Chapter 18

"It's because you take good care of grandma and stay with her all the time. You're much better than me and your dad. If you leave and grandma faints again, what will we do?"

Zhong Miao frowned and just looked at An An.

After all, he is a four-year-old child, and it is the time when he needs to feel his existence. When he heard that he was better than his parents, he felt quite proud and did not feel that he was being fooled at all.

"That won't do. My dad said that grandma can't faint again."

"That's right. Grandma can't live without you, and this family can't live without you. Without our An'an, this family will fall apart."

Zhong Miao spoke as if it were true. Pei Ze sat beside her and looked at her with a wicked smile. His beautiful black eyes seemed to say, "Fool, and more fooling around."

Seeing that An An was still hesitating, Zhong Miao stepped up and said, "An An, you have contributed so much to this family. You are a responsible boy. You will definitely take good care of grandma, right? Grandma's health depends entirely on you."

When An An heard that his status in the family was so high, he said, "Well, then I won't go. I have to take care of grandma." He was still a little ashamed. His annoying attitude just now was not like a man at all.

"Well, then you take good care of grandma and this family. When your dad and I come back, there will be a reward."

When the little guy heard there was a reward, his eyes lit up, "Then I want cat ears and milk candy."

"Okay, I see. There are cat ears and candies, plus a mysterious reward."

When An An heard about the mysterious reward, she pulled her mother's hand and asked, "What is the mysterious reward? What is it?"

"You'll only know about the secret rewards when they're distributed. Telling you in advance won't work. Just wait for me to come back, and you'll know then."

An An was looking forward to it and was thinking about what the mysterious reward was. Not to mention going to the city, even her grandmother was forgotten.

Zhong Miao felt quite emotional at the fact that An An was so well behaved. In those days when supplies were scarce, even children were so easy to fool. She was not so well behaved when she was a child, which made her old father very worried.

Zhang Weilan found it interesting to see her daughter-in-law coaxing her grandson, and gave her a thumbs-up with her eyes.

That night, Pei Ze slept soundly as if he had eaten a poisonous mushroom. He was a million miles away from Zhong Miao, and Zhong Miao ignored him. After taking a bath at night, she was already sleepy and fell asleep.

Pei Ze still couldn't fall asleep. Looking at his wife sleeping soundly on the kang on the other side, he felt very annoyed. What a heartless girl.

-

Qingzhou City, the capital of Qingzhou Province, is the city that the villagers talk about on a daily basis.

The streets are bustling with people, and those driving ox carts and horse carriages are usually running small businesses such as selling fruits.

There are also quite a few bicycles, and most of the people riding them are factory workers wearing factory uniforms.

There are also some young people dressed fashionably, who seem out of place with the simple attire of others.

Zhong Miao looked at the city that was both familiar and unfamiliar, and couldn't help but feel a little emotional.

The skyscrapers of the past are now just bungalows and small low buildings. Although it is not prosperous, it has a more lively and lively atmosphere. People's faces are less indifferent and alienated, and have more peaceful smiles.

Zhong Miao and Pei Ze were sitting on the ox cart, Erwa was driving the cart, and Zhong Ming also came out with them, but he left on his own as soon as he entered the city.

Zhong Miao was worried about her father and wanted to go with him to see what was happening, but her father refused to agree and told them to go and do their own thing.

Pei Ze wanted to see how Zhong Miao would react when she entered the city, but Zhong Miao was afraid of the cold, so she wrapped herself up like a ball. Her little face was wrapped in the scarf, revealing only a pair of dark brown eyes that looked around.

The ox cart was moving slowly when a bicycle passed them. On the bicycle was a couple, or perhaps a newly married couple. They were wearing the same factory uniforms. The girl was hugging the boy's slender waist intimately. Zhong Miao looked over curiously.

"What's wrong? Are you envious? Everyone else has bicycles, but you can only ride a bullock cart. Are you ashamed?"

Pei Ze has a sharp tongue and his words are always full of thorns. He also often attacks indiscriminately in a wide range. Not to mention Zhong Miao, even his old mother would occasionally fall into his trap.

"Ah? Why is it embarrassing? I just think that girl's butt would be hurt if she sat on the back of the bicycle. It's so cold, and the seat must be freezing cold. How can it be comfortable?"

Zhong Miao pointed to the thick cushion under his buttocks and said, "This one won't feel cold when sitting on it, and it's soft."

Pei Ze was speechless. He suspected that this wife was sent by God to deal with him. What kind of train of thought was this? Who would want to ride an ox cart when they can have a bicycle? Who cares if it's cold or uncomfortable? Who cares about that?

In fact, it was Zhong Miao's first time to ride in an ox cart. How could she understand this? In her impression, a cow was always more valuable than a bicycle. She also couldn't understand Pei Ze's train of thought. If there was any envy, shouldn't the one riding the bicycle envy the one riding the ox cart?

"What's being sold in front? Why are there so many people there?" Zhong Miao asked curiously.

It was a small shop. On top of the big pot at the door were layers of steamers, still emitting steam. There were a few people queuing in front.

"Selling buns, you want some? Are you hungry?"

"I'm not hungry, just a little cold, but I can't walk anymore." Zhong Miao was not interested in buns. If it was her favorite, she would eat it even if she was not hungry.

It took nearly three hours to walk along the way. Zhong Miao felt cold, so he got off the bus to walk for a while before getting back on the bus. Their village was relatively close to the city, but many of the surrounding villages were farther away from the city.

"Then I'll take you to eat something hot at noon. Just bear with me, it won't be far away."

"Um."

