Chapter 71: Is it a Ghost or a Genius?

  Everyone's opinions have been taken into consideration, and Wuzhi has decided to take everyone's advice. On the basis of ensuring quality, we will increase the word count! From today on, we will strive to update more than 6,000 words every day!

  You Jia had been nervously watching Old Master You's expression all along. Although she believed that Zhang Wen Zhong's Hundred Years Picture was a rare masterpiece, she didn't dare to confirm whether the old master would like it or not. Especially when she saw Old Master You's current expression with a straight face and slightly furrowed eyebrows, You Jia's mood became even more anxious.

  "Does Grandpa not like this longevity picture?" Yu Jia couldn't help but start daydreaming, and the action of unfolding the longevity picture actually came to a halt.

  What she didn't expect was that Old Master Yu, who had always doted on her, suddenly cast a dissatisfied glance at her.

  You Jia was startled and became even more tense, before she could continue to unfold the centenarian picture, two old hands covered with calluses stretched out and took it from her without saying a word, placing it flat on the table and unfolding it completely.

  These old yet sturdy hands are indeed Old Master Yu's.

  After spreading the centenarian picture on the table, Old Master Yu's body leaned forward, as if he was going to lie down on the table. His left hand supported his old glasses, and his face was almost stuck to the picture. His mouth was still moving slightly, as if reciting something. His right index finger was constantly drawing something, and upon closer inspection, it turned out that he was actually copying the longevity characters in the centenarian picture.

  "Could Grandfather really like this longevity painting?" Yu Jia couldn't help but turn her worries into joy. But she soon fell back into confusion, because Old Master Yu's face was still gloomy, his eyebrows still furrowed, with an expression of being at a loss for what to do.

  Such an expression really made it difficult for Yu Jia to guess his thoughts.

  It's not just Yu Jia who can't see through Old Master Yu's mind, but among the Yu family members around him, there isn't a single person who dares to say they've figured out Old Master Yu's thoughts.

  After a long time, Mr. Yu finally sat back in his wheelchair. On his forehead and hair ends, there were actually beads of sweat.

  "Grandfather, what do you think of this centenarian picture?" Yu Jia asked cautiously.

  Mr. You didn't say a word, he just slowly shook his head, and these short few minutes seemed to have exhausted all his energy. He weakly beckoned with his hand, letting someone bring him a cup of hot tea, which he drank in one gulp.

  Seeing Old Master Yu shaking his head, Yu Jia was instantly stunned. She opened her mouth and only managed to utter one sentence: "How could this be."

  After drinking a mouthful of hot tea, Old Master Yu took two deep breaths and beckoned his grandson, Yu Liang, to come before him. "Liang'er," he instructed, "go invite Old Master Zhou Wenbin in for a moment."

  "Alright." You Liang replied. He took a glance at You Jia's worried face, originally intending to comfort him with a few words, but Old Master You was urging him to hurry and invite someone, so he could only lightly pat You Jia's shoulder in consolation before striding out of the living room to go invite Zhou Wenbin.

  After You Liang went out, Old Master You asked You Jia: "Jia Er, where did you get this longevity picture from? Looking at the ink marks, it should have been written in just a few days?"

  Yu Jia hastened to calm her mind and replied, "Yes, this longevity painting was written by a friend of mine. You also saw him just now, Mr. Zhang Wen-zhong."

  "What did you say? This hundred-year-old painting was written by that young man with the surname Zhang?" Old Master Yu's tightly knitted eyebrows suddenly raised, his tone full of surprise and suspicion.

  "Yes." Yu Jia nodded in response.

  Mr. You's gaze fell on the centenarian picture on the desk again, and after frowning for two minutes, he slowly shook his head, with an even more puzzled expression on his face.

  "Grandfather, what do you mean?" Yu Jia asked cautiously, completely puzzled.

  Old Master Yu said: "Oh, nothing, Jia'er, go and invite that young man named Zhang WenZhong to come over as well."

  "Good." Yu Jia replied, although she didn't understand Mr. Yu's meaning, she still turned around to invite Zhang Wen Zhong.

  Just as Yu Jia was walking out of the living room, Yu Liang had just led Zhou Wenbin over and they brushed past each other.

  Zhou Wenbin is a renowned calligrapher in Tianjin Province, well-known throughout the country and even somewhat famous in East Asia. Unlike many artists who have long hair and beards and like to wear cheongsam or suits, Zhou Wenbin is short and stout, has a buzz cut, and dresses like an old farmer who has just returned from working in the fields.

  As soon as he walked into the living room and saw Yu Tianhai, Zhou Wenbin joked: "Old Yu, you're too stingy! I've only had two cups of wine, and you've already driven me away from the table. What's going on that makes you so anxious to call me over? You won't even let me eat and drink my fill."

