DO NOT VOTE!!
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Chapter 556: The Wen Family Encounters Trouble (2)
Translator: Exodus Tales
Editor: Exodus Tales
However, Cai Qinyue was thinking about something else in her mind. If it weren't for Master Liang, she would never bow her head to the Jian family. However, this time around, the Jian family had connections that they did not.
The Jian family was nothing in Beijing compared to the Wen family. If it weren't for this accident, the Wen family would never seek help from the Jian family.
On the other hand, Wen Nuan just wanted to have fun with her daughter today.
However, she quickly realized that her sister-in-law had other motives.
If she had known this in advance, Wen Nuan would have never agreed to Cai Qinyue.
However, Jian Yiling did not answer for a long time. When Wen Ruo saw this, she asked again: "Cousin, what do you think?"
"I don't think I have that sort of relationship with Master Liang. I don't want to owe him anything." Jian Yiling responded honestly.
She merely had a cooperative relationship with Master Liang.
Jian Yiling treated most people in this way. She made sure not to owe anyone anything.
However, the only exception was Zhai Yunsheng.
"However, he attended your birthday party. He even gave you a birthday present," Cai Qinyue said. If they were that close already, she wouldn't be owing him anything.
Upon hearing her sister-in-law speak again, Wen Nuan's face sank even more.
"Sister-in-law, Yiling already said that she doesn't want to owe Master Liang a favor."
"Wen Nuan, you need to understand the situation. This matter can become a big problem for the Wen family. In addition, you grew up in the Wen family. I'm your sister-in-law. Just because you don't want to owe someone else a favor, would you not care about your relatives when they're in trouble?"
Wen Nuan stared at Cai Qinyue. If she was saying this to her today, then Wen Nuan would be willing to accept these words.
However, this was her daughter. Her daughter did not owe the Wen family! And thus, Wen Nuan began to become frustrated.
Furthermore, Cai Qinyue had never mentioned this before now. Previously, she merely said that they were going to go shopping.
"Yiling, let's go," Wen Nuan said. She picked up her bag to leave.
When Cai Qinyue saw Wen Nuan do this, her temper began to flare as well.
"I'm your sister-in-law! I'm just asking you to help! Do you have to be like this?!"
"If you want us to help, just say so in advance! However, you can't trick us like this! Furthermore, you heard what Yiling said! You're the one who is unwilling to relent. You said that we're going to go shopping together, however, you only want Yiling to help you solve your problem!"
Wen Ruo gently tugged at Wen Nuan's arm. She attempted to console her mother and her aunt: "Please don't argue. It's nothing much. It's okay if Yiling does not want to help us. We just mentioned it in passing. We're not demanding you to help us. Furthermore, my mother is just stressed about the situation. She's not being unrelenting about it."
Upon hearing this, Cai Qinyue said: "That's true. My daughter is most reasonable."
However, Wen Nuan still decided to leave.
She did not have a good relationship with her daughter in the first place. She did not want to keep her in such an awkward situation.
###
When Zhai Yunsheng got home, he realized that his little rabbit had gotten into a daze four times today.
It seemed as though his little rabbit had encountered some kind of problem.
And thus, Zhai Yunsheng poured Jian Yiling a cup of warm milk. Then, he asked her: "What's the problem?"
Jian Yiling was wearing a white velvet nightgown. The gown was a little puffy. It made her look small and cute.
In addition, the nightgown only reached her knees. Her slim calves were exposed and her small feet were tucked away into her cotton slippers.
She was too damn cute.
•••
Chapter 557: What About Me?
Translator: Exodus Tales
Editor: Exodus Tales
Zhai Yunsheng hurriedly moved his gaze away.
He couldn't look at her any longer.
And thus, Jian Yiling told Zhai Yunsheng about the two matters that she had doubts for.
The first matter was related to Jian Yubo. Jian Yubo transferred all of his shares to the grandchildren of the Jian family. However, he didn't leave any of the shares for himself.
The second matter was the encounter today with Cai Qinyue and Wen Ruo.
In regards to the first matter, she was worried about Jian Yubo.
On the other hand, for the second matter, Jian Yiling wasn't sure about whether she dealt with the matter correctly.
She wanted to handle such problems better in the future.
"Regarding the second matter, I feel like you handled the situation correctly. Just ignore them. You did the correct thing. In the future, no matter what you encounter, you should always follow your heart. Don't deliberately cater to their views. If something really happens to you, I will take care of it for you."
