"If you ask me, this is just idle talk. Why bother with music, chess, calligraphy, and painting? Just throw money at it, that's much more straightforward!" Shen Yadong was a bit outspoken. He had always been like this when he was young, and only started to cultivate his character in his old age. Now, meeting the "descendant of an old friend," he recalled the glorious events of the past, and his mood was quite excited, as if he had returned to his youth, and he spoke more freely.
"Later I heard that this Miura Saburo was from a prominent family in Japan. Although he was a soldier, he was quite skilled at these arts and crafts. He immediately went up and showed off his skills, playing a little tune, which drew cheers from the audience! After asking several times, no one dared to go up and challenge him. Miura laughed heartily and was ready to win the beauty's heart! I was indignant! How come our Chinese men are so weak? So many of us can't even beat a little Japanese devil?"
"At this point, your great-grandfather stepped forward and said he wanted to have a contest. To be honest, your great-grandfather was quite the handsome man! Dressed in a moon-white long gown, he outshone that young man Miura, and the girl was ecstatic! Then he and Miura Saburo began their contest, and he won every time. Finally, Miura suggested a calligraphy contest, and your great-grandfather immediately pulled out a brush from his robes and wrote the four characters '赫赫中华' (Hè Hè Zhōnghuá, meaning 'illustrious China') on Miura's small fan in the elegant style of Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy! Miura was so impressed that he dared not pick up his brush!"
"Then your great-grandfather said to Miura, 'This competition is unfair to you. After all, China is a great nation of etiquette. It would be too unfair to you to use literature as a competition. Let's compete with swords instead. Anyway, you people like this.' Miura was overjoyed and cheered, but in the end, he was defeated by your great-grandfather in six or seven moves."
"The whole room cheered! I still remember that scene. That guy wasn't a greedy bastard; he handed out a jug of wine to every table right then and there. I didn't drink it; I saved it for the political commissar. Speaking of which, Miura was definitely a man of principle; he lost and immediately admitted defeat without a word, even saying he admired him. Then I found a chance to meet your great-grandfather, right there in that brothel! Hahahaha—"
Shen Yadong laughed louder and louder, "Tell me! Would your great-grandfather ever tell you something like this? Elders, of course, have to maintain a proper image in front of their juniors. What would happen to their reputation if the younger generation knew about such romantic affairs? Hahahaha—"
Duanmu Ci smiled along, but inwardly he was cursing.
That old guy didn't finish speaking!
In his description, "Duanmu Yan's" actions in the brothel were all about vying for the title of courtesan, and even vying with powerful foreign invaders—it was a story of jealousy and rivalry. It also included various acts of crushing the other woman, making it sound incredibly satisfying, just like a novel. Duanmu Ci knew perfectly well that this was his own story, but after listening, he still felt a strange sense of identification and a secret sense of satisfaction.
But this does not mean that the story is entirely true.
Was Old Man Shen making this up? Of course not, this incident did happen, but the motive was absolutely wrong! In Old Man Shen's account, his motive was simply jealousy!
But the reality is not like that.
Actually, he knew the father of that top-tier girl.
Her father was a prince from the Qing Dynasty who had a brief connection with Duanmu Ci. Later, his daughter was abducted by human traffickers. Although the two were not close and not even friends, he had helped search for her, but to no avail. Now that they had unexpectedly met in a brothel, it was only right and proper for him to rescue her. How could he stand by and watch her fall into prostitution?
Duanmu Ci remembered that he had explained the whole story to Shen Yadong, but the old man refused to say anything, only saying that he had fought over a top courtesan. That was really unethical!
Why didn't he mention that he spent several thousand silver dollars to redeem that girl from prostitution?
That's unfair!
...
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p: I don't know if this chapter has conveyed what I wanted to express? I think it's good.
I should be able to ask for a few recommendation votes~~~~
Thank you to the readers [ptakll**3], [李白数学学得好], [朱葛加菲], [漏外], [arya], [王江烂], and [书友] for their generous donations!
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