"29 points, 32 points, and 65 points!" After looking at the works of the three new students, Qu Wei said with a displeased expression.
Qu Wei's displeasure was because the one who scored 65 points was Vivian, a minor who managed to get 65 points, which made Qu Wei very unhappy. After all, when she was this age, she probably only scored around 55 points.
Of course, this was mainly related to Vivian's identity. Vivian had aspired to be a designer since childhood, and her status as a princess allowed her to easily receive guidance from many design masters and draw inspiration from various sources, so her performance was only natural.
Magically, the works of these three new students were all bought. Especially Vivian's work, which was sold for a high price of 2.6 million, second only to the 80 million one.
However, this was also normal. After all, it was the work of a European princess, possibly her first professional work. Regardless of her status, the commemorative significance of this work was undeniable. It was probably the only work at the entire event that would hold its value.
The other works, unless the designers behind them became famous in the future, were most likely to result in a loss.
With the conclusion of the auctions for these three, the entire banquet was essentially over. The student reporter from before bravely approached again, asking Huang He to explain why he found those works ugly.
"Alright, I'll tell you!" Huang He nodded. Upon hearing this, the people around them immediately gathered, all wanting to know why Huang He did what he did.
Even the designers backstage who were still crying, upon learning that Huang He was going to give an explanation, forgot their tears and secretly ran to the front, intending to hear Huang He's insightful opinion.
"You guys come here!" Huang He beckoned to those designers who were peeking at him from behind, the ones he had given a few dozen yuan to earlier.
These designers were startled, but since Huang He was summoning them, they could only brace themselves and come forward.
"If you want to know the reason, I'll give you twenty minutes. Go and change into clothes you designed yourself, and then put on makeup that you think best suits you and makes you the most beautiful!" Huang He said calmly.
These designers glanced at each other, then rushed to the backstage in unison. Twenty minutes later, these designers, all wearing their own designed clothes and makeup, appeared on stage.
"Tsk tsk!" Seeing these beautiful designers from the Tsinghua Academy of Fine Arts, Huang He showed a mocking expression and said, "Why is the makeup on your faces different from the makeup you put on your models?"
"Ah!" These designers were taken aback. Huang He clapped his hands. The models of these designers had previously come on stage with makeup. Huang He then had them stand next to their designers, creating a stark contrast.
"Respected seniors, gentlemen, ladies, I think you should understand why I found it ugly after seeing this scene!" Huang He said calmly.
The audience nodded. Indeed, the difference was too obvious.
The makeup these designers applied to themselves was mainly for coverage, highlighting, and to make their skin appear delicate and their eyes large and very cute.
But the models, their faces were either pale or dark, covered with large areas of strange colors. Most importantly, the eyes of these models were uniformly drawn to look like narrow slits.
"Mr. Huang!" Hearing Huang He say this, a designer whose work Huang He had bought for 40 yuan bravely said, "You might have misunderstood. The makeup we put on the models is for professional fashion shows, and our makeup is for daily wear. There might be differences!"
"Is that so? Aren't you standing on a runway right now?" Huang He reprimanded sternly. "Also, I remember my order was for you to wear clothes you designed and put on suitable makeup, meaning you should apply stage makeup for yourselves!"
"You all have big eyes, fair skin, and delicate as snow for yourselves, but you make these models look neither human nor ghost. I won't say anything else, but why do you all draw narrow slits for them? Do you think narrow slits are a symbol of beauty?"
"If that's the case, then why don't you all draw narrow slits for yourselves!!!" Huang He's outburst terrified these designers.
"Come on, can any of you tell me with a clear conscience that you sincerely think narrow slits are beautiful?" Huang He's words made everyone feel guilty. They all inherently found narrow slits ugly, otherwise, they wouldn't have given themselves consistently large eyes.
"Also, esteemed seniors and guests in the audience, how many of you think narrow slits are beautiful? You can all tell me. If more than one-third of you think narrow slits are beautiful, I, Huang He, will kneel on the ground and apologize to you!" Huang He sneered. The audience burst into laughter.
It was a joke. Narrow slits were simply hideous. Did anyone really think narrow slits were beautiful?
