dognovel Chapter 140 Defeat
Chapter 140 Defeat
Once Lu Yuan truly makes up his mind to do something, he can unleash an amazing level of focus.
As the saying goes, "Only through loss can one gain enlightenment." The losses and pain he suffered in his past life made him deeply aware of the weight of determination.
Now that he has a second chance, he naturally dares not slack off in the slightest. Moreover, the time he has left is far more pressing than he imagined.
The results of the college entrance examination are scheduled to be released on June 25th, which means there are only a dozen days left.
Lu Yuan secretly vowed to himself that he would present the design perfectly before the clothing merchants came to inspect it.
He longed for the day the results were released, so that his parents could laugh with joy at his outstanding achievements, without having to worry about career crises and regrets.
So, over the next ten days or so, Lu Yuan devised a rather strict schedule for himself.
He revealed his thoughts to Ye Yixian.
When Ye Yixian saw the sketches drawn by Lu Yuan, his eyes were filled with surprise.
She never expected that Lu Yuan would know about fashion design. Her admiration and affection for him grew stronger in her eyes.
Lu Yuan looked at her with a solemn expression and said softly, "I will have very little time to spend with you in the future. I hope you can understand."
"Silly boy!" Ye Yixian smiled and ruffled his hair, her tone gentle yet firm. "A good man's ambition lies in all directions. You're focused on your career, how could I not understand? You're working so hard to solve the family's problems, I'm more than happy to support you, how could I not understand?"
Her sincerity became Lu Yuan's strongest support, greatly boosting his confidence.
Ye Yixian looked at him expectantly: "It seems that something big is going to happen in the next ten days or so. I see that your aunt and uncle are repairing the garment factory, so I can't just sit idly by. I have to help out."
She had clearly taken Lu Yuan's family's affairs as her own.
She was born into a broken home and felt helpless and bewildered when faced with a family crisis.
Now the Lu family has given her a long-lost warmth and sense of belonging, which she cherishes more than anyone else.
Although she has limited abilities and can't offer any substantial help, she is willing to be the most steadfast supporter and will never make unreasonable demands.
With this understanding, Lu Yuan was finally able to immerse himself in the design drawings without any distractions.
As for taking the driving test, Gao Zhe knew what he was busy with, so he didn't urge him.
However, during these few days, a rather troublesome incident occurred: Xia Anqi had also enrolled in the same driving school he had signed up for, and the two inevitably met again.
This is the situation that Lu Yuan least wanted to see.
Although Xia Anqi always ignored him whenever they met, there had been unpleasantness between them, and an awkward atmosphere inevitably filled the air.
Lu Yuan thought that the two of them would maintain this cold war state of ignoring each other in the future.
Unexpectedly, when he was engrossed in drawing design sketches in the driving school's break room that day, Xia Anqi, who was passing by, suddenly stopped, glanced at his drawing paper, and coldly remarked, "You draw terribly."
Lu Yuan looked up at Xia Anqi's aloof face, and for a moment he couldn't tell whether this was a good thing or a bad thing.
However, she finally stopped acting like a "father's killer," which shows that the two were not at the point of no return and could at least communicate.
Lu Yuan didn't want to make enemies; after all, having more friends meant having more options.
Moreover, Xia Anqi is a top student from Tsinghua and Peking Universities, and in the future, we may have to rely on her connections and abilities in our careers.
"How is it ugly?" Lu Yuan rolled his eyes and retorted indignantly.
Xia Anqi didn't stand on ceremony. She simply pulled out a chair next to her and sat down, completely ignoring Lu Yuantong's objections. She snatched the paper and pen from his hand and mercilessly criticized him, "With your skills, you want to do fashion design? The renderings are so childish that even children would find them immature, let alone professional clothing manufacturers!"
Lu Yuan was surprised to find that Xia Anqi hadn't come to cause trouble.
She picked up her pen and, with just a few strokes, transformed Lu Yuan's rough sketch into a well-proportioned drawing with smooth lines and a clear structure, demonstrating exceptional skill.
