CEFYMA: Chapter 89 Part 1

Chai Tao frowned fiercely and said, “I don’t think so.”

Hillman glanced sideways at him coldly. He said something in German, only to hear Marcia translate, “Mr Chai, I don’t need to accept your questioning.”

The atmosphere in the judging room froze for a moment. Chai Tao’s face became increasingly gloomy under HIllman’s merciless and straightforward words.

Chai Tao’s expression was gloomy, but he still smiled and said, “Dean Hillman’s Chinese is sometimes good and sometimes bad.”

He had been speaking fluently just now. Why did he have to switch to German when talking to him?

Chai Tao felt as if he had been deeply humiliated. It was almost difficult to maintain his peaceful expression.

There were so many fellow intellectuals sitting around him, and Chai Tao could only do things secretly. He wasn’t stupid enough to let someone else grab his hand. Therefore, he smiled and flipped through to the information of the first contestant in the sculpture group.

“Dean Hillman eliminated this contestant’s work in less than two seconds. They are both obviously the same Virgin Mary statue,” Chai Tao deliberately said only half his implication to arouse the suspicion of others. “Dean Hillman seems to have paid a lot of attention to this participant 0409 from the beginning.”

The eyes of the other judges fell on Hillman with hesitant expressions.

But You Mian’s sculpture was so beautiful that even if Chai Tao interfered with his usual rhetoric, the other professors were almost unmoved.

Faced with Chai Tao’s unfounded doubts, Hillman said calmly, “No, Mr Chai, I only saw the 1001 Virgin Mary statue in front of me. I don’t remember whether it is 0409 or 0809 who made it.”

Hillman didn’t even remember the name You Mian.

Chai Tao paused for a few seconds.

Yes, the judges of the Star Cup had to look at so many works every day that they had no time to remember the name of a single contestant, let alone their numbers.

Now that the conversation was translated by Marcia, Chai Tao, who could quickly name You Mian’s player number, became more suspicious than Hillman.

Marcia’s clear voice sounded in the judges’ room.

“I believe that the organizers of the Star Cup will host a fair competition. I also believe in the artistic aesthetics of the honorary professors here.”

“Obviously, the sculpture in front of us can’t be summarized with a thin description of ‘1001 Virgin Mary’. It’s carving technique, its distinct layers, and the concrete material love that contains huge vitality…”

Marcia quickly translated simultaneously. Then Hillman said the last sentence in a deep voice, “I believe everyone will have their own independent judgment.”

The professors present glanced at each other with unanimous approval in their eyes.

The statue of a thousand Virgin Mary carved on the plaster gauze in front of them deserved to be ranked first in the group. It had unparalleled strength and was an unparalleled work.

The judges no longer hesitated as they lowered their heads and ticked the boxes on their judging forms.

Seeing this, Chai Tao could no longer control his expression. He took off his reading glasses and said angrily, “Dean Hillman, you are abusing your power to ensure that a contestant enters the finals! He is off-topic. I won’t agree with such a judging result.”

Chai Tao’s angry shout rang out in the judging room, and the others looked at each other in confusion for a few seconds.

“Old Chai, what you said is a bit excessive.”

“Yes. We aren’t those who can change the scoring standards just by relying on someone else’s words.”

People who followed the path of art inevitably had a proud personality. Chai Tao’s words obviously didn’t take the other judges seriously and only focused on refuting Hillman.

Chai Tao was stuck for a moment. Before he could explain, he heard Hillman say, “Each of the 12 judges here has the right to make independent judgments and scores. I did give this player 10 points. It is my right, isn’t it?”

“Of course, you can give him 0 points if you want.”

Chai Tao stood up with a bang. The chair behind him was pushed back with a harsh sound.

Chai Tao’s chest rose and fell violently. 12 people gave high scores. Even if he scored 0, he still wouldn’t be able to eliminate You Mian!

The matter wasn’t settled. Chai Tao was worried that You Jiyuan would reveal this matter in a fit of anger.

