Chapter 24

"Look who's talking dirty." Zhou Yunkai's face turned blue with anger, and he ordered the servants behind him, "Watch carefully for me. I'll have a good talk with them later."

The originally noisy voices suddenly died down, and many people lowered their heads and retreated, fearing that they would be noticed by Zhou's servants.

If the Zhou family makes things difficult for them, they will have no chance of survival.

"Young Master Zhou is so arrogant!" Cui Youyi sneered, "In front of everyone, he actually dared to force us, the winners, to withdraw from the competition!"

"Could it be that this is how the qualification for promotion came about?" Cui Youyi covered her mouth, looking as if she had discovered a huge secret.

"The Zhou family's ice sculpture skills have declined to this point! Could it be that they've only achieved this through fraud and deception all these years?"

After saying this, Cui Youyi covered her mouth tightly, her face pale as she took several steps back. "Oh my God, the Zhou family wouldn't want to silence me, would they? Fellow ice sculptors, please, for the sake of our shared camaraderie, bear witness for me today. If I die in the future, don't forget to seek justice for me at the government office!"

"Miss Cui is really good at joking." Zhou Yunchao came hurriedly after receiving the letter.

He was so tired of having to clean up the mess for that idiot Zhou Yunkai.

The last time he lost the game, his family lost a big business, and he was going to lose face again with this game.

Now something strange has happened again during the ice sculpture competition. If Cui Youyi's words today were to get out, their Zhou family would probably become a thorn in the eyes of the Ningguta ice sculptors.

You won’t learn anything from being cautious in what you say and do.

"My brother was under a lot of pressure during the competition, and there were so many rumors. I originally wanted to clarify a few things, but I never expected the rumors to spread so wildly. The men of our Zhou family have infinite respect for the ice sculpture competition, and our achievements and works at previous competitions are obvious to all." Zhou Yunkai lowered his posture. "If there are other rumors in the future, please help to clarify them. My Zhou family will reward you handsomely."

Fortunately, there is an exhibition of works from previous competitions, and many people in Ningguta have appreciated those works. Otherwise, the Zhou family would have been branded as a bully who cheated in the ice sculpture competition.

Cui Youyi also knew that it was impossible to nail the Zhou family to the head with just a few words, but she was also unwilling to let Zhou Yunkai go.

"It turned out to be a misunderstanding," Cui Youyi said sarcastically. "Young Master Zhou must go back and investigate thoroughly to find out where these rumors started. The source must be dealt with thoroughly."

Instead of speaking so eloquently here, you should go back and take care of your children at home. I'll save your face. Do you really think everyone is a fool?

Zhou Yunchao smiled widely, not at all unhappy about Cui Youyi's displeasure.

"Of course, of course. I'll check it out when I get back. I've made a fool of myself and delayed everyone for so long. Please go and draw the lots quickly, and don't miss the auspicious time."

Zhou Yunkai still wanted to explode, but he didn't dare to do so because his elder brother was here. He could only glare at Cui Youyi and say harsh words in his heart.

Cui Youyi likes to see people like this being hysterical. They can't stand me but they can't kill me. It feels so good.

Cui Youyi went to draw lots in a good mood, and other ice sculptors who advanced also rushed in to line up.

"Brother." Zhou Yunkai swung his sleeves, his tone anxious and irritable. Could the Zhou family be afraid of a woman who had been exiled? He really couldn't understand what his brother was thinking.

"You idiot, you still have the nerve to lose your temper? I think you don't know your place. You frequently cause trouble during the ice sculpture competition. Do you think our Zhou family's reputation and business are not good enough?"

"I just can't swallow this!" Zhou Yunkai said hurriedly.

Zhou Yunchao was even more furious: "How dare you say that? If it weren't for my family helping you clean up the mess, your name, Zhou Yunkai, would have been known all over Ningguta today. You have to use your brain when doing things. Leaving a bunch of evidence behind is not something my Zhou family would do."

"Think about it carefully." Zhou Yunchao patted Zhou Yunkai's shoulder, completely ignoring the calculation and ruthlessness in his eyes.

Isn't it just because you were born a few years earlier than me that you dare to show off in front of me...

Zhou Yunkai clenched his fists tightly.

*

Cui Youyi drew Group B this time, and coincidentally, her opponent in the same group was Lin Erwen.

Lin Erwen grabbed the lottery ticket in his hand and smiled bitterly. He still knew his own abilities. There was no hope of advancing this time, so he just hoped that Cui Youyi could continue to advance.

Cui Youyi comforted him dryly, "Don't be discouraged. We will all try our best and leave the rest to fate."

Now, no matter what she said, she would be in an awkward situation. She was just an ordinary ice sculptor, dealing with ice all day long, but now she had to deal with people all the time, and all the difficult situations she encountered...

Lin Erwen also knew Cui Youyi's temperament and promptly stopped the topic: "I know, just consider it as gaining experience. Advancing to the next round in my first competition is already a much better result than I expected."

Cui Youyi said no more and went into the competition with Lin Erwen.

The theme of this competition also surprised Cui Youyi. She drew the theme of Chang'e flying to the moon.

This theme examines figure sculpture.

It was not difficult for Cui Youyi to carve figures, nor was it difficult to carve the moon, but it was difficult to depict the flight to the moon.

