After dinner,
Grandma pulled the light cord, and the main room was filled with warm light.
"Wait a moment," she said, then went into the inner room and came out a short while later with an old box.
Lin Ziyan and Grandma Lan exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with astonishment.
Outside, the shadows of trees swayed, and a faint fragrance of flowers wafted in the wind.
Jiaojiao clapped her hands, "Calligraphy copybook..."
The second sister, Xiaoxiao, took the initiative to fetch a tall stool.
"The apprenticeship certificate needs to be written, along with an apprenticeship gift." Lin Atai took out red cardboard, a wolf-hair brush, and ink.
"Ayan, help me grind the ingredients."
Lin Ziyan walked to her side and slowly began grinding the powder.
A faint scent of ink lingers in the air, carrying the freshness of new paper.
Grandma Lan said, "Grandma Lin, I didn't expect you to still have these old relics."
Her cloudy eyes squinted, and when she saw the wolf-hair brush, her eyes were filled with envy.
Lin Atai's lips curled slightly, her gaze becoming distant. "These things were all hidden by my mother, otherwise they would have been destroyed long ago."
"This paper was an extra one that my father kept when we were writing the wedding invitations."
"Many years have passed, and the artisans who made these things have long since disappeared."
Lin Ziyan pursed her lips slightly; these changes were all witnessed by her grandmother.
The 90-year-old man spoke of a life of ups and downs with a calm and detached air, but what he described was probably the life of someone else who had experienced hardship and displacement.
Ah Tai held the pen, as if she were a different person, writing with a calm and composed demeanor, her writing flowing smoothly and confidently.
The font is square and upright, with straight strokes, a standard regular script.
"After becoming a student, I will never forget my original aspiration. If I achieve something in the future, I will always remember my teacher's kindness..."
"Today I voluntarily become your disciple, and I will never regret it. A teacher for a day is a lifelong debt of gratitude. I hereby write this letter to express my sincerity!"
Lin Ziyan looked up at her grandmother, who had already put down her pen.
"Ayan, write your name down." Lin Atai put her hands behind her back and slightly raised her chin.
Lin Ziyan nodded, picked up the pen, and unconsciously clenched her fist.
She should have realized it sooner; her grandmother was a talented woman.
Can someone who can readily recite "A single flower does not make a spring, but a hundred flowers blooming together make a garden full of spring" be an ordinary old woman?
Grandma Lan excitedly accepted the apprenticeship certificate, gently stroking the dried characters, and said...
"I'll prepare the apprenticeship ceremony; this betrothal letter is enough!"
Grandma Lin nodded, took a calligraphy copybook from the box, and handed it to Grandma Lan.
"Grandma Lan, I know you like calligraphy. This is an authentic work by Wang Xizhi. Keep it."
"Keeping this for me is like keeping a bottomless pit; you might as well give it to me, it might still be useful."
Grandma Lan, "..."
I said I wouldn't accept gifts, but this gift is quite substantial.
"Take it, don't nag." Lin Atai placed it in her hand and quickly gathered the things on the table.
She also took out two small wolf-hair brushes and a large one, and gave them to her granddaughters.
In this day and age, we can put this to the test.
Lin Ziyan helped pack, and when she saw the books in the box, her eyes flashed. She felt that some of them looked familiar.
Grandma carried the box and went into the inner room.
"Ayan, come home with me." Grandma Lan carefully folded the birth chart and hugged the calligraphy book tightly.
As darkness fell outside, the moon hung high in the sky, casting a silvery frost upon the earth.
Old Man He walked back and forth in the yard several times with his hands behind his back.
"This old woman, she used to go out for a walk and would definitely be back before dark, why is she taking so long today?"
He muttered to himself, his stomach growling, and he didn't want to eat alone.
Old He's eyes lit up when he saw the dark figure at the door, but then dimmed again.
"Why are you back so early? Have you finished dealing with things at the port?"
"Grandpa He, we're back for dinner. There's nothing going on at the port," Yang Yanzhou said, trying to sound calm.
He was on tenterhooks ever since the cargo ship docked at the port today.
There's another ship on the way. If we encounter pirates again, all the cargo on that ship will probably be stolen.
"Alright, you don't need to pretend anymore. Your faces are all looking worse than the last." Old Man He waved his hand and craned his neck to look at the doorway.
Lu Yunshen and Yang Yanzhou exchanged a knowing glance; it would be difficult to fool the old man before them…
"Go inside and eat!" Old Man He dismissed the two with a look of disdain, his stomach then growling loudly.
Yang Yanzhou's lips twitched, and he almost burst out laughing.
"Grandpa, did you and Grandma have a fight?" Lu Yunshen took out a cigarette from his pocket, flicked it out, and lit it.
Old Man He: "That's not true!"
He rubbed his stomach; he was indeed starving.
Lu Yun Shen gently exhaled a smoke ring, leaned against the osmanthus tree beside him, a slight smile playing on his lips, and a flicker in his eyes.
Yang Yanzhou, "..."
"Old man, are you standing in the yard feeding the mosquitoes?" Grandma Lan walked in from the doorway, fanning herself with a palm-leaf fan.
Old Man He snorted coldly and strode into the main room.
He could tell that the old woman was in a good mood; she was even humming a song.
Old Man He felt instantly resentful. He had waited for his wife on an empty stomach, only to find that all his efforts had been in vain.
"Why is this old man ignoring us?" Grandma Lan muttered.
"Ayan, come on, let's go into the study with the teacher."
Lu Yunshen's eyes darkened as he looked at Lin Ziyan, who was following behind him.
teacher?
His grandmother took on an apprentice?
Countless children from prominent families in Beijing wanted to become her students, but she politely declined them all.
Yang Yanzhou stared at the backs of the two as they walked into the main room, lost in thought.
"She...she became an apprentice?" He stammered.
Lu Yun Shen raised an eyebrow slightly. "It's obvious."
"Didn't she reject you? Why does she keep showing up in front of you?" Yang Yanzhou asked suspiciously.
"Playing hard to get?" he wondered.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com