Hold His Hand

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There are ten judges in the National College Student Painting Competition, and their scores, when averaged, become the participant’s score.

And Lu Yanzhou is the youngest among the ten judges.

There are no strict criteria for judging art. Everyone likes and appreciates different things. Therefore, in this industry, the situation of looking down upon others is very serious.

The original owner is 36 years old this year. He appeared in the limelight more than ten years ago. Six years ago, his painting ‘Stars’ shocked the world and suppressed many established painters. Naturally, these established painters were dissatisfied with him.

In addition, the original owner was not social, so his relationship with the other nine judges was not good.

However, even if the relationship between the two parties is not good, in front of the live broadcast camera, everyone still greets each other with a smile.

In the second round, each of them had to score a hundred contestants, so there is a total of two hundred paintings. This was a huge project, but they had actually seen these paintings in advance, so the speed was faster.

The original owner had carefully appreciated the two paintings submitted by Xie Chengran a few days ago. It was precisely because of this that when he saw Xie Chengran’s basic skills a few days ago, he immediately realized that something was wrong.

Xie Chengran said that he was in poor condition and had no inspiration, so he failed to draw well in school. However, the original owner, who was always in poor condition, knew very well that no matter how bad a person’s condition is, their basic skills are still there.

Even if the original owner couldn’t draw anything, after he saw a rare color, he could mix the same color with common paints at hand in a few clicks, allowing him to imitate other people’s paintings. He could even paint it like the real one making people unable to tell which is the fake and real one.

It’s just that this kind of imitation has no soul, so the original owner wouldn’t do such a thing.

The order of the contestants is determined by their scores in the preliminary round, from lowest to highest.

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Therefore, although the skills of the first contestants are not bad, they are not at the top level. Many of them have already produced their best works in the preliminary round, so now there is not much competition in the semi-finals.

Lu Yanzhou and the other judges simply gave them scores, then let them leave.

However, there will occasionally be some small episodes. For example, when a certain student came on stage, a judge said: “Oh, this is my useless grandson. You all follow the rules and give him a good score, but me, I’ll just show favoritism for once and give him a higher score.”

The average score after the ten judges’ scores was the contestant’s score. If a single judge gives a higher score, it will not have a big impact on the overall score. Therefore, even if they do this, others will not think much of it and will just laugh at the matter.

There are also paintings drawn by some contestants that are relatively niche. Some judges particularly like them and will also give higher scores. However, there are also judges who don’t like this type of painting and will give lower scores.

Everyone was laughing and joking, the judges were also chatting with each other.

Except for Lu Yanzhou. If others didn’t ask him questions, he wouldn’t say anything and would just give out scores quietly.

When others asked him, or when a contestant said that he was the person he liked and admired the most, he would only give a brief reply.

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However, the scores he gave out were very stable every time, basically similar to the average score.

Lu Yanzhou didn’t compete for the camera at all. However, many people on the live broadcast paid attention to him, many people even came to watch the live broadcast because of him.

“I finally saw Lu Yanzhou again!”

“Lu Yanzhou is my favorite painter, the eternal god of ‘Stars’!”

“It’s a pity that he hardly attends events!”

“Lu Yanzhou is so handsome!”

“I watch this show just for him!”

“He’s very concise in scoring!”

…

Lu Yanzhou still has many fans, but there are also some people who don’t like Lu Yanzhou: “Lu Yanzhou hasn’t had any works in several years, right? He’s out of style.”

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“How is he handsome?”

“It’s quite a big name!”

…

The two sides talked and even quarreled.

However, those who watched the live broadcast talked the most about Xie Chengran. After all, in the painting world, Xie Chengran is now almost at the top.

Although Lu Yanzhou has many fans, he became popular more than ten years ago. Those fans he had back then are now grown and have to work and support their families. They don’t have that much time to help cheer for Lu Yanzhou.

Xie Chengran’s fans are different. Xie Chengran became famous a few years ago. He is good-looking and talented. Countless young people admire him. Most of these people are students. They have time to chase stars and are willing to give their time to idols.

