Rebirth: He Decides to Lie Flat

Chapter 30: Chapter 027 Itchy Hands Chapter 30: Chapter 027 Itchy Hands Because of Meng Qing’s hostility towards Song Jiawen, the roommates quickly split into two factions, with Song Jiawen, Zhu Jin, and Wang Xiaole in one, and yes, against Meng Qing.

However, Meng Qing paid this no mind; although she was in Class One, she had never taken her classmates there seriously.

She frequently socialized with people from Class Six, and was especially close with Deng Tao.

Before Song Jiawen transferred in, Deng Tao was a celebrity at Yunzhou First Middle School, known to all for her beauty and top ten grades.

But ever since Song Jiawen arrived, hardly anyone mentioned the school beauty anymore.

As for the grades, even though the last was just a simple quiz and there were many who questioned Song Jiawen’s results, in light of her extraordinary scores, those sarcastic and snarky comments meant nothing in the face of true ability.

Don’t believe it? Just watch the monthly test.

Now, many students were already betting on who would be number one in the grade for the monthly test.

Overall, most bets were on Zhu Zhen, as after all, Song Jiawen had just arrived and had only taken one test so far, so it was normal for everyone to lack confidence in her.

But even so, she was now a hot topic when it came to grades, which made Deng Tao’s top ten rank seem less impressive by comparison.

“Xiao Tao, have you still not contacted Teacher Song?”

After dinner, while walking back to the classroom, Meng Qing said to Deng Tao, “You have to be recommended by someone to participate in Beijing’s Chinese painting competition in May. You need to find him quickly, otherwise you won’t be able to apply for Beijing University.”

Deng Tao wanted to attend Beijing University based on her academic scores, but that seemed unlikely at present; at most, Yunzhou First Middle School would see only a handful of students gain admission to Beijing University each year, sometimes not even that many.

Therefore, she hoped to take the route through art.

However, in Yunzhou, the only person qualified and capable to make such a recommendation was Teacher Song, the president of the Chinese Painting Association.

Deng Tao wanted to participate in this nationally renowned Chinese painting competition mainly because it was hosted by Beijing University, and every year the Chinese painting department of Beijing University Art Academy would select award-winning and nominated students among the participants.

She didn’t dare to think about winning an award, but she was quite confident about being nominated.

In fact, she had been preparing to enter this competition since last year, but unfortunately, every painting she sent to Teacher Song didn’t meet his approval.

If he was not satisfied, it meant she was not qualified to participate in the competition.

Now, it was almost April, and the registration was about to close. Could it be that she really had no chance this time?

“I heard Teacher Song went to the provincial city and hasn’t returned yet.”

Deng Tao was anxious and frustrated. Although she painted well, Teacher Song was so picky that he always found a multitude of faults in her work.

In a word, to take part in the competition, her level was not good enough yet, and she needed to continue to make an effort.

Effort, effort, was that all there was to say?

Her father tried to offer money to Teacher Song to recommend her, but it was no use, and it even resulted in Teacher Song now avoiding her and unwilling to meet with her again.

This man was truly… too rigid.

The group continued talking as they walked and, after a short while, went upstairs and each returned to their respective classrooms.

…..

Meanwhile, Song Jiawen’s group had just finished lunch and was coming out of the cafeteria.

Song Jiawen was considering her current savings, wondering if she could find the Song teacher before the college entrance examination to help sell a few of her paintings.

She needed to eat, to scrape together living expenses.

Back in the classroom, Zhu Zhen followed her to her desk.

Song Jiawen passed her notes to him and also handed over two books of practice materials for them to look at. Xiao Qi and Yu Hang volunteered to go make photocopies.

Their movements weren’t subtle, and other students who saw what was happening came over to ask. Hearing that there were valuable materials, they quickly joined in.

Meng Qing sat in the wall-side seat in the front row, quite far from the group, only faintly overhearing their rush to photocopy Song Jiawen’s revision materials.

She snorted softly, “What good materials could a country bumpkin have?”

Deng Tao’s father was a businessman, wealthy, and had found many excellent resources for Deng Tao. As her good friend, Meng Qing was fortunate to have received two or three copies from her.

So, Meng Qing wasn’t short of study materials.

That’s why, when her deskmate asked if she needed a copy, she decisively shook her head to decline.

During the afternoon physical education class, Song Jiawen asked Wang Xiaole to take her to the art room for a visit.

Wang Xiaole was bewildered, “That’s where the art students paint. What’s there to see? A sightseeing tour?”

Song Jiawen: ….

She asked, “Can’t we go?”

“It’s not that we can’t, it’s just that those people are a bit odd. They don’t like others watching them paint. They think it’ll affect their mood and, consequently, the quality of their work. What nonsense, as if nobody else has ever painted.”

Wang Xiaole had no regard for this. She had also attended art classes all the way from elementary through high school, it wasn’t that she couldn’t paint; she just wasn’t as good as them.

What’s the big deal.

She led Song Jiawen out of the teaching building, turning right towards a comprehensive building, and they arrived at a large classroom on the ground floor at the very end, where about a dozen art students were painting.

Most were seniors, and one of the girls was from their own class, but Song Jiawen couldn’t recall her name, she only looked somewhat familiar.

The girl saw Song Jiawen and Wang Xiaole through the window. Since everyone was painting quietly, it wasn’t right for her to speak up and ask what they wanted, so she communicated with a glance.

If it wasn’t important, they better leave quickly, or else someone might make unpleasant comments—especially since the art teacher was also there, and she didn’t like being disturbed.

Wang Xiaole looked at Song Jiawen, “Let’s go.”

Song Jiawen said to Wang Xiaole, “Can you ask our classmate over here to come out? I want to ask her to speak with the teacher, see if they would let me go in to paint a picture.”

Wang Xiaole was surprised, “You can paint?”

Oh, that’s not right, that’s not how you ask. Who can’t paint? It’s just a matter of how well one does it.

Song Jiawen simply said, “I can a little. I’m itching to paint something for fun.”

The girl quickly came out, then went back inside to find the teacher, and soon after, brought Song Jiawen inside, leaving Wang Xiaole to go back to the classroom alone.

The girl was named Xu Yan. She settled Song Jiawen at the easel next to hers and quietly introduced her own paints and brushes.

Every art student here had their own personal painting tools and materials. Since Song Jiawen wanted to paint, she had to use someone else’s.

Xu Yan had just received the photocopied materials from Song Jiawen that morning, so she didn’t mind sharing her own with her at all. She thought Song Jiawen was just curious and wanted to play around.

After introducing her things, Xu Yan placed them between them and went back to focusing on her own painting, no longer paying attention to Song Jiawen.

The art teacher was instructing a student. Once finished, she stood up to check on how the others were doing.

She walked slowly, scanning each student’s painting as she went by, her brow slightly knitted—there were just a few months until the college entrance exam, and everyone seemed too anxious and restless with their painting.

However, her brow smoothed out when she arrived at Xu Yan’s painting. She had made significant progress recently.

And then, her gaze shifted, and the art teacher spotted an almost completed sketch by Xu Yan’s side. Her eyes widened in shock…