“Okay.”
Lin Yingzhou didn’t ask any more questions. He didn’t care who the TV station editor-in-chief’s niece was, nor did he care about what Lin Yunzhi’s motives were.
He just needed to follow the arrangement.
Seeing him agree so readily, Lin Yunzhi hesitated.
Lin Yingzhou was already a junior. On top of his own major’s coursework and assignments, he had to find time for the Yun University Calligraphy Association and student council activities, and occasionally participate in calligraphy competitions. Now, he was being saddled with another task.
Perhaps feeling sorry for his grandson, he said, “If it’s inconvenient, I’ll send Xie Jun instead. It’ll be the same.”
Lin Yunzhi owed Yu Shushu a favor. She had called him this morning, asking him to pick a young member from the Chinese Calligraphy Association to teach her niece.
She said it was the girl he had brought to the museum last time, and she was now at the Art School.
Lin Yunzhi remembered her immediately. She had stood in front of Yingzhou’s painting for quite a while and said she really liked it. She seemed like a sharp and honest girl.
That incident had been years ago. This was the first time Yu Shushu had asked him for a favor since then.
He hadn’t intended to use this small favor to repay the debt. Just finding a young, skilled calligrapher from the association was too simple. It wouldn’t show he was putting in much effort.
If it were Lin Yingzhou, his nominal grandson, who went instead, that would be different.
“It’s convenient.” Lin Yingzhou knew that Lin Yunzhi made his choices after careful consideration. Since it was a considered decision, he wouldn’t settle for second best.
But.
Lin Yingzhou never expected Yu Shushu’s niece, the student he was supposed to teach, to be Shen Yusi.
The very person who had triggered his stress reaction from the first moment she appeared.
The red hair that fell onto his collar at the art museum. The naked gaze she had shot at him during registration.
And her incredibly idiotic behavior at the school hospital.
He didn’t like her hair. He even hated it…
Including her profile picture.
So, after accepting Shen Yusi’s friend request, he took advantage of the fact that she didn’t know who he was.
Without any politeness, he told her: 【Change your profile picture.】
–
Shen Yusi received the WeChat contact card Yu Shushu had sent her one morning.
Auntie Shu: 【A friend’s relative. A member of the Chinese Calligraphy Association. Just talk to him directly on WeChat. He’s about your age and easy to talk to.】
Yu Shushu didn’t explicitly mention his identity. First, she was busy with a few new projects at the station and couldn’t be bothered with the complicated explanation of finding a calligraphy teacher through the Chinese Calligraphy Association Chairman.
Second, she was worried that if Shen Yusi knew, she would feel pressured while learning. Yu Shushu didn’t want her kindness to become a burden.
Shen Yusi had no idea the “friend” her aunt was referring to was Lin Yunzhi, nor did she know that the relative was his grandson, Lin Yingzhou.
Shen Yusi knew nothing. So, cheerfully, she added “Z” on WeChat.
Class B, here I come!
Lin Yingzhou, here I come!
Half an hour later, she got the friend request approval.
Wanting to make a good impression on her teacher, Shen Yusi quickly composed a message.
【Hello, teacher. I’m the niece of Editor-in-Chief Yu. I’ll be learning calligraphy from you online for a while. Thank you for your trouble.】
Then she attached a bowing emoji.
See? What a polite opening!
Another half an hour later.
Z: 【Change your profile picture.】
Shen Yusi stared at the screen for a good while, trying to understand this simple sentence.
She simply couldn’t fathom that an “easy-to-talk-to” calligraphy teacher would say this as his first message.
Clearly, the TV station editor-in-chief’s expression wouldn’t be wrong. So, was she misunderstanding?
Maybe “easy to talk to” didn’t actually mean easy to talk to?
And “change your profile picture” didn’t actually mean change her profile picture?
…
If she didn’t need his help, Shen Yusi wouldn’t have bothered. She found a profile picture of Loopy wearing a red hat.
She even thoughtfully asked: 【Teacher, do you not like The Little Mermaid?】
The Little Mermaid was her favorite among Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales. She had always wished she could have hair as thick and vivid red as the little mermaid’s.
That’s why she dyed her hair red right after high school graduation.
This time, Z replied quickly: 【I don’t like red.】
Shen Yusi: “…”
Red was her absolute favorite color. She couldn’t understand how anyone in the world could hate red, hate it so much they didn’t even want to see it in a chat box.
Weirdo.
Such a weirdo.
Thinking about having to learn calligraphy from this weirdo for over a month, Shen Yusi almost messaged her aunt right then to ask for a normal teacher.
Of course, she was just thinking about it.