By then, not only would he might have to return what he received but his judging position might be lost!

However, at this moment, Chai Tao didn’t have the ability to think too much. He was angry and speechless. Didn’t Bai Peilan tell him in advance that You Mian would be at a loss when it came to the theme of maternal love?

How could he create a work that made Hillman look at him with admiration?

Chai Tao slammed his pen on the table. “I want to report to the organizers.”

Hillman nodded lightly and said in a deep and cold voice, “Please do so.”

Chai Tao immediately raised his hand and submitted an opinion to the organizing staff, specifically stating that he had objections to the result of You Mian winning first place in the sculpture group.

Hillman didn’t even look at him any longer. He lowered his head and flipped through the information in his hands. “Next, let’s look at the oil painting group.”

Five or six staff members quickly walked in. They moved the works of the sculpture group out and brought in six easels.

Chai Tao noticed that there was a work by Bai Lin in the oil painting group, so he resisted the urge to leave. Instead, he stayed.

Hillman noticed the work that won first place in the preliminary round of the oil painting group. He instantly frowned and said in a German accent, “Bullshit.”

The professor sitting on the other side of Hillman couldn’t help noticing that the work Hillman was looking at when he said this happened to be from the contestant Bai Lin, who Chai Tao desperately saved in the last preliminary round.

Bai Lin’s number happened to be very high, so the first work in the oil painting group that everyone judged was his.

The white cloth was pulled away. A colorful oil painting representing the theme of maternal love appeared in front of everyone.

A simple, decent female portrait.

The woman had her head wrapped in a dark red scarf. The square scarf was covered with mud and dust. She was sitting by the river and washing clothes. Her hands covered with frostbite were vigorously rubbing the clothes in the basin. On her feet were a pair of worn-out shoes that had been painted white. The clothes she wore were a bit like those belonging to an ethnic minority.

Her face was honest, but she exuded an indescribable feminine charm. A gentle smile that was tolerant and generous appeared on her face. It seemed like there was a future ahead of her that she was looking forward to.

It was rare for Hillman to say pass without opening his mouth, but his evaluation couldn’t compare to You Mian, who he liked very much before.

“Barely qualified,” he said.

Chai Tao sighed with relief. Fortunately, Bai Lin worked hard so he didn’t have to refute it fiercely. He nodded repeatedly. “There are no quarrels in art issues, just discussion. This time, I agree with Dean Hillman’s opinion. In other words, this painting is a qualified work.”

Hillman’s eyes fell on the previous preliminary work for a few seconds. Then he looked up at the maternal love oil painting in front of him.

As the judges lowered their heads to give scores, Hillman raised his hand lightly like Chai Tao did before and said solemnly, “I also have some objections that I want to submit to the organizer.”

The light rain that had been pouring outside the window finally stopped, and the sky gradually cleared.

The group date in the ice sculpture town’s workshop was coming to an end. The eight excited guests all received a card and pen from the workshop owner.

The boss knew that these people were filming a romance variety show, so he smiled kindly.

“The chocolates that everyone carefully made just now will be temporarily stored by me. Don’t worry about them being damaged or expired. The director will return them to you when the time is up.”

Hong Sheng smiled and nodded while hiding behind the camera.

The long table of the small workshop, which was clean when he arrived a few hours ago, was now piled with half-used ingredients and cream. The air was filled with the sweet smell of chocolate.

“When will the next show be recorded?” Guan Tong took off his disposable gloves and threw them into the trash can beside him with a rare expression of reluctance. “This episode of the Heartbeat House is coming to an end so soon. I am a bit… reluctant to part with it.”

Huo Yanzhi said cheerfully, “Isn’t it not over yet? Relax. Don’t look sad.”

Upon hearing this, Yan Tingxuan silently raised his head and glanced at You Mian’s back. Then he stared at the still smiling Huo Yanzhi with a half-smile.

