"Next, let's witness together the 100 designers who have entered the preliminary round..."

As the host began to speak, the music gradually faded.

Immediately afterwards, the large screen lit up, and a huge table came into view.

My heart jumped.

Hu Jingyao looked up at No.1 at the top of the table.

His face is getting darker and darker.

No. 1: Ye, China Team, 98.69

No. 2: Shieh, China Team, 1997.17

No. 3: Ling, China National Team, 1996.28

...

No. 6: Morning, China Team, 92.77

...

No. 9: Hu, USA Team, 89.74

...

Looking down the first ten miles, the Chinese team occupied half of the territory.

The best result for the US team was fourth place.

He was ninth.

Continuing down, Hu Jingyao found Cheng Yanxi's name at number 73.

An inauspicious start!

A voice, brimming with disdain, said: "It's just a preliminary round. What does a preliminary round result mean? They might be eliminated in the semi-finals or finals! Cheer up!!!"

Another voice asked cautiously: "Isn't it... a bit too careless? After all, Xie Chenlu had previously achieved remarkable results in the 'Shaoguang' Jewelry Competition in Shanghai."

But the thought was shattered by Hu Jingyao's slap as soon as it popped into his head!

Domestic competitions like "Shaoguang" are simply incomparable to international competitions of the scale of "Xingguang Zhiye".

Not to mention the many scandals that were exposed during the "Shaoguang" competition.

It's easy to imagine how much of Xie Chenlu's gold medal was genuine.

In the years since he left Xie Chenlu for the United States, he has worked hard every day and improved himself every day.

But what about Xie Chenlu?

I was depressed for five years.

Ye Li recruited him into YL Studio last year with a hefty sum.

Needless to say, the people from Morning were also degenerate; they did all sorts of things, from administration to finance.

Those who have been slacking off for five years are simply not on the same level as him, who works hard every day.

There's absolutely no comparison!

That's right, it must be Ye Li!

Thinking of Ye Li, who started shining from "Brilliant You", quickly rose to prominence through various competitions such as the dazzling lights of Paris and the splendor of Shanghai, and was subsequently praised by design industry leaders as a genius dark horse designer.

Hu Jingyao immediately perked up!

He felt something was off when he saw those works on display, and now he finally remembered.

The design concepts revealed in their works are too similar!

It's as if it was designed by the same person, but was polished and modified by different people.

Wasn't Xie Chenlu the same person who helped him refine his work in the past?

Xie Chenlu's talent has vanished. Morning, Ling Xiaohan, and three others have returned to the jewelry design track. How many can they catch up with?

Isn't it all thanks to Ye Li, that genius dark horse?

Ye Li really didn't hold back when it came to Xie Chenlu's once glorious reputation and to recruit these six disciples!

Looking back at Ye Li, Hu Jingyao instantly exhaled the anger that had been building up inside him.

? ? ?

Ye Li was completely bewildered when she met Hu Jingyao's meaningful glance.

Can anyone tell her what kind of wicked idea that scoundrel is plotting?

Betraying one's master is bad enough, but betraying one's own sect is even worse.

This is intolerable!

Ye Li glared at him fiercely before slowly looking away.

After being glared at by Ye Li, Hu Jingyao realized he had guessed correctly and felt even more at ease.

The entries for the preliminary round were prepared in advance, and Ye Li could help them.

How can we help them in the semi-finals and finals?

They can't possibly cheat in front of the judges and so many designers, can they?

Whether it's Xie Chenlu or Ling Xiaohan and the others, this is their moment of glory!

He wanted to see just how arrogant they would be then!

The higher you climb, the harder you fall!

The resentment in his eyes vanished instantly. Hu Jingyao patted Cheng Yanxi's hand, and the two of them felt relieved.

The audience was filled with murmurs.

On stage, the judges are commenting on the most stunning works from the preliminary round.

The first thing to be affected is Ye Li's "Misty Rain" set.

The hazy, gray-white jade and the pear-shaped design complement each other perfectly.

At first glance, it resembles a quaint, ancient town shrouded in mist and rain.

She also seemed like a graceful young woman walking towards us, wearing a plain cheongsam and holding an oil-paper umbrella.

Her beauty is pure and refined.

"The statistics are complete. Congratulations to the Chinese team for taking the lead with 28 points!"

Accompanied by the host's passionate voice, the score statistics were displayed on the big screen.

Only the top 100 of the more than 1,000 design works were counted.

Of the 100, 28 were from the Chinese team, accumulating 28 points.

Ranked first.

The United States team scored 25 points, ranking second.

The French team came in third.

Although there was only a three-point difference between 28 and 25, everyone present knew perfectly well that the gap between them and the Chinese national team was too great.

If the points were calculated based on the score or quality of the works rather than the number of finalists, they probably wouldn't even qualify for the list.

The reason why a poor student gets 100 points is because they worked hard.

The top student gets 100 points because the test is only out of 100 points, okay?

People from all directions were discussing the artworks that had just been displayed on the big screen, as well as the Chinese team currently displayed prominently on the leaderboard.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!