574: Chapter 574 No Connections on the Judges' Panel

7:40 AM.

On the third floor of the China Writers Association headquarters, the security checkpoint for the closed judging area was lit with cold white lights.

Two technicians were at the end of the corridor verifying the seal on the final electronic lock, confirming that all signal jamming devices were fully activated.

He Yuanda sat before the master control console, importing the hundred anonymous manuscripts into the internal judging system one by one.

As each one was imported, a set of green confirmation bars would pop up in the verification column on the left side of the screen:

"Author names isolated, public reading rankings isolated, publisher backgrounds isolated."

One hundred sets of green lights lit up in sequence.

He Yuanda signed his name in the operation log and then locked the raw data hard drive into a safe.

The key was handed over to a designated person for safekeeping, and the sound of the safe door locking was exceptionally crisp in the quiet control room.

From this moment on, the dozen or so judges entering the closed judging area would see nothing but pure text.

No names, no ages, no labels of any kind.

At the other end of the corridor, Gu Changfeng and Chairman Lv Songran walked side by side.

Chairman Lv Songran was wearing a navy blue suit and tie, his hair neatly combed.

He wore a judging work ID pinned to his chest, with the words "Jiang City Writers Association" printed below his name.

His pace was neither fast nor slow, each step firm and steady.

Several Provincial Writers Association Chairmen had already arrived at the entrance, exchanging judging material bags.

Seeing Gu Changfeng, they all stepped forward to greet him.

"Old Gu, morning."

Zhang Zhaofeng, Chairman of the Hunan Provincial Writers Association, raised his hand to greet him, his gaze falling on the person beside Gu Changfeng.

"Old Lv! Long time no see."

Zhang Zhaofeng extended his hand.

Gu Changfeng stepped aside half a step.

"Chairman Zhang, I hope you've been well."

Chairman Lv Songran's handshake held a sincerity that went beyond standard courtesy.

Two provincial representatives behind him also gathered around, and one of them spoke directly:

"The literary stirrings in Jiang City over the past year have been noticed by everyone in the circle."

Zhang Zhaofeng gripped Chairman Lv Songran's hand,

"Especially regarding the support for grassroots authors; we should all organize to learn from you."

Chairman Lv Songran's expression was calm; his nod of acknowledgement carried no performative modesty.

A Provincial Writers Association representative, participating for the first time, walked over from the depths of the corridor and paused upon seeing Chairman Lv Songran.

The judges at previous final reviews mostly came from Provincial Writers Associations, universities, and national literary journals.

It was indeed rare for someone like Chairman Lv Songran to take a seat as the Chairman of a prefecture-level city Writers Association.

The representative opened his mouth, but before he could speak, a smiling voice came from behind him.

"Don't let the fact that Old Lv only manages one city fool you."

Tao Zhiyan had arrived at some point, hands in his suit pockets, his tone light.

"Don't let the fact that Old Lv only manages one city fool you; the literary stirrings Jiang City has caused this year cannot be ignored by the national literary scene."

Zhang Zhaofeng nodded with a smile, and the two representatives beside him took another look at Chairman Lv Songran, the earlier scrutiny fading significantly.

The representative was taken aback, then immediately smiled and extended his hand.

"Chairman Lv, my apologies for the oversight."

Chairman Lv Songran shook it and then spoke:

"Chairmen, you are too kind. Jiang City was just lucky to have caught a few pens willing to write the truth."

Gu Changfeng added from the side:

"Old Lv has spent over a decade supporting grassroots authors and has also hosted three provincial-level rural literature reviews."

Gu Changfeng smiled,

"If you ever encounter issues with dialect or regional experience, asking him is the right move."

The representative who had initially been skeptical immediately withdrew his assessing gaze and took the initiative to pull a judging opinion form from his briefcase and hand it over.

"Chairman Lv, if we encounter rural-themed works later, I would like to discuss the scoring criteria for dialect usage and regional experience with you."