"Regarding the first matter, I can help you find Jian Yubo. I will ask him what he really wants."
It was a simple brute force way to solve the problem.
Zhai Yunsheng was used to solving problems this way.
"Don't force him," Jian Yiling said as she shook her head. She did not want to force Jian Yubo to do anything.
Zhai Yunsheng smiled before he said: "Well, stop worrying then."
"I'm not worrying," Jian Yiling replied. From her perspective, she was merely thinking about the problem.
However, Zhai Yunsheng saw the situation differently. Whenever Jian Yiling was in a daze, it made him want to tease and make fun of her.
"By the way, who are you knitting the sweater for?" Zhai Yunsheng asked. He noticed the sweater next to Jian Yiling's hands.
It was Jian Yiling's habit to knit in her breaks. She took this opportunity to take a break from using her brain.
Jian Yiling began to knit this sweater after she moved into this apartment.
The sweater was about to be finished.
"It's for Jian Yubo," Jian Yiling replied.
However, this was not the answer that Zhai Yunsheng wanted.
"What about me?" Zhai Yunsheng asked as he gazed at Jian Yiling. His burning eyes revealed a slither of hope.
His expression was slightly embarrassed as well.
After all, he could receive a merciless response from this little rabbit. Sometimes, she couldn't understand what he meant. And thus, it could be quite embarrassing to receive a such a response.
Zhai Yunsheng did not mind losing face in front of other people. However, it was different in front of Jian Yiling.
"You don't wear turtleneck sweaters," Jian Yiling responded quite seriously.
This answer made Zhai Yunsheng quite happy.
Oh? She remembered his habits?
"I will wear it if you knit one for me," Zhai Yunsheng responded. His eyes and lips were filled with smiles. "I will only wear the ones that you knit."
Jian Yiling blinked her eyes twice before she stared at Zhai Yunsheng. After a while, she said: "Okay, I will knit a sweater for you next."
Ahhh, she was in a daze again. Whenever she was in a daze... He wanted to tease her... With a kiss.
"Okay," Zhai Yunsheng replied happily.
"Do you want yellow or green1?" Jian Yiling asked.
"Why those two colors?" Zhai Yunsheng replied with a frown.
"You like those colors."
"I don't like those colors."
"But your car?"
"Oh, that was random."
"Huh?" Such an explanation was not very convincing to Jian Yiling.
"Well, I don't like those two colors. Pick a normal color for me."
When Zhai Yunsheng chose a color for his car, he picked colors that people typically would not choose.
There weren't many green cars on the road.
However, he switched his car from green to yellow because of her1.
And now, she was asking him whether he wanted a green sweater?
Anyone could give him a green gift1, however, she must not.
•••
Chapter 558: Inter-University Talent Contest (1)
Translator: Exodus Tales
Editor: Exodus Tales
Cai Qinyue was incredibly frustrated about the incident.
However, she did not want to ask Jian Yiling and Wen Nuan for help again.
She never liked the Jian family in the first place. Begging them once was already embarrassing enough. She couldn't get over the hurdle in her own heart to ask them again.
Furthermore, she argued with Jian Yiling and Wen Nuan the last time.
And thus, Cai Qinyue decided to go to visit Master Liang. She planned to ask him for help directly.
Typically, Master Liang did not see anyone if they did not have an appointment with him. However, as Cai Qinyue stated that she was Jian Yiling's aunt, Master Liang decided to meet her.
However, when Master Liang heard the reason for her visit, he decisively said no.
Furthermore, Liang Shuo said with certainty that she must have come here without Jian Yiling knowing.
After that, Liang Shuo asked Cai Qinyue to leave.
Cai Qinyue felt angry and humiliated when she left.
However, in the end, the matter was settled.
Wen Cheng asked one of his business friends to come and settle the matter. However, by doing so, he ended up spending a lot of money on this.
###
Beijing University had an inter-university talent contest. Many of the universities in Beijing participated in this talent contest.
This meant that the students who participated in the talent contest not only represented themselves, they also represented their university.
There were also scholarship prizes for the winners of the contest.
The three entries with the highest scores would receive a generous amount of money. In addition to the money, they would also win glory for their university.
Furthermore, the best entries would also be selected for an exhibition.
Wen Ruo's university was also participating in the talent contest.
