Onlookers

She timed it perfectly; after exchanging greetings and pleasantries with everyone, Kang Shilin, Peng Guoan, and others arrived.

As soon as they arrived, the gong was struck, the competition began, and the people surrounding her returned to their positions.

Zhao Ruxi composed herself, laid out paper and brush, and began to quietly grind ink, adjusting her state of mind.

In the preliminary round, she only painted mountains; in the semi-final, she painted water; and in the final, she naturally painted both mountains and water.

Since she was determined to make a name for herself, she naturally had to go all out and no longer hide her strength. She needed to bring out her best performance in this noisy competition venue, create a masterpiece, and gain the world's recognition.

Fortunately, after a period of practice, her painting skills became more and more mature. She could paint with ease and get into the zone very quickly. She no longer needed to go to the top of the mountain to see the scenery and stimulate her potential.

With the ink ground and her mind at ease, she picked up her brush and began to paint.

She wanted to paint to the highest standard, so naturally she wanted to express the grandeur and magnificence of her landscape paintings to the fullest extent. The field of vision in the painting had to be broad, and the size of the painting could not be small. Therefore, more than an hour passed, and everyone else had finished painting and stopped painting, but she was still not finished.

Zhang Xiuyan, who was behind her, had finished his drawing. He checked it and realized that he had probably been holding his breath and had produced his best work. He couldn't help but feel proud and looked up at Zhao Ruxi.

Seeing that Zhao Ruxi was still painting, he glanced at the lit incense and couldn't help but purse his lips, secretly hoping that Zhao Ruxi would go over time.

Painting competitions are different from the Four Books and Four Books and Five Classics examinations; the most important thing is to paint well. If you exceed the time limit, you won't be judged as a failure outright; you'll only lose some time-out points and be ranked lower.

In a competition among top players, being ranked slightly lower might mean missing out on the championship.

If Zhao Ruxi exceeded the time limit, Zhang Xiuyan felt that with the quality of his painting, he would definitely be able to surpass Zhao Ruxi's. If Zhao Ruxi still won first place, then it would undoubtedly be a case of foul play. Zhang Xiuyan would definitely cause a huge scene with his master.

Mister Kumu often said that his master was of bad character. Now that he himself has shown favoritism in the competition, his master will surely be happy to use this opportunity to kick Mister Kumu while he's down, ruin his reputation, and wash away his past shame.

To avoid interfering with each other, the tables were spaced quite far apart. In addition, Zhao Ruxi's figure was blocking the view, so Zhang Xiuyan couldn't see how her painting was doing. He simply turned his gaze elsewhere and looked back at the other people's paintings.

Unlike other exams, you can't copy answers when it comes to drawing, so looking around isn't considered a violation.

Upon inspection, Zhang Xiuyan noticed that most people were rushing to finish their paintings because they were worried about running out of time, and they dared not make their paintings too big. As a result, most of them had already finished. There were also some who were not satisfied with their paintings and were making corrections and additions.

After finishing their paintings, participants do not need to hand them in. They can simply weigh the paintings down with the four corners of a paperweight and leave. After a short while, judges will score the paintings line by line.

However, fearing that someone might tamper with their painting when no one was looking, most people who finished painting would stay put and wait until the time was up before leaving.

Therefore, everyone was looking around.

Zhang Xiuyan noticed that everyone's eyes were fixed on their corner, and their expressions were all the same, showing confusion and curiosity.

Some people even hesitated for a moment before leaving the scene. After leaving, they didn't stay but went over the rope fence and ran directly to the upper right corner. Finally, they stood very close to Zhang Xiuyan and craned their necks to look at Zhao Ruxi's portrait.

Zhang Xiuyan turned his head following the man's trail and noticed that, without realizing it, the corner outside the fence had been crowded with people, all looking at Zhao Ruxi's painting with great excitement.

Although almost everyone who came to watch the painting competition was a painting enthusiast, and there were people maintaining order, people inevitably lose control of their emotions when they get excited and make some noise. With dozens of people crowded together, the noise level was quite high.

But these people seemed afraid of disturbing Zhao Ruxi. Despite their excitement, they restrained themselves, held their breath, stared at Zhao Ruxi's painting, and stood there motionless without making a sound.

The contestant who had left early was now standing there, dumbfounded, looking utterly shocked.

Zhang Xiuyan couldn't help but be curious. He also craned his neck to look ahead.

However, Zhao Ruxi's clothes today were wide and flowing, obscuring most of the painting. Even if Zhang Xiuyan craned his neck, he still couldn't see the full view of Zhao Ruxi's painting.

Fortunately, the painting was quite large, and even though Zhao Ruxi's clothes were loose, they couldn't completely cover it, with some of the painting showing on both sides.

Zhang Xiuyan studied it for a moment and found that Zhao Ruxi's painting did not resemble a figure painting, but rather a landscape painting. Looking up again, he noticed that Zhao Ruxi was not holding a charcoal pencil, but a calligraphy brush. He was immediately puzzled.

Could it be that Zhao Ruxi didn't come to the competition to paint her original charcoal figure paintings that had attracted the court's attention, but instead painted ink landscapes that she had learned from Kang Shilin?

Unable to see the whole picture clearly, and unable to discern anything further, Zhang Xiuyan had no choice but to withdraw his gaze and glance back at Lin Yunshen, Zhong Lei, and the others.

Zhong Lei frowned as he added details to his painting.

Lin Yunshen had finished his drawing and, like Zhang Xiuyan, was craning his neck to look at Zhao Ruxi. However, he was further away and couldn't see what Zhao Ruxi was drawing at all.

Seeing Zhang Xiuyan turn around to look at him, he met Zhang Xiuyan's gaze and gave him a questioning look.

You can look around during the competition, but you can't make any noise. The reason is that someone might think their drawing is bad and try to distract others in order to improve their own ranking. If anyone talks and is caught by the proctors, their drawing will be immediately disqualified and they will be expelled from the competition venue.

Therefore, Zhang Xiuyan ignored Lin Yunshen's questioning gaze and turned to look at Zhao Ruxi.

Then he noticed that Zhao Ruxi had stopped painting and was examining her work. After examining it for a while, she seemed satisfied and felt there was no need to make any further changes. She then dipped her brush in the brush washer and placed it on the brush holder.

At this moment, it seemed that even more people had gathered around her. Those on the outside couldn't squeeze in and couldn't see what Zhao Ruxi's paintings looked like at all, making them all anxious and scratching their heads in frustration.

The invigilators had already noticed the commotion. Several of them ran over, glaring at the onlookers, and tried to maintain order.

Zhao Ruxi was completely absorbed in her painting, undisturbed by her surroundings. When she finished and saw the crowd of onlookers, she was slightly startled.

Fortunately, she had seen a lot in her previous life and participated in countless competitions. After a while, she regained her composure and began to pack her things.

She was most comfortable using her own things, so the organizers only provided the venue and tables and chairs; she had to bring her own writing materials. Before leaving, she needed to pack her things.