Chairman Lv Songran took the opinion form.

"Anytime."

8:00 AM sharp.

The electronic lock at the end of the corridor emitted a short buzz.

The doors to the closed judging area slowly closed.

He Yuanda stood inside the door, watching the last staff member exit, then pressed the access confirmation key.

The heavy fire door locked, and at that moment, all signals from the outside world were completely cut off.

Inside the judging area was an oval-shaped long hall, with soundproof panels embedded in three walls and a giant projection screen at the front.

The judging terminals were arranged in an arc along the long hall, each screen equipped with privacy shields on both sides, leaving only blackness if viewed from an angle greater than thirty degrees.

Xu Zhengqing sat in seat number three.

Today he was wearing a dark gray cotton-linen jacket with a front-button closure, his silver hair combed meticulously, and his reading glasses resting beside his terminal.

Su Mubai took a seat to his left.

Elder Cui Wen carried a metal briefcase and walked in with two other white-haired elders.

The three of them were whispering as they walked, Elder Cui Wen occasionally shaking his head with a helpless smile on his lips.

Dai Shengzong did not sit at the judging table.

He walked to the academic observation section on the side, where there were three independent seats and a separate display screen.

He was attending as the Dean of the Qingbei School of Literature, with observation rights but no voting power.

Tao Zhiyan and Gu Changfeng sat on opposite sides of the long table.

Chairman Lv Songran took a seat next to Tao Zhiyan and placed his briefcase at his feet.

The last to enter was Chairman Xue Hongchuan.

He was wearing a black mandarin-collar jacket, his pace unhurried.

He walked to the head of the table, stood still, scanned everyone present, and then pressed the start button for the final judging system.

With a low hum,

The terminal screens lit up, and the main screen displayed the overview data for this year's Kunpeng Youth Literature Award.

Number of applicants: 4,217.

Public reading participation: 2.83 million.

Total valid long reviews (over 1,000 characters): 41,692.

Works entering the expert final review: 100.

Among them, works by Qinglan Project students: 30.

These five lines of data were displayed in the center of the screen.

The numbers in the first three lines broke all previous records.

The last line was marked in blue, with a small line of text attached beside it:

"Used only for judging recusal records; does not enter any work scoring interface."

When several judges saw the number "30," their body language changed noticeably.

Some leaned back in their chairs, others took off their glasses and put them back on.

In the one hundred works in the final review, nearly one-third came from the same training camp.

This ratio would be enough to attract attention in any judging session.

Chairman Xue Hongchuan did not give everyone too much time to process this.

He pressed both hands on the table, his voice not loud, but every word reached every corner of the hall.

"Everyone here is aware that these thirty students from the Qinglan Project are new literary talents being cultivated at the national level."

He paused for a second.

"In the next five years or even longer, they will be the key focus of provincial literary federations and Writers Associations."

He paused for a second.

"But today, the standards at the final judging table must be unified."

Chairman Xue Hongchuan's gaze swept from left to right, lingering on each person's face for a brief moment.

"The country cultivates them so that they can withstand the storms."

"Whoever lowers the standard today is harming them."

After these words, the hall was silent for three seconds.

Professor Zhang raised his hand.

Chairman Xue Hongchuan looked at him.

"Professor Zhang, please speak."

Professor Zhang cleared his throat.

"Chairman Xue, I have a thought."

"Currently, the life radius of some young authors is limited."

"If a text is slightly lacking in completion but displays rare linguistic pioneering, how should we weigh it during the final review?"

His speed was slow, and his wording was polite.

Xu Zhengqing tapped his fingers lightly on the table.

"Professor Zhang."

Xu Zhengqing did not look at him.

The old man's gaze fell on the screen in front of him, which had not yet displayed the manuscript content, his voice calm.

"You can look at potential when cultivating them."

He turned his head to look at Professor Zhang.