Ever since young, whenever there was a talent-related contest at school or university, the teachers would immediately think of Wen Ruo. This time was no exception.
Wen Ruo took this talent contest very seriously as well. She spent a whole night planning a sketch of an ink wash painting. Then, she drew up the painting.
When Cai Qinyue saw her daughter's work, she was incredibly satisfied.
It seemed as though her daughter was yet again, going to win first place in a talent contest.
###
Jian Yiling's mentor signed Jian Yiling up for the talent contest as well.
The reason for this was because every mentor had to sign up one of their students.
Jian Yiling's current mentor only had one student.
And thus, Jian Yiling's mentor signed her up. She only had one student anyways. Who else would she sign up?
It was Jian Yiling's business whether or not she handed in a piece of work. Under such a situation, the quality of the work would not matter anyway.
However, surprisingly, Jian Yiling still handed in a piece of work.
She used fondant to create a pre-Tang dynasty beauty.
The craftsmanship of the work made the beauty look vivid and lifelike. Every detail on the eyes, nose, and mouth was portrayed.
The most amazing parts were the hair and clothes on the beauty.
The hair appeared to be as smooth as silk.
In addition, the clothes appeared to be flowing and graceful.
It was as though the beauty was alive and dancing in front of them.
Her mentor was stunned when she saw Jian Yiling's craftsmanship.
"Oh my goodness! I was just filling in your name as I didn't have any other students. However, now, it seems as though you're going to help our university win the prize!"
Jian Yiling's current mentor was a woman. She was in her early forties and was incredibly chill about everything.
She was stunned to see the work produced by her student. In fact, was she holding up her student with academic research? Jian Yiling could easily become an artist!
###
Out of all the works submitted, Wen Ruo's painting and Jian Yiling's sugar art were the works that stunned the judges the most.
Wen Ruo's ink wash painting was rendered with varying thicknesses and types of strokes. In addition, the concept and construction of the painting were incredible.
The judges recognized Wen Ruo's skills.
She was definitely a professional ink wash painter!
However, the sugar art beauty caught everyone's eyes.
That posture, those brows, and those eyes! They were so realistic!
•••
Chapter 559: Inter-University Talent Contest (2)
Translator: Exodus Tales
Editor: Exodus Tales
As this was only the preliminary round, the judges were not required to decide on a winner. In the final round of the talent contest, the contestants were required to create a piece of art on the spot. Then, student and teacher representatives would vote to determine the final ranking.
And thus, these two pieces of work were undoubtedly selected by the judges.
After the list of names was published on the official website, Wen Ruo was not surprised to see her name on the list.
However, why was Jian Yiling's name also on the list?
In her recollection, her cousin was ignorant and incompetent. She had no special skills at all. The only thing that she did was eat. Furthermore, she was pampered to oblivion by her brothers.
And thus, Wen Ruo talked to her mother about this matter in the evening.
"When did your cousin get artistic cells?"
"I don't know."
"Well, she has to create a piece of art on the spot for the final talent contest. I don't think she would register with a piece of work that isn't hers. Hm... It seems as though she inherited some of the artistic cells from the Wen family. By the way, do you know what she submitted?"
"I don't know about that either."
The website only published a list of names. It did not specify the works submitted by each contest.
"Hm... I'm curious as well. I wonder what talent she has."
"Well, you're going on the day anyway. You'll see it then, no?"
"Yeah, that's true."
###
When Grandma Jian heard that Jian Yiling was participating in a talent contest, she immediately ordered both of her daughters-in-law to go and support Jian Yiling.
The final rank did not matter. What mattered was participation!
However, Jian Yiling did not expect to see Wen Nuan and Nie Yun.
They even made a support sign for her...
The venue of the talent contest was inside a lecture hall of Beijing University. The capacity of the lecture hall was 1000 people.
Many parents showed up. However, not many people made a support sign. Nie Yun stood out from the crowd.
When Cai Qinyue saw Wen Nuan, she glanced at Nie Yun who was standing beside her. She subconsciously kept her distance from Nie Yun.
Nie Yun was from a well-off family. However, her behavior was quite wild and erratic.
On the other hand, Nie Yun did not care about her behavior at all. She adored her niece. What was wrong with giving her niece some support?
When Cai Qinyue's eyes met with Wen Nuan, the two of them looked away at almost the same time.
The situation still felt awkward from last time.
