Ning Zhiheng was overjoyed. It seemed that Ji Hongyi had acted quickly and that Shen Gu was no longer able to work. He took two steps forward and carefully looked at the job posting.
He spoke directly to the staff member who was pasting up the notice, in fluent Kyoto dialect: "Is this a job posting for a librarian? I'd like to give it a try."
When the staff member heard Ning Zhiheng's words, he turned around and saw that the young man had a handsome appearance, was very pleasing to the eye, had neat hair, and was clean and tidy. He was quite good-looking.
He smiled and said, "You're very timely. Of course, you can give it a try. I'll take you in and let the curator take a look. If Curator Kuroki agrees, we'll be colleagues from now on."
Ning Zhiheng quickly bowed slightly and said, "Thank you very much!"
The staff member waved his hand and led Ning Zhiheng into the Nanwu Library, guiding him all the way to the second floor, to the door of Curator Hei Mu's office.
"Director, a young man saw our job posting and wants to give it a try."
"So soon, it seems the work pressure is indeed quite high right now. Let him in!"
The staff led Ning Zhiheng inside, where he saw the middle-aged man from yesterday sitting behind a table, looking at him with a scrutinizing gaze.
Kuroki Yueyi's eyes lit up when he looked at the young man in front of him. He was a very good young man with a refreshing temperament and a handsome appearance.
"What's your name? Where are you from?" Kuroki Yue asked in a deep voice.
Ning Zhiheng nodded slightly and answered loudly, "Fujiwara no Tomohito, a native of Kyoto."
Then he added, "I just arrived in Shanghai from China!"
"The Fujiwara family of Kyoto?" Kuroki Yueichi asked with some surprise. He looked Ning Zhiheng over carefully and asked uncertainly.
“Yes, this is my household registration certificate!” Ning Zhiheng stepped forward and handed the file to Kuroki Yueyi.
Kuroki Gakuichi took it and looked at it carefully. He finally confirmed that the information in the family register matched, except that the parents had passed away. This should be a branch of the Fujiwara family in Kyoto.
It should be noted that although in this era, the status of the aristocracy in Japanese society was no longer as prominent as before the Meiji Restoration, it still carried considerable influence and persuasive power. Moreover, among Japanese immigrants in Shanghai, aristocratic citizens were still rare, even if they were just members of a declining collateral branch of the Fujiwara family.
Kuroki Takeichi's tone softened considerably, and he said with a smile, "Fujiwara-kun, I'm glad you came to apply for this job. I just don't know if your knowledge is sufficient for this position. After all, this job is quite tedious!"
Ning Zhiheng gave a wry smile and said sincerely, "Director, I don't have much savings from China, and I really need this job. I love reading and calligraphy, so I hope you can consider it."
Ning Zhiheng's words clearly showed his current predicament, after all, people still need to eat and wear clothes.
Kuroki Gakuichi couldn't help but nod sympathetically. Nowadays, the living conditions of many Japanese noble families are not much better than those of ordinary people. It seems that Fujiwara Tomohito's life is not very satisfactory either.
Upon hearing that Ning Zhiheng enjoyed reading and calligraphy, he became interested as well. Being a calligraphy enthusiast himself, he stood up and said with a smile, "That's wonderful! We need someone skilled in calligraphy. Fujiwara-kun, please come over here!"
After saying that, he invited Ning Zhiheng to a study next door, pointed to a large desk, and said, "Could you write a piece of calligraphy? I still want to see your writing style!"
Ning Zhiheng didn't stand on ceremony, gave a slight bow, and said, "Then I'll make a fool of myself!"
Ning Zhiheng was highly accomplished in calligraphy in his previous life, especially in regular script, because regular script is the most robust and upright, and it is difficult for a writer without a foundation in regular script to be considered a master.
Japanese calligraphy originated from China and was widely circulated, especially among the upper classes. Influenced by the calligraphy of the Edo period, it generally favored the regular script. It was only later that some mismatched characters and radicals were added, which made it seem somewhat out of place. However, the true masters of Japanese calligraphy still considered writing in the style of Chinese characters to be the most beautiful.
When Ning Zhiheng was learning Japanese writing from Yi Hua'an, he specifically wrote in regular script. The principle is the same. Besides, everyone has their own writing style, so it is difficult to judge.
He walked to the table, laid out the paper, weighed it down with a paperweight, picked up a brush from the brush holder next to him, dipped it in black ink, thought for a moment, and then copied a section of the Thousand Character Classic in Chinese. After writing half of it, he wrote out a section of ancient poetry from the Edo period in Japanese. In fact, the Japanese version also contained a lot of Chinese characters used interchangeably, so the difference was not significant.
Because there is a lot of writing, and the characters are not large, the entire sheet of Xuan paper is filled with writing. If the writing is handled properly and arranged neatly, coupled with excellent calligraphy skills, it will give people an extremely amazing visual effect.
After Ning Zhiheng finished writing, he picked up his pen, looked at the work in front of him, and was very satisfied. This was the result of his careful preparation all night, and he thought it should satisfy the curator of the Kuroki Museum.
Indeed, it achieved such an effect. Kuroki Takeichi carefully observed the work and couldn't help but nod in praise: "The brushstrokes are vigorous, the hand and palm are in perfect harmony, and the brush moves across the paper like clouds and smoke! It is truly a masterpiece!"
At this point, he turned to look at Ning Zhiheng and couldn't help but sigh again, "Fujiwara-kun, your family's scholarly tradition is evident!"
He naturally believed that this member of a collateral branch of the Fujiwara family must have received a very formal higher education from a young age and had a high level of cultural literacy in order to have such a brilliant performance.
Ning Zhiheng nodded modestly and said, "It's just a hobby I've had since I was a child. I hope you won't find it amusing, Curator."
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