Chapter 87
Zhong Zhiyan did not answer, but asked again, “Brother Lin, tell me first, what about this character?”
Lin Xi pondered for a long time and shook his head, “I can’t say.”
Zhong Zhiyan was stunned, “Why not?”
“The writing is quite casual, but the person who wrote it has strong skills.” Lin Xi picked up the scroll and pointed to one of the poems, “Look here, this point, the painting, the structure and the layout, can be called superb.”
“And it’s obvious that the person who wrote it still wrote it down in one breath without stopping, without even pausing.”
He sighed softly, “It’s impressive to be able to write so perfectly like this.”
Zhong Zhiyan had a clue: “So, this is a piece of writing that a high school student must not be able to write?”
“A high school student?” Lin Xi laughed, “Not to mention high school students, even teachers may not be able to do it.”
“Zhiyan, you’ve been studying with your teacher for more than ten years, and you don’t even have this kind of judgement?”
Zhong Zhiyan thought so too, she smiled; “Brother Lin, I’m less knowledgeable, can you tell which school this calligraphy is from?”
Every calligrapher had their own style, especially those unique ones that others could not yet imitate.
“Well-” Lin Xi frowned and looked at it again carefully, “This is written in line script and has deep skills, but the style is not obvious, it should be the work of Master Wei Hou.”
Saying that, he took out another scroll from the shelf in his study and opened it.
“Take a look, this is a pair of works by Master Wei Hou, I begged it from my teacher.”
Zhong Zhiyan looked at it and tried to suppress the smile on her lips, “Yes it’s kinda similar.”
It wasn’t really similar, at least in her opinion, the painting that Ying Ziji had cheated on was better than Wei Hou’s.
Zhong Zhiyan did some calculations in her mind and added, “Senior Brother Lin, can we go to Master Wei Hou now?”
Lin Xi pondered for a moment, “Yes.”
He first made a phone call to confirm that Wei Hou was at home before driving Zhong Zhiyan to Wei Hou’s residence.
At this time, Wei Hou was sunbathing in the courtyard.
He was over half a hundred years old, and his status in the art world was not low.
It was just that Wei Hou hadn’t moved his brush in the past few years, and there were no new works, so I didn’t know what the reason was.
“Master Wei Hou.” Lin Xi greeted, “This is my senior sister Zhong Zhiwei.”
Wei Hou half-squinted his eyes and held his stance, “What is it?”
Lin Xi stepped forward and handed him the scroll, “Is this your work?”
Wei Hou hadn’t cared until he saw the words on the scroll, and a bright light suddenly dawned in his eyes.
“This is my practice brush.” He held the scroll and smiled amiably, “Xiao Lin, why did it come to you?”
“It was brought by Zhiyan.” Lin Xi smiled back, “Master Wei Hou, I haven’t seen you for a few years, your skills have grown again.”
“Naturally.” Wei Hou waved his hand, “If there’s nothing else, let’s go.”
“Senior Brother Lin, I still have something to say to Master Wei Hou.” Zhong Zhiyan pursed her lips, “Come in a moment.”
Lin Xi didn’t ask either, and nodded before going out.
The only two people left in the room were Wei Hou and Zhong Zhiyan.
Zhong Zhiyan spoke straightforwardly, “Master Wei Hou, I know that you didn’t write this piece of writing.”
Wei Hou froze, embarra*sed: “Xiao Zhong, what are you saying?”
“But this piece of writing, it could have been written by you.” Zhong Zhiyan smiled, meaning something, “Master Wei Hou has his own seal, right?”
**
6 April.
Qingzhi had the venue set up early, and a billboard was hung in front of the school.
Not only would the masters of the art world be here today, but there would also be a lot of media.
Qingzhi’s art festival is always broadcast live on the internet in order to maintain impartiality.
It’s also easy for some artists who can’t be there to find good candidates.
Ying Ziji leans back in her chair and yawns, raising her hand to pull the brim of her baseball cap down to shield her from the sun.
She was recovering quite well, but she was still eager to sleep when she was bored.
“The opening ceremony is at nine, and the first awards aren’t given out until this afternoon.” Xiu Yu was teasing Dudu, annoyed, “It’s a pain in the a*s that the art troupe has to perform in the middle.”
