The three cousins’ eyes immediately brightened. They turned to look at Mo Beihan. Their expressions seemed to say, If you can’t write nicely, I will use my authority as a brother-in-law and thrash you.
Mo Beihan: “…”
Gu Qingyao had already laid out paper, pen and ink. When she saw that no one was moving, she looked at Mo Beihan and said, “Come on, hurry up!”
She enjoyed practicing her writing and she was fairly famous for her calligraphy. In order to please her, he had spent a lot of time practicing!
So Gu Qingyao was well aware of Mo Beihan’s standard.
Mo Beihan glanced at his brothers-in-law and a small, faint smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.
He modestly said, “Elder brothers, do you… want to start first?”
Gu Jinfeng was especially bad at this, so he crossed his arms and said cockily, “We’re older than you, and you are the younger brother-in-law. Younger ones must obey their elders. You start first!”
What a joke. He definitely did not want to go first!
Second Brother’s standards were higher than his. That fellow was a fox, and usually enjoyed manipulating others. Calligraphy required one to be in control of one’s emotions and to remain calm. Gu Jinhang was an expert at controlling his emotions, seldom allowing them to show.
As for Gu Jinlin, he had always been the artistic type. When he was young, he had artistic inclinations, but in recent years, he had been busy with work and had no time to practice. Nonetheless, Gu Jinlin’s standards were certainly higher than his.
So Gu Jinfeng was determined not to go first.
He also knew the Mo family’s circumstances. Since he was young, Mo Beihan had never had the time to practice calligraphy. Even now that he was grown and capable, he still would not be interested in such things.
Gu Jinfeng guessed that he would be more interested in earning money, so Mo Beihan’s standards were certainly lower than his.
Mo Beihan smiled modestly and looked at Gu Jinhang and Gu Jinlin. “How about Second Brother and Third Brother? Would you like to start first?”
Gu Jinhang and Gu Jinlin looked at Mo Beihan. “Yao Yao asked you to write, so you should just write. Why are you going on and on!”
This fellow had been visiting them every day, and he kept shooing away the two younger ones, so he could spend time alone with their younger sister. Did he think they were unaware of this?
Mo Beihan had no choice but to go over and write.
He smiled at Gu Qingyao when he reached her side. Only Gu Qingyao understood the smug gleam in his eyes.
He took the brush and casually started writing. In a moment, the words of a classic poem seemed to leap off the page.
It was a classic poem, “Snowy River”, that everyone was familiar with.
Over the hills, no bird in flight
Over the paths, no man in sight
A fisherman on a lone boat
Fishing alone on a snowy river
He wrote in the running script style, which was Gu Qingyao’s favorite style.
The writing was proud and unyielding, but not too aggressive. At least when Gu Qingyao looked at the calligraphy, she was well pleased.
“Not bad, I can see the emotion in it.”
She raised her head and looked at her three older cousins. “Brothers, it’s your turn!”
Gu Jinhang: “…”
Gu Jinlin: “…”
Gu Jinfeng: “…”
They had clearly been fooled by Mo Beihan. This fellow had been hiding his lamp under a bushel!
He must have practised his calligraphy for at least a dozen years to achieve this standard.
Gu Jinhang refused to admit that he was inferior to his younger brother-in-law!
Or how would he maintain his younger cousin’s good impression of him?
“Not bad, you can endeavor to do better in the future!”
Gu Qingyao smiled as she glanced at Gu Jinhang. These older cousins of hers!
They were all very intelligent. After all, the Gu family’s excellent genes were all on display here. Their children were naturally more intelligent than others. Few people in these times were educated, so they were even more outstanding.
So while they were intelligent, they were also rather arrogant!
Young and arrogant!
She could understand.