n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Xu Weiâs face turned pale as she shouted, âNo! Thatâs not what Zhizhi prepared!â
Upon saying that, she rushed forward and stopped Mama Liu with her arm. Then, she pulled out a box, unfurled the painting in her hands, and said, âMom, this is what Zhizhi prepared for you. Itâs one of the masterpieces made by Master He!â
Master Liuâs name was known by many people in the literary world. As for Master He...
Madam Lu was not interested at all. She let out a scoff, and just as she was about to dismiss them, Bai Yao exclaimed and walked up to Xu Wei. She pushed her away and snatched the painting out of Mama Liuâs hand.
âMaster He? Whoâs that? Anyway, Iâm sure thatâs not the present your daughter prepared, right? After all, she proclaimed that her present is much better than Master Liuâs painting, so itâs impossible that she would buy a piece of art made by an unknown painter! I really canât wait to see this painting. Iâm opening it up now, so all of you open your eyes and look closely!â
âWhat do you think is inside? I think it should be a masterâs artwork, or else Mrs. Bai wouldnât be so excited...â
âA master of calligraphy whoâs even more famous than Master Liu? Iâm afraid that other than Master Fu Jiang, no oneâs better than him.â
âBut Master Fu Jiang retired ten years ago, and it costs an arm and a leg to buy his artwork! It would really be a blessing if we saw one of his masterpieces today!â
Everyone started getting pumped when someone mentioned Fu Jiang. All the guests gathered up around Bai Yao as they waited with bated breath for the reveal.
Bai Yao chuckled. She knew the painting had been drawn by Fu Zhi herself, so she just wanted to humiliate her in front of everyone.
Xu Wei wanted to stop, but it was already too late.
Bai Yao unfurled the painting slowly, and the first things that came into view were a depiction of a lotus flower and a line of calligraphy written using the Hairpin flower small regular script. The line spelled the words: âDo not leave a good deed undone no matter how petty the deed; do not engage in evil no matter how trivial the deed.â
Each stroke was sharp and clear, and the lotus flower in the painting was lifelike.
âI remember that Master Fu Jiang loved to draw lotus flowers! Could this really be his artwork?â
Madam Lu was genuinely stunned when she saw the painting as well. She approached the painting, and just as she was about to compliment Fu Zhi, her expression changed when she saw the name written on the painting.
On the other side, Lu Jingqing and Xu Wei felt even more embarrassed and did not know how to explain when they saw the painting either.
Everything about the painting was perfect. The calligraphy, the lotus flower... Nobody would complain about it, and they would have thought that it had actually been drawn by Master Fu Jiang if the name âFu Zhiâ had not been written on the corner of the painting.
Every guest turned their head and looked at Fu Zhi incredulously.
âYou... You... How dare you!â Madam Lu shouted angrily. Her fists were clenched tightly, and were it not for Lu Jingqing, she would have started beating Fu Zhi already.
Seeing her chance, Bai Yao pointed at Fu Zhi and cast aspersions on her. âWhat the hell were you thinking, Fu Zhi? How can you give this kind of crap to your grandma as a present? Do you really want to make us the laughing stock of the whole town?â
After she took a few deep breaths, she looked and gestured at Master Liuâs disciple, who was sitting not far away. However, the man was looking at his phone, so he did not see Bai Yaoâs gestures.
Setting her jaw tight, Fu Zhi gazed straight at Bai Yao and said calmly, âThis painting is valuable.â
âValuable? Donât make me laugh, please! Fu Zhi, do you think that you can become a master of calligraphy and painting as well just because you share the same last name as Master Fu Jiang? Your grandmother took pity on you and allowed you to join us as one of our family members. She even wanted to introduce you to everyone she knows tonight, and this is how you pay her back? Hmph, what an ingrate! You should get out of the Lu Family!â
Everyone looked at Fu Zhi in dissatisfaction.
Today was her grandmotherâs birthday, and if she was a three-year-old kid, they might have just shrugged it off and forgiven her for her innocence. However, she was a 17-year-old young lady now, and it was truly shameless and unforgivable for her to do something like this on an important occasion.