Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 221 Is it a big deal to have a son-in-law?
On Saturday morning, Lin Chaoyang took a scroll with him when he went to work. Tao Yushu asked, "What are you doing with this at work?"

"You don't understand!" Lin Chaoyang smiled mysteriously at her.

Tao Yushu thought about it and knew what he was going to do, "Are you trying to flatter my dad?"

"Vulgar! How can this be called flattery? I'm just asking dad to taste it!"

Tao Yushu's eyes were filled with smile.

After get off work, Lin Chaoyang came to Tao's house. When he entered the house, Tao Yucheng looked at the scroll he was holding and asked, "Chaoyang, what is this?"

"I went to the store to buy paintings a few days ago, and I happened to see a painting with good calligraphy, so I asked my dad to help me take a look."

Upon hearing this, Tao Yucheng was full of curiosity and followed Lin Chaoyang into Tao's father's bedroom.

At this moment, Tao's father was wearing reading glasses and reading a book, "Dad, Chaoyang brought you something good!"

Father Tao took off his reading glasses and asked with a smile, "What good stuff is that?"

Lin Chaoyang slowly unfolded the scroll, and Tao's father put on his reading glasses and moved closer to observe it carefully.

"Shen Yinmo's calligraphy!"

Shen Yinmo was born in 1883. He studied in Japan in his early years and later served as a professor at Yenching University and president of Peking University. He was famous for his calligraphy. In the early years of the Republic of China, he and Yu Youren were known as "Shen in the South and Yu in the North" in the calligraphy world. In the s, there was also a saying "Shen in the South and Wu in the North".

After the 1950s, his calligraphy level reached its peak, which was described by Mr. Xu Pingyu as "surpassing the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, and being as good as the Four Masters of Song Dynasty."

Professor Xie Zhiliu, head of the Palace Museum's appraisal team, said of his calligraphy: "For hundreds of years, among many calligraphers, no one has surpassed him."

The calligraphy that Lin Chaoyang brought was a poem written by Shen Yinmo himself, titled "Miscellaneous Poems in Autumn Bright Room": When I was young, I read Fu Weng's poems, and they always made me laugh. I learned them later, but I am ashamed that I have not heard of the truth. In the few thousand years, this person cherishes his heart. The deep and deep are beyond words, and the deep sorrow knows the wonderful words.

"Miscellaneous Poems in Autumn Ming Room" is written in regular script. Shen Yinmo's calligraphy is modeled after the Two Wangs. His style is solemn yet lively, with strict rules and first-class skills in lines.

Father Tao observed it carefully for a long time, with a look of delight on his face, savoring it and saying: "Shen Yinmo's calligraphy is elegant and graceful. It's great!"

Tao Yucheng, who was standing by, looked at it for a long time but couldn't figure out what it was about. He just thought the handwriting was indeed beautiful.

"Where did this word come from?" asked Tao's father.

"I bought it at the Palace Museum's service department. They now sell calligraphy and paintings."

"Are you selling Shen Yinmo's calligraphy, too?"

Mr. Tao was a little unhappy when he heard this.

Lin Chaoyang said truthfully: "Fu Baoshi, Li Keran, Wu Zuoren, Qi Gong... all these masters' calligraphy and paintings are sold to foreign guests, but foreigners don't recognize these things very much. Instead, they are more interested in handicrafts."

Upon hearing this, Tao's father sighed and said, "It is a waste of natural resources to throw away such a precious pearl!"

Lin Chaoyang smiled and said, "There are too many works of modern and contemporary calligraphers and painters in existence, so this situation is understandable. In another thirty or fifty years, it is estimated that this will not be the case."

Father Tao nodded, agreeing with what he said.

Lin Chaoyang slowly rolled up the scroll and placed it on Tao's father's desk. "You usually like to write, so you should study Shen Yinmo's calligraphy more carefully. Who knows, you may have a blessing someday and your skills will be further improved."

"Just take a look at it and take it back."

"I don't know calligraphy, so it would be a waste if I let you go, right?"

If Lin Chaoyang had given him something else, Tao's father would probably have refused without even thinking about it, but Lin Chaoyang gave him Shen Yinmo's calligraphy, which just touched Tao's father's sore spot, so his will to refuse was not firm.

Tao Yucheng looked at his father's expression and said, "Dad, this is Chaoyang's gift, just accept it."

