Wu Shuqin finally recovered from the shock. She maintained a bold front and stared back and said, “Feng Qingru, don’t scream and shout to me because you are a gifted embroidery artificer. What she embroidered is rubbish. Do you want us to wait for that rubbish?! Why are you scolding me?”
After hearing what Wu Shuqin had said, those senior lecturers who hadn’t reached the level of a top embroidery artificer couldn’t help but nod and echo one after another,
“Lecturer Wu is right. Since Su Li made a mistake, she should stop it.”
“I have had the same idea earlier.”
“…”
The scene was getting more disorderly. Wen Ruomin saw the situation was unfavorable and slowly said with a snort louder than the clamor, “Be quiet! How inappropriate it is! Wu Shuqin, I am in charge of the examination and haven’t said a word to that. Why are you shouting? Do you want to replace my position?”
Wen Ruomin said slowly and placidly, but her words generated boundless pressure out of nowhere. Wu Shuqin suddenly shook under the pressure in a cold sweat. She lowered down her head and said, “Dean, I… I didn’t mean that! I am… A little impatient! I said that for the sake of other people. Now that she can’t pass the examination, why are we wasting time here?”
Feng Qingru instantly laughed out loud when she saw Wu Shuqin was still assured and bold with reason. She pointed to Su Li and coldly said, “Wu Shuqin, keep your eyes open. If it were rubbish, your work would have been nonsense!”
“Qingru!”
“You are a teacher. How can you talk like that? Copy the Book of Rites for three hundred times and give it to me in three days.” Wen Ruomin sharply said looking a little stern.
Feng Qingru’s anger instantly disappeared after Wen Ruomin scolded her. She cooled down and said, “I obey your command. But… Su Li’s embroidery skills are actually better than mine. All of us aren’t qualified to judge her work. Can you take it to Lecturer Gong?”
All those present were shocked after they hearing what she said.
Didn’t Feng Qingru provoke Su Li a little while ago? Why was she changing her attitude and helping Su Li?
“Feng Qingru, what nonsense are you talking about?!”
Wu Shuqin jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on and said angrily, “Su Li obviously made a mistake, so, she doesn’t deserve to be a lecturer. You let the dean send such a thing to Lecturer Gong. What are you trying to do?”
Feng Qingru thought a great deal of her and had always looked down upon the common embroidery artificers. So, she had never liked her. Feng Qingru was openly against her unexpectedly.
Even she was unqualified to send her embroidery works to Lecturer Gong. If Wen Ruomin actually sent it, how could she swallow the humiliation?!
“Hmm. How interesting! Someone doesn’t have any skills but is so jealous.”
Feng Qingru said sarcastically. She quickly left the seat and walked to Su Li. She couldn’t help but feel sorry after she saw the scene that Su Li held her right hand, with the blood on her fingertip drying off. If she had not looked down upon Su Li in the first place, Wu Shuqin and others wouldn’t have misunderstood her.
But there were so many people there. She couldn’t utter the three words.
Su Li smiled after seeing that. Then she separated the embroidery work from the embroidery board, cut off the thread and took down the needle. Finally, she handed the half-finished embroidery to Feng Qingru.
There seemed to have a hint of friendliness in Su Li’s placid smile. Feng Qingru felt guilty and took the embroidery work with great care.
Although Wen Ruomin was not good at embroidery, she had unique appreciation ability under the influence of her friends. She could see the uniqueness of Su Li’s embroidery skills at the first glance.
“Is it… the Dahan flower needling skill?”
Wen Ruomin’s eyes brightened and she beamed with happiness. Although she couldn’t see much in it, she had already known Su Li’s achievement on the senior embroidery skills from the neat needling, the smooth, lifelike and unbroken pattern and the speed. Maybe her embroidery skills were even better than Feng Qingru’s.
That alone could make Su Li a well-deserved embroidery artificer.
“Well done!”
Wen Ruomin couldn’t help but stand up in excitement and sighed, “I have never thought Ning Qing would bring a talent to our college. Su Li, would you like to teach the embroidery?”
Su Li promptly stood up. She nodded and said, “I certainly would like to do that.”
Wu Shuqin was dumbfounded and didn’t know what to do when she saw the result.
Wen Ruomin would never have partiality for anybody because of her temperament. That was to say… That embroidery wasn’t rubbish at all. It was because her ability of appreciation was so poor!
The surrounding embroidery lecturers were eager to see it, and they couldn’t help but leave their seats to watch it. People gathered around Wen Ruomin in no time.
Then a burst of exclamation occurred from time to time.
“Ah! The embroidery skill… Although I can’t completely understand it, it is good!”
“How can she end stitches at such an angle? It is amazing!”
“What a pity! The pattern is unfinished. Is it a river? It actually gives me sense of glittering!”
“If Wu Shuqin hadn’t stopped it, we could have seen the full pattern…”
“Yes…”
Many people who had taunted Su Li with Wu Shuqin couldn’t help but beat their chests and stamp their feet. They began to blame Wu Shuqin one after another.
Wu Shuqin stood still there with a pale face. She also wanted to see it. Although she opened her mouth, she couldn’t find any word to say.
