Chapter 186 - 185: Whose Student Did You Say She Is?
Chapter 186: Chapter 185: Whose Student Did You Say She Is?
They certainly didn’t know what Cui Jinghan was thinking, let alone that he was far from just being the "number one master of the Cui Style"—he was its actual creator.
The older judge simply assumed Cui Jinghan was weeping tears of joy after seeing such an exceptionally brilliant piece of calligraphy. He could understand the reaction. After all, the appearance of this single piece had instantly eclipsed the other six hundred-plus entries.
Jianghuai High School was truly full of hidden talents!
But he still had to offer a reminder, "Little Friend Cui, the paper is fragile. Please be careful."
Cui Jinghan snapped back to reality. He hurriedly wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, terrified they might drop onto the precious artwork. His gaze fell once more upon the signature at the very end—
Shi Changying.
As if suddenly remembering something, Cui Jinghan’s expression shifted. He immediately pulled out his phone, opened his chat with Yan Sinian, and started transferring money.
[System Notification]: Senior Brother has transferred [50,000] to you. Please accept.
A full five transfer notifications flooded the screen.
Yan Sinian was currently waiting in line to buy Qianqiusui. The sudden barrage of messages nearly made him drop his phone. It was over. His senior brother had definitely been possessed by a transmigrator! But regardless of who it was, they had better not leave his senior brother’s body! This was a senior brother who was frantically throwing money at him.
[Yan Sinian]: S-Senior Brother, is this my last meal money before execution?
[Cui Jinghan]: Go buy a suit for me.
[Yan Sinian]: Huh?!
[Cui Jinghan]: No, come with me to the store to try them on in person.
[Yan Sinian]: ???
Cui Jinghan slowly exhaled. He needed to buy a new outfit and properly groom himself so he could meet his Empress with his true identity.
"Judging by Little Friend Cui’s reaction, I assume you’ve already given this piece a perfect score," the older judge said with a laugh. "To think that after so many years of the Youth Calligraphy Competition, the preliminaries have finally produced a perfect score."
"Indeed. It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen a piece worthy of a hundred points."
"The last perfect score belonged to Mr. Cui, didn’t it?"
Cui Jinghan didn’t respond. His eyes were still tracing the fine strokes of the characters. Suddenly, he realized an issue.
The poem written on this calligraphy piece was actually composed by Pei Xuan.
Pei Xuan truly was no good. Although he was grateful to Pei Xuan for making him realize there were others from their era in this future world, he definitely wouldn’t tell him that he had already found Her Majesty.
Cui Jinghan had no idea that his few short messages had completely short-circuited Yan Sinian’s brain. Yan Sinian remained in a daze for a good while before finally sending a message to their small group chat.
[Yan Sinian]: What do you guys think it means when a man who hasn’t bought new clothes in ages suddenly wants to buy some?
[The Only Human]: He definitely got a girlfriend.
[Second Sister]: Vulgar. He’s obviously going to meet someone important.
[The Only Human]: I refuse to associate with you dogs.
[Fifth Brother]: Don’t tell me this man you’re talking about is our senior brother.
[Ninth Brother]: Impossible. Senior Brother is a block of stone. He doesn’t need to buy clothes; he’d be fine wearing a burlap sack.
Yan Sinian felt a bit panicked. He had no idea how to pick out clothes!
After picking up his milk tea, Yan Sinian finally caught his breath and replied.
[Yan Sinian]: Senior Brother, what kind of clothes do you want to buy? Besides, you should wear different outfits depending on the status of the person you’re meeting.
[Senior Brother]: She is very important to me, so I need the most formal attire.
Yan Sinian started pondering who this "she" could be, not forgetting to send over a video he had prepared earlier.
[Yan Sinian]: By the way, Senior Brother, the judging results should be out by now, right? Take a look at this.
[Yan Sinian]: This is my student. How about it? When she was writing it yesterday, I said she’d definitely get first place.
[Senior Brother]: ?
Cui Jinghan laughed out of sheer anger. Whose student? Even he didn’t dare claim the title of the Empress’s teacher—that honor could only be borne by Ye Yu. It seemed Yan Sinian had a death wish.
[Yan Sinian]: Senior Brother, why the question mark? Is Miss Shi not in first place? If so, I really have to question the judges’ taste.
[Senior Brother]: Refund the money.
