"Boss Zhang, I have to go." Shui Yiyao put down the knife and looked at the computer screen. It was already half past one. "I'll ask my sister and tell you later."
"Okay, I'll wait for your news."
Shui Yiyao hung up the phone and said to the audience watching the live broadcast: "Friends, I'm off the air now. See you this afternoon."
-See you this afternoon, Yuyu!
-I'll wait here for you to come back.
-Waiting for the sequel to The Mermaid Legend.
Shui Yiyao turned off the live broadcast and called out, "Xiao Bei."
Xiaobei came running over with a large glass of water in his hand, and it looked like he had already drunk most of it.
"Big Princess, what's wrong?"
Shui Yiyao found the hit drama "Strange Stories" produced by Zhang's company on her computer and clicked on the first episode.
"Come and take a look at this, do you like it?"
Shui Yiyao stood up from the computer and motioned Xiaobei to sit in front of the computer.
"Take a look for yourself first. I'm going out for a while. By the way, ignore anyone who knocks on the door. Anyone—if I send someone to pick you up, the code word is, 'The jade carving is really beautiful.' Anyone who doesn't say that, don't let them in."
Thinking of the octopus tribe that had transformed before, she added, "Including me."
Xiao Bei nodded: "Okay, I'll remember it."
"If you feel unwell, press the red button on your monitoring bracelet - I'm leaving. Stay safe at home."
There is a manual alarm place on the monitoring bracelet, which can directly notify the volunteer service center when pressed.
"You too, Princess. Be safe!"
Xiaobei walked Shui Yiyao to the door.
·
Ao Xuan was the one who came to pick up Jiang Luo the day before, and he also said that he would pick him up today as well.
But when Shui Yiyao arrived at the classroom, she found that it was Ao Li who brought Jiang Luo here.
Jiang Luo saw Shui Yiyao, stood up, and bowed to her: "Good afternoon, Teacher Chengyu."
Shui Yiyao put her bag on the desk and said, "Good afternoon, Jiang Luo."
She looked at Ao Li and asked, "Mr. Ao, aren't you supposed to lead a tour group to the shipyard today? Why are you here?"
Ao Li said: "I've asked for leave. I'll be free in the afternoon."
The Xiaoshan Kingdom delegation wasn't interested in visiting the shipyard; it seemed they were hoping to learn something else from him. He had someone check, and sure enough, there were some issues. He didn't want to waste their time.
Can I still take leave?
Shui Yiyao: "Okay, go do your thing, I'll get started right away."
Before she came, she had wanted to ask him about the things he had clarified on Weibo, such as the engagement.
But she thought about it again. The one she was getting engaged to was the mermaid princess. What did that have to do with her jade carver Shui Yiyao?
It's two o'clock now, time for class. After all, if you're paid for something, you have to be proactive.
Ao Li glanced at her and lowered his eyes: "Yeah."
"Hard."
"You're welcome. It's my duty."
Shui Yiyao said as she took out a knife storage box from her desk and placed it on the table, ready to start a day of teaching.
Ao Li lowered his head and looked at Jiang Luo: "Study hard."
Jiang Luo nodded: "Okay."
After Ao Li left, Shui Yiyao found yesterday's homework.
Yesterday we carved an antique dragon pattern. Although Jiang Luo designed the pattern himself, when he was carving, the lines were always crooked, the strength was not right, the lines were of different depths, and the final completion was not very high.
She handed the material to Jiang Luo: "You can choose to continue making this today, or you can change to something else, such as grinding beads."
Grinding beads is easier, only using weights and pins. Carving things is more complicated, but it is more fulfilling.
Jiang Luo pursed his lips and took over his homework: "I want to try again."
"Well, wait for me to cut some material for you."
The studio had all kinds of machines. Shui Yiyao picked out another piece of golden jade, cut a suitable piece with the cutting machine, polished it into shape, and gave it to Jiang Luo: "Come on, carve another one."
New material and new design.
Jiang Luo picked up the pencil, took the material, and began to draft.
He spent more than half an hour designing a dragon pattern with simple lines.
"You're aware of the need to dig out the dirt and remove the tangles. You've done a good job." Shui Yiyao praised.
She had chosen this piece of material deliberately. It had a dirty color and cracks, but Jiang Luo's design avoided these defects.
After hearing this, Jiang Luo looked up at Shui Yiyao, forced a smile, and said thank you.
He looked at his design, sighed, picked up the hook and installed it on the engraving pen, looked at his dragon pattern lines nervously, and began to press the lines.
He had been failing since yesterday... The lines were crooked, so he widened them and corrected them, but the more he corrected them, the worse they looked.
That's terrible.
It’s crooked again…
Shui Yiyao watched from the side: "This is normal, don't worry. Just practice more and it will be fine."
Jiang Luo nodded and started to repair the lines again.
But just like yesterday, his hands were out of control and the lines kept going crooked. It was getting worse and worse...
Shui Yiyao: "Fail more and you will succeed."
"But... I can't even do this well. When will I be able to repair the one my mother left behind..." Jiang Luo said in a low voice, his head lowered lower, and finally he threw the material to the ground: "I'm so useless!"
Shui Yiyao clicked her tongue twice and pinched his wrinkled face: "Are you angry already?"
Jade carving is very difficult, and the anger is yet to come.
But it's normal. She's a child and she's anxious. It's normal for her to lose her temper. She was like that before.
