Thinking of that cold, authoritarian man who rarely smiled, a faint ripple spread in her heart. He... isn’t as unapproachable as he appears, right? Whenever she needed something, he would arrange everything perfectly without her saying a word.
Since her mother passed away when she was five, no one had taken care of her like that ever again.
She silently repeated this name in her heart, a certain emotion unfurling from within, like a seed buried deep in the darkness, dormant for so long, cracking open for the first time with a delicate yet captivating fissure.
One by one, the contestants went up on stage to present their works, and soon after, all the presentations were completed.
On the stage, the host in a dark black elegant evening gown announced with a smile: "Now, we finally arrive at the most exciting segment - live voting! We all know there are eleven contestants in this final, but with Lin Luna withdrawing due to cheating, ten contestants remain. Now, all ten works are displayed on the big screen, with a counter under each one. Everyone can cast their precious vote for their favorite work, and in ten minutes, the top three with the most votes will be the champions!"
Lights, music, entangled into a magnificent dreamlike scene.
The ten works on the big screen were arranged in sequence, each of them outstanding and unique.
The audience stirred immediately, some whispering to discuss whom to vote for, someone contemplating alone, others indecisively wavering, and some pressing the vote button without a thought...
The online livestream was bursting with excitement too, with constant voting promotions in the barrage: "Vote for No.1! No.1 is my gorgeous junior, win the championship and she’ll treat everyone to tea and karaoke!"
"Vote for No.8! No.8’s ’Deep Space Temptation’ is truly cool!"
"No.5! No.5’s cat is nice, and the photographer is also a handsome guy!"
Various colorful barrages dominated the livestream room, not even allowing a clear view of the ten competing works listed in the video. Amid this voting war, Su Xingyu’s No.7 work ’Martial’ got the most screen appearances, with people constantly sending messages in varied fonts: "Martial! Martial! Su Xingyu is my new goddess!"
"Seize the flowers when they bloom! Ouyang Yiwu captivates the whole city!"
"Vote for her because of Su Xingyu’s character!"
"With godlike snapshot skills, who else! Martial! Martial!"
Inside and outside the livestream room, everyone seemed invigorated, and Su Xingyu’s ’Martial’ votes kept skyrocketing, quickly leading far ahead. The audience below the stage grew even more lively, initially arguing over which of the ten photos was better, wondering if certain two excellent ones could rival ’Martial’, but minutes later, everyone’s focus shifted to: "The votes for ’Martial’ are outrageous! Leading all the way!"
"Far ahead of the second place!"
"Breaking ten thousand! Breaking hundred thousand!"
"Two hundred thousand! Three hundred thousand!... Can it break the million mark?"
"Su Xingyu, Martial! Su Xingyu, Martial! Su Xingyu, Martial!" Shortly, rhythmic chanting was heard from the audience.
Amid these cheering chants, ten minutes quickly passed, and Su Xingyu’s work ’Martial’ unsurprisingly ranked first by the number of votes, with no suspense, 2.5 times the second place. This success was due to her stunning performance on the final stage, not only was her photo outstanding, but she fiercely outshone Su Xingqi, gaining an overwhelming victory, making people bow in admiration.
In competitions like these, most of the audience actually has limited discernment abilities, seldom voting one-sidedly for a particular photo. In usual circumstances, even if Su Xingyu won, the votes wouldn’t be so exaggerated. But this time was different; Su Xingqi, a tiresome opponent, insistently came up and caused a commotion during the final, not only failing to gain benefits but significantly highlighting Su Xingyu’s excellence, leaving a profound impression on countless viewers, naturally voting for Su Xingyu!
If Su Xingqi knew the truth, she might be furious enough to vomit blood.
Onstage, the host’s voice rang out excitedly: "The votes have been counted, and the top vote-getter is—"
Cheers from countless people filled the venue. Discover more novels at NovєlFіre.net
Thus, the host also broke into a big smile and continued excitedly: "That’s right! The winner of this Blade Group street photography contest final is Miss Su Xingyu! Congratulations, Miss Su!"
Music played as the stage lights all darkened, leaving only glittering star-like dots. These dots fluttered like fireflies, slowly converging into beautiful beams that enveloped Su Xingyu sitting in the front row. Su Xingyu smiled appropriately, gracefully standing up to bow to the audience seated behind.
Her elegant demeanor earned another wave of praise, and online, someone couldn’t help but screenshot.
The host raised the microphone and said: "Please welcome Miss Su Xingyu to the stage to receive her award!"
Su Xingyu lifted her dress and walked step by step to the stage as the piano sound flowed with her steps, under the sky filled with stars swirling in the dark auditorium, giving her the illusion of strolling in a dream. She recalled the difficulties along this journey, from when her mother passed away at five, Mr. Su and Liu Meizhi banned her from touching cameras, forcing her to secretly take pictures outside with an old camera from over a decade ago, unable to afford studios or tourist attractions, she shot streets...
Later at seventeen, she captured the image of Lu Shiyin’s death; on her eighteenth birthday night, Lu Shifeng lured her into an unfamiliar photo studio, an entire night of sharp pain as her unique coming-of-age; at twenty, married him, still restricted from photography...
She resisted, unwilling to succumb, finally persuading him to relent and promise her that after winning this contest, she could openly be a photographer. After various difficulties, she finally won this competition, a desire she held for over a decade, enduring over a decade of suffering, now, she can openly stand before everyone and declare:
This is her lifelong pride, her very first moment of glory!
She steadily walked to the designated spot on stage and accepted the champion trophy from the award presenter.
She didn’t hear what more the host said afterward, all she remembered was the thunderous applause below, the lights suddenly shining brightly like a vibrant rainbow, everyone wore festive smiles, many unfamiliar people waving and shouting her name, many more lined up to come, hugging her one by one...