Chapter 188 - 187: Xie Qingshi vs Cui Jinghan

Chapter 188: Chapter 187: Xie Qingshi vs Cui Jinghan

"..."

The moment these words were spoken, a dead silence fell over the entire sports field.

The judges were all well aware that Cui Jiu was Dean Xu’s designated successor. Even though he was young, his undeniable skills meant his words naturally carried great weight.

Whether it was the Xu Family or the Meng Family, they were merely families that had caught the massive tailwind of economic development in the mid-last century, vaulting them to the status of local heavyweights in Jianghuai. Let alone the capital of Jiuzhou, Mingjing, even if they went to other states, the Xu and Meng Families had absolutely no say.

It was true that Old Sir Meng had been the president of the Jianghuai Calligraphy Association before his death, but even when he was alive, he could not be compared to the higher-ups of the Mingjing Cultural Heritage Institute.

Meng Shuyan was in disbelief. He blurted out, "No! You... you..."

Just who was this incredibly young man? Could he be...

"No?" Cui Jinghan smiled coldly. "I said it, you can let your family give it a try. Right now, I’m calling the police."

"No... don’t!" The successive blows had caused Meng Shuyan’s mind to completely stop working. He spoke incoherently, unable to form a complete sentence.

Cui Jinghan spoke again. "You claim you wrote it. Bring him paper and a pen. Let him write!"

Soon, a brush, ink, paper, and an inkstone were brought before Meng Shuyan. His hands trembled so violently that he couldn’t even grip the brush.

Cui Jinghan said coldly, "As if you’re worthy!"

Roars of laughter echoed through the crowd, full of thick mockery.

"Hahaha, Young Master Meng really knows how to flatter himself. If he could write characters like that, he would have been strutting around with his nose in the air ages ago!"

"Young Master Meng has lost so much face this time. The calligraphy competition is hosted by the Mingjing Cultural Heritage Institute. The little bit of privilege he has in the Jianghuai Calligraphy Association is completely useless here."

"Indeed, the ancestors were right: dragons beget dragons, phoenixes beget phoenixes, and rats beget rats. Half of the Meng Family’s blood isn’t enough to make up for the other half running through Young Master Meng’s veins!"

Xu Shuyu took a deep breath, using a lifetime’s worth of self-control to forcibly suppress her anger, shame, and embarrassment. Before seeing the video, she hadn’t believed that the calligraphy was written by Shi Changying either, which was why she hadn’t refuted Meng Shuyan. After all, Yan Sinian had replied to Xu Zhao Yu that Shi Changying was difficult to teach and required additional hourly tuition fees.

She simply hadn’t expected Meng Shuyan to be so audacious as to leave his own name on it.

She thought, "What an idiot!"

Xu Shuyu closed her eyes, only wanting this sense of humiliation to leave her body. But the humiliation was secondary; Meng Shuyan’s actions were essentially blocking the Meng Family’s path forward.

Meng Shuyan broke out in a cold sweat. His body collapsed limply to the ground, trembling fiercely. The reason he had dared to do such a thing was because he had been absolutely certain that Shi Changying couldn’t have written this calligraphy. Given her past upbringing, it was completely impossible for her to have such profound calligraphy skills.

He wondered, "What on earth is going on? Is Yan Sinian lying too?!"

Shi Changying fished a box of chocolate beans out of her pocket and leisurely tossed them into her mouth. With an IQ like Meng Shuyan’s, he wouldn’t have survived a single second in the previous dynasty. Even the big orange cat sunbathing outside the palace hall could have sent him flying with a single swat.

WEE-WOO, WEE-WOO.

The police cars arrived quickly. Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Meng Shuyan, his legs completely weak, was taken away.

This farce opened everyone’s eyes, and Principal Ning was speechless with anger.

A judge tentatively spoke up. "Mr. Cui, what about the award ceremony..."

Cui Jinghan let out a breath. "Continue."

Having ruined this piece of calligraphy, he definitely wouldn’t let Meng Shuyan off so easily.

The award ceremony for the preliminary round was very simple; what mattered was the finals next year.

When Shi Changying went up to receive her certificate, she asked with concern, "Where is my thirty thousand yuan?"

