Chapter 271: Expelled from the Sect
Ouyang Cen was very curious about Mrs. Xu, but since she had passed away, it would be rude and meaningless to ask about her life.
"Budai, go and close the door," Ouyang Cen ordered.
"OK."
Zhou Budai did as he was told immediately.
Liu Lan felt that Ouyang Cen was going to say something about the calligraphy exhibition next and was afraid of being heard by others, and that was indeed what happened.
Ouyang Cen said that he was suddenly called to a meeting by the calligraphy association in the afternoon, so he did not go to the airport to pick up the guests. The content of the meeting was naturally related to the calligraphy exhibition to be held tomorrow, so it was considered an "advance briefing meeting".
The advantage of having a calligrapher as a teacher is that Liu Lan can know in advance who the five judges will be for the face-to-face review.
The five people are experts in running script, cursive script, official script, seal script and regular script.
Ouyang Cen was originally invited to be a judge for cursive script, but because his apprentice Zhou Budai was participating in the exhibition, he declined the invitation to avoid suspicion.
...
...
The first four judges were all old acquaintances of Su Yi. When Ouyang Cen mentioned the fifth judge of Kaishu, he paused, his eyes complicated, "Kaishu, they found Su Xuezhen."
Su Yi's expression changed immediately. He stopped smiling and his sitting posture was no longer leisurely. He slammed the handle of the chair and scolded, "Why did he have to be chosen this time?"
"Among the younger generation, Su Xuezhen has made the most outstanding achievements in regular script. At the end of last year, he also joined the Calligraphy Association." The "young" that Ouyang Cen mentioned refers to people younger than him and Su Yi, that is, people in their 50s and 60s. Becoming a member of the National Calligraphy Association means that this person can be called a true calligrapher, and the value of his works will also rise.
Su Yi is also a member of the association.
"Su Xuezhen's regular script works are now of great collection value and are highly sought after by investors. Last year, he also established the Xizhen Academy, which imitates ancient academies and teaches calligraphy and literature."
Su Yi scoffed, "It's all hype."
At his age and status, he doesn't care much about material things. He doesn't care whether anyone buys his works or not. When he writes, he pays more attention to the senses, entertains himself, and is happy.
But in today's society, everything is about money, and the calligraphy circle is no exception. When evaluating a calligrapher's level, people often look at how much his calligraphy sells for.
"You are still prejudiced against him. Putting aside what he did in the past, his calligraphy is a perfect copy of yours. Not only that, he added his own understanding to your style, which is similar to yours in form but not in meaning. To be honest, his writing is really good, but I still prefer your calligraphy."
Ouyang Cen always felt that Su Xuezhen's works were missing something and were not perfect enough.
Su Yi didn't care. "No matter how good his handwriting is, it can't make up for his lack of personality. He and I have nothing to do with each other anymore."
"It has nothing to do with you, but your little apprentice will have to face him tomorrow."
"It's different now than it was thirty years ago," Su Yi snorted coldly, "I'm standing here watching. I don't think he dares to play tricks under my nose again."
Liu Lan was confused by the conversation between the two old men. She could barely guess that Su Xuezhen should have been Professor Su's apprentice.
Zhou Budai didn't understand either. In his opinion, Su Xuezhen was a famous calligrapher whose calligraphy level was unquestionable. The Xizhen Academy he founded had a very high reputation in the ancient capital. During its two public enrollment sessions, there were long queues and it was very popular.
So, what exactly happened thirty years ago?
After seeing off Master Ouyang Cen and his apprentice, Su Yi considered it over again and again and decided to tell Liu Lan the whole story.
It was indeed as Liu Lan had guessed, Su Xuezhen was Su Yi's apprentice, but he was expelled from Su Yi's school thirty years ago, and both of them had the surname Su, so they had a slight blood relationship. Su Xuezhen was considered a very distant relative of Su Yi, and they shared the same family tree.
The story began thirty-four years ago. At that time, the middle-aged Su Yi was already an accomplished calligrapher, a professor at Capital University, and had accepted his first apprentice, Fang Huaiyuan.
Su Xuezhen was just an ordinary freshman at Capital University. He took Su Yi's calligraphy class. When Su Yi was checking students' class assignments, he discovered Su Xuezhen's calligraphy and thought he had potential. Since they had the same surname, he felt a sense of familiarity, so he called him to his office alone. The process of Su Xuezhen's apprenticeship was very similar to that of Liu Man.
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