“Are you still a child? Can you really understand the original books?” The doubt in her voice grew heavier. Perhaps she was still guessing if the girl in front of her was just pretending.
“It’s okay. It’s the best way to learn English.” Zhu Yanyi was not angry. Strangers’ doubts were not enough to make her mad.
The young woman paused slightly. A hint of embarrassment appeared on her smiling face. “Then take your time reading.” She said this and went to sit nearby.
Zhu Yanyi ignored such people. The world had all kinds of people. This kind of person would not make her think much. So, no matter what, it did not matter to Zhu Yanyi.
After a while, Officer Zhang returned. He held a roll call book. He came in and called names. Only after confirming everyone was present did he speak. “All contestants are here. That is good. Today, we will compete in embroidery with friends from other countries. Embroidery is our traditional culture, but Japan and Korea also have it. They always say their embroidery is the best in the world. So, we specially held this international embroidery competition. We want to show those foreigners who is the true heir of embroidery. Do you have confidence?” Officer Zhang asked loudly.
“Yes.” Everyone in the room, except Zhu Yanyi, felt their blood boiling after hearing her words. Zhu Yanyi frowned slightly. Traditional culture competitions were normal. But if victory was valued too much, it would actually stain the true meaning of traditional culture. It seemed Officer Zhang was not very smart. She was probably the type known as a pretty face with no substance. However, Zhu Yanyi did not speak up. As long as she understood this herself, it was enough. She did not think much about others, nor did she care to manage them.
Officer Zhang looked at everyone with great satisfaction after hearing their loud answers. “This time, we are divided into the elderly group, the middle-aged group, and the youth group. The juvenile group is included in the youth group, but they will be judged separately. The embroidery competition will happen at the same time. However, the final judging will have different rules for each group. The elderly group has elderly rules, the middle-aged group has middle-aged rules, and the youth group has youth rules. You just need to remember your own competition requirements.” Officer Zhang continued, “Now I will call numbers. You all have a qualification certificate in your hands with a number on it. When I call a number, you go in and sit in the position corresponding to your number. The specific exam topic will be announced by the judges on the spot.”
After finishing speaking, Officer Zhang started calling numbers. “Elderly group number one…” Then, people in the rest room walked out one by one into the competition area nearby.
Zhu Yanyi belonged to the juvenile group within the youth group, so she was in the last batch. Her number was also the last one, so she entered last.
Zhu Yanyi’s seat was in the last corner.
For Zhu Yanyi, this did not matter. It was just a competition after all.
The entire exam hall was divided into two parts. The judges sat in the middle. The contestants sat on the left and right sides. One side was for Chinese embroiderers, and the other side was for embroiderers from Japan and Korea. The division was very clear. This arrangement was actually not very appropriate, but this was just Zhu Yanyi’s thought. Among the judges, besides Chinese judges, there were also judges from other countries, including judges from Japan and Korea.