"But a literary award only verifies the position a work has already reached."

Professor Zhang opened his mouth.

Xu Zhengqing continued:

"The manuscripts that have made it into the final review pool must all compete for those ten spots based on their text alone."

"If it's written, the completion should be evident in the text."

"If it cannot reach the standard of the final review, come back next time."

"The greatest respect we can give young authors is to judge them by the standards of mature authors."

Professor Zhang nodded.

The small-scale dispute subsided within thirty seconds.

Chairman Xue Hongchuan picked up the judging guidelines on the table.

"The documents on your tables are the three hard rules for this final review. Please take a look."

The main screen switched, simply summarized as:

[Blind review of main text, randomized numbering.]

[Public reading data sealed.]

[Strict prohibition on discussing ownership of numbers.]

Professor Zhang flipped to the last page of the document, his gaze stopping.

"Elder Xu, Elder Cui Wen, and Su Mubai have all participated in the training for the Qinglan Project."

"And with thirty students accounting for nearly thirty percent of the final review, how do we explain this relationship to the outside world?"

He Yuanda pressed the control key at the right moment.

Above terminals number three, four, and seven, a yellow indicator lit up simultaneously.

[Mentorship Recusal Seat]

"Professor Zhang, the system has already recorded this."

He Yuanda said.

"The three elders can read manuscripts, ask questions, and submit written evaluations, but their quantitative scores and final votes will not enter into the results of any work."

"All operations will be fully traced, and after the final review, they will be handed over to the discipline inspection and notary personnel for verification."

Elder Cui Wen glanced at the yellow indicator on his terminal.

"We are responsible for finding faults, not for deciding who wins the award."

Su Mubai nodded.

"Having taught them, we should be even more thorough in questioning. As for the ranking, let those without mentorship relationships decide."

Xu Zhengqing straightened his reading glasses, his voice calm.

"I approve of this rule."

Chairman Xue Hongchuan then closed the document.

"What readers want to see is not our verbal guarantee of fairness. It is that in this set of procedures, no one can interfere."

"There is one more thing."

Chairman Xue Hongchuan did not put down the document immediately.

"During the public reading days earlier, the internet was in an uproar."

"Those of you here are in the literary world; it is unrealistic to expect you to be completely unaware of it."

A brief murmur sounded in the long hall.

Several judges looked at each other.

Tao Zhiyan took off his glasses to wipe them, while Gu Changfeng reopened the judging guidelines beside him.

"What happened outside the venue does not mean that outside voices can enter the scorecard."

Chairman Xue Hongchuan raised his hand and pointed at the one hundred anonymous numbers in front of him.

"I believe that the scales in your hearts will not be tipped by hot searches, nor will they be raised by personal favors."

"Leave the arguments outside the door."

"Every point and every stroke inside the door must come from the text itself."

The whispering in the hall stopped completely.

Chairman Xue Hongchuan finally put the document down.

Just as he finished speaking, Chairman Lv Songran raised his hand.

"Chairman Xue."

Everyone looked at him.

Chairman Lv Songran sat up very straight.

"I am proactively declaring my recusal scope."

"If a manuscript contains private information sufficient to confirm the identity of a Jiang City author, that is, Lin Que,"

"I will immediately stop judging that manuscript, will not score it, and will not express an opinion."

Chairman Xue Hongchuan looked at him for three seconds and nodded.

He scanned the judges present.

Several judges also nodded in acknowledgement.

Chairman Lv Songran's back leaned back into his chair.

His expression did not change much, but Tao Zhiyan, sitting next to him, gently patted the back of his chair.

Jiang City had obtained this seat.

But this seat would not give the children of Jiang City even half a point of special treatment.

Chairman Lv Songran knew this better than anyone.

8:12 AM.

The final review system initiated a random draw.

A rotating pool of numbers appeared on the main screen, one hundred gray numbers tumbling within it for five seconds before finally settling.

"A-031".