Chapter 23
The Summer Universiade will be held in Jinshi next July. This news was officially released three years ago and is a well-known event in Jinshi. Preparations have been progressing steadily since the official announcement. The athletes' uniforms at the opening ceremony not only reflect their youthful spirit but also encapsulate the cultural heritage of each country.
China has always used a "tomato and egg" color scheme in its designs, combining iconic Chinese red with vibrant yellow. The result is a striking combination of red and yellow, always drawing attention due to its eye-catching and vibrant color combination. However, it also frequently attracts criticism from netizens, as most people wouldn't actually wear red and yellow together in everyday life – it's too flashy!
Fortunately, Chinese athletes have always made up for their less-than-stellar team uniforms with their good looks; all the good-looking ones have been handed over to the country.
The World University Summer Games are being hosted by Tianjin. In order to generate buzz, the city has abandoned the previously predetermined "tomato and egg" design and instead launched a sportswear design competition. The competition will select the most suitable sportswear in the minds of the Chinese people through a public selection process. This official announcement immediately sparked heated discussions and attention online, with many fashion groups and independent designers eager to participate.
This is such a rare opportunity! For a designer, it is a tragedy to have talent but no one to recognize it. Winning this competition means that your work will be recognized, your style will be accepted, your talent will be discovered, and it will certainly be a significant achievement on your design resume.
Of course, Lin Ting also saw the news about the competition. She was definitely tempted, but she was more hesitant. If she submitted her work, there would be many people more talented than her, and she might be eliminated in the first round. But if she remained indifferent, she would be doomed.
She was unwilling but conflicted. If someone were there to encourage her and give her a push, she would have the courage to try the challenge. But who would be there for her? Everyone would think she was overestimating herself.
It's like there's a delicious cake in front of you, and everyone wants a slice. You try your best to squeeze in, but even if you bump your head and get hurt, you might not be able to get to the front row to take a look.
It is a gentleman to accept failure gracefully, but it is foolish to accept failure when it is destined to happen.
That evening, a competition promotional flyer was placed on Chen Zhiyi's desk. Lin Ting paused for a moment, then rolled it up and threw it in the trash can. Clearly, the flyer was meant for her. It wasn't that she hadn't seen it before; she'd looked at it many times over the past two days. She still decided to give up, unwilling to become the "foolish" person everyone called overconfident.
Chen Zhiyi was surprised by her reaction, "You don't want to participate?"
"There are too many people participating, so I'm not going to join in the fun."
He picked up the promotional leaflet from the trash can, flattened it, and placed it back in front of Lin Ting. "Are you sure you don't want to give it a try? You won't regret it later?"
"It's not a matter of regret or not. There are too many people who are more outstanding and smarter than me. Participating would be a waste of time and effort. I won't go to a competition that I'm destined to lose."
"You knew you would lose before you even participated? Teacher Lin, are you that insecure? I remember your impassioned discourse on family education. In my mind, you've always been the stubborn and confident person you were when you said those words," Chen Zhiyi said.
Lin recalled the scene in his mind and couldn't help but smile. "It's been so long, and you still remember?"
"I must remember the first time I was speechless after being confronted by a girl on the spot, and the first time I was shocked by your firm and confident aura. To be honest, at that moment I felt that you were invincible."
"Are you kidding me? It's not as amazing as you say."
“I’m telling the truth. You were so eloquent when you were advising and supporting me to pursue my dreams, but why are you backing down and hesitating when it comes to yourself?”
Lin Ting didn't speak, but just scratched the edge of the promotional page with her finger.
"Don't put pressure on yourself. If you participate in this competition with the mindset that you must win and cannot afford to lose, then you're leaving yourself no way out. But from another perspective, just treat it as an opportunity to broaden your horizons. Relax. If you lose, just laugh it off; it's not shameful. If you accidentally win, that's great. Don't care about what others say. In any case, at least you took the initiative and participated, unlike them who lacked the courage to participate and then mocked others with sarcastic remarks. In short, don't put any pressure on yourself."
Have you been taking some inspirational self-help courses lately?
"Teacher Lin, your ability to reprimand people without using any foul language is truly remarkable."
The two smiled at each other. Lin Ting rolled up the flyer and put it in her bag. At that moment, she was extremely grateful to Chen Zhiyi for being the one to give her a push. "Okay, I'll give it a try!"
After Lin Ting left, Chen Zhiyi made a phone call.
"Take some time to come home for dinner; I need your help with something."
This was the first time he had ever formally sought help from the person on the other end of the phone.
When he saw the flyer advertising the competition's organizer, the Jinshi Municipal People's Government, he knew who to ask for help.
He hated these underhanded tactics and the shady rules of networking, but for the person he liked, he did it behind the scenes for the first time. He didn't feel bad about it. Morally, it might be wrong, but emotionally, it was right. To like someone is to give them enough special treatment. He was willing to cross his own bottom line again and again for her.
