Waves rise again
After a week in Zhexia Town, returning home felt like moving house. My luggage was several times heavier than when I arrived. The prizes I won accounted for the bulk of the luggage.
None of them can be lost, and when I am sorting my luggage, I can't help but be reminded of the past.
For Yu Ran, the travel guide he'd passed on to Jiang Liu through his travel planner had been helpful, allowing him to plan all the surprises along the way: rafting tickets, a saxophone roadshow, tickets to Scottin, and the series of adventures that followed over the next few days.
Judging from Jiang Liu's reaction, he had done the right thing. The only thing he couldn't understand was that his luck had been pretty good along the way.
Jiang Liu's initial desire to make Yu Ran happy was the beginning of his travel plans. Hidden dishes at the hotel, chance encounters and gifts from book fans, one-of-a-kind autographs, even small things like free restaurant coupons and even a performance artist who, after meeting Yu Ran, found inspiration in "Water and Fire" and offered him a generous reward...
But, like giving a rose, the fragrance lingers on your hand. Every time Jiang Liu facilitates something, another good thing will come into being. It's like he encounters happiness all the way.
How could the two of them not see through each other's feelings, but they didn't ask, and instead poured love into their hearts, hoping that their love would last forever.
Landed safely and shared the gifts.
Yu Qionglin and Yu Lei were overjoyed and planned to hold a family dinner to welcome them.
Although it was a bit too grand, the two of them realized the warmth in the traditional Chinese cultural customs such as "family banquets" and "welcoming parties". This warmth can be used at any time and will always have miraculous effects.
At the same time, the family dinner was to celebrate Yu Ran's recovery of his memory and his escape from the haze.
…
Jiang Liu reflected that he had agreed to study in seclusion and prepare for the competition, but he had been eating, drinking, having fun and indulging in excessive sexual activities for the past month, which seemed a bit inappropriate.
The Romantic International Flower Show and Competition combines exhibition and competition. Legend has it that its founder, a farmer, gained fame for his exceptional flowers and plants, a gift that brought him widespread popularity. The event attracted numerous visitors and fostered friendships with numerous flower lovers. Initially, it was simply a flower viewing event, but with time and a growing network of contacts, it expanded to its current scale. Held every four years, it boasts a history of over thirty years.
The competition format is relatively broad and free, with no restrictions on style and the possibility of setting your own topics, making it highly regarded by the new generation of florists. If the Royal Competitions are about gilding your resume and broadening your horizons, then Romantic is about innovation, the exchange of ideas, and the purest exchange of skills.
The only thing is that each game needs to incorporate a mysterious prop provided by the organizer.
It's said that in one session, it was chess, in another, it was a pocket watch, and in another, it was a gourd. Just when the contestants thought they had figured out the rules and were practicing their skills on elegant small objects and traditional handicrafts, the mysterious prop from the previous session turned out to be a half-written exam paper!
Therefore, never try to guess the mind of the question setter; your own ability is the only answer. This principle has been true throughout the ages.
Around the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Romantic regional auditions were in full swing, with the theme "A Hundred Flowers Bloom Towards the Full Moon." Jiang Liu's skillful handicrafts created a spectacular display, symbolizing the Chaoshan region's Mid-Autumn Festival custom of firing tile kilns.
He analyzed that the theme was to ask the contestants to showcase Mid-Autumn Festival customs from around the world. Some contestants only had a superficial understanding and only took the words literally, so the judges gave them basic technical points at their discretion.
Jiang Liu advanced unanimously.
While winning first place in the auditions wasn't surprising, Jiang Liu's striking appearance caused quite a stir. Highly praised posts appeared one after another, and she quickly became one of the top trending searches.
There’s a saying among florists: “This is art behind closed doors.”
They're not as famous as fine art, not as elegant as piano, and not as expensive as photography. In terms of rarity, they don't even have a place on the lists of "highbrow" and "highbrow"...