The TV station was busy enough without her bothering them with trivial matters.
Shen Yusi compromised again. She uploaded a playful expression she had drawn when bored: 【Fine.】
Z: 【Mm.】
Shen Yusi had given up on being polite: 【So, when do we start?】
Z didn’t expect her to be this eager to learn calligraphy. He still had things to deal with and couldn’t start immediately.
Z: 【Write a sample and send it to me. I’ll gauge your level first, then make a plan.】
Island: 【Okay.】
Shen Yusi was always quick to act. She had already bought the brushes, ink, and paper the day before. She got out of bed, hopped to the desk on one foot, and started writing.
She wasn’t satisfied with her first attempt, crumpled it up, and started over.
She did this countless times. Soon, a pile of discarded paper was stacked next to the desk.
Finally, after an hour, Shen Yusi produced a piece she considered perfect.
She took a picture and sent it over.
She received a reply by noon.
Z: 【20】
Shen Yusi was confused: 【What does ‘twenty’ mean?】
Z: 【Failing grade.】
Shen Yusi almost jumped off the bed.
Failing?!
What was this guy talking about?
He was saying her calligraphy was a failing grade?
Not just a failing, but only 20 out of 100?!
In her eighteen years of life, Shen Yusi had never received a failing grade. Not even in her most disliked subject. She always got good marks.
Even if calligraphy wasn’t her strong suit, it couldn’t possibly be worth just 20 points.
She had always been in the top ten in her extracurricular classes.
So what if this guy was really skilled and professional? What gave him the right to say she only got 20?!
Shen Yusi tossed her phone aside and examined her work again.
She looked it over. The more she looked, the more she thought this guy was just blabbing nonsense.
Shen Yusi decisively messaged Xie Sheng to complain: 【He said it was a failing grade! He said my level was only 20 points!】
Xie Sheng was outraged: 【How dare he!】
Shen Yusi got even angrier: 【Exactly! How dare he!】
Shen Yusi lay on her back, starting to wonder if her aunt had sent her the wrong contact.
This “Z” didn’t seem easy to talk to at all.
Her phone buzzed twice. She thought it might be Z, realizing his mistake and coming to explain.
But it was Xie Sheng sending a video: 【Don’t be discouraged. Your motivation has arrived.】
Shen Yusi clicked.
It was a video of Lin Yingzhou giving a speech at some event. The angle and quality suggested it was taken by someone in the audience.
In the video, Lin Yingzhou was wearing a light-colored sweater, his hair falling over his forehead. The afternoon sun streamed in through the high windows of the auditorium, softening his features. His usually cold eyes looked like warm amber.
The usual aura of detachment around him seemed to melt away, making him appear gentle and warm.
Sheng: 【I had to hunt for this one for a while. Did it give you motivation?】
Shen Yusi held her face in her hands like a fangirl, beaming: 【Yes, yes, yes! Give me one of these every day! I need the energy!】
Sheng: 【Alright, alright.】
Shen Yusi watched the video again. After it finished, she rolled over on her bed and opened her chat with Z, reverting to her initial polite tone: 【So, teacher, how can I get a passing grade?】
She could bend when necessary. A little setback like this was nothing in the face of a handsome face.
Z: 【Practice.】
Island: 【Practice what?】
Z: 【Preface to the Orchid Pavilion. Ten times.】
Fine!
I’ll practice!
And so, Shen Yusi found a great way to pass the time while her injury healed. Every day, besides drawing, she practiced calligraphy and occasionally watched videos of handsome guys and her classmates’ military training.
Her days were full of anticipation.
When she had studied calligraphy before, she did it without any real goal. She was content to just stay in the top ten. But now that she had a target, Shen Yusi started taking calligraphy seriously. She realized that writing with a brush was, in a way, no different from drawing.
She was great at drawing. So, calligraphy became much easier for her.
After she finished practicing the ten times, a day and a half had passed. Z asked her to pick the ugliest one and send it to him.
Shen Yusi was confused: 【Not the best one?】
Z: 【No. Keep that for yourself.】
Shen Yusi threw her phone.
This guy was mocking her!
After she sent the picture, Z took a day to reply.
He took the picture she had sent, broke it down character by character into smaller images, and wrote detailed remarks next to each one. He then compiled it into a 324-page PDF.
Shen Yusi scrolled through it roughly. The remarks were detailed and pinpointed the problems precisely. He even offered solutions. She tried a few, and they were effective.
It went without saying how much time and effort Z had put into this. No wonder he had ignored her for a day. Shen Yusi initially thought he was just put off by how bad her writing was.