The rules of the contest were quite simple. All the contestants got onto the stage one after another to show off their talent.
The officials set a time limit of half an hour. This limit was quite unfriendly to some of the works which required a long time to complete.
However, to ensure the smooth running of the contest, this had to happen.
Among the crowd, only the first two rows were reserved for the parents and family members of the contestants. The student and teacher representatives from each university made up the rest of the crowd. Each of them had a vote in their hands.
The first person on the stage performed calligraphy. They wrote a handful of lines in front of the crowd.
The calligraphy was beautiful and the strokes were strong and powerful.
However, something was missing.
The calligraphy appeared to be a little puerile.
However, in terms of talent for a university student, this was already not bad.
However, Cai Qinyue looked at the calligraphy in disdain. This could not be compared to her daughter's work.
The second performance was a zither piece.
This performance was originally recorded and sent to the judges.
However, the effect of the live performance was much better.
Wen Ruo was fifth to go up.
She drew up an ink wash painting on the spot.
Wen Ruo's technique was sophisticated and her grip on the brush was strong.
She used a few strokes to outline the mountains and rivers. Then, after a few more strokes, she already created the artistic mood for her piece.
•••
Chapter 560: Inter-University Talent Contest (3)
Translator: Exodus Tales
Editor: Exodus Tales
Although most of the spectators could see how skilled Wen Ruo was, they did not understand the full extent of her abilities. However, those in the judging panel who had expertise in such an area were very impressed by Wen Ruo's abilities.
In fact, there was a judge who loved Wen Ruo's work. The judge could not help but praise Wen Ruo to the other judges around him.
Finally, Wen Ruo's ink wash painting was complete. The painting received unanimous praise from the crowd.
It was rare for a young girl to be able to paint such a skillful ink wash painting.
Thunderous applause could be heard from the lecture hall.
Everyone's applause was expressing their recognition of Wen Ruo.
The next few performances could not surpass Wen Ruo's work.
However, Jian Yiling was tenth.
As soon as Jian Yiling appeared, Nie Yun began cheering: "Yiling! Yiling! You're the best!"
Nie Yun was incredibly loud. Everyone turned around to look at her.
Ahhh, how embarrassing... Cai Qinyue thought in her heart. There was a hint of disgust that appeared in her eyes.
As soon as Jian Yiling appeared, the staff helped her bring up a table. Then, they brought up many bowls.
Upon seeing this, the crowd was incredibly puzzled.
How was this displaying talent?
Was she just here to cook?
It looked like there was a pile of ingredients.
A sneer appeared on Cai Qinyue's face. What the hell was Jian Yiling doing? Was she going to cook?
How did the judges let her pass the preliminary selection?
However, after a while, the crowd realized that there was sugar and fondant in the bowls.
As the performance time was limited, everything was brought to the stage in insulated containers.
And thus, Jian Yiling was going to use these ingredients to create a work of art.
At first, everyone was rather confused.
However, they saw Jian Yiling's hands move. Her hands were incredibly fast, yet every movement was quite precise.
She seemed to be very familiar with what she was doing.
Gradually, the work of art began to form in Jian Yiling's hands.
After a while, there were many more details on the piece. An intricate and refined figurine began to appear in front of the crowd.
It was exquisite and lifelike.
How was this even possible?! Could you really use sugar and fondant to create this?!
She was way too skillful with her hands!
Although the work of art was not yet completed, the audience was already stunned.
Lovers and enthusiasts of the two-dimensional world were incredibly fascinated by Jian Yiling's work. Furthermore, those who were interested in historical times were also intrigued by this piece of art.
Nie Yun could not help but praise her cutest niece: "As expected of Yiling! Her hands are amazing! In the past, she loved to eat sugar figurines and candy. However, she's making them by herself now! It's better than the ones seen in the malls!"
Wen Nuan gazed at the girl on the stage. The look in her eyes was soft and gentle.
Her daughter... Her daughter was becoming more and more capable.
Upon hearing Nie Yun's voice, Cai Qinyue laughed in her heart. So what? You would only see such arts on the street! This wasn't even comparable to traditional Chinese paintings!
Jian Yiling's work of art needed to take a while longer than the other contestants.
And thus, the crowd was a little worried about whether she could finish in the time limit of half an hour.
Jian Yiling started to create the clothes. The crowd watched in anticipation. They could see the details in the piece. However, what if she was eliminated because she could not finish in time?