Even though Xie Chengran was the last one to appear and took a long time to appear, his name was still floating on the screen.

“This painting is nothing compared to my Ranran’s!”

“This person’s painting is a bit similar to my Ranran’s previous painting.”

“I’m really looking forward to Ranran’s appearance!”

“Waiting for Ranran!”

“How is Lu Yanzhou handsome? He’s not as handsome as Ran Ran!”

…

Xie Chengran’s fans were so crazy that Lu Yanzhou’s fans and the other fans became dissatisfied with his fans, thus the two sides kept fighting.

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However, the competition is still on.

The further they get to the back, the higher the level of the players who come out. They are all between 20 and 30 years old. With such a level, it is really good!

Lu Yanzhou believed that they were all like the original owner, who spent a lot of time learning painting since childhood and were very talented.

The second to last place is a twenty-five-year-old girl. She has participated in this painting competition every year since five years ago, and her ranking has been higher each time. This is the last time she will participate in this competition.

Her paintings are beautiful and full of aura. If it weren’t for Xie Chengran, she would definitely be number one.

The judges were all full of praise for her, and Lu Yanzhou also gave her high marks: “You have very good basic skills and very good painting skills. You also have your own style that is different from others. I really appreciate your paintings. It could make people feel calm after looking at it, I believe you will have a bright future.”

“Thank you! Teacher Lu!” The girl looked at Lu Yanzhou excitedly, “I am your fan, I have always liked your paintings!”

“Thank you.” Lu Yanzhou smiled at the girl.

According to the original historical trajectory, after the original owner’s accident, this girl spoke up for the original owner. She said that the original owner’s previous paintings, especially ‘Stars’, could not have been painted by the original owner’s grandfather.

She also said that the painting was clearly the original owner’s style, not the original owner’s grandfather’s!

Although the original owner was taught by the original owner’s grandfather, people who really understand painting can actually see the difference between the two.

What’s more, paintings can reflect some of the painter’s emotions. The painting ‘Stars’ is full of vigor and vitality. It could not have been painted by the original owner’s old grandfather. It’s obviously the work of a young man.

However, just because of what she did, in the end, like the original owner, she was hack by Xie Chengran’s fans online.

Lu Yanzhou’s smile made his fans go crazy: “Ahhh! Lu Yanzhou smiled!”

“He is so handsome, really handsome!”

“I envy this contestant!”

“If only he could smile at me!”

“He rarely talks this much!”

“Is it because he likes the contestant’s paintings? Will he say more when the first place is announced?”

…

Even Xie Chengran’s fans are now looking forward to seeing Lu Yanzhou praising Xie Chengran when he appears.

Although someone once said that the Xie Chengran’s painting skills has caught up to or even exceeded the original owner when he was twenty years old, but he has not yet caught up with the original owner when he was in his twenties, let alone when he was thirty years old!

No matter how talented Xie Chengran is, he is still just a junior.

No matter how high the price of his paintings is sold, they are far less than the original owner!

“Our Ranran paints better!”

“Professor Lu will praise our Ranran more later!”

“Ranran is finally going to appear, I really looked forward to it!”

“Fight, Ranran!”

…

Xie Chengran appeared in front of everyone’s attention, along with the two paintings he brought.

These two paintings, one depicts the rising sun and the other depicts mountains and rivers, are both very beautiful.

Seeing them will make people feel happy from the bottom of their hearts.

It seems that just seeing them makes people feel satisfied.

Those displeasures, those pains, and those struggles are nothing, as long as they saw the painting.

The original owner was moved by such emotions.

The host took the longest time to introduce Xie Chengran, who everyone actually knew, and then said: “Now, judges, please give out scores!”

The score of this competition is a ten-point system. Even the first ones to appear on stage, even if the contestants are not very good in the judges’ views, the judges still gave a score of nine points or more.

It’s just that at the beginning, the scores of those contestants were just a little more than 9.1 and more than 9.2. Later, the scores of the contestants became more than 9.7 and 9.8.

Lu Yanzhou gave a score of 9.95 for the previous contestant, so her average score was 9.92.

