☆ The manuscript for Chapter 82 is missing!
The next day, as soon as it was light, a number of women gathered outside the Zhao family's gate. They were all there for the fashion design competition. Even Zhou's fourth son's wife came, as did several of Zhao's aunts and uncles.
Chen Lizheng informed us about this last night, saying that as long as they participate, they will receive a fee. They don't understand what design is, but as long as they participate, they will get money. This money is practically free, so why wouldn't they come?
As soon as the Zhao family's door opened, everyone rushed forward, saying, "Sister-in-law Zhao, let's participate too!"
Zhou Mujiao opened the door. She glanced around, her expression indifferent, her eyes devoid of emotion. But those whose gaze fell upon her fell silent, and soon the scene quieted down.
Zhou Mujiao then spoke: "Jiaoyun Embroidery Workshop is soliciting works from the entire society, so everyone is welcome to participate. However, I have some requirements. First, the works must be original and undisputed. If any works are similar, I will not investigate who is the original and will disqualify them from the competition. Disqualification means no hard-earned money. So, if any family members want to use the same concept and the same painting to cheat people out of money, you can forget about it. I'm not afraid that you'll be eyeing my money. As long as you have the ability, I'll be chasing after you to stuff the money into your hands."
Everyone became quieter.
"Secondly, the competition is divided into three stages: preliminary, semi-final, and final. Each stage lasts for half a month. The final is tentatively scheduled for the day before the Lunar New Year. All those who pass the preliminary round and enter the semi-final will receive a small reward. Those who enter the final will also receive a reward, regardless of whether the work is ultimately adopted. The final adopted work will be bought out at a price of one hundred taels of silver."
Chen Xiuxiu blurted out, "What does 'buyout' mean?"
She regretted asking the question as soon as it left her mouth. Sure enough, Zhou Mujiao looked at her like she was a pig.
Chen Xiuxiu retorted, "You didn't say that you can't ask questions if you don't understand!"
"Asking questions when you don't understand is a very valuable quality. So, if anyone has any questions, you can ask Yang Xiaoya later. You can also get the registration form from her. I'm still half asleep, so please keep your voice down."
Eighteen came out, her eyes still covered, looking completely bewildered: "Sister~~"
Picking the person up, Zhou Mujiao leaned against the wall and slowly returned to her room. As soon as she closed the door, she went back to sleep.
Farm women often have to get up to work as soon as it's light. When Zhou Mujiao was at the Zhou family, she would have already washed breakfast and clothes for the whole family by this time. But when she came to the Zhao family, she not only didn't have to get up early to cook, but she could even sleep in.
Chen Xiuxiu couldn't help but go inside and say to Zhao Yunjing, who was busy by the well, "Brother Zhao, Liuya is greedy and lazy. What are you after by being with her?!"
"She wouldn't casually call someone greedy or lazy."
Chen Xiuxiu was humiliated again, and she covered her face, almost crying.
The fashion design competition was launched in Peach Blossom Village with great fanfare. The women no longer had time to gather in front of their houses to gossip about others. Their greetings changed from "Have you eaten?" to "Have you drawn yet?" Moreover, they were worried that if they talked too much, their drawings would be deemed invalid if they were similar to each other. So, no one said a word more than necessary.
For a time, the village atmosphere in Taohua County was better than ever before, and there wasn't a single person arguing.
Chen Lizheng lived an exceptionally comfortable life, no longer needing to patrol the village, but instead spending his days encouraging his wife and daughters at home.
"Sister, my manuscript is missing!"
Eighteen came running in, pouting: "It was on the table by the door! It disappeared as soon as I turned around! Did you see it, sister?"
The design competition had been going on for four or five days, and the embroiderers were behaving normally. Zhou Mujiao was starting to doubt whether she had remembered the date wrong when Shiba suddenly came in and said that the manuscript was missing. Zhou Mujiao immediately perked up.
