Chapter Ninety-Five: Taking First Place

  Li Yang's speed was really too fast, the others had not reacted yet and he had already rushed inside. By the time the others reacted and started jumping into the competition venue, Li Yang had already found the sculptor he had been eyeing earlier and bought a jade carving from him for 300 yuan.

  "Unfair, against the rules, someone is cheating"

  A member of the Jade Stone Association who had also set his sights on the same craftsman immediately shouted loudly, but in fact the real bidding was yet to begin until the host announced it. Li Yang was participating in this event for the first time and only thought about rushing forward quickly, not knowing that he had taken a step ahead of others, and if one were to say that he had broken the rules, it could also be said to have passed, but such things had never been defined by any rules, as it was an activity meant to add excitement, which didn't have so many strict rules.

  So at this time, no one cares about the man's loud voice. More than a dozen master craftsmen have already been surrounded by people, and several others have already had their works reserved. In the blink of an eye, more than 20 master craftsmen have completed transactions, even if someone protests, they don't ask anymore.

  A few people on the rostrum began to whisper to each other, and members of the Jade Stone Association from all over the world below the stage also discussed it. Generally, those who have the bidding indicator are mostly elderly people from various places. It is extremely rare for someone like Li Yang to have such an opportunity when he comes to participate for the first time. Even rarer is someone like Li Yang who doesn't understand the process and rushes up, which is why this joke happened.

  Among the murmurs of many people who did not get their desired jade carvings and the voices of protest, Sima Lin quietly walked towards the rostrum. Sima Lin understood that if he didn't show up, he didn't know how these old guys would use this small opportunity to put on airs.

  Things went as expected by Sima Lin, after the leaders of the Jade Stone Association discussed and wanted to cancel Li Yang's qualifications, while others remained unchanged. Everyone already knew whose jade carvings were the most popular, and re-doing it would definitely mess things up, so it's better to keep things as they are. After all, the ultimate goal of this activity is to evaluate who has the best carving skills, and it doesn't matter whose hands these jade carvings fall into.

  No one knew what Sima Lin said to these people. The leaders of the Jade Stone Association were stunned at first, then looked at Sima Lin in surprise. After a brief discussion among several people, an old man with white hair publicly announced the result of this auction.

  "Is this young man very aggressive?"

  The old man's first sentence made everyone burst out laughing, Sima Lin smiled and shook his head quietly leaving, this one sentence already made him know that Li Yang would not have any trouble.

  "It's a good thing to have momentum, which is in line with the purpose of our event. Although there were some mistakes earlier, we understand that this young man was participating for the first time. Following the principle of exchange first and competition second, we will not pursue your responsibility, but you must pay attention next time."

  The old man sat down after finishing speaking, except for the two people who also fancied the jade carving chosen by Li Yang and were protesting, everyone else just laughed it off. As the old man said, exchange comes first, competition second, handling this kind of thing in a big or small way wouldn't make many people care, having this little episode actually added some laughter to the occasion.

  Li Yang's name began to spread rapidly among his peers in other cities, and even Li Yang himself did not expect that his first appearance at this event would be like this. Afterwards, Li Yang was very resentful of Zhang Wei for a while, and his tall image was severely damaged.

  Li Yang's thing was just a small episode, the works of fifty skilled craftsmen were all temporarily taken away, and after the evaluation in the afternoon, the winning bidder could take them away. Of course, the person who took away the best work was the proudest. This competition had an element of luck, but also a bit of skill.

  At noon, the crowd slowly dispersed. The afternoon event will not be held until after 2 o'clock. When the members of Mingyang Jade Association went to the restaurant for dinner, many people made fun of Li Yang about what happened earlier.

  Arriving at the restaurant, people from other places also pointed and whispered about Li Yang. In the afternoon, Li Yang's appearance made everyone aware of this young man, and slowly, his previous achievements began to spread. As a result, more and more people in the industry took notice of Li Yang, even some non-jade association members started asking about him.

  "Director Zhang, you didn't make it clear and now I've been ruined by waiting for the host to announce the start of the auction."

  Sitting at the dinner table, Li Yang's worried and unhappy expression made everyone burst out laughing again. Zhang Wei also felt a bit embarrassed. Everyone who knew what had happened before realized that he had forgotten to remind Li Yang for the first time, resulting in such a big joke.

  Not to mention Zhang Wei, Sima Lin and Zheng Kaida also forgot to remind Li Yang, but looking at the awkward Li Yang, everyone felt exceptionally pleased in their hearts. All along, Li Yang's good luck had made everyone very jealous, and this little joke that didn't hurt anyone could balance everyone's psychology a bit.

  "I'm sorry, it's all my fault, I'll make it up to you next time"

  Zhang Wei couldn't help but smile wryly. This won't end well. If the distribution is unfair, everyone will blame him, and if something goes wrong, he'll be the first to take responsibility.

