"No way." Luo Tianming blushed and avoided them.
"You usually run away if you have something to do, but today you're helping people get their sketchbooks and new pencils?" the man teased, tapping his neck.
"No way, I help you guys out all the time."
Luo Tianming's words drew a soft snort from the men.
We're all men, what don't we understand?
"Alright, hurry up, we still have a mission!" Li Jianmin looked at them playfully bickering and gave Xia Lan an embarrassed look before explaining.
"They are usually very composed."
Xia Lan smiled slightly.
Li Jianmin handed his employee badge to Xia Lan, who hesitated for a moment before taking it.
"Comrade Xia Lan, you're only temporarily on loan here, so it's not convenient for them to issue you a work badge over there. Please use my work badge for now! With my work badge, they won't stop you!"
“Okay.” Xia Lan nodded.
"Comrade Xia Lan, shall we take you for a stroll?" Luo Tianming called out to Xia Lan.
"Wouldn't this be too much trouble for you?" Xia Lan asked after thinking for a moment.
"Why not? Aren't we also looking for places to draw? Let's go together!"
"Yes, yes!"
Other male colleagues chimed in.
"Then I'll have to trouble you! I'm not very familiar with this place," Xia Lan said with a smile.
The group began to tour the factory. This was Xia Lan's first time seeing a factory from this era. Everyone was in their own positions, concentrating on their work.
Meticulous and seemingly harmonious.
Soon, a colleague found what they wanted to draw, took out paper and pen, and started drawing in their sketchbook.
Xia Lan went up to take a look and saw that he had used his own ideas to draw the workers who were working hard in front of him, but his drawing technique was clumsy, as if he had taught himself.
"Shall we go and see somewhere else?" Luo Tianming noticed that Xia Lan kept looking at Wei Guo, so he wanted to take her somewhere else.
Xia Lan nodded, and the group headed towards another area.
"How many factories are there around here?" Xia Lan asked curiously.
"Isn't Comrade Xia Lan from here?" Luo Tianming couldn't help but ask when he heard Xia Lan's question.
"Yes, I was originally from Xiahe Village," Xia Lan said with a frank smile, not feeling at all that there was anything wrong with her coming from a village.
However, the man next to her was stunned. He saw that Xia Lan was not afraid at all and even openly admitted that she came from the village.
Women from rural areas often feel inferior, as if they don't fit in, and tend to be timid and hesitant.
However, Xia Lan doesn't look like a village girl at all; she's more like a city girl—confident and poised, and she doesn't seem to feel inferior at all when she talks about coming from the village.
"What's wrong? Is there a problem with me?" Xia Lan asked with a smile, noticing the way everyone was looking at her.
"No, no, we just didn't expect that you, Comrade Xia Lan, grew up in a village. If you hadn't said so, we would have all thought you grew up in the city," a man quickly said with a smile.
"And you're so beautiful, you really don't look like someone from the village at all!"
"Thank you for the compliment. So you've come up with a new theory from me, right?" Xia Lan replied with a smile.
"What new theory?" Everyone looked at Xia Lan curiously, wanting to know what she was referring to.
“There are beautiful women in the village too!” Xia Lan said with a playful smile.
Luo Tianming and the others were stunned for a moment, then understood what Xia Lan meant, and they all smiled embarrassedly.
"Absolutely, absolutely! We'll never look down on village girls again. We were just being narrow-minded!"
"This child is teachable." Xia Lan nodded in satisfaction.
The group exchanged smiles, instantly bringing them closer together.
They no longer dared to underestimate Xia Lan; with just a casual remark, she made them realize that they had said the wrong thing.
They felt a surge of respect for the beautiful, assertive, and temperamental woman.
The factory area was very large, with workshops one after another. Xia Lan followed them to see several workshops. Whether they were men or women, they were all focused on operating their machines and dared not relax for a moment.
This gave Xia Lan a great insight. Seeing the female comrades who did no less work than the men, Xia Lan silently opened her sketchbook and drew everything she saw.
The others also found the people and things they wanted to draw, and for a while, all that was left was them drawing in their sketchbooks with pencils, making a scratching sound.
"What are you guys from the propaganda department doing here?" The workshop director walked over, and seeing that the group consisted of people from the propaganda department, he didn't chase them away, but asked curiously.
"Director, we're drawing!" a male colleague replied with a smile. "Look, I've drawn the most hardworking colleague in your workshop."
"Oh my, really? Let me see." The workshop foreman became interested. Having his workers drawn in the notebook was a form of recognition for them.
"Not bad, not bad." The workshop director looked at the workers they had drawn. Although they only had some outlines, he thought they were very good.
"Draw whatever you want, or do you want me to have them pose you a few times?"
"No need, no need. I just wanted to draw in a natural state, without posing. It's more natural like this."
The male colleague quickly offered some advice.
If he hadn't said anything, the workshop director was ready to arrange for people to pose.
The workshop director was a little disappointed, but then he saw Xia Lan among them and paused for a moment.
When did a woman start working in your publicity department?
"Hello, I'm Xia Lan, who's temporarily on loan here. It's nice to meet you," Xia Lan introduced herself to the workshop director.
"Comrade Xia Lan, welcome, welcome. My name is Zou Qiming, and I'm the workshop director." The workshop director was momentarily stunned by Xia Lan's confident smile, and his smile deepened.
"Would it be convenient to take a look at Comrade Xia Lan's paintings?" Zou Qiming asked, his interest piqued as he looked at the sketchbook in Xia Lan's hand.
He also wanted to see what kind of portrait this only female comrade would take.
“Of course.” Xia Lan generously handed her sketchbook to Zou Qiming.
Zou Qiming opened Xia Lan's sketchbook and saw that the most conscientious female colleague in their workshop had appeared in the sketchbook. With just a few simple strokes, she was lifelike and he knew who she was at a glance.
"Wu Cuihua, come and take a look! There's a picture of you up here!" Zou Qiming shouted into the workshop. Wu Cuihua was stunned for a moment, but upon hearing the director's voice, she quickly ran over.
"Where is the director?" Wu Cuihua asked, looking around. Many people gathered around.
Zou Qiming held up Xia Lan's painting for everyone to see. "Look, isn't this Wu Cuihua?"
"Wow! It really is! It looks just like the painting!"
"It looks like just a few strokes to me, how could I recognize Wu Cuihua at a glance?"
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