I Have Decided to Go Look for My Father

Even though Gu Xi’s team’s topic was not perfect and the design had a lot of room for improvements, the purpose of the Youth Innovation Competition was about innovation. And their team’s innovation was up there.

In addition, their collection of materials was very thorough. The amount of work that they had put into it amazed the experts that were there.

In this regard, the “proof of innocence” that Gu Xi and the others had prepared for the organization helped a lot.

Back stage, the experts, with Gu Xi’s team’s documents in hand, were lamenting.

“They had so much work in this.”

“I agree.” Another expert also nodded and chimed in, “They had referenced a lot of sources. They would not have been able to do this had they not poured through a massive amount of materials.”

“Their attitude alone was quite something.”

“And their original idea was quite good as well. It wasn’t anything grand but it’s pragmatic. And, if you really think about it, it had a lot of room to grow in the future.”

The few experts talked among themselves.

There were even those who wanted to purchase the idea on site.

Except that, with some looking into, they learned that NTN had already acquired it and began with their research and development. They had no choice but to give up on that idea.

***

The outcome of the Youth Innovation Competition was put together, reviewed thoroughly, and announced on the same day.

There were top 3 winners and a few other awards.

Gu Xi’s team had already scored in the top during the first few rounds of reviews. As such, when they finally took the first place, many there, including Gu Xi herself, was not surprised by the outcome.

What Gu Xi found surprising was that, in addition to the first prize, they had also received an Outstanding Material Award. This award was not too meaningful when compared to the top three winners, but it was, nevertheless, a recognition of their hard work.

The prize money, however, was what truly surprised Gu Xi.

The Youth Innovation Competition had no prizes. In the past, they would symbolically give out prizes like tickets to summer camps, mathematics camps, online courses, etc.

She did not know that they would be giving out prize money this year!

Standing on the award podium and receiving the sign that said “15,000 yuan prize money”, Gu Xi was so touched that she could cry.

“I can’t believe how generous the organization was,” said Dong Mingming in a low voice after looking at the amount on the sign.

In addition to them, the other teams who had won also received their relative amounts.

It wasn’t a huge amount when compared to other competitions but, when compared to other competitions that were geared toward high school students, this was already “astronomical”.

Gu Nian nodded, deeply agreeing with Dong Mingming.

What they didn’t know was that the organization was very “generous” this time because the money didn’t come from them; they had received an anonymous donation from an external source.

***

At this moment in time, Xu Fei, standing within the audience, looked at the big smile on Gu Xi with the prize money in hand and turned to look at his boss next to him. Now he finally understood the seemingly unnecessary token gesture.

Gu Shao had casually brought up the idea of adding prize money to the competition during some summit and the actual donation was taken care of by Xu Fei.

He had no idea how Gu Xi had became such a money-lover but, looking at how happy and content she was with the prize money, Xu Fei finally understood why his boss had gone through so much trouble for it – it was worth it.

***

The award ceremony ended amidst the applause.

After the photograph session with the sign and their trophy, Gu Xi quickly went to cash out the prize money.

“Excuse me, this prize money is real, right?” She wanted to make sure that it wasn’t just a prop for effects.

That was Gu Xi’s question when she found a worker for the competition.

The worker almost busted out laughing seeing how serious Gu Xi’s look was.

“Don’t worry. It is real,” said the worker with a smile.

“Then can I cash it in right now?”

“Of course, we can cash it in for you right now as we speak.” Pausing a little, the worker added, “And there are multiple ways you can do that. Do you prefer WeChat or ___pay?”

Gu Xi shook her head when she heard that.

“No WeChat.”

The worker was a bit baffled when he heard that. “Why? Do you not have WeChat?”

That didn’t make any sense. What student this age didn’t have WeChat?

Gu Xi, “No……”

She just didn’t know how to explain herself.

She couldn’t possibly tell the worker that she did not want it via WeChat because she did not want to pay the processing fee, right?