  "Never mind, I won't go for the evaluation this afternoon. Sima brothers, just take a look at what ranking my chosen one ends up with and bring me the stuff, that's all."

  Li Yang supported his face with both hands, still looking worried, and everyone burst out laughing again.

  Sim Lin laughed with a cough, and while coughing, he said to Li Yang: "You little kid can't even handle this small scene? Your mental endurance is that poor? I don't think this is like you."

  "Well, I'll go this afternoon anyway, just think of it as being famous, some people even find it hard to be famous"

  Stimulated by Sima Lin Yi, Li Yang also didn't want to say no anymore. However, that appearance of going to the battlefield for a great cause made everyone laugh again.

  There is one thing that Li Yang does not know, he has really become famous. When they were eating, someone posted a photo of Li Yang rushing into the jade carving competition venue first on Nanyang's forum, and now many Nanyang netizens are discussing it enthusiastically.

  After lunch, they returned to the hotel for a rest. The evaluation activity in the afternoon was about to begin, so Li Yang and his group slowly made their way to the square. Along the way, people couldn't help but stare at Li Yang, pointing and whispering to each other. The scene of many people competing to buy the competition works after the jade carving contest is always a favorite among everyone. This time, Li Yang took the lead, and his outstanding performance left a deep impression on many people.

  There were more people in the square in the afternoon than in the morning. The empty space where the jade carving competition was originally held had become an exhibition platform, and all 50 works carved in the morning were placed there, with numbers assigned to them. The top three works of this competition will be professionally reviewed by experts, and the fourth to seventh works will also have rankings and certificates, while the rest will not.

  It's past two o'clock, and everyone on the rostrum has returned. The numerous people below are craning their necks in anticipation, waiting to see which piece will win first prize. Some have even started small betting pools down there; if they guess correctly, they can make a bit of extra money.

  Fifty master craftsmen have changed their clothes and are quietly sitting aside, for them the result of this competition is the most important, if they win the championship, their reputation and living treatment will be greatly improved.

  After the host's brief speech, the critic finally stood in the center of the stage. The activity itself was not biased, so the evaluation was fair and just. Experts from both home and abroad came to give their honest opinions on all the works without any prejudice.

  "Its lines are smooth and flowing, with orderly turns, the carved objects are vivid and lifelike, with a unique charm..."

  The expert did not take the script, and slowly began to comment on a piece of jade. The expert did not say which number the jade was, and everyone was guessing, especially those carving masters and people who had bid for the competition works, all hoping that what the expert said was their own thing.

  "This is No. 39, Dushan Jade Carving 'Sending Son Guanyin'"

  Under the expectation of many people, the expert finally said which work was pointed out. Li Yang was slightly stunned, No. 39 was not bad, but it was not the one he chose. Had his special ability gone wrong, or were the rules for commenting by these experts different from what he thought?

  "Congratulations to No. 39 for winning third place in this competition."

  The expert finally said loudly, the craftsman of No. 39 and the buyer who bought this work were both smiling towards the stage, but the expert's words made them both pause for a moment. Although they still smiled on the stage, their smiles were obviously not as thick as before. The third place is not bad, but it's not as good as the champion. They all thought they had won the championship before, only to find out that they had been fooled by the expert in the end.

  Many skilled craftsmen were stunned, and then they all sat up straight. In the past, the champion was always evaluated first, but this year, the expert unexpectedly evaluated the third place first. It's good that it's the third place, proving that each of them still has a chance.

  "The following work will make each of us amazed..."

  The expert began to comment on the second piece of work. This time, everyone knew that this piece would be today's runner-up. As expected, the expert did not drag on and directly announced the number of the runner-up. The craftsman who created the work and the person who purchased it happily went onto the stage. Being able to get the runner-up was not bad either. At least they didn't have that psychological fluctuation.

  "What follows is the most important piece of today, it has conquered all our experts..."

  The commentator for the champion took a good ten or more minutes, and finally waved his hand towards the display stage, saying the champion's number: "The champion is, No. 17"

  Number seventeen is the champion, and immediately someone stood up from among the carvers, with an excited smile on his face. The others looked at him with envy. These people's carving skills are not much different, to say that they all admire him is impossible, the performance on the spot is also an important factor, it can only be said that this champion is luckier.

  Li Yang was also stunned for a moment, and then walked up to the podium with a big laugh. Li Yang and the champion stood together on the podium, and the crowd below was also stunned. Li Yang had given everyone a very deep impression in the morning, and no one expected that this work, which was evaluated as "very dynamic", would actually win the championship. It seems that running the fastest is not always a bad thing.

  "Whoosh whoosh whoosh"

  The warm applause suddenly came up, Li Yang's championship work made them feel more interesting, and Li Yang's brilliance on the stage overshadowed the champion craftsman.

  ………………

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