Chapter 57 White Moonlight Substitute 23

The National Fashion Design Competition is hosted by the China Fashion Association. It is the most authoritative, influential, and most watched fashion design competition in the country.

Around New Year's Day, the organizer received thousands of emails from all over the country.

As of January 6, the organizer received a total of more than 10,000 entries.

The preliminary round was hosted by the vice president of the China Fashion Association. Looking at the latest statistical results, the vice president smiled and said, "This year, we received more than a thousand entries than last year. It seems that this year's competition will be even greater."

Every year's competition is a fierce battle, with famous new designers and previously unknown dark horses.

"This shows that there is a lot of fresh blood in our industry." The other judges smiled and agreed.

The vice president nodded and said seriously, "The results of the preliminary round will be announced within half a month, so everyone should hurry up."

The backstage automatically distributed the entries to the computers of each judge. After the vice president finished speaking, she turned on the computer and started to comment and score from the first work.

Because of the judging process, the vice president only finished reviewing 100 works in one day.

But what made her feel sorry was that although there were several works that caught her eye today, none of them made her feel bright. There were

also some works that were obviously just trying to fish in troubled waters. At most, they completed the most basic design and could not even be considered a draft. The vice president was amused and helpless.

The next few days were all repeating the previous work.

This day, it was almost noon. After the vice president finished reviewing the works in front of him, he planned to take a lunch break and then come back to continue revising the manuscript.

Just as she was about to turn off the computer, a judge named Su in front of her suddenly exclaimed "Huh".

"This work, the color is so special."

Special?

This word immediately made the vice president excited.

She now needs some special works to inspire her enthusiasm.

"Let me see how special it is."

"Come on." Judge Su turned the computer around and said, "The design is quite bold, but also very outstanding. It can be seen that this is a designer with a lot of ideas. He is not bound by one style, and the overall design is also in line with mainstream aesthetics." Even before

seeing the design drawings, Judge Su's comments have already made the vice president feel interesting.

The vice president has met many fashion designers.

They are bold and avant-garde, not bound by mainstream aesthetics. They may be popular for a while, but it is difficult for them to last long.

Mainstream aesthetics not only represents the aesthetics of the judges, but also the aesthetics of the general consumers.

A truly smart designer will often go beyond mainstream aesthetics on the basis of mainstream aesthetics.

With full of expectations, the vice president looked at Judge Su's computer.

Then, she was stunned.

"This work--"

The work in front of her has several layers of skirt design.

But the bottom layer of the skirt is boldly bright black.

On the contrary, the outermost layer of the skirt is a matte dark blue.

Between the skirts, the golden gradient beads and the white gradient diamonds complement each other, as if a whole vast galaxy has fallen.

This color combination looks a bit abrupt at first glance, but it makes people look at it more. After a closer look, it is just right.

If I have to describe it in one word, it is "eye-catching".

"Do you think this skirt looks like something?" Judge Su teased with a smile.

"Yes."

The vice president frowned.

The name of that thing has come to her lips, but she can't say it for a while.

"Starry sky."

"I read the designer's explanation. The name of this work was originally called Stars. After several revisions, the designer decided to name it Starry sky."

The vice president laughed: "This name is also very bold."

Judge Su also laughed: "It seems to suit your taste."

"Yes. I think this skirt is designed for people of my age. To be honest, I want to have such a skirt." The vice president sighed.

It really suits her taste. Whether it is the skirt itself or the designer.

The other judges also finished their work one after another. Seeing that the vice president and judge Su were chatting enthusiastically, they gathered around.

"There are no obvious shortcomings in the design of each aspect, and the color matching and the design of the skirt hem are the highlights of the whole skirt. It is the most outstanding work I have ever seen."

"What a vivid skirt."

"Yes, yes, it is vivid, and the designer is very talented. What is her name? Is she a designer who has become famous recently?"

Judge Su: "I remember she is still a college student."