This time it was Xie Chengran who came on stage…Each judge wrote down their score on their own scoreboard.

Previously, the process was that many judges would show their scores together, calculate the average score, and occasionally a judge would comment.

However, this is Xie Chengran.

It’s Xie Chengran who the program team wants to praise!

Lu Yanzhou saw from the original owner’s memory that the host asked the judges to highlight their scores one by one and comment one by one.

Xie Chengran’s shots were several times more than the previous contestant.

That being the case…Lu Yanzhou happily wrote down a zero.

The original owner questioned Xie Chengran and gave Xie Chengran a high score of 9.99. Xie Chengran really got it cheap, making Xie Chengran pass with first place.

As expected, the host praised Xie Chengran, then said, “I think the judges have all scored. Which judge will reveal the score first?”

One of the ten judges laughed: “I’ll go first!”

The judge directly gave Xie Chengran 10 points and praised Xie Chengran lavishly.

Lu Yanzhou was not surprised at all. This person was the one who said that Xie Chengran’s current level had exceeded the original owner’s level when he was twenty years old.

He has always disliked the original owner, and to suppress the original owner, he can’t help but exalt Xie Chengzheng.

When the original owner participated in the competition at the age of twenty, no one gave him a perfect score of 10.

As for the original owner’s level when he was twenty years old and Xie Chengran, no, comparing it to Xie Chengze’s current level…to be honest, the original owner is no worse than Xie Chengze.

First of all, the original owner’s basic skills were better, and secondly…the paintings that Xie Chengran took out were always not so harmonious in some small places.

Lu Yanzhou felt that this should be related to Xie Chengze’s environment.

Judging from the starnet accounts of Xie Chengran and his parents, they didn’t take Xie Chengze with them when they went out to play.

Xie Chengze has been staying at home, unable to see the world with his eyes or touch the world with his hands. Maybe he has not received professional training…

On the contrary, the original owner observed the world as his grandfather took him everywhere since he was a child. There is also the step-by-step guidance from the original owner teacher, which is certainly incomparable.

However, there is something about these paintings that surpasses the original owner’s, and that is purity.

The original owner was pursuing a higher goal, he had a winning mentality, so he always wanted to paint better and better. His paintings were not as pure as Xie Chengze’s paintings.

When Xie Chengze paints, he really just wants to paint.

How about the original owner? If he only had to paint, he wouldn’t have had a nervous breakdown.

In short, it’s difficult to compare the level of the two parties when they were both twenty years old. In fact, it is difficult to distinguish the painting. If he has to compare the painting, the original owner’s painting is better.

Not everyone can appreciate Xie Chengze’s purity.

The second judge was much more ‘fair’. She did not give 10 points, but gave 9.98 points. Of course, she also praised Xie Chengran for a long time.

Then came the third, fourth, fifth…

By the time the ninth judge finished their evaluation, Xie Chengran’s average score was already as high as 9.98.

When the original owner participated in the competition for the first time, his score was only 9.95. Xie Chengran completely beat the original owner.

The host looked at Lu Yanzhou with a smile: “Professor Lu is the only one who has not given a score now. What score did Professor Lu give our Ranran? Can we reveal it now?”

“Of course.” Lu Yanzhou stood up and showed his score board, showing a big 0 on it.

The scoreboard was connected to the Internet. As soon as his score was displayed, Xie Chengran’s average score immediately changed, becoming 89.82.

This is the lowest score among a hundred players!

The whole place was in an uproar, everyone was stunned, and the people watching the live broadcast were even more stunned.

The host couldn’t even react: “Professor Lu, did you make a mistake?”

Lu Yanzhou said: “I did not make a mistake. This is the score I gave Xie Chengran. If I were to score the two paintings he brought, I will give ten points, but if I am giving him points, I will only give zero points.”

“Professor Lu, I know you don’t like me and you don’t like me, but this is a competition, can’t you be fair?” Xie Chengranhong ask loudly with red eyes.

The people watching the live broadcast finally came to their senses at this time: “What’s going on with Lu Yanzhou?”

“Why did he give zero points?”

“Is he jealous of Ranran and deliberately gave low points?”

