My girlfriend is Saiki Kusunoki

No matter how many years pass, this friendship will never change.

After the judges came to their senses, the entire conference room became eerily quiet.

At this moment, none of them were able to break free from their own unique illusions.

That abyss and that dream were so real, and so beautiful.

So, what is everyone's opinion of this work?

After a long silence, Shuiyue spoke first.

But then, Shuiyue gave a wry smile.

Now, is there any need for further evaluation?

If works like this don't win awards, then who does? They certainly don't understand the point of this whole thing.

"So let's decide on this matter. This painting will be the winner of the gold prize."

After exchanging glances, the group remained silent upon hearing the minister's words, as the painting was indeed somewhat beyond the expected standard.

Naoto Yamashita lives up to his title as the number one genius of the current generation.

Chapter 185: A Sleepless Night

"Dudu."

"Okay, that's enough for now. Remember to pick me up tomorrow."

"Understood. See you tomorrow, Minister Shuiyue."

After saying goodbye to the driver who had picked her up, Mizuki Chidori headed towards the Sawano residence.

Because he's been working too late lately, Minister Mizuki has been staying at his sister's house, the Sawano family's house, which is nearby.

When Mizuki entered the villa, he found Kiyoko Sawano sitting quietly in the living room.

"Qingzi, it's so late, aren't you asleep yet?"

"Yeah, I can't sleep."

"It's because of the art awards, isn't it?"

As for why Qingzi was still here, Shuiyue knew the reason without even thinking.

Today is the last day for judging the art awards. Basically, all the rankings have been announced by now, which means that today is the day that will determine their fate.

I'm afraid there are quite a few people suffering from insomnia tonight. As for Qingzi's desire to prove her strength this time, Minister Shuiyue, as her uncle, is naturally aware of it.

If possible, Mizuki would also like to give this gold reward to Kiyoko.

But alas, this time there's a monster.

"Has Uncle finished his work yet? Are there any pieces in this collection that you like?"

Seeing the slightly expectant look in her niece's eyes, Shuiyue opened her mouth slightly, but in the end, she couldn't tell Qingzi the cruel truth.

In fact, both Nagumo Akira and Sawano Kiyoko are quite good among their peers.

Even this time, both of them achieved a bronze medal, and if it weren't for some issues with their intentions, receiving a silver medal would have been perfectly reasonable.

But a gold medal is absolutely impossible.

If the difference were slight, it would be understandable, but their difference is too great, almost like an insurmountable chasm.

Although her uncle didn't tell her the truth, Qingzi had probably already guessed that she had indeed failed the exam.

"Will the gold prize go to Yamashita-kun again this time?"

"That's right, if nothing unexpected happens, he is indeed correct."

Kiyoko smiled with relief at her uncle's answer.

Perhaps in her heart she already knew that she had no chance of defeating Naoto.

Even before, after hearing that Naoto was going all out in this competition, she had already guessed that the most likely outcome was that Naoto would win first place.

But when I actually found out about it, I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

"Is the gap between me and him really that big?"

"Yes, the gap between you two, whether in terms of concept or painting skills, is that he is far superior to you. If you want to catch up with him, it may take ten years or even longer to hone your painting skills."

In fact, even Shuiyue herself knew that what she said was impossible.

Putting aside whether Kiyoko will continue to focus on art, the realistic illusions in Naoto's paintings are something Kiyoko can never catch up to.

Naoto Yamashita is a monster that no one of his generation can rival. It would probably take those established monsters in the art world to have a chance against him.

"That really is quite distressing."

Even her uncle said so, making Qingzi realize that that person was no longer someone she could challenge.

In fact, it's not just Qingzi who feels this way; many people have already found themselves in a sleepless night.

After all, the selection process isn't a closely guarded secret, and many people received the details after today's event.

While it may not be entirely accurate, most of the information is already known.

In particular, many people have already received news about the winner of the gold award.

The news that Naoto Yamashita had won the gold medal again had already spread among a small group of people.

"Really? Even the Minister of Culture praised Naoto-kun's work."

At Chairman Fujino's house, the chairman, who was still awake, learned that Naoto Yamashita had been praised by the minister.

The person on the other end of the phone did not directly tell Chairman Naoto that he had won the gold prize.

However, the fact that the ministers praised Naoto already pretty much told us the outcome.

Although the president had a rough idea that Naoto's work would shock everyone this time, he did not expect that Naoto would actually conquer everyone with his own strength, and even the Minister of Culture was impressed by Naoto.

"Even the ministers praised this person. It seems that Naoto-kun has once again given me a surprise. Before, I thought Naoto-kun couldn't do it."

The president smiled slightly. Previously, he hadn't been very confident about Naoto's chances of winning the gold prize.

But now it seems I was worrying too much.

Naoto Yamashita, a man who has been creating miracles for over a year, continues to do so today.

"But what kind of work could possibly garner such high praise from the ministers? I'm truly curious."

Even the president wasn't entirely sure how good Naoto's work was.

Because he did not participate in the selection process, and because the works were so numerous and varied, Naoto had no idea what he was actually drawing.

Now that things have come to this, he has become quite curious about Naoto's works.

"Old man, aren't you asleep yet? Look at the time!"

At this moment, the president's wife spoke to the president, who was still sitting at his desk.

"Oh, right away, right away. You go to sleep first, I'll go to sleep in a bit."

Upon hearing his wife's urging, the president quickly said something to her.

But can he really fall asleep? Having already piqued his interest, falling asleep will probably be a difficult task for him.

At the Nagumo residence, after learning that Yamashita Naoto had won again, Nagumo Akira immediately locked himself in his room.

Lying in bed, Nan Yunxiao tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.

No one knows what he was thinking at that moment.

People who lost sleep because of a painting by Naoto Yamashita would never have imagined that the instigator of this whole affair, Naoto Yamashita, was already sound asleep in bed.

Naoto didn't care at all about his ranking in the competition, as if it had nothing to do with him.

If those people knew that Naoto was actually sleeping soundly here, they probably wouldn't be able to resist cursing him outright.

And the outcome of everything will be revealed at tomorrow's awards ceremony.

Chapter 186: The Well-Deserved First Place

Early in the morning, a large group of media reporters had already gathered outside the venue of the art awards ceremony.

This art award is not only highly regarded within the art world, but also outside of it, the fact that the Minister of Culture served as a judge has generated a great deal of discussion.

Many people are eager to see what kind of work could possibly catch the eye of the Minister of Culture this time.

As a leading figure in the education sector, even those who hadn't been following the competition couldn't help but develop a strong interest.

For various reasons, this competition has become the most watched competition in history.

"Cough, cough, cough."

"Hey, Yamashima, do you have a cold?"

Among the reporters, two journalists from TV Tokyo were standing among the crowd, waiting for the awards ceremony to begin.

However, it seems that one of them is not in very good health.

"It's alright, Senior Yueshui. I just stayed up a little late last night. I'll be fine after a rest."

Judging from the young reporter's tired appearance, if I'm not mistaken, he must have finally fallen asleep very late last night.

After all, they had been waiting for today's awards ceremony since last night.

It's not just the participants who are anxious about the outcome of this competition.

As reporters, they need to arrive here very early to wait.

"Wait a minute, you don't have time to rest. As a reporter, you have to be ready to fight at any time. So, you young people just don't know the importance of rest. For an interview as important as today, making a mistake could lead to your job."

The reporter named Yue Shui was lecturing the young man named Shan Dao and was about to take out a cigarette from her pocket.

However, after looking at the dense crowd around him, he finally decided to give up.

In reality, how much better off could he be? He'd been waiting to reserve a spot since last night. If he weren't already used to this kind of work, he probably wouldn't be much better off than this young man.

But who told this silly boy to choose this profession?

Every profession has its own troubles. And which of these journalists around us isn't?