The vice president raised an eyebrow: "She is still a college student? Which school?"

She originally thought that the age of this designer should be close to the highest standard of 30 years old for participating in the competition, so she can grasp the aesthetics of women between the ages of 30 and 45 so well.

Judge Su looked at the computer screen and read out the designer's prefix and name in a clear voice.

"A senior student in the Department of Fashion Design at University A, Yao Shiyun."

***

Yao Shiyun didn't know that she was being discussed by the judges.

After submitting the first draft, she put the competition aside for the time being and began to prepare for the final exams and graduation project.

Because of her previous accumulation, these two things were not difficult for her.

Soon, she welcomed the last winter vacation of her college career.

On the first day of vacation, Yao Shiyun rarely stayed in bed, and slept until noon. She was finally awakened by Yao Rong's knock on the door.

After glancing at her phone, Yao Shiyun, who was still dazed, immediately woke up, sat up abruptly from the bed, and ruffled her long hair.

She jumped out of bed, put on her cotton slippers and went to open the door.

Outside the door, Yao Rong crossed his arms: "Why did you get up late today?"

She had come back from work, but when she got home, she found that Yao Shiyun's door was still closed.

Yao Shiyun covered her face and said, "Aren't the preliminary results going to be announced today? I was a little excited in the middle of the night, so I couldn't help but watch a few episodes of the drama..."

"Go wash up quickly." Yao Rong smiled, "How about steak? I'll make it for you."

"As long as it's made by you, it's ok."

Yao Rong tapped her forehead and went downstairs to the kitchen.

The steak was not difficult to make. Yao Rong made it crispy and fried French fries. Finally, she squeezed a glass of orange juice. When she went out with the food tray, Yao Shiyun had already laid out the napkin and sat obediently at the dining table.

They had dinner relatively early today. When they finished eating, it was still two minutes before twelve o'clock.

By the time Yao Shiyun brought her computer downstairs, it was time to announce her results.

She began to enter the URL for querying her results, her name, and her competition number, and waited patiently for the page to jump.

In fact, she didn't have to wait very long. In almost the blink of an eye, Yao Shiyun saw her results.

[Yao Shiyun, first place in the preliminary round, shortlisted]

It was a very short sentence, but Yao Shiyun read it over and over again.

"You are not mistaken, you are the first place in the preliminary round."

As if knowing what Yao Shiyun was thinking, Yao Rong spoke and said to her in a very affirmative tone.

Yao Shiyun suddenly closed the computer, turned around and hugged Yao Rong, excited and incoherent: "Mom... I... I have thought about it, I really thought about getting first place... But you know, I was just thinking about it..."

First place.

She stood out from so many contestants nationwide and won first place.

Even though this was only the preliminary round, it was still a great encouragement and affirmation for her.

Yao Rong patted her back again and again, smiling and saying, "You are the well-deserved first place. Next time, you can think more exaggeratedly."

Yao Shiyun, who was still secretly excited, was amused by this sentence: "Next time? Then the next time will be the semi-final, right?" "

You have already won the first place in the preliminary round. Work hard and win the first place in the semi-final. Then I will book the entire hotel to hold a celebration banquet for you." Yao Rong did not hesitate to set high goals for Yao Shiyun.

Yao Shiyun imagined that scene and became even happier. She got out of Yao Rong's arms and said, "Anyway, keep working hard. We are only halfway through the long journey."

As she was talking, Yao Shiyun's cell phone rang.

When she saw the word "counselor" on the call reminder, she knew it was her counselor calling to ask about her grades, so she quickly picked up the phone.

After learning about Yao Shiyun's results, the counselor laughed out loud: "Student Yao Shiyun, you have brought honor to the school!"

The counselor praised Yao Shiyun word for word, and Yao Shiyun felt a little embarrassed. Then he started to talk about another serious matter: "Have you seen the first round of the semi-finals?" The

difference between the National Fashion Design Competition and other competitions is that there are no restrictions in its preliminary rounds.