“All right. Don’t gossip.”
After all, they were all lecturers. Wen Ruomin didn’t want to make Wu Shuqin too embarrassed. She put away Su Li’s embroidery work and stood up with a smile. Then she said, “Su Li, I am sorry but you have to live in the temporary yard for another day before Vice-dean Gong evaluates your work so that we can decide your lecturer rank.”
Wen Ruomin let all people leave after she finished her words. Then she left from the side door with a cane.
Seeing Wen Ruomin left, Su Li immediately turned away. She didn’t notice that the room was unusually quiet. Feng Qingru saw that Su Li was going to disappear and nerved her to catch up.
A heated discussion erupted in the room after the two left for a long time.
“Gosh! What did Dean Wen say? Was there any problem with my ears?!”
“No one has been recruited as a second-class lecturer in the Girls’ College of Literature for more than ten years…”
“Does it mean that Su Li is not only the youngest lecturer in the school’s history but also the youngest second-class lecturer?”
“Hiss…”
Hearing the discussions, Wu Shuqin felt ashamed and walked away quickly. Her figure looked very dispirited and caused many people to secretly laugh.
“Su Li, wait for me!”
Su Li stopped walking and turned around when she heard the shout from behind.
“Su Li, you are really quick.”
Feng Qingru ran to Su Li. Seeing Su Li’s calm expression, she instantly felt embarrassed and didn’t know how to place her hands. She whispered bashfully after a long time,
“I am very sorry for what has happened.”
Looking at Feng Qingru’s young face, Su Li shook her head and smiled. She said, “You did nothing wrong; instead, I should thank you for the support.”
“No, no, no.” Feng Qingru quickly waved her hand. With her face turning slightly red, she said, “I was wrong. It is a truth. I won’t cover it up.”
Su Li felt awkward and said, “Well, I accept your apology. Is there anything else?”
Feng Qingru’s smile disappeared. She rolled her eyes to make sure that there isn’t anyone else. Then she held Su Li’s hand and said, “Are you returning to the temporary yard? We can talk while walking. By the way, do you know that the lectures in the Girls’ College of Literature are also graded?”
Su Li nodded and said, “I heard of it from Dean Wen and noticed that other people looked surprised. Is there something unusual?”
“So, you have noticed it.”
Feng Qingru smiled radiantly. In this life, she was cheerful at her age. In the previous life, however, she was very calm. It’s quite different!
“In our college, students are taught in accordance of their aptitude. So, students in different levels will be assigned with different lecturers. Since new lecturers usually aren’t fully competent, they are third-class lecturers. Only when their teaching skills are improved and examined will they be promoted to the second class. But you stand a good chance of becoming a second-class lecturer directly.”
Su Li slightly raised her eyebrows and said, “What are the benefits of a second-class lecturer?”
“There are many benefits!”
Seeing that she had aroused Su Li’s interest, Feng Qingru immediately seized the opportunity and said, “Besides imparting skills, self-development is also important to the young lecturers like us. The college will certainly attach importance to that. So, the higher level means more free time and fewer classes. Moreover, there is a lot of commission for each lesson. A higher-level lecturer can get more shares, so there is no need to worry about lack of money during the research.”
Su Li nodded repeatedly. The rule fully met the principles of the college. More importantly, she was satisfied with that very much. After all, teaching at the Girls’ School wasn’t her real purpose. She expected to have more time to read rare books of the school.
Then Feng Qingru chatted with Su Li on the way, and they reached the temporary yard pretty soon.
“I have arrived. Thanks for your company.” Su Li turned around and said with a faint smile while pointing to the doorplate.
Feng Qingru was slightly stunned. She had never thought that the road was so short. She even hadn’t figured out how to talk about her purpose.
“Su Li, I…”
Feng Qingru wished to speak but stopped on a second thought in a sweat resulting from anxiousness. She finally got up the courage to speak, but the words changed when they nearly came out, “Su Li, I also learn the Dahan flower needling skill. What a coincidence!”
Feng Qingru nearly cried when she said the words.
However, Su Li nearly laughed out. Feng Qingru was so cute. Why hadn’t she found it in the previous life?
“Such a coincidence!”
Su Li wittily blinked her eyes and said, “Thanks for your support today. In return, how about exchanging our embroidery boards for teaching and communicating with each other on embroidery more often?”
“Really?”
Feng Qingru was so happy that she nearly jumped up. She intended to ask Su Li to teach the special embroidery skill that she had demonstrated in the examination, but it seemed to be too shameless to say it. Therefore, she didn’t say it out.
However, if she could get Su Li’s embroidery board, she would surely have some comprehension with her ability. She clearly knew that her embroidery board wouldn’t help Su Li at all. Su Li said they should communicate with each other, but in fact, it was Su Li that would teach her.
“Of course.”
Su Li smiled and slightly nodded. She felt peaceful when she saw Feng Qingru beamed with happiness.
“I just return it to its original owner. As reward, I will teach you the embroidery skills in advance in this life so that you can go further on the path of the embroidery…”
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