Goodbye, Mr. Regret

Chapter 289

The first child carefully snipped out lifelike figures of himself and his parents. As the audience watched, his parents beamed with pride, their faces shown in close- up on the big screen.

After the judges offered fair, thoughtful feedback, they each entered their scores.

When it was Jessica's turn, she pulled out her phone and typed her comments, letting her voice be heard through a small device strung on her necklace.

She made no attempt to hide the fact that she couldn't speak. In her very first line, she addressed the audience directly: she explained that she'd lost her voice, and that she relied on smart technology to speak for her. She asked for everyone's understanding if her tone lacked warmth or nuance.

The host was genuinely taken aback. "I never imagined that Miss Jessica Greene, unable to speak, could still achieve such mastery in the art of paper cutting. The effort and perseverance it must have taken are extraordinary. Let's give another round of applause for Miss Jessica Greene."

Thanks to the host's words, the entire room turned to Jessica with newfound admiration.

Henry, watching from the side, was astonished.

Why wasn't anyone making fun of her?

Jessica's feedback for the first child was clear and encouraging: for someone this age, your paper-cutting skills are outstanding and full of potential. You have a wonderfully creative mind. If you can continue to nurture this objectivity and not limit yourself to simple themes like "me and my parents," you'll go on to achieve even more remarkable things in the visual arts.

Each child's work followed the theme of "Me and My Parents," depicting themselves alongside their mothers and fathers.

were lifelike, others less

more realistic ones, there were clear differences in

but Jessica's feedback was always sharp and insightful, able

was Henry's

revealed, the

only was his technique impressive-his subject stood out, too. Instead of cutting out himself and his parents, he'd created three cartoon sheep, inspired by a

large sheep, one small

arm around a gentle, beautiful ewe. The ewe was nursing, and the little lamb knelt by her side to drink the classic image

a symbol of gratitude

mixing a childhood favorite cartoon with a traditional

sŵnovel

their feet,

six-year-old,

family and

the

Everyone except Jessica.

piece was a cruel kind of