She asked her in detail about the situation at the time, and then asked her to draw it again from memory.
The little girl drew the dress design for herself. Although the drawing was rough, Zhou Mujiao drew one according to her idea and found that the dress was unexpectedly beautiful.
She showed her design to Shiba, who was stunned: "Sister, your drawing is so beautiful! I want Mother to make it for me! Shiba wants to wear it, she wants to wear it!"
The little girl was too young for Zhou Mujiao to talk to about catching the mole, so she asked her to draw a picture in her own style. The little girl drew quickly, but it still lacked many details.
She was almost in tears, crying out, "Sister, Eighteen is so clumsy, she can't draw anything right!"
"It's okay. If you don't know how to draw it the first time, you can draw it twice. If you don't know how to draw it the second time, you can draw it three times. My older sister used to draw it many times before she could draw it."
"Really?"
"real."
Eighteen burst into laughter through her tears: "Then I'll go draw again!"
After taking a few more sheets of paper, Shiba put Zhou Mujiao's sheet in his pocket before going out to practice.
The little girl sat on the stone bench in front of the house, carefully drawing a picture of Zhou Mujiao.
Yang Xiaoya passed by and glanced at the table, noticing the complete design draft. She exclaimed in surprise, "Eighteen, you've already designed it? So fast?"
Shiba was still engrossed in her drawing and didn't answer. Yang Xiaoya picked it up and glanced at it a few times. She was very surprised and grabbed the drawing to find Zhou Mujiao: "Sister Jiaojiao, Shiba's drawing is so beautiful! I think it can be used to make clothes. There's no need for the preliminary, semi-final, and final rounds. It can definitely make money!"
The one Yang Xiaoya was holding was the one Zhou Mujiao had painted, because when she painted it, she was imitating Shi Ba's style, and only an expert could tell at a glance.
She's only four years old and she's eighteen. She sometimes confuses tomorrow, yesterday, today, morning, noon, and night. When she gets anxious, she gets even more confused, always saying "daytime is white" and "nighttime is black." Sometimes, to tease her, people will deliberately go along with her mistakes.
So if Yang Xiaoya had taken the painting, even if Shiba claimed it was hers, probably no one would have believed her. But Yang Xiaoya gave it to her immediately without hesitation, which shows that Yang Xiaoya had no intention of stealing other people's work. All she cared about was making money, making a lot of money.
Yang Xiaoya is ambitious, but also relatively simple-minded. So we can make a preliminary inference that the drawings in her room that day were not moved by Yang Xiaoya, but we cannot completely rule it out yet, after all, some people are born to act.
Zhou Mujiao possessed some degree of mystical knowledge. Putting aside the big picture, her intuition was quite sharp. Up to this point, her intuition told her that Yang Xiaoya was worth using.
Zhou Mujiao smiled and shook her head, then handed the painting back to her: "Since Shiba has signed up, let's follow the procedures to avoid any complaints about unfairness later... Is your painting finished? If you have any ideas but don't know how to proceed, you can come and talk to me."
The more Yang Xiaoya looked at Shiba's design, the more beautiful it seemed. Just then, Xiulan came out to walk the child, and Yang Xiaoya couldn't help but show the design to Xiulan as well. The two of them looked at the design and discussed it animatedly. Xiulan, in particular, told Shiba a lot of her own ideas after walking the child, hoping that Yang Xiaoya would add them to the design.
Eighteen objected: "No! I don't like it! I like it this way! You make yours for your little one! Little one likes this messy stuff!"
Xiulan almost questioned her life after being criticized by a four-year-old for having a jumbled mess of ideas.
Yang Xiaoya laughed heartily and pulled Xiulan back to the embroidery workshop.
Soon, Shiba finished drawing the new design. She also added new elements herself, making it look more in line with the style of the era and more antique.
Seeing Shiba's beaming face, Zhou Mujiao had a sudden inspiration.
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