Is there any threshold for attending this conference?
Shui Yiyao found the seat with her name tag on it, in the first three rows. After she sat down, she put her hands on the table and turned around casually. The people who had been discussing her were in the back row, and she looked at them with interest.
Shui Yiyao just stared at them, and those people stopped talking for a moment, stopped talking mid-sentence, and either lowered their heads or looked away.
Seeing them stop, Shui Yiyao scoffed. If it weren't for the elder's face, she really wanted to say something nice to them right then and there. She had made an exception to attend the meeting, but it wasn't through a backdoor. It was the elder who invited her, and she had earned the opportunity to participate through hard work. These people were capable of gossiping, but why couldn't they make the elder worry less? If they were a little stronger, the elder wouldn't have invited her.
Shui Yiyao withdrew her gaze from the few people and glanced at the layout of the conference room.
There is a large screen in front of the conference room with white words on a red background - Special Discussion Meeting on the First Two-State League Jade Carving Competition.
Aside from the chair, there weren't many seats for attendees in the entire conference room. At a glance, there were only about thirty or forty people. Shui Yiyao had arrived just in time, and with only two minutes until 7:00, the conference room was practically full.
Everyone has a name tag on their desk with their identity written underneath.
Just like the few people who gossiped about her before, almost all of them had names written on them - Tiangong Award-nominated Jade Carving Master.
There is a row of chairperson seats at the front of the conference room.
The leaders also came out from the planning room next door and went up to the podium one after another.
After the host introduced the positions of the leaders on the rostrum, the Minister of Propaganda in the middle began to speak.
The Minister of Publicity began by discussing the history of jade carving and its various schools, fully affirming the current achievements of the jade carving community. He then discussed the development of jade carving in Xiaoshan Country and the significance of the competition between the two countries. His speech lasted about fifteen minutes.
Then it was the turn of the president of the Jade Carving Association to speak, and he went straight to the point.
"Hello everyone, I think everyone should be clear about the purpose of gathering you here today."
"We want to discuss the format, time, location, participants and other matters of the league between the two countries."
President: "We have distributed an agenda on your desk. You can take a look at it."
This was not the first time Shui Yiyao attended such a meeting. She used to be the nominal vice president of the Jade Carving Association, so many times she was even the one sitting at the table.
So she wasn't nervous and took her time picking up the agenda to look at it.
The agenda clearly stated the progress of the meeting. The only thing that concerned her was the arrangement of the participants, and she had no say in anything else.
This meeting is not a decisive one, but a discussion meeting to solicit opinions from all parties and finally form a plan based on the opinions of everyone.
After the plan is formed, its feasibility and operability must be discussed.
Repeated meetings and revisions are the large-scale meetings she is familiar with.
The content of the previous meeting had little to do with her, so Shui Yiyao took out a piece of drawing paper and a pen from her bag and started designing the next order.
It wasn't until the discussion about the arrangements for the contestants began that she looked up and paid attention.
The host of this event is the veteran.
"We mainly select contestants from jade carvers who have been shortlisted for the Tiangong Award, especially those nominated for the Gold Award."
"Those participating from Xiaoshan Country are all masters with at least fifteen years of experience, and the highest level is twenty years. Therefore, we have a high standard for selecting candidates. Everyone present here is an outstanding jade carver who has been nominated for the Tiangong Gold Award and has been in the industry for more than fifteen years."
“…” The elder praised all the jade carvers present.
"...In addition, I recommend Shui Yiyao, an outstanding jade carver, to join our competition team. She has extensive jade carving experience and sophisticated skills, and she is sure to achieve outstanding results in the competition."
The elder looked towards the conference room. Almost all the jade carvers in the conference room frowned subconsciously and some were whispering to each other.
The elder said: "I have some examples of her work here. You can take a look. It's completely at the level of the Tiangong Award finalists."
As he spoke, several photos suddenly flashed across the screen, all of which were works by Shui Yiyao.
Shui Yiyao was a little surprised, because the elder had never asked her for these pictures. These should be the trading example pictures that he found in her shop himself.
As soon as the example picture appeared, the elder began to explain in detail: "...This landscape plaque is hollowed out and carved, and the back is also inlaid with gold. It took only two weeks to complete."
"And this piece, look at it. This is what the pagoda blue originally looked like..."
On the screen was a piece of black jade. It wasn't big, only the size of a thumb, but it was covered in cracks and dirt. With such poor quality material, it was hard to say where to start.
But the next slide showed the finished product of this material—an old man riding a blue ox slowly approaching from the bottom of a steep cliff valley. The figure was clearly visible, and the old man's contented expression was also very vivid.
Laozi passed through Hangu Pass.
Shui Yiyao was also looking at the screen. This piece of material had indeed given her a headache for a while. It was the customer's own material, a piece of pagoda blue.
Taqing, also known as "black mutton fat" by Hetian jade enthusiasts, looks black, but it is actually green jade, not black jade. It is just that the green is so extreme that it appears black. It is named "Taqing" because it comes from the Taxkorgan mining area in Xinjiang.
The fine-quality Taqing jade is superior to other similar jade materials in terms of oiliness and fineness, and is the most precious material among black jade.
The jadeite you ordered doesn't have much clean jade flesh and has too many cracks. But the clean part is very delicate and has good oiliness.
So she designed a pattern, removing all the dirt and avoiding any cracks. However, because the piece was small, the project took less than two weeks. It wasn't a particularly special piece on display in her shop, but she didn't expect the old man to find it.
She wondered if the old man had read all her works.
