Everyone lowered their heads in embarrassment and scrambled to explain to the main person in charge and the chairman of the referee panel.

The head of the organizing committee, a highly respected senior figure in the international design community, did not buy into this.

After listening to their flawed and incoherent explanations for pleading for Shang Wu, they not only failed to calm things down but instead flew into a rage!

"Misunderstanding? I think you're making a fool of me!"

The old man slammed his fist on the table, his face turning ashen with anger. "First, you ganged up to report us! Now you're saying it's a misunderstanding? What do you take the disciplinary review of the competition for? A child's game?!"

His sharp gaze swept over the few silent people in front of him, and then he glanced at Shang Wu, who stood expressionless at the door. He already understood seven or eight parts of the situation.

"This matter cannot be left unresolved! Those responsible must be punished!"

The old man said in a stern voice, "The three of you have behaved inappropriately and are suspected of maliciously excluding other participants. Each of you will receive a yellow card warning. If you engage in similar behavior again, you will be immediately disqualified from the competition and the matter will be announced to the industry!"

The group led by Zhu Ying immediately turned ashen-faced.

Although a yellow card warning does not immediately disqualify them, it is a huge stain that can make them unable to hold their heads high for years to come.

Then, the old man's next words stunned everyone.

"As for Freya," he turned his gaze to Shang Wu, his expression complicated, "although you were maliciously reported, your past ghostwriting did exist, and the way it was handled this time was drastic."

Shang Wu narrowed her eyes.

"You used negative information to put pressure on several contestants, which also had a negative impact on the competition. For the sake of fairness, you are hereby given a yellow card warning, and your score for the first round of the competition will be zero, in order to observe your future performance."

Zero points in the first round?

Shang Wu's expression turned cold.

A three-round points system allows for snowballing advantages.

Not scoring in the first round means that she either needs to outperform everyone in the second and third rounds with unimaginable results, or all her efforts will be in vain, and she will be eliminated from the competition for the final award early.

There are many excellent designers in the competition, so it is almost impossible for the former to achieve this.

She can accept a warning, but she cannot accept this unfair punishment that almost deprives her of the right to compete.

“Sir,” Shang Wu stepped forward, “I accept the yellow card warning, but I do not accept the penalty of zero points in the first round.”

Her words made the atmosphere in the meeting room tense again.

The old man's expression was somewhat grim, as if he was weighing his options.

But everyone knew that this highly respected old gentleman was a man of his word and would almost never listen to Shang Wu's reasoned arguments.

Just then, the internal telephone line on the conference table suddenly rang.

The old man frowned, gestured for everyone to be quiet, and answered the phone: "Hello?"

He didn't know what was said on the other end of the phone, but his expression instantly became extremely complicated, from doubt to shock, and then to disbelief.

He responded several times.

"Yes, yes, okay, please don't worry."

When the old man hung up the phone and looked at Shang Wu again, his eyes had completely changed.

Shang Wu: "?"

The old man cleared his throat, his tone softening considerably, and said with obvious apology: "I just received a notice from above. After review, your situation is indeed special. You can participate in all rounds of the competition as usual, and your results will be valid."

After these words were spoken, the entire room fell silent!

Everyone was stunned!

The three designers, in particular, practically popped their eyes out.

Above? Which above?

How could a single phone call make a stern and impartial old gentleman change his mind instantly and apologize so politely?

What powerful force is behind this Shang Wu?!

Shang Wu herself was completely dumbfounded.

She was prepared to appeal to the end, so how could everything be reversed in an instant with just one phone call? And an apology?

Before Shang Wu could even figure it out, the old gentleman politely invited her to go back and rest so she could prepare for the competition.

She walked out of the meeting room full of doubts, but before she had gone far, the three people who had just been given yellow cards couldn't wait to catch up with her.

Their faces were plastered with fawning and ingratiating smiles, a stark contrast to their previous harshness and contempt.

"Teacher Freya, please wait!"

"It was a misunderstanding just now. We were blind and offended you. Please forgive us!"

"If you ever need our help in this industry, just let us know!"

They fawned over Shang Wu, as if they weren't the ones who had tried to crush her.

Shang Wu could tell that they clearly believed she had an extremely powerful backer and were eager to mend their relationship.

Annoyed by their noise, Shang Wu stopped and looked at them coldly:

"Teachers, I'm just an ordinary contestant, I don't deserve this. The competition is based on ability, not connections. Please move aside, I need to go back and prepare my work."

After seeing off a few people, she returned to her room, still confused, and told Ah Ying everything.

After hearing this, A-Ying's eyes widened in surprise.

She lowered her voice and said mysteriously, "This is definitely not a coincidence! This person has definitely been watching your every move! He came to your rescue when you were being harassed, it's almost like..."

She leaned closer to Shang Wu and whispered something.

Shang Wu frowned after hearing this.

"This... will it work? Won't it be too..."

"Otherwise, we'll always be kept in the dark, how passive would that be! Let's give it a try! What if we succeed?" Aying urged.

After hesitating for a long time, Shang Wu finally nodded: "Okay, let's try it as you said and see who this person who is helping me is."

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