Chapter Twenty: Even Cheap Things Can Be Beautiful

A red carpet stretched from the side gate of the villa to the garden, with a half-meter-tall lantern tree placed a meter apart on each side. The small bulbs on the lantern trees twinkled with colorful lights, making the red carpet path in the middle look special.

Cameramen and staff were already busy at work, and the supermodel livestream studio, a collaboration between the production team and the video website, was back online (it had been closed all afternoon to create suspense for the evening's party). Tonight, the main stage for the livestream was the villa's back garden.

The guests strode in one by one, each receiving a close-up from the main camera. The first to appear was naturally Zhuo Yiyan, followed by several familiar faces who had seen the opening show. Finally, hand in hand, arrived the champion, runner-up, and third-place winners from the first season.

"Teacher Zhuo, it's so nice to see you again!" The previous third-place winner jumped to Zhuo Yiyan's side as soon as she arrived.

"It's nice to see you all too," Zhuo Yiyan replied skillfully, using "you all" instead of "you" to avoid any misunderstanding.

Compared to the lively third-place winner, the champion was much more composed, politely greeting each guest upon arrival, followed closely by the runner-up.

"Seeing the three of them again makes one marvel at how fast time flies," remarked Che Yang Erna, a judge from the first season, looking at the three modern women who had shed their youthful naiveté.

"Yes, three years have passed in the blink of an eye," echoed Zhuo Yiyan, a judge for two consecutive seasons, whose feelings were no less profound. Three years ago, he was a sharp-tongued, impetuous young man, saying whatever he disliked, and many contestants were brought to tears by his words. After three years of reflection, his personality had softened considerably, and his maturity had made him much gentler.

"Yiyan, how do you think the contestants this season compare to those in the first season?" Che Yang Erna asked.

The others quieted down, seemingly very interested.

"Those who participated in the first season were very courageous, and the girls in this season are all quite talented," Zhuo Yiyan replied objectively.

Those who were clever immediately understood his meaning. It was clear that this season's contestants, who had set high standards from the very beginning of the auditions, were far superior to their predecessors.

Everyone present was of high emotional intelligence and naturally understood Zhuo Yiyan's unspoken message.

The three warriors—oh, the seniors—were all quite displeased. They had all participated in the national supermodel competition, so how could these newcomers be considered better than them? What gave them the right?

The three of them looked towards the villa, eager to see how these newcomers could possibly compare to them!

The main camera panned to the brightly lit red carpet. With someone announcing "She's here," the first figure appeared at the end of the red carpet.

The girl walking towards them wore a floor-length red sleeveless dress, her long legs faintly visible beneath the side slit of the skirt. Her wavy hair cascaded over her left shoulder, her red lips were fiery, and she radiated beauty.

"This is Luo Yi." Zhuo Yiyan flipped through the roster handed to him by the staff. The first page contained Luo Yi's information, and he gave her a score of 8.5 in the evaluation section.

The other judges also started writing their scores, and the scores were all quite high.

"This girl is pretty good, her temperament is also good, she didn't make this high-end outfit look tacky."

"According to her profile, she's been in the modeling industry for three years, no wonder she wasn't stage-frightened at all."

"It's just that her looks aren't very international, I think that's a major reason why her development is limited."

Several judges chatted.

The first person to appear, Luo Yi, had already walked off the red carpet and was guided to the side by staff to wait.

The second person appeared.

The order of appearance was obviously determined by the list; the judges didn't need to know the person's name, they just needed to flip through the pages and score according to the order of appearance. The people

who appeared before were all from Luo Yi's team, each wearing high-end ready-to-wear. Some highlighted themselves well, while others didn't choose clothes that truly suited them, and their poor styling resulted in very low scores because they made what should have been high-end clothes look cheap.

"I heard they split into two groups to choose their clothes today. One team even picked them out at the wholesale market. So, the people coming out next will be wearing those clothes they found at the wholesale market. I really feel sorry for them," a female judge said with a laugh.

The first few contestants all wore high-end ready-to-wear clothes. Even if their fashion sense wasn't great, the quality and style of the clothes were there. As long as someone had a

good figure but lacked style, they could still pull it off. But clothes from the wholesale market are a different story.

You get what you pay for. Wholesale items are definitely mass-produced, and mass-produced

items aren't exactly high-quality. If someone with poor fashion sense wears these low-quality, poor-styled clothes, they'll look incredibly tacky.

Tonight, it seems Xiao Yang's team is going to be crushed by Luo Yi's team.

Almost everyone present thought so.

The first few contestants certainly confirmed everyone's judgment; there was no need to compare. Some of the later contestants from Xiao Yang's team were simply an eyesore.

Their obviously hastily bought, ill-fitting clothes were completely overshadowed by Luo Yi's high-class style.

Why are my eyes often filled with tears? Because I've been slapped hard in the face by this cruel reality.

The contestants, forced to wear outfits bought from the market that morning, were utterly devastated. No matter how perfect their makeup, these haphazard clothes ruined everything.

The clothing selection area was already shabby enough, and then they only had ten minutes—it was inhuman!

Finding an outfit that was both decent and fit in those short ten minutes was practically pure luck.

Because the selection time was so short, everyone's clothes were rather unflattering; some were too tight, some too loose, some colors too tacky, and some styles too outdated.

The judges' hands cramped from writing so many negative reviews.

Luo Yi's team members were beaming with glee, practically gloating!

"Is this a total wipeout?" Some judges didn't even want to watch the next contestants.

Zhuo Yiyan flipped through the list; there were three more people left: Xu Jiaojiao was second to last, and Xiao Yang was last.

He didn't know what kind of outfits they had chosen, but considering the deliberately difficult rules, he knew they wouldn't be surprising. Tonight's purpose was to highlight the team wearing high-end clothing by using the other team's disastrous result, using visual impact for advertising purposes. The

third-to-last contestant practically cried the whole way; the zipper on the back of her dress couldn't be zipped up, revealing her extremely unsightly back.

The judges' expressions weren't good either; seeing such an eyesore wasn't only bad for their eyes, but also gave them a feeling of being forced to distort their sense of taste.

The neon lights on both sides of the red carpet continued to flash tirelessly, and a pair of long, slender, white legs stepped onto the red carpet.

The cameraman at the main camera position skillfully zoomed in, moving the lens up from the long legs clad in wooden clogs, then upwards to a slender figure cinched with a wide gold belt, followed by a looser collar that led to a long, beautiful neck, and then...

The viewers in the live stream chat were already exploding with excitement.

【OMG, so handsome!!!】

【Who is this? Who is this?? Who is this???】

【Honey, what are you doing in the screen? Come out here~】

【Where did this enchanting beauty come from? Come to my bowl!】

【Drooling over her…】

【Holy crap, this is cheating!!!】

...

The judges present were also stunned.

Even Zhuo Yiyan was somewhat mesmerized. The short-haired girl walking towards them had a chic slicked-back hairstyle. Her well-placed makeup, with its subtle interplay of light and shadow, accentuated her otherwise soft features, making them appear more defined. Her loose-fitting robe-style dress, cinched at the waist with a striking belt, didn't look out of place; instead, it exuded a unique charm. Wearing only simple wooden clogs, her entire outfit was simple, yet this simplicity made her look classic and elegant.

The person walking with a relaxed gait, with classic color combinations, unconventional styles, and androgynous makeup, embodied a kind of fashionable beauty that wasn't cheap or low-class.