Therefore, flower arrangement is in a very embarrassing situation.
Jiang Liu detests fame and wealth, but is amazed by the internet's impact on communication. He has only given one interview to state media, discussing the innovation and inheritance of Chinese flower art.
In an age where entertainment reigns supreme, the tide of entertainment can be devastating when it arrives and vanish without a trace when it leaves. Jiang Liu and Yu Ran thought the incident was over, but unexpectedly, a few days later, a Weibo post with the same words came back with a vengeance.
"Money can buy honor, but it can't buy your foundation. You only dare to buy the runner-up. Are you feeling guilty or afraid of backlash?"
Yu Ran's heart was filled with alarm.
Throughout the story, the name "Jiang Liu" becomes a living target, enduring the glare of the spectators' judgment, the kind that pierces the flesh and cuts the bones.
The article accused Jiang Liu of using unfair means to win the runner-up in the 25th Japan International Flower Art Exhibition and the 48th Asian Cup Flower Arrangement Competition.
"In the Japanese exhibition, Jiang Liu, a newcomer with zero experience, won the runner-up. I thought he was a dark horse, but it turned out to be a carefully planned conspiracy.
The event's chief sponsor, Chunyueyan Wine Industry, is owned by the parent company The Paper Financial Group, a financial institution actually controlled by Jiang Liu's parents.
Jiang Liu is worthy of being a rich and noble son, he is meticulous. After all, a newcomer winning the championship is a great story in novels, but it is hard to convince people in reality. So his parents bought a passerby Xiaobai as the champion to deceive others and divert the fire.
The champion of that year, "Tanaka Kenno", was a freshman studying environmental design at a second-tier university. He had mediocre talent and his knowledge of flower arrangement was at best able to distinguish between roses and Chinese roses. He was the kind of person who would have a brain freeze on Valentine's Day and give his girlfriend carnations.
According to the champion himself, he was originally a volunteer, but his name, Long Legs, made it onto the preliminary list. With a substantial prize and a participation bonus, he gritted his teeth and, relying solely on the experience from a professional book, he fought his way through the competition.
At the time, Japanese media coverage was rife, praising the power of love to unleash human potential. They also forcibly rationalized the championship's origins. Attached is a Chinese translation of the report... (It's clear that the Japanese public also harbored skepticism about the championship.)
Jiang Liu's family won by playing a risky move, using the most despicable means to shield themselves from criticism. They weren't afraid of the public knowing their championship wasn't won legitimately. The more they railed against him, the more the runner-up, Young Master Jiang, looked so refreshing and refined. Then, by lightly marketing his talent and hard work, they created a "beautiful, strong, and tragic" persona, reaping both fame and fortune.
…”
The article is lengthy, and the evidence of the dark side of the Asian Cup is actually an interview with Qiongju Magazine and the secrets of Jiang Liu and the founder of the magazine.
Jiang Liu's flowers are lush and the buds are bright.
…
The second half is far-fetched, mostly fabricated and speculative, and even a bit hindsight, using the conclusion to infer the process. Unfortunately, the blood relationship in the first half is confused and blinding.
Smoldering fingers slid numbly across the screen, and dense black characters invaded the screen, like a plague of ants, mosquitoes, and flies.
When he came to his senses, Jiang Liu was standing behind him without him noticing.
Yu Ran subconsciously hid his phone and squeezed his eyes which were almost suffering from floaters.
"I saw it all." Jiang Liu took a deep breath and spoke as calmly as possible.
Yu Ran nodded, took his hand, and sat down. Turning on the screen was a struggle, as if it were a Herculean task.
Strangely enough, the post wasn't published recently, but more than two months ago. If it weren't for the recent trending searches, this piece of information would have likely gone unnoticed.
The comments include reasonable ones, some who just follow the trend and curse, and some who just want to watch the show.
