New life, self
Jiang Liu told Yu Ran all his thoughts in the shortest possible time.
Without saying anything more, the teaching assistant led them to the operating room.
The operating rooms are lined up in a row, separated by curtains in the middle, and the entrances all face the judges' seats.
In the operation room, there is a two-foot mirror on the long table, with a high platform in front of it, a surveillance camera and a wall clock behind it, and the camera is placed in the corner so as not to block people. The flowers brought in by each group of people are piled at their feet one after another.
Jiang Liu wore an apron, but Yu Ran didn't. This was the professional "Mystery Box" category, and he was registered as an assistant, not a florist. According to the rules, he couldn't do anything that could directly affect the work. He could only do odd jobs like trimming flowers and cutting floral clay.
The total time is three hours.
At the command, every curtain was bustling with activity.
Yu Ran laid out a pen and paper to check the freshness of the flowers, placing all the tools in a convenient position. When he was done, Jiang Liu was still leaning on the table with both hands, meditating in front of the mirror.
Taking into account many factors, Jiang Liu is more inclined to believe that the mirror was broken.
There are countless possible themes for a perfect mirror, but a broken mirror requires both aesthetics and purpose.
As they entered the exhibition hall, beams of light shone onto the empty glass display cases, meaning that the winning works would need to be moved in manually.
Therefore, there must be a certain technique to knocking on the mirror. After all, if it is too broken, it will be a safety hazard.
Jiang Liu simulated the shattering technique on his manuscript paper. If he struck the mirror in the middle with a sharp object, the surface would crack finely, a web of cracks forming, breaking into six or eight petals. Roughly speaking, it resembled a snowflake? Or perhaps an ancient diamond-shaped mirror. If he considered only the internal cracks, would it resemble a cicada's wing? A spider's web?
He reassembled the fragments in his mind.
"I think reconciliation and reconciliation are the desires of everyone, regardless of gender, age, or whether they care about love, friendship, childhood, or work..."
Yu Ran pointed at the contents on the manuscript paper, but his eyes fell into the mirror, merging with Jiang Liu's.
He naturally thought of the line "Looking at the flowers in the mirror, the flowers are reflected in each other", and the tenderness in his heart was incomparable. He only heard Jiang Liu say softly:
"Smart! This kind of repair is also applied to porcelain, such as Kintsugi and porcelain mending... So, when the time comes, we don't necessarily have to avoid the mirror's cracks. We should face them squarely, even highlight them!"
Jiang Liu naturally lowered his voice, muffled, yet joy was evident. Yu Ran felt as if he had waved into the air, attracting a magpie, which fluttered slightly in his palm.
After being lost in thought for a moment, he smiled at Jiang Liu, indicating that they were thinking the same thing.
Jiang Liu drew the theme on the manuscript paper.
The judges came down from the stage one after another and walked through the operating rooms of each group of contestants with their hands behind their backs.
In No. 7, that is, Jiang Liu's group, the pause time was the longest.
Jiang Liu only built a rough outline on the frame, while Yu Ran was busy cutting the flowers, twisting them into shapes in groups of a few. Logically, their progress was the slowest of the other groups, but the judge said nothing, still standing at the table, watching on his heels.
Finally left.
In fact, the most difficult part of this work is looking at the round mirror and constructing a broken mirror work.
The difficulty is like a detective taking a photo of a young child and drawing what he would look like when he is old.
When there is no final conclusion, everything is just a panic imagination.
Even more worrying, as time passes, is whether the hammer will actually strike. What if it's all just a clever trick? Even if it strikes, the resulting shape might not be exactly what was envisioned.
Full of worries, saying you're not in a hurry? That's like arranging narcissus flowers - pretending to be stupid.
Honestly, I'd been patient for so long, hoping for a quick death. Smashing it would be best, but if not, it would be better if time ran out quickly, completely declaring the failure of their plan. That would be better than just simmering it over low heat.
An hour and a half passed, and the men and women on the judges left the stage again to make their rounds. The seats were suddenly empty, and it was the audience's turn to become restless. The conversations became more frequent, and a row of LCD screens surrounded the audience, playing real-time images from the operation room.
The host made a few appropriate comments to control the situation.
"The two contestants in Room 4 were incredibly fast, perfectly blending the classical Chinese flower arrangement style with the mirror. It seems their inspiration was the shimmering beauty of flowers in the mirror and the full moon."
"Look, the two players in booth 5 seem to be having a disagreement, and their progress has stalled. Sometimes, for the sake of the overall situation, it's necessary to trim away stray branches."
"Okay, next, number 6, number 8, number 9, number 10..."
"After looking around, I see that the two young men in No. 7 have slightly different understandings of the theme."
Jiang Liu and Yu Ran smiled at each other.
The audience all looked at him at the same time. Jiang Liu raised his eyes and sensed something strange, and was stunned.
Yu Ran handed over a bunch of irises and he also noticed the unusual audience member.
Everything is proceeding as usual...
In two hours, each group's work was basically completed. Although Jiang Liu and Yu Ran deliberately pressed the time, there was not a single mistake to be found in the overall work.
When the host came on stage, he neither stayed in the audience nor went out to inspect the stage, but it was clear that there was some motive that urged him to go on stage.
