The Literary Garden was divided into five areas, with the Poetry Academy at the center, surrounded by the academies of music, chess, calligraphy, and painting.
The Literary Garden prioritized poetry, with music, chess, calligraphy, and painting as secondary pursuits. Thus, the annual talent competition was named after poetry.
The Painting Academy was located in the southern part. When Feng Qingyi entered, she saw neatly arranged tables and chairs, with brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones placed on the tables.
Feng Qingyi tugged at Qian Jue's clothes, "How does this competition work?"
"Just find a seat and sit down. They'll give you a topic soon, and you just paint according to the rules," Qian Jue said before finding a place to sit. Feng Qingyi sat down next to him.
Feng Qingyi looked at the items on the table and picked up a small piece of paper. "Qian Jue, what's this for?"
Qian Jue: "...It's for writing your name."
"Well, could you write it for me?"
She hadn't learned to write any of the characters here, so naturally, she couldn't write her name. Now she could only ask for help.
Qian Jue took the paper, picked up the brush, dipped it in ink, and casually wrote a few characters on the paper.
Feng Qingyi looked at what he wrote, "What did you write?"
"Your name. Here you go." Qian Jue handed the paper to Feng Qingyi.
Feng Qingyi looked at the characters on the paper, "Do you think I'm stupid? My name has only three characters, but this clearly has four!"
Qian Jue pointed at the characters on the paper, "You're mistaken. Your 'Yi' character is split here, so these two characters go together."
"Haha, you're just fooling me! I can manage without your help."
Feng Qingyi snatched a blank piece of paper from Qian Jue's table.
Then she took out her phone from her pocket, took a photo of what Qian Jue had just written, and sent it to Qin Yuchuan.
[Yuchuan: What's the matter?]
[Qingyi: Can you tell me what characters are in the image I sent you?]
[Yuchuan: Little Silly Feng?]
[Qingyi: You're insulting me!]
[Yuchuan: ...When did I insult you? These four characters are what's written on the paper.]
[Qingyi: ...]
[Yuchuan: Who wrote this?]
[Qingyi: Qian Jue. I'm so angry! He even lied to me saying he wrote my name. He's treating me like an idiot!]
[Qingyi: Can you help me write my name? I'll send you the paper.]
[Yuchuan: Alright.]
Feng Qingyi secretly passed the paper to Qin Yuchuan, then looked at Qian Jue, "I don't need your help. I can solve this myself, you liar."
Qian Jue: "The little girl is quite clever. You'd better sit properly now. They're about to give out the topic. Perform well, don't embarrass me."
Feng Qingyi said: "...Just don't say you know me."
[Yuchuan: It's done.]
[Qingyi: Love you!]
[Yuchuan: What are you doing?]
[Qingyi: I'm at your Shengjing's Late Spring Poetry Meeting, preparing to paint. Qian Jue is right next to me.]
[Yuchuan: Hmm, paint well then.]
[Qingyi: I will. I've got to go now, it's about to start.]
[Yuchuan: Alright.]
Feng Qingyi put her phone back in her pocket. Someone was already coming to distribute the topic for this painting session.
Feng Qingyi looked at the four characters on the paper, but could only reluctantly poke Qian Jue.
"Can you tell me what characters are written here?"
Qian Jue: "Didn't someone just say they could solve problems without my help? Why don't you ask that general of yours again?"
Feng Qingyi blinked her eyes, "I was wrong. I apologize. Please help me, save me. You're the best!"
"Alright, if I were in my original form it might be okay, but acting coy with an old man like this? How does that look?" Qian Jue said.
Feng Qingyi: "Like a granddaughter coaxing her grandfather!"
Qian Jue: "...I don't have a granddaughter as big as you. It says 'wind, flowers, snow, moon' here. Think about it yourself."
"What are you planning to paint? Tell me?" Feng Qingyi asked.
Qian Jue looked coldly, "Think for yourself. It's starting, quickly go back to your seat."
"Fine!" Feng Qingyi sat back in her own seat.
The phrase "wind, flowers, snow, moon" originally referred to natural scenes often described in ancient poetry and prose.
Later, it came to describe flowery but empty poetry and prose, or matters of love and a life of debauchery.
So this theme should be about love!
This theme wasn't easy to paint, especially in ink. Feng Qingyi looked around at the situation. Everyone had already sat down and started painting.
Feng Qingyi didn't want to disturb others, so she sat down to think about what to paint. After a long time of contemplation, Feng Qingyi finally put brush to paper.
She had learned ink painting in virtual courses, but hadn't practiced much. Here, she only had one piece of paper, so she needed to be careful.
In the Painting Academy, all was quiet. Even the observing crowd didn't make any noise, just standing by and watching.
Xu Linghe and Zhao Yiqing had just left the Calligraphy Academy. Zhao Yiqing's calligraphy had been done in one breath, quickly written and submitted. Afterwards, he took Xu Linghe for a stroll.
As they entered the Painting Academy, Xu Linghe immediately spotted Feng Qingyi.
She pointed in Feng Qingyi's direction, "Young Master Zhao, can we go see what Qingyi is painting?"
Zhao Yiqing nodded, "Let's be quiet and not disturb them."
Xu Linghe nodded, "Mm."
The two walked to Feng Qingyi's side and saw her painting of a farewell scene on a bridge.
They then moved to a corner, and Xu Linghe asked, "Young Master Zhao, what do you think of Qingyi's painting?"
"Miss Feng's painting is very delicate, with a profound artistic conception. It can be called a fine work," Zhao Yiqing didn't spare his praise.
Xu Linghe: "The one sitting next to her just now was Qian Jue. Between the two of them, who do you think paints better?"
"Qian Jue has been famous for a long time. His technique is mature, and he's adept at handling such competitions. Compared to him, Miss Feng still seems a bit inexperienced. However, given time, she will surely surpass him," Zhao Yiqing objectively evaluated the two.
Xu Linghe listened and said, "Qingyi is already very impressive. That Qian Jue is already gray-haired, while Qingyi is still young. She'll definitely be able to win the championship in the future."
Zhao Yiqing nodded, "Miss Feng has great potential. If she practices diligently in the future, she will surely become a master of her generation."
Feng Qingyi had thought it would take all morning to finish her painting, but unexpectedly, she completed it in just over two hours.
She submitted her finished painting along with the name Qin Yuchuan had written for her, then walked out of the main hall of the Painting Academy.
"What did you all paint for today's 'wind, flowers, snow, moon' theme?"
"The wind was too hard to paint, so I chose the moon."
"I painted flowers. Spring flowers have always been a popular choice for painting, so it really comes down to individual skill."
"..."
Hearing the discussion outside the academy, Feng Qingyi suddenly doubted herself.
Was "wind, flowers, snow, moon" meant to be taken literally?
Surely not!
For such a grand competition, the theme shouldn't be so superficial, right?
