I Just Want Players to Save Money, They Insist on Giving Me!
Chapter 323 - 123: Applause Erupts, Step Up to Receive the Award! Thirty Years East of the River, Young Man!_1

Chapter 323: Chapter 123: Applause Erupts, Step Up to Receive the Award! Thirty Years East of the River, Young Man!_1

"Dear honored guests, good evening! Welcome to the annual..." As the guests gradually took their seats,

the formally dressed host approached the stage, microphone in hand, and after delivering the typical opening pleasantries, it was time for a short song and dance performance.

As Ke Jin understood the award ceremony rules,

aside from the grand prize for ’Best Art of the Year’,

the art festival’s award dinner also featured nine individual Best Art categories.

Of course, if there were only that many awards, the entire ceremony would be very short—it would be over in no time.

To make the event look more prestigious and substantial,

the organizers had also set up several minor awards, such as Best Nominee in each category, Best Newcomer, Best Folk Art, and so on.

It was precisely because of these smaller awards in the lead-up that the subsequent major awards seemed to carry more weight.

Following a series of awards being handed out and congratulatory speeches, another short song and dance performance ensued.

By now, the official live streaming rooms for the art festival on various platforms were filled with frenzied comments.

"These dancing ladies didn’t have their dinner or what? Twist harder for me! Twist it till it comes off!"

"What kind of gibberish is this song? Those high notes? My girlfriend screams higher than that!"

"Screams how? Go on, tell us."

"At least the one before was singing live. The one now is about participation; the microphone’s switch is in a quantum superposition of being on and off. Quantum singing, huh!"

"Done with the cringing! When is the actual awarding starting? I just want to see this year’s Best Literature Nominees, to see if Lady Musk made the list. Her BL stories are truly unique aaaaa!"

"Leave the BL to simmer on the side, since when could BL enter literary nominations?"

"This year’s hottest trend online is BL! It has a fanbase of a hundred million strong! Buns steaming, you got a problem with that?"

"Aaaaah, I’m dead! The director actually zoomed in on my darling Wu Chen! He’s so handsome... Wait, why is there someone even more handsome next to him, does any sister know who that handsome guy is?"

"No impression... Has he acted in anything?"

"Sitting next to Chen, he’s probably something like Chen’s assistant."

As comments continued to surge, the award ceremony also briskly progressed.

"...I announce that this year’s Best Sculpture Art recipient is Qi Changshan from Huaxia Nation’s Sculpture Association! Please, Sir Qi, come to the stage to accept your award," the host said as the applause erupted below.

Wearing a duckbill hat, an elderly man in his fifties or sixties ascended the stage. The giant screen behind displayed his entry for the competition.

A small stone sculpture depicted two dragons playing with a pearl; it was delicate and exquisite, each scale brought to life.

It sparked a passionate discussion among netizens as well.

"Wow! That sculpture is really good!"

"Nice! Those two dragons perfectly satisfy my fantasy about Huaxia dragons!"

"The earlier drama was also high-quality. I’ve seen that musical drama, and the actors indeed infused every expression with the story."

"And in the architecture category, the winning piece was a micro Saturn ring structure model, with a sci-fi vibe. I really like the houses built on the Saturn’s ring."

"Hiss... Why do I feel like the quality of this year’s submissions is all high-caliber?"

"Instead of saying it’s high-caliber, isn’t it more like it’s more normal? In previous years, there were always some submissions that got rave reviews from netizens but didn’t win. This year, these initial awards seem to be the popular choice."

"Wouldn’t it be better if it had always been like this? The past few years were truly chaotic with all sorts of scandals and fakeness; it was so bad I didn’t even want to watch anymore."

As the discussion heated up in the comments, the sculpture laureate stepped off the stage with his trophy in hand.

Soon, the host, holding a small booklet, glanced through it and announced with a smile,

"This year’s Best Game Art goes to... the exceptional game ’BioShock: Infinite’ from the top player company! And I’ve just been told that their chief game designer is here with us today, so let’s have a round of applause for Mr. Ke Jin!"

"Applause!"

The audience clapped heartily.

Ke Jin was utterly bewildered.

The original plan was for Gou Chehua to go on stage to accept the award.

But now, the host had called him out by name.

Ke Yu urged him from the side, "Bro, get moving, he’s calling you."

"Which brat set me up..." Ke Jin was stuck.

"Maybe it’s one of your fans. After all, your company’s got a decent reputation now, it’s normal for the staff to include your fans," Ke Yu whispered, nudging Ke Jin’s arm. "You’re here now; don’t worry about that for now. You go up first, and I’ll try to gauge Dad’s mood."

While the siblings were hesitating, because no one had stood up for almost ten seconds, many guests even started to look around and whisper to each other.

Ke Jin had no choice but to stiffly rise.

Instantly, several spotlights shone on him.

A couple of jib cameras also followed to capture his movements.

Wu Chen looked at Ke Jin, who had just stood up, somewhat surprised.

He hadn’t expected that this young man actually had some substance to him.

But then he relaxed.

No wonder he was seated beside himself.

As the shoo-in for the Art of the Year award, having someone too mediocre beside him would certainly lower his own status.

Thinking this, Wu Chen found it acceptable.

"The organizers really did think everything through," he remarked.