"Yes, Dad. Look at Shen Yinmo's handwriting, it's upright and peaceful, which complements your personality!" Lin Chaoyang said.

Tao Yucheng looked at Lin Chaoyang deeply and said, "Brother-in-law, it's over."

Father Tao was delighted to see the prey. He had been weak in the first place, but after being persuaded by the two men, he no longer held back and accepted the calligraphy.

"Hey, Dad, Shen Yinmo is half a colleague of yours, right?" Tao Yucheng asked.

"I hadn't even started college when he was at Yanda, and I never met him in person," said Tao's father.

"Oh."

After delivering the calligraphy, Tao Yucheng and Lin Chaoyang came out of the room.

"Chaoyang, didn't you say that the paintings and calligraphy in the Forbidden City are all sold to foreign guests? How did you buy them?"

"Why not just find a 'foreign guest'?" Lin Chaoyang chuckled.

"How can this be possible?" Tao Yucheng suddenly realized.

At this time, Tao's mother came out of the kitchen, and Tao Yucheng said to her: "Mom, Chaoyang gave Dad a piece of calligraphy, Shen Yinmo's calligraphy."

"Why would you send a calligraphy for no reason?" Tao's mother asked in confusion.

"I went to buy a painting and happened to see Shen Yinmo's calligraphy. I thought, Dad loves calligraphy!"

Mother Tao nodded slightly, her face relieved, "Chaoyang is thoughtful."

Tao Yumo, who was supervising Tao Xiwen doing his homework, asked, "Brother-in-law, Shen Yinmo's calligraphy must have cost a lot of money, right?"

"Not much money." Lin Chaoyang said perfunctorily.

He walked over and placed a colorful cube on the desk, which immediately caught Tao Xiwen's attention.

"Magic Cube!" Tao Xiwen shouted excitedly and grabbed it immediately.

A cubic plastic toy with six colors on its six faces. Each face is made up of nine cubes. See who can adjust the six faces to the same color in the shortest time.

Since the beginning of this year, such educational and interesting toys have become popular among Chinese teenagers as if overnight.

Tao Xiwen was happily fiddling with the Rubik's Cube in his hand and didn't even bother to do his homework. Tao Xiwu, on the other side, stared at his brother's new toy with eyes full of envy.

Lin Chaoyang took out another identical Rubik's Cube from his pocket and said, "Here!"

Only then did Tao Xiwu smile happily and started tinkering with the Rubik's Cube.

"Brother-in-law~" Tao Yumo complained. She was supervising her two nephews doing their homework. How could they do their homework after Lin Chaoyang disrupted their work?
"You are so old now, there is no more gift for you." Lin Chaoyang joked. Tao Yumo said angrily: "Did I mean that?"

Zhao Li walked into the room and saw the Rubik's Cubes in her two sons' hands. She said to Lin Chaoyang, "Chaoyang, I'm sorry to have cost you so much."

"Sister-in-law, we are all family, why should we be so polite? I just happened to see a store selling it when I went to the city that day."

Zhao Li yelled at her two sons again, "You two, have you thanked your uncle yet? You are so rude!"

The two brothers had already forgotten everything else when they saw the Rubik's Cube just now. After hearing what their mother said, they said obediently, "Thank you, uncle!"

Lin Chaoyang smiled and said, "You're welcome, let's play!"

Tao Yushu had just arrived home at this moment. Seeing Lin Chaoyang making the whole family happy with gifts, her face was also full of smiles.

Tao Yucheng asked her secretly, "Chaoyang gave Dad a calligraphy piece by Shen Yinmo. Do you know how much it cost?"

The calligraphy and paintings were bought from the Palace Museum. After buying them, Lin Chaoyang gave all the receipts to Tao Yushu. Given her personality, of course she had to count them one by one, so she knew the prices of the calligraphy and paintings bought by Lin Chaoyang very well.

"Which one?" Tao Yushu asked.

"Miscellaneous Poems in the Autumn Room."

Tao Yushu said, "It cost eighty-five yuan."

"Foreign exchange certificates." She emphasized again.

"Hiss~" Tao Yucheng took a breath, "Chaoyang really spent a lot of money to flatter Dad!"

Tao Yushu rolled her eyes at her brother, saying that it was okay for her husband to flatter her, but she didn't like it when others said so.

"When someone gives you something, you call it flattery? Then you flatter them too!"

