Chapter 219

Teacher Wang first lavishly praised Shi Tingyu’s paintings, then introduced his two colleagues nearby.

The other two teachers were Mr. Zhou and Mr. Ge.

After exchanging pleasantries, Teacher Wang finally got to the point.

“Teacher Shi, I know you graduated from Zhicheng Art Academy. Your art exhibition in the United States brought great honor to our Chinese people. We’ve seen your works, and your artistic achievements are truly remarkable.”

Shi Tingyu silently listened as Teacher Wang complimented her.

“We’re here this time to invite you to join us for the college entrance exam question setting committee.”

Lu Weiguo looked at them in surprise, then glanced at his wife.

So, they weren’t here to have his wife take the college entrance exam at their school, but to invite her to participate in setting the exam questions?

Shi Tingyu was also surprised. She candidly asked, “Don’t you think I’m too young for this?”

Teacher Wang quickly responded, “In our field of art, talent is paramount. Besides, your abilities and achievements are outstanding in every aspect. Participating in setting the questions would be more than suitable for you.”

Indeed, the situation was as such. After a decade of movements, many once-famous artists had either passed away or given up on art out of despair.

They urgently needed a renowned and respected person to participate in this question setting.

The document restoring the college entrance exam had already been issued, and each province was preparing its own questions.

With only a few renowned individuals nationally, how much could each province get?

They were just acting quickly.

Jinling was after all the provincial capital of Jiangsu Privince, and the provincial admissions office was here. They would definitely first look for a renowned painter in Jinling.

So, relying on the murals at the famous organ elementary school, the art teacher had appeared in their sights.

Once they identified their target, they naturally conducted an investigation.

Not checking meant not knowing. This investigation led them to discover Shi Tingyu’s prominence.

It was noteworthy that Zhicheng Art Academy was a world-renowned art school. The fact that she completed her studies in two years and held a personal art exhibition in the United States at eighteen was quite a rare accomplishment for a Chinese person.

Later, they also discovered that she had published comic books.

They specifically bought “Loyal Dog” to read it. They had nothing to criticize about her painting skills. Seeing her paintings today, they could only say that she was truly deserving of having held a personal art exhibition abroad.

People nowadays knew that whether in economics, technology, or other fields, foreign countries were ahead of Chinese by quite a bit.

Naturally, they admired anyone who could hold a personal art exhibition in the United States.

Shi Tingyu was a bit embarrassed.

“I don’t know what the process for this question setting work is?”

Teacher Wang explained, “The question setting work will start in November. At that time, we will conduct closed-question setting with selected teachers and some workers.”

The teachers are responsible for setting the questions, and the workers are responsible for printing, packaging, transporting, and destroying them.

After hearing this, Shi Tingyu frowned and asked, “How long does this closed-question setting take?”

Teacher Wang glanced at Shi Tingyu’s expression, fearing she might refuse. “It’s not too long. The question setting teachers will unseal the questions after the students finish their exams.”

Shi Tingyu asked, “When exactly is the college entrance exam scheduled?”

Teacher Wang looked slightly embarrassed, and Mr. Zhou beside him helped answer, “The exam will be held from December 11th to 13th.”

After hearing this, Shi Tingyu felt uncertain.

If it starts on November 1st and lasts until December 13th, it will take nearly a month and a half, which is quite long.

At this point, Teacher Ge noticed that Shi Tingyu seemed inclined to refuse, so he quickly added, “Although the time is a bit long, the higher-ups attach great importance to the first restoration of the college entrance exam. This is unavoidable. Teacher Shi, if you have any difficulties, please let us know. We will do our best to help.”

Shi Tingyu explained truthfully, “To be honest, I have the willingness but not the ability. My child is just over three months old and cannot be without me.”

All three teachers were parents themselves, so they naturally understood that young children needed care. However, they had finally found a suitable question setter and were not willing to let her go easily.

“We can discuss this further. When the time comes, we can apply to see if you can bring your child along,” Teacher Ge suggested.

After hearing this, Shi Tingyu couldn’t help but hesitate. Her future career plans were focused on personal art exhibitions. Participating in the college entrance exam question setting would indeed be a great opportunity for her.

Lu Weiguo understood his wife’s intentions. Seeing her indecision, he couldn’t help but speak up, “I don’t know if it’s possible to bring along another person. If my wife participates in the question setting, she won’t have much time to take care of the child. Feeding, changing diapers, everything would fall on her. I’m afraid she won’t manage.”

Being men, all three teachers rarely considered the difficulties of women taking care of children. Initially, they just thought ensuring Shi Tingyu could feed her child would suffice.

As a man, Lu Weiguo knew that they wouldn’t have thought about these things. Seeing the teachers looking somewhat embarrassed, he continued, “If it’s possible to bring someone else to take care of the child, then there shouldn’t be a problem on my wife’s end.”

At this point, Shi Tingyu also spoke up, “My husband is right. If I can bring someone else, then I won’t have any issues.”

Lu Weiguo felt confident that they would agree in the end.

Handling one more person wasn’t difficult, as long as they stayed together during the closed setting.

However, it was clear that these three teachers couldn’t make the final decision.

Teacher Wang said, “We’ll need to report back on this matter.”

“That’s understandable,” Shi Tingyu replied.

Seeing that the discussion couldn’t proceed further, Teacher Wang proposed to take their leave, “Alright then, we’ll go back and report. Once we have the results, we’ll come back again.”

Shi Tingyu naturally had no objections.

She and Lu Weiguo saw the three teachers off at the door before returning inside.

Not far away, someone was specifically watching the Lu family. Seeing the three teachers leave, they hurriedly ran home, packed some eggs, and grabbed two cans from their house before hastily heading towards the Lu residence.

There were two others who had the same idea.

The three of them arrived almost simultaneously at the gate of the Lu residence.

Meanwhile, Shi Tingyu had just sat down to start painting when the door was knocked again.

Lu Weiguo went to open it and saw three women carrying baskets.

Their eager smiles made Lu Weiguo realize they had something on their minds.

“Do you ladies have something you need?” he asked.

Facing Lu Weiguo, the three women felt some pressure. Despite being older than Lu Weiguo, their positions as men were not as high as his.

The highest among them was Mrs. Qian, wife of the 722nd Regiment commander. She spoke first, “Little Lu, are you resting today? We don’t have anything urgent, just here to see Teacher Shi.”