The Pulitzer Prize for Journalism, as the highest international award in the field of news, is hailed as the “Nobel Prize of Journalism.”
Under it are 14 journalism awards and 7 creation awards.
And this photograph titled Protect won the most weighty of them, the “Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography.”
In the photo, a woman kneels on the ground, her hands instinctively shielding the child. Her eyes are tightly shut as tears streak across her ash-gray cheeks, leaving behind two dark tear tracks.
Her protective suit is torn, the protective mask is gone, and blood stains wind along her arm.
A man spreads his arms wide, pulling her and the small girl into his embrace, using his broad chest to build a wall of life for them.
His pitch-black eyes stare straight ahead, calm and sharp, carrying the resolve and fortitude of calmly going to one’s death.
Around them are exploding mushroom clouds and sand flying across the sky, thick smoke rolling, dense fog blotting out the sun.
In the lower right corner of the photo is a line of small text, “Taken on 2052.5.2, Kenny Bay Resettlement Camp.”
In the text description section is the author’s introduction: Mai Lehui, foreign correspondent dispatched by Huaxin News Agency, born in J Province in 20xx, graduated from Huaxia University of Media and Communications, stationed long-term in northern F Continent, has reported on The 11.25 Great Bombing, The Village Attacked by Beasts…
Following that are the comments given by the Pulitzer Prize Selection Committee for the winning work,
Protect, protection, defense.
Borderless aid forces have protected tens of thousands of Schankwo-infected patients in F Continent. On this barren land, what the world sees is not only the ravaging of the virus, but also kindness in bloom.
The award announcement was personally made by the president of Columbia University, after which the winning work was publicly displayed on the Pulitzer official website.
When the news returned to the country, the journalism world was shaken.
One must know that although this award has no nationality restrictions, it is extremely rare for Huaxia people to receive it.
Even Mai Lehui himself was caught completely off guard.
Major media outlets called the Huaxin News Agency where he worked.
Huaxin News Agency was stunned by the sudden enthusiasm of a crowd of peers. After understanding the whole story, they very regretfully stated, Reporter Mai was still in F Continent and it was inconvenient for him to accept interviews.
Although the main character didn’t appear, this was a first-class, top-tier joyous event for Huaxia’s journalism and newspaper circles, so the spectacle naturally couldn’t be lacking.
Reports had to be done, right? Arrange it!
Trending searches had to be pushed, right? Get it going!
Although peers celebrated and news poured out, after all, the Pulitzer is just an industry award. For some outsiders, they might not even have heard of it, at most only knowing the word “Nobel.”
Originally, it was thought that after an industry-wide carnival, the matter would be over. But unexpectedly, after the trending search term 【Huaxia Journalist Wins Pulitzer Prize】 hung at the bottom of the list for two hours, it suddenly, for no apparent reason, shot up to third place on the trending list.
And the two terms ahead of it were respectively,
【Jiang Fuyue Pulitzer】
【Are they hugging】
Both were tagged with the “explosive” label.
“W-what’s going on?”
“Are us news people really that impressive?”
“Looking at these trending searches is making me a bit dizzy.”
“Is April Fool’s Day here?”
“I’m really baffled, what does the Pulitzer have to do with Jiang Fuyue? Why is she trending?”
“I remember the Pulitzer doesn’t even give out science awards, right?”
“……”
A group of people, carrying doubts, confusion, incomprehension… all kinds of complex emotions, clicked in.
Then, they were stunned on the spot,
“The woman in the photo is Jiang Fuyue?!”
“Holy, that was helicopter bombing! She’s way too gutsy!”
“I thought she went to F Continent just to stay in a lab and do research. I didn’t expect it to be this dangerous.”
“It’s said that the little girl she’s protecting is the one with innate antibodies, and it’s also because of her that Jiang Fuyue was able to discover F active enzyme.”
“But! None of that is the point! The point is! The man who’s holding Jiang Fuyue and the little girl, using his body as cover, is actually Professor Xie, Xie Dingyuan!”
Not only were journalists shocked, the internet was in an uproar.
There were those who felt heartache for Jiang Fuyue.
“Goddess Yue has suffered so much, there’s so much blood on her hands, wuwu!”
“Baby, my heart hurts.”
“Do those people who say ‘wasn’t it just discovering F active enzyme, she was just lucky to run into someone with innate antibodies’ have any conscience? Does your face hurt? If you’ve got the guts, go risk your life and experience helicopter carpet bombing yourself! D*mn it!”
There were also those crazily cheering for Jiang Fuyue,
“Seeing this photo, I finally understand why the person standing at today’s height, enjoying flowers and applause, is Jiang Fuyue! Because she deserves it!”
“She uses life to protect life, to save more lives.”
