Rebirth: He Decides to Lie Flat

Chapter 31: Chapter 028: Not Focused on Proper Business Chapter 31: Chapter 028: Not Focused on Proper Business The drawing depicted the school’s large banyan tree, proudly standing beside the playground, with a thick trunk and lush branches, nearly a hundred years old.

The artist had used a technique for sketching landscapes, and their steps and skills were quite adept, showing a high level of understanding; the drawing captured the ancient tree’s sense of age and history….

Although it was just a simple sketch, it left Teacher Fang feeling astounded.

When did a genius like this emerge among the art students?

Looking down, Teacher Fang saw a face that was extraordinary yet unfamiliar.

A flash of admiration passed through her eyes, and she couldn’t help but ask, “What’s your name? When did you join us?”

It wasn’t unusual for students to focus on improving their unique talents in exchange for extra points for the college entrance exams when they saw limited progress in their academic scores, like Deng Tao from Class 6.

However, she painted traditional Chinese paintings and had a private tutor at home for that, so she didn’t need to paint at school.

Teacher Fang thought perhaps Song Jiawen had joined recently, hoping to leverage her artistic talent as a way into a top university.

“Teacher, she’s my classmate, just came in to doodle for fun, not an art student, I just mentioned that to you…”

When Xu Yan heard Teacher Fang asking about Song Jiawen, she quickly stood up to answer, but she didn’t finish her last word “le”, getting stunned upon seeing the banyan tree drawn by Song Jiawen.

“Not an art student?”

Hearing Xu Yan’s introduction, Teacher Fang slightly furrowed her brow. What a pity.

However…

“What’s your name?”

“Song Jiawen.”

After adding the final touch, Song Jiawen put the pencil back into Xu Yan’s pencil case and stood up to politely say to Teacher Fang, “Teacher, I was just here for fun, sorry to disturb.”

Having said that, she nodded to Xu Yan before turning to leave.

“Why let her in if she’s not an art student?”

“Xu Yan, even if she’s from your class, you shouldn’t have made an exception and caused a disturbance.”

“Exactly…”

After Song Jiawen left, several students in the studio complained, unhappy about the situation.

Meanwhile, Xu Yan remained silent, not wishing to offer a single explanation, just staring blankly at Song Jiawen’s drawing. She wanted to take it down to use as a reference for herself, but Teacher Fang got to it before she could.

“Look at this, even a non-art student could draw like this, now look at yours. What could you call those?”

Teacher Fang showed the drawing to everyone, presenting it for all to see, and suddenly the entire studio fell silent.

“Well? Got nothing to say now, have you?”

As she watched the few girls, who had been unkind with their words and now fell silent, Teacher Fang thought to herself, not so hot at drawing, but plenty of drama.

Twenty minutes later, Teacher Fang took Song Jiawen’s drawing into the senior year teachers’ big office.

“Teacher Gao.”

She smiled as she placed the drawing on Teacher Gao’s desk, and upon seeing it, Teacher Gao chuckled, “Oh, is this a new piece by Teacher Fang? Not bad at all, is it a gift for me?”

A gift for you?

Dream on!

Teacher Fang maintained her expression, her smile even brighter than before, “Do you also think this drawing is good, Teacher Gao?”

“Certainly, it’s good. This is… our school’s banyan tree, isn’t it?”

As Teacher Gao finished speaking, several young teachers in the office also gathered to admire the drawing, praising the tree’s lifelike depiction, so vivid and true-to-life.

“Teacher Gao, this drawing isn’t mine, it was done by Song Jiawen from your class. I’m here to see if we could borrow her for our art group. There’s a painting competition in North City at the end of next month, and I’d like her to represent our school.”

Teacher Fang explained her reasons and added, “I know she’s not an art student, and though it’s a bit of a waste, ultimately, it’s up to her to decide if she wants to go down that path. But as you know, our school hasn’t won any awards in the arts for many years, and Experimental Middle School just won third place in the provincial sketching competition last year. They even have more undergraduate students qualifying for exams than us.”

“So, if it wasn’t for the school, I wouldn’t want to waste this child’s precious time. But there’s no helping it, is there? We really don’t have anyone else who can represent us.”

Usually, those who participate in these competitions are in their first or second year of high school; those in their third year don’t compete anymore. But as Teacher Fang said, there’s no one else.

After Teacher Fang finished speaking, the staff room fell silent.

A while later, Teacher Gao hesitantly asked, “This painting… who painted it?”

“Song Jiawen.”

Teacher Fang was puzzled. “Xu Yan said she’s in your class, didn’t she?”

“Yes, yes, she is.”

She is, but the problem is… what’s the kid doing painting when she’s got nothing better to do?

Can’t you do something useful instead of painting?

Irresponsible!

Teacher Gao was thinking about how to reject Teacher Fang when the physics teacher coughed lightly and said, “Teacher Fang, next month Song Jiawen is taking part in a physics competition, and I’ve already signed her up.”

What? A physics competition?

I had no idea.

While Teacher Gao was puzzled, he saw the physics teacher give him a knowing wink and immediately understood.

In a hurry, he chimed in, “Yes, yes, yes, she’s going to participate in… ”
“Do you think I’m blind?”

Teacher Fang slammed her hand on the desk, her smile completely gone, “We haven’t seen a genius in years, and now that we have, what’s wrong with borrowing her for a while? It’s not like I’m not giving her back. Why are you all being so defensive?”

Teacher Gao’s heart raced with Teacher Fang’s slam, and he didn’t know what to say to the enraged Teacher Fang.

You’re borrowing our top student and you have the nerve to be so self-righteous about it?

What do you mean ‘it’s not like you’re not giving her back’? This is a person we’re talking about.

“Well, Teacher Fang…”

“Just tell me if you’ll lend her or not. A grown man shouldn’t be hemming and hawing like this.”

Teacher Gao: ….

He said angrily, “Then you go ask her yourself. As long as she’s willing, I certainly won’t stop her.”

“You should’ve just said that in the first place.”

Teacher Fang grabbed the painting and stormed out.

The physics teacher complained, “Why did you agree to let her? I said there’s a provincial physics competition next month, and that’s really happening.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me beforehand?”

“Didn’t we already agree on Zhu Zhen and the other two? But Zhu Zhen said Song Jiawen’s physics is better than his, so I planned on adding Song Jiawen. I just hadn’t had the chance to tell you yet.”

The physics teacher said this a bit sheepishly; in reality, he wanted to wait until next week’s monthly exam results to see how Song Jiawen performed before deciding whether to sign her up.

But who would have thought that before the monthly exam, Teacher Fang would come and stir things up?

She’s not an art student—wouldn’t participating in a painting competition be a waste of time?

The English teacher looked towards the class teacher of class six and said, “I remember Deng Tao from class six is quite good at painting. I heard she’s even planning on using her art to apply to Beijing University. Why didn’t Teacher Fang ask her to join the competition?”

The class teacher of class six didn’t even look up as they replied, “Deng Tao specializes in traditional Chinese painting, which is different from ordinary painting, and for Beicheng’s competition… she probably looks down on it.”

Because she’s aiming for a competition in Beijing, and getting nominated would give her direct entry to Beijing University, so she doesn’t have time to participate in some minor art contest with Teacher Fang.

What was implied was, Deng Tao wasn’t interested in such a competition, which is why it fell to Song Jiawen.