73 Fight For It
The woman sitting on Zhou Heng’s left in the judging panel was obviously taken aback. Having been a judge for so many perfume-making competitions, this was the first time she had been asked a question.
Curious, she sat up straight and smiled politely at He Miao. “There’s a very unique fragrance that I like very much. I believe the two judges beside me feel the same, but it’s definitely not made by you. According to the marks, it should be made by this student Zhou Nan.”
Zhou Heng smacked the table guiltily and said, “Miss, I hope you won’t be unreasonable. As a student who hasn’t graduated yet, you should humbly accept that there are many people in this world who are better than you!”
His words were so convincing that the audience began to whisper among themselves. Most of them were discussing the fact that He Miao was pestering them at this time because she did not dare to admit that her talent was mediocre, and that he could not accept the fact that so many people were stronger than him.
Xu Meng’s face was red with anxiety. She glared at the man who was badmouthing He Miao and stepped on his foot as if she intended to crush it.
The man howled and turned around to glare at her. If there were not so many people at the scene, he would have taken Xu Meng out and beaten her up!
Xu Meng was not afraid of him at all. She smiled and said, “Oh, I’m so sorry. I thought I stepped on something and didn’t notice it was you.”
The man admitted that he was unlucky and turned his head away in pain. It took him a while to realize that Xu Meng was scolding him!
However, if he tried to argue with her now, she obviously would not admit it. That person could only coldly snort and silently suffer this loss.
On the stage, He Miao was not the least bit affected by Zhou Heng. She continued to speak unhurriedly, “Sir, although Zhou Nan’s score for this round is very high, it’s only 290 points in total. On average, each judge only gave her 96 points. It’s obvious that not every judge likes it as you said.”
The female judge glanced at the other judge and suddenly asked, “What’s the highest score you guys gave?”
Zhou Heng stomped his feet anxiously, his face full of disappointment. “You’ve been fooled by this little girl. The scores given by us judges are based on our own evaluation standards. There’s no need to announce it to the contestants at all!”
The more he acted this way, the more suspicious the female judge felt. She frowned slightly and looked past Zhou Heng at another colleague. The judge said sincerely, “100 points. I think that work is worth this score.”
“I also gave her 100 points!” The female judge said in surprise.
There was a microphone placed in front of every judge in the judging panel, and their words were clearly heard by every audience member.
Someone immediately asked in disbelief, “Professor Zhou is so strict with his own niece? Everyone else gave 100 points, but he only gave 90 points?”
The other two judges finally noticed that something was wrong. However, Zhou Heng was one of the organizers of the competition, so they did not dare to point out anything and affect their future. They could only keep their mouths shut and look admiringly at He Miao, who had the courage to speak up for them on the stage.
For some reason, they just believed that the person who could make that amazing perfume was the brave, upright, and fearless girl in the center of the stage.
Zhou Nan saw that the situation had changed. Even the students on the stage were looking at her doubtfully. She stomped her feet anxiously. “Don’t listen to her nonsense. My uncle has always been very strict with me. He gave me a low score so that I can continue to work hard. Don’t be proud!”
Zhou Heng also slammed the table and said firmly, “That’s right. I’m thinking about Zhou Nan’s future. How can you suspect me of playing favorites? This is a national and live online competition! No one is allowed to cheat!”
As soon as he said this, the people who doubted him just now shut their mouths.
This kind of national competition had always been fair and open, so Professor Zhou would not ruin his own future for his niece. If she followed this line of thought, what he had said just now was not unacceptable.
Seeing that the situation had eased, the host quickly wiped the cold sweat off his face and smiled as he continued with the award ceremony.
Zhou Nan coldly pushed He Miao, who occupied the center position, away, waiting for the host to present her the trophy that only the champion could have.
She stood proudly in the middle for a long time before she realized that the surroundings were too quiet. It was not as lively as when the champion was presented with the award should.