Chapter 18
If Lu Shang had not heard Jiang Wanning mention the letter writing business in town, he would never have gotten involved in such trivial matters.
Even if he participated, he did not carry any paper or pen with him.
There was a letter-writing stall next to a bookshop. The bookshop owner had been drawn in by the commotion outside and, wanting to watch the fun, had kindly suggested, "We can provide paper and pens. Why don't you come in and sit down?"
Lu Shang looked over when he heard the sound and saw the owner of the bookstore standing on the steps in front of it.
He thought about it for a moment and did not refuse. He bowed to the boss from a distance and turned to walk over with Jiang Wanning and the old woman.
In order to avoid being questioned, Lu Shang took some paper and pen from the store and walked out. He looked around and borrowed an abandoned table in front of the store from the boss.
Since it was agreed that Jiang Wanning would write it, Lu Shang would not make any unnecessary moves.
He simply helped set the table and prepared the rice paper, brush, and ink. Throughout the entire process, he only occasionally asked, "Is this okay? Do you think this angle is suitable..."
There was no other advice, not even a word about writing letters.
Until everything was ready, Lu Shang simply stepped aside, with his hands in his pockets, and waited for Jiang Wanning to perform.
Jiang Wanning rarely did anything under so many people's gaze. She calmed herself down, exhaled slowly, turned around and asked, "Grandma, what are you going to write?"
"I write, I want to write—my son Ah Hui!"
The old woman had lived in a small village all her life. She had never been to school, could not read, and certainly did not know any formal official language. What she wanted to write was long and complicated, and she would repeat the same idea three or four times.
However, no matter what she said, Jiang Wanning just listened quietly.
She was not like the common scholars who wrote letters for others in the town. She did not become impatient after a long time, nor did she think that these illiterate old people were cheap and annoying.
Only after the old woman finished her rambling did Jiang Wanning say, "Grandma, this piece of paper is too small to hold so many words."
"But I've got it. You just want to tell your son that your daughter-in-law gave birth to a big fat boy, but he still doesn't have a proper name even now, so he's waiting for his father to come back and name him. And your husband is now paralyzed in bed, and you just want to see him before you die, right?"
"Yes, yes, that's right... Ah Hui has been gone for three or four years, and he hasn't sent back any news!" As she spoke, the old woman's eyes were filled with tears again, and her hands holding the cloth bag trembled constantly.
Jiang Wanning calmed down and picked up the pen to write.
The paper they borrowed from the bookstore was only the size of two palms, and was made of the lowest quality rough paper in the store. When ink dropped on it, it would quickly leave a mark, and if you weren't careful, it would turn into a black mass.
As Jiang Wanning picked up the pen, the crowd quieted down.
They may not be able to recognize many characters, but they are fortunate enough to have seen the famous calligraphy works of famous people in Guanhe Tower. The characters on the calligraphy works are neatly written, with small characters in large squares covering the entire calligraphy work. It is said that the shop owner had been seeking them for a long time.
But now, the few people in the front looked up for a long time, scratched their heads, and whispered, "I think this girl's handwriting is similar to the name card hanging in Guanhe Tower..."
One word caused a huge stir, and the people behind became even more curious, rushing forward one after another, wanting to see the original.
At some point, Lu Shang stood in front of the table, blocking the crowded crowd, and with his thin body, he brought peace to Jiang Wanning.
Jiang Wanning was completely unmoved by external things and only raised her head again after the last word was spoken.
Lu Shang immediately came over and asked quietly, "What did Aning write?"
Jiang Wanning was a little stunned, and after a while she muttered: "My son Ah Hui——"
She did not use any obscure words, and it is not an exaggeration to say that she spoke plain language throughout the article.
But inexplicably, the dozen or so sentences uttered by the old woman could be explained by her in just a few words, and as long as one could read, one would be able to clearly understand their meaning. Even on this small piece of paper, there was still some space left after writing.
Lu Shang nodded and was about to ask someone else to come and take a look when he suddenly stopped.
He looked at the confused old woman, then at the many weathered and dark faces in the crowd, and came up with an idea.
"Aning, look." He leaned over to Jiang Wanning's side and traced his fingers on the table. "I was thinking, can I draw a little picture on the letter? Like this, it doesn't have to be too complicated, just something to complement the letter."
Lu Shang naturally couldn't draw, so all he demonstrated now was a stick figure with a circle and two tree branches.
Fortunately, Jiang Wanning was quite clever. After reading it twice, she completely understood what she meant.
She thought about it and picked up the pen again.
Some people in the crowd gradually grew impatient and started shouting, "Can you even finish writing?! Don't you know how to write at all? I told you that writing a letter isn't something anyone can do, and it's just a girl from nowhere..."
The person who was shouting retracted his head after shouting, but Lu Shang still noticed with his sharp eyes that the person who was shouting was the scholar who wrote the letter for others.
He sneered twice and couldn't help wanting to drag the person out.
Just then, Jiang Wanning said, "Okay."
She moved the brush and inkstone aside, waited until the writing on the paper was a little dry, and then handed the letter to the owner of the bookstore.
This was also what they had agreed on in advance. The boss lent them paper and pen and asked them to show it to him after they finished writing.
Unlike passersby on the street, the boss runs a bookstore and has seen too many scholars, some of whom are self-righteous and some of whom are naturally dignified.
But he has met so many people, and no one can compare to Jiang Wanning.
Even though she was thin and small, not even as tall as the girls from ordinary families in the town, as soon as she picked up a pen, she seemed like a different person. That was her unique confidence, a temperament cultivated after more than ten years of immersion in a scholarly family.
The boss couldn't describe it, but he was certain that she was no ordinary person. He couldn't even understand how such a girl could marry the sickly-looking man behind her.
With this in mind, he was filled with great anticipation when he took the letter.
As it turned out, Jiang Wanning did not disappoint him.
"Wow!" After seeing the words on the paper clearly, the boss could no longer hide the light in his eyes.
His shop also accepted some copied books from scholars, but no one's handwriting could compare to this girl, who was said to only know a few big characters.
When he matched the words with the little figures below, he couldn't help laughing.
He went down the stairs and walked quickly to the old woman: "Auntie, look at the painting below. Can you guess what it is?"
There were three small pictures at the bottom of the letter paper. The first one was a woman with a big belly, the second one was a child led by the woman, and the last one was a tattered wooden bed with an emaciated old man lying on it.
Even though Lu Shang said, just draw it simply, don't make it too complicated.
But the simplicity that Jiang Wanning understood was still not the same as Lu Shang's.
She only simplified the clothes, hair accessories, etc., but the characteristics of the characters were vividly expressed. Just one glance is enough to know who the painting is about.
The old woman squinted her eyes and looked for a long time. Encouraged by the boss, she hesitated and said, "Is this my daughter-in-law? This is my daughter-in-law and Xiaogang, right? ... Is this my old man?"
Jiang Wanning was so thoughtful that she connected the painting and the words together. Even if she didn't ask someone to read the letter, she could still guess roughly what it meant by guessing.
The boss showed the letter to the old woman and then took it back into his own hands.
If the crowd hadn't been shouting so loudly, he wouldn't have been willing to show it to them.
Even if the letter was passed out, he would still follow it with his eyes: "Be careful, be careful, don't break it!"
As the letter with the little man's picture circulated among the crowd, their words also changed direction -
"This is incredible! How much does a letter like this, with both words and pictures, cost?"
"Did that girl write this? Could it be that someone else wrote it in advance and she just used it ready-made?"
"What nonsense are you talking about! The paper was clearly blank at first, and everyone saw everything she wrote and drew..."
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