144. You've finally grown up.

Fifteen minutes later, in the room.

"So..." Lin Lingrong said after hearing the whole story, "the reason you wanted my handwriting was to pretend it was written by Young Master Jin, but you were exposed?"

The little dumpling nodded like a chick pecking at rice: "But we didn't betray our eldest sister! Our second brother even said that if we got scolded, he would say that he stole it himself!"

Lin Lingrong laughed after hearing this: "You two are quite... loyal."

The second brother stammered, "I'm sorry... I... I'll make you a new calligraphy book tomorrow, oh, and I'll also make you new writing implements!"

“No need to pay, it’s just writing brushes and ink, I have plenty,” Lin Lingrong turned around and pulled a heavy wooden box from under the desk. The lid opened, revealing hundreds of calligraphy practice sheets neatly stacked inside. “These are what I use for practicing calligraphy. If Young Master Jin needs them…”

The second brother gasped, retreating as if he had seen a ghost: "No, no, no!"

He shook his head vigorously, saying, "I... I get dizzy just looking at lots of words..."

The little boy curiously peeked at the edge of the box and exclaimed, "Wow! Big sister's handwriting is so beautiful!"

Lin Lingrong was amused, patted her little head, and then took out another copy and handed it to her second brother: "This copybook is very simple. I could write it when I was five years old."

The second brother's hands trembled as he took the calligraphy copybook.

The paper was covered in densely packed, neat handwriting that was frighteningly precise; just looking at it made him dizzy: "Thank you so much, big sister... but I really..."

He kept shrinking back.

Seeing her second brother's avoidance of the calligraphy copybook like a cornered puppy, Lin Lingrong seemed to understand something.

No wonder the little dumpling said that her second brother's handwriting was also very bad. Now it seems that he is a person who does not like to study.

Compared to this, my younger sister seems much less troublesome.

Although his handwriting is ugly, he is willing to learn and is making rapid progress.

As an older sister and a good student, Lin Lingrong felt it was necessary to urge him to improve his studies.

She tilted her head and thought for a moment, then quickly came up with an idea. With a mature sigh, she said, "Since Grand Tutor Qu already knows about this matter, if he sees that Young Master Jin's handwriting hasn't improved by tomorrow, I'm afraid..."

The second brother's face instantly fell, as if he could already see the ruler beckoning to him again.

"I have an idea," Lin Lingrong said, pulling out a few sheets of paper from the box as the plan was progressing smoothly. "Why don't we practice a few of the simplest characters? At least it will show the Grand Tutor our sincerity!"

The second brother leaned closer suspiciously: "Which ones?"

Lin Lingrong circled the entire page with red ink the characters “之”, “乎”, “者”, and “也”: “All articles cannot escape the four characters 之, 乎, 者, and 也, so let’s practice these.”

"Okay! Yue'er will help!" The little dumpling immediately agreed on behalf of her second brother and climbed onto the stool to grind the ink.

The second brother, at his wit's end, picked up his pen with a worried expression.

Lin Lingrong leaned over to watch him write, but after only reading a couple of characters, she couldn't help but exclaim, "No, no! You need to pause here—ouch!"

"You're writing like this? That won't do!"

"Don't move your wrist around, and don't look around!"

"Look at the calligraphy, not my face. There are no words on my face!"

"You're the worst student I've ever managed!"

Lin Lingrong initially tried to correct him, but later she got so angry she wanted to jump up and down.

She began to miss her younger sister.

Indeed, people do need to make comparisons.

After a long commotion, the second brother finally managed to write a few barely legible characters: "Look! Does it look like something?"

Lin Lingrong examined it carefully and nodded reluctantly: "Although it's a bit ugly, it's not bad... but it's down-to-earth. But it still needs more practice."

"ah--"

"Go, second brother! You're the best!"

Therefore, the calligraphy practice must continue.

After an unknown amount of time, Lin Lingrong seemed to suddenly realize something and clapped her hands: "I get it! Young Master Jin's hands are faster than his brain! Why don't we write it down and recite the stroke order? Come on, repeat after me, horizontal—vertical—horizontal—left-falling stroke..."

The second brother paused for a moment, then joined in, reciting as he did so while simultaneously writing: "Horizontal—vertical—horizontal—left-falling stroke..."

"Yes, yes, that's it! See how much better the characters are now?"

A while later...

The second brother held up more than a dozen sheets of paper filled with classical Chinese characters, looking at the fairly neat handwriting with satisfaction: "Thank you so much, eldest sister, for saving my life!"

Lin Lingrong smiled and said, "You're too kind. Just don't make me teach you anymore."

She was exhausted from taking care of him.

"Huh?"

