Fatty Wei could only turn back and sigh.
Seeing this, the onlookers thought he was scared and shouted even louder.
"Hurry up and write, what are you dawdling about?"
"Let me tell you, it's too late to regret it now!"
"If you can't write it, I'll kick you down the mountain right now!"
"Yes, quickly send him down the mountain!"
"..."
Hearing these taunts, Fatty Wei picked up his pen, narrowed his eyes, and sneered, "Who said this young master isn't going to write anymore?"
"Then what are you dawdling for? Hurry up!"
Fatty Wei picked up his pen but didn't move it for a long time, which completely enraged the onlookers behind him.
Are you going to write it or not?
Are you kidding us?
"Let me tell you, if you don't write it, believe me, we'll kick you out of here."
Fatty Wei wasn't in a hurry. Pointing to the inkstone, he said, "Nobody's grinding ink for me. How am I supposed to write?"
"..."
Everyone immediately quieted down.
Fatty Wei then pointed to the scholar who had previously offered to grind ink for him and said, "Didn't you say you'd grind ink for me? Come on, grind it!"
"Pah! Who wants to grind ink for you? Dream on!"
The man scoffed and turned his head away.
Fatty Wei was delighted to see this, but he forced a calm expression on his face: "What, with such a good opportunity, no one of you wants to grind ink for me? Once my masterpiece spreads throughout Jiangling, and even throughout the entire An Kingdom, not only will I become famous, but whoever grinds ink for me will also benefit from the fame."
"Pah! You? Famous, my foot!"
"You will indeed become famous, but it will be a laughing stock!"
"Haha, you're right, someone so shameless is definitely a laughing stock!"
"..."
Fatty Wei wasn't angry. He stood on tiptoe and called out in Jing Zhe's direction, "Brother Jing, these people don't know what's good for them. Why don't you go and help me grind the ink?"
Fatty Wei had already guessed that no one would help him grind the ink, and he said this on purpose to get Jing Zhe to help him—grinding the ink was not the goal, but to have Jing Zhe standing beside him so that he could feel a little more at ease. Besides… he was not cut out for writing poetry and lyrics. Although the poem that Jing Zhe had just read to him was good, it had only been read twice, so he had memorized it before. But now, in front of so many people, plus the nervousness, who could guarantee that he would remember much of it in the end?
So I called Jing Zhe aside, so that if I forgot later, he could help remind me!
Fatty Wei felt he had never been so smart in his entire life; he almost cheered for his own cleverness.
"It would be my great honor."
Jing Zhe roughly guessed Wei Pangzi's motive, answered a question, squeezed through the crowd, and came to Wei Pangzi's side.
Only then did everyone take a closer look at Jing Zhe.
It looks good; that's everyone's first impression.
They were all strangers; that was the conclusion everyone reached after looking at each other.
Based on his accent, everyone was certain that Jing Zhe was from out of town, and it even sounded like he was from Jingzhou. The crowd looked at him with disdain.
"Heh, just an outsider, doesn't know his place!"
"Judging from his appearance, he seems to be a scholar. He's probably new to Jiangling and doesn't know the situation yet!"
"If you know what's good for you, step down quickly and let him do the research himself, otherwise he won't be the only one embarrassed later!"
"..."
Jing Zhe glanced at them and said indifferently, "It is indeed my first day in Jiangling. I haven't seen the poetic talent of the Jiangling scholars, but I have seen quite a bit of their ability to spout nonsense."
"you--"
The group of people were instantly red-faced from the rebuke. This guy... was insulting them indirectly! No, that wasn't insulting them indirectly at all; he was clearly insulting them to their faces!
Jing Zhe completely ignored them, letting them get angry until their faces turned red. He remained unaffected, a faint smile on his face, as calm and composed as if he were strolling in a garden, very elegant.
Seeing this, the ladies from well-to-do families, young women and girls on the side were overjoyed and cheered him on in their hearts.
At this moment, Jing Zhe had already begun grinding the ink.
"Brother Wei, start writing! Let them see just how talented you are, so they won't just spout nonsense and do nothing!"
"good!"
Fatty Wei glanced at Jing Zhe, his eyes filled with sincere admiration, then dipped his brush in ink, his expression turning serious.
...
The brush touches the rice paper, and the strokes become as graceful as dragons and phoenixes dancing.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone present, Fatty Wei began to write on the Xuan paper.
With Jing Zhe standing by his side, Fatty Wei felt completely at ease and, unusually, didn't forget his lines—perhaps because the poem was so good that Fatty Wei wrote it all down in one go.
"Quick, look what he wrote!"
Because there were so many people, the view of those behind was completely blocked by those in front, so they couldn't see anything at all and could only shout for the people in front to help them see.
"This handwriting is nothing special!"
The person closest to the paper glanced at it and immediately pursed his lips – these scholars had been literate since childhood, but even calligraphy was divided into different levels, and to be honest, Fatty Wei's calligraphy was really nothing special.
Seeing Wei Pangzi's crooked, tadpole-like characters, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and went to look at the poem itself.
"this…"
"This poem..."
"This...how is this possible..."
"..."
After reading the poem, the eyes of the people at the front became empty and blank, and their gazes toward Fatty Wei became dull. They were clearly incredulous that this poem was written by Fatty Wei, whom they had always despised.
"What's wrong? Hurry up and read it!"
The people behind didn't know what was going on, but they were very dissatisfied with the way the people in front only cared about watching themselves and didn't share with those behind them, so they started shouting.
"..."
However, the minds of these people were still in a state of malfunction, and no one was reading it.
The people behind couldn't wait any longer.
"If you're not going to read, then come to the back!"
"Yeah, don't just occupy the toilet without doing your business!"
"Brother, how can you speak so crudely? Isn't this an insult to us scholars? Who the hell pushed me? Don't push, let me in and see for you—who the hell stepped on my foot again?"
"..."
The scene quickly spiraled out of control, and the entire backyard became crowded. Some people with ill intentions took advantage of the chaos to deliberately squeeze into the group of girls and grope them, causing the girls to scream in alarm.
Although the scene was crowded and chaotic, there was always half a person's space in front of Jing Zhe and Fatty Wei. It wasn't that the people in front of them wanted to leave space on purpose, but rather because—there seemed to be an invisible wall in front of them, and they simply couldn't squeeze in!
"Stop arguing, if they won't read, I will."
At this moment, Jing Zhe stepped forward. His voice seemed to have a penetrating power, and everyone immediately fell silent upon hearing it.
————
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