Tao Yucheng smiled and said, "It's not that I don't have money!"

His righteous tone made Tao Yushu too lazy to speak. When the brother and sister were whispering, Zhu Guangqian also came.

When Father Tao saw him coming, he unfolded the scroll he had just rolled up and looked at it pretentiously, "Well, not bad, not bad."

This immediately caught Zhu Guangqian's attention, and he came over and asked, "What are you looking at?"

"Nothing, Chaoyang just gave me a calligraphy."

"Oh."

Zhu Guangqian didn't pay much attention to it at first, but when he glanced at the handwriting, he was a little surprised, "Shen Yinmo's handwriting?"

"Yeah." Father Tao's eyes were on the words, looking very focused, and he only responded.

Zhu Guangqian glanced at his old friend's condition and smacked his lips, "Shen Yinmo's calligraphy is just average."

"You're so arrogant. Can you write better than him?" Tao's father teased.

"You're just being argumentative. If I say the food is not tasty, do I still have to know how to cook?"

"Then why is his handwriting so average?" Tao's father asked.

"His calligraphy is too solid, and his movements are like holding a fire stick, lacking in agility and elegance."

"When it comes to finding faults, you are a master. This is called adhering to the brushwork, and this is what a calligrapher does.

Pursuing elegance and agility blindly is like a girl who has a perfect figure and face, but still tries to act coquettishly and flirtatiously, which is inferior. "

The two of them argued for a while, but neither could win the argument, so they finally called it a day.

Zhu Guangqian said to Lin Chaoyang in a gloomy voice: "You are quite good at flattering people!"

Lin Chaoyang said with a smile: "Uncle Zhu, if you like it, I will give you one too."

"Rare!" Zhu Guangqian said with disdain, "Where are my several pieces of Yu Youren's calligraphy? Only your father treasures Shen Yinmo's calligraphy."

"My son-in-law gave it to me!"

Tao's father's words made Zhu Guangqian fall into silence.

What’s so great about having a son-in-law?
After July, it was exam season for colleges and universities again. With two college students in the family preparing for their exams, Lin Chaoyang had to be careful not to speak too loudly. Fortunately, he could still slack off freely at work.

That morning, he was reading a book with great interest when Liang Zuo and Li Tong came over and said they wanted to treat him to a meal.

After careful questioning, I found out that the article they wrote was published in the Journal of the Study of Dream of the Red Chamber. The article was originally more than 7,000 words, but with Lin Chaoyang's guidance, the two expanded it to 15,000 words, and the manuscript fee doubled.

The two had just received their royalties today, so they came over specially to treat Lin Chaoyang to a meal. Lin Chaoyang gladly agreed. Originally, they thought it was just the three of them, but when they arrived at the Changzheng Restaurant outside the school, they found that there were more than a dozen boys from the Chinese Department of the Class of 77, and some from the Class of 78 and 79.

"This little royalty fee for the two of you is considered white-collar!" Lin Chaoyang joked.

"It doesn't matter, I just want to have fun." Liang Zuo smiled and his eyes narrowed into slits.

A group of young people in their twenties and thirties, whose drinking and eating capacity are at the peak of their lives, get together and the atmosphere is extremely hot.

After eating and drinking, someone brought up graduation, and a melancholy mood suddenly filled the dinner table.

The students of Class 77 enrolled in February 78 and graduated in January 2. This semester is about to end, and they will graduate in one more semester.

Logically speaking, there is still half a year before graduation, so it’s a bit early for everyone to feel worried.

But during this period, several female classmates in the class who were preparing to study abroad have received admission letters from the universities they applied for.

Cha Jianying went to the English Department of South Carolina State University, Wu Beiling went to the East Asian Department of Florida State University, and Zhang Meishan went to the East Asian Department of the University of Illinois. They will go to the United States one after another starting in August.

In addition, several classmates in the class will also take the postgraduate entrance examination in September. Although there is still more than half a year before graduation, the days that all the students of the Chinese Department of Class of 77 will be together are very short.

After being together for more than three years, the sadness of separation naturally welled up in my heart when I thought that we would soon be separated.

Lin Chaoyang did not have much sympathy with their feelings. It was true that he was familiar with the students of Class 77, but their identities were different, so he did not have that many feelings.

After dinner, the boys returned to school drunk. Lin Chaoyang separated from the group and returned to the library. Du Rong handed him a letter.

(End of this chapter)