Zhao Rong indeed only wrote one word.

just.

It only took three breaths from the time he put pen to the time he lifted it.

When most of the students at Suixingtang thought he was going to show off his skills, before they had time to take a closer look, he was done.

On the huge table, in the center of a piece of white rice paper, there is a Chinese character "正", which looks square from a distance, standing alone like a simple house in the vast snow.

Many students who had subconsciously moved closer to Zhao Rong's seat, wanting to see him first, twitched their lips.

Isn't this too short and too fast?

Xiao Hongyu was among them. Curious about Zhao Rong, she excitedly pulled Li Xueyu closer to take a look, but he disappeared before they had taken two steps.

She looked around. There was silence because everyone was looking at the word from near or far. No one spoke first for a while, but some strange glances were exchanged.

Xiao Hongyu looked at Zhu Yourong and Yu Huaijin, only to see that Mr. Zhu had walked to Zhao Rong's side without her knowing when, bent down slightly, and stared at the words on the paper without saying a word. Yu Huaijin was behind her, staring at the words seriously, also without saying a word.

She glanced at Zhao Rong, who was slowly putting down his pen, lowering his head calmly, putting down his sleeves, folding his hands, and turning to look in the direction of the long red lacquered table.

His eyes seemed to be focused on the small bamboo tube.

The three people at the table were silent for a long time. Gradually, some small noises were heard in the venue, and everyone was whispering to each other.

Xiao Hongyu had already stopped walking, but suddenly Li Xueyu pulled her hand and led her to a place not far from the table where they could see well. They both looked at the word together.

Xiao Hongyu opened her eyes wide and looked at the rice paper on the table. There was still a neat and ordinary regular script character on it. There didn't seem to be any new changes. There was only one word "正" (正) with repeated strokes, and only two types of strokes, horizontal and vertical. What could be seen from this?

She looked slightly disappointed.

Xiao Hongyu had just secretly guessed and expected for so long. She originally thought that Zhao Ziyu, whom she thought she had misjudged before, would be able to write a beautiful calligraphy with a graceful and elegant brush, just like what was described in those best-selling historical novels she liked to read, where at the most critical moment, the protagonist who had been making a fool of himself would show himself in front of the public, causing the audience to gasp in shock, and the villains would look hideous and then dead.

Xiao Hongyu thought about it carefully. Well, she also had to add the weak girl like Xue You beside her, who looked at the protagonist who shocked the whole audience with a flushed face. All the bad impressions in her mind were overturned. The brilliant image mixed with the guilt after the misunderstanding stood indestructibly in her heart, and she secretly fell in love with him...

By the way, the protagonist must be inconspicuous before, but when he shows his power, for example, after picking up a pen, his aura suddenly changes. In the eyes of everyone, he is like a different person. The book says that the aura is different, which is probably the meaning of "a golden scale cannot be confined to a pond. It will turn into a dragon when it encounters wind and cloud", Xiao Hongyu thought secretly.

She stole a glance at the girl next to her, and after a look, she found that Li Xueyu was also staring at the lonely word with her eyes wide open and blinking, and she didn't look like a fangirl.

And that Zhao Ziyu, his aura hasn't changed at all, and he still feels... a little bit annoying. But fortunately, even if he seems annoying, his style is consistent, and he doesn't have a split personality as described in the book.

Xiao Hongyu listened to the noise around her and sighed, "This is too short."

Li Xueyu glanced at Zhao Rong and nodded.

Xiao Hongyu covered her mouth and whispered, "Xueyou, you are good at calligraphy, did you see anything?"

Li Xueyu glanced at the words and shook her head.

Xiao Hongyu curled her lips, "I knew it, it seems I'm not the only one..."

Li Xueyu suddenly interrupted and whispered, "Hongyu, but my father also likes calligraphy. I heard him say that some seemingly simple characters are often more difficult to write, especially difficult to write well."

Xiao Hongyu was stunned.

Wu Peiliang was originally very nervous. After all, Mr. Zhu had publicly shown his favor for Zhao Rong before, and everyone knew there must be a reason. Considering Mr. Zhu's well-known identity as a bookworm, the only thing he could care about and pay attention to was calligraphy. Otherwise, they couldn't be teacher and student, right?

But none of this matters anymore.

When he saw Zhao Rong, he simply wrote a word to deal with it. Wu Peiliang's heart, which had been tense since Zhao Rong started writing, finally settled down a little. He put down the sweat-stained brush in his hand, curled the corners of his mouth, and prepared to walk over to take a closer look, wanting to see what this word "正" could say... But he also had to prevent Mr. Zhu from being biased, but thinking about it, it shouldn't be the case. People who are obsessed with words must be loyal to them, unless they are really teacher and student.

Wu Peiliang shook his head and laughed.

I have carefully prepared for so long, one word? You can suppress me? You can suppress me! If you can suppress me with just one word today, I will...