She wouldn’t be sitting here if their Ying Dad hadn’t been in the art festival.
“Hmm.” Ying Ziji half-closed his eyes, also draining his qi and internal energy in the process, “I’ll treat you to dinner when I’m paid.”
Little brother was drooling with hunger, “Ying dad, is there any share for me?”
Xiu Yu kicked little brother, “You only know how to eat, Dududu is more diligent than you.”
Dududu pouted his little pink nose and made a humming sound, bouncing a few times with his little piggy hooves to show that he could still exercise.
Little brother: “……”
People are worse than pigs series.
“Ying Dad, are you sure of the first prize?”
Ying Zidian looked lazy: “Not too bad.”
Zhong Zhiyan was walking past with her folder in her hand, followed by some members of the student council.
Hearing this, she turned her head and smiled: “Then I wish cousin a good result.”
Ying Zidian looked up, the faint light under her eyes pale.
Zhong Zhiyan’s fingers tightened, the smile on her lips froze, and her heart skipped a beat.
But in an instant she calmed down and smiled again before turning her head and walking away.
She had already asked several masters in the calligraphy field, and that pair of characters could not be written without more than forty years of skill.
Although she didn’t know the origin of the calligraphy, she could conclude that it wasn’t written by Ying Zigui, so she gave it to Wei Hou with confidence.
With Wei Hou’s fame in the art world, not many people would dare to take on him either.
If Wei Hou said it was his, then it was his.
Even if it really belonged to another calligrapher, he would not have brushed Wei Hou off in public.
Zhong Zhiyan was actually quite disappointed.
She had still overestimated Ying Zidian.
She didn’t expect that Ying Zidian would use cheating to compete with her for Master Zhong’s favour.
Zhong Zhiyan shook her head and went backstage.
**
The old Ying family residence.
The day before, Zhong Manhua had returned from O Chau.
Ying Zhending, on the other hand, had returned to the imperial capital to continue his business.
“Madam, the old master called just now.” The housekeeper brought over a gla*s of milk, “asking if you want to come along to the school’s art festival to cheer on Second Miss.”
“Cheer?” Zhong Manhua laughed, “Does cheering make her a success? What’s the point of going to the festival?”
She was naturally competitive and wanted to do her best in everything.
If she went and people knew that her daughter didn’t know anything about piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, what would the other noblewomen think of her?
Zhong Manhua pressed her temples, annoyed: “Turn on the television.”
The housekeeper complied and switched to the channel where the live broadcast was taking place.
The live broadcast had not officially started at this time, and there were not many people watching it.
The shots were of the backstage and the exhibition room, sort of highlights.
As soon as the channel was switched, a cold and stern voice was heard ringing out.
[I’d like to ask this student, Ying Zigui, how did you get this piece of calligraphy, which I delivered to Master Wei Hou by hand? How did you get it and use it for the competition?
Zhong Manhua’s face instantly turned blue.
Chapter 88
The one who spoke was none other than Lin Xi.
Lin Xi is twenty-eight years old, but his attainments in calligraphy and painting are not low, and he is also very talented, so he is said to be young and talented.
His teacher is also a great calligrapher, so he naturally received an invitation as well.
He arrived earlier and the camera followed right behind him.
Lin Xie was young and vigorous, and didn’t even bother to think about anything, let alone the consequences, so he was just exposed straight away.
It had nothing to do with him either.
In front of the live camera again, Lin Xi pointed to a very light pattern in the middle of the scroll: “This is Master Wei Hou’s exclusive seal, which cannot be seen by a layman.”
“But when you look closely, you can see that the pattern forms the character ‘Wei’.”
Qingzhi’s teachers looked at each other in disbelief, and were inevitably a little discontented.
Luckily, at this time, there weren’t too many people watching the live broadcast.
The head of the art group came back from his shock as he raised his hand, signalling the cameraman to turn off the camera first.
Lin Xi’s face was cold: “What does your school say when something like this happens?”
He had only handed over the painting to Wei Hou the day before yesterday, and he saw it here today.
To say that it was not stolen, he did not believe it.
“We didn’t know about this matter either, we didn’t expect a student to be so bold.” The head of the art group didn’t make any excuses, “In this way, we will inform the opening ceremony later and criticise them, and expel them.”