Of course, he also believed in her talent and ability. She might not make it to the final round, but passing the preliminary selection would be no problem. He did this to provide an extra layer of protection.
It must be said that Lin Ting is indeed a very talented fashion designer. While others are still racking their brains for inspiration, she found her design inspiration while walking past passersby wearing Hanfu on the street. Once the tap of inspiration was turned on, coupled with her outstanding drawing skills, the design draft was quickly completed.
This competition received tens of thousands of design drafts. To select the best one as quickly as possible, a three-round competition was set up: preliminary selection, semi-final selection, and final selection. The preliminary selection alone eliminated 80% of the entries. Lin Ting's design draft skipped the preliminary selection and entered the semi-final selection under "special consideration".
In this era that champions the inheritance and innovation of traditional culture, Lin Ting's design concept, which cleverly combines the silhouette of Hanfu (traditional Han clothing) and the style of meticulous brushwork painting with classical culture, quickly won the favor of the expert judges. As expected, her design was shortlisted for the finals. Undoubtedly, it was her ingenious design that garnered the judges' attention; otherwise, no amount of embellishment would have been effective.
Five designs were shortlisted for the finals. Participants were required to create the garments within fifteen days, which would then be presented in a runway show on the day of the finals. The finals would be judged using a combination of scores from experts and audience votes, with the highest-scoring design winning. The finals would be streamed live online, and a text message voting channel would also be available. Those interested in the competition could vote for their favorite designs by sending a text message during the finals.
But everything was kept secret until the final.
The contestants needed to provide their own models for the competition. To fit the theme, Lin Ting found a male model from the sports academy's swimming team, while she planned to use her own female model. Having been in the fashion industry for a while, she knew that even a random freelance model could cost several hundred yuan a day, and their quality wasn't guaranteed. Lin Ting was about 1.7 meters tall and had a slender figure. She always walked the runway herself when submitting her final projects. Although her stage presence wasn't as professional as some, she had never made a mistake. She walked with her head held high and her posture proper, which was pleasing to the eye. The good posture she had developed as a child finally came in handy.
As the finals approached, Lin Ting became increasingly nervous. She longed for someone to be with her that day, someone she could simply sit and watch from below without having to do anything. Her closest companions were her roommates. But that's how people are; once they choose to hide something from someone close to them, they tend to keep it a secret forever. So she couldn't bring herself to tell them. The only person left who knew the whole story was Chen Zhiyi. She sent him a message.
"The final is the day after tomorrow, will you come to watch my match?"
"I have something to do the day after tomorrow, so I can't come."
"All right."
"I'll be following the game online. Don't be nervous, good luck!"
"Thank you!" Lin Ting said, feeling disappointed.
Chen Zhiyi couldn't refuse any of Lin Ting's requests. It wasn't that he didn't want to go to the scene; he really wanted to. If they won, he could rush to her side immediately to congratulate her. If they lost, he could stay by her side and comfort her, saying, "You're so excellent; you can definitely do it next time."
However, government officials will be present at the finals, and the entire event will be broadcast live. If someone with ulterior motives recognizes her and notices that the two have a good relationship, it will definitely cause controversy. The intention is to help her, but we cannot harm her.
On the day of the finals, Lin Ting was extremely nervous. She arrived at the venue very early and spent the whole time backstage preparing. The final round of the competition consisted of two rounds. In the first round, contestants wore the clothes on a mannequin and explained their design concepts, highlights, and details. In the second round, models walked the runway in the clothes. The total duration was expected to be about two hours.
The competition was scheduled to start at 2 PM. With less than an hour to go, judges, reporters, television crews, and spectators had already begun to enter the venue, gradually filling the once-empty stands to a dense, bustling crowd. This competition garnered unprecedented attention. The judging panel included government and sports bureau leaders, experts from the Academy of Design and Fine Arts, and specially invited Olympic champions from Tianjin. In addition, ten mainstream media outlets were present, and the audience consisted of representatives from various sectors.
Backstage, the five contestants were ironing and putting on their clothes on the mannequins. Each of the five outfits was unique in style and had its own charm. They didn't know each other and didn't exchange pleasantries; they simply smiled and nodded when their eyes met. Having reached the finals, no one wanted to lose.
All the other contestants' models had arrived, but Lin Ting's model was still missing. She had called her several times to urge her, and each time she was told that she was on her way, but she still hadn't seen her. This made her even more anxious. Clutching her phone, she paced back and forth next to the mannequin.
His name is Chen Yan. He is a swimmer at the sports academy and also a member of the school's modeling team. Lin Ting had met him a few times before. During the end-of-term project performance, a classmate invited him to help with the fashion show. His physique and presence were no less than those of a professional model, so Lin Ting immediately thought of him this time.
