Chapter 1538: Jacqueline Madan’s Provocation

The official grand finals of the Milan World Expo International Jewelry Design Competition was telecast live across the world. Hence, the moment the preliminary rankings of the first segment were announced, the top three contenders—⁠Wen Xinya, Jacqueline Madan and Shen Siwen—instantly became the hottest topics of conversation, garnering intense scrutiny from the media and the wider jewelry profession.

Although the preliminary rankings for the paper designs did not ascertain the final results—according to past experience, there was about an 80-90% chance that the grand champion, runner-up and second runner-up would emerge from among the top three preliminary rankings. There was very little chance for anyone from the last seven positions to make a successful comeback. Nevertheless, it would be a fierce fight between the top three for the final rankings.

At 10 o’clock the next morning, Mr. Ronda drove Wen Xinya to the jewelry crafting workshop provided by the Milan World Expo Association. During the competition, the competitors would be provided with all the resources they required, including the gems, craftsmen, machinery, etc. But all had to be for the sole use of their creations for the competition.

Wen Xinya bumped into Jacqueline Madan and Shen Siwen when she arrived at the workshop. The latter two were chatting and appeared rather amiable to each other.

Shen Siwen noticed Wen Xinya and smiled warmly in her direction. “Miss Wen, good morning. I wanted to invite you to dinner after the competition, but you left too soon. I don’t know your mobile phone number and had to leave it at that.”

Wen Xinya returned her smile. “I was quite tired after the competition ended and so returned to the hotel first.”

Although this Shen Siwen did not behave too friendly toward her yesterday and seemed to harbor all sorts of nefarious thoughts against her, nothing overt had happened between them, so Wen Xinya patiently kept up this false pretense of cordiality.

The two of them exchanged pleasantries.

And standing right beside Shen Siwen was Jacqueline Madan, arms akimbo. Her greenish-blue eyes sized up Wen Xinya with traces of hostility.

Wen Xinya frowned slightly when she felt that constant piercing gaze. She turned toward Jacqueline Madan and nodded mildly, before preparing to leave.

But Jacqueline Madan unexpectedly offered one hand to Wen Xinya. “Jacqueline Madan!”

Wen Xinya’s gaze fell on that beautifully manicured hand with fingernails painted red. She reached out her own hand to shake it. “Wen Xinya!”

The two of them had officially met!

But there remained an uneasy tension between them.

Jacqueline Madan was 27 years old and over 1.7m in height. Tall and voluptuous, she was wearing a rosy red knee-length dress and looked incredibly stunning.

Meanwhile, Wen Xinya was only 1.67m. Further, to accommodate today’s crafting workshop visit, she had dressed down in a light gray off-shoulder sweater, dark blue slim-fit jeans and a pair of flats.

Compared to Jacqueline Madan, Wen Xinya felt sorely lacking in both height and figure. Wen Xinya was like a young sprout who had yet to mature fully.

With her height advantage, Jacqueline Madan could look down at Wen Xinya while speaking. “Your Athena’s Protection design was not bad. I can see you have pretty good skills.”

They were clearly complimentary words, but they somehow sounded condescending when spoken from her lips.

Wen Xinya responded calmly, “Your dolphin conservation design was also very good. Not only is it very meaningful, it has a profound concept.”

Wen Xinya knew they were foes. Especially now that they were in the same competition, the rivalry between them had become even more intense. And she had surpassed Jacqueline Madan in yesterday’s round, so her hostility came as no surprise.

However, she was unwilling to fall out with any of the competitors—even if it meant putting up a superficially courteous front.

But Jacqueline Madan was obviously of another mind. She stepped forward, her height lending her an air of superiority. “Even though I lost to you by one point yesterday, it doesn’t prove you are truly better than me. So you better not rejoice yet.”

Jacqueline Madan had always known that the only way to move both the judges and the audience was to successfully merge meaning and marketability in the designs. As a result, she had put in a lot of effort in this aspect.

Since the very beginning of the Milan World Expo International Jewelry Design Competition, she had been purposely holding back her true skills, just so she could lull her opponents into a false sense of security—before she unleashed her full potential and left everyone dumbstruck.

As expected, her dolphin conservation design stunned both the judges and the audience. She had thought that she would emerge the victor yesterday but didn’t expect to end up losing to Wen Xinya by one point.

“Miss Madan is right.” Wen Xinya maintained her indifferent smile in the face of Jacqueline Madan’s provocation. Even though she didn’t hold any height advantage, her calm attitude and unflinching manner managed to one-up Jacqueline Madan’s angry expression.

“As the leading contender after the first round of this competition, you do have the right to be proud. But that pride of yours will come to an end. The presentation of meaning and soul in a design is indeed your strong point, but there are many aspects that a physical product can convey, whereas a design on paper can’t. In the end, the only way to move both the judges and the audience is to integrate both meaning and marketability.”

Jacqueline Madan was very confident of herself. She acknowledged that Wen Xinya’s jewelry design was bold and innovative and managed to attract the judges’ eyes. But when the physical product was created, her lack of marketability would turn her into a loser.

Whereas she would be the eventual champion.

Wen Xinya said thoughtfully, “You are right. One can indeed see many more things in the presentation of the physical product, as compared to just the design on paper.”

Jacqueline Madan had her confidence.

While she had her own advantage.

The two ladies crackled with hostile energy as they engaged in this verbal sparring, while Shen Siwen looked to and fro between them. Traces of malevolence flashed past her eyes.

Actually, since the point when Jacqueline Madan overtook her, Shen Siwen knew it didn’t matter to her anymore who got first or second. Nevertheless, influenced by Yan Menglu’s hatred of Wen Xinya, she still hoped that Jacqueline Madan could walk away the champion.

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