The most popular comment was posted by someone who shared a screenshot based on the revelations - the very post where Jiang Liu had hoped passersby would provide evidence to sue his illegitimate child. They also made a reasonable guess about what happened.
Admittedly, Jiang Liu's Weibo posts were very low-key, and he had deleted that post since Zhang Jiangchi was imprisoned. He still underestimated the power of the internet's traceability.
Fortunately, the first hot comment was neutral and logically rigorous. He said that apart from the sponsor's comment, there was no way to justify it. Many parts of the article were far-fetched and contained personal opinions, so everyone was asked to view it rationally.
It can be said that it has stabilized the direction of public opinion to a certain extent.
"Zhang Jiangchi." Jiang Liu said with emotion, "It must be him."
"Hmm..." Yu Ran rubbed his chin, "If it's someone else, with such a large amount of traffic, it's impossible not to jump out and add fuel to the fire."
After a pause, he said with relief but a little fear: "It's a good thing I sent him to prison early. It seems he had already started planning."
Jiang Liu smiled bitterly, his eyes blank.
Yu Ran guessed what he was thinking.
He accompanied them throughout the trip to Japan. Based on the information he had, it seemed that the Jiang family elders had indeed bought the championship, but it was not to shield them from criticism, but to suppress their own son.
However, Zhang Jiangchi's insinuations and fabrications turned the victim into a beneficiary. It just so happens that the true story is difficult to explain to the public.
Jiang Liu's distracted gaze was reflected back by the wall.
He trembled all over, not fearing the gossip. For a moment, he even hoped that what Zhang Jiangchi said was true, that his parents were truly, truly willing to weave such a delicate, dark story for their son, motivated by a motive he had never felt before, called love.
Even if Jiang Liu had the ability to win the championship and his parents bought him a runner-up medal, he would still wear it proudly, not around his neck, but around his heart.
Every incident of the past was clearly connected. Having been drained of all life, Yu Jiangliu was nothing more than dried tobacco. He didn't smoke, but he remembered the charm of someone smoking, and he rolled up the past in one swoop, breathing in the air, letting go, without a care in the world.
After a while, he reflected on himself and was careful not to get involved with that couple.
"Yu Ran, thank you." Jiang Liu turned his face away, every ups and downs of his profile were hazy. He kissed her, and judging from the frequency of his return kisses, he understood.
Yu Qionglin's heirloom is love, passed down to her children without reservation.
Yu Ran loves Jiang Liu, and is willing to share her love with him, inviting him to fall in love.
This is one of the reasons why Jiang Liu is so attached to her.
After adjusting his mood, Jiang Liu said, "It seems that I have to win the Romantic Championship."
"Yeah." Yu Ran smiled. At the same time, he noticed that this year's competition was held in Country A... At this point, all kinds of reasons came together, pointing directly to the championship.
"I'll contact customer service first to see if the official Weibo post can be deleted."
"No." Jiang Liu said softly, "Let them go. Only in this way will it be more satisfying to slap them in the face later."
Yu Ran couldn't bear it for any reason, and couldn't just stand by and watch. He thought, maybe he could buy and sell the comments to limit the flow of people. Before he could even make a move, the fan group was agitated again.
People like Jian Xun, Ding Qinian, and Lin Huaiyou, the first to learn of the two's true identities, mobilized within the group to report and demote their blog posts. Now it seems that more people have seen through their identities than imagined, but everyone is tacitly aware of this and sticking to the bottom line.
Yu Ran's heart moved. He recorded a video and sent it out.
"Hello everyone, I'm the author, Ran Yuan, and I'm the Yu Ran mentioned in the blog post..."
In an instant, the group became a Flower-Fruit Mountain, with monkeys all over the mountain shouting and wailing, as if the world was broken.
Immediately, the entire screen was filled with a very uniform radical, one horizontal and two vertical lines.
He practices each word a hundred times without getting tired of it. Who can compare with his enthusiasm for learning?
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