The Li family's villa has a construction area of nearly 1,800 square meters, with three floors plus a basement, and each floor is about 450 square meters. The large living room on the first floor alone is more than 100 square meters.
The lights outside were on, and the interior was equally ablaze. Atop the high, suspended ceiling, a three-meter-high crystal chandelier reflected a dazzling light.
The birthday party is over and everyone starts looking at the gifts together.
Aunt Li Yue and her family gave me a jade Guanyin statue. The jade is white and delicate all over, Guanyin has a kind face, and the carving is very exquisite. It is obvious that it has an extraordinary origin.
The gift given by Li Yue's parents is very practical. It is the latest electric massage chair with very powerful functions. However, the massage chair has been moved to the old house and is not displayed here.
In fact, Li Yue's parents have always wanted to bring the old man to live with them, but he feels that the old house is comfortable and natural, and he has friends to chat and play chess with, so he is unwilling to live in the villa area.
Li Yue's cousin, her aunt's son, presented her grandfather with a painting of "Pine and Crane." He'd reportedly been studying painting for five years and had given his grandfather a painting every year.
In Ye Tian's opinion, his painting was very ordinary, even terrible. She had already done better on her third day of painting. But this was a blessing from the grandson to the grandfather, so the quality of the painting was secondary.
Li Yue gave him a custom-made silk Tang suit with a navy blue background and dark patterns embroidered on it. When the master put it on, he looked like a wealthy and idle man, with a bit of an immortal air. He smiled with satisfaction.
Chairman Zheng said cheerfully, "Mr. Li, I didn't bring any gifts, but I brought myself. I'm going to write a calligraphy for you right here."
"That's great! I'm so lucky to be able to watch you create live!" Father Li said with admiration. He took President Zheng to the desk that had been set up in advance and called to Li Yue, "Xiaoyue, go grind the ink!"
On the mahogany desk, a row of brushes are hung on the Huanghuali pen holder, ranging from thick to thin.
President Zheng walked to the table, picked up a large wolf-hair brush, gently lifted up his right sleeve twice with his left hand, dipped the brush in ink, and started writing on the spot.
Chairman Zheng wrote with a pen as smooth as a dragon, with ups and downs in his strokes, and in a short while he had written the four big characters "Songling Heshou".
"Good! Good! Good!"
“Good handwriting!”
"As expected of President Zheng, his reputation is well-deserved!"
…
Everyone at the scene applauded and cheered.
The other two elderly people who were interested in calligraphy also asked President Zheng for advice.
"Tiantian, didn't you bring a calligraphy piece for my grandfather when you came? Why haven't you taken it out yet?" Li Yue suddenly said to Ye Tian. Although her voice was not loud, everyone present could hear it.
"Oh, I'll get it then!" Ye Tian felt the timing was a bit awkward, as the president had just finished writing. She felt that Li Yue was deliberately trying to show off for her. She had always praised her handwriting and even said she wanted to use her handwriting as a model.
Ye Tian slowly took out her scroll from her bag and walked over to give it to Grandpa Li Yue: "Grandpa Li, I didn't know what to give you, so I wrote a longevity picture myself. I wish you good health and a long life."
"Thank you, good boy! I have to open it and take a look." Mr. Li didn't look down on it at all and took it solemnly.
Hearing that it was a centenary longevity painting, when Mr. Li opened it, President Zheng also came forward curiously.
On a red background, the golden characters for "Shou" (longevity) are etched in various shapes, shimmering with light as the paper shakes. The largest character in the center is in official script, surrounded by various other characters in large and small seal scripts, totaling exactly 100.
President Zheng, who had been watching the excitement, took a closer look, and his expression suddenly changed. He leaned forward, excitedly grasping the edge of the scroll with one hand, "This... was written by you?" He looked up at Ye Tian.
"Yes, but I also copied it from a rubbing, it's not original," Ye Tian replied.