The results of the trial had come out a long time ago. Only a stubborn person like Huo Yanzhi didn’t understand.

Yan Tingxuan lowered his head.

Guan Tong curled his lips at Huo Yanzhi, his reluctance still lingering.

You Mian raised his hand to rub Guan Tong’s head. He heard Hong Sheng say from where he was hiding behind the camera, “The next episode of the Heartbeat House will be the last episode of our Matching Heartbeat show. We will notify everyone by phone at the time. In short, it won’t be too late.”

Yan Tingxuan straightened the apron that was messy from making chocolate just now. His eyes behind the gold-rimmed glasses were calm and hidden.

On the other side, Yun Guanqing cleaned his hands. He took the card, turned around, and lay on the table. He said plausibly, “I’m going to start writing. Don’t peek.”

You Mian shook the card in his hand while thinking about what he wanted to write down.

Hong Sheng said that this was a gift to be given on the last day, the confession day. You Mian pursed his lips slightly. Once he put his pen down, he was more solemn than before he started writing.

Pei Huaiji stood behind You Mian, looking silently down at the blank card for a long time.

He was the last person to write among the eight people. He was also the one who took the longest time to write.

Pei Huaiji had never hesitated like this before. He had always hit the target with one hit, and he had always been confident and magnanimous. This was his first experience with hesitating when raising a pen.

At this moment, Pei Huaiji freely felt the turbulent emotions brought to him by the presence of another person.

Ten minutes later.

A line of sharp writing was written on the winter gift card. Once Pei Huaiji stood up, he gently opened the card with his fingers and savored the content alone that was about to be sent out but hadn’t been sent out.

The card that Pei Huaiji made was taken away by the show’s staff and carefully packaged together with the box of chocolates he had just made.

You Mian tilted his head and raised an eyebrow. Then he asked softly with some curiosity, “What did you write?”

Pei Huaiji said, “It is a secret, but you can guess.”

You Mian frowned and thought for a while before finally admitting defeat. “I can’t guess.”

Pei Huaiji stood by the window. He let the sunlight outside the window fall on his strong shoulders. His heroic brows and eyes were filled with a soft smile. “Wait.”

You Mian blinked. Suddenly, he guessed the second half of Pei Huaiji’s unspoken sentence as the sunshine fell on his shoulders.

Wait, and you can always see it.

Wait, and he could always wait for the card given by Pei Huaiji himself. Then he would open it and see the line of confession.

You Mian lowered his eyes. His beautiful eyes curved as he gave a bright and heartwarming smile.

You Mian looked up and stared directly at Pei Huaiji. He also scanned the golden sunlight on the other person’s forehead, nose bridge, and thin lips, and said softly, “Then please wait.”

Surrounded by the sounds of other people talking loudly, as well as the sound of the show’s staff discussing the next filming and editing of this episode, Pei Huaiji accurately counted the frequency of You Mian’s blinks among the countless noisy and confusing sounds.

Normally, people blinked every two or three seconds, but You Mian blinked two or three times in just one second.

He was nervous.

The young man smiled openly. He raised his hand to touch the tip of his nose and ears. He looked up at Pei Huaiji in an overly sincere and adorable manner and asked, “Am I blushing?”

Pei Huaiji’s deep brows and eyes, as dark as obsidian, took over You Mian’s embarrassment and anxiety for the umpteenth time, supporting him and giving him the safest backing.

“It is because the sunlight is too strong,” Pei Huaiji said in a deep voice, but his voice was a bit hoarse.

You Mian tilted his head, eyelashes trembled slightly in the sunlight.

Hong Sheng’s words finally appeared in his ears, making everyone move a lot faster.

“Once everyone has finished writing, you can hand it over to the staff member.”

Guan Tong wrote the entire card eloquently before finally handing it over with a jump.

The celebrity guests in the observation room far away looked at the darkened screen and took off their headsets one by one.

Xi Rui smiled. “The third phase of the Heartbeat House is over.”