Yu Zhan felt so tired that he was constantly yawning, and Liu Man had to wake up early tomorrow. The duo chatted for a while, said good night to each other, and Liu Man returned to rest in her room.
During breakfast the next day, Su Yi stared at the man who suddenly appeared next to his beloved apprentice with a complicated look, as if he was saying, “Stop trying to disguise it. I know you two stayed together last night.”
Liu Man did not know whether to laugh or cry as she introduced her boyfriend to Su Yi. Yu Zhan met Su Yi’s appraising look calmly, greeted Su Yi respectfully, and did not forget to thank Su Yi for his Weibo comment the previous day.
Su Yi was satisfied with Yu Zhan’s etiquette and behavior, “Since you’ve arrived, let’s go to the venue together after breakfast.”
Liu Man sighed in relief. She was afraid Su Yi would dislike Yu Zhan who came uninvited.
While eating breakfast, Su Yi gave Liu Man some final notes and reminders. The trio did not bring their phones to prevent Liu Man’s mood from being influenced by the online comments.
Everything was about Liu Man today!
Of course, they sent messages to their friends and family beforehand in case they were worrying.
The free-response round was also hosted in the Deputy Hall of the Gudu Exhibition Center. When the trio arrived at the venue, the exhibition center had already flooded with people.
To put it more accurately, since Liu Man and Zhou Budai popularized the calligraphy exhibition online, the Gudu Exhibition Center kept a consistently high traffic. Hence, the National Calligraphy Association shockingly invited the Gudu TV Station to live broadcast the entire last round of this year’s Calligraphy Exhibition. It was the first time this exhibition cooperated with the media since its establishment sixty years ago.
Another reason for doing this was because the incident involving Su Xuezhen and Su Maolin had such a bad influence that the National Calligraphy Association wanted to publicize the entire process to prove its impartiality and fairness. Naturally, the losers would have nothing to say. After all, the Gudu TV Station was second only to the National TV Station in terms of authority among Northwest locals.
At that moment, the live-streaming team of Gudu TV Station set up their streaming equipment at the backdoor entrance of the deputy hall to film the contestants of the last round who were straggling in, and a host was giving a simple explanation.
When Liu Man and the other two walked over, the videographer immediately aimed the camera at her. She was wearing hanfu and looked too prominent in the crowd; moreover, she was so pretty and could attract viewers. Liu Man was wearing “Su Lian,” designed by Zhong Jiangnan. It was a set of lotus-pink plain hanfu. Indeed, she looked like a plain lotus that emerged from the mud but remained unstained.
TL’s Note: The meaning of “Su Lian” in Chinese is plain lotus.
The host had done her homework beforehand and told the audience watching the television, “This girl is one of the popular contenders for the award. Her name is Liu Man, and she is an Ancient Chinese Literature major at the Capital University. She is the apprentice of Famous Calligrapher Mr. Su Yi, the elder beside her. She entered the exhibition with her piece in the regular script but passed last week’s face-to-face round with the small seal script, which was a huge surprise. I don’t know if this talented girl has any other hidden skills for us to look forward to.”
After the invention of the internet, the young generation rarely watched television, but at this moment, tens of thousands of youngsters were waiting in front of their TVs to watch the live stream.
Many were anxiously waiting online. Some could not receive the satellite signal of Gudu TV Station at home, and some were office workers and could not watch the television. Therefore, certain generous people opened live-stream rooms and used their phones to record the TV footage to share with them.
Everyone felt satisfied to see the picturesque Hanfu Goddess. At the same time, they realized that in addition to a prestigious elder beside her, an incredibly handsome man also accompanied her.
No one doubted his identity. Everyone knew he must be Doctor Yu himself.
When they passed the camera, Yu Zhan smiled slightly out of courtesy at it. Anyone who saw his smile at this moment felt their heart skip a beat.
Even women who had already retired were exclaiming as they watched the television: Where did this young man come from? He is very handsome.
“I’m finally seeing Doctor Yu’s entire face, especially in the HD version. Why does my heart hurt so much…”
“Doctor Yu should continue to wear a mask. It’s enough that he’s scourging the Hanfu Goddess; he shouldn’t be the bane of our existence, too…”
“I agree with the comment above.”
“+1”
“+2”
TL’s Note: The netizens saying “+ [a number]” mean “me too.”
…
The trio walked fast and disappeared from the camera without leaving time for the audience to reflect.
Although the TV station was invited to live-stream in this round, there was still no seats for ordinary audience. People without permission were prohibited from entering the venue to watch.
If it were not for Su Yi’s prestige, Yu Zhan could not have come in.
The deputy hall’s layout this time was also significantly different from that of the face-to-face round. The participant and association member spectator seats were removed, and there were no judge seats. The sixty wooden tables almost occupied the entire venue.
During the round, non-participants, including Su Yi, could only stand in the perimeter and watch; they were not allowed to enter the central area. The ten judges could move around like proctors and check everyone’s writing or carving on the spot at any given time.
Su Yi had already introduced the six other judges to Liu Man. One was the regular script judge replacing Su Xuezhen, and the other five were seal-cutting and carving judges from the capital, designated based on the types of fonts and carving carriers they were skilled at. When the time came, these five judges would also evaluate Liu Man.
Under such harsh circumstances, one could not cheat, and taking shortcuts through favors was even more impossible.
The sixty participants who advanced to this round were all apprentices of famous calligraphists, excluding a few people who, like Wu Qu, taught themselves. Su Yi knew these ten people, and other participants’ teachers knew them as well.
Here, it was not about who was more prestigious but rather who was the most capable.
Yu Zhan saw a set of brush, ink, paper, inkstone, rough seal-graving stones, and wooden plaques, which were novel to him. A name card that read “Liu Man” hung to the side of one of the wooden tables with a set of brush, ink, paper, and inkstone.
The competition was set to start at nine o’clock. At half past eight, everyone had already arrived. Su Yi walked to greet and chat in circles with old friends, and Liu Man saw Wu Qu and Zhou Budai, who came over to greet her one after one. She introduced Yu Zhan to them.
Wu Qu went on seclusion this week to prepare for the competition, completely segregating himself from the external environment. He had no idea what had occurred. He conversed with Yu Zhan for a while, and even though they were ten years of age apart, they had no trouble finding shared topics and even joyfully exchanged contact information. He felt Liu Man’s boyfriend was as friendly as she was, and they were a good match.
Zhou Budai had always felt quite curious about Liu Man’s boyfriend. He once had thoughts similar to those of the Hanfu Goddess’ male fans. He thought this man must have saved the galaxy in his previous life to find a perfect girlfriend like Liu Man.
After seeing him in person, Zhou Budai silently sighed internally. For the first time, he started doubting his appearance. God must have not been mindful when He created his face.
Time passed very swiftly as they chatted. At nine o’clock sharp, everyone walked to stand before their respective tables.
Translated by: Sydney
Vandez Translations 