For such behaviour as cheating, Qingzhi would never tolerate it.
Not to mention, this matter also involved Wei Hou.
This time the school had invited many masters in the art world, and even the president of the Shanghai Calligraphy a*sociation.
But Wei Hou was the director of the General a*sociation of Chinese Calligraphy Art.
The status of Wei Hou could not be equated at all.
If he stole Wei Hou’s words, was he not provoking the General a*sociation of Chinese Calligraphy?
The head of the art team looked at the words on the scroll and frowned.
He had had his suspicions earlier, but it turned out that it really wasn’t written by Ying Zigui himself.
Only then did Lin Xi’s expression ease: “Your school’s decision is fair and should indeed be severely punished.”
He also had no interest in reading any further, and when he left the exhibition room, he ran into Zhong Zhiyan head-on.
“Senior Brother Lin.” Zhong Zhiyan greeted with a smile, “I didn’t expect you to come too.”
“Zhiyan, I was looking for you.” Lin Xi took her to the side, “Do you know a student called Ying Zidian?”
Zhong Zhiyan was surprised: “Ying Zidian? She’s my cousin, what’s wrong with her?”
“No wonder.” Lin Xi knew that Zhong Zhiyan had borrowed the scroll to copy that day, “She must have seen how well it was written and didn’t know who had written it, so she stole it for the art festival.”
Zhong Zhiyan hesitated, “No way, although my cousin is from the countryside, she actually ……”
“For money.” Lin Xi scorned, “This kind of person, I’ve seen a lot of them, they don’t really like calligraphy at all.”
His teacher was also in the calligraphy a*sociation, and every year there were many people who wanted to worship under his tutelage.
But many of them wanted to use his teacher’s fame to sell calligraphy and paintings for more money.
“So-” Zhong Zhiyan paused, “Senior Brother Lin found out about her cheating?”
“Well, don’t plead for her in this matter.” Lin Xi raised his hand, faintly, “In a moment, your school will inform the criticism and expel her.”
Zhong Zhiyan pressed the corner of her lips and restrained her smile, “I know, Senior Brother Lin.”
**
Offstage.
Student area.
The girl leaning on the chair straightened up, her slightly closed eyes opened.
The sunlight scattered on her long, fluttering eyelashes, dropping a dappled shadow.
“Ying Dad, you’re not sleeping?” Xiu Yu noticed her movement, “The opening ceremony hasn’t even arrived yet.”
Ying Ziji stretched slowly, her voice low and cold, “Something’s up.”
“Hm?” Xiu Yu was unsure, “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing.” Ying Ziji propped his hand on his head, slouching, “Fun.”
Xiu Yu scratched his head.
Here we go again, that’s it.
Makes her think their Ying Dad is a godsend.
A few minutes pa*s and nine o’clock arrives.
The camera equipment was fully set up to ensure that the live broadcast would not be interrupted by a sudden breakdown.
Seats had also been set up on stage, with name tags on the tables.
Some of the seats were empty, but most of the guests were already seated, all leading figures within the art world.
With Lin Xi’s status, they could only sit in the third row.
The live broadcast officially began and more and more people watched.
As one of the top three schools in the country, Qingzhi High School was extremely well known.
I want to see how grand Qingzhi really is.
[I’m coming, I’m coming, look at the guests, there are really a lot of masters here.
[Lin Xi! Is that Lin Xi? Lin Xi is really the gra*s of the art world, he’s so handsome.
[No, he’s not bad looking, but isn’t the art world about strength, why is it about face?
[Then, let’s popularize our Lin Xi’s Kailash, when he was twelve years old, his writing sold for a whopping half a million dollars.
[…..]
To have this achievement at the age of twelve, the talent is really good.
[Hey hey, look guys, why is Lin Xi standing up, what is he doing with the microphone?
[A little confused. Shouldn’t the host speak first?
[Lin Xi doesn’t look too good, he’s probably up to something big, squat.
The headmaster, who was sitting in the first row with the president of the Shanghai Arts a*sociation, saw this and was also puzzled: “What’s going on?”
The head of the art group was busy saying, “Headmaster, there’s an unexpected matter.”
He explained in a low voice, and over there, Lin Xi had already spoken.
