RMWDS -Chapter 273 Embroidery Competition

A few days later, the “National Ancient Weaving and Embroidery Skills Competition” mentioned by Director Lu officially commenced in Nan Province.

The competition venue wasn’t far from Mount Xuanwu, so there was no need for long-distance travel by plane or high-speed rail—round trips were very convenient.

This time, it was still Miao Yunyou personally leading the group: Wen Xiuning, Ling Yunxiao, Ling Nianci—a family of three—plus the “assistant” of the sect leader, Luo Xinglan, making five people in total, all happily setting off to participate.

They drove off in Miao Yunyou’s million-yuan sports sedan. The interior was luxurious and quiet, and the seats were soft and spacious enough to easily accommodate all five.

Before getting in, Ling Yunxiao looked at the large Foton Toano van parked nearby and muttered to himself, “Well, there are only five of us. We don’t need to use such a high-end vehicle.”

Miao Yunyou: “……”

That was enough—she already felt sorry for her Mercedes.

One after another, they got into the car. The sports sedan smoothly exited the winding mountain roads of Mount Xuanwu and merged into the bustling outside highway.

This short trip carried completely different meaning for the family of three.

Since arriving at Mount Xuanwu, their range of activity had always been limited to the mountain—they had never truly stepped into the outside world. This embroidery competition was their first time leaving the deep mountains and entering real modern society since arriving in this new world.

The car window slowly rolled down, and the scenery outside rapidly retreated. Smooth asphalt roads, streams of passing vehicles, rows of shops and buildings, colorful billboards, and pedestrians dressed in all kinds of clothing hurrying along the streets—all of it was entirely new to them.

Their eyes remained fixed outside the window, filled with curiosity and wonder.

Two hours later, they finally arrived.

The competition venue was the Nan Province Cultural and Arts Center.

After getting out of the car, they looked up at the grand, modern building in front of them and once again felt a strong sense of shock.

This competition was of very high standard, jointly hosted by the Nan Province Cultural and Tourism Bureau. With official backing, it attracted hundreds of top embroidery artists, intangible cultural heritage inheritors, and embroidery enthusiasts from all over the country to gather and compete for the championship title.

The rules had long been publicly announced—simple, transparent, and fair.

All contestants competed on the same stage under a “six-hour timed on-site creation” format.

Every participant had to create their work from scratch inside the venue.

Pre-drawn drafts, semi-finished works, machine assistance, or ghostwriting were strictly prohibited. Anyone caught would be immediately disqualified and blacklisted in the industry.

The organizers provided standardized materials: plain embroidery cloth, wooden embroidery frames, and basic drawing tools. Threads, needles, scissors, and personal specialty tools had to be brought by the contestants themselves.

Following the crowd, they entered the spacious main arena.

Inside, the space was vast—over a thousand square meters, neatly divided into rows of wooden workstations, already filled with participants from all over the country.

Around the edges were circular spectator stands for visitors and contestants’ families.

Wen Xiuning, holding the registration credentials sent by Director Lu, quickly found her assigned seat.

The others took seats in the viewing area.

What was interesting was that normally, when people from their resort wore ancient-style clothing in public, they would attract a lot of attention. But this time, because it was an embroidery competition, many contestants and even their companions were also wearing traditional clothing—so they didn’t stand out much at all.

They blended in surprisingly smoothly.

Still, a few spectators recognized Miao Yunyou.

“Wow, isn’t that Coach Miao? Why are you here?”

Miao Yunyou answered generously, “I came with our staff member to compete.”

“Wait, I’ve only seen your resort on my phone before. I thought it was all actors—so you actually do this for real?”

“Honestly, the level of hidden talent in your resort keeps刷新ing my understanding.”

About half an hour later, the competition officially began.

The host stepped onto the stage, briefly announced the rules, reiterated the rewards and penalties, and then publicly revealed the highly anticipated unified creative theme for this round.

“This competition’s live creation theme is—[Love Most Deeply].”

Just two simple words, with no restrictions or constraints. It encompassed everything, allowing contestants to interpret it freely and create whatever they wished.

The six-hour countdown officially began.

The moment the theme was announced, all participants fell into brief contemplation, each trying to interpret the meaning and conceive suitable designs.

The conceptual phase was not very visually engaging.

The audience in the viewing stands had nothing much to do, so many of them lowered their heads and started scrolling on their phones.

Suddenly, Ling Nianci opened a page and leaned over to show it to Miao Yunyou. “Leader, look. The rules say that on the second day of the event, the top three winners will be invited to a charity auction.”

The younger generation on the mountain had basically already mastered most simplified Chinese characters and could read fluently.

Miao Yunyou said, “Ah, is there that rule too? I didn’t read it carefully. Whatever, we’ll just go if we need to. I only booked the hotel for one night though—no problem, I’ll just extend it if needed.”

Their sect leader had also become quite comfortable now—when traveling, she directly booked presidential suites. She reserved two rooms: one for Wen Xiuning and Ling Yunxiao as a couple, and one for herself, Luo Xinglan, and Ling Nianci.

Ling Nianci, however, looked even more excited than Miao Yunyou. “Leader, this is an auction! One of the most exciting scenes in short dramas! I finally get to experience it in real life!”

Miao Yunyou: “……”

Fine. Auctions really were one of the most common settings in short dramas.

Anything dramatic could happen there—arguments, face-slapping, slaps across the face, bankruptcies, breakups, divorces, severed ties, bloodline verification… the list went on.

Thinking about it like that, she actually started feeling a bit excited too.

Miao Yunyou asked, “By the way, how do you know all this? Have you been secretly binge-watching short dramas behind my back lately?”

Ling Nianci admitted openly, “Yeah! The comic adaptation of my favorite novel just came out. I watched it until 2 a.m. yesterday.”

Miao Yunyou: Tch tch tch. Truly, it’s hard to learn good things—but falling into bad habits happens in a flash.

Unable to resist, she teased, “So confident your mother will definitely make it into the top three?”

She expected Ling Nianci to confidently say, “Of course!”

Unexpectedly, Ling Nianci smiled and said, “Winning is of course a good thing.

But if we don’t win, that’s okay too.

It just means there are still more advanced embroidery techniques we haven’t learned yet, and more possibilities for us to grow. That would still be a good thing!”

At such a young age, she already had such a mindset. Miao Yunyou couldn’t help but feel deep respect: “A model for us all!”

Ling Yunxiao reached out and gently patted his daughter’s head, his eyes suddenly turning a little moist.

He already knew how much his wife and child had suffered during the years he was absent.

Without such a mindset, they would never have made it to today.

Miao Yunyou said, “By the way, what’s the name of that comic drama you mentioned? Share it with Xinglan and me too.”

Ling Nianci: “Sure!”

Even though he had a new phone, Ling Yunxiao was still not very familiar with it. He fumbled a bit while entering the password to unlock it, then said awkwardly, “…Nianci, I want to watch it too.”

Like every ordinary father in the world, he simply wanted to understand his daughter a little more.

Ling Nianci: “Just open ‘Fang Tomato’ first.”

Ling Yunxiao: “…What is that?”

Ling Nianci: “Dad, you’re so outdated~”