Evening.
"Beep!"
"French advanced study, grammar advancement course completed!"
"Beep!"
"Mission issued, Japanese vocabulary to be memorized daily, 200 points per day."
Late at night, Qiu Xi had just finished the French grammar course she had arranged for herself, calling herself Little Flower.
As a result, the Japanese task followed.
"Little Flower, then arrange the advanced Japanese course for me as well."
Sharpening the axe does not delay the work. If she prepares well now, then the subsequent matters will proceed smoothly.
"Okay, Little Xi."
"Oh, and this, today Teacher Ding gave me a plan. I've already categorized it. Please include those that require theoretical preparation and reading into the system's courses. As for the ones that I need to write myself, I'll find time to work on them later."
"Okay, I'll complete the mission!"
"Alright, then I'll go study first."
"Okay~ Little Xi, go for it~"
"Mm."
...
"Teacher Yan, I have sent the application form to your email. Please check it."
"Okay."
The number of people was small, and they were active. Qiu Xi sent out the application form as soon as she finished organizing it.
"Beep!"
"Mission issued, participate in the Century Cup. Rewards will be determined by the final outcome."
"Beep!"
"Mission issued, accept Ding Yujing's training plan. The final evaluation must be qualified. Rewards include 10,000 cash and a copy of 'Daodejing' from the teachers."
With two missions issued at once, Qiu Xi was a little surprised.
"Little Flower, what is this Daodejing?"
She knew of the Daodejing, but this one now was certainly not the same Daodejing.
"Little Flower isn't too sure about this either, but it's probably the experience and insights of your teachers. You'll have to get it yourself to know."
"Alright, then I'll wait until the mission is completed."
"Mm."
Hoo!
Once the missions were out, the sense of urgency was completely different from before.
She had to seize the time and work hard!
...
"Come, read us the draft required by yesterday's plan first."
"Okay."
According to the plan given by Teacher Ding earlier, her preliminary training plan included two drafts per week.
Master and Teacher Ding did not check every draft, but adopted a random inspection method. They would check whenever they had time.
In Teacher Ding's words, no matter how skilled you were, if you didn't write for a while, then what you wrote would be mediocre.
And such drafts that could only barely satisfy people were considered unqualified by them. Therefore, practicing from time to time was her required course now.
"It's okay."
"Mm, for this preliminary self-narration part, it's sufficient."
"It just lacks a bit of flavor."
"It's fine. It's indeed a bit difficult to express the aesthetic beauty of Chinese understanding in a foreign language in a way that is both idiomatic and beautiful."
After listening, Ding Yujing and Du Bin were quite satisfied.
As for the remaining elegant phrasing, it would be improved with more practice.
With this thought, Ding Yujing reached out to ask Qiu Xi for the draft, "Here, give me the draft."
"Here."
"Lean closer to take a look."
Seeing her little apprentice stretching her neck, Du Bin felt like laughing, then suppressed the corners of his mouth and asked her to lean over.
"Mm, thank you, Master."
"No problem, it's a good opportunity to talk to you about it."
"Okay."
"Come, this sentence, your understanding is very good, but foreigners will find it difficult to understand our country's usage. Just like we have beautiful idioms and four-character phrases, as soon as you say them, you can feel the scene. But they can't."
"For example, I tell you, spring has arrived, the flowers have bloomed, in a riot of colors, exuding fragrance."
"Perhaps you can immediately understand by context and start visualizing scenes in your mind, but your audience will not be able to understand."
"Also this, the sentences are also very good, and the grammar is also learned properly. But for speeches, spoken language is important. It's not written language. We can simplify it slightly, and then you can infuse it with emotion when you speak."
"And then..."
"..."
"Mm, mm, mm..."
After revising one draft, it was filled with Qiu Xi's constant nodding and 'mm, mm, mm' sounds.
Through this revision, Qiu Xi did learn a lot.
She had participated in speech competitions before, but most of the time back then, she relied on her own deductions. Although she had undergone systematic training, it was still somewhat different from the professional training she was receiving from her Master and Teacher Ding now.
Ultimately, it allowed her to elevate herself.
"Alright, that's all for this draft. Not much, just a few points. Ponder them well when you get back."
"Okay."
"Then let's continue."
Next was the Master's professional task. "Come, tell me about this sentence, '人间有味是清欢' (The taste of life is simple joy)."
"Master, this is Su Shi..."
"I want to hear it in English."
"..."
"Okay, Master."
Fortunately, after spending so much time with Little Snow Flower and learning from her Master, she had also been influenced to like some ancient sayings and phrases. She was not completely ignorant in this regard.
Moreover, with Teacher Ding urging her lately, she didn't dare to be lazy.
Otherwise, she might be completely clueless now.
As for the English version, she would try her best.
After all, she was still a bit lacking in translating classical Chinese.
This was just for their own country's literature. When foreign literature was involved later, she would probably have a lot to deal with.
"Alright, this one is a bit of a stretch."
Du Bin was not entirely satisfied, but this was indeed not easy.
"Little Xi, don't listen to your Master talking nonsense. He has high demands. He was like this when he was young, so now that he's older, not only is his temper bad, but he also doesn't have much hair."
Ding Yujing's words were not false. Perhaps because their directions were different, his demands differed from Old Du's.
He now felt that this girl was indeed full of spirit.
She was truly suitable!
Qiu Xi nodded, without much emotion, "Teacher Ding, I'm used to it, it's fine."
Having followed her Master for so long, she understood her Master's way of speaking.
His demands were very high!
So when her Master said that just now, her mood didn't change at all. She just needed to correct herself properly.
"Hey!"
"I didn't expect you to have such personality!"
He originally intended to comfort her, but this young lady was smiling happily!
Ding Yujing was suddenly at a loss. His concern was completely unnecessary.
"Old Ding, you're underestimating my little apprentice!"
Du Bin, having regained the upper hand, smiled happily seeing Ding Yujing's predicament.
"Go, go, go!"
Ding Yujing was annoyed. "I won't say any more!"
"Hahaha~"
Even Qiu Xi quietly curved the corners of her mouth.