Chapter 1608: The award ceremony! Translator: Legge Editor: Legge
At the venue.
In the auditorium where the award ceremony was held.
The guests and nominees were gradually admitted inside.
“h.e.l.lo, please produce your invitation.”
“Here.”
“OK, thank you.”
“h.e.l.lo, may I have your invitation card please?”
“Is it this one?”
“Yes, you may enter.”
Security checks.
Producing invitations.
Verifying ident.i.ties.
Running facial recognition.
All kinds of high-tech equipment were employed, and it made everything look very professional and formal. A person had to go through at least three rounds of checks before they could get admitted into the venue. After entering the auditorium, a dedicated English receptionist would greet the nominees and lead them and their family or entourage to their seats. Zhang Ye"s seat was somewhere on the right side of the venue and further to the front in the second row. For the sake of convenience, Zhang Ye sat in the aisle seat. Ha Qiqi and Little w.a.n.g both sat down on the inside beside him.
At the back.
Anthony also arrived. “Zhang.”
Zhang Ye turned around and smiled. “You"re here?”
“I"m sitting behind you,” Anthony said.
Immediately, Felicia came over and sat down with them as well. “Hi, did you all get a good night"s sleep?”
Zhang Ye said happily, “It was alright.”
The nominees for the n.o.bel Prize in Literature had all been placed in this area.
The female American writer arrived.
India"s Bangalore also arrived. Incidentally, he did not cause any trouble today after being admitted into the venue. He showed a cold and indifferent expression, scoffing when he saw Zhang Ye. He ignored all of the other nominees. By the looks of this, the Indian writer also understood that his biggest rival for the n.o.bel Prize was the Chinese writer.
Ha Qiqi whispered, “Is that him?”
Little w.a.n.g also had a look at the Indian writer who was seated two rows behind them. “What"s he acting so smug about!”
The j.a.panese writer was the last to arrive, and he sat down right beside Anthony, close behind Zhang Ye.
Anthony clearly knew him. “Why didn"t I see you at last night"s banquet?”
The j.a.panese writer smiled. “My wife wanted me to go shopping with her.”
Felicia smiled and said, “You"re such a good husband.”
Zhang Ye also turned around to take a look at him.
Felicia introduced, “Oh yes, I would like to introduce a friend to you. This is Zhang Ye.”
Surprisingly, the j.a.panese writer snorted and did not answer.
Zhang Ye smiled. He shrugged and didn"t care.
Anthony was a little taken aback. “Ah? What"s the matter?”
The j.a.panese writer rolled his eyes. “I don"t wish to know this person.”
“Why not?” Felicia said startled.
In the end, it was Zhang Ye who spoke. He laughed and said, “His countrymen are not too friendly towards me.”
The j.a.panese writer was fuming. “Is it us who are unfriendly, or you who is unfriendly!”
Anthony replied, “Zhang Ye is quite a nice person. Don"t judge him by his appearance.”
The j.a.panese writer was floored!
Quite nice, my a.s.s!
What has that got to do with judging him by his appearance?
Felicia also tried to calm things down by saying, “The Indian author should be the person we should stand together against.”
As Felicia and Anthony did not know the inside story, they wondered why the j.a.panese writer would have such a bias against Zhang Ye. They thought that some kind of misunderstanding had happened.
The j.a.panese writer was too angry to say anything!
The Indian author?
Not even 10 Bangalores can match the wickedness of this Zhang guy!
Compared to Zhang Ye, the Indian author is the edelweiss!
How can you not know of his past deeds!
Of all the people at the venue, the only people other than Ha Qiqi and Little w.a.n.g who understood Zhang Ye the most would have to be the j.a.panese and Korean n.o.bel Prize nominees. The people of other nations might not be familiar with Zhang Ye, but how could they not be familiar with him? Although Zhang Ye had disappeared from the public eye for close to four years, the j.a.panese and Koreans still couldn"t help but clench their teeth in hatred when his name was mentioned!
Scolding!
Fighting!
Smas.h.i.+ng cars!
Tras.h.i.+ng hotels!
Making trojans!
He was the hooligan who committed all kinds of evil in Asia years ago!
Yet you consider him to be the angel here?
