Admiration

Zhang Changshen turned to Wu Zong: "Does Lord Wu have anything to say?"

Wu Zong originally had a lot to say, but now he had nothing to say.

He turned to Kang Shilin and asked, "Master, what about you?"

Kang Shilin waved his hand. "This is a matter for your department; handle it yourselves. If you can't handle it, I'll have the Emperor handle it. If the Emperor hadn't begged me, I wouldn't have wanted my apprentice to suffer this injustice."

His voice wasn't loud, but the courtyard was quiet, and everyone heard him.

Well, so they invoke the Emperor's name without warning? That's too much! We can't afford to mess with them. We'd better keep our heads even lower.

Seeing that Old Master Kang had intimidated these people with just a few words, Zhang Changshen was even more satisfied.

"Alright, Teacher Zhao, please continue your lesson. We won't disturb you any longer," he said. "Let's go sit in the front hall."

"Please make yourselves at home." Zhao Ruxi saw them to the courtyard gate before returning.

The fourteen trainees remained standing quietly in the courtyard, too afraid to move.

Zhao Ruxi first had them introduce themselves before saying, "Since the fourteen of you have come to learn painting, it's like a class in a school. But we're all adults, so we don't need a teacher to micromanage us like in a school. Therefore, I need some class leaders to manage this class."

She explained in detail, "The class officer positions include class monitor, student representative, life representative, and labor representative. The class monitor is in charge of everything; the student representative needs to follow my orders to distribute art supplies and set up the art space; the life representative is in charge of everyone's living expenses, hiring a cook, and making menus; the labor representative arranges for everyone to take turns cleaning the common areas or manages the cleaning staff."

"When everyone completes their studies, I will give you all an evaluation, categorizing you into four levels: A, B, C, and D. Class officer positions will also be included in the evaluation, which will be specifically mentioned in your academic performance assessment."

Zhang Changshen just said that she only needs to come to class and doesn't need to worry about anything else.

But she felt that if she wanted to teach well and keep these people quiet during the two months of teaching, she had to establish rules from the beginning. Otherwise, she would have a lot of headaches.

These people are all part of her network. Regardless of whether she'll need them in the future, it's still very important to establish her authority and cultivate a relationship like that between a homeroom teacher and students.

Seeing that everyone remained silent, she wasn't in a hurry. She pointed to her Green Plantain Courtyard and said, "Everyone can take their time to think it over. Once you've thought it through, those who want to be class officers can submit their applications at the gatehouse of the small courtyard next door."

Without further ado, she picked up her easel, called Uncle Lu over to sit opposite her, and began to paint his portrait.

Everyone gathered around her to watch her paint. However, no one dared to get too close, for fear of offending Teacher Zhao; they all stood about a meter apart.

Fifteen minutes later, Uncle Lu's portrait appeared on the paper.

Everyone was shocked when they looked at Uncle Lu sitting there motionless and then at the portrait on the paper.

"So alike, so incredibly alike."

"They're exactly the same!"

Yangcheng is not in Anzhou Province. These painters only heard from the messengers that Zhao Ruxi's painting style was extremely lifelike, just like the real people. They were skeptical when they heard this.

Their portraits are also very lifelike. How much better can this Teacher Zhao's portraits be than theirs, no matter how lifelike they are?

But now they realized they were wrong. These were completely different styles of painting. Zhao Ruxi's paintings could be best described as "lifelike." Compared to them, their paintings were utterly worthless.

If previously they dared not disrespect Zhao Ruxi because of the imperial edict, the presence of high-ranking officials like Zhang Changshen and Wu Zong, and Zhao Ruxi Ruxi's assertive attitude, then from this moment on, they truly admired Zhao Ruxi from the bottom of their hearts.

No wonder the government highly praises this painting skill; it is truly remarkable.

Zhao Ruxi asked Qingfeng to put the painting on the wall of the classroom. She then took out a teaching plan, had everyone read it once, and then gave it to Qingfeng to put on the wall.

Her fixed teaching times are half an hour in the morning and half an hour in the afternoon, with the rest of the time for drawing. She also listed out what to draw during each time period.

Seeing this two-month study schedule, someone couldn't help but ask, "Teacher Zhao, isn't the study time a bit too long?"

Because once the painting skills are learned, they belong to the family and can be passed on to one's son and apprentices, and even used to make money, the government does not cover the tuition fee of 1,500 taels; they have to pay for it themselves. They also have to cover their own food and lodging expenses after arriving in the capital.

The longer you study painting here, the higher the expenses will be.

Some families with ample financial resources are fine; but those who are struggling financially or even have to borrow money to learn to paint feel the pressure.

Most people, looking at the clock, felt that Zhao Ruxi's lecture time was too short. However, after what had just happened, none of them dared to voice their opinions, fearing that Zhao Ruxi might misunderstand them as disrespectful.

Zhao Ruxi didn't answer. Instead, she took a piece of paper and quickly sketched Uncle Lu, then pasted the sketch next to the one she had drawn yesterday.

Pointing to the sketchbook, she said, "If you want to learn something really simple, you can learn it in half a month. But this sketching, though seemingly simple, is still based on drawing. Without mastering drawing, you definitely can't draw a good sketch."

She looked around at everyone and said, "The philosophy behind my painting technique is different from the painting philosophy you've been taught since elementary school. Just accepting this philosophy and changing your previous painting habits will take time, at least half a month."

"Furthermore, we are all artists, and we have all studied painting before. You should know that learning to paint is all about having a teacher to guide you in, but the rest is up to you. I will teach you the techniques, but you need to slowly figure them out and practice on your own. It's different from studying the Four Books and Five Classics and Five Classics; you can't learn it just by having a long time of instruction from a master. On the contrary, it requires a lot of practice from yourselves."

"In addition, another training course in another province will start in ten days. In a little over a month, there will be four courses starting at the same time. I can't be there for you all all day."

The student regretted asking the question as soon as he did, fearing he'd be sent back. Unfortunately, once the words were spoken, there was no going back.

Seeing Zhao Ruxi's indifferent expression, he quickly chuckled and said, "It's nothing, Master, I was just saying that, please don't mind. You're right, how can one learn a painting skill in ten days or half a month? Two months is perfect, perfect."

The others quickly chimed in, "Exactly! What can you learn in ten days or half a month? You might seem to have learned it, but it's only scratching the surface. Only by learning slowly and steadily can you truly master a painting technique."