Chapter 119: Chapter 52: Embarrassment_3
Yueying claimed she recognized over a thousand characters; Yuebing unmodestly stated she had learned the Four Books and Five Classics; Yueyao, however, modestly said she had not learned much. Had Yueyao not been so sincere, Mr. Yun might have thought she was mocking him—after all, who in the Capital City didn’t know that the Third Miss of the Lian Family was a minorly famous talented lady? A talented lady who couldn’t recognize characters was a joke.
Mr. Yun looked deeply at Yueyao, seeing that she was not at all embarrassed and allowed him to scrutinize her without any reservations. Mr. Yun secretly pondered, “Is this the Third Young Lady I have heard of? She doesn’t resemble her at all.”
Yuehuan hadn’t spoken yet when Yuebing laughed and spoke for her, “Sir, my Fourth Miss had an illness earlier that made her forget everything she learned. She has to start all over.”
Mr. Yun was not surprised by this explanation, “In that case, write a few characters for me to see.” Teaching calligraphy also required teaching according to the student’s ability.
The four of them wrote a line of characters as he instructed.
Mr. Yun first looked at Yuehuan’s writing, not because he paid special attention to Yuehuan, but because her way of holding the pen was incorrect. Mr. Yun corrected Yuehuan’s posture.
Mr. Yun looked at the characters Yuehuan wrote. Each character was crooked and uneven in size, with inconsistent ink, as if scrawled by a dog.
Mr. Yun looked at Yuehuan, astonished. Although amnesia could make someone forget many things, writing had already become an instinct. The characters she now wrote appeared as if written by someone who had never picked up a pen before. Mr. Yun couldn’t help but ask, “Fourth Miss, have you never written before?”
Upon hearing this, Yuehuan’s face blushed instantly. Looking at the characters written by the other three ladies, Yuehuan felt like she wanted to hide in a hole. Who says modern people traveling to ancient times are instantly beloved and bloom wherever they are seen? Just opening their mouths makes them seen as a great talent, all lies, sheer deceits! She pondered how many modern people could actually write well with a brush. No, not just brush writing, even ballpoint pen writing wasn’t good among many. However, in ancient times, regardless of gender, everyone was enlightened at the age of three and wrote every day without pursuing it. Just like her brother Tinglun, who practiced large characters every morning and evening.
Alas, Yuehuan sighed again. If she had known, she would have practiced writing with her brother. Now she wouldn’t have become a laughingstock from morning until now. Well, she had embarrassed herself hundreds of years into the past. All she could do now was try hard to learn and hopefully regain some face.
Yuebing, fearing further punishment, desperately tried to hold back her laughter, her face turning red. It was funny how their mother always criticized her, yet now, not to mention Fourth Miss, even Third Young Lady, known for her talent, wrote characters worse than hers.
Mr. Yun did not comment on Yuehuan’s characters because there was no point in doing so: “Fourth Miss needs to devote a lot of effort to practice her writing.”
Yuehuan nodded quickly; she was determined to learn how to write well.
After evaluating Yueying and Yuebing’s work, Mr. Yun finally looked at Yueyao’s characters. Mr. Yun looked at Yueyao’s characters with some surprise, “This is what you practice…?” Characters written by someone who was enlightened at two years old, began painting at three, and was known for her talent shouldn’t be this poor!
Yueyao explained with a smile, “I am copying the ‘Quick Snowfall and Sunny Day Post.'” Yueyao didn’t want to write in the Willow-body calligraphy style in front of others; she had planned it that way. Nor was she willing to bring out the rubbings of the plum blossom calligraphy style. It wasn’t that Yueyao was stingy, but she dared not take it out, because possession of a treasure can lead to calamity. If Yuebing saw it, she would definitely think of ways to seize it. Yueyao was not afraid of it being seized, but she didn’t want to invite that trouble. After much thought, Yueyao simply took the ‘Quick Snowfall and Sunny Day Post’ she bought from Qingfeng Bookhouse as an alternative.
Mr. Yun’s mouth twitched, “Third Young Lady, learning calligraphy is not done overnight. It requires persistent efforts to write well. I’ve heard that your Willow-body calligraphy style is quite good. You shouldn’t give up halfway; you should persist and do it well.”
Yueyao shook her head, “No need, I will just keep copying this book of characters.” There was no need to explain further, as it wasn’t necessary.
Mr. Yun sighed slightly, this Third Young Lady was too arrogant. This is the disadvantage of being sheltered; she had not seen the wider world, had limited vision, and might believe she was a genius or a prodigy because she had been flattered so much, not realizing that this approach of trying different things sporadically results in mastering nothing. Initially, Mr. Yun wanted to say more but, seeing Yueyao’s indifferent expression, he ultimately swallowed his words. He knew many people, and knew that once someone like the Third Young Lady was set on something, they would stick to it relentlessly and were hard to persuade. At this point, he didn’t try to persuade her anymore but instead asked, “Third Young Lady, how long have you been copying the ‘Quick Snowfall and Sunny Day Post’?”