[Yan Sinian]: ???
Cui Jinghan couldn’t be bothered to waste any more words on his unreliable junior brother. He turned to the other judges and said, "Since the first-place winner this time is a student from Jianghuai High School, the award ceremony will be held at Jianghuai High School."
This didn’t quite align with the usual rules for the preliminaries, but since Cui Jinghan had spoken, it was naturally permissible.
Cui Jinghan added, "We’ll go right now."
"Now?" The judges were taken aback. "Isn’t that a bit too rushed?"
"Then we’ll just have to hurry," Cui Jinghan said flatly. "I’ll head over first."
He took Shi Changying’s calligraphy piece and left before anyone else. The judges exchanged bewildered glances for a moment before immediately contacting the administration at Jianghuai High School.
Upon learning that the award ceremony was to be held immediately, Principal Ning was caught slightly off guard and hastily ordered the various departments to prepare.
Teacher Zhou was quite puzzled. "In previous years, the results were announced the next day, and the award ceremony was held a week later. Why the rush this time?"
"I don’t know, but I’ve seen Changying’s calligraphy, and I can guarantee that first place is absolutely in the bag," Teacher Bei said with absolute certainty. "This child said she’d give it her all, and she truly didn’t hold back."
The students were instructed to gather at the sports field after their current class. Xu Shuyu felt an ominous premonition. She stopped Meng Shuyan and asked, "This sudden early award ceremony... it doesn’t have anything to do with you, does it?"
Meng Shuyan was actually just as baffled. He shook his head. "I don’t have the power to influence the award ceremony."
Xu Shuyu stared at him. "Then what exactly did you do?"
"Sister, you don’t know this, but Shi Changying’s calligraphy piece was definitely written by some master our mother hired," Meng Shuyan said with a cold sneer. "Even if it wasn’t, she still didn’t write it herself. She cheated to begin with. Whatever I did was just to bring the truth to light."
Xu Shuyu frowned. "Do you have proof? Empty words mean nothing. Have you forgotten how you ended up having to read a self-criticism in front of the whole school last time?"
"Look here, sister. This is the piece Shi Changying supposedly wrote." Meng Shuyan showed Xu Shuyu the photo he had sneaked into the Calligraphy Association to take. "Do you think it’s possible?"
Xu Shuyu’s pupils contracted. She blurted out, "Impossible. This takes at least ten years of foundational practice, maybe even more."
"Exactly. So of course she paid someone to cheat for her," Meng Shuyan said smugly. "She’s in the wrong first, so she’ll have nothing to say no matter what I do. Plus, I already asked Housekeeper Xu. Every time she practices calligraphy in the study, the security cameras are turned off. What do you think she’s secretly doing in there?"
Xu Shuyu fell silent for a moment. "But what if... she really wrote it?"
"Sister, don’t be silly. Think about the logic!" Meng Shuyan’s voice turned cold. "If her handwriting was truly this good, Dean Xu would’ve taken her in as a Closed-door Disciple ages ago. Why would our mother need to spend money to hire a tutor for her? The people at the Cultural Heritage Institute aren’t idiots!"
Xu Shuyu remained silent.
"Alright, sister. The award ceremony being pushed forward is actually a good thing," Meng Shuyan said, in an excellent mood. "The higher she gets praised now, the harder she’ll fall later."
A short while later, the students finished lining up on the field by class. The judges from the Jianghuai Calligraphy Association had also arrived.
When the first-place calligraphy piece appeared on the large screen in the background, the entire crowd let out a collective gasp of awe.
"Yingying, you really got first place!" Lu Mi cheered excitedly. "And it’s a perfect score! No wonder the judges were in such a hurry to hand out the awards this time."
Shi Changying looked laid-back. "Just average, number one in the world."
Teacher Bei was equally thrilled.
However, amidst the thunderous applause, Meng Shuyan suddenly stood up. "I’m reporting this! Shi Changying didn’t write this piece!"
The entire crowd erupted into an uproar, and the judges’ expressions gradually turned solemn. If this was a case of cheating, it was a grievous offense!
One judge asked cautiously, "Young man, don’t make baseless accusations. What proof do you have?"
Meng Shuyan continued loudly, "Of course I have proof! Because I left an anti-counterfeit mark on the rice paper! If you don’t believe me, look for yourselves!"