Wu Peiliang was suddenly stunned, and his thoughts were interrupted, because just as he was about to raise his head and stand up, a familiar figure walked past the table in his peripheral vision...

Zhao Rong stared at the emerald green bamboo tube for a while, and when he came to his senses, he found that Zhu Yourong was still silently looking down at the words. He glanced down, and from Zhao Rong's angle, he saw her hand resting on the edge of the table, and her slender index finger was gesturing something up and down, left and right, horizontally and vertically.

Zhao Rong retracted his gaze, thought for a moment, and said softly, "Mr. Zhu, can I help you get the bamboo tube here? It will be convenient for you to give it to the person directly after you finish correcting the papers?"

That small bamboo tube now seemed extremely precious to Zhao Rong, as it was related to his future cultivation. But now it was just casually placed on an empty long table, which made Zhao Rong feel uneasy.

No one knew how much of this Zhengguan Jingjingshui Zhu Yourong had left, and she hadn't said it clearly just now. But anyway, according to Fan Yushu's previous description, it would be extremely difficult to obtain it through other means. It was estimated that Zhu Yourong only got this much because she was a new teacher in the academy.

After Zhao Rong finished speaking, Zhu Yourong was quiet for a while, then suddenly she was startled and reacted. She reluctantly moved her eyes away from the words, looked at him with her willow eyes slightly opened, and opened her mouth as if she wanted to ask something, but in the end she stopped herself and met his eyes that pointed to the bamboo tube and nodded vigorously.

Zhao Rong stood up, and in full view of everyone, he walked towards the long red lacquered table with his hands folded. When many students who were whispering to each other noticed this, the noise in the classroom suddenly died down, and everyone followed his strange behavior.

After Wu Peiliang looked up, he watched with a dazed expression as Zhao Rong passed by his desk, walked straight to the long red lacquered table, grabbed the small bamboo tube, stuffed it into his sleeve, and turned back.

Wu Peiliang frowned suddenly, but Zhao Rong ignored his somewhat incredulous look, walked straight past Wu Peiliang's desk, returned to his original position, and placed the small bamboo tube on the table, but very close to his hand.

Wu Peiliang hurriedly followed and said to Zhu Yourong unhappily, "Sir, please take care of Brother Zhao. The winner hasn't been decided yet, and you're just taking the bet. Besides, he just wrote one word..."

Zhu Yourong looked at the words for a while, then slightly opened her lips and took a breath. Her chest rose and fell. She stretched out her hand to press it and slow it down, but when her hand was halfway raised, she seemed to notice the gaze of someone who had asked for water before. She raised her hand and pressed it down, finally pressing on the rice paper with only the word "正" written on it. She didn't have the heart to glare at Zhao Rong now. Her mind was completely focused on the thing she was obsessed with. Zhu Yourong raised her head and interrupted:

"It's okay, leave it there. Don't worry about this for now, everyone. Come closer. Let's continue the lesson with the word Tzuyu. I want to explain this correct word to you."

Everyone who was not slow at first was suddenly stunned. Wu Peiliang was unable to hold back his words, his face flushed red, and finally he took a deep breath and shut up, frowning and looking at the simple word "正" with hatred, trying to see what the trick was.

The students of Ruexingtang gathered a few steps away from Zhao Rong's desk. It was a bit crowded, but everyone could see him.

Zhu Yourong said seriously: "The word '正' in Ziyu really only has two simple strokes, one horizontal and one vertical. Just talking about these two extremely simple strokes, how many people dare to say that they can write well and write a dignified '正' character?"

"In the past, you wrote dozens or even hundreds of words, and the overall momentum and smoothness of the writing made them look good. Some of them even looked good. But if you separate each word, you will find that the strokes are not consistent and twisted, which makes people who understand writing feel like chewing wax, boring and disgusting. If the words in the letter are like the face, then it is disgusting."

Many students who were gentle and obedient by nature, such as Jia Tengying with a solemn expression, couldn't help but lower their heads after thinking carefully after hearing the words.

However, there were still a few students who were not convinced and stared at Zhao Rong's calligraphy with indignant looks.

Wu Peiliang muttered "habitually", "Isn't it just a character? Five strokes, horizontal, vertical, horizontal, vertical, horizontal. If I write carefully, I can write it neatly."

Zhu Yourong tilted her head to look at him, "Really?"

Wu Peiliang pursed his lips and looked at her without wavering.

Zhu Yourong suddenly pointed at the words on the rice paper that were being scrutinized by countless eyes, frowned and said seriously:

"Do you really think that to write a Chinese character, you just need to form the characters neatly and write them step by step? Look again, everyone. In this Chinese character, the three horizontal strokes are all slightly tilted to the upper right. This is the brilliance of Ziyu. I have studied Ziyu's calligraphy for many days, not to mention the magical style. I have only talked about the regular script. I have summarized one of its characteristics after studying it for a long time. I have thought about it carefully and summarized it as 'knowing the straightness, but seeking the uniqueness'. The three simple horizontal strokes make the whole Chinese character come alive in an instant."

