Chapter 22: Showing off Your Specialty

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

“Mr. Song, to be honest, there are many people like you who come for our kindergarten’s interview every year. Do you have any other outstanding advantages?” The kindergarten principal looked at Song Qianming with a troubled expression, as if she was ready to reject him.

“In what aspect specifically?”

“It’s like this, in order to promote the all-round physical and mental development of our children, every year, we invite some parents to teach our children some courses. May I ask if you have any skills for that? Of course, please don’t misunderstand, we’re not trying to exploit the parents’ labor, we’re just ensuring that the parents can also educate their children well in their spare time. Our school’s philosophy is that children are the shared responsibility of parents and the school, not that you can just throw your children into our kindergarten with money and leave them alone.”

Although Song Qianming found it troublesome for children to study, he had to admit that the way children were educated in this world was much better than in his previous life.

“I know how to ride a horse, archery, calligraphy, and painting. Are these enough?”

The head of the kindergarten looked at him in surprise. He seemed to be a little suspicious that a small actor like him could be proficient in these things, so she suggested, “Is it convenient for you to show it in front of us?”

“No problem,” he said.

This was a kindergarten for the rich, so it was well-equipped with everything. The first thing Song Qianming wanted to show everyone was his calligraphy and painting.

It had been a long time since he had held a brush. Looking at these, he seemed to see his past life again. At that time, the Grand Tutor was so worried about his studies that he had lost countless strands of hair. No matter how much he was punished to copy and practice calligraphy, his handwriting, according to the Grand Tutor, was worse than that of a seven-year-old child.

His father didn’t like him as a son and turned a blind eye to his unruliness. He was too lazy to teach him. Whenever his father thought of him, he would give him a beating. Only his royal brother cared for him and taught him calligraphy step by step. Only then did his calligraphy gradually improve.

As for why he was decent at painting, it was because after his royal brother ascended the throne, he had nothing to do all day and often went out to play. While he was out, he met a painting master and studied from him for a period of time. Unexpectedly, he got pretty good at painting.

When the kindergarten principal saw that his aura changed the moment he picked up the pen, she couldn’t help but re-examine Song Qianming.

As for little Youhuan, she was looking at her father with an expression of admiration.

A piece of calligraphy was quickly completed. He wrote a poem by his royal brother in his previous life. His royal brother had quelled the rebellion in his previous life and saved the people from suffering. The entire poem was filled with dominance.

“Alright!” Although the kindergarten principal was not good at calligraphy, there were many capable people in their private aristocratic school. Despite not knowing how to write, she could appreciate it.

“Go and invite Master Yu over,” the principal said to another teacher in a low voice.

The teacher’s expression was a little awkward. “Then what if Master Yu doesn’t come? He might not be willing to come if I’m the one inviting him.”

‘Try to goad him into coming. Tell him that one of our parents is better at calligraphy than his disciples. He’ll regret it if he doesn’t come.”

The kindergarten principal saw that Song Qianming had changed the paper and started to paint this time, and her expression became more and more expectant.

Time and space were limited, and Song Qianming did not have the time to prepare something too complicated. He simply copied a piece of work that he had created from his previous life. White snow covered the mountains, and the scenery was lonely. However, in the lower right corner of the painting, two men were fishing in the cold river. One was holding a fishing rod, and the other was lying lazily, stretching out his right hand, as if he was attempting to catch the falling snowflakes.

This was the last time he and his royal brother had time to play together. After this, the war for the throne had started. After that, his royal brother had gone through a lot of hardships to succeed the throne. Since then, he was busy every day handling state affairs and no longer had such leisure time.

“Not bad!” An old man beside him nodded with a smile. Song Qianming had long noticed his arrival, but he did not stop painting.

“It’s really good!” This person even pushed him away impolitely and started to admire the painting alone. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen such a spiritual painting.”

“You’re too polite, old sir.”

“Looking at your painting style and the way you move your brush, you definitely didn’t come from a normal school. May I ask which master you studied under?”

Naturally, Song Qianming could not reveal the truth, so he came up with a random reason. “I learned it from a teacher in my hometown. He’s not very famous in the painting world, but he has passed away a long time ago.”

“Then, is there any of his remaining work?”

“There’s nothing else,” Song Qianming shook his head. “Teacher’s last wish was to burn all his drafts to accompany him in his grave. Therefore, he didn’t leave behind any last works.”

The old man sighed regretfully, “That’s really a pity. I didn’t expect that there would be people who didn’t want to leave their names behind. He was able to cultivate a student like you. If he was willing to put himself out there back then, he would have definitely left a his name in our country’s painting world.”

“On behalf of my teacher, I thank you for your praise.” Song Qianming actually felt that it was a pity. It was a pity that this world did not have the history of their Lan dynasty. It was as if their Lan dynasty had appeared and disappeared out of thin air. If there were historical records or relics left behind, those people he knew in his previous life would definitely become legendary figures in the history books.

“But he should be glad to have a student like you. If you don’t mind, can you gift me this painting?”

Even though this painting had a special meaning to Song Qianming, the time just now was too short for him to do his best. If he missed his royal brother, he could just draw another one in the future. However, if this painting could get Youhuan into this kindergarten, it would be worth it.

“As long as you don’t mind my rough strokes, old sir.”

The principal really didn’t expect that this parent’s talent would receive such praise from elder Yu. She had thought that such a handsome young man would have been more impetuous!

“Elder Yu, please take a look at this.” She couldn’t help but show off the calligraphy piece Song Qianming had just drawn. Her proud expression made it seem as if Song Qianming was one of her own people.

“The strokes are strong and has its own style. It must be done in one go. Young friend, did you write this too?”

“Yes.”

Elder Yu sighed. “I thought that there wouldn’t be many young people these days who are good enough. It seems that I can’t just limit my vision to those students and competitions. This is really well written!”

Song Qianming didn’t stand on ceremony any longer. Instead, he turned around and asked the kindergarten director, “Principal, do you think I’ve passed the test?”

“You passed, you definitely passed.”

“What about my daughter’s admission?”

“You’ll just have to fill in some more information later. We’ll send you an email about the admission details. But Mr. Song, because you’re only average in other aspects, we might have to invite you to teach a few calligraphy and painting classes for the students in the next semester. What do you think?”

Finally, he heaved a sigh of relief. “Of course, but I have to work as well. I’ll just communicate with them in advance.”

“I will definitely respect your time, Mr. Song.”