Chapter 144: Chapter 144: Please Welcome the Head Judge, Noelle Sutton

Tristan Lawson had already been feeling guilty and blaming himself for the matter. Now that Hugo Sterling had brought it up publicly, he was utterly humiliated.

Moreover, Hugo Sterling was getting more and more out of line, constantly overstepping his boundaries.

"CEO Sterling, if you have so much time on your hands, you should spend it looking for your little sister. Your own house is in chaos, yet you’re still meddling in other people’s affairs."

Tristan Lawson wouldn’t argue with Hugo Sterling in front of a child; it would be a bad influence.

However, something quickly occurred to Tristan Lawson, and he asked, "How did you know we were here?"

Hugo Sterling looked momentarily embarrassed but quickly composed himself.

"My grandfather loves paper-cutting. I heard there was a children’s competition, so I came to see if there were any pieces that might catch his eye."

A fine excuse, but Tristan Lawson sneered, "You think a child’s artwork could possibly be good enough for your grandfather?"

"It’s hard to say. What if there’s a prodigy among them?"

Hugo Sterling shot back, not yielding an inch.

When disciplining a child, you had to let them keep some of their dignity. With Hugo Sterling present, Tristan Lawson decided not to say anything more to Joshua. They could talk about it when they got home.

"Joshua’s competition is about to start. I’m taking him to the hall."

With that, Tristan Lawson picked Joshua up and walked away.

Hugo Sterling followed them into the hall.

Tristan Lawson couldn’t do paper-cutting, so Joshua must have inherited the skill from Noelle Sutton. Hugo was actually a little curious and wanted to see Joshua’s work.

Just then, Old Master Shaw called Noelle Sutton.

Noelle Sutton answered, and Old Master Shaw’s voice came through the phone.

"Mrs. Lawson, it’s like this. There’s a children’s paper-cutting competition today, and I’ve recommended you to the judging panel. The organizing committee sincerely invites you to be the chief judge for the competition. Would you have time to come and offer some guidance?"

As far as Old Master Shaw was concerned, Noelle Sutton’s paper-cutting skills were the best he had ever seen.

The judging panel was also comprised of artisans of the intangible cultural heritage of paper-cutting. After hearing Old Master Shaw’s introduction of Noelle, every one of them was eager to meet her.

Old Master Shaw explained his purpose, telling Noelle that traditional arts like this were rare now. The Glenwater Publicity Department considered this event highly important, as its goal was to promote traditional culture and prevent these old skills from being lost.

Noelle Sutton knew this was the competition Joshua was in.

’Tristan Lawson and Sophie Hughes are both there.’ She didn’t really want to go.

However, considering the noble purpose of the event that Old Master Shaw described, and remembering her grandmother’s dying wish, Noelle Sutton ultimately decided to go. She used sign language to tell Wyatt Yates to accept on her behalf.

’She knew the address.’

Joshua had signed up for the competition a long time ago. Back then, she had been involved in every single detail of his life.

Smith had just about finalized the details with Noelle Sutton. He gave her the script and the contract, and asked for her ID and passport numbers to book her plane ticket.

Wyatt Yates quickly provided his own information, asking Smith to go ahead and book his ticket as well. He would be accompanying Noelle abroad tomorrow.

Once they were finished, Wyatt Yates immediately drove Noelle Sutton to the competition venue.

Old Master Shaw was waiting outside the hall to personally greet her and escort her to the judges’ office.

Wyatt Yates, meanwhile, entered the hall through the main entrance.

The competition was about to begin. The host announced the event’s agenda and the rules, then invited the young contestants onto the stage. The children took their seats according to their entry numbers.

Next, it was time to introduce the judges.

The first four judges were renowned local masters of the paper-cutting tradition. All the children learning the craft knew of them, and they gazed at the panel with admiration. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

"And finally, let’s welcome our special chief judge for today, the master of Relief Paper-Cutting, Ms. Noelle Sutton!"

Noelle Sutton emerged from backstage, a gentle smile on her face, and walked with poise and grace to the chief judge’s seat.

The host continued with clear admiration, "Ms. Noelle Sutton is what you might call a hidden master, so I imagine many of you are not yet familiar with her. Next, we would like everyone to appreciate one of Ms. Sutton’s Relief Paper-Cutting works. Let’s bring it out!"

Noelle Sutton was young, and Old Master Shaw, worried that others might question her credentials, had specially arranged to have the birthday gift she’d made for Old Master Sterling brought to the event.

Two staff members carried Noelle’s piece onto the stage. A camera zoomed in on the artwork, projecting it onto the large screens placed all around the spacious hall.

The crowd was left speechless.

The piece depicted the historic Sterling Manor, a famous piece of heritage architecture in Glenwater and a landmark highly recommended by the local government and tourism department.

Every school in the area organized field trips to Sterling Manor, and a photo of the estate was the centerpiece of every tourist brochure. Anyone from Glenwater knew it on sight.

The three-dimensional, lifelike effect of the Relief Paper-Cutting was breathtaking. Noelle Sutton’s work vividly captured both the majestic grandeur of Sterling Manor’s historic architecture and the bustling, vibrant life of the surrounding streets.

The host continued, "This piece was a birthday gift from Ms. Noelle Sutton to Old Mr. Sterling. Old Mr. Sterling has contacted the Sterling Manor administration and will be donating this relief paper-cutting to the estate. In five minutes, a representative from Sterling Manor will be here to collect the work. The committee is honored to have had the opportunity to display it for you all, and we are even more honored to have Ms. Sutton here in person as our chief judge. It is a true privilege for our event team. Let’s give Ms. Noelle Sutton the warmest round of applause!"

Everyone in the audience today was a family member of one of the contestants. Since their children were studying paper-cutting, they had some appreciation for the art form. To have such a masterful artist judging and guiding their children was an opportunity they could have only dreamed of.

The audience erupted in thunderous applause!

Joshua stared blankly at his mother.

Sophie Hughes pressed her lips into a thin line, grinding her teeth. She glanced sideways at the man beside her, who was staring at the judges’ panel with a deep, unreadable expression.

’That day, she had played a little trick to get Old Master Sterling to put Noelle’s work away.’

’She had seen how outstanding Noelle’s work was and didn’t want Tristan Lawson to see it.’

’But in the end...’

Tristan Lawson had never imagined that the birthday gift Noelle had brought to the Sterling family’s banquet was this masterpiece.

’No wonder they all praised her so highly.’

’So she could not only design the effect of Relief Paper-Cutting on a computer, but she could also create it by hand.’

’All these years, he had truly underestimated her.’

Hugo Sterling barely managed to suppress a laugh.

’This has Old Master Shaw’s handiwork written all over it!’

’Brilliant!’

Sitting in the audience, Wyatt Yates felt a deep sense of gratification seeing Noelle’s work receive public recognition.

’So what if she couldn’t speak?’

’As long as she wanted to, she could still earn applause and become a shining star in the crowd.’

The host announced the competition procedure and scoring rules.

Since the contestants were all children, the theme was to design an original paper-cutting on the topic of "My Parents and Me." All five judges would score each work. The final score would be the average after dropping the highest and lowest scores, which would determine the top three places and the honorable mentions. The time limit was one hour.

The competition officially began!