Chapter 92: 090 The Vest Fell Off Like That [3 Updates]

Lin Xi was startled.

He didn’t know why Sheng Qingtang would ask such a question, but still answered, “Yes, President Sheng, last Saturday I had just delivered this piece of calligraphy to Master Wei Hou. He said it was his practice work.”

“Practice work?” Sheng Qingtang held back, nearly falling in the temptation to slap him, remembering this was not his own son.

He burst into an angry laugh, “With Wei Hou’s crappy handwriting, he has the nerve to say this calligraphy is his practice work? Is he worthy?!”

With that statement, the expressions of the other art masters around them changed.

Even though Sheng Qingtang was focused on calligraphy, he had also made achievements in traditional Chinese painting and sculpture, holding a very high position in the art world, almost unmatched.

He had a quirky temper and had no apprentices under him.

But this did not prevent the other art masters from respecting him deeply.

Since Sheng Qingtang had said so, he must have recognized something.

Lin Xi was taken aback.

“Now, right away, bring that fool Wei Hou to me!” Sheng Qingtang shouted angrily at the Chairman of Shanghai Art Association, “I want to see him within ten minutes.”

“President Sheng, please calm down, calm down,” the Chairman of Shanghai Art Association quickly apologized, “I’ll go right away. You’ve just been discharged from the hospital recently, you should not get angry.”

“You don’t worry about me…” Sheng Qingtang began to lose his temper again but then saw the girl to his front right casting a glance at him.

Light and indifferent.

Sheng Qingtang immediately quieted down.

This was bad.

He had forgotten that Divine Doctor Ying was here.

If he accidentally hurt his head again, there might be no one to treat him.

“Cough cough.” Sheng Qingtang cleared his throat, feeling somewhat guilty. He waved his hand, his face stern, “Be quick about it.”

“Yes, yes, yes.”

The Chairman of Shanghai Art Association hurried off.

The chat exploded again.

[Holy shit, who is this old man? Why does even the Chairman of Shanghai Art Association show him so much respect?]

[And he also said Wei Hou is not worthy of writing those words. Although I don’t know why, it oddly feels convincing.]

[Ahhhh, it’s Sheng Qingtang!!!]

[I’m totally confused, who is Sheng Qingtang?]

[Front row to educate, Sheng Qingtang, the former president of Hua Country Calligraphers Association, is proficient in Clerical Script, Regular Script, Cursive Script, Large Seal Script, and Small Seal Script. Each piece of his work starts at ten million. He also has skills in traditional Chinese painting, printmaking, sculpture, and was once invited to O Continent to participate in a sculpture competition, overpowering other countries, winning the laurel.]

[Three years ago, Sheng Qingtang retired as president of the Hua Country Calligraphers Association and went into seclusion, even his colleagues couldn’t find him, didn’t expect to see him here today.]

[If he can dominate over other countries of O Continent, how strong is his sculpture?]

[Holy crap, Verdant even managed to invite Sheng Qingtang, the principal is too awesome, watching this live stream instead of going to work today was totally worth it.]

Therefore, the chat was filled with praise for the principal’s prowess.

Principal: “…”

He didn’t have it.

He didn’t have such a big influence, and he was also perplexed.

**

Below the stage.

Zhong Zhiwan’s nails dug into her palm, her eyes growing red with anger.

Sheng Qingtang actually knew that the scroll wasn’t written by Wei Hou?

But why would Sheng Qingtang condescend to come here?

Could it be that the calligraphy was written by Sheng Qingtang?

Zhong Zhiwan frowned.

No, that couldn’t be.

Sheng Qingtang’s personal style was too distinct, and his semi-cursive script was not of this type.

As long as Wei Hou didn’t admit it, Sheng Qingtang had no evidence.

Even if something happened, it wouldn’t involve her, after all, it was Wei Hou’s own greed.

Zhong Zhiwan steadied herself and breathed a slight sigh of relief.

**

Before ten minutes passed, the Chairman of Shanghai Art Association returned.

Behind him, two staff members were helping Wei Hou walk in this direction.

Wei Hou’s face was pale, the result of motion sickness, and he had thrown up several times before.

Lin Xi called out, “Master Wei Hou.”

Wei Hou was too proud to pay attention to a junior.

He didn’t even glance at Lin Xi, coughed a few times, stepped forward, and said very respectfully, “President Sheng, I was not aware of your visit. My apologies for not greeting you sooner.”

“My apologies for not greeting you sooner?” Sheng Qingtang looked at him coldly, “If you were here to greet me, that would only shorten my lifespan!”

Wei Hou’s face darkened, “President Sheng, what do you mean by that?”

It was only because Sheng Qingtang was twenty years his senior that he managed to secure the position of president of the Hua Country Calligraphers Association.

If they were peers, could Sheng Qingtang beat him?

“What do I mean?” Sheng Qingtang scoffed, picking up the scroll, “He says this calligraphy is written by you, what do you have to say?”

Wei Hou looked over and his eyelid twitched.

He had a deep impression of the scroll.

It was a level he wouldn’t be able to achieve even with another ten years of practice.

Wei Hou, long established in the art world, recognized many people and could tell at a glance that this scroll did not belong to any famous calligrapher.

Those with a lower status than him wouldn’t dare to contradict him and could only let him have the scroll.

