Chapter 197 Someone Has Been Helping Her
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?" A-Ying 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."
...
The next day.
The first round of the competition begins.
It is an exhibition of jewelry design works and on-site scoring.
After adjusting her mindset, Shang Wu unveiled the red silk covering her work on stage, eliciting a burst of suppressed gasps of amazement from the entire audience.
It was a brooch.
Using platinum as the base, a peacock is outlined, with the feathers using an extremely complex micro-pave technique, adorned with layers of gradient sapphires and diamonds, and featuring a rare large-sized moonstone that flows with a soft and mysterious halo under the light.
Unsurprisingly, Shang Wu's proudest work, which she planned to release in a limited edition next quarter, received the highest score in the first round.
After the match, Shang Wu declined all congratulations and interviews, left the venue alone, and headed towards the parking lot, seemingly wanting some fresh air.
Just as she walked to a slightly dimmer area, three burly men wearing masks and hats pulled low suddenly rushed out from the side and blocked her way.
"Stop! Hand over your bag!" The leader's voice was fierce, and he brandished a dagger in his hand.
Shang Wu took a step back and hugged her bag tightly.
"What do you want? This is the competition venue!"
"Stop talking nonsense! Give it to me!" Another man stepped forward to snatch it!
Just as the robbers were about to touch Shang Wu, two dark figures rushed in from the side and behind, their movements swift and fierce.
In the blink of an eye, the three robbers were swiftly and decisively brought to the ground, completely incapacitated.
The whole process was so fast it was dazzling.
The two men were dressed in ordinary black suits, but their skills were clearly not those of ordinary people.
They didn't even look at the person on the ground, but instead cautiously scanned their surroundings before nodding slightly to Shang Wu.
"Miss Shang, you've been frightened."
Shang Wu didn't thank them; she just stared at them.
"Who are you? Who sent you? Are you the one who helped me cancel the competition penalty?"
The two bodyguards exchanged a glance, their expressions remaining unchanged.
One of them replied, "Ms. Shang, you've misunderstood. We are members of the security team for this competition, responsible for the personal safety of all participants. We were just conducting a routine patrol and happened to see you in danger."
Security for the major event? Or just a coincidence?
Which major competition's security personnel have this kind of skill and reaction speed?
But the two didn't give Shang Wu a chance to ask any more questions. They left quickly and soon disappeared into the night.
Shang Wu stood there, looking in the direction they had disappeared, a greater sense of doubt welling up in her heart.
The self-inflicted injury ruse was used, and the person was lured out.
However, the other party was extremely vigilant and could not be extracted from them. Instead, they used an even more perfect excuse to evade the issue.
The idea that Aying gave her worked, but it didn't lead to any substantial progress.
Shang Wu frowned, took out her phone, and subconsciously dialed Chen Chunzhi's number.
He's well-informed; he might be able to find out something.
"Congratulations, Ah Wu! First place in the first round! That's awesome! I'm watching the live broadcast right now." Chen Chunzhi's voice was as relaxed as ever.
"Let's not talk about that now," Shang Wu interrupted him, her tone serious. "You have a wide network of connections, could you help me find out who the main initiator and the largest investor of this design competition is?"
The only person capable of wielding such power in the competition, disregarding even the organizers and the judging panel, is the largest investor.
Chen Chunzhi on the other end of the phone readily agreed.
Ten minutes later, when he called back, his tone was somewhat strange and hesitant: "I found out that the organizers of the competition are public, and it was jointly launched by several investors."
"What I want to investigate is the person who is truly in charge behind the scenes, the one who can change the organizing committee's mind with just a word," Shang Wu emphasized.
Chen Chunzhi scratched his head on the other end and chuckled, "Oh dear, how could I possibly know so much about the affairs of such big shots? It's probably just some financial tycoon who's got your eye on you, right? Why do you care about that? Just focus on the competition and win the prize!"
His perfunctory attitude and excuses were all too obvious.
Shang Wu fell silent for a moment, having nothing to say.
Chen Chunzhi reassured him, "Alright, alright, don't worry about this. Let's hurry up and prepare for the competition. There's still a second round, isn't there?"
Shang Wu glanced at the hotel building not far away, then had no choice but to hang up the phone and go back.
She returned to her room and shook her head when she saw Aying's expectant eyes.
“There were people protecting me, but they insisted that it was the competition's security team.”
A-Ying clicked her tongue: "That's obviously an excuse! How could the security team always arrive so promptly? They've clearly been protecting your safety behind the scenes all along. If you ask me, could it be Lu Lu?"
Shang Wu looked up at her.
Aying shrank back, belatedly realizing, "Did I...did I say something wrong...?"
"It can't be his."
Shang Wu interrupted her, "I broke up with him a long time ago. Please don't mention that name again, okay?"
Such unfounded speculation serves no real purpose other than wishful thinking and stirring up past memories.
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