Chapter 42: Unparalleled Calligraphy

  Everyone on the second floor of Chunying Building gathered in a large hall, and the rest of the rooms were quiet, not even a maid was seen.

  "What's going on?" Song Kai also strolled by slowly.

  More than 20 men gathered in the hall on the second floor, three maids guarding the stairs leading to the third floor, staring at the crowd.

  More than twenty people were making a racket, most of them dressed as scholars, and several were obviously young masters from wealthy families.

  Song Kai looked around and then squeezed towards the staircase, he wanted to see Xia He.

  "Hey, brother, it's no use, you can't get to the third floor even if you squeeze in," a tall and thin rich young master patted Song Kai's shoulder sympathetically, his thick and straight eyebrows were like those of Little Lee from Fire Shadow.

  "I'm looking for someone," Song Kai replied honestly.

  "Looking for someone? Who?" asked the tall and slender rich young master.

  "Lotus in Summer,"

  "Haha, this brother, coincidentally, I'm also looking for Xia He's daughter," the tall and thin young master blocked Song Kai.

  Several other scholars around them also gathered around, sneering at Song Kai, "Hey, you're still looking for Xia He's daughter, does Xia He's daughter know who you are?"

  "Why don't you go find Qiu Yue?"

  "Haha, I'm sure she also thought it was impossible to meet Miss Akizuki."

  A group of people chattered and snickered, forming a temporary united front in ridiculing Song Kai's question.

  Song Kai spread out his hands, "I really am here looking for Xia He's daughter."

  "Whether you're looking for Xiahe girl or Qiuyue girl, you have to line up!" Several people shouted in unison.

  Song Kai was completely speechless.

  The tall and slender young master patted Song Kai's shoulder and said in a low voice, "I'm telling you, brother, it's better for you to line up. No matter how much money you have, you still need to follow the rules here."

  Song Kai looked at everyone with a strange expression, "Rules?"

  "Brother, you must be here for the first time, right?" The rich young master looked at Song Kai with a smirk. "I can tell at a glance that brother is just like me, illiterate and has never attended such an elegant gathering."

  "Are you...illiterate? Me?" Song Kai glared at the big eyebrows in front of him, very unhappy. He was a master's graduate, how could he be illiterate?

  The several bookish-looking people around all looked at Song Kai and the tall and thin young master with disdain.

  At this time, footsteps sounded from the stairs.

  "Here comes, here comes,"

  "Everyone, don't push."

  "Amitabha Buddha, Bhagavan of Infinite Life, must go through..."

  "Who stepped on my foot!"

  In the midst of the noise and commotion, two maidservants came down from the stairs, still holding a few sheets of rice paper in their hands.

  "I apologize to you gentlemen, our young lady says that the calligraphy of the few gentlemen just now is still lacking in flair, although the technique is in place, it lacks a bit of feeling, so, very sorry."

  The maid said softly and then walked to the middle of the stairs and threw down the rice paper.

  "What's going on? A calligraphy competition?" Song Kai finally understood a bit of what was happening.

  "Right, this is the tradition of Chunyuan Building. Every month, there are seven days when four girls from spring, summer, autumn and winter will be free to drink and have fun with talented young men, but they must pass the test of the four girls first. Look, today's competition project is calligraphy. Just now, those fools were looked down upon by Autumn Moon girl." The tall and thin young master obviously took Song Kai as one of his own kind, so he pulled Song Kai to commiserate with him, "Autumn Moon girl is not someone who can be easily met. Normally, I have to spend at least ten taels of gold to see her once."

  Several scholars around stared angrily at Song Kai and the tall and thin young master.

  "Is there anyone else who wants to try? Miss Akizuki is also here today, and if you pass the assessment, you'll not only get to meet Miss Natsume and Miss Tougetsu, but also have a heart-to-heart talk with Miss Akizuki!" The maid called out in her clear voice from the staircase.

  The students under the desk whispered to each other, some were unwilling, and some were eager to try.

  "Hey, sister," Song Kai yelled at the top of his lungs to the maid on the stairs, "can you announce my arrival? Just say that Song Kai has come as invited."

  Everyone below was staring at Song Kai.

  Several maids on the stairs exchanged a glance, one of them raised an eyebrow and smiled: "This young master, reporting is definitely not possible. If you want to find me, you don't need to report, I'm willing to have a drink with you."

  The people around burst out laughing.

  Song Kai's face turned red for a moment.

  "Master Lang, don't be shy. If you really want to see our young mistress, you can write a few words and maybe she'll appreciate it," the maid said hastily, seeing Song Kai's face turn red.

  "What? Must I write characters? Can't I just compose poetry?" Song Kai was depressed.

  "If Mr. Lang thinks he's the best at poetry, he can come again tomorrow. Tomorrow's contest is for poetry, but today it's only calligraphy." The maid giggled and said.

  Song Kai let out a sigh.

  The people around him were all gloating and watching Song Kai's misfortune with a smile.

  The slender and tall young master raised his eyebrows, looking like a clown, patted Song Kai's shoulder, "Brother Wenmang, no, Brother Songkai, don't struggle, this is the rule. To be honest, I also used your lie at first, I said I was Autumn Moon's cousin, but the other party didn't buy it either."