-

The second brother, holding the little dumpling's hand, skipped and hopped into the mansion gate, only to bump into a figure.

The second brother looked up and saw Jin Qizhi standing in front of them with his arms crossed, his face as black as the bottom of a pot: "Where did you take your sister to play again? Mother said you ran away and disappeared."

The second brother was initially guilty, but then he thought of something and regained his confidence.

He really went abroad to study this time!

"I'm going to study hard!"

"Strive to improve yourself?" Jin Qizhi laughed. "Is it to go to the streets to watch plays and strive to improve yourself, or to go to the candy shop and strive to improve yourself?"

"Really!" the second brother exclaimed, stamping his foot in frustration. "I'm going to practice my calligraphy!"

Jin Qizhi clearly didn't believe this explanation, and grabbed her younger brother by the back of his collar, dragging him towards the study: "Looks like the punishment last time wasn't lenient enough..."

"Big brother, you're innocent!" the second brother cried, kicking his legs wildly. "Sister, be my witness!"

The little dumpling quickly stepped forward and tugged at Jin Qizhi's sleeve: "Second brother is really writing! He's written so many characters!"

Upon hearing this, Jin Qizhi became even less credulous: "Jin Lizhi, you actually taught your sister to lie? That's unforgivable!"

"I really went to study!"

“I don’t believe it,” Jin Qizhi dragged him into the study, spread out Xuan paper, dipped it in ink and handed him a brush, “Write. If you can’t write anything coherent, you’d better just copy books tonight.”

The second brother picked up his pen, held his breath, took a deep breath, and muttered to himself, "Dot, horizontal stroke, left-falling stroke..."

With a stroke of the brush, a neat "之" character was actually written.

Jin Qizhi was taken aback.

Immediately afterwards, the second brother continued writing.

Although the second character "乎" is slightly stiff, its structure is correct.

The third character "者" even shows some brushstrokes.

The fourth "也" also landed steadily.

Jin Qizhi finally revealed a look of disbelief, as if he had seen a ghost.

"This is weird..." He picked up the paper and held it up to the light. "Are you perhaps possessed by a ghost?"

The second brother immediately jumped up and down in grievance: "I wrote it myself! It's genuine!"

The little dumpling clung to the edge of the desk, standing on tiptoe: "Moon can be my witness, Second Brother really worked very hard!"

Jin Qizhi stared at the handwriting for a long time, and finally showed a relieved expression. He ruffled his second brother's hair and said, "I'm sorry, I misunderstood you. You've finally become sensible."

He was deeply moved, feeling a surge of emotion, like a child finally growing up and becoming sensible, a feeling that brought tears to his eyes.

Then, he changed the subject: "If you can master these four characters, you can certainly master the others as well."

He then spread out ten sheets of Xuan paper with a rustling sound: "Here."

The second brother's smug expression froze instantly: "What?!"

So, in the study of the Marquis of Beiding's mansion, the candlelight flickered and crackled, casting the light and shadow on the second brother's mournful face.

As he copied the book, wailing and howling, he muttered with a mixture of grief and indignation, "These classical Chinese phrases are a killer... I should have just gotten a beating from the Grand Tutor's ruler..."

But if I really have to be punished by the Grand Tutor's ruler...

Forget it, I'll just practice my calligraphy instead.

"Focus on writing." Jin Qizhi carefully supervised.

"Big brother!" The second brother squirmed in his seat, finally protesting weakly, "My arms are sore..."

"Oh? Let me see. Hold out your hand."

"It's really sour..." the second brother said, sounding aggrieved.

Jin Qizhi took out the ointment her mother had given her from the drawer and skillfully massaged his wrist.

He was always diligent and hardworking in his studies, often writing until his hands ached.

At this time, applying ointment to the wrist and massaging it for a while can provide much relief.

"Okay, let's continue writing."

The second brother picked up his pen again in grief and indignation.

A rustling sound came from the couch next to them.

Watching them study, the little dumpling, who had been sleeping, rubbed his eyes and sat up, groggily climbed off the bed, and walked over barefoot, "pat-pat" over, naturally squeezing his little body into Jin Qizhi's arms.

"Big brother," she murmured softly, "Second brother's handwriting seems to dance..."

Jin Qizhi couldn't help but laugh: "Yeah, you danced pretty badly."

"You're all ganging up on me!" The second brother stomped his foot in anger.

The three of them laughed and joked for a while, and finally Jin Qizhi relented: "Let's call it a day."

"Really? That's great!" The second brother jumped up and cheered loudly.

Jin Qizhi deliberately put on a stern face: "If the Grand Tutor still says the handwriting is ugly tomorrow..."

"I'll be punished by eating ten almond cookies!" the second brother swore, only to be given a sharp rap on the head by his older brother.