"I have seen many Hundred Longevity Pictures, and many people have copied them, but yours is different! Others just copy and paint them like a picture, but you wrote it yourself, and every word is sonorous and has captured the essence. You are an extraordinary girl!" President Zheng was very surprised.
He suddenly thought of something and said, "I remember now! In the last provincial college calligraphy competition, the first-place winner's handwriting was very similar to yours. You, you're also from Lakeside University? Then, Ye Tian...that's you!"
"Yes, I was the one participating in the competition. I was lucky last time and didn't expect to win a place." Ye Tian said modestly.
"No, you are not lucky, you are really capable. When I saw that calligraphy, I couldn't believe it was written by an 18 or 19-year-old student. Now looking at yours, I believe it." President Zheng was a little excited.
He thought for a moment and said, "Friend Ye, I have a humble request. Could you please write a few words on the spot?"
Ye Tian hesitated for a while, and seeing that everyone in the room was looking at her, she knew she had to write, but she really had no intention of showing off.
She had no choice but to nod, walked to the desk, and used the pen that President Zheng had just used, and casually rolled up the sleeves of her sweatshirt.
She straightened her body, dipped the brush in ink carefully, gently pressed the excess ink twice on the edge of the inkstone, raised the brush with her wrist suspended, and slowly wrote the eight big characters "Long life, happiness and health".
There was total silence all around, so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
"The writing is vigorous and unrestrained. Good calligraphy, good calligraphy!" President Zheng was the first to shout out.
Mr. Li and two of his friends also knew calligraphy and were equally astonished by Ye Tian's pen power. They were unable to react for a moment.
Mr. Li didn't expect that one of his granddaughter's classmates would bring him so many surprises today. He felt very pleased.
"Mr. Li, I asked Mr. Ye to write this calligraphy, so I will take it back to collect it." President Zheng felt that he was very smart. He used this method to take the work back and appreciate and study it slowly.
Mr. Li's eyes were as sharp as stars. "Xiao Zheng, you can't fool me. This is the birthday message that the little girl gave me. How dare you take it away? Hahaha, I'm really happy today!"
After hearing what Mr. Li said, President Zheng felt it was not right to take away someone's favorite. But he was unwilling to let it go. He could miss out on calligraphy, but he couldn't miss out on the person. He invited Ye Tian: "Young friend Ye, if you have time, come to our association and we can discuss calligraphy together. This is my business card."
Ye Tian took it with both hands and said she would go when she had time. Actually, she really didn't like exchanges or discussions, but if it was about exchanging culinary skills, she would consider it.
Other elderly people also left their contact information for Ye Tian, and later Mr. Li simply invited Ye Tian to join their WeChat group.
Cousin Li Yue also started to stare at the sky. He studied calligraphy and Chinese painting together. After four or five years, his Chinese painting was barely passable, but his calligraphy was not as good as his painting. This young lady was only a few years older than him, and her calligraphy was better than that of his famous calligraphy teacher. It was really admirable!
Before Ye Tian left, Li's mother forced a big red envelope on her. She couldn't refuse, so she was pushed directly into the driver's car.
In the old days, she would occasionally be invited to a banquet at the home of a high-ranking official, and she would usually bring two or three apprentices with her. After the banquet, they would also offer her a large reward, which she accepted with complete composure. Now, however, she considered Li Yue a friend, and accepting such money would be inappropriate.
When she got off the car, she left the red envelope on the back seat and told Li Yue that she could not accept the money.
Li Yue knew that she was stubborn, so she asked her mother to keep the red envelope.
After that, someone wanted to invite Ye Tian to take charge of the banquet through Li's father or Li's grandfather, but they were all rejected directly. Ye Tian helped their family because of Li Yue, but you can't use someone else's child as a cheap chef!
Of course, Ye Tian didn't have much time. She'd heard the city was organizing a campus food festival, and she and her colleagues at the third cafeteria had to prepare for it.
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