“Isn’t Lu Yanzhou going too far?”

“Lu Yanzhou is not such a person! There must be a reason for him to do this!”

“What could be the reason? He just saw that Ranran was going to surpass him, so he deliberately suppressed Ranran!”

…

“I’m very fair,” Lu Yanzhou stared at Xie Chengran, “Xie Chengran, I liked your painting very much when I first saw it. During your preliminary competition, I gave you full marks without hesitation. I think someone who can draw such a painting must be a pure person and he will definitely be able to surpass me and surpass all the judges present.”

Although Xie Chengran looks exactly like Xie Chengze, Lu Yanzhou feels that he is really unappealing to look at from the start.

Before anyone else could say anything, Lu Yanzhou added: “But I went to see you a few days ago and saw you painting with my own eyes! Although your painting style is similar to the work you submitted, the paintings you painted have no such soul in it. Your basic skills are much worse than these two paintings! I have every reason to suspect that the two paintings you took out were not painted by you! Instead, you took the work of others!”

“Professor Lu, you can’t slander me! These paintings were all painted by me, and there are videos to prove it!” Xie Chengran said in a panic, looking at Lu Yanzhou with a pair of tearful eyes, looking extremely pitiful.

It’s a pity that Lu Yanzhou has no sympathy for him at all.

The original owner only questioned him a few words, but Lu Yanzhou went further: “Xie Chengran, I am a professor of the Painting Department of Capital University, and you are a student of the Painting Department of Capital University. I have seen you in school more than once. You have always invited friends to play everywhere, you like all kinds of luxury goods, and you spend a lot of time having fun. In this case, how do you manage to sell various works steadily in the past few years? How could you, being so vain, draw such pure work?”

Without waiting for Xie Chengran’s explanation, Lu Yanzhou added: “How can ordinary people take video recordings when they paint? Did you already guess that someone would question you so you used this as evidence? As for those videos, who knows if you were standing in front of the easel and posing for a few minutes? Also, the videos are not immune to fraud! Who knows if you asked someone to edit these videos?”

Lu Yanzhou’s words scared everyone else present. The host and judges all said, “Professor Lu, you’re getting too agitated!”

“Professor Lu, you can’t talk nonsense without evidence!”

“Professor Lu…”

…

Lu Yanzhou actually wanted to expose Xie Chengze’s situation directly and say in front of those watching the live broadcast that those paintings were painted by Xie Chengze.

However, others may not necessarily believe him. The most important thing is that Xie Chengze is in the Xie family’s hands.

There are so many high-tech means now. Even as far as he knows, Xie Chengran’s parents are at the competition, but if they remotely control the robot at home to hurt Xie Chengze, what will he do?

They can also destroy all evidence immediately!

The most important thing is that the organizing committee has always taken care of Xie Chengran’s situation, which also made Lu Yanzhou aware of another thing that the original owner was not aware of.

There should be someone behind Xie Chengran!

The original owner’s family was well off. The original owner’s parents, maternal grandparents, paternal grandparents, all knew many people, and had a huge network of contacts.

With Xie Chengran’s family background, he couldn’t possibly hack the original owner so much that the original owner couldn’t clarify himself. Therefore, it has to be the people behind him who did it.

That man is not only powerful, he is also ruthless!

Just because the original owner questioned Xie Chengran, that person ruined the original owner’s reputation.

If he tells others about Xie Chengze, who knows what that person will do to Xie Chengze in order to protect Xie Chengran?

He must wait until he is completely sure before catching all these people in one fell swoop.

This time won’t be long.

Lu Yanzhou finally endured it, didn’t mention Xie Chengze but pointed his suspicion elsewhere: “Before this competition, the organizing committee specially found me and asked me to take care of you during the competition…Xie Chengran, your family background is not small, you see, even the organizing committee’s scoring rules have been changed for you. This is because they are determined to praise you…Are these paintings really painted by you, not by the teacher who taught you to paint?”

Xie Chengran’s face was ashen.

Lu Yanzhou was quite happy: “Xie Chengran, you are a disgusting thief. You only deserve zero points.”