Chapter 169 Doubtful Voices

• At 12 p.m. on the first night, the vote results were revealed. With a total of 1.93 million votes, first place was 500 thousand votes ahead of second. And Susan was the night's victor. "I won first place?" Susan asked, her expression full of confusion. She had not anticipated anything like this at all. She was almost sure she would finish dead last because Mr. Reed had given her work a lot of criticism. It never occurred to her that she would win on the first day. As Julian casually looked at the outcome, he remarked, "Well, it seems that they have good taste." "Just like me," he concluded introspectively.
• Susan remained stunned. She struggled to grasp the fact that she was far ahead of her rivals and that she could receive so many votes in a single night. "How could that be?" She pondered herself. As she searched her wits for an answer, a thought suddenly occurred to her. "Julian... Please tell me you have nothing to do with this," she whispered uncertainly as she turned to face Julian. It was easy for Julian to get 20 million votes, much less two million, considering his connections and resources.
• "Why are you depriving yourself of your accomplishment?" Julian said, raising his eyebrows in response to Susan's probing glance. Do you lack confidence in your own skills? It's not that I don't think I'm capable of doing things; it's simply that... At first, I felt very secure, then Mr. Reed seemed to have some reservations about me. Hesitantly, Susan replied. In actuality, she wouldn't feel as horrible if it were other designers or even if Sheldon, a virtuoso in his own right, gave her work a rating. No matter how hurtful their statements were, she would never take them personally. But Mr. Reed was the one who assessed her design. In the design business, he was the most respected designer.