time participating in the competition, even if it was not a professional competition, it was already impressive that she made it to the final round.

After a short break in the middle of the show, the second half of the evaluation and scoring resumed.

The full marks were 10.

The judges’ evaluation of Lin Xiaowan’s artwork was quite positive, but they also mentioned many areas that needed improvement.

Lin Xiaowan listened attentively and agreed with them. Before the final score was announced, she could not help but feel nervous.

The judges gave their respective marks, and the full score was taken from the average.

In the end, Lin Xiaowan’s artwork scored 8.647. Among the paintings that had been evaluated until now, her painting was ranked third. For now, the highest-scoring painting had a score of 9.724, which was close to the full score. The second painting scored 9.335. Lin Xiaowan, who was in third place now, was far behind the first two. This also meant that her current rank was very unstable. After all, there were still more than a dozen participants behind her who had yet to be evaluated. Not only that, but there was a person among them whose artwork Hong Minhua thought would get the highest score.

Nonetheless, Lin Xiaowan was very satisfied with her score. She returned to the official website to look at the awards that would be given, she found that in the worst-case scenario, she would still get a consolation prize.

After looking at the list of awards, Lin Xiaowan felt sleepy. It did not take long before she leaned against the couch and fell asleep with a soft pillow in her arms.

When the servants came over to change the tea, they tried their best not to disturb her sleep. One of them adjusted the heating for her and also covered her with a small blanket.

Lin Xiaowan was very friendly to the employees and spoke very sweetly to them. She was very easy to get along with and did not put on airs. As such, most of the employees had a good impression of her and liked her a lot.

Lin Xiaowan was woken up by a phone call. She wokeup in a daze, thinking it was the alarm. It took a while before she realized that it was a call from Huo Zheng.

She asked sleepily, “What’s the matter? Why did you call me?”

Huo Zheng chuckled. He did not expect her to be sleeping at this time. “Qingqing, were you sleeping?”

“Hmm, no, I’m watching the final round of the competition…” Lin Xiaowan said, but when she looked at the huge screen in front of her, she exclaimed in surprise, “Eh? It’s already over!”

Huo Zheng could not help but laugh seeing how muddle-headed she was, thinking that she was really cute. “You even fell asleep watching your own competition?”

Lin Xiaowan said, embarrassed, “1 didn’t expect it as well…”

Lin Xiaowan wondered how she fared in the end. In any case, she was sure she would at least win the consolation prize. Perhaps due to her certainty, she was not nervous at all and fell asleep.

“Qingqing, you’re really amazing. Not only did you get fifth place, but you also won the Most Creative award in the competition.”

“Huh?”

‘1 managed to place fifth?’

When she submitted her artwork, she also submitted a brief explanation of the inspiration behind her artwork. She had been inspired by Lin Qing, but for privacy reasons, she had omitted Lin Qing’s name when she wrote about her inspiration.

“It won’t be long before you’ll be able to win the grand prize. You’re the best. It seems like I’ll have to think about how I can reward you,” Huo Zheng said before asking, “Do you want to open a studio?”

Lin Xiaowan refused him immediately. “No, that’s so troublesome! Painting is a hobby for me. I won’t feel like painting anymore if it feels like work. It’ll be boring.”

“Okay, okay. Since you have your own ideas and opinions about this, I can only think of another reward.”

Lin Xiaowan looked at the time and asked, “Were you watching the live broadcast in the office?”

“I only watched your part and the ceremony at the end,” Huo Zheng replied truthfully. He laughed as he continued to say, “I couldn’t wait to call you after I saw the results. I didn’t expect to wake you up from your sleep.”

Lin Xiaowan scrunched up her small nose before she said, “You’re the boss, but you’re setting a bad example for your employees. You actually slacked off at work.”

“Your matters are more important than this…”