Many students in the crowd nodded in daze. Wu Peiliang also seemed to have realized something. His eyelids trembled, his lips were tightly pursed, and he stared at the small regular script character on the paper, which he had despised when he glanced at it before.

Zhu Yourong shook his head and said, "You only saw Ziyu writing hastily and carelessly, and your attention was focused on the wrong place. You didn't even look at the words and see how carefully he wrote. Do you know how Ziyu wrote this word?"

Facing her gaze, the field fell silent. All the students looked away and did not look directly at her. Although Zhao Rong had finished too quickly just now and some students who were far away did not see clearly, many students who were closer did not notice the way Zhao Rong put his pen to paper. Or, some students did not even know that there was such a way to view calligraphy.

Xiao Hongyu lowered her head somewhat embarrassedly, and Li Xueyu also blushed slightly. She glanced at Zhao Rong, who had a calm expression, and suddenly remembered that he had just smiled and proposed to thank her. Li Xueyu's face became even redder.

Yu Huaijin listened silently to the teacher praising the word "正". She couldn't help but look at the word "正" on the rice paper again. She was very familiar with this word because she had seen it yesterday. There were quite a few of them, more than 50, all of which were added by this guy after he finished playing the piano. However, Yu Huaijin was practicing her own calligraphy seriously at the time, and occasionally glanced at him. How could she care that he had so many details and details to write a word "正"...

The old-fashioned woman pursed her lips, looked away, and said nothing.

Zhu Yourong looked around and spoke slowly:

"Tzuyu wrote horizontal strokes, which are used to rein in a horse, like the reins used to rein in a horse. He put the pen tip against the paper, slowly moved it forward and quickly returned it. It was not like you guys who followed the routine and moved it horizontally. At that time, the tip of his pen touched the paper and pressed it down to the right, then drew it horizontally and slowly retracted it, making a horizontal stroke, and the horizontal stroke was slanted upward, like a rider pulling the reins tightly, with the force directed inwards and directly penetrating the crossbow..."

Zhao Rong raised his eyebrows upon hearing this and couldn't help but look up at the person in front of him. At this moment, the female calligraphy teacher who was seriously explaining things to the students and enlightening them had a stern face. One hand was clenched into a fist behind her back, and the other hand was firmly pressing the words on the table. Her eyes were bright, and her posture and expression were dignified and elegant, as well as serious and solemn. There was no trace of the quiet and easy-going nature, or the charming and pretty demeanor she had when they were just together in private.

When it comes to calligraphy, the woman in Confucian robes seems like a different person.

After a long conversation, Zhu Yourong sighed:

"In this way, I just wrote these three amazing horizontal strokes. These three horizontal strokes are not the same, but slightly different. Tzuyu moved the main stroke of this horizontal stroke slightly to the right, and the center of gravity was immediately stabilized. This is a technique of adjusting the structure through strokes... The brushstrokes can be seen in the subtle details. Just talking about this detail, at present... I am not as good as you, and I must learn from Tzuyu."

She looked very serious. After she finished speaking, she turned her head to look at Zhao Rong who was standing aside and not saying anything. He seemed to be still staring at the small bamboo tube. Was the well water in it so important to him? However, the pavilion and the well were indeed a little strange...

If Zhu Yourong's previous praise when analyzing the correct characters only caused waves in the hearts of the people present, then her words "learning words" were like a bolt from the blue in the silent world. In an instant, the students of Ruxing Hall opened their eyes wide and looked at Zhao Rong with shock in their eyes.

Yu Huaijin stared at Zhao Rong without saying a word. She was already very sure that the man who had made up a day's class yesterday was the owner of the two couplets she had been puzzled about before, and he was also her master whom she had mistakenly thought of... However, the couplet written by Zhao Rong and Zhu Yourong still made Yu Huaijin a little worried.

Zhu Yourong sat upright, her face dignified, her eyes blazing with interest at the small word "正" in front of her, without blinking, as if she couldn't get enough of it, with great interest. She was like a little girl who suddenly got a favorite thing, and she said excitedly: "Let's talk about the remaining two vertical strokes. Ziyu has hidden more details in them. You should listen carefully. In the future, when you write the word "正", I should be more pleasing to your eyes..."

The students of Ruexingtang saluted in response, and Zhao Rong also saluted and bowed when he saw this.

Afterwards, people gathered around the small desk, listening attentively to the lecture given by the elegant and dignified woman in Confucian clothes in the center. However, they could not help but glance at Zhao Rong's calm profile from time to time.

An unknown amount of time had passed before the howling river wind outside the open space seemed to have stopped and reached a reconciliation with the maple forest's waves. Zhu Yourong finally finished speaking, his lips slightly curled up.

Suddenly, as if she remembered something, she turned her head and looked somewhere, and said seriously: "Peiliang, are you sure that you can write a correct character like Ziyu just by writing one character?"

Everyone looked over.

Wu Peiliang was speechless and hung his head in dejection.