Chapter 95: Student 038, do you have a guzheng? (Part 1)_2

Translator: 549690339

Jiang He, dressed in a white shirt and black suspenders, worked hard to keep step with Jiang Fulai.

A big and small figure on the road attracted countless gazes.

At the entrance of the auditorium, a student council member was checking tickets. They wanted to greet Pu Xiaohan with a smile, but upon catching a glimpse of the person in front, they hastily withheld their voice.

Inside the auditorium, Pu Xiaohan didn’t dare to go in with Ning Xiao.

She waited until she saw Ning Xiao lead Jiang Fulai inside before she relaxed.

“Who is that?” the student council member dared to speak out, somewhat certain, “Must be a VIP invited by the principal.”

I wonder why the principal and Chen Zhu haven’t arrived.

Pu Xiaohan was waiting at the entrance for Bai Lian.

Time was brief.

The school celebration began at eight o’clock. At 7:40, Bai Lian arrived with Ji Heng.

The moment she appeared in sight, she held tight the gaze of everyone present.

Bai Lian wore a beige cross-collared jacket today, the beige lapels embroidered with green vines; her skirt, a gradient splicing of light green and off-white, with the hem embroidered with clusters of stunningly lifelike poppies.

Ji Heng knew she had a performance and specially added a six-meter silk chiffon skirt to her outfit, making her look both ethereal and beautiful.

Atop her head was still a loosely tied plain wooden hairpin.

There were no extraneous hair ornaments.

Facing the morning sun, walking step by step, causing the embroidered poppies on her skirt to bloom gently, she looked like an elegant white tiger stepping out slowly from mountains of bones soaked in blood.

In this world of colors, none seemed as multifaceted as her.

Most of the people passing by stopped in their tracks.

All of a sudden, Pu Xiaohan thought of the line “not vying with the peaches and plums of this world.”

“Pu Xiaohan?” Bai Lian, not hurriedly tapping on her phone, noticed that Pu Xiaohan was spaced out for quite a while, so she raised her eyebrows.

“Ah,” Pu Xiaohan’s face turned red all at once, and she quietly greeted Ji Heng, “Grandpa, good day, I’m Pu Xiaohan.”

As she said this, she turned her head to look at Bai Lian’s grandfather.

The grandfather wore a black long gown, had a stern face, and held a smoking pipe in his hand, but the tobacco pouch hanging from it was empty.

Pu Xiaohan accompanied Bai Lian and Ji Heng inside.

Today, there were many people in the auditorium, most students had no seats, standing in a large open area at the back, with a few rows of chairs in the front reserved for teachers, school leaders, and some members of the student council.

Ji Heng, being elderly, was given a seat towards the back by the student council.

Class fifteen students all gathered in a spot towards the back.

When Bai Lian arrived, she saw Jiang Fulai, who stood out in the crowd. Despite the packed auditorium, he managed to maintain a space for three people around him.

Only Jiang He, who disliked noise, stuck closely to Jiang Fulai.

“Ah, Teacher Jiang, would you like to go backstage and wait?” Bai Lian paused her thumb mid-tap.

She was dressed in traditional attire suitable for a sword dance today, yet held a Huami smartphone in a languid grip.

When the corners of her lips hooked slightly, it always gave a sense of misty collision between the ancient and the modern.

It was like seeing flowers through the mist, at once roguish and refined.

Jiang Fulai, pressing down his duckbill hat a bit more, looked down at her, suppressing his irritation, lips faintly pursed, “No need.”

Jiang He didn’t even know where in the program sheet Bai Lian’s performance was scheduled.

Jiang Fulai’s expression grew even colder.

In the principal’s office.

Ren Wanxuan set down her pen, showing the verses she had just copied to Director Chen.

Director Chen glanced over and saw the line “Green tassel entering the temple hall.”

At the auction house, Ren Wanxuan had taken a photo. Although she couldn’t capture the original, she copied that genuine script every day.

She even managed to reproduce one-tenth to one-fifth of its essence.

The principal and Chen Zhu watched attentively, as people in the room were all serious students of Liang Zewen’s calligraphy. Even the principal couldn’t help but compliment, “Ren is only seventeen and can write such beautiful characters.”

Praises were heard endlessly.

But Director Chen’s expression was somewhat calm. If it were any other time, upon seeing such writing and the young age of the writer, he would have the same expression as the principal.

However—

The original that was auctioned off was now in Jiang Fulai’s collection room.

Director Chen had visited it many times and even video called the old master to admire together!

Even the modest Liang Zewen, esteemed as an imperial teacher through the ages, could not bear to do without it, preferring to resort to sneaky acts of thievery to take the calligraphy that was about to be burned.

This illustrated just how extraordinary that piece of writing was.

These past few days, he had been spoiled by the masterpieces, and now looking at Ren Wanxuan’s characters felt like chewing on wax.

Director Chen, with hands clasped behind his back, evaluated slowly, “The character shapes are good, but they lack vigor. You need to work harder on wrist strength, though it’s common for girls to lack force in their wrists. To write like this is already quite impressive.”

Ren Wanxuan, who had expected praises, was somewhat surprised.