It's just after nine in the morning.

The sky is clear and blue without a cloud in sight, with the sun hanging high in the sky.

The commercial pedestrian street is bustling with people.

Many passersby who had missed the food festival were eager to visit after watching last night's "Eight O'Clock News" on the comprehensive news channel.

They came this morning, drawn by the festival.

They wanted to seize the last day of the food festival to explore the different booths and try the cuisine.

Of course.

The "So Delicious" booth was their top choice.

As soon as they heard that "So Delicious" was launching a new fried squid dish this morning, they decided to pay to have a taste.

There were many people lining up to try it, keeping Huang Tao and his team very busy.

At the same time.

In a room in a building on the commercial pedestrian street.

A judging panel meeting was in progress.

Around a rectangular, very grand conference table, were Wei Mingguo, three gourmet judges, Ma Deqiang, and other officials.

Sitting at the head of this table was a middle-aged man of about fifty, dressed in a black suit with a matching black tie, exuding an air of authority.

This man was both the chairman of the Wenling City expert judging panel and the deputy mayor of Wenling City, named Mi Zhuoqun.

His presence had been noted at the opening ceremony of this food festival.

He delivered a speech at the opening ceremony and attended the ribbon-cutting event.

The whole process took less than five minutes!

Clearly, official duties kept him busy!

So much so that he didn't have time to inspect the progress of the food festival.

This morning, he had specially set aside time from his busy schedule to attend the closing ceremony of the food festival.

After all, the closing ceremony involved the scoring process for the food festival's TOP10 competition by expert judges.

It's of great importance!

He would lead the judging panel in scoring the booths entering the TOP10 competition.

Moreover, the "Most Popular Booth" and the trophies and certificates for the top three of the TOP10 competition would be personally presented by him to the winners.

Although he had missed the last two days of the food festival, he had heard about the happenings.

Especially after watching the "Eight O'Clock News" last night, which reported on the food festival's "live teaching."

He was particularly impressed by Huang Tao.

He had high hopes for him!

As to whether he could become one of the top three in the TOP10 competition, besides the judges' scores, it would also depend on the public's online voting.

He wasn't very clear about this, so he turned to the most senior and respected Wei Mingguo beside him and asked with a smile, "Elder Wei, how is the public's online voting going?"

As the vice-chairman of the judging panel, Wei Mingguo had also been keeping an eye on the online voting over the past two days, having his staff compile and record the data.

At this moment, in front of Mi Zhuoqun and other judges, he reported in detail the top 20 contenders likely to enter the TOP10 competition finals.

These 20 booths were the most outstanding among all the food exhibition booths, each with a chance to vie for the final TOP10.

But who would emerge victorious?

What would the rankings look like?

It would still depend on the final votes of the online polling and the scores from the judging panel.

...

Meanwhile.

Ma Yong and Liu Qianqian had already arrived at the commercial pedestrian street, heading towards the main stage of the food festival to prepare for today's closing ceremony.

Her appearance instantly captured the attention of many food festival visitors.

"Ah!"

"Who is that..."

"It seems to be Liu Qianqian, the female host from 'Eight O'Clock News'?"

"It's her! It really is Liu Qianqian! She looks even more beautiful in person than on TV!"

"Oh my God! Who am I seeing? Who am I seeing? I'm seeing the live Liu Qianqian!"

"Liu Qianqian? The female host of 'Eight O'Clock News'? Is this woman Liu Qianqian? Is she the one who ate the stewed dishes at the end of the news program last night?! Let me tell you, when she was eating those stewed dishes, I was totally stunned, but her serious face while enjoying those stews really made me crave them."

"The Liu Qianqian who ate stewed dishes on the news program is here! Everyone, come and see!"

Truth be told, the public wasn't very familiar with Liu Qianqian as a host previously.

People who occasionally watched 'Eight O'Clock News' only thought she was a pretty host.

And that was about it.

Seen once and then forgotten!

But because of her inadvertent action last night, she was suddenly remembered.

Her eating stewed dishes left a particularly deep impression.

Moreover, there were many edited videos of her eating those stews circulating on TikTok and Bilibili, making it hard to forget her~

So when she appeared now, she was immediately recognized.

This period of the food festival saw the largest crowds, so when people heard, they gathered around, causing quite a stir!

This sudden enthusiasm left Liu Qianqian a bit stunned.

An elderly lady smiled and asked, "Oh, it really is Liu Qianqian! I want to ask, when you were eating those stews on the program, was it arranged by the program team, or was it your own doing?"

Liu Qianqian showed an embarrassed yet gracious smile and replied, "That was my personal action, I apologize for causing trouble."

This sincere attitude increased her likability in the public's eyes.

"Qianqian, what were you thinking? Eating stews on a news program? Aren't you worried about getting a pay cut by your boss?"

She awkwardly smiled and replied honestly, "I was mainly tempted by Boss Huang's stews, and I thought the live broadcast had ended, so I just grabbed them and started eating, not realizing that the broadcast was still ongoing..."

"Hahaha~ It's hard to find another host as confused as you..."

"This can only be called a live broadcast incident caused by a box of stews..."

"Indeed, Boss Huang's stews are really enticing, not many can resist them, and a host is just an ordinary person too! I understand, but just try not to eat during programs next time, otherwise, your wages might not be enough to cover the cuts."

Everyone laughed and didn't forget to give a little reminder.

"Alright, thanks for the reminder!" she said graciously.

"Qianqian, can you give me an autograph?"

"Can I take a photo with you?"

"Me too, me too!"

"..."

Liu Qianqian was visibly flattered.

In the past, when she walked down the street, not many recognized her, let alone asked for an autograph or photo.

Fortunately, her professional skills were firm, and she displayed a gentle smile: "Thank you for your support, okay, one by one, everyone please be patient."

She cooperatively signed autographs and posed for photos.

Watching from beside her, Ma Yong looked on enviously.

His seniority and fame were both above Liu Qianqian's, yet his popularity was far less than hers!

At this time, his WeChat notification sounded on his phone.

It was a message from Director Zhang about last night's "Eight O'Clock News" ratings.

He was shocked by what he saw.

"Yong, what's wrong?" Liu Qianqian asked curiously, seeing Ma Yong's eyes widen.

"Oh, it's Director Zhang who sent me the ratings from last night."

"And what was the rating?" she asked, looking tense.

"Wow!"

Ma Yong didn't immediately answer, but let out a long sigh.

Liu Qianqian's heart sank, worried that low ratings would lead the leaders to blame her and reopen old grievances...

But as she was worrying herself sick, she saw Ma Yong, who had just sighed, suddenly break into a laugh, looking skyward and laughing heartily, "The rating is 20%."

Wow!

That high?

Previously, it had always hovered around 8%!

The reason for the high rating, could it possibly be because of Boss Huang?!

She recalled that the top two local trending topics were all about Boss Huang!

That's what she thought.

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