Participants can take any satisfactory and unpublished work to participate in the competition.

But in the semi-finals, its design theme is completely determined by the organizer.

The semi-finals are divided into two rounds.

The first round lasted for one month and decided the top 20.

In the second round, the top 20 will go offline and make their own clothes on the spot. Finally, the models wear the clothes and walk on the catwalk. The judges score and decide the ranking.

"I'll take a look later." Yao Shiyun just remembered this after being reminded by the counselor. She was just caring about being happy.

Yao Rong, who was sitting next to her, directly opened Yao Shiyun's computer and helped her log into the official website of the competition.

"Design theme: daily professional wear."

Yao Shiyun thought: "This theme is very broad."

The more popular the theme is, the harder it is to design sometimes.

Because countless industry predecessors have designed such works, it is difficult for latecomers to bring new ideas.

"Think about it more, there is still a month." Yao Rong did not give her any suggestions, but just touched her head and encouraged her gently, "If you really can't find any inspiration, come and talk to me again."

Yao Shiyun no longer cared about being happy, frowned and began to think about the semi-final topic.

In the next few days, she wrote and drew in her sketchbook and read all the classic shows, but she still didn't have a good idea.

This morning, Yao Rong and Yao Shiyun sat at the dining table to eat breakfast.

Putting down the spoon, Yao Shiyun said, "Mom, let me go to the company with you today."

Instead of looking at the drawings every day without making any progress, it is better to go to the site to observe the clothes and appearance of the group employees. Maybe inspiration will come.

When they arrived at the company, Yao Rong went directly to the chairman's office on the top floor. Yao Shiyun sat on the sofa in the lobby on the first floor with a cup of coffee, quietly watching the flow of people.

This sitting lasted for a whole morning.

No progress.

Yao Shiyun vaguely felt that she had found the wrong direction, but she didn't know where the right direction was.

After thinking fruitlessly, she temporarily chose salted fish and dragged her tired body to the top floor office to have lunch with Yao Rong.

The top floor office was very bright.

The office building of the Yao Group was the tallest building in the vicinity.

From here, looking down, everything around was in full view.

It was also very quiet here, because except when the shareholders' meeting was held, there were only Yao Rong and her assistant secretaries here. So when she got out of the elevator, Yao Shiyun unconsciously slowed down her steps.

The assistant heard the noise, smiled and came forward, and whispered to Yao Shiyun: "President Yao is in a remote meeting, and it may take another ten minutes for the meeting to end."

"No problem."

Yao Shiyun sat for a whole morning and didn't want to sit any longer, so she simply stood by the office door and observed the assistant and secretary.

But the more she observed, the more she felt something was wrong.

After a moment of hesitation, Yao Shiyun gently pushed open the office door. Yao

Rong leaned back in the soft leather office chair, speaking sternly to the person on the other end of the video, but her expression was calm. She was wearing a light gray western dress, and even without frowning, she had a kind of intimidating aura.

Seeing Yao Rong like this, Yao Shiyun's heart moved, and she suddenly realized where she was wrong before.

The one she should observe should never be anyone else, but her mother.

***

In the next few days, Yao Rong found that she had a little tail.

Even when she was watering the kapok tree, Yao Shiyun would follow her and watch her.

"Aren't you busy designing clothes recently?" Yao Rong put down the sprinkler, wiped the water droplets on the back of her hand, and asked Yao Shiyun casually.

"I'm still thinking about it."

In the past few days, she has had a lot of new inspirations, but these inspirations can only be considered good, and none of them can particularly impress her.

Yao Shiyun didn't want to talk about design, so she asked Yao Rong why she liked kapok so much.

This was the second time she asked this question.

The first time she asked, Yao Rong just smiled and said nothing.

She thought she would not get an answer this time, but before she wanted to change the topic, she heard Yao Rong stroking the tall trunk of the kapok tree and said with a smile: "Do you know the other name of kapok?"

