The Farming Livestreamer: I Don't Want to Inherit Billions!-Chapter 295: The Final Judging

"First, let’s congratulate the recipients of this year’s Autumn Expo Excellence Award!"

The list of winners for the Excellence Award had been announced before, and the host read it out again during a simple award ceremony.

"Next is the most anticipated expert review of this Autumn Expo. Once again, congratulations to the contestants who made it to the top ten."

"This evaluation will be conducted anonymously. Let’s first have our staff bring the contestants’ items onto the stage."

As soon as the host finished speaking, several staff members went on stage to arrange the items. The baskets used for vegetables were all the same, and the original labels were covered by the staff.

So no one knows which contestant each basket of vegetables belongs to.

"Why did it change to anonymous judging this time?"

An expert stood up in confusion, wondering how he was supposed to give Zhai Li extra points.

He didn’t even know which one was hers.

The qualifying scores were unrelated to the experts, as they were selected by the public panel.

Even though only some were shortlisted by the experts, most contestants had several varieties submitted, and they didn’t know which variety had actually made it through.

So this also prevented deducing the contestant based on the variety.

"This was changed at the last minute, Director Sun. Doesn’t it make things more interesting this way?"

Dean Qian smiled and replied. President Yang of Sanmu Group, who had wanted to speak, simply closed his mouth and smiled, "Dean Qian has a point."

It was Dean Qian who amended the rules at the last minute.

Director Liao’s actions undoubtedly tipped the balance in the minds of many experts.

This Autumn Expo was more prestigious and grand than in the past, and there had been incidents of bribery and backdoor dealings.

He had to take the matters of this Autumn Expo seriously.

He was responsible for every contestant.

Moreover, this Autumn Expo mainly focused on Chi Youyou and Zhai Li — one attracting attention in the early stages and rumored to know Su Jinxiao, who was here today as a goodwill ambassador. Could she really be just an ordinary rural girl from Phoenix Mountain?

The other was Zhai Li, whose entry into the International Agricultural Research Institute was yet to be confirmed.

He had to give his all!

Aside from a few experts who were doubtful, it was also the first time for the contestants to encounter such a situation. Zhai Li glanced at Chi Youyou.

She was actually wondering why her qualification hadn’t been revoked despite everything.

Wasn’t it said that Dean Qian disliked people who used backdoor methods the most?

Anyway, she still had a backup plan.

"Now, may I invite the experts to come on stage one by one? We will directly select the list of winners through a blind box format!"

"Director Liao, please go ahead."

The old man wasn’t concerned, walking steadily as the first to go.

Besides whole vegetables, the table also had cut vegetables for the experts to taste.

"In terms of appearance, they are all excellent. Our Huaxia Agriculture indeed becomes more outstanding with each generation!"

The old man briefly browsed through all the vegetables, expressing his genuine admiration.

The others chimed in with agreement.

"Please, experts, rate the appearance."

This scoring process evaluated several aspects, including appearance, taste, and texture.

Using carrots as an example, criteria include smoothness, straightness, firmness, thin central core, no hard center, no shriveling of the skin, and a sweet, crisp taste.

Any flaws would be subjected to corresponding deduction of points.

Each type of vegetable had its evaluation guidelines.

If a new variety was presented, the experts would discuss and determine the final verdict.

For fairness, the highest and lowest scores would be removed from each evaluation to calculate an average score before a final composite score was given!

The experts were above explaining how scores were given while the contestants below were extremely tense.

Zhai Li glanced at Chi Youyou and saw her greeting someone. Following her line of sight, she saw Su Mo.

Wasn’t her family not fond of her?

Haha.

Another one from the countryside, country folks indeed share a common language.

She glanced at the two scornfully, then looked around. She checked the time; according to the plan, it should be about time, so why wasn’t it happening yet?

Meanwhile, her phone lit up.

It was an unknown number with just the words "Everything is ready."

Zhai Li expertly deleted everything, sighed in relief, as if nothing had happened.

Even feeling much better.

"Lili, it seems you’re quite confident about taking first place at this year’s Autumn Expo～"

Noticing her mood shift, Xu Muping flattered her.

"No, I attended the Autumn Expo for self-improvement. Even if I don’t get first place, I’ll feel that obtaining feedback from the experts is a great gain."

"Wow, your mindset is incredible. I really have so much to learn!"

"You are also very excellent, Senior Sister Xu. It’s just a pity your senior couldn’t join you for this year’s Autumn Expo. Otherwise, you two would be the model couple of our Imperial City University College of Agriculture!"

Xu Muping responded awkwardly with a couple of dry laughs, "In front of you, we’re just novices. Don’t mock us, we rely on you for our future accomplishments!"

After saying this, she glanced at Chi Youyou out of the corner of her eye.

Hmph!

She wanted to see what ability she really had!

"Thank you very much to all the experts. Please be seated. As the staff begin the final tally, I believe everyone is as nervous as I am. While we wait, let’s first invite our guest, Su Shen, to give a speech for this Autumn Expo!"

This segment also underwent changes due to adjustments in the competition format.

The speech was originally planned for the beginning, but to entertain everyone during the tally, it was moved here.

Su Jinxiao had prepared his speech the day before and recited it officially.

"Food is the staff of life. May Huaxia Agriculture continue to flourish!"

"Thank you, Su Shen. Tada! The final results are in my hand～ Is everyone nervous!"

The host purposefully made a tense gesture to adjust the atmosphere.

She sneaked a glance at the card handed to her by the staff and gasped.

"Wow! What do I see!"

Her words successfully grabbed the attention of the whole audience.

"First, let’s congratulate the tenth place winner of this Autumn Expo, Qiu Ye, a technician from Sanmu Group’s Agricultural Development Department!"

"Ninth place goes to Xie Peng, a technician from the Salt Forest Agricultural Research Institute!"

...

The rankings proceeded backward, not yet reaching Zhai Li and Chi Youyou.

Imperial City University had only the two of them in the finals. Zhai Li swallowed hard, feeling both eager and anxious.

Chi Youyou really had ridiculous luck. She thought she’d be at most tenth, yet now it was the fifth, and neither of their names had appeared!

Hmph, but she wasn’t worried, no matter what place she gets, it wasn’t useful!