"Hey, look at this artwork here," one of the judges waved. "This artwork is really meaningful. For a kid that is below fourteen years old to draw this, that is unbelievable. Three years ago, the top prize isn't even as good as this."
The other judges walked over and said, "Elder Zhang, you must be exaggerating. Which drawing could be that good?"
Zhang Qian Shan said, "Come and have a look."
The others walked over and when they saw the artwork, they were stunned. To them, the artwork was average. However, it was drawn by a kid that was below fourteen years old. Those kids couldn't have matched up to them, who were professionally trained.
A bespectacled and plump middle-aged man looked at it and said, "The strokes are a little soft and the details aren't too precise. However, the overall shape is good and there is a good feel to it. Look at the mountains and the rivers. They've been handled well. I feel an aura from this drawing and it is exceptional."
Zhang Qian Shan said, "You can tell too, right? I dare to confirm that this will be the best artwork for this competition. The other artworks are nothing compared to this."
"What? The kid that drew this is only six years old. How could that be?" the judge asked after looking at the age of the artists. He was dumbfounded.
The crowd was stunned when they heard that and they quickly rushed over.
"Did they make a mistake? How could a six-year-old child draw this?"
"A genius, he is definitely a genius."
Zhang Qian Shan was stunned. "If he was a 14-year-old teenager, I wouldn't have been as stunned. However, this six-year-old boy actually drew this. How could that be? Right, look at the weak strokes again. If he is able to improve on that and have firmer strokes, it would definitely be much better."
"It's impressive. This year's Youth Chinese Arts Cup has a lot of hidden talents. It is really different from the past few years of competition."
"Yeah, this is the last one to be shortlisted. How many managed to make it?
The worker was carrying a huge pile of artworks and his forehead was filled with sweat. He replied, "There are a total of 380 pieces."
Zhang Qian Shan was stunned, "What? So many of them?"
He was really stunned. He didn't really notice how many pieces he chose earlier. After all, these artworks were really impressive. If they were to be in the past competitions, they would have won second or third place.
After hearing what the worker said, 380 pieces of artwork seemed too many.
The judges looked at each other, "Shall we look at them again? There's too many. We planned to only have about 20 shortlisted ones."
Zhang Qian Shan nodded, "Alright, let's see again. Perhaps we were a little too lenient just now."
Then, the workers placed the artworks one by one again. Those that weren't shortlisted were removed from the tables.
Judging was a dry and dreary work but the judges were professional about it. They were invigorated when they saw how impressive the artworks were and that they were drawn by the younger generation.
They looked at the artworks and they were really decent. It was a headache for them.
"These artworks are at least worthy of a consolation prize. How should we shortlist them further?"
"Let's choose the worst pieces among these ones. We have to decrease the numbers."
"I guess that's the only way."
An hour later.
Zhang Qian Shan looked at them and asked, "How was it? Did you guys choose any?"
"I chose 10 pieces to be eliminated."
"So few? That's not enough."
"We can't choose anymore. These kids really drew very well. Besides this artwork here, the others have reached a pretty uniform standard. If you were to eliminate this, what about the others? It is unfair to them. Furthermore, I noticed that the youngest artist here is five years old and the oldest one is fourteen years old. How should we pick? If we were to develop them, they'd be gifted artists next time."
"That can't be."
"What do you mean? Look at them. They're all here."
Everyone was stunned. They were vexing over which artworks to eliminate but they didn't notice how young the artists were. When they heard that the youngest artist was five years old and that the oldest was fourteen years old, they were stunned speechless.
They believed that they didn't even know what Chinese Arts was about when they were five. They were probably still playing with mud.
Furthermore, they dared to guarantee that even if they learned Chinese Arts for two or three years, they wouldn't have reached this standard.
However, the good thing was that five of the 370 artists were 14 years old. That was a relief for them.
"Forget it. Leave it this way then. Send these 370 artworks back. Let them vex over which ones to choose. We have done our best."
Some of them shook their heads, "Sigh, it's the first time we've encountered this."
The next day!
Lin Fan went to Cloud Street early in the morning.
Fraud Tian asked, "When will the competition results come out?"
Lin Fan replied, "I think they'll need some time. The website said that they need six days. Hey, why do you care so much about this?"
Fraud Tian smiled, "I'm just asking."
Lin Fan didn't know how difficult it was for the judges yesterday. Their two-hour job stretched all the way till nighttime.
This time, the 'Youth Chinese Arts Cup' was a nationwide event and it was only held in large cities. The typical county towns wouldn't have it.
Furthermore, although Chinese Arts was a national treasure, it was in an awkward position. Parents these days sent their kids to learn different things, they'd usually learn dance, piano, guzheng, etc. Although there were people that learned Chinese Arts, it was pretty dry for them to learn it. Only a handful of them persevered in learning it.
Then, Wu You Lan came to Lin Fan, "Brother Lin, did you forget about what you promised me?"
Lin Fan was stunned, "What was it?"
Wu You Lan pouted to express her sadness, "I knew you forgot about it."
"Haha," Lin Fan smiled. "Alright, alright. I'll forget anything but my agreement with you. Tell me where you want to go then."
Wu You Lan smiled, "I knew that Brother Lin wouldn't forget about it. I booked the tickets online. Tuan Tuan, the giant panda, has arrived at the zoo. Let's go and have a look, shall we?"
"Zoo? Okay, let's go to the zoo then. When shall we go?" Lin Fan asked.
"Tomorrow. I booked tickets for tomorrow," Wu You Lan said.
"Alright, let's be punctual for it then."
...