Just as they finished speaking, a black car pulled up in Times Square.
Many staff members approached, opening the car door.
An elderly lady with silver hair, leaning on a pure black cane, stepped out.
The old lady wore high heels, though not very tall ones, and a black cheongsam that gave her an extraordinary air of elegance.
The commotion was quite noticeable, and many people in Times Square looked over. Most didn't recognize who she was, but were impressed by the grand reception and staff coming to greet her.
Among them were some who had participated in multiple competitions and recognized this old lady, such as Qi Shengwen.
Su Jin's arrival made Qi Shengwen's already unsettled heart even more nervous. This old lady was known for her unwavering integrity and had an extremely high reputation in the embroidery world. Moreover, it was said that she had connections in Beijing, with not only capital but also government backing.
Qi Shengwen began to worry, fearing that her championship might slip away due to the old lady's arrival.
"Aunt, what's wrong? You look a bit off. Who is that old woman?" Qi Yan asked.
Qi Shengwen gripped Qi Yan's hand, which was sweaty. Qi Yan felt uncomfortable and tried to pull away.
Unexpectedly, Qi Shengwen's grip tightened, and she couldn't break free.
"Yan Yan, she's the President of the People's Alliance, with an extremely high reputation in the embroidery world. Basically, no one dares to contradict what she says. I'm afraid our plan might fall through."
Qi Yan turned to look at Su Jin, who was leaning on her cane with white hair, and thought dismissively that an old woman couldn't cause much of a stir.
"Aunt, don't worry. We have four people, and even if she joins in, you and that Shen Yin woman are still tied. It's not certain who will be the champion in the end," Qi Yan reassured her.
Qi Shengwen felt a little more at ease.
On the other side, the six judges had already cast their votes. Originally, two were going to vote for Qi Shengwen, but upon seeing Su Jin arrive, they changed their minds.
They weren't fools. 5 million was indeed a lot, but they were all nearing retirement age. They couldn't risk their reputation for 5 million and end up being labeled as blind judges.
"Are the results out?" Su Jin walked to the judges' table. The judges who had just finished scoring and voting had also returned.
Seeing Su Jin, none of them dared to sit down.
"All votes have been cast. The results will be out in two minutes," one judge said.
"How's the quality of this year's works? Are there any particularly outstanding pieces?" Su Jin had always had great confidence in Shen Yin's embroidery skills. She knew that with this young lady present, the competition wouldn't be ordinary. But she still asked the question.
It wasn't for any other reason; she just wanted to know if the person she had her eye on could win others' recognition.
"There's a double-sided embroidery of a phoenix and peony that can truly be called divine. Let's not even discuss whether anyone else could create such a piece; even if they could, it would probably take at least half a month. But this contestant completed it in just six hours."
"Oh? I really must go and see this," Su Jin was very interested. She had a feeling that this double-sided phoenix and peony embroidery was done by the young lady she had her eye on.
"Where is it? I'd like to take a look."
One of the judges led the way. As Su Jin walked towards Shen Yin's work, she didn't forget to look at the other contestants' pieces. Overall, they were quite good.
The other works had vibrant and colorful embroidered patterns, some with flowers, some with birds, some with people. There was a wide variety of styles.
Su Jin was satisfied. She arrived beside the "Phoenix and Peony" piece.
She looked at it for a good while, then reached out to gently touch it.
Afterward, she returned to the judges' table.
"Are the results out?" Su Jin asked.
"Yes, the final champion is Shen Yin, the winner from the Rong City Area competition," the host said.
"Then let's announce it."
Su Jin was quite pleased. Her judgment hadn't been wrong; the person she had her eye on hadn't disappointed her.
"Now, may we ask the contestants and audience to quiet down. We will announce the competition results. Afterwards, the audience can approach the works to appreciate up close the beauty of our embroidery and traditional art."
The venue quieted down, as the exciting moment was about to arrive.
"Third place goes to Qi Shengwen, second place to Liu Ruchu. And the first place is..."
The host paused here, deliberately creating suspense.
"First place goes to Shen Yin from the Rong City Area!"
Hearing this, Qi Yan's eyes turned red with anger. Qi Shengwen wasn't faring much better. She had expected first place, and even second would have been acceptable now, but she ended up in third.
She was quite old now, and had participated in every embroidery competition since they began. To be honest, making it to the top three this year was already a good result, better than in previous years.
But she wasn't happy. Simply put, the gap between expectation and reality was too large. She had thought she would be the champion, but now...
Qi Yan was envious. She had spent over 20 million to pull strings for Qi Shengwen, hoping she could win the championship and prevent Shen Yin from having such smooth sailing. Now the money was spent, but why was the result so different from what she had expected?
What were those four judges doing? It was just a simple matter of voting and scoring. Why couldn't they just do as she said? And her aunt, Qi Shengwen, was too incompetent. Couldn't she have embroidered better, leaving Shen Yin no chance of winning?
The two women had different thoughts, but they shared one thing in common: neither was happy. One was angry, the other envious.
As for this result, Shen Yin didn't have much of a reaction. She just smiled slightly, as it was within her expectations.
"Now, may we invite the top three to walk onto the red carpet. Our President of the People's Alliance, Old Madam Su, will personally present the awards."
"Mommy, amazing!" Seeing Shen Yin walk towards the stage, the little one seemed to understand that mommy had won the competition and looked up at Xu Xiuhe.
"Yes, mommy is the best. When mommy comes back, will you praise her face to face?" Xu Xiuhe said.
The little one eagerly agreed.
The best is often saved for last. For instance, Su Jin presented awards to the second and third place winners before giving Shen Yin her award - a crystal trophy with a particularly exquisite emblem on it.
"How are you? Tired?" Su Jin approached Shen Yin and asked softly.
"I'm fine."
"You've worked hard. That piece was a major undertaking. I still can't believe it was embroidered in just 6 hours. Your embroidery skills are even more outstanding than I had imagined."
"Thank you, grandmother. I didn't expect you to attend this competition," Shen Yin said.
"Ha ha, isn't it to present you with the award? I haven't been to many of these before. When it's over, let's have a good chat in Rong City. By the way, do you think you'll still be busy for a while?" Su Jin replied.
"Huh?" Shen Yin, holding the trophy, didn't quite understand Su Jin's words. Wasn't the competition already over? Why would she still be busy for a while?