“Art is noble and great, it lets us know what beauty is, so I will never allow anyone to insult art.” Lin Xi’s voice spread throughout the playground through the microphone, “I came here today to appreciate the works of the next generation and to lift them up, but I never thought that such a bad thing would happen!”
“A student actually stole Master Wei Hou’s work to enter the competition!”
Lin Xi coldly said, “If Master Wei Hou hadn’t personally given me the word that he wrote this piece of writing, I would have been fooled by this student as well.”
Once these words came out, not only the students on stage, but also the netizens in front of the live broadcast were also shocked.
[Crap, did I hear it right, stealing Master Wei Hou’s words for the competition?]
[Ah this …… I, who doesn’t care about calligraphy, have heard of Wei Hou’s name, how dare this student?
[Tsk, we’re in for a treat.
“Take Wei Hou’s characters for the competition.” Xiu Yu marveled, “Father Ying, who do you think is so awesome?”
Ying Zidian changed his position and sat down, “Well, me.”
Xiu Yu choked, “…… dad you’re not kidding, I’ve had a heart attack from you all this time.”
“I can take it off for you and replace it with a mechanical one.”
“……”
On stage.
Lin Xi had stepped aside at this point, and taking the microphone was the head of the art team.
“In response to this cheating incident, the school will definitely not condone it, and after discussion, we will disqualify Ying Zigui from the competition and expel her from the competition.”
The apple in Xiu Yu’s hand dropped with a snap.
Jiang Yan looked up slowly, his eyes narrowed slightly.
There was a lot of chatter around the room.
“Ying Zidian? How come it’s her? She can’t help cheating.”
“I guess she saw Zhiyan participating, so she wants to participate too, and wants to compete with her in everything.
“This is really a self-inflicted sin.”
Jiang Yan was annoyed at hearing this, he jerked up, the tip of his tongue against his teeth, very grumpy: “What are you bleeping about? Shut up, all of you!”
The students were immediately silenced.
“I said, what kind of punishment is this?” Jiang Yan turned his head, and a scarlet colour faintly emerged from the bottom of his eyes, “Is there any evidence? Just expel? How can you be a teacher?”
[Holy sh*t, who is this?
[Qingzhi is a school bully, not a good student.
“Of course there’s proof.” Lin Xi didn’t know Jiang Yan, so naturally he didn’t know his identity.
He took out the scroll, unfolded it, and projected it on the big screen, smiling coldly: “Look carefully, here is Master Wei Hou’s seal, ask her if she wrote the words?”
“Hm.” Ying Ziji finally spoke up, she glanced at it lightly, quite indifferent, “Indeed I didn’t write it.”
Jiang Yan frowned.
Xiu Yu pulled him back into his seat with one hand, “Don’t interfere when dad is talking.”
Jiang Yan: “……”
Zhong Zhiyan looked surprised.
She hadn’t expected that Ying Ziji would just admit it.
Thinking that by taking the initiative to admit her mistake, she could reduce her punishment?
That was too naive.
The pop-up screen was also full of mockery.
[I’m throwing up, how dare you say you didn’t write it, how can you still cheat?
[How cheeky, Qingzhi did the right thing, such students should be expelled.
[How about helping yourself to a slap in the face?
[If I don’t say anything, maybe there’ll be a reversal. You’ll be the ones who get hit in the face.
“You hear that? She ……”
Before Lin Xi could finish his words, he heard the girl’s voice tone slowly, faintly raised.
A lightly written sentence.
“I couldn’t write such rubbish.”
“……”
The whole room suddenly went silent.
Zhong Zhiwei was stunned.
Did Ying Ziji know what she was talking about?
Her teacher couldn’t even write this.
How dare Ying Zidian say that this word is rubbish?
[No, and she said she couldn’t write such rubbish, who does she think she is?
[I’m convinced, so arrogant? Ning knows who Master Wei Hou is and says so, who gave Ning the face?
The girl’s face is not only a laughing stock, but she can’t write such rubbish, so you can write it.
Lin Xi also didn’t expect the girl to not only not admit her mistake, but to be so arrogant.
He was even exasperated and ordered in a cold voice, “Set the table, bring the pen, ink, paper and ink stone, and let her write.”