The elder stood up and looked at the work on the screen, excitedly saying, "Teacher Shui removed the dirt and hairline, used hollow carving and micro-carving techniques to create 'Purple Air Coming from the East', and achieved this Pagoda Blue."
“Her craftsmanship is evident to everyone.”
“…” When several pictures of the works were displayed, everyone was speechless.
There's nothing much to say, the technology is really amazing.
"But..." someone in the back row said, "The rules say only those shortlisted for the Tiangong Award are eligible to participate in the competition."
The list of participants was originally limited to five people, and if Shui Yiyao took one of them, it would squeeze out a spot.
The elder frowned: "The technology is all here—"
Shui Yiyao said, "Actually, I have no problem with it. Mr. Elder, you don't need to say so much. Just follow the rules."
The elder's brows deepened: "The Tiangong Award will be held after the Lunar New Year next year. You won't be able to make it in time."
According to the regulations? The regulations were that Shui Yiyao had to participate in the Tiangong Award first.
He had no doubts about Shui Yiyao's abilities. If she participated, she would definitely be shortlisted for an award. Winning an award wasn't impossible. But time was running out. Their two-country league was currently in preparation and would be held in about three months.
It is September now, which means it is around December, but the Tiangong Award will be held in February next year.
The head of the Propaganda Department, who was sitting in the middle, suddenly spoke up. "There's a special provision that allows senior advisors, like veterans, to directly recommend talent. There's no problem with the process."
When the Minister of Propaganda said this, everyone fell silent.
Shui Yiyao was about to explain, but stopped. Since it followed the procedures, there was no point in arguing. Just don't embarrass the elder.
In fact, she also noticed that the rule was that one only needed to have participated in the Tiangong Award, which meant that one needed to participate in the Qinghuo Award first before participating in the Tiangong Award.
But if she won the gold medal in the Louyue Awards in November, she would be eligible to compete for the Tiangong Awards. If nothing unexpected happened, she was very confident of winning the award. In the past, whenever she participated in small competitions like this, she never gave up the gold medal.
As long as she is on the Tiangong Award shortlist, no one else can say anything.
After the elder finished explaining how the contestants would be selected, he went on to talk about his expectations for the jade carvers.
It was already half past eight when the meeting ended.
However, for Shui Yiyao, this kind of meeting was not considered long. She had held many longer meetings.
The last meeting was over and everyone dispersed, but they did not leave immediately and held a small meeting in the conference room.
Shui Yiyao was very busy, so she said hello to the elder gentleman and left without joining in the fun.
I was delayed for an hour and a half and had to make up for it when I got back.
When Shui Yiyao returned, Xiaobei was watching videos of the actors' experiences that she had found for her.
"Have you finished reading it?" Shui Yiyao threw her bag on the sofa and took out the design draft she had made earlier.
In the meeting, except for the part that involved her, she was busy working on the design drawings.
Once this drawing is complete, it can be handed over to the customer for review.
"I'm still watching..." Xiaobei looked up at Shui Yiyao, then continued to watch his TV.
Shui Yiyao was actually a little worried that Xiaobei would be treated unfairly, but she would make an agreement with the production team in advance to not sign a contract yet, just give it a try, and then withdraw if it didn't work. After all, it was her first time filming, and Xiaobei didn't understand what she should have understood.
If the program team can accept it, then give it a try. If not, then you can only give up.
"Then you continue looking at it." Shui Yiyao walked to her desk with the design drawing, put the drawing into her drawing box, and stacked it with other drawings.
She was going to continue carving the crystal crown for Bai Gege. Most of the crown would be done tonight and it would be completed in another two days.
Xiaobei stayed up late with her today, and she refused to listen even when Shui Yiyao advised her to go to bed.
Finally, Shui Yiyao said, "You've become ugly by staying up late. No one will want you at the audition tomorrow."
After hearing this, Xiaobei went to bed hesitantly.
It seems that this kid has taken tomorrow's audition seriously and is quite obedient.
Two hours after Xiaobei went to bed, Shui Yiyao also finished her work for the day.
After finishing the work, she did not go to rest immediately, but browsed some news about the research laboratory on the Internet.
She began to follow the information from these laboratories, hoping to find out if the mermaids' condition could be improved through medication. Of course, she would only be able to conceal key information about the mermaids. She was also afraid that if she failed to find the information, some bad guys would covet the mermaids instead.
There are many large research labs both domestically and internationally, many with significant achievements, but Shui Yiyao hasn't found any to be particularly reliable. It seems she'll have to learn more about them.
The next day, Shui Yiyao sent Xiaobei to the audition location at the agreed time.
One of the filming locations for The Mermaid, a small fishing village.
It was nine o'clock in the morning and there was a receptionist.
Producer Zhang was there too. He was a little surprised to see Shui Yiyao personally bringing someone over. "I thought you were busy and wouldn't be coming."
Shui Yiyao: "This is my sister's first time doing this kind of work, so she's not very familiar with it, so I'm accompanying her here."
Producer Zhang: "Okay, then let's get started without further ado. We'll confirm it right after the audition."
The audition was held in a small cabin with a swimming pool. It was an underwater scene. There were three judges, including producer Zhang and the director.
Shui Yiyao was an unrelated person and was stopped outside the audition.
Shui Yiyao was not in a hurry. The audition was only fifteen minutes long, so she just had to wait.
However, after only ten minutes, Shui Yiyao heard some movement inside.
"...What makes you say that? You're talking nonsense! My sister is the most powerful and the most beautiful!" It was Xiaobei who spoke loudly.
"I didn't say that." The other party's voice was not low either.
"You evil woman, you are saying bad things about my sister!"
Shui Yiyao frowned. Why was there still a quarrel inside? What was they arguing about?
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