Wan Yunting and Gu Luotang, along with Qi Miaomiao, and Huang Yaodong and Zhao Yushi, and Lin Yushu and Hou Xuesong, sat and chatted in a side room of the Cultural Center for over twenty minutes. It wasn't until half past nine that they saw Fang Guowen, Hu Tianchi, and a group of people come down from the second floor. They were all members of the judging panel for this year's Lanting Award Calligraphy Competition.
Due to the exceptionally large number of participants in this calligraphy competition, the judging panel alone numbered forty-eight people. They all came from literary and art associations across the country.
For example, the presidents of the literary associations, Fang Guowen and Hu Tianchi, had to willingly serve as judges for this Lanting Award Calligraphy Competition.
The main judge for this panel was Yuan Deyou!
"Then let's begin."
As Yuan Deyou descended and waved his hand, Shen He, the chairman of the Art Association, and Liu Shuhuai, the vice-chairman, nodded and instructed people to allow the contestants waiting outside to formally enter the cultural center's main hall and prepare for the competition.
The main hall of this cultural center was as large as two basketball courts. It was now neatly filled with one hundred desks for the contestants to write their works on-site.
The tables were also equipped with the Four Treasures of the Study: brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, including a ruler to weigh down the paper. They were just waiting for the contestants to enter.
"Little Wan, Luotang, you can enter now."
Fang Guowen, who had come down, called out to Wan Yunting and Gu Luotang from a distance. He and Hu Tianchi entered first, preparing for other tasks before the competition.
"The doors are open, let's go..."
Seeing that the doorway from the side room to the cultural center's main hall had opened, Huang Yaodong, pulling Zhao Yushi, Lin Yushu, and Hou Xuesong, along with Wan Yunting, Gu Luotang, and Qi Miaomiao, all stood up and walked into the cultural center's main hall with the others.
In the vast hall, one hundred desks were placed in the center, with audience seats on the east and west sides.
To the north, there were three long rows of tables and chairs, designated for the forty-eight judges.
There were also over a dozen supervisory staff, who were teachers from nearby schools, specifically invited to oversee the competition and prevent contestants from cheating, ensuring fairness.
Yuan Deyou, as one of the main judges for this competition, naturally sat in the center of the first row of the judges' seating area. To his left and right were Shen He, the chairman of the National Art Association in the capital, Liu Shuhuai, the vice-chairman, and other judges.
As the contestants entered one by one, the competition did not allow unrelated citizens to spectate. This was primarily to prevent external interference, and also because the cultural center could not accommodate so many people. Therefore, only the contestants were allowed to enter and take their seats in the audience areas on the east and west sides while waiting for the competition to officially begin.
Before long, a total of sixteen hundred contestants had entered. The audience seats on the east and west sides of the entire hall were buzzing with voices. People greeted those they knew, exchanged compliments, and cheered each other on, creating a lively atmosphere.
Especially for prominent young figures in the art circle like Gu Luotang and Huang Yaodong, many contestants had admired them for a long time and naturally approached them for conversations.
In contrast, Wan Yunting, who was following Gu Luotang, was somewhat overlooked. Although some people recognized him as a celebrity from Huadu City, he was not part of the art circle, and most people did not know him, so no one approached him for conversation.
Watching Gu Luotang and Huang Yaodong surrounded by a group of people, with some young individuals even boldly expressing their admiration for Gu Luotang and asking for autographs, Wan Yunting couldn't help but feel proud.
At this moment, Fang Guowen walked down and said, "Little Wan, Luotang, your spots are in the first round. When the competition officially begins, you will be the first to compete. After you finish, you can come down."
"Then we will have to wait for our judging panel to evaluate the works and distribute the results, and this process will take a long time. You can only get the results tomorrow morning!"
"So, this competition will last for three days?" Huang Yaodong asked.
"Yes."
Fang Guowen nodded and said, "Today is your first elimination round. There are a total of one thousand six hundred and eighty-nine contestants. So, our judging panel will need to review so many works and grade them overnight to determine who will be eliminated and who will advance to the top one hundred. Tomorrow will be the second round, the elimination of the top one hundred. This round will determine the final winners!"
"Understood."
Lin Yushu nodded and said, "That means the results will be announced on the third day!"
"Yes."
Fang Guowen nodded and said, "The order of the first elimination round is determined by the order you registered. When it's your turn to compete, you will receive a notification with your round and table number. Well, Little Wan, Luotang, have you received the information?"
"Yes, we just received it."
Wan Yunting took out his phone and saw a message informing him that he was in the first round, competing at table number 68!
"I'm number 69," Gu Luotang said, looking at her phone message.