Figure sculptures are usually independent objects that emphasize three-dimensional images. If they are ice sculptures, the points will be greatly reduced. After all, three-dimensional ice sculptures are more difficult than ice sculptures, and they can better reflect the level of the ice sculptor, so they are naturally more popular.

The difficulty of the Chang'e flying to the moon theme lies in the moon. The moon is usually high in the sky and there is no way to combine it with the three-dimensional piece of Chang'e.

Lin Erwen was so anxious that he scratched his head. He wanted to make an ice sculpture, but he couldn't make up his mind. He wanted to carve a three-dimensional piece, but he had no other design in mind. He was in a dilemma.

The other contestant seemed much calmer and was already slowly beginning to adjust the shape of his ice sculpture.

Cui Youyi's mind was full of thoughts, and various three-dimensional designs of Chang'e flying to the moon kept appearing in her mind.

First of all, for Chang'e, we need to carve out her emotions of reluctance and implicit panic. In addition, we need to pay attention to the lightness of her body, and her clothing must also be modified to suit the times.

Thinking of this, Cui Youyi silently felt fortunate that the original owner came from a wealthy family, otherwise she would have no idea what style of Chinese clothing was in that era.

The second is to rush to the moon. Where does the moon come from?

Cui Youyi had thought about giving up depicting the moon, but she just couldn't convince herself to do something that she thought was opportunistic.

Time passed minute by minute, Lin Erwen gritted his teeth and started carving, but Cui Youyi was still struggling.

Suddenly, she thought of a sentence: the process is important, and the result is also important.

Isn't Chang'e flying to the moon? What's on the moon? There's the Jade Rabbit and Wu Gang cutting the cassia tree. She could carve a moving scene.

The more Cui Youyi thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.

When Chang'e first arrived on the moon, she was bumped into by a snow-white rabbit. It turned out that Wu Gang had disturbed the jade rabbit when he was cutting cassia trees.

Of course, the focus of the carving should still be on Chang'e, and there needs to be other "evidence" to show that this is the moon.

There are three scenes in one picture, connected by movement from beginning to end. Cui Youyi feels that the effect will be better than carving a single Chang'e.

It would naturally take longer to complete such a work. Without the advantage of time, she could only win by her exquisiteness and ingenuity.

Cui Youyi wanted to carve three scenes, so the way she cut the ice was naturally different from others. There were only three of them on the field, so her unique cutting method naturally aroused discussion among the spectators.

In this round of qualifying, voting is divided into three rounds. The first round is for spectators to score the contestants' overall performance during the competition. The second round is for other spectators to vote for the carved works. The third round is for random audience voting. The final result will be determined by combining the scores of the three rounds of voting.

"Brother Zhao, what do you think this little girl will submit?" Hou Yi's uncle, Hou Cen, asked with great interest. He was particularly interested in Cui Youyi's carving of plum blossoms and had volunteered to be the guest of honor for this competition.

The one called Brother Zhao is the second master of the Zhao family. He is responsible for selling ice sculptures to various places and has always had a sharp eye.

Mr. Zhao smiled and stroked his beard: "Wu Laowu, what do you think?"

Mr. Zhao Erye is responsible for the Zhao family's voice, and this Mr. Wu Laowu is the person in charge of selling ice sculptures to other places in the Wu family.

The two of them have fought each other many times and have always been competitive, fighting in the ring anytime and anywhere.

"What's up, Zhao Laoer, do you want to make a bet with me?" Wu Laowu was quite interested. He was determined to get the business that Zhou family lost last time, but Zhao Laoer showed up halfway and not only did he lose money and business, but he also created a rift with the Zhou family.

He remembers this account!

"Wu Laowu, you're still so narrow-minded." Mr. Zhao Er was not annoyed, and his face was still cheerful. "I heard that your Wu family has a new ice-harvesting tool..."

Wu Laowu: "You'd better focus on your game." They are all old foxes, and they still want to provoke him to take out this tool. What a joke.

"Come on, the first round of scoring has begun. Let me see your comments quickly." Hou Cen urged. He really couldn't understand what Cui Youyi wanted to carve.

"Are you still trying to be partial? The rules of the ice sculpture competition are that guests cannot interfere with others' scoring." Wu Laowu turned into a righteous knight and made Hou Cen speechless.

The three of them, each with their own thoughts, put the results of the first round of scoring into the wooden box used for counting votes.

Cui Youyi became more and more adept at carving, and her speed gradually increased, but she still could not catch up with the other two people who were carving the same Chang'e.

With only one stick of incense left in the competition, Lin Erwen and another contestant had already finished carving their works and were waiting for judging.

Cui Youyi's Jade Rabbit has not yet been carved, and all that is presented is a Wu Gang cutting the cassia tree and a panicked Chang'e.

Those who were close could see that the sculpture of Cui Youyi was indeed good, but this work seemed to have nothing to do with Chang'e flying to the moon, and everyone had some concerns for a moment.

Everyone is knowledgeable, so they naturally know that what she carved is Wu Gang cutting down the cassia tree, but no one really can figure out what the relationship is between this work and Chang'e flying to the moon.

Cui Youyi kept the suspense until the end of the game.