At that moment, a staff member walked in and announced, "All participants, please get ready. The competition is about to begin."
"OK."
The stage lights flashed, and the competition officially began, followed by applause and cheers.
"Hello everyone! I am A-Kuan, the host of this competition. It is a great honor to host this competition. After more than a month, we have finally reached the final round. I believe that the audience here and in front of the screen have been eagerly waiting. First of all, please allow me to introduce the five judges who are here for this competition: XXX, Deputy Director of the State Sports Administration; XXX, Director of Jinshi Culture and Sports Bureau; two professors from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, XXX and XXX; and Chen Ting, our Jinshi Olympic diving champion."
Another round of thunderous applause followed.
"This competition is divided into two rounds. In the first round, the five contestants will statically display their clothing designs on mannequins, explain their design inspiration and details, and answer questions from the judges. The second round will be a dynamic runway show with models. An official SMS voting channel has been opened for the competition. You can vote for your favorite style. If you like the first outfit, send "1" 1068XXXXXX. The official channel is now open. Vote for the outfit you like. Finally, the winner will be the one with the highest total score, which will be the sum of the votes and the judges' scores."
"Alright, without further ado, the competition is officially starting. Now, please have the staff bring the No. 1 outfit onto the stage, and we also welcome the designer to come up and speak."
Lin Ting's number was neither good nor bad, ranking third in the middle. She had no interest in paying attention to the situation on stage. The most troublesome thing at the moment was that she couldn't contact Chen Yan. Now that things had come to this point, all her efforts would be in vain if this matter caused a blunder.
Unable to find a replacement in time, I had no choice but to ask my roommates for help, hoping they could find a new person in the school's modeling team to fill in. After receiving the call, my roommates did not criticize me at all, but immediately helped to contact the person.
Adults can distinguish between what is important and what is urgent.
But quite some time has passed, and there is still no news.
Lin Ting suddenly thought of Chen Zhiyi, who was tall and thin and could come to her rescue. She quickly picked up her phone, found his number, and was about to press the green button, but after a few seconds she turned off the screen.
He once said, "Something came up and I can't come."
never mind!
A voice came from the front desk, "Lin Ting, get ready, you're next."
"Oh well."
Lin Ting walked to the waiting area, tidied her appearance and attire. For the finals, she had gritted her teeth and bought a black formal dress, slightly heeled leather shoes, and a pair of minimalist pearl earrings. Her hair was neatly tied in a ponytail. Overall, she still looked cool and elegant, but when she appeared, she exuded a commanding presence. Although she was a newcomer compared to the other four contestants, she still needed to project a confident aura; she couldn't lose.
I practiced standing, smiling, and positioning beforehand for this match. I'm not going to fight an unprepared battle; I need to consider all aspects.
Just like being forced to practice calligraphy by parents when you were a child, it was so annoying and frustrating, but it came in handy during crucial exams. Those with neat and pleasing handwriting would get higher scores than those with crooked and messy handwriting. Handwriting reflects the person; you can associate the handwriting with the person's character.
Perhaps her work wasn't amazing enough, but she had to be dignified in her demeanor and posture. When she appeared, she had to make a striking impression on the judges. Few parents pay attention to cultivating good manners, but Lin Qin valued it highly. Good manners are an outward expression of temperament and a reflection of refinement, so good manners often made Lin Ting stand out in a crowd.
Ms. Lin stood in the center of the stage, and two mannequins covered in black were also moved onto the stage. It was the first time she had stood on such a large stage, and all she could see was a sea of black audience members. She immediately felt unprecedented pressure, and her body stiffened like a boulder. She gripped the microphone tightly in front of her chest, and her fingertips turned white from the excessive force. Although her heart was pounding, she still maintained a "professional smile" and could not afford to lose her composure.
The host, Ah Kuan, walked over to her, his eyes showing both surprise and confusion, the implication clear: "So young? Did you get in through connections?"
"ha?"
"Just kidding. You're young and promising. Let me introduce myself."
Lin Ting took a deep breath and tried to keep her tone calm. "My name is Lin Ting, and I am currently a senior student at the School of Fashion Design and Engineering of Tianjin University."
Compared to the boastful introductions of the previous two people, Lin Ting's introduction was extremely brief.
The host tried to lighten the mood by joking, "Our contestant number three is the youngest and speaks very little."
Lin Ting lowered her head and gave an awkward smile.
"That's alright. Here, we'll let our abilities speak for themselves. So, start explaining your design concept."
"good!"
Lin Ting removed the two black covers, and instantly a spotlight shone on the clothes on the stage.
Another gasp of surprise rippled through the audience.
Lin Ting stood between the two mannequins and began to speak in detail.
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