Liu Man had her head raised as she looked at her work. There were lots of passersby behind her, but she did not get disturbed by any of them.
She didn’t know that many people were looking at her.
This exhibit was very professional. Those who didn’t know a lot about calligraphy would probably have never heard about it. Because of this reason, all the visitors who came to the exhibit so early in the morning were all people who loved calligraphy.
These people were often very civilized and normally would not pay attention to cyber stars; therefore, when they stared at Liu Man, they didn’t recognize her identity as a cyber star but rather thought that this scene was pure and beautiful. It looked as if this scene was from a poem, and that they had traveled through time. It seemed so magical that there wasn’t a single scent of modernity found on this girl wearing a hanfu.
The sense of modernity was very vague and abstract. It was not that there were no other young girls wearing hanfu on the street, but nobody would ever mistake them for ancient people because they had a modern sense.
“Sensei Liu,” A hesitant voice sounded behind Liu Man.
Liu Man turned her head to see Zhou Budai, standing two steps away from her.
Zhou Budai didn’t dare to get closer because he was scared of ruining this beautiful scene; however, Liu Man took the initiative to walk towards him, smiling, “You’re also here for the exhibit?”
“Mhm. Since I have nothing to do, I’m here to study from others’ works,” Zhou Budai’s thoughts were similar to Liu Man’s, “My teacher’s here too. He’s talking to Professor Su over there.”
Liu Man looked towards the direction that Zhou Budai was pointing at. Two soft chairs magically appeared in the corner of the exhibit. Ou Yangcen and Su Yi were chatting while sitting down, and they each had a cup of hot tea in their hands, having a chill time.
The deputy director of the National Calligraphy Association, sure enough, had a unique treatment.
Zhou Budai noticed the inconspicuous signature in the top right corner of the paper along with the Profesor Su’s red stamp, “So the piece you have been paying so much attention to is your work. Are you really satisfied with it?”
Liu Man smiled as she shook her head, “What are some things you think I can improve on?”
“Eh…” Zhou Budai didn’t expect Liu Man to be so straightforward. Normally, don’t people enjoy being complimented on? Why was Liu Man trying to challenge herself?
“Don’t be polite. If there’s anything bad, just say it. I want to hear the opinions of others.”
Liu Man’s question was very genuine.
“But I’ve only learned the clerical script when I was in elementary school, and later on, I switched to learning the cursive script. It’s been a long time since I’ve written anything in the clerical script, so I’m not professional at it. However, since it’s your request, I’ll help you review it,” Zhou Budai took one step back so he had a broader view. He started studying Liu Man’s characters, stroke by stroke.
“In general, it’s great and is very comfortable to look at; however, I think your trace of mimicking others is very obvious. Did you write this according to Professor Su’s works?” Zhou Budai asked her.
“Mhm,” Liu Man admired him, “You are very professional!”
“It’s just that I’ve studied Professor Su’s work before,” Zhou Budai felt a bit embarrassed to be complimented on by a beauty. He continued to say, “My teacher has told me before that there are two ways to mimic someone else’s work as you’re learning. One is to mimic the appearance, and one is to copy the feeling the words give you. For example, when an artist draws a portrait for someone, copying the appearance meant that they would draw their face and hands. Copying the feeling the person gives them would be drawing their actions and how they laugh. Your words are more of the first type, and it’s a bit unnatural,” Zhou Budai was afraid Liu Man would get angry, so he added on, “This is only my personal opinion, so don’t take me seriously.”
Liu Man, however, nodded, for she learned something. No wonder Professor Su was so satisfied with this work of hers; it looked like his work. Who would not like themselves?
“Do you have any other work to recommend for me? I’ve not been studying the clerical script for a long time, so I’ve always been using Professor Su’s words as a model. I don’t have any other examples to take into consideration.”
Zhou Budai naturally asked, “How long have you studied calligraphy?”
“Five months. At the same time, I’ve also been learning the official script, but my official script is worse and shouldn’t even be seen. If you have any models for official scripts, please also recommend them to me.”
“…”
Zhou Budai felt extremely astounded on the inside. She was a total genius for being able to produce such a great piece within five months! He had studied the clerical script for three years when he was younger, and he wasn’t as good as her. This was too embarrassing for him!
“Sorry, I’m going to take back my comment. Your work is completely fine. For beginners who have just started five months ago, it’s normal to copy the appearances. It’ll be fine if you just practice more,” Zhou Budai emphasized, “It has no issues; however, it sure cannot beat other clerical script works.”
Zhou Budai was very objective. He glanced around at the other works and pointed at one specific piece, “In the few clerical scripts works nearby, I think that piece is the best.”
Liu Man walked over to read it. The piece read: “A horse can run for thousands of miles, but it cannot go that long without a rider; A man can have the courage to fly until he touches the sky, but without fate, he cannot understand how he can do it.”
This quote came from “Po Yao Fu” by Lü Mengzheng, who was from the Northern Song dynasty. Under high pressure from Professor Su, Liu Man had memorized this poem before.
These words were written beautifully. The strokes were steady, they were large and proud, yet it didn’t lose its beauty. Liu Man looked at who the author was, and he was named Su Maolin. She casually wondered: “Why is his last name Su as well……”
“Because he is Su Xuezhen’s son.”
Liu Man was shocked and asked, “Is it ok for the judge’s son to participate?”
“No rules are forbidding this, but normal judges would take the initiative to avoid these types of situations.
Yesterday, when they went back home, Zhou Budai had asked follow-up questions to Ou Yangcen about Su Xuezhen. Ou Yangcen felt he should also remind his apprentice, so he told Zhou Budai everything. Therefore, now Zhou Budai also knew all about Su Xuezhen and felt contempt for him.
He was standing far away before and did not see the author of the piece. If he had known before, he would not have led Liu Man here. It ruined his mood. He was also wondering why, despite Su Xuezhen was so immoral, he was so skillful at calligraphy. Even his son was very talented. As a wise man once said, all talented fathers had talented sons.
Liu Man suddenly felt that this piece of work was revolting, and didn’t want to look at it again. She asked Zhou Budai, “Where’s your work?”
“I’ll show you where it is.”
Zhou Budai’s cursive work was at the other side of the hall. At this time, many people were crowding around his piece; everyone was admiring his words.
Liu Man heard the words of approval and the gasps of admiration. Some people took photos of it. The visitors were, sure enough, not amateurs. Some people took photos of Su Maolin’s work just now.
The cursive script was very hard to read and recognize. Liu Man stared at it quietly for half a minute before being able to read what he wrote: “Not taking advantage of any outside force yet still being able to independently survive; not running out of energy as my actions form a cycle.”
“Zhou Budai,” Liu Man murmured.
“I’m here!” Zhou Budai replied jokingly.
The two were already very familiar with each other and were not as awkward as before.
“So your name’s ‘dai’ is ‘殆’, I thought it was the ‘怠’ from neglect.”
“Haha, many people make the same mistake as you at the start. My mother had a hard time giving birth to me. My dad was waiting outside, feeling very anxious, so he could only read Tao Te Ching to calm himself down. Later on, I was born, so he instantly got the inspiration to give me this name.”
“So your work is about why you received your name.”
“Mhm. Now, you should be the one to comment on my words. How do you think I did? Be honest. I want to hear your opinion,” Zhou Budai told Liu Man the exact words of what she had just told him.
Liu Man thought for a moment before saying, “My comment is only one word: debonair.”
Translated by: Sydney and Yutong/Puppxteer
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