Little Taotie rushed home and eagerly took out his brush, laid out the rice paper, and began practicing his calligraphy.
Cheng Guodong: "...What day is it today?"
Cheng Guodong, surprised: "Isn’t the interest class for painting? Shouldn’t she be painting at home? Why is she practicing calligraphy?"
Qin Xin shook his head: "Maybe she got too enthusiastic about practicing calligraphy yesterday?"
Hua Jinyan walked past them, kindly hinting: "The Calligraphy Teacher saw that her work she handed in today had improved and rewarded her with a pack of strawberry freeze-dried, saying she would get more rewards if she improves next time."
Cheng Guodong looked confused: "...Are we short a pack of strawberry freeze-dried?"
Qin Xin narrowed his eyes: "She’s no longer that Little Taotie from the mountains who had never seen the world and found everything tasty. Now our sister can actually tell the difference between deliciousness. There’s only one reason that could make her this enthusiastic and diligent."
Cheng Guodong: "What reason?"
Qin Xin, smiling: "It tastes countless times better than the strawberry freeze-dried you brought back."
Cheng Guodong, incredulous: "How is that possible? First of all, the strawberries we grow are of superior quality compared to other places! Secondly, in an effort to break into new markets, we adopted the idea of making strawberry freeze-dried snacks, hiring the most professional pastry chefs, and an exclusive recipe meticulously crafted by one hundred top-level master chefs, unmatched by anyone!"
Qin Xin: "There are always higher mountains, there are always greater people."
Cheng Guodong scoffed: "Unless it’s from a Michelin-starred chef, and one of those with decades of experience, there’s no way they could be better than us!"
Hua Jinyan glanced at him indifferently, "Little Taotie said, the teacher’s strawberry freeze-dried contained jam."
"Jam!" Cheng Guodong couldn’t believe it: "Impossible, how could that be! Strawberry freeze-dried snacks are the fruit empress, adorably crisp, throat-moistening, teeth-strengthening, with long-term storage capabilities, made through freeze-drying techniques that preserve the nutrients and appealing appearance to the greatest extent. If they added jam, it would shorten the shelf-life, making mass production out of the question."
Qin Xin: "Those in boutique stores are not made for long-term storage, they don’t care about time, they care about taste. Perhaps that teacher bought it from some pastry shop."
"I have to taste it myself! Learn from the experience, perhaps there’s still room for improvement before our company launches our strawberry freeze-dried product." Cheng Guodong decided to visit the Calligraphy Teacher tomorrow to ask where it was purchased.
The next day, as soon as Little Taotie arrived at school, she dashed to the Calligraphy Teacher’s office.
The elderly man was sitting in his office, watching the children playing wildly on the playground, holding a glass cup in his hand with Maojian tea leaves floating and sinking. He blew on it leisurely and took a sip, the epitome of contentment.
"Teacher, teacher, I’m here to hand in my homework!"
Hearing the babyish voice, the elderly man looked over in surprise, "I don’t remember assigning you any homework."
It was Monday’s calligraphy class, and the homework from that class was supposed to be handed in the same day. Little Taotie and Hua Jinyan were punished with standing, so it was submitted the next day. Even if there was homework, it would have to wait until next Monday.
However, Little Taotie couldn’t wait to hand over a sheet of rice paper, filled with the character "尖," each carefully and neatly written, with the last few even showing strokes with finesse, the slashes and hooks especially natural and even.
"Teacher, have I made progress?" Little Taotie’s eyes sparkled, her babyish voice soft and pleading.
The elderly man nodded: "You’ve written very well."
Little Taotie beamed, showing off a row of clean, white teeth, eyes curving into crescents, dimples deepening, "Teacher, may I have my reward?"
The elderly man: "..." That was it, he hadn’t expected her to come for her reward today! He had thought he’d give it to her next Monday, planning to make fresh strawberry freeze-dried over the