The old man didn't care what Ni Sitian thought, but looked at Xu Tingchuan and said, "Come with me for tea."

Xu Tingchuan glanced at Ni Sitian, gave her a reassuring look, and then followed the old man to the tea room next door.

Ni Sitian stared blankly at the sketch; in terms of composition, it should be a landscape.

But the painting only depicts a few strokes of a field, nothing else. Is it day or night, spring or autumn?

Ni Sitian was filled with questions and couldn't bring herself to start drawing, staring straight at the canvas.

Meanwhile, in the tea room next door, Xu Tingchuan and the old man were leisurely drinking tea.

"Is this girl your wife?" The old man narrowed his sharp eyes slightly.

"Yes." Xu Tingchuan nodded, treating him with great respect.

"Ah Yu probably never imagined that you would marry such a young girl." The old man said with a touch of emotion, "Back then, he was in love with that girl from the Su family. What a pity."

Xu Tingchuan was silent for a while before saying, "Grandpa does like Su Yan, but I will not marry her because of that. It has nothing to do with whether she is alive or not."

"Well, it's good that you know what you want." The old man gently blew on the tea, took a small sip, and then looked up at Xu Tingchuan, saying, "I did promise you something after I lost that game of chess, but whether or not I take her in depends on whether she can pass my test."

"Of course." Xu Tingchuan never expected that Wu Miaoshui would accept a disciple so easily.

He has only taken on three apprentices so far, and they are now all accomplished painters in the art world.

"It seems you have a lot of confidence in your little wife," Wu Miaoshui smiled.

“I don’t know if she has talent,” Xu Tingchuan said frankly, looking into Wu Miaoshui’s eyes, and added, “But I know you like blank sheets of paper without any impurities, and she is a blank sheet of paper that is as pure as it gets right now.”

The purity here refers not only to Ni Sitian's lack of painting experience, but also to her simple and innocent nature. Such people are most likely to have talent in some aspect.

"Yes, that's true." Wu Miaoshui was very satisfied with the clarity in Ni Sitian's eyes. Such pure eyes are probably only found in children, which is very rare among adults.

Ni Sitian was focused on the painting, completely unaware that the two people next to her were talking about her at length.

She had a clue, but she was still very careful when she started drawing, because she couldn't make a mistake and then erase it, as that might ruin half of the original painting.

It took Ni Sitian about an hour to finally finish this winter field painting.

As if she had timed it perfectly, Wu Miaoshui opened the door and walked in just as she finished.

Ni Sitian was a little nervous, letting Wu Miaoshui examine her painting.

"Why did you choose winter, and specifically when the sun is high in the sky at noon?" Wu Miaoshui asked Ni Sitian.

“Uh… because it’s winter now, and it’s noon.” Ni Sitian felt that her answer was particularly silly, but when she was thinking about how to draw it, she was thinking that since she didn’t know what he originally wanted, she might as well just draw something that was appropriate for the time of day.

Wu Miaoshui smiled upon hearing this. This girl really has a simple and pure nature. If an ordinary person were to take such an exam, they would probably think about how to show their painting skills and talent as much as possible in this painting. But she was like a child, not thinking so much, so she didn't add anything superfluous.

"Come three days a week from now on," he said casually.

Ni Sitian was stunned for a moment. Xu Tingchuan walked to her side and whispered in her ear, "Old Wu means he has agreed to take you in."

Ni Sitian snapped out of her daze and immediately bowed to Wu Miaoshui, saying, "Thank you, teacher."

Looking at her dazed yet obedient appearance, Wu Miaoshui wondered if she had made the right choice in taking her as a disciple.