"Dear contestants." The voice echoed through the microphone. He looked around, taking in everyone's expressions before giving the order.
"Now, all contestants, please stop what you are doing and retreat outside the red line of the operation room."
Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that there was an inconspicuous red line on the floor of the operating room. Everyone thought it was the positioning line for building a temporary operating room.
"There's a drawer on the shelf next to you. Open it and put on your goggles."
Everyone was puzzled but obeyed. The event's arrival was both implicit and inevitable, like the smoke from a firecracker or the roar of boiling water. Both were dangerous, they were all there to watch, and none of them could control it.
The next second, "BANG!!! Crackling!!!" high-pitched and sharp sounds came one after another.
The florist wailed and the audience gasped, the scene was out of control and distorted.
Jiang Liu and Yu Ran finally saw this figure. They stared nervously at the double-headed hammer. Their eyes couldn't react to the impact, and even with mental preparation, they were still startled.
The force of a thousand pounds is as loud and pleasant as the sound of forging gold and stone.
Countless ice cracks radiated from the center of the mirror.
The host walked into the next room with a smile and quickly completed the task.
"It's been a while since we've been so disruptive," the host teased, returning to the stage. "Let's get back to the point. This shattered mirror before you is the final form of this theme. We have one hour left, so please hurry and finish."
Yu Ran regained his senses from his joy, put on his gloves, and quickly moved the lenses to the appropriate position.
Jiang Liu embedded the twisted flower branches between the lenses and refined the overall shape.
The upper part of the work as a whole is made up of upside-down dried flowers.
Fortunately, he found some desiccant in his toolbox, which was enough to save him. Yu Ran had already sealed the selected bouquets in the desiccant: rosa centifolia, rosemary, and wisteria.
After two and a half hours, the flowers were no longer plump and looked withered, but it didn't achieve the desired effect. Yu Ran followed the instructions and selected the darker flowers such as tiger whiskers, cattails, black calla lilies, and irises.
Jiang Liu weaved them in one by one, a large bunch of lifeless flowers drooping from the display stand. The purple iris was the most eye-catching, hanging on for breath, and the cattail resembled hair, twisting itself with its own hair. The overall effect was eerie and poignant.
In the lower half, Yu Ran spaced the lenses apart, while Jiang Liu wove broad-leaved bamboo and wind-blown ivy into the gaps; the green vines freely climb, and the yellow rice-like flowers resemble healed scabs, presenting a clear picture of the inner journey.
There were branches of graceful flowers woven into the vines, and the red petals of the flowers looked like sparks reflected in the mirror, burning the lens inside and out.
At the confluence of seven or eight green vines, the center of the mirror, stood a cluster of daffodils. Their soaring leaves resembled clusters of green flames, making the daffodils appear even whiter and more ethereal. It was the self, the new life.
Around the narcissus, the central visual point, are scattered a variety of flowers: roses, lilies, carnations, gladioli, chrysanthemums, and wintersweets. They symbolize love, family, and friendship in life.
The flowers surround the daffodils, and there are also a few irises and vines as embellishments - which echo the dried flowers above the head.
The usefulness of the mirror is reflected. It not only makes the flowers and plants look bright, but also, if you look straight ahead or get closer, the darkness at the top is reflected in the mirror. However, among these solid and upright flowers, it is no better than a shadow.
Just like, the haze of the past cannot trap me now.
After urgently adjusting the final details, the hour hand, minute hand and second hand completed their final journey, "ring-ring-ring-" fulfilling the messenger's order.
Jiang Liu and Yu Ran breathed a sigh of relief and hugged each other tightly.
The camera in the operating room had not yet been cut away, and this hug was witnessed by countless people.
After a short break, the players returned to the field one after another.
Jiang Liu stroked the number "7" on his number plate. He liked "7" because "4th," meaning today, was almost over. He painstakingly completed the race to bid farewell to the difficult days, to facilitate the rising and setting of the sun and moon, and to welcome the 7th. January 7th—that was his lover's birthday! He had something big to do!
Jiang Liu even felt a little dizzy.
"Now, each contestant, please introduce your work."
Ten tables were arranged in a row. Jiang Liu regained consciousness and pretended to listen to No. 1's speech, but his mind was actually on his opponent's work—just average, he thought.
Yu Ran hugged his waist from behind, actually indicating that he should look at No. 10's work.
Jiang Liu glanced at it, then quickly looked ahead, his eyes flashing with frenzy...
This also...
Too shocking?!
In his mind, he was trying to piece together the beauty of waiting, but he was unwilling to lose face and take one more look; he was afraid that this perfection would be confirmed, afraid that there were eagle eyes on the scene who would count the approval of his peers in the total vote.
The next second, the corner of his eye was glimpsed by a golden hue, which was Yu Ran's hair.
Yu Ran was standing side by side with him, his eyes fixed on the work they were creating together.
Jiang Liu lowered his eyes, examining it carefully, and instantly felt a surge of confidence. At the same time, he could sense the sharp, piercing gazes of his companions shooting at him from both sides, their approval and envy evident in them.
"Okay, where are the two contestants for number 7?"
The host looked over with a smile, looking at people, looking at flowers, looking at flowers.
Jiang Liu raised the microphone...
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