Shen Siwen could hardly believe or accept this result. Even the audience looked somewhat shocked. After all, Shen Siwen was third place in the preliminary rankings, and according to past experience, the final three rankings would always be a fight between those three.
No one expected that male competitor from Country M to surpass Shen Siwen in the final round, and end up squeezing a place for himself in the top three rankings.
After Jacqueline Madan, another competitor managed to outdo Shen Siwen.
Wen Xinya did not think much about this situation. Shen Siwen had pursued marketability and focused too much on attaining mass appeal while neglecting the soul and meaning of her designs. As a result, it was inevitable that she would fail.
The judges’ eyes were pure. In international jewelry design competitions, marketability was just one of the judging criteria and not the main focus.
After realizing this, Wen Xinya no longer paid Shen Siwen any attention.
At that point, the host was already announcing the second place.
“The second place winner of the Milan World Expo International Jewelry Design Competition is…” The host paused again.
Jacqueline Madan felt like her heart was in her throat while her body involuntarily tensed up. She couldn’t help turning her greenish-blue eyes toward Wen Xinya.
The last eight placings of the Milan World Expo International Jewelry Design Competition had already been announced, and only Wen Xinya and her were left.
Although she already had a premonition, it was natural for a competitor to not admit defeat until the very last moment.
Jacqueline Madan was no exception.
She was hoping for a miracle.
She knew that it was not impossible for miracles to happen during competitions.
Compared to Jacqueline Madan’s irrepressible anxiety, Wen Xinya looked quite calm. The bright spotlight kept switching its focus between Wen Xinya and Jacqueline Madan, while the entire arena had gone deadly silent.
Wen Xinya and Jacqueline Madan had been engaged in a bitter fight, and the deciding moment had arrived.
This heart-stopping scene had everyone waiting with breath abated. They were all eagerly anticipating that exciting moment of revelation.
The host finally placed the microphone by his lips and revealed the long-awaited answer. “It is our competitor from France, Miss Jacqueline Madan, with a total score of 94 points. Let’s give her a warm round of applause.”
It was an answer that was wholly within expectations, but it still incited loud cheers from the crowd.
The dazzling spotlight focused on Jacqueline Madan, who didn’t display any of the joy that should have come with being a second place winner. Instead, her heart churned with resentment.
Her mind was filled with just one thought!
She had lost!
She had lost to Wen Xinya!
Before today, she had so resolutely believed that although Wen Xinya defeated her by one point during the preliminary rankings, it was an insignificant gap. She had been so confident of defeating Wen Xinya during the presentation of the physical creations.
But reality had given her one vicious slap across the face.
The atmosphere in the arena had reached a peak. It was now the most highly-anticipated moment of the competition—the unveiling of the ultimate winner of the grand finals. Although the results were now clear to everyone, the crowd still looked forward to that exhilarating moment.
They wanted to enjoy every second of that heart-racing and blood-pumping moment.
“The ultimate winner of the Milan World Expo International Jewelry Design Competition grand finals is…” The host paused dramatically before pointing the microphone toward the audience and hollered. “The ultimate winner, whom you all have been so enthusiastically rooting for—can everyone please call out her name!”
A rich, emotive voice that carried with it an intense ability to rouse the crowd—this was the allure of an exceptional host.
“Wen Xinya, Wen Xinya, Wen Xinya…” The audience chanted fervently. It was like a cultural melting pot had exploded and all the various languages intermingled amidst the cheer and excitement.
If this was three days before, Wen Xinya might not have become the unanimous winner even though her designs were very good. Even if she had won, there might have been some debate as to the legitimacy of her winning. After all, Jacqueline Madan’s designs were also very good and it was a close contest between the two of them.
However, the video of Wen Xinya’s remarkable performance during the crafting process had such high publicity value that the Milan World Expo Jewelry Association had purposely promoted it in order to drive increased public interest to the competition.
As the Milan World Expo Jewelry Association was world-renowned, it was inevitable that this kind of strong promotion would create the perfect story—behind all that god-given talent was a tirelessly, hardworking girl. It gave a tremendous boost to Wen Xinya’s own reputation.
And in today’s competition, one of the judges had apologized in public to Wen Xinya because of his erroneous judgment in the previous round. He even took off his badge and left the stage. Most members of the public were unable to truly understand the so-called soul and meaning of jewelry creation. As a result, the judges’ critique would influence the opinion of the audience. The action of that judge was a direct hint to the crowd of just how talented Wen Xinya was.
With two such glaring reasons in place, on what grounds would Wen Xinya not be worthy of being the people’s champion?
The host stilled the passionate audience before announcing grandly. “You are right. The ultimate winner is Miss Wen Xinya from Country Z, with a total score of 97 points. Let’s all give her a most enthusiastic round of applause and your heartiest cheers!”
A thunderous wave of applause echoed through the hall.
The judges, the Milan World Expo Jewelry Association and the other sponsors were very satisfied with the results. Wen Xinya was indeed the most outstanding winner the competition had seen for the past few years. Her jewelry designs and her exemplary crafting skills displayed in the crafting workshop had made her a name to remember.
However, Jacqueline Madan was extremely disgruntled with this result. The upbeat atmosphere grated on her nerves while the enthusiastic cheers and claps annoyed her. Everything was just pushing her into a state of extreme frustration.
Meanwhile, Shen Siwen kept her head lowered the entire time. She now knew that her petty thoughts toward Wen Xinya were a complete joke. She would never try to challenge Wen Xinya again.
Because Wen Xinya did not give a rat’s tail about anyone’s challenge.
Nevertheless, she would still end up giving any challenger a vicious slap across the face.