A Moment Too Late (GL) - Chapter 85

After Shu Yubai submitted her work for the National Exhibition, she suddenly found herself with some free time. For the past few days, this task had been the most pressing matter on her agenda.

The National Exhibition, the most authoritative and largest top-level exhibition in the domestic art world [Note 1], sees numerous professional and amateur art enthusiasts submitting their works each year, hoping to make it into the exhibition and gain recognition.

Just one exhibition area receives tens of thousands of submissions, with only a few hundred making it into the exhibition, resulting in an acceptance rate of only about 1%.

The National Exhibition is the most competitive among all art exhibitions.

Just making it to the exhibition is difficult, let alone winning a gold medal.

Shu Yubai hadn’t participated in an exhibition for a long time. She didn’t dare to have high hopes for the outcome. These days, she leisurely took Nan Xue around to various exhibitions, explaining things softly in her ear, trying to instill a bit of artistic sense in her: “Look at this composition…”

“Look at the color design…”

Nan Xue closed her eyes and said softly, “Sister, you go ahead and look. I’ll go wash my face in the restroom.”

“Are you tired?”

Shu Yubai looked at her with concern.

Nan Xue nodded, “A little sleepy. The heating inside is too high.”

“Go ahead.”

Shu Yubai waved her hand.

“This is a small exhibition, right? A solo exhibition by the artist.”

At the city art gallery, a few people were talking softly, keeping their voices low to avoid disturbing others.

Shu Yubai was looking at the paintings when she suddenly saw a familiar face—an old friend she hadn’t contacted much since her wrist injury.

“You’re here too?”

She walked over and patted the person’s shoulder.

The person turned around, looking at her as if not recognizing her at first. After a while, she smiled awkwardly, “Yubai.”

This person was Zhang Ziyu, who used to be quite close to her. Shu Yubai had always found her very congenial and enjoyed spending time with her. Zhang Ziyu had a gentle personality and a smooth way of dealing with people, making her the kind of girl people felt at ease with.

As a result, Zhang Ziyu always had many close friends.

“Here to see the exhibition too?”

They exchanged pleasantries while looking at the dimly lit walls adorned with many paintings. The exhibition hall wasn’t very crowded.

“Yes.”

Zhang Ziyu nodded, “My painting is over there. Want to take a look?”

Shu Yubai was taken aback, realizing it was Zhang Ziyu’s work on display. What a coincidence.

Her painting was hung in the most prominent spot at the entrance of the exhibition hall, two large pieces, with the artist’s bio next to it. Zhang Ziyu’s painting had won the highest award, placed there to attract visitors.

A dense crowd gathered around, praising the painting.

The artist’s biography listed numerous awards she had won over the years. Although Shu Yubai had faded out, others like Zhang Ziyu had continued to strive. Shu Yubai glanced at Zhang Ziyu’s accolades, feeling a bit embarrassed.

“How have you been recently?”

Zhang Ziyu asked, “Still painting? I haven’t heard anything about you for years.”

“I haven’t painted in a long time.”

Shu Yubai lowered her head, sighing softly.

“That’s such a shame.”

Zhang Ziyu had heard about her situation and asked, “Are you still going to participate in the National Exhibition? It’s held only every few years. It would be a pity not to.”

Shu Yubai nodded, her red lips curling into a smile, “Yes, I’m going. Just for the experience.”

Zhang Ziyu shook her head and smiled, comforting her, “It’s okay. Bei Zhen said she’s going too. This time the themes are broader, unlike before when they were very specific. Many people who usually don’t like these kinds of exhibitions are planning to participate.”

“Really?”

Shu Yubai sighed worriedly, “Then the competition will be quite fierce. But whether it’s fierce or not doesn’t matter to me anymore; I’m just there for show.”

Zhang Ziyu didn’t respond. She looked at the time and was about to leave when a tall, slender girl approached from a distance. Her skin was pale, making her stand out in the crowd.

The girl’s eyes were indifferent as she glanced at her, then walked over to hug Shu Yubai’s waist from behind, whispering in her ear, “Sister, are we still looking?”

“No, let’s go home,” Shu Yubai said softly, looking up.

Zhang Ziyu glanced at Nan Xue, her pupils contracting.

Wasn’t she the girl from that video? Bei Zhen had sent her the video, and they had laughed and joked about it for a long time. She recognized Nan Xue immediately.

Nan Xue, the only daughter of Nan Mingzhu.

Shu Yubai hadn’t been doing well these past few years, but she had certainly climbed up the social ladder. Zhang Ziyu looked at the two of them, feeling inexplicably uneasy. However, she didn’t show any anger on her face.

As a painter who could no longer paint, Shu Yubai had already failed. What was there to compare?

Zhang Ziyu still smiled and said, “I have to go now. I have an interview later. Take your time, Yubai, no rush.”

