The competition carried on in full swing.
As a result, no one noticed the brief exchange in looks between Wen Xinya and Shen Siwen.
Wen Xinya calmly retrieved her gaze and expressed nonchalance toward Shen Siwen’s grievous and hateful eyes. Compared to that wicked and perverse Xia Ruya, a naive, princess-type girl like Shen Siwen was not worth her attention.
Shen Siwen lowered her head and tightened her fists, her sharp nails digging into her tender flesh. Only the resulting slivers of pain managed to soothe her consternation.
She finally experienced that unbearable rage her junior Yan Menglu felt whenever she mentioned Wen Xinya’s name.
At that point, the Milan World Expo International Jewelry Design Competition had produced two high-scorers—Wen Xinya and Shen Siwen. The two of them had surpassed the front few competitors to emerge at the top.
Although everyone was still eagerly looking forward to the final two competitors, the majority of the crowd had already come to the conclusion that Wen Xinya and Shen Siwen would end up becoming the winners of this segment.
After all, their designs were truly too marvelous to behold.
Wen Xinya had used her extreme talent and flawless narration to display the intense soul and meaning behind her creations, completely stunning the judges.
Meanwhile, Shen Siwen had used her whimsical ideas to design a highly marketable product that appealed greatly to the mass audience.
One with 95 points!
One with 93 points!
These were already two of the highest scores in the whole history of the Milan World Expo International Jewelry Design Competition!
Most of the people felt that there was no way the remaining two competitors could outdo Wen Xinya and Shen Siwen.
However, a competitor hailing from France presented a design concept based on dolphins and successfully pulled ahead of Shen Siwen to achieve 94 points.
This jewelry set based on dolphins was extremely intricate and unique. The harmony between red and blue filled the creations with a sense of contemporary and intensity.
The gist of the design was conservation. The competitor’s father worked in a sea aquarium and his job was to take care of the dolphins. As a result of her father’s influence, she had loved dolphins from a young age. But due to the pollution of the oceans and cruel hunts, the number of dolphins in the wild had dropped significantly. This gave her a lot of heartache.
Her designs were a call to society to conserve the ocean. To conserve the lives of the dolphins!
Compared to Wen Xinya’s profound knowledge and eloquent narration of a mysterious and vivid mythology tale, as well as Shen Siwen’s romantic naivety which left a favorable impression on the audience and judges—this French competitor used her deep feelings and passionate cause to move the crowd.
Wen Xinya liked the designs of this French competitor very much. Her matched jewelry set was not only rich in meaning but also very marketable. The successful merging of these two qualities instantly earned a nod of recognition from everyone.
And the only reason that the competitor lost to her was that she didn’t manage to adequately express the soul of her creation. Further, although her designs were very meaningful, they were still not as intense as Wen Xinya’s.
Nevertheless, she still managed to surpass Shen Siwen and was just one point behind Wen Xinya.
“94 points. Another high score! Oh, this moment is just too thrilling for words.”
The host’s animated voice moved the already lively atmosphere.
Shen Siwen stared fixedly at the dolphin set. Her whole face had gone deathly pale.
She had thought that after losing to Wen Xinya, she would still get second place. She never expected this last-minute emergence of a 94-point high-scorer.
One point didn’t seem like much, but the gap was actually as wide a thousand mountains and rivers in between.
That French competitor smiled smugly as she focused her greenish-blue eyes on Wen Xinya. Her look held traces of a challenge.
Wen Xinya met her gaze and smiled calmly.
Wen Xinya knew what she was thinking. This was just the preliminary rankings for the designs. The deciding factor for victory was the presentation of the actual physical creation. The French competitor’s designs were highly meaningful and very marketable, and she could easily beat her during the presentation of the real product.
Time flowed on as those few competitors exchanged discrete but meaningfully charged looks.
The judging of the designs of all the competitors was completed and the rankings were out.
First place: Wen Xinya, 95 points!
Second place: Jacqueline Madan, 94 points!
Third place: Shen Siwen, 93 points!
…
After announcing the rankings, the host said rather fervently, “It looks like it will be a very close fight for the first three competitors. The next segment of the grand finals will be held three days later. I can’t wait to see what happens!”
The host was not the only one who looked forward to the next round. The members of the audience were even more eager.
At this point, a strange sense of calm suddenly descended upon Shen Siwen. She stared at the large screen on stage, at the names of Wen Xinya and Jacqueline Madan on the rankings list.
The design segment of the grand finals officially ended.
Mr. Ronda went forward to give Wen Xinya a hug. “Wen, you have performed exceptionally well today.”
Although he was the one who had handed in Wen Xinya’s designs to the organizers, he didn’t have the authority to look at her designs before today. When he finally saw her drawings, he was truly blown away by her sky-high talent.
Wen Xinya was very touched. “Thank you!”
She was truly very grateful to Mr. Ronda. He had taken such good care of her over the past seven days, and a deep friendship had formed between the two of them.
Mr. Ronda smiled. “The final round of the grand finals will be held three days later. You have to bring your designs to life within these three days. The Milan World Expo Association will provide all the necessary jewels, as well as the craftsmen.”
There was a rather big difference between jewelry design on paper and in actual physical form. It was the same with celebrities. Some celebrities were very photogenic and looked good both on camera and on television. On the other hand, there were some celebrities who looked exceptionally great in person but just lacked the on-screen presence.
The physical embodiment of the jewelry design was the more important aspect.
Wen Xinya smiled. “I will have to continue relying on you for the next few days.”
Mr. Ronda waved her off. “Do you want to return to the hotel now? Or do you wish to stay on for a while longer?”
He shot a discrete glance at the mass of reporters a short distance away. If they didn’t leave now, they would definitely be swarmed by all those reporters. But of course, there were some people who enjoyed the feeling of being surrounded by the media.
Wen Xinya understood his meaning and winked at him. “Of course we are heading back to the hotel now. It’s been a long day and I don’t have any energy left to handle those bothersome reporters.”
