219: Special gift

The grand auditorium fell deathly silent.

The host's hand was steady; he didn't even look at the card in his hand.

That name was already etched into his vocal cords, just waiting to burst forth.

There were no fancy prefixes, nor any mysterious pauses.

The voice hit the microphone with a near-tearing piercing power, soaring straight to the dome:

"From Su Province, Jiangcheng No. 1 High School..."

"Lin Que—!"

Before the voice could fade, several spotlights that had been on standby converged instantly.

The beams of light sliced through the darkness like swords, precisely enveloping the figure in the third row.

Lin Que was currently crumpling a mint wrapper into a ball and stuffing it into his pants pocket.

The entire venue fell into a brief, vacuum-like silence.

One second. Two seconds.

Then, a massive wave of sound, like a bursting dam, instantly blew the roof off.

"Holy crap!!!"

"It really is him! Brother 28! God 28!"

"Turning in the paper early, dominating the whole field in 28 hours?"

The camera panned frantically across the venue, capturing this brilliant spectacle of human expressions.

Those spectators who had once confidently spoken of giving up or suffering mental breakdowns were now all wide-mouthed.

The media section was in even more of a chaotic mess.

Several reporters, who had pre-written press releases about the 'fall of a genius' just to snatch the headlines,

were now frantically mashing the delete key, terrified that a second's delay would result in a slap to the face.

"Delete it! Delete it! Quick!"

"The headline! What should we change the headline to?"

"Change it to 'The 28-Hour Apotheosis'! Hurry!"

In the guest seating area.

And in the guest seating, Gu Changfeng and Tao Zhiyan—the two Chairmen of the Writers Association who were usually as steady as Mount Tai—stood up abruptly, completely disregarding their image.

Gu Changfeng clapped his hands forcefully, oblivious to his reddened palms; the wrinkles on his old face bloomed with laughter.

The most exaggerated was undoubtedly Chen Jiahao.

This fat guy had been wiping away tears on stage, but the moment he heard the name, he jumped up right where he stood, nearly throwing the trophy in his hand.

Pointing at Lin Que below the stage, he screamed incoherently into the microphone, completely forgetting that it was still a live broadcast:

"Master Que! I knew it was you! Hahaha! I knew it!"

The clamor boiled over.

At the center of the storm, Lin Que slowly rose to his feet.

Amidst the boiling clamor, Lin Que slowly stood up.

He smoothed out the slightly wrinkled hem of his suit jacket, his expression calm.

Not far away, Xu Changge still maintained that elegant sitting posture.

But as he looked up, those eyes that usually carried a hint of detachment were now filled with relief.

He looked at Lin Que, clapping gently, and silently mouthed two words:

"Congratulations."

Beside him, Danyi Lopivich, who had been tapping his knee like an autistic patient, stopped his fingers as Lin Que stood up.

His gray eyes stared intently at Lin Que, a fervent fighting spirit seemingly rising within them.

Lin Que felt this gaze, but he didn't look back, walking toward the stage with steady steps.

The moment he stood still in the center of the stage, the image on the giant screen suddenly tore apart.

There were no specific numbers.

Silver data streams twisted frantically on the screen before finally solidifying.

[First Place: Lin Que]

[Work: "folding beijing"]

[Rating Grade: SSS]

[Score: -/-]

At this moment, even the sound of breathing vanished.

"Triple... Triple-S?"

"What about the score?"

"What does that dash mean?"

"No score was given?"

A top student nearby swallowed hard, his eyes dazed.

"It's not that he wasn't scored; it's that for this scoring system... SSS is the upper limit.

In other words, if there were no cap, this score might soar to an absurd value."

At this moment, Xue Hongchuan nodded to the host, not letting him read the comments on his behalf.

The host understood and took half a step back, leaving the stage to the true authority.

Xue Hongchuan picked up the microphone and stepped forward with a solemn expression, his gaze sweeping across the venue, his voice steady and powerful:

"Student Lin Que's 'folding beijing' slices through the texture beneath the surface of prosperity, allowing us to see those silent gasps within the folded space."

"This is no longer a simple competition entry!"

Xue Hongchuan paused and looked at Lin Que, his eyes full of admiration:

"But a mature sci-fi epic with a world-class vision!"

"And even more so, the ultimate interrogation of human nature!"

"Student Lin Que, congratulations!"

Thunderous applause broke out below the stage.

When it came to the award presentation, Xue Hongchuan did not go directly to pick up the trophy.

He turned with a smile and made an extremely solemn "please" gesture toward the first row of the audience.

"Since tonight is a moment to witness history, the weight of me presenting the award alone would be too light."

Xue Hongchuan said loudly:

"I invite Minister Ding of the Ministry of Education and Minister Wan of the Propaganda Department to join me on stage!"

"Boom—"

Now, even the bullet comments in the live stream went wild.

"Holy crap?! Three major leaders on the same stage?!"

"Am I seeing this right? The Chairman of the Writers Association plus two ministerial-level big shots are presenting an award to a high schooler?"

"This is no longer just a matter of prestige in the literary world; this is the national will stepping onto the field!"

Amidst the stirring music,

Ding Huaijin and Wan Yunju shared a smile and strode onto the stage.

Three figures standing at the pinnacle of China's cultural and educational fields stood side by side,

solely to crown an eighteen-year-old youth.

"Group photo!"

"Group photo!"

...At this moment, the bullet comments were flooded with requests for a group photo, witnessing this "iconic scene in the literary world."

Just then, two usherettes walked onto the stage carrying a large sheet of paper covered with a red cloth.

The three of them together pulled off the red cloth, revealing an enlarged check board.

On it, a line of large characters was strikingly written:

[Fu Zhi Yao Special Creation Fund: ¥100,000]

Looking at the string of zeros, the students below the stage all gasped in unison.

One hundred thousand yuan!

For this group of high school students still in their ivory towers, this was simply a massive sum of money!

Lin Que looked at the check; although his heart was completely calm.

After all, the figure sitting in his bank account had long since exceeded this by over a hundredfold.

But facing this "official payout" scene, he still cooperatively raised an eyebrow, showing appropriate surprise and excitement.

After all, although this money wasn't much, it was an honor.

Taking it back to show his parents, it would probably allow his mom to brag in her neighborhood square dance troupe for an entire year.

"Thank you, Chairman Xue, Thank you, Minister Ding, and thank you, Minister Wan."

Lin Que accepted the check board with both hands and bowed slightly, showing perfect manners.

Ding Huaijin patted Lin Que's shoulder and whispered with a smile:

"Take it; this is the nation's writing fee for you. Write well in the future, and don't waste this talent of yours."

Just when everyone thought the prize money and the trophy were the climax of the night,

Minister Wan of the Propaganda Department, who hadn't said much, suddenly beckoned toward the backstage.

A staff member hurried up, carrying a red tray.

On the tray was neither a trophy nor a certificate,

but a document that looked ordinary, even somewhat thin.

But anyone in the know only had to glance at the red lettering in the document's header to feel their eyelids twitch.

That was a Red-headed document.

Wan Yunju looked at the document, the smile on his face becoming meaningful.

He picked up the microphone, his voice lowering a bit, yet becoming even more resonant:

"Since this is the most rigorous session in history, the rewards naturally cannot stop at prize money."

"After joint research by multiple departments, it has been decided to grant the first-prize winner, Student Lin Que,

a special gift."

..."}],