This PDF made Shen Yusi change her opinion of Z. He was no longer just a rude guy but a rude yet responsible teacher.
Z: 【Read this. Then write it ten more times. Send me the worst one.】
Shen Yusi did as she was told, studying the PDF whenever she had time. The more she studied it, the more interesting she found it.
She wondered why she had never found calligraphy this fun before.
By the time Lin Yingzhou received the second batch of pictures, the calligraphy class promotion was over.
He clicked on the image and scanned it quickly.
He chose the document format for two reasons. One, to minimize back-and-forth messages with Shen Yusi. Two, because the university’s schedule was hectic. He often couldn’t reply in time.
He didn’t like Shen Yusi, but since he had promised his elder to teach her well, he wouldn’t half-ass it.
Lin Yingzhou initially thought that document would take her a week to digest. But Shen Yusi was a quick learner. It had only been two days, and she had already corrected all the problems he mentioned.
Not too bad. Not entirely stupid. She could keep learning.
Luckily, Lin Yingzhou had some free time. He figured he might as well finish this tedious task quickly.
Z: 【I have time these few days. You can ask me if you have any questions.】
Shen Yusi certainly wasn’t going to be polite. She messaged him whenever something came up. If he didn’t reply, she kept spamming him, turning Z’s chat box into a message board.
Z would read the messages and reply to them one by one. His replies were extremely brief, but Shen Yusi could feel his attitude shifting.
But that didn’t change his sharp tongue.
When she encountered a problem that needed thinking, Shen Yusi couldn’t grasp it immediately and would pester Z to just tell her the answer.
Z always coldly told her to figure it out herself and stop relying on him.
Then, a moment later, he would give her a small hint.
A harsh mouth but a kind heart.
Knowing he was young and having spent a few days talking to him, Shen Yusi began to see Z as both a teacher and a friend.
Since Xie Sheng was busy and had no time for her, Shen Yusi started dragging Z into conversations, mixing her nonsense with real questions. He had no reason not to reply.
Island: 【Teacher, who is your favorite calligrapher?】
Z: 【Zhao Mengfu.】
Island: 【I thought it would be Wang Xizhi.】
Z: 【Then it’s Wang Xizhi.】
Knowing him as well as she did now, Shen Yusi knew he wasn’t just agreeing with her. He didn’t want to explain why it wasn’t Wang Xizhi and wanted to end the conversation.
Hmph.
When she was a child, Shen Yusi’s motivation for learning calligraphy was so she could write couplets for the New Year and stick them at home. She had never been able to do that because she wasn’t narcissistic enough to put her ugly handwriting outside for everyone to see.
But this time, she had a cheat code!
Island: 【Teacher, can you write a couplet for the New Year for me to stick at my door?】
Z: 【Write it yourself.】
Island: 【I’m not good enough.】
Z: 【If you know it’s not good, then practice more.】
Shen Yusi read the message while brushing her teeth. Her face and hands were covered in foam. It was inconvenient to type, so she sent a voice message, her tone tinged with self-deprecation and praise for him. “But no matter how long I practice, I’ll never be as good as you.”
Suddenly receiving a voice message, Lin Yingzhou looked down at his phone, hesitated for a moment, and then clicked.
He had obviously forgotten that he had raised the phone’s volume earlier. As soon as he pressed the button, Shen Yusi’s voice came through the speaker.
Suddenly, her sweet, sugary voice filled the study, worming its way into his ears.
“But no matter how long I practice, I’ll never be as good as you~”
Lin Yingzhou immediately turned off the phone. The world went silent for a moment.
But her voice still echoed in his ears.
“But no matter how long I practice, I’ll never be as good as you~”
Why was she saying that?
Why was she talking to him in that tone?
Lin Yingzhou wanted to tell her to stop sending him voice messages.
But then he thought it wasn’t necessary. Why should he care how she contacted him?
It had nothing to do with him.
It was a long time later when Shen Yusi received a reply from Z: 【Flattery won’t work. What about the homework I assigned you today? Send it to me.】
Island: 【Right away, right away.】
Shen Yusi had spent the whole day playing a game and had finished a few pieces less than required. She was hoping some flattery would get her out of the homework check, but he saw right through her.
Not easy to fool.
But this reply had a lot of words for him.
After that, Shen Yusi still sent voice messages whenever it was inconvenient.
Having learned his lesson, Lin Yingzhou almost always used the voice-to-text function. Occasionally, when the translation was unclear, he would lower the volume and then click on her message.
But no matter what Shen Yusi said, or what tone she used, he always felt it was strange.
It sounded like…
She was flirting.