"Mr. Huang, you might not understand the trends in our fashion industry!" one designer retorted, feeling that she had already displeased Huang He and didn't mind making him even unhappier. She stepped forward to refute, "Perhaps narrow slits are not good-looking in daily life, but this is what we call a 'high-fashion face' in our fashion industry. Europeans, both men and women, like this type of facial structure and eye shape. This is fashion. If we want to integrate into the international fashion circle, we need such makeup!"
"Oh, finally someone said it!" Huang He nodded. He had been waiting for this statement for a long time.
"Well, since you say so, let's discuss it from an academic perspective. Is there anything written in textbooks or any systematic research papers from Europe that say Europeans like narrow slits?" Huang He asked back.
"This..." The designer was immediately silenced. She only knew this based on what she heard within her circle. She had no idea about any papers or textbooks!
"Let me ask you again, did your teachers ever tell you in class that narrow slits are high-fashion faces?" Huang He asked again. This time, the teachers present were put in a difficult position.
"No," the designer hesitated for a moment and said, "Perhaps, but how would they dare to admit it!"
"Distinguished teachers, do any of you know of any papers or research findings that state that narrow slits are high-fashion faces for Europeans?" Huang He asked the teachers directly. They all shook their heads.
It was a joke. Who would conduct such research?
However, the designer student quickly added, "Mr. Huang, this is a commonly accepted view and rule within our fashion industry. There are no papers or textbooks to support it..."
"Oh, then let's talk about facts. Tell me, among the many top supermodels in Europe, how many have narrow slits?" Huang He said, then sneered, "Don't tell me you don't know who the European supermodels are and what they look like!"
"..." The designer fell completely silent.
"Vivian, come here!" Huang He beckoned to Vivian.
Vivian trotted over obediently.
"Do you think narrow slits look good?"
"Hideous."
"Do you think European men and women would like narrow slits?"
"It depends on the specific face. If the person's face is well-matched with narrow slits, then perhaps some people would like it! But in most cases, they definitely wouldn't like narrow slits," Vivian pondered for a moment.
"Then do you know why the saying that narrow slits are high-fashion faces has spread?" Huang He asked again.
"How could I possibly know these things!" Vivian shrugged her shoulders.
"Then let me tell you, and everyone present, it's because this is a stereotype that Europeans and Americans have about us Chinese people!" Huang He sighed and said, "I'm sure you also don't know that in Europe and America, there has always been a character called the Mandarin, right?"
Everyone shook their heads. In 2003, when the internet and social media were not yet developed, few people knew what the Mandarin was.
In fact, even by 2021, not many people knew about the Mandarin. If you don't believe me, you can comment in this chapter. Those who knew about the Mandarin before, type 1. Those who only heard about it now, type 2. [The Mandarin is Fu Manchu]
"The Mandarin originated in the early last century. At that time, it was still the Qing Dynasty, and we Chinese were treated as slaves and cheap labor, trafficked to America."
"What were they going to do? They were going to build railroads!"
"At that time, to develop its economy, America decided to build a railroad that spanned its east and west, like connecting our Northeast and Guangxi!"
"But this railroad was not only very long, but most of the areas it passed through were sparsely populated and lacked resources. Without large engineering vehicles, it could only rely on rudimentary tools and manual labor for construction!"
"As a result, out of the millions of laborers who went, three hundred thousand were buried under the railroad."
"Logically speaking, our ancestors were the benefactors of America's economic development. However, because our ancestors were diligent and thrifty, and were the best workers, they quickly took away many jobs from Americans. Moreover, they all wore long queues, spoke languages incomprehensible to Americans, had customs vastly different from Americans! They didn't believe in their religion!"
"As a result, Americans imagined us Chinese as demons, and later extended this to a character called the Mandarin in comics."
"This is an ugly image of a person with a queue, a mustache, narrow slits, always thinking about kidnapping, killing, and bathing people. This is also the embodiment of all Americans' imagination of Chinese people at that time!"
"Just like when you mention rats, you think of thieves, dirt, and the image of the Four Pests carrying viruses!"
"In the eyes of Americans and Europeans, narrow slits represent our inherent image as Chinese people, and also represent that each of us Chinese is an evil Mandarin! This is why the Chinese supermodels they choose all have narrow slits, because in their minds, Chinese people should look like this. They don't accept good-looking Chinese people; we Chinese should be ugly!"
Huang He said with great conviction.