  Song Kai curled his lip and looked at the desk, only to see someone already writing there.

  He looked down at the tea leaves in his hand, today he came with a task, and he must talk to Xiahe, thinking of this, Song Kai walked straight to the desk.

  On the desk, a scholar with thick eyebrows and big eyes had just written four characters in one stroke: Tian Zhi Guo Se.

  The words are indeed written very beautifully.

  Song Kai gritted his teeth and picked up the brush.

  The people around saw Song Kai's face turn pale and rushed up, seeing Song Kai holding the brush, they were shocked.

  "Wow, this person... has a very unique way of holding their pen."

  "Really? Really? I've never heard of it, it seems like..."

  "It's like holding chopsticks."

  Song Kai thickened his face, collapsed in his heart, and he couldn't hold a brush at all, so he could only use it as a pen.

  Holding a brush, he wrote four characters on white paper: "Song Kai, new melody".

  After finishing writing, Song Kai handed the white paper to the maid at the foot of the stairs.

  The rest of them were still in shock at first, but after Song Kai finished writing, they all burst out laughing.

  "Is this also called a character?"

  "My god, I've never seen such an ugly font."

  "My son wrote better than him when he was three years old."

  Song Kai also ignored everyone and ran to sit down on one side.

  After a while, the tall and thin young master walked over, patted Song Kai's shoulder, "Brother, don't be sad, these literati think too highly of themselves, what's so great about being able to write? I may not know how to write, but I've slept with more women than they've ever seen."

  Song Kai gave a glance at the tall and thin young master, his eyebrows were really too ugly, "I am not of the same kind as you."

  "Alright! Just now, my brother's calligraphy level, to be honest, is really worse than mine!" The tall and thin young master said with a smile, "I may not know calligraphy, but at least I can hold a pen, unlike you, who can't even hold a brush."

  Downstairs, a burst of footsteps echoed from the staircase entrance.

  "Is the result out?"

  "This time is so fast."

  "I don't know if Wén Tiān's calligraphy has entered Qiū Yuè's eyes."

  "Wen Tian is one of the Four Great Talents, so he should be fine."

  The man with thick eyebrows and big eyes next to him was slightly complacent, looking up at the staircase with expectation. It was obvious that he was the Wén Tiān brother everyone was talking about.

  Two maidservants walked to the middle of the stairs, one of them smiled and said: "Congratulations to everyone this time, finally one of our young lady's calligraphy works has been appreciated."

  "Wow! I really passed."

  "Congratulations, Brother Wen Tian."

  "This can be a great story for tonight, Brother Wentai must seize the opportunity."

  The people around congratulated Zhou Wentian with thick eyebrows and big eyes.

  Zhou Wentian also smiled and nodded in agreement.

  "Our young lady says that Mr. Wen Tianlang's calligraphy is pure and mature, with a perfect atmosphere, but unfortunately, it lacks a bit of elegance in the strokes. Our young lady also said that she hopes Mr. Wen Tianlang will do things in the future based solely on his own heart, without being constrained by external things."

  The maid upstairs repeated it word for word.

  At first, Zhou Wentian was still smiling, but later his smile solidified, and finally he nodded thoughtfully, with a hint of embarrassment on his face.

  "What? So Wen Tian's calligraphy didn't pass either?"

  "But didn't that maid just say it was okay?"

  "Could it be someone else?"

  Then everyone looked at Song Kai with suspicion.

  Song Kai stood up.

  The two maids upstairs, holding Song Kai's rice paper, smiled and said: "Congratulations, Song Kai Langjun, our young lady is very interested in your demeanor and appearance. Our young lady said that your calligraphy is simply unbearable to look at, worse than... worse than... hehe... worse than chicken scratches. However, our young lady has seen the elegance and freedom of your calligraphy, and more importantly, she said that you must have a superior mind, able to think of things that others have not thought of, and understand reasons that others do not understand. So, today, you are our young lady's honored guest!"

  "What!" The tall and thin young master stood up, his two straight eyebrows knitted together in incredulity.

  The rest of the scholars were even more unbelievable, all staring at Song Kai.

  Song Kai swung his sleeves and carried tea leaves, walking quickly towards the stairs, along the stairs, straight to the third floor.

  "That's unfair!"

  "Is that also calligraphy?"

  "But what about Qiuyue's writing style and fairness? Are you doubting Qiuyue's level?"

  "Qiu Yue was naturally the number one calligrapher in Suzhou city, but..."

  "Perhaps what Song Kai wrote was a kind of extremely skilled calligraphy?"

  "Miss Autumn Moon also said, 'They have a poetic charm!'"

  "So it was a mastermind!"

  "I also want to learn his pen-holding posture!"

  ……

  Everyone had different opinions and the discussion was heated.

  Song Kai went straight to the third floor, following a small maid, and after passing through two doorsteps, he saw two women, one in green and one in pale yellow, standing by the table, waiting for him.

  "Miss Xiahe, this must be Miss Qiuyue. You two have waited for a long time," Song said with a slight bow and walked over with big strides, seemingly not too excited.

  Xia He smiled and said, "Autumn Moon sister, this is Song Kai Lang Jun. The beginning of the Water Tune Song Head I sang yesterday was sung to me by him..."