Shu Yubai watched her leave and sighed lightly.

“Sister, who is she?” Nan Xue asked.

“An old friend… but we haven’t been in touch for a long time. We just happened to meet and chatted a bit.”

Nan Xue frowned.

A friend? It didn’t seem like it.

She looked at the elegantly dressed woman ahead and inexplicably disliked her.

••••

Participating in the exhibition was a big deal.

Xiao Yi and You Fu both came to check in on her, asking if she had registered and submitted her work. Shu Yubai responded to each of them, indicating that her chances of being selected were slim and that she was counting on them to win awards.

You Fu’s level was better than Xiao Yi’s; winning a gold medal was easy for her.

Xiao Yi had once won an award for art criticism, but her paintings had not made it to the exhibition.

Shu Yubai hadn’t participated in such a grand exhibition for a long time. While browsing the web, she quietly familiarized herself with it.

According to the official announcements, this year’s National Exhibition would be held in two stages. First, the works would be displayed according to their categories in different regions, followed by an exhibition of award-winning and nominated works in Beijing.

The first stage involved regional exhibitions in each province, all named “The 16th National Exhibition xx Exhibition Area,” with the Chinese painting exhibition area being in this city.

The local exhibition area would send the nominated works to the National Exhibition Office in Beijing, where the General Evaluation Committee would review them before they were included in the exhibition of award-winning and nominated works.

The second stage would be the “16th National Exhibition Award-winning and Nominated Works Exhibition” held in Beijing.

The exhibition lasted for half a month, and the “National Exhibition Award-winning and Nominated Works Exhibition” was held at the National Art Museum. A grand opening ceremony and awards ceremony were also scheduled [Note 2]. This means that if a work wants to win an award, it must pass two rounds of selection. The first round is at the provincial level; if passed, it moves on to the second round, which is the selection by the exhibition headquarters.

“Senior Sister, do you think I can make it to the final round?”

Shu Yubai, feeling nervous even before the exhibition results were announced, hesitated for a moment and sent the first two of her three prepared works to You Fu.

As for the third one…

She felt a bit embarrassed because it depicted Nan Xue and contained many personal emotional elements. She kept it hidden and didn’t dare show it to You Fu.

You Fu looked at the first two paintings and gave an objective evaluation:

“Making it to the final round shouldn’t be a problem, but I’m not sure about winning an award.”

Making it to the final round and winning an award are two different concepts.

To draw a parallel with college entrance exams, making it to the final round is like passing the cutoff for top-tier universities, while winning an award is like getting into Tsinghua or Peking University—it’s a completely different level of difficulty. Shu Yubai’s two landscape paintings were good but lacked a bit of originality; they would be hard to stand out in a large collection of works.

“Do you have any other works?”

You Fu asked her, “Did you only prepare these two?”

“I have one more.”

Shu Yubai blushed, embarrassed to show it, and vaguely said, “I didn’t take a photo of that one. Anyway, it’s similar to these two.”

“It’s okay.”

You Fu gently comforted her, “Maybe the standards will be more relaxed this time, and you might win an award. Besides, you just started painting again; the journey is made step by step. Don’t rush.”

“Yes.”

Shu Yubai nodded.

After submitting her work, some time passed.

The results for the re-evaluation of the Traditional Chinese painting exhibition area were announced.

Shu Yubai’s fingers trembled and her heart pounded. She had imagined many outcomes, both good and bad, and her fingers shook with nervousness.

The re-evaluation results were posted on the official website, listing the award-winning works along with the names of the artists and their provinces.

Shu Yubai opened the webpage and looked through the announcement table.

She searched through the dense list of names and beautiful titles, scrolling from top to bottom, passing many unfamiliar names.

She saw You Fu’s name and Xiao Yi’s name.

But not hers.

Could it be that she didn’t make it?

She had submitted three works, and none of them made it?

Her eyes suddenly lit up.

The work “Girl in the Reeds” had successfully passed the review and was selected for the exhibition in Beijing.

On an early spring night, the chill lingered despite the warmth. The light in Nan Xue’s room was on, and the surroundings were quiet except for the sound of insects. Shu Yubai closed her laptop, shut her eyes, and let out a long breath. Her red lips curved into a smile, and her delicate cheeks were filled with uncontrollable joy.

—It had been so long, really so long.

She felt as if she had emerged once more, like breaking out of a dark cocoon to glimpse a bit of dawn.

Shu Yubai’s lips curled up. The night was deep, and she pulled her coat tighter as she quickly ran to Nan Xue’s room. Before Nan Xue could react, Shu Yubai hugged her waist and gently kissed her. After a while, she whispered in her ear with a smile, “Nan Xue, I might… win an award.”

**************
Author’s Note:
[Note 1] From Baidu Encyclopedia
[Note 2] From the official website of the 12th National Exhibition.