"Yeah! There's not much drawn on it, but you can still recognize it as her!"
"Look how focused you are, you've drawn Cuihua so beautifully."
"This woman's drawing is really good."
"Director, could you draw one for me too, this lady?"
Zou Qiming looked at the female workers who were talking, raised his eyebrows and waved his hand.
"Go away, go away. The woman is doing this for our factory's big white wall, what are you doing here?"
"Director, it's alright. I was just thinking of drawing those female comrades myself. It's the first time I've seen female comrades work so... coolly."
Xia Lan smiled at Zou Qiming. She was just about to draw the female workers in the workshop, and since they were all here, she could draw them directly.
"Really? Director, it was the female comrade who said she wanted to draw us!"
"What pose do you want us to strike? Just tell us, and we'll definitely cooperate."
Female workers have always been looked down upon, but no matter how hard they try, they can't compare to their male counterparts and are often ignored.
"No need to set it up specially, just do it the way you usually do your work!" Xia Lan said with a smile.
The female workers immediately ran back to their positions, pretending to be working diligently.
Zou Qiming watched as Xia Lan actually started drawing. He didn't leave, but just stood behind Xia Lan, watching her put pen to paper.
He was just curious before, but now he was shocked. He watched as Xia Lan simply sketched out the outline of a female worker on the paper with just a few strokes.
The more I look at it, the more amazing it seems.
Zou Qiming did not look away until Xia Lan finished drawing all six female workers.
Xia Lan had arranged the six female workers together, with some machines drawn next to them. They were working diligently, and a sentence was written below.
'Praising the hardworking people who have achieved prosperity through diligence.'
"Is this your design?" Zou Qiming looked at Xia Lan's draft. Just looking at the draft gave him a sense of female self-reliance, making him feel that women are just as capable as men in their work, and that kind of striving spirit.
“Yes.” Xia Lan chuckled. Although she didn’t mean to discriminate against men, this design was only a first draft.
Knowing that it would most likely be rejected, she still decided to draw it out and design a version first.
"Not bad, I think this version is quite good." Zou Qiming gave Xia Lan a deep look and nodded in satisfaction.
"Thank you, but ultimately it's up to the leaders to decide." Xia Lan chuckled. She had only been transferred from the old system and didn't have much say. She just wanted to submit her ideas so that the leaders could decide what to draw.
"Don't be discouraged, I think your painting will definitely turn out well!" Zou Qiming was very optimistic about this version.
He took a look at the drawings by the other men and found that they were not very original and their drawing skills were not as good as this woman's.
Xia Lan chuckled, and after all the other comrades had finished drawing, she took her sketchbook back to the propaganda department.
Everyone handed the sketchbooks to Li Jianmin, who nodded in satisfaction and looked at them one by one.
He knew better than anyone the level of the people in his department, and his primary focus was actually on Xia Lan.
Upon finally finding Xia Lan's sketchbook, Li Jianmin eagerly opened it and saw the page where Xia Lan's first draft was entirely composed of female comrades.
Li Jianmin's eyes lit up, and he slapped his leg and stood up.
The group of people who were resting nearby were startled by Li Jianmin.
"Old Li, what did you see that made you so excited?"
"Yeah, it really startled us."
"Oh, this originally belonged to Comrade Xia Lan?"
"What did you see that made you so excited? Let's take a look."
Seeing Xia Lan calmly sipping her tea, everyone except Luo Tianming flocked to Li Jianmin's side. Li Jianmin generously showed them the painting Xia Lan had drawn.
The several grown men were instantly speechless.
"This...you drew all of this?" Liu Ning looked at Xia Lan, surprised that she could draw so well.
They all thought they were just there to put on an act, since few of the women there could actually paint. But now, the best male painter among them fell silent after seeing Xia Lan's painting.
This is no longer a matter of drawing skills, but a matter of overall skill level.
Compared to her painting, the ones they submitted were like elementary school students' drawings, completely devoid of any content.
"I'm sorry for showing off. This is just my initial idea. I need to think about it some more and refine it further."
Xia Lan smiled slightly at them.
"Now you know why I borrowed Comrade Xia Lan, right? She was born for this job. See, do you still doubt me?" Li Jianmin placed Xia Lan's sketchbook in front of the male comrades, his words brimming with pride and self-satisfaction.
He felt incredibly clever for managing to borrow Xia Lan.
That was absolutely brilliant!
"It's so well drawn! Let's use Comrade Xia Lan's version!" Several male comrades felt a little ashamed; they were really not as good as Xia Lan. In such a short time, she had already conceived the whole picture.
They just randomly drew a few people.
"Yes, yes, let's use Comrade Xia Lan's painting! We can all help you!" Luo Tianming said happily after walking over and seeing Xia Lan's painting, his eyes filled with amazement as he looked at Xia Lan.
Xia Lan looked at Li Jianmin, who was also looking at Xia Lan. Seeing that she did not show any particular surprise, he nodded to himself.
"Minister Li, does this... not need any revisions?"
Xia Lan watched as they slammed their fists on the table. She felt this version could be revised further, but they had already passed it unanimously.
"No need, no need, this is already very good. Just continue to improve it, and then we'll start working on it tomorrow! Let's try to finish it as soon as possible!" Li Jianmin said with a smile.
"Yes! Let's decide! Who says it has to be male? The female comrades here look amazing too, and it was drawn by Comrade Xia Lan, who is much better than us male comrades." Several male comrades thought it was good.
A person with ability will gain respect and recognition wherever they go.
Xia Lan's paintings won their approval immediately, and no one underestimated this beautiful woman anymore.
Many people thought that Xia Lan's beauty was just superficial, but after getting to know her, they felt that Xia Lan exuded charm and made people unable to help but like her.
Xia Lan used the remaining time to finish the entire painting. Li Jianmin looked at the poster that Xia Lan had perfected and nodded in satisfaction.
In the workshop, six women worked diligently with enthusiasm and vigor, and their spirit was so moving that it was easy to be moved by them.
Behind the six female comrades, Xia Lan added details of their daily lives: children, elderly family members, cooking. These women act as both daughters-in-law and mothers, working hard and dedicating themselves to their families and to the country.
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