After about ten minutes, they finally arrived at the gate of Qingzhou Academy of Fine Arts. Zhong Miao's eyes stopped at a shop next to the gate, Zhuangyuan Art Supplies Store.

Haha, it’s quite familiar. Although the name is different, the store is still the same store, just a lot more run-down than in the previous life.

The couple got out of the car. Pei Ze asked Erwa to go to the furniture factory first, and he took Zhong Miao into Qingmei.

Walking on the campus, Zhong Miao truly had a feeling of being across a century. In his previous life, Qingmei had several teaching buildings, one for the Sculpture Department, one for the Painting Department, and there were also buildings for fashion design, industrial design, environmental design, animation, photography, fine arts, and so on.

In addition to these teaching buildings, there are also exhibition halls, libraries and other buildings, as well as many dormitory buildings.

But the tallest building in Qingmei is the small three-story dormitory building at the back. The others are bungalows and small two-story buildings. The chimneys on the roofs are still smoking, which means they are lighting stoves to keep warm in winter.

Pei Ze was holding a wrapped paper roll in his hand. It contained some sketches that Zhong Miao had drawn recently. He thought it would be a good idea to come here in vain, so he might as well let someone see the paintings.

The Sculpture Department is located in a row of small bungalows, with all kinds of tools and materials piled up outside, a bit like a construction site, with large pieces of stone and wood, and all kinds of things.

After entering the door, there is a long corridor on the left and a row of studios on the right.

As soon as he walked in, he heard the crackling sound of sawing wood coming from inside, which made Zhong Miao feel a little toothache.

Pei Ze took Zhong Miao directly to the third studio. The door of the studio was not closed. There were only three people inside, and the person Pei Ze was looking for was also there.

Pei Ze knocked on the door, attracting the attention of several people.

"Hey, Brother Pei is here, who is this?"

The young man put down the hand saw, put the wooden strip aside, and immediately came forward. Seeing that there was a tightly wrapped girl next to Pei Ze, he couldn't help but ask.

"Ah, this is my wife Zhong Miao, and this is Zhou Zhu. You can just call him Brother Zhou. He's a junior in the sculpture department. My wife wants to apply to a fine arts college, so I decided to bring her over to see it."

"Oh, that's great. There's only one girl in our sculpture department, and there are more men than women. But my sister-in-law is so small that she's going to suffer."

"Uh, Brother Zhou, I wanted to apply to the oil painting department." Zhong Miao reminded him. Sculpture? Oh, she didn't even dare to think about it.

"Ah? I told you, how can a girl like you do such heavy work? But oil painting is not easy either, Chinese painting is okay." Zhou Zhu suggested sincerely.

"Well, Chinese painting is also good, but oil painting is more suitable for me." Zhong Miao expressed his thoughts.

"Hahaha, I was overthinking it. My sister-in-law is quite understanding."

"Zhou Zhu, can you please take a look at these paintings of your sister-in-law? How about applying to the oil painting department she mentioned? Is there any hope?"

Pei Ze didn't know what oil painting was. He just heard it from his wife. In fact, he couldn't tell the difference between oil painting and gouache and watercolor.

"Okay, how old is my sister-in-law?"

"Twenty." Pei Ze handed the scroll to Zhou Zhu.

"Ah? Brother, you are so lucky." Zhou Zhu's fingers were nimble and he quickly opened the paper scroll.

The first one was a self-portrait of Zhong Miao, which stunned Zhou Zhu. It was beautiful, the painting was beautiful, and the girl in the painting was also beautiful. He put away his smile and became serious.

The second picture is of Zhong Ming. This picture is not only beautiful, but also shows solid basic skills in structure, light and shadow, and portrayal.

Moreover, in addition to the basic skills, this painting also has a very personal style, and the subjective handling method is very powerful. The expression is simply that of an expert among experts.

The third painting was of Pei Ze. After Zhou Zhu finished looking at the painting, he stared at Zhong Miao in shock. "Sister-in-law, this is too amazing! I think it would be difficult to draw something similar like this."

"Yeah." Zhong Miao was not polite at all. As an artist, there is no need to be modest. Good is good.

"Come with me, my skills are limited, let my teacher show my sister-in-law."

Zhou Zhu was in a hurry and led the way deeper into the corridor after he finished speaking.

"Okay, thank you very much."

Although Pei Ze thought Zhong Miao's painting was good, he didn't expect it to receive such high praise.

He glanced at Zhong Miao beside him. This girl was surprisingly calm. Shouldn't she be happy to receive such a high evaluation? Why wasn't she excited at all?

Of course, there was nothing to be excited about. Not to mention how many exhibitions she had participated in and how many awards she had won in her previous life, there were already several versions of her work albums.

Many of her early color sketches were included in art exam preparation books, but she was not very interested in teaching and devoted all her energy to creation.

The three of them came to the teacher's office at the end of the corridor, and Zhou Zhu knocked on the door carefully.

"Come in." It was a very hoarse male voice.

When he pushed the door open, the other person saw his student coming with two strangers and holding paintings in his hands. He understood that they were here to see his paintings again.

"Teacher Li, take a look at this."

Zhou Zhu immediately spread out the paintings on the teacher's desk, keeping them away from his aluminum lunch box for fear that they would get wet.

Li Sanshan glanced sideways casually, and just as he was about to turn around and say something, he immediately shifted his gaze back to the painting.

"Did you draw this?" Li Sanshan looked at Pei Ze.

"No, this one was painted by my wife."

Li Sanshan looked at the little girl beside him with a look of disbelief.

Zhong Miao had just recovered from her shock and immediately took off the scarf that covered half of her face, revealing her fair and pretty face. "Hello, Teacher Li."