“As a Huaxia person, I feel incomparably proud and honored.”
“The backbone of the nation, unbending, unbroken!”
“The first time seeing Goddess Yue shed tears. How desperate must she have been at that moment?”
“Where the heart is tied, where love is given, never forgetting the original intention, love without borders, this is Goddess Yue!”
“The person I admire is not a stream, but the sea; not a plain, but a mountain.”
Besides that, in the comment section there was also a “hidden” force,
“Ahem! Although I know saying this is a bit inappropriate, but does no one really think Sister Yue and Professor Xie are very… well-matched? (super quietly)”
“Forgive me for actually letting my imagination run wild under such a positive-energy post. But the scene of Professor Xie pulling Sister Yue into his arms is just too swoon-worthy! Ahhh! I can’t control myself!”
“So, are there any CP shippers?”
“Quietly raising my hand (mainly afraid of being flamed)”
“Since you know you’ll be flamed, what are the few upstairs doing?”
“Every day, TV dramas, variety shows, interviews, plus those devilish mashup edits on that small broken site still can’t satisfy your group of love-brained, single-celled creatures’ nasty tastes? You just have to pull this kind of messy nonsense in such a solemn and serious setting!”
“Truly disgusting mother opening the door for disgusting, disgusting to the extreme!”
“A bunch of cockroaches!”
“Sister Yue risked her life, Professor Xie stood righteously, yet you people look at a single embrace and make it so filthy.”
“Reported.”
Overwhelming accusations and abuse surged in like a tide. Those CP-shipping netizens were sprayed into sieves in the blink of an eye, not daring to make a sound.
Soon, the comment section returned to calm, filled entirely with voices of praise and eulogy.
“Sister Yue protects the little girl, the professor protects her, this is the backbone of Huaxia’s sons and daughters!”
“The professor is handsome, Sister Yue is dashing!”
“The current and future top-tier figures of Huaxia’s academic world are all in this one photo.”
“……”
At the same time, inside a group chat named “YuanYue Processing Sugar Plant”,
YuanYue’s Little Button: 【Wuwu! This is so bullying!】
YuanYue’s Little Underwear: 【I’m going to be furious to death! Shipping candy is already hard enough, and we still have to be personally attacked】
YuanYue’s Little Heart: 【？？？】
YuanYue’s Little Belly: 【What happened?】
YuanYue’s Little Button directly threw out two screenshots, it was exactly the comments on Weibo where they were being chased and dissed by a group of keyboard warriors.
YuanYue’s Big BoBo: 【Didn’t we agree to only eat candy internally? How did you guys promote it to Weibo?】
YuanYue’s Little Underwear: 【BoBo, did you not go on Weibo today?】
YuanYue’s Big BoBo: 【Uh… I was lining up to enter the venue for Subject Three, so I didn’t scroll [wipe sweat]. So, did something big happen?】
YuanYue’s Little Button: 【This is huge. Just look】
Nothing needed to be said, just sending that Pulitzer-winning photo made everything clear at a glance.
YuanYue’s Big BoBo: 【Holy crap! That’s my YueYue and YuanYuan?!】
Recognized them at a single glance, true love, no doubt.
【Yes.】
YuanYue’s Big BoBo: 【Oh my god! The candy is here! Inhale violently! Heaven! They even hugged! Hugged! There’s gentleness in YuanYuan’s eyes besides determination, it must be for YueYue’s sake! Aooo! KSWL (I’m dead from shipping)!】
YuanYue’s Little Belly: 【BoBo, you’re way too slow on the uptake. Clicking into the trending search shows this photo. I was so sweetened on the spot that my soul left my body and my brain went dizzy!】
YuanYue’s Little Heart: 【Me too! Me too! Before, we could only scrape candy from the cracks. Who knew one day we’d actually be soaking in a honey jar? Ah! Happiness came so suddenly~】
YuanYue’s Little Underwear: 【This photo alone can make me imagine a two-million-word long romance novel. It’s too good to ship!】
YuanYue’s Big BoBo: 【I’m shocked! So you all saw it already? Why didn’t you come to the group to give a heads-up? It made me miss so much candy [angry]】
YuanYue’s Little Heart: 【Aiya, we were just busy inhaling candy and forgot to say it in the group. It’s been hanging in the top three trending searches, I thought everyone had seen it】
YuanYue’s Little Underwear: 【But those scolding keyboard warriors really have no martial virtue! D*mn! They actually said that Little Button and I are disgusting!】
【Wuwuwu… If YueYue and YuanYuan really were a CP, let’s see if those haters would still dare to curse! Unfortunately…】
It’s fake.
Obviously the two of them look so perfectly matched, handsome man, beautiful woman; strong man, strong woman, so why aren’t they together?
Worry!
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