  Mr. You was in no mood for joking at this moment, and he pointed to the case table: "Come and take a look at this centenarian picture."

  "Although the hundred-year-old picture is in line with the scene, what's good to look at? It's just a bunch of longevity characters, even if you write them well, can you still draw flowers?" Zhou Wenbin said this on his mouth, but he quickly walked to the desk.

  "What?!" As soon as Zhou Wenbin saw the centenarian picture, he couldn't help but exclaim in surprise. Then his two eyes lit up, just like a hungry wolf discovering its prey, and he pounced on the desk, just like Old Master You before him, pressing himself against the desk, his eyes almost sticking to the centenarian picture.

  "What...how can this be?!" Zhou Wenbin's eyes were instantly filled with bloodshot, he stared intently at each of the longevity characters in the painting, not even daring to blink. He was afraid that if he blinked, these longevity characters would grow wings and fly away. At the same time, his mouth kept muttering: "Ah, this longevity character is Wang Xizhi's handwriting, this kind of elegant and powerful, purely natural running script can only be written by Wang Xizhi... Ah, this is a clear and thin, angular and distinct longevity character, it must be Liu Gongquan's true work... Wow, these are Li Bai and Du Fu's handwritings, these two guys are also here... Hey, this is obviously Su Shi's longevity character, Su Shi brought all those people from his group... Hmm, there are also the Four Great Talents of Jiangnan, how did these four guys come to join in on the fun..."

  Zhou Wenbin muttered to himself for a while, and except for Old Master You, not many people could understand what he was saying. Because of his words, although Old Master You's expression didn't change much, his body began to show slight tremors, and the fingers gripping the wheelchair handles had turned white from excessive force.

  This is undoubtedly an overreaction!

  Zhou Wenbin finally lifted his head, opened his eyes wide in surprise and stared at Old Yu, saying a chilling sentence: "Old Yu, you shouldn't have run into a ghost, should you?"

  "Run into a ghost? Why say that?" Old Master Yu couldn't help but pause in surprise, asking in astonishment.

  "If it wasn't for the ghost, how could this centennial picture be possible? The people who painted this centennial picture have been dead for at least several hundred years, but the paper and ink are new..."

  "Do you mean that these characters are all genuine?" Mr. Yu's voice suddenly became several degrees louder, and his expression was excited for the first time.

  "This is where I'm shocked and puzzled." Zhou Wenbin grabbed a teacup from beside him, not caring if someone had drunk from it or not, and poured the entire cup of tea into his mouth. After spitting out a mouthful of turbid air, he smiled wryly and said: "This paper and ink are products of our time, and judging by the handwriting, it should have been written just a few days ago. If we look at it this way, the longevity characters in this hundred-year-old painting should all be imitations made by modern people. However, as far as I know, there may be people who excel in several of these fonts. But to excel in hundreds of fonts and write them with such precision that even I have trouble distinguishing between true and false...I'm afraid only ghosts or gods could do that."

  Mr. You laughed loudly and said with great satisfaction, "What ghosts or gods are there in this world? This hundred-year-old picture was given to me by my granddaughter. It is said that it was written by her friend, a young man of about twenty years old whom I have also met."

  "A young man in his twenties? How is that possible?!" Zhou Wenbin was shocked and pale, just wanting to speak, when he suddenly felt a severe stabbing pain in his chest, the pain made his face instantly turn grayish-blue, his right hand tightly grasping his chest, his mouth wide open as he weakly gasped for air, his body swaying slightly before falling backwards.

  "Old Master Zhou, what's wrong with you?" The closest one to him was You Chaogui, who reacted quickly and supported him in an instant.

  "This is because of overstimulation, which triggered a heart attack." A figure suddenly appeared beside Yu Chaogui and took Zhou Wenbin from his hand, supporting him to sit down in a chair.

  This figure was Zhang Wenzhong.

  His right thumb was pressed on Zhou Wenbin's Neiguan acupoint, performing a dot treatment. His left hand carefully searched his body to see if he had any medication for treating angina pectoris with him, but did not find any such medication. It seemed that before this, he had never had an attack of the disease.

  Zhang Wen-zhong's right hand was pressing on Zhou Wen-bin's Neiguan acupoint, while his left hand was applying pressure to his ear apex. At the same time, he instructed Yu Jia, who was standing beside him with a tense expression: "Go get a banana, peel it and mash the flesh, mix it with tea water and honey, make a tea drink and feed it to him."

  "Oh, okay." Yu Jia hastily followed Zhang Wen's instructions.