Don"t you have it wrong?!
Last night, the j.a.panese writer did not show up at the banquet not because he had to go shopping with his wife. In fact, it was because she was afraid that Zhang Ye would cause trouble, so she decided to steer her husband away from him. As for Bangalore? The j.a.panese writer and his wife were not concerned about him at all. They both knew that the Indian author was only all bark and no bite.
One was a sheep in wolf"s clothing!
The other was a wolf in sheep"s clothing!
There was no way to compare these two people. Only you guys would regard the Indian author as a troublesome person. But little can you imagine that the most troublesome person is actually this person talking and laughing beside you!
At 10 AM sharp.
The venue"s doors were shut and the security checkpoints closed.
For a moment, the entire auditorium fell silent. Everyone had arrived.
Little w.a.n.g said nervously, “It"s starting!”
Ha Qiqi took a deep breath. “Which prize will they be announcing first?
Little w.a.n.g said, “It"s always different each year. Ahhh, I"m so nervous.”
Zhang Ye smiled and said, “Calm down, this is a live broadcast.”
Little w.a.n.g also took a deep breath. However, her heart was still pounding. She couldn"t be blamed for being nervous, because they knew how important this award was for Director Zhang. It was the most prestigious prize in the entire world with no other awards coming close. This was also the first time they were attending an international award ceremony, so it was no wonder they were nervous.
Countless cameras were facing the stage.
The venue of the award ceremony was looking as luxurious as a concert hall.
The atmosphere.
The decorations.
The colors.
All of it was vividly presented.
Under the attention of the people of the world, the director of the n.o.bel Foundation went up on stage. Holding a microphone, he announced to the world with a smile, “Ladies and gentlemen, good morning.”
Applause thundered!
The crowd clapped.
Next, the n.o.bel Foundation"s director delivered an opening speech that lasted for ten minutes. It gave an in-depth explanation of the creation of the n.o.bel Prizes, the predecessor awards, the change of the award"s name, the number of prizes that have been given out thus far, and so on, giving everyone a deeper understanding of and a recap on the value and history of the n.o.bel Prizes. This was because today happened to be the 50th anniversary of the n.o.bel Prize, so the ceremony was held in a grander manner.
Ten minutes pa.s.sed.
The speech finished up.
The audience broke out into applause.
Every country"s television stations had a real-time translation of the event as the viewers watching listened to it carefully. The live audience also listened intently with almost no one getting distracted. To countless people, the n.o.bel Prizes represented a solemn and dignified award ceremony. Everyone respected the importance of this award and also the highest honor it brought to its recipients.
On the stage.
A ceremony employee walked onstage with a medal.
The director took it from the employee and gave a smile. “So then, let me first announce this year"s first n.o.bel Prize winner.” With a pause, he held up a card and flipped it open. “After voting by the n.o.bel Committee, the recipient of the n.o.bel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is—”
It was all quiet in the audience.
The viewers watching TV also hushed up.
The nominees who were seated in the Physiology or Medicine zone were even quieter. Every one of them was staring at the stage with wide eyes.
Then the director announced, “—the famous American MD 1 , Dr. James Strong!”
Immediately, the entire live audience looked in one direction!
James looked very surprised!
The people around him broke out into applause!
Some of them also smiled bitterly in sorrow.
Others kindly gave James hugs and celebrated his win!
In the field of physiology and medicine, America was much more advanced than the rest of the world. For this Physiology or Medicine Prize, 7 of the 20 nominees were Americans. The predictions by the public also showed that an American would win this year"s prize, just like they had won it the previous year. The only point of contention was which American doctor would be presented with the highest honor in the world. Unexpectedly, it was won by the youngest MD in the group, Dr. Strong!
The director smiled. “Please come onstage to collect your medal.”
James was smiling broadly, hugging and kissing his friends around him. Then he strode onstage and received the medal from the director with a serious look. “Thank you, thank you. I can"t believe this.” He was so excited he even stuttered while delivering his acceptance speech.
Little w.a.n.g was very envious.
Ha Qiqi sighed.
On this day, James"s name would be entered into the annals of history.
On this day, the entire world was cheering for him!
This was the n.o.bel Prize!
The highest honor in the entire world!