So when Lin Xi brought it over, Wei Hou recognized it right away.

He hadn’t been active for a long time, also because he had hit a bottleneck.

This piece of calligraphy could just help him secure a firmer standing in the art world.

“Not bad.” Wei Hou still didn’t deny it, “Indeed, this calligraphy is my practice work. What does President Sheng want to say?”

He didn’t see that, as he spoke, the large screen behind him was covered with the words “garbage.”

[Wei Hou is fifty this year, right? His writing isn’t even as good as a seventeen-year-old high school student’s, no wonder it’s called garbage.]

[Hahahaha, he even admitted it publicly. He probably doesn’t know what happened earlier, that must really hurt his face.]

[I remember Wei Hou is also a member of Hua Country Calligraphers Association, right? Seems like his position is not low either, this…]

Sheng Qingtang’s gaze grew colder: “So, you also know that a student used your calligraphy to cheat in a competition?”

Wei Hou frowned, recalling what Zhong Zhiwan had said, and still very composed: “My calligraphy was lent out for students to copy. Why, did someone steal it?”

“President Sheng, this really is Master Wei Hou’s…”

Lin Xi tried to argue but was silenced by a glare from Sheng Qingtang: “I’m speaking, do you have the right to interrupt?”

Rebuked to his face, Lin Xi’s complexion turned red, but he dared not say anything.

Sheng Qingtang then turned to Wei Hou: “When did you write this?”

“Four days ago. I just had the inspiration,” Wei Hou replied, impatient. “If President Sheng is only here to ask about such trivial matters, I, Wei Hou, am not interested in accompanying you.”

“Fine, fine, fine!” Sheng Qingtang said angrily, slamming the table. “You say this is the piece you wrote four days ago, but I saw it a week ago and even took a photo. Did you travel back in time to write it?!”

He turned on his phone, pulled up the photo from that day, and thrust it in front of the camera.

“Look carefully, this was taken at my house, this is my balding unfilial son, this is my watermelon and apples,” Sheng Qingtang sneered, “Wei Hou, do you know which way the door to my house opens?”

“Dare you say this piece is your practice work?!”

The screen zoomed in on the photo, allowing everyone to clearly see that the piece of calligraphy in the photo was exactly the same as the one Lin Xi had shown earlier.

Not a single stroke was different.

Wei Hou looked up nonchalantly.

But upon seeing it, his mind went blank with a “buzz.”

“…”

No one in the audience had anticipated such a turn of events, and they were all shocked.

Zhong Zhiwan turned even paler, her lips quivering fiercely.

Actually… there was real evidence?

Was this too much of a coincidence?

The barrage of comments exploded even more furiously.

[Damn, so this piece of “garbage calligraphy” wasn’t even written by Wei Hou. How garbage must his real writing be?]

[So, who actually wrote this piece? A mystery of the century?]

[No, no, no, the focus is, why would Wei Hou claim this? What is he after?]

[I’m now seriously questioning whether Wei Hou’s past achievements were also fakes.]

[Wei Hou is the disgrace of the art world, I demand the Hua Country Calligraphers Association thoroughly investigate him!]

“You say it, just say it!” Sheng Qingtang pressed him relentlessly, sneering again and again, “This piece, is it your practice work?”

Wei Hou was dripping with cold sweat, unable to stand steadily.

He tried to speak, but couldn’t utter a single word.

Lin Xi, standing to one side, was also stunned.

“Daring to deceive me and slander a student for cheating.” Sheng Qingtang turned sharply, “You, call the Hua Country Calligraphers Association now, I want Wei Hou’s punishment immediately.”

The Chairman of Shanghai Art Association wiped the sweat from his face and took out his phone again.

“President Sheng!” Wei Hou’s expression changed drastically, “This is too much, President Sheng.”

If he had known that Sheng Qingtang had the photo, he never would have claimed the work.

“What a joke, if I hadn’t come today, wouldn’t you be forcing this student to admit to cheating?” Sheng Qingtang wouldn’t listen, “And you, Lin Xi, is that right?”

“You’re publicly demanding Verdant expel a student without a proper investigation. I’m going to ask your teacher, is this how he usually teaches you?”

Lin Xi pursed his lips, gripping his hands tightly, and said no more.

How could he possibly doubt Wei Hou’s words?

Although in this matter, his actions were a bit impulsive.

“Oh, by the way, this piece of calligraphy was shown to me by this young student not long ago, saying she wanted to take it to the art festival.” Sheng Qingtang’s voice was ice cold, “Wei Hou, I’ll ask you again, how is it that your seal is on it?”

He was close to dying of anger.

Such a good piece of calligraphy had been ruined by Wei Hou’s seal.

It pained him more than he could bear.

“…”

Lin Xi abruptly turned around.

Ying Zijin was leaning against a pillar, calm and quiet.

The sunlight, chopped into pieces by the leaves, fell on her skin, creating a shimmer of pale gold light.

She was so beautiful it seemed otherworldly, as if she didn’t belong in this mortal realm.

As if sensing something, she slowly turned her gaze their way.

Her phoenix eyes glimmered, radiantly beautiful as the dawn.

It was eerily silent all around.

The photographers had even forgotten to move.

It was a long while before the first comment finally appeared on the big screen.

[emmm… So is this me cursing myself out when I get harsh?]