  After drinking banana tea and receiving acupoint stimulation from Zhang Wen-zhong, Zhou Wen-bin's angina pectoris was significantly relieved. He sat limply in his chair, panting heavily with a cold sweat on his forehead.

  "Thank you." The experience just now was like walking through the gates of hell for Zhou Wenbin. He was very clear that if it weren't for this strange young man, he would have probably lost his life here.

  "Please, I'm a doctor, treating patients is my duty," Zhang Wen-zhong replied with a smile. After confirming that Zhou Wen-bin's condition had improved significantly, he turned to face Old Man You and bowed his hands in greeting: "Junior Zhang Wen-zhong pays respects to Grandfather You."

  Just now Zhou Wenbin suddenly had a heart attack, but it scared Old Master You enough. Now that his condition has obviously taken a turn for the better, he can finally put his mind at ease. Zhang Wenzhong remained calm and composed, and treated him properly, which made Old Master You have a good impression of him.

  "Xiao Zhang, today really thanks to you, otherwise Lao Zhou would have gone to see King Yan. " Mr. You first thanked a few words and then brought the topic back to the subject: "I just heard that this hundred-year-old painting was written by you?"

  Zhou Wenbin was also looking at Zhang Wenzhong with eager eyes, anxiously and nervously waiting for his response.

  Just now, Zhou Wenbin suddenly had a heart attack, which was caused by Zhang Wenzhong and Baishoutu. So when Yu Jia saw his expression, he immediately became tense again. In fact, Old Master Yu's shock was not less than his, but Old Master Yu was calm and did not show too much excitement.

  "It was I who wrote it." Zhang Wen Zhong replied calmly.

  "How is this possible?" Before Old Man Yu could even open his mouth, Zhou Wenbin, who had just suffered a sudden heart attack, exclaimed in shock. "How old are you, how can you possibly write such a magnificent piece of calligraphy? Even if you started practicing calligraphy from the womb, it's impossible for someone in their twenties to have mastered all 100 styles of calligraphy to perfection. Moreover, these longevity characters not only resemble each other in form but also in spirit. Someone who can write such longevity characters must not only have impressive calligraphy skills but also rich life experience. Otherwise, it would be impossible to capture the essence of these characters. The most astonishing thing is that these longevity characters all exude a faint aura, as if they were alive. How can such characters possibly be written by human hands?"

  Zhou Wenbin's words are indeed correct, because in a certain sense, Zhang Wenzhong is really not one person.

  "There's nothing impossible, this hundred-year-old painting is what I wrote." Zhang Wenzhong said with a calm smile.

  "I can testify that this longevity picture was written by Mr. Zhang." Seeing Zhang Wen-zhong being questioned, You Jia's expression became extremely agitated, and she hastily defended Zhang Wen-zhong: "The day before yesterday, I had just met Mr. Zhang, and the next day he gave me this longevity picture. At that time, some of the ink marks hadn't even dried yet. If it wasn't written by Mr. Zhang, who else could it be?"

  "This centenarian picture... is it really painted by you?" Zhou Wenbin still had a skeptical attitude.

  Zhang Wenzhong didn't say a word, he just smiled faintly and raised his right hand to make a few false hooks. Others couldn't understand what this action meant, but Zhou Wenbin understood - Zhang Wenzhong was writing.

  "This stroke... this dot... and this horizontal fold... indeed, it's really your handwriting!" Zhou Wenbin stared with wide eyes and an open mouth, and after a long while, he finally squeezed out a sentence: "But... how... is this possible? Is there really a genius in this world? Yes! That's right! Genius! It's a genius! A rare genius!"

  Excited Zhou Wenbin's body suddenly leaned back violently and he actually fainted from overstimulation.

  At this time, the family doctor and nurse of the Yu family had arrived, and they immediately began to diagnose and treat Zhou Wenbin. They quickly revived him, but because his mental state was poor, Old Man Yu ordered the doctors and nurses to carry Zhou Wenbin to a guest room to rest and monitor his condition at all times.

  After all these things were busy, Mr. Yu finally said with emotion: "Really didn't think that Mr. Zhang is so young, can actually write a hundred-year-old picture of Zhou Wenbin to be frightened. If this matter spreads out, it's likely to become a good story in the calligraphy world." He gently stroked the hundred-year-old picture on the case table, his movements were very gentle, and his eyes were full of fondness. After a long time, he finally raised his head, looked straight at Zhang Wenzhong, and said: "This hundred-year-old picture is priceless. Are you really willing to give it to me?"

  "My painting is only given to those who are destined to have it, and Uncle You, in my eyes, you are the one who is destined to have it." Zhang Wen Zhong said with a calm smile.