Too high to reach

Chapter 72 You, you...
The two girls were painting, with Mowen accompanying Wang Shi.

Just now, Mo Yi's radiant smile... made her feel uneasy.

I suddenly remembered something a female teacher at the girls' school said: "Even beautiful women are afraid of being stared at by a crowd..."

It means that when beautiful girls are seen individually, their flaws become particularly noticeable when they are put together.

For example, Zhang Xianlin has an elegant demeanor, but her forehead is rather narrow...

Liu Yuan has bright, expressive eyes, but her chin is rather short.

And then there's Priscilla Chan, she's chubby and cute, but her eyes droop a little at the corners...

A flat bridge of the nose... Wang Xiaoyang.

Her upper teeth were slightly protruding... Wang Xiaowei.

...Oh, and there's Liu Qiao'er, who was just writing in the slender gold style of calligraphy. She's extremely thin and has slightly hunched shoulders. The one next to her has a slightly angular face...

These young women were in the prime of their lives, impeccably dressed, and elegant in their manners. Individually, while they might not be considered stunning beauties, each one was quite attractive.

But when you compare them all together... they all seem ordinary.

Looking at Mo Yi again: her eyes, nose, mouth, forehead, chin, and neck were all very ordinary in shape, and she still had some baby fat.

Upon closer analysis, the facial features are all extremely well-proportioned and placed in perfectly straight positions.

As the saying goes, "three courts and five eyes"... there are almost no flaws...

Moreover, he also had the thick hair that all members of the Mo family had, covering his forehead and sideburns, just like himself!
Finally, she had to admit that this girl was the most presentable and pleasing to the eye among all the girls present.

She used to be quiet and reserved, seemingly unperturbed even when she was upset. She wasn't swayed by her emotions. Whether praised or criticized, she remained calm and composed. I used to think she was just naive or honest.

But now, it can also be understood as: stability.

Mo Yi has finished painting, and Liang You is painting on a fan with a book.

Zhang Xianlin also finished his painting, a picture of plum blossoms in snow, with a few small characters next to it: "The fragrance of plum blossoms comes from the bitter cold."

The maid beside her picked it up and gently blew on it to dry it. Then she handed it directly to the Lady of the Marquis.

After examining the painting closely, