The Martial Artist Turned Movie Mogul-Chapter 728 - 727. Tang Shu = to give or to bestow?

"Elegant?! Man, pardon me for asking—"

"I’m not, I didn’t, don’t talk nonsense!"

Everyone: "..."

There’s really no need for a triple denial, it sounds even more like distancing.

On stage, Liao Yicheng’s gaze landed on Tang Shu, lingering for a moment on the three words "Give and Take" at the front of the desk, his eyes under his glasses flickered, and he quickly regained his composure.

"The last judge is Ms. Give and Take, let’s welcome her!"

As soon as the voice fell, the backstage crew, hired externally, expertly turned the camera towards Tang Shu’s position, the right hand having automatically switched the scene to the big screen.

"OK, this is the last person to appear, after this we’ll switch to the prepared slides from the beginning... what’s wrong with you guys?"

The person turned his head to look at his colleagues, spotting a row of them with blank stares, their jaws practically hitting the floor.

He was immediately taken aback.

"What’s the matter, buddy, don’t space out at a time like this!"

Don’t wanna earn money anymore? Don’t care about your job?

"It’s not... man, I think I’ve gone blind, are we sure we’re working on a national calligraphy and painting competition, and not some TV drama crew?"

"Of course, it’s the calligraphy and painting competition! What the hell’s wrong with you, didn’t wake up properly this morning?"

"Oh... So am I hallucinating? Why do I see a celebrity?"

The person stretched out both hands and vigorously rubbed his eyes, blinked a few times, stared intensely at the screen again, then rubbed his eyes fiercely and stared once more.

The head director: "...."

How the hell did I not know you had somnambulism?

"Damn, it really is Tang Shu, I’m not seeing things!"

For the media personnel handling logistics, they quite generally recognize celebrities big and small in the entertainment industry. Although Tang Shu had a short debut time, her frequent trending made almost every industry insider familiar with her.

These externally hired workers were, of course, no exception.

The head director was stunned for a moment, "What Tang Shu, you’re joking, how could she be here? The Calligraphy and Painting Association would not invite celebrities to such a grand place..."

Before he could finish his sentence, his gaze shifted towards the screen opposite.

Taken completely by surprise, Tang Shu’s exquisite features instantly filled his view.

"!!!"

Holy shit!

"She, she, she, what’s she doing here?!"

"Director, the host just said she was the tenth judge..."

At this time, the first to snap out of it was the colleague who had been rubbing his eyes. Seeing that even their supervisor had lost his composure, he suddenly became inexplicably composed.

Great, it wasn’t that he had poor comprehension.

The situation was simply too astonishing to grasp.

***

The backstage crew was shocked on the spot, and naturally, the conference room outside was no exception.

When Tang Shu’s familiar and breathtakingly beautiful face appeared on the big screen, both the competitors and the seven to eight hundred audience members felt as if they had stepped into a fantasy world.

The world went completely silent!

On stage, Liao Yicheng: "???"

Don’t just stand there, folks, this is where you should be applauding!

This host is about to die from embarrassment here, hey!

However, it wasn’t that the audience didn’t want to buy into it, the reality was just too dreamlike, leaving everyone unable to snap back to their senses.

The person on the screen was the actress Tang Shu, a face they were all too familiar with, recognized whether one liked watching TV or not, and wasn’t she the model on numerous COOL clothing advertisements lining the streets and alleys?

Yet this artist was actually She Yu Yu?

What a joke! Do these two have anything in common???

The scene was stunned for a good seven or eight seconds before it finally erupted into chaos.

"Damn! What did I just see?!"

"Tang Shu, it’s Tang Shu, ah ah ah ah, how could she be here? Is she a celebrity guest invited by the Association?"

"Miss, did you not bring your ears with you? The host clearly mentioned the three words She Yu Yu just now, and you didn’t hear it?"

"Crap, She Yu Yu, Tang Shu? Can these two be equated?"

"Has the world gone mad, or have I?"

"Can someone please tell me what’s going on? I’m so confused, my brain is short-circuiting, I feel like I’m about to smoke..."

"Hold on, isn’t She Yu Yu just Shu? Damn damn damn, I feel like I’ve stumbled upon some incredible secret!"

...

The crowd went wild, and Tang Shu on the screen copied the judges, offered a slight smile, and waved at the camera as a greeting, eliciting another round of gasps.

"I didn’t see that wrong, did I? It really is Tang Shu, she is actually She Yu Yu?!"

"Isn’t this a fake? Could it be her agency trying to package her?"

"Dude, as long as your IQ hasn’t been nibbled away, you’d know there’s no way that’s possible. Do you think everyone at the Calligraphy and Painting Association is an idiot? This is a national-level association!"

"Exactly! The literary types pride themselves on their integrity; the people at the Calligraphy and Painting Association are even more so. They operate on a completely different system from the entertainment industry, okay?"

It’s commonly known that there are hierarchies within every industry, and even across different sectors, although not everyone necessarily views it this way, most people do see through colored glasses.

This statement is pretty much spot-on.

"To be honest, no matter how big the talent agency is, they couldn’t possibly get the Calligraphy and Painting Association to let Tang Shu come here for a show."

The audience gradually accepted this fact, and simultaneously sought confirmation from various aspects.

Meanwhile, many of the contestants were still staring blankly at Tang Shu, their minds filled with She Yu Yu’s critiques of their work over the past few months, leaving them in a daze.

Was this the very She Yu Yu who they deeply respected and were frustrated by in the last few months?

You’ve got to be kidding me, God!

In their minds, She Yu Yu was supposed to be an elder in his fifties or sixties, a meticulous and serious figure, so how did he turn into a young lady full of collagen on her face?

And this young lady was none other than Tang Shu, the actress featured in major media outlets!

Thrilling!

Unacceptable!

Only Ye Xiaohui curled the corner of her mouth and even covered the smile on her face with her hand, leading the applause.

The rest of the crowd followed suit with applause, and Liao Yicheng on the stage breathed a sigh of relief while wiping the sweat from his forehead.

That was close, the abbot had almost lost his composure while hosting the third Calligraphy and Painting competition!

He nearly lost face—whine~~

"Finally, let’s take a look at the 25 elite contestants who advanced to the semifinals!"

With his words, the basic information of the 25 contestants was projected onto the big screen, complete with pictures and introductions, most being famous individuals from various provinces and cities with countless awards to their names.

As a series of slideshows played on the screen, the audience gradually came to their senses from the initial shock and focused their attention on the 25 contestants, though many still cast glances toward Tang Shu.

Without the big screen, though, the ten people in the Judges’ Area could only see a vague outline.