Qi Miaomiao also said, "I'm number 67."
Since Fang Guowen registered them together, their spots were adjacent.
"I received mine too, I'm in the third round, table number 35!"
Huang Yaodong took out his phone. His girlfriend Zhao Yushi was in the same third round, competing at table number 36, as they had registered together.
Lin Yushu and Hou Xuesong were in the fifth and seventh rounds respectively, at table numbers 77 and 98. They had registered a bit late.
"Little Wan, no matter the outcome, just consider it a fun experience."
Fang Guowen patted Wan Yunting on the shoulder. After their conversation, they no longer focused on whether they could win first place.
Wan Yunting smiled and nodded, "Okay, then Uncle Fang, you go ahead and get busy. Don't worry about us."
He was here primarily at Fang Guowen's invitation, and to accompany Gu Luotang and Qi Miaomiao to join in the fun. Otherwise, Wan Yunting would absolutely not participate in this calligraphy competition.
Fang Guowen nodded, wished them good luck, and returned to his seat.
Shen He, the chairman of the Art Association, who was seated at the judges' table, stood up and called out to the contestants with a microphone, "Are all the contestants present?"
"If there are any latecomers, don't worry. Let the contestants of the first round now enter according to the information sent to your phones, find your competition table numbers, and start preparing for the competition."
"Brother Yunting, Senior Sister, let's go in," Qi Miaomiao said, turning to them after hearing Shen He's words.
Wan Yunting and Gu Luotang nodded. Huang Yaodong and Lin Yushu shouted, "Brother Yunting, Luotang, Miaomiao, you must do your best!"
"Okay, we'll cheer for you later too."
Wan Yunting, Gu Luotang, and Qi Miaomiao nodded and smiled. The three of them then entered with the other contestants of the first round.
Huangfu Hongfang and Gao Jiaxu were also in the first round and were at table numbers 1 and 2, respectively, drawing considerable attention.
However, Wan Yunting, Gu Luotang, and Qi Miaomiao were at tables 67, 68, and 69 further back, thus quite far from Huangfu Hongfang and the others in the front row.
But Huangfu Hongfang and Gao Jiaxu also turned their heads and cast a provocative glance and smile at Wan Yunting from a distance!
"Hmph."
Qi Miaomiao disdained their provocation and turned to Wan Yunting and Gu Luotang, saying, "Brother Yunting, Senior Sister, we will definitely win against them."
Wan Yunting and Gu Luotang exchanged glances. With Yuan Deyou as Huangfu Hongfang's teacher, it might be difficult for them to win first place in this Lanting Award Calligraphy Competition!
Meanwhile, Shen He, the chairman of the Art Association, holding the microphone, introduced the judges, including Yuan Deyou. He mainly emphasized that the Lanting Award Calligraphy Competition would be conducted with fairness and impartiality, unlike previous years' calligraphy competitions which had been criticized.
"Alright, enough with the pleasantries. There are many contestants in this competition. Let the first round officially begin."
Shen He looked at the one hundred contestants who had entered. The first-round participants were already standing at their respective tables, with ink and brushes prepared. The paper on the table was flattened by paperweights, waiting for the signal to begin freehand writing.
"You can write anything you want, as this competition focuses on calligraphy and your foundational skills. The choice of content is up to you, but you only have twenty minutes. So, don't choose lengthy poems or prose. Try to select shorter pieces that you can finish within twenty minutes."
After Shen He finished speaking, he loudly declared, "The competition officially begins!"
As his words fell, the one hundred contestants in the first round immediately began to write. Some wrote in regular script, some in cursive, clerical, and running scripts. Some even wrote in the very difficult seal script, and some contestants also wrote some contemporary innovative scripts.
Everyone knew that there were only five types of Chinese calligraphy scripts, which were also traditional brush writing styles.
Of course, many calligraphy enthusiasts have now developed many peculiar fonts, including "ugly calligraphy."
However, it was a pity that in such large-scale formal calligraphy competitions, the so-called "ugly calligraphy" that has become popular recently was simply not qualified to participate!
Because in the eyes of true calligraphy enthusiasts, the so-called "ugly calligraphy" was merely something written by those who called themselves masters, aiming to sensationalize and attract attention. It could not be considered calligraphy at all.
Therefore, those so-called masters were not qualified to participate in the Lanting Award Calligraphy Competition organized by the National Art Association.
This was because in the first round of the national selection, those who wrote "ugly calligraphy" had already been eliminated.
The over sixteen hundred contestants who made it here were all selected from the national preliminary rounds, and only the better contestants were qualified to compete on-site.