Yao Rong pulled Yao Shiyun to sit directly on the lawn. Although the kapok tree was not lush enough, the shade it cast was enough to cover the figures of Yao Rong and Yao Shiyun, bringing them a cool breeze.

"Kapok is also called the hero flower. When it blooms, it does not need green leaves to set off. It is full of vitality and blazing like fire. The strange thing is that its flowers are so hot, but the fragrance is very light."

Yao Rong did not say many things too directly, but the touch of the light on her chest reminded Yao Shiyun of the kapok necklace Yao Rong gave her.

Yao Shiyun took the necklace out from under her clothes.

——So, in her mother's mind, she is like a kapok flower.

After staring at the necklace for a long time, Yao Shiyun raised her head and looked at the kapok tree in front of her that provided shade for her.

She thought that she had finally found the design idea that impressed her the most.

This time, after having the design idea, Yao Shiyun's design draft was almost completed in one go.

After refining a few details, Yao Shiyun sent the manuscript to the organizer.

Because only three hundred people entered the semi-finals, the judges' work became much easier.

However, although the number of works has been reduced so much, the number of judges has not decreased.

Each judge needs to read all three hundred works and then give scores to these three hundred works. Finally, the highest and lowest scores were removed, and the remaining scores were weighted according to the weights.

It took less than three days for the judges to score all the scores, and the top 20 with the highest scores entered the semi-finals.

Soon, the official website of the National Fashion Design Competition announced the names of the finalists.

Yao Shiyun's name was on the list.

***

March 20.

The breeze was warm, the crabapple blossomed, the leaves of the kapok tree began to fall gradually, and small bulge-like buds grew on the branches, but no one knew when they would bloom.

Yao Shiyun was wearing light clothes and dragging two large suitcases beside her, which were filled with materials for making clothes. Although the organizers would have materials, they were all basic and commonly used materials. If the contestants needed some special materials, they still had to buy them themselves.

"Let's go." Yao Rong and Yao Shiyun were wearing the same mother-daughter outfit and sun hats.

The second round of the semi-finals was held in the capital, where the Yao Group had a branch. Yao Rong planned to accompany Yao Shiyun and take care of some business at the branch.

"Mom, wait a minute." Yao Shiyun opened her suitcase, walked quickly through the cobblestone path, and came to the kapok tree. She clasped her hands together with a pious expression, as if asking the kapok tree to bless her with a good ranking.

Soon, she smiled in a relaxed manner, followed Yao Rong on the plane to the capital, and arrived at the hotel smoothly in the evening.

Yao Shiyun was not the only athlete to arrive at the hotel at this time. There were other people queuing up at the front desk to check in.

Fortunately, Yao Shiyun completed the formalities not long after.

"Mom, let's go." Because the hotel allows accompanying persons to check in together, Yao Shiyun directly asked for a double room.

The mother and daughter chatted as they walked towards the elevator. Coincidentally, the elevator just arrived at the first floor, and a woman dressed very fashionably walked out of the elevator.

Yao Shiyun made room for her.

The woman smiled at Yao Shiyun and walked towards the front desk.

People who met her on the way politely called her "Vice President."

When the vice president was about to pass the front desk, she suddenly remembered something, took two steps back to the front desk, picked up the check-in list and looked through it, and saw that the last name on the list was "Yao Shiyun".

The girl who just met in front of the elevator was Yao Shiyun?

The vice president was surprised.

She actually likes Yao Shiyun's "Starry Sky" very much, but she is not optimistic about Yao Shiyun's performance in the semi-finals. The reason is that this kind of design with a clear range is actually disadvantageous for students.

Perhaps because of this pessimism, when she saw the dress named "Kapok" in the first round of the semi-finals, she was sincerely amazed and became a little curious about the designer.

However, she is a judge in the second round of the semi-finals, and it is not suitable to contact the contestants at this time.

Well, let's talk about it after the competition.