The judges choked on their words. If she casually wrote a piece of calligraphy and sold it on the market, she could easily fetch three hundred thousand, right? As artists, they couldn’t be so obsessed with money!

Being in close contact with Shi Changying once again, Cui Jinghan’s hands trembled violently. For a good while, he unexpectedly couldn’t utter a single word. It wasn’t until Shi Changying stepped off the stage that the elderly judge noticed his flushed face and shaking body. Worried that he had been made sick from anger, he asked, "Little Friend Cui, should we call an ambulance?"

Cui Jinghan took a few deep breaths and returned to his cold, aloof demeanor. "No need."

He was going to buy clothes now.

After receiving her certificate, Shi Changying immediately posted on Moments.

Song Qingmu let out a strange cry. "Young Master, what kind of hand speed is that? How can you like a post so quickly?"

Shaoyuan cast a nonchalant glance at Shi Changying and chuckled with ambiguous meaning. "Naturally, it’s the hand speed of someone who has been single for many years."

"Even though we’re both single, your kind of single is very different from mine," Song Qingmu muttered. "The love letters you receive could be used to start a fire for cooking."

At this time, in the "Mockers of Pei Xuan and Crusaders against Shaoyuan Alliance" group chat:

[Xie Qingshi]: A miscalculation. I forgot that Your Majesty also participated in the youth calligraphy competition.

[Qingyuan]: And?

[Xie Qingshi]: He is familiar with every one of Your Majesty’s handwriting styles. The handwriting Your Majesty normally uses seems slightly different from what she used on imperial edicts.

[Ning Liuyu]: Your Majesty already won first place, which proves he definitely recognized it. This is truly not a very good thing.

[Qingyuan]: What do you all say? How about we hire someone to beat him into amnesia?

[Ning Liuyu]: To be honest, I’m currently researching such a drug. It can erase a few memory fragments.

[Xie Qingshi]: Although I greatly admire Lord Ning, I’m afraid it’s already too late.

[Qingyuan]: Lucky him.

Xie Qingshi pondered for a moment and ultimately decided to seek her out before Cui Jinghan and Shi Changying could acknowledge each other. After all, unlike Qingyuan and Ning Liuyu, he had already met Cui Jinghan.

Cui Jinghan was completely unaware of Xie Qingshi’s plans. He bought over a dozen outfits, changing back and forth but remaining somewhat unsatisfied with all of them.

Yan Sinian collapsed onto the sofa in the clothing boutique from exhaustion. "I say, Senior Brother, even Sixth Senior Brother wasn’t this tired when he accompanied his partner shopping. You can’t torture me like this."

Cui Jinghan put on another new outfit. "Which one is better?"

Yan Sinian’s eyes were glazed over. "Senior Brother, you have broad shoulders and a narrow waist. You’re a natural clothes hanger. You’d look good even wearing a burlap sack."

The saleswoman and salesman beside them also nodded frantically. Even though everyone around him praised it, Cui Jinghan was still somewhat unsatisfied, but he had no other choice.

After changing into the new clothes, he finally set out to meet Shi Changying. However, he didn’t want Yan Sinian to disturb them, so he beat around the bush to get the information out of him.

After successfully extracting Shi Changying’s location, Cui Jinghan left without looking back, leaving Yan Sinian standing messy in the wind, holding several bags.

The saleswoman said thoughtfully, "Sir, we offer home delivery."

Yan Sinian nodded. "Sorry for the trouble."

He wondered, "Why does it feel like I am just a pure tool in Senior Brother’s eyes?"

At this time, Shi Changying was in the dance studio of the art building.

Xie Qingshi’s sudden visit surprised her a bit, and she went with him to the lounge next door. Just as they sat down, someone else arrived.

Shi Changying raised an eyebrow, recognizing the newcomer as Yan Sinian’s Senior Brother.

She thought, "Could it be that he is here to give me more money?"

Cui Jinghan’s pupils shrank sharply.

He thought, "Xie Qingshi? Why is he here?"

"Your Majesty, this subject came to see you today because I have something to report." Xie Qingshi’s gaze brushed lightly over Cui Jinghan as he spoke unhurriedly. "At noon, I ran into Mr. Cui. Before I had the time to tell you, Mr. Cui came over himself."