Pei Chuan had called the restaurant in advance and placed the orders.

When Mo Shenbai and Xu Youyou arrived, they did not need to order, and the manager directly arranged for the dishes to be served. They were all Xu Youyou’s favorite.

As Mo Shenbai helped her with the food, he asked nonchalantly, “Why is Lin Yin there?”

After swallowing the food, Xu Youyou answered honestly, “He said his company is a sponsor of the competition.”

“Is that so?” Mo Shenbai raised an eyebrow slightly.

Xu Youyou nodded and said, “It could also be because of Bai Qingyu.”

In Xu Youyou’s opinion, considering how Lin Yin fled the marriage for Bai Qingyu and how Bai Qingyu was stirring up trouble at the car, they both still had feelings for each other. It was only natural for them to rekindle their relationship.

Mo Shenbai pursed his lips and did not say anything else. He continued to pick the food for her. Since she did not understand Lin Yin’s meaning, he would not point it out. What if her heart wavered? Thinking about this, his eyes darkened. He thought to himself that he would not give her heart a chance to waver.

Meanwhile, Xu Youyou was so focused on eating that she did not notice Mo Shenbai’s expression at all.

…

A week later, the Golden Brush Competition finally announced its winners. This time, families and friends of the contestants could come and watch. There were even reporters present. They would interview and take photos of the winners and publish them in the newspapers.

Xu Youyou was not sure she would win so she did not inform her parents. She only sent Xu Jialu a text, casually informing him about it.

Xu Jialu had just recently returned to the IT department and was very busy so he could not come.

However, Su Lanxu was very insistent about coming to cheer for Xu Youyou.

Another person who came was Mo Zhiyun.

Mo Zhiyun said confidently, “Youyou, don’t be nervous! You’ll definitely win!”

“You’re so confident in Youyou,” Su Lanxu said playfully.

Mo Zhiyun nodded without hesitation as she said, “Of course! She’s my sister-in-law! I’m also here to support her on behalf of my brother!”

Su Lanxu said teasingly, “If your brother really likes Youyou, he should be here. It’s not sincere to send his sister here to represent him.”

Mo Zhiyun said anxiously, “My brother is very busy with work, but he’ll definitely come once he’s done!”

Xu Youyou shot Su Lanxu a look and said, “Lanlan, don’t tease Zhiyun. She’ll take it seriously.”

Su Lanxu laughed. “I didn’t expect your sister-in-law to be so naive and straightforward.”

Mo Zhiyun finally realized she was being teased. She was not angry. She only said confidently, “My brother will definitely come. Just wait and see.”

“Alright, alright, he’ll definitely come,” Su Lanxu said, not arguing with Mo Zhiyun. It did not matter whether Mo Shenbai came or not since he was not her boyfriend.

As for Xu Youyou, she did not think Mo Shenbai would come. After all, he was in charge of the company. It was not surprising if he did not have time. She naturally would not get upset just because he could not come.

At this time, the judges began to announce the rankings. First, they announced the contestants who won the bronze and silver awards, who chose the theme ‘Four Seasons. The judges gave them high appraisals for their works.

When the judge was announcing the winner of the golden award, Su Lanxu and Mo Zhiyun held their breaths.

On the contrary, Xu Youyou looked very calm. She did not seem nervous at all.

The lead judge said, “The winner of the Golden Brush Competition chose the theme ‘Hometown’. She’s Xu Youyou from Mo City University!”

“Ahhh! Youyou won!”

“My darling, you’re amazing! I knew you’d win!”

Su Lanxu and Mo Zhiyin leaped to their feet and cheered loudly. They hugged each other excitedly. They were so happy that it seemed as though they were the ones who won the competition.

The crowd began to applaud loudly.

Xu Youyou rose to her feet, preparing to go on stage to receive the award.

Suddenly…

“Wait a minute…”

Bai Qingyu, who was naturally present, suddenly stood up. Her expression was slightly embarrassed and gloomy as she said, “I’ve seen Xu Youyou’s painting. It’s indeed not bad, but she made a mistake. I think it’s unfair to the other participants if we allow her to win.”

The lead judge frowned. “Miss Bai, Xu Youyou’s painting was evaluated by all the judges, and we made a unanimous decision. Are you questioning the judges?”

Bai Qingyu took a deep breath and said, “I have absolute respect for the judges, but as far as I know, there are a few judges who have a good relationship with Kang Mingcheng from Mo City University. Xu Youyou is Kang Mingcheng’s student. With that said, it’s hard to guarantee that a fair decision was made.”

The lead judge said with a smile, “Miss Bai, are you accusing us of being biased? Indeed, I have a good relationship with Kang Mingcheng. Everyone in the industry knows it, and I have nothing to hide. You might be unaware of this, but the paintings didn’t have names on them when they were evaluated. Even if I was biased, I couldn’t have done anything about it. Moreover, there are judges who have no connection to Kang Mingcheng. Just a few of us aren’t enough to change the outcome.”

Bai Qingyu did not give up. She said, “However, she clearly made a mistake in her painting. If you allow her to win, you’ll compromise the integrity of the Golden Brush Competition.”

It was clear to everyone that Bai Qingyu was targeting Xu Youyou.

Xu Youyou was unusually calm when faced with the aggressive Bai Qingyu. She asked in a clear voice, “Miss Bai, you said there’s a mistake in my painting? Can you please point it out to me?”

Bai Qingyu walked up on stage fearlessly and stopped in front of Xu Youyou’s painting, which was held by the staff. She pointed at it and said, “Your composition is very good. You use bold and delicate colors very well. However, you made a mistake with the hair of the person here. In order to cover up your mistakes, you darkened the color, giving the painting a sense of disharmony.” Then, she looked at the judges and continued to say, “If such a painting could win, wouldn’t the Golden Brush Competition become a laughingstock?”

The other judges looked at each other and did not say anything while the lead judge said to Xu Youyou, “Do you want to explain this to her?”

Xu Youyou nodded. After she walked up on stage and stood by her painting, she smiled and asked, “Miss Bai, you think I darkened the color to cover up my mistakes. However, didn’t you think that under different lights, the color will change as well?”

Bai Qingyu was stunned.

Before Bai Qingyu could react, Xu Youyou asked the staff to switch off a few lights.

The lights on the stage dimmed immediately. With this, the darker colors of the painting seemed to merge harmoniously with the other colors.

Bai Qingyu was dumbfounded. She stared at the painting in disbelief. ‘How can it be like this?’

Xu Youyou no longer paid attention to Bai Qingyu. Instead, she explained her painting to the judges and the crowd.

“I painted this with my grandmother in mind. When I was young, I lived with her in the countryside. I remember it often rained so the roads were difficult to walk on. Regardless of whether I had an umbrella or not, my grandma would always come and pick me up with an umbrella, traveling through the heavy rain and muddy roads. Because of my grandma, I’ve never been drenched by heavy rain.”

The painting depicted a muddy road and Xu Youyou’s grandmother holding her hand and holding an umbrella over her head with the other hand. Among the warm colors of the painting, the white of Xu Youyou’s grandmother’s hair stood out. For this reason, Xu Youyou named the painting ‘White Umbrella’.

Bai Qingyun’s blood drained from her face when she heard Xu Youyou’s words.

At this time, Xu Youyou turned back to look at Bai Qingyu and asked sincerely, “Miss Bai, why do you think it’s a mistake? Did you really think it was a mistake or were you unable to tell…”