The brief two sentences presented quite a challenge...
To see the surface, yet also infer the core, and finally express it clearly and concisely.
The seemingly minimal word count belied a complexity that was far from simple...
A tea village within West Lake...
West Lake... Tea... Village. Why specify a tea village within West Lake? And what was the purpose of this specific mention?
What kind of place was this village? wap.kanshu伍.net
What was the intention behind this theme, what did it want her to express?
...
Staring at the paper before her, a flood of relevant, and irrelevant, ideas surged into Qiu Xi's mind.
Fragmented, they were all jotted down by Qiu Xi.
With the teacher watching and time limited, the pressure was immense.
Like a brainstorm, whatever flashed by, she noted.
Soon, a small draft paper was filled with messy yet organized scribbles, decipherable only by Qiu Xi.
To speak of West Lake, yet not solely of West Lake; to mention tea, yet also speak of a village... The scenery and charm of West Lake were intertwined with life, touching upon the environment, blending reality with ideals, dreams with distant aspirations...
After more than ten minutes, Qiu Xi raised her hand to signal to Teacher Jin that she had finished.
Jin Qiong sat there, initially preparing to chat with those nearby, but then she saw the raised hand.
She was somewhat doubtful, "You're... done?"
Qiu Xi nodded, "Yes, I just finished organizing it."
Concealing a trace of surprise in her eyes, Jin Qiong smiled.
"Alright, then... you can begin."
She wanted to see if this young girl, so praised by Brother Ding, was truly that capable.
Seeing the teacher sitting up straight, Qiu Xi took a breath, relaxed, and then looked at her organized notes, starting her explanation.
"..."
"This child, looking at her now, does seem to have a bit of talent."
As Qiu Xi began to describe, Yuan Qing and the others nearby were quietly chatting.
"Oh? What do you mean by that?"
Liu Qingyun hadn't taken the opportunity to see the topic Teacher Jin had prepared, so he was only catching snippets of conversation.
After Yuan Qing's exclamation, he heard Liu Qingyun's question and explained his earlier observation.
"..."
After hearing Yuan Qing's words, and then listening to what Qiu Xi was saying, Liu Qingyun was also a little surprised.
Even Yan Xingming, standing nearby, chimed in mentally.
This child was indeed a few steps more capable than he had anticipated. It seemed there would be something interesting to witness.
He had come to teach the young girl as a minor matter; he was primarily interested in the person Ding Yujing had mentioned.
Before coming, he had thought that if the child lacked ability, he would just make do.
Now, considering the capabilities of that old man, at his age, he shouldn't have such poor judgment.
Given the current situation, that wasn't the case.
Thinking this, his curiosity about this child's abilities grew...
Jin Qiong no longer had any spare thoughts to focus on what was happening here.
When Qiu Xi first started, she was still sitting casually, ready to just listen.
After all, her topic was indeed difficult. She had seen many students before and had given similar topics, but without sufficient knowledge, none had performed particularly well.
She had initially assumed this child would be the same, but to her surprise, she was proven wrong.
The focus was indeed on the village, but the detail was appropriate; the West Lake background she had provided was not neglected, and many scenes were envisioned, showing a grand perspective.
Describing the problem with a complete worldview could be considered very thorough.
It was just unclear whether this extent of work was the child's limit...
As this thought flashed by, seeing the person nearing the end, Jin Qiong's eyes lit up, and that fleeting thought gained substance.
"Teacher Jin, I have finished my description."
Qiu Xi, entirely focused on her wording, hadn't noticed the teachers' conversations at all.
Jin Qiong snapped back to attention with this voice, "Good, you spoke well. Then, we will directly move on to the next stage."
Completely unprepared, Qiu Xi nodded, "Okay, I'll listen to you, Teacher."
As soon as she finished speaking, before her words even settled, Qiu Xi heard Teacher Jin's first spoken sentence.
Truly, she was caught completely off guard. Subconsciously, Qiu Xi picked up the conversation.
However, after a couple of exchanges, Qiu Xi realized.
Teacher Jin wasn't deliberately trying to make things difficult for her; the topic of conversation followed directly from her previous description.
Only the emphasis was slightly different, with the focus shifting more towards the background, delving into historical contexts and culturally significant points.
These were her forte, so after the initial uncertainty, the conversation flowed smoothly and naturally.
Even Jin Qiong herself hadn't expected that conversing with this child would be so effortless.
This was something she hadn't dared to imagine before coming.
However, this only made her hidden intentions more eager.
But all of this would only be known after she had fully interacted with the child.
For now, she would let her observe closely, to see if the potential she estimated was accurate.
With that thought, Jin Qiong soon finished her discussion, letting Qiu Xi rest for a moment.
She then walked back.
"How do you feel about it?"
Seeing her approach, Yuan Qing, who was too restless to sit still even in his old age, asked.
He then remembered that he was next, so he asked with considerable excitement.
Jin Qiong had composed herself as she walked back, now appearing quite calm, not revealing anything.
Her subtle intentions had to be kept in check for now.
So, after sitting down, she calmly stated, "Yes, it's acceptable."
Yuan Qing, "..."
Does she even need to say that... He wasn't blind; he had seen the paper...
Is this old fellow doing this on purpose?
He hadn't missed anything earlier!
Thinking this, Yuan Qing didn't press further.
He decided to observe first, lest he be caught off guard later.
It was important to remember that none of the old guys present were simple!
"It's your turn, hurry up."
Lost in thought, he was nudged by Liu Qingyun beside him.
It turned out the young girl in front was already waiting.
Quickly organizing his thoughts, Yuan Qing nodded and walked over.
Meanwhile, Jin Qiong, looking at the somewhat peculiar Yuan Qing, had even more thoughts.
This old man shouldn't be *that* sharp... right?