Qin Yang kept shouting that he wanted to go back, but now it was no longer a time when he could just go back whenever he wanted.
Meng Wan patted Yan Nian on the shoulder, who understood and silently looked at Qin Huai'an. Meng Wan then headed in the direction Tang Li and Meng Zhiyao had gone.
At this moment, Tang Li and Meng Zhiyao were huddled at the bottom of the stairs. This small place, where they could lean against each other, gave Meng Zhiyao a sense of security.
"Meng Zhiyao, are you alright?" Tang Li asked cautiously.
Meng Zhiyao curled up into a ball, burying her head between her legs, but still shook her head.
He thought he had moved on, but he didn't realize that those painful experiences were already etched into his very bones.
Long-term verbal abuse and occasional physical violence have instilled in Meng Zhiyao a deep-seated fear of intimidation and threats from others. Whenever someone makes a move, the scenes of being bullied will automatically surface in her mind.
In addition, he is a sensitive person, and many times, even he himself cannot control himself.
He knew he would be alright, but he still couldn't help trembling and feeling afraid.
"Don't cry." Tang Li wasn't good at comforting people, after all, no one needed his comfort.
Meng Zhiyao did not reply to him.
Tang Li scratched his head, unsure of what to do. He sat down next to Meng Zhiyao, sighed, and acted like a little adult.
"Meng Zhiyao, tell me, you're not even that tall, why did you rush up there? I've studied martial arts, his small frame isn't even a match for me, let alone Tang Wan, who's here, do you think she'd just watch him hit me?"
Tang Li kept rambling on, but Meng Zhiyao remained silent, her hands still trembling slightly.
Tang Li looked helpless, put his hand on Meng Zhiyao's back, and patted her gently again and again, "Next time you should just stay behind me. With your little arms and legs, what if someone breaks them? How will you draw then?"
Tang Li gently coaxed her with his hands and muttered to himself, like a worried old father.
"Thank you... Tang Li." Meng Zhiyao's voice was soft, which made Tang Li feel a little embarrassed.
"Thank you too... Besides Tang Wan, you're the first person who would rush up to protect me." Tang Li's face was flushed, somewhat relieved that Meng Zhiyao hadn't looked up.
“The people who used to bully you are gone, and no one will bully you anymore, so you don’t have to be afraid anymore.” Tang Li imitated Meng Wan’s previous comforting gesture, placing his hand on Meng Zhiyao’s head and patting it gently twice.
Meng Zhiyao raised her head, blinked, and suddenly smiled at Tang Li.
Tang Li blushed at his words and silently looked away.
He can chat with anyone, speaks frankly, and often argues with Zhao Tianqi. But Meng Zhiyao is different. If you get angry, he will hold your hand and smile at you in a conciliatory way. Who could possibly get angry with that?
It's unclear whether Meng Zhiyao has discovered a way to control Tang Li, but whenever Tang Li is in a bad mood, Meng Zhiyao does this to him, and Tang Li is indeed completely under her control!
Just then, Meng Wan appeared, crouching down as she looked at the two huddled in the corner.
"Come out." Meng Wan stretched out her hand. Tang Li reacted the fastest and was the first to go out, while Meng Zhiyao was a little slow.
Meng Wan didn't urge her, and waited with her hand outstretched for Meng Zhiyao to come out.
The moment their hands met, Meng Wan placed her other hand on Meng Zhiyao's head and ruffled it.
"Well done, very brave."
Meng Zhiyao seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, holding Meng Wan's hand tightly and refusing to let go.
"What about me?" Tang Li asked, a little jealous.
Meng Wan chuckled and pinched his cheek. "You too, but if you want to protect the people around you, you have to become stronger."
Tang Li glanced at Meng Zhiyao and nodded.
"How is it now?"
"They're voting, do you want to go take a look?"
"Why do we need to vote again?" Meng Zhiyao didn't understand. Had he done something wrong?
"People without ability like to make excuses to save face, while people with ability just need to sit back and wait for the other party to slap them in the face."
Meng Zhiyao seemed to understand, but nodded nonetheless.
"Don't worry, what's meant to be yours will definitely be yours." Meng Wan smiled and mischievously ruffled Meng Zhiyao's hair.
Meng Zhiyao didn't resist; she just smiled sweetly, which softened people's hearts.
"Let's go, accept other people's congratulations gracefully." Meng Wan took the hands of the two people on either side.
When the three arrived, the voting had just ended.
"Okay, the voting process is now over."
With support in their later years, plus the connections of Dalifu and Qian Yixuan in the industry, the mix of professionals and non-professionals makes the direction of the vote even more anticipated.
While everyone was focused on the page, Dalifu came down and said something to Meng Wan. Meng Wan nodded, half-squatted down and whispered a few words to Meng Zhiyao, who nodded in return. Only then did Meng Wan stand up to reply to Dalifu.
Qin Huai'an gritted his teeth and stared intently at the group until the voting results were displayed on the screen, then he turned his head back.
From one to twenty, each painting was arranged in a shuffled order, with Qin Yang and Meng Zhiyao's paintings mixed in as well.
The first votes released were those cast by spectators inside the stadium. Undoubtedly, Meng Zhiyao's votes were overwhelmingly in the lead, and some of these votes were likely cast in support of Dalifu.
The most anticipated part is the online voting.
The photos were listed one by one, with the vote count below. To ensure fairness, names were deliberately hidden and the numbers were re-assigned.
The other paintings were fairly evenly matched in terms of votes, but two stood out. One painting had an almost overwhelming number of votes, while the other only received a few scattered votes.
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