"You can draw?" Lu Yuan asked in surprise.
"Nonsense, do you think I'm just a bookworm who only knows how to study?" Xia Anqi gave him a look of undisguised contempt.
Lu Yuan made the mistake of being prejudiced once again.
He always thought that top students were all test-takers who were oblivious to everything else, but little did he know that girls like Xia Anqi, who came from wealthy families and had outstanding grades, were excellent in more ways than just academics.
Her family has enough resources to cultivate her various abilities; she excels in art, dance, and sports.
What surprised Lu Yuan even more was that Xia Anqi actually knew about the clothing merchants who had come to Jiangcheng.
Lu Yuan tentatively asked, "How much do you know about the businessmen who came to Jiangcheng to investigate the garment industry?"
"I don't know much." Xia Anqi lowered her head, the pen scratching on the paper, without even glancing at him, and said casually, "But I have relatives who work in the government, and I occasionally hear about things related to investment promotion and development policies."
At this point, she paused, picked up the revised drawing, examined it closely, and, seemingly barely satisfied, continued, "Among these clothing merchants, some do business in Southeast Asia, and others in Europe. The designs they want often have strong regional characteristics. If you want to cater to their tastes, you have to think along the lines of their origins."
After saying that, she pushed the drawing in front of Lu Yuan, not forgetting to add insult to injury: "Your drawing is really bad. Mine is much better."
Lu Yuan felt a wave of embarrassment: "You haven't said a word to me for almost two months, and the first thing you do is criticize my painting for being ugly. That's incredibly rude!"
"Tch, why bother with manners when dealing with a scumbag like you?" Xia Anqi stood up, dusted off her clothes, and prepared to leave.
"Am I a scumbag again?" Lu Yuan said helplessly.
"Ha, what a scumbag." She twitched her lips slightly, left those words, and strode away.
However, Lu Yuan knew in his heart that she did not want to fall out with him to the point of never speaking to each other again.
Although he didn't understand what Xia Anqi was thinking, the information she brought today was extremely crucial, giving Lu Yuan a clearer grasp of the design direction.
Before you know it, the days have passed.
Lu Yuan poured all his energy into the clothing design drawings, so much so that he missed passing the first subject exam by two points due to carelessness.
This made Li Xian, who was taking the exam in the same batch, laugh so hard he almost fell over.
Gao Zhe, Xu Lingjing, Jiang Yiqing, Li Xian, Zhang Xueling, and even Xia Anqi all passed smoothly in the same batch, but Lu Yuan was the only one who stumbled.
The day after the exam, Lu Yuan was completely numb.
It's utterly ridiculous that a "veteran driver" with ten years of experience couldn't even pass the written test (theory test).
"Hahaha, Lu Yuan, it seems you really have no talent for getting a driver's license!" Li Xian finally seized the perfect opportunity to mock Lu Yuan and kept criticizing him.
Lu Yuan could only manage a wry smile.
He realized he was too confident, thinking that with his experience as a seasoned pro, he wouldn't need to do any practice problems, only to be slapped in the face by reality.
Everyone was quite surprised. Even Jiang Yiqing, who was usually the least reliable when it came to practice questions, passed without any major problems, but he failed miserably.
"Brother Yuan, what's wrong with you? How come you can't even pass the first part of the driving test?" Gao Zhe asked, looking puzzled.
Lu Yuan shrugged and said helplessly, "There's nothing I can do but retake the test. You guys go ahead and take the second subject test; I'll catch up soon."
"Hahaha, you can even fail the first part of the driving test!" Li Xian laughed even more unrestrainedly. "Don't let us all have our driver's licenses while you're still taking the first part!"
"Li Xian!" Gao Zhe brandished his fist, scaring Li Xian into making a hasty retreat.
"Alright, Yuan-ge." Gao Zhe didn't urge him any further; he knew how much pressure Lu Yuan was under lately.
Lu Yuan, of course, didn't take failing the driving test to heart.
The clothing supplier was arriving in a couple of days, and he needed to get the design sketches out of his hands as soon as possible.