After Betrayal - I Married a Handsome Tycoon-Chapter 108: A Grasshopper After Autumn

The little episode with Rachel Yates was quickly forgotten, overshadowed by the tense atmosphere of the competition.

Compared to gossip and scandals, everyone was more focused on who would take first place today.

After all, scandals were just a bit of entertainment, but winning an award in the competition was directly related to one’s future development in the industry.

Everyone present could distinguish which was more important.

The competition used an elimination format with three rounds in total. The first round would cut the contestants from fifty to thirty, the second from thirty to ten, and the third from ten to three, ultimately deciding the top three.

Unlike other competitions, participants in the Lacquerware competition all brought their finished pieces directly.

This was because whether it was Northern Polished Lacquerware, Kaelus lacquerware, Silver River City lacquerware, or Hollow-Body Lacquerware, none of them could be completed in a short amount of time.

Therefore, the contestants chose to bring their most satisfactory finished works to compete.

To ensure the authenticity and reliability of the submitted works, a letter of guarantee from the contestant’s backing organization (company or master’s studio) was required. Individual entries were not allowed.

The competition began. The first round was for small items, and the entries were mostly jewelry boxes and small decorative pieces.

The Kaelus lacquerware contestants’ works primarily featured two techniques: carved lacquer and gold-inlaid lacquer.

Two types of Silver River City lacquerware also appeared in this competition: painted lacquer and mother-of-pearl inlay.

Additionally, the Fujian lacquerware was Hollow-Body Lacquerware, while the Northern Lacquerware Vessel was polished and featured gold-painted designs.

The four great types of Lacquerware each had their own unique characteristics, and every piece was a work of exquisite craftsmanship.

But even so, two hours later, twenty contestants were still eliminated outright.

The elimination system was brutal. Even though all the contestants were prepared for it, when the results were announced, a wave of sighs still went through the crowd.

Even Flora Rhodes, sitting in the audience, couldn’t help but mumble, "Every single one of these fifty contestants is a respected figure in the industry. Tsk, this is so brutal."

Moira Sloan said, "If you want honor, you have to be able to withstand failure."

Flora Rhodes replied, "Only you could be so calm about it."

Moira Sloan said, "The path of ambition is destined to be full of thorns. Just as you said, these fifty contestants are all leaders in the industry. They could have stayed in their comfort zones, but they insisted on coming to this competition. Why?"

Flora Rhodes said, "To increase their fame, of course."

Moira Sloan gave a wry smile. "Exactly. So before they came, they had already anticipated all possible outcomes. Failure is the norm; success is a breakthrough."

The more successful a person is, the stronger their inner resolve.

If nothing else, not a single one of these fifty people would throw a fit over this minor elimination. They would only go back and dedicate themselves even more to their craft.

The second round of the competition began after a half-hour break.

The atmosphere grew visibly more tense.

Rachel Yates was distracted the entire time, her gaze sweeping over Moira Sloan in the audience several times.

Moira Sloan leaned back in her audience seat, meeting her gaze with a slight, provocative lift of her eyes.

Rachel Yates bit her lower lip, her entire body tensing up.

’Rachel Yates does have some skill,’ Moira Sloan admitted to herself.

The Northern Polished Lacquerware she made, while lacking in fine detail, was still presentable in the field.

So, Moira Sloan was not at all surprised that she made it to the third and final round.

In the second round, the entries were mostly storage boxes and medium-sized decorative pieces. Compared to the first round, these better demonstrated the contestants’ foundational skills and endurance.

As noon approached and the second round ended, cutting the field from thirty to ten, all the remaining contestants looked as if they had been put through the wringer.

There was a break, and Rachel Yates headed straight for the backstage area.

Flora Rhodes saw this and nudged Moira Sloan with her elbow. "Aren’t you going to check it out?"

Moira Sloan’s expression didn’t change, her composure unshaken. "A grasshopper in autumn—it won’t be jumping for much longer. Believe it or not, she’s almost certainly going to contact Shane Jennings right now."

Moira Sloan knew exactly how many connections Rachel Yates had in Atheria.

Besides that sucker Shane Jennings, no one else in the industry would be foolish enough to stick their neck out for her under these circumstances.

As it turned out, Moira Sloan was right.

Rachel Yates did indeed go straight backstage, pull out her phone, and dial Shane Jennings’s number.

Unfortunately, she called seven or eight times in a row, but no one answered.

Finally, someone picked up, but it was Cassie Blanchett’s voice that came through.

Cassie Blanchett’s voice was cold and condescending. "Is there something you need?"

Hearing her voice, Rachel Yates held her breath, not daring to make a sound.

Cassie Blanchett added, "Shane Jennings is in the shower. If you need something, Miss Yates, you can call him back in two hours."

He was in the shower, yet she was told to call back in two hours.

What would happen during those two hours was self-evident.

Rachel Yates clutched her phone. It took a long moment for her to recover from the feeling of weightlessness and force a smile into her voice. "President Blanchett, it’s nothing."

The moment Rachel Yates finished speaking, Cassie Blanchett hung up without so much as a grunt of acknowledgment.

Hearing the dial tone, Rachel Yates couldn’t stop her body from trembling.

On the other side, Moira Sloan received a text from Cassie Blanchett: *Handled.*

Moira Sloan: *OK.*

After texting Cassie Blanchett, Moira Sloan’s phone vibrated again. She glanced down and saw a friend request pop up on the screen.

Mr. Quinn.