Her grandfather asked her to carve when she was only five or six years old. She would often make excuses about her hands, feet and stomach aching after working with the knife a few times, and try her best to slip away. Sometimes, when she couldn't slip away, she would lose her temper and say things like, "I don't want to learn anymore. I want to go learn jumping rope with Xiaoying next door."
But her temper came and went quickly. Usually, after a tantrum, it would not last more than ten minutes before she would return to her room, pick up the knife and continue carving.
Later, her grandfather took her for long-distance running to train her patience.
Jiang Luo sat in his seat with his head down, looking very depressed. He sighed, jumped off the chair and picked up the material he had thrown away. He looked up at Shui Yiyao and lowered his head again: "I'm sorry, Teacher Chengyu, I shouldn't have lost my temper."
Shui Yiyao took the material from his hand, looked at it in her hand, threw the material on the table, and looked at Jiang Luo: "No more carving, let's take you to do something exciting."
Jiang Luo raised his head, puzzled: "What?"
Jiang Luo was brought by Shui Yiyao to the small square under the office building, where there was a circular runway.
Shui Yiyao said, "Let's go for a run. Have fun."
Jiang Luo: "...Okay."
Taking physical education classes can indeed broaden one's mind.
…
But Jiang Luo didn't expect that Shui Yiyao's physical education class would be like this.
"It's okay to run slowly, but you can't stop."
Shui Yiyao ran beside Jiang Luo, taking small steps with him, only half a step ahead of him.
At first Jiang Luo ran quite fast, but later he became a little out of breath.
He looked up at Teacher Chengyu. The teacher was running very naturally, without blushing or panting, as if he was just warming up.
"How do you feel? Are you tired?"
Jiang Luo took three breaths after each run: "...So, so tired."
"Is it more tiring than jade carving?"
“…”
Shui Yiyao laughed. "I was similar to you back then. When things didn't go my way, I'd lose my temper. My master taught me long-distance running to help me develop my patience. Running for an hour a day helped me endure anything."
"One, one hour?"
"yes."
“…”
After running for twenty minutes, Jiang Luo's pace became slower and slower, and the old man who was practicing race walking next to them surpassed them.
Seeing Jiang Luo gasping for breath and sweat pouring down his forehead, Shui Yiyao said, "Let's go back and come back tomorrow."
"...Run for a while longer." Jiang Luo wiped the sweat from his head.
Shui Yiyao looked at him. He stared firmly at the ground ahead, lowered his head and gritted his teeth as he continued to run. Although his pace was slow, he never gave up.
"Let's come back tomorrow. There's no rush. This is a new project for you. Don't worry, it's available every day."
Jiang Luo: "..."
He was originally holding his breath, but after hearing Shui Yiyao's words, he completely relaxed.
Every day?
Okay, the teacher has the final say.
When he was brought back to the jade carving classroom, Jiang Luo was so tired that he didn't even have the strength to lift his hands, let alone use a knife to carve jade.
Shui Yiyao: "Then you take a rest, I will continue."
She took out a piece of material and began to carve it in front of Jiang Luo, her hands as steady as ever.
Jiang Luo couldn't help but sigh: "Teacher Chengyu, you are so strong."
Shui Yiyao looked up at him and said, "Boy, you're not bad either."
Jiang Luo pursed his lips and raised his hand to wipe the beads of sweat from his forehead: "I'm still far behind."
"No, I was not much better than you at the beginning. This is normal, just practice with peace of mind. It's all acquired through practice." Shui Yiyao lowered her head to carve, and her hands drew out one smooth line after another.
…
"Have you rested well? If you have, let's carve beads." Shui Yiyao finished carving the object in her hand and threw him an irregular piece of material. "Master Jade Carver, start with the beads."
Jiang Luo took the material: "Okay."
·
Today's class was extended by fifteen minutes. Jiang Luo took the initiative to extend the class. He ground a small bead, but he only finished half of it.
Ao Li arrived on time at five o'clock and waited for fifteen minutes. Feeling sorry to make Ao Li wait too long, Jiang Luo said that they would continue tomorrow, and then followed Ao Li and said goodbye to Shui Yiyao.
Shui Yiyao went home as usual. She took a taxi to the gate of her community. Cars from outside were not allowed to enter the community. As she got out of the car and was about to enter, she heard someone calling her.
She hesitated, and her voice sounded like Ao Li's.
She turned around and saw a car parked at the door. It was Ao Li's car. The driver's window was rolled down, and it was Ao Li's face.
He called out a little louder, "Teacher Chengyu, I have something to ask you."
Shui Yiyao walked over: "Mr. Ao, what's the matter?"
She subconsciously looked towards the passenger seat, but did not see Jiang Luo who usually sat there.
Ao Li smiled at her: "You took my money back then..."
Ao Li's expression was somewhat indescribably strange.
Shui Yiyao moved her nose, but did not smell the familiar, slightly pungent smell of chemicals.
She felt something was not right, so she subconsciously took a step back and reached into her bag to touch the self-defense knife inside.
When Ao Li saw her retreat, his expression changed, and suddenly his whole face changed and became completely distorted. He stretched out his hand towards Shui Yiyao, and a huge gray tentacle rushed out of the car window and stretched towards Shui Yiyao.
Octopus again?
She hadn't expected an attack in the street. This was the outer gate of the complex, with a few passersby passing by. How could Octopus be so bold? To attack in the street?
Shui Yiyao drew out her knife and slashed at the large tentacle.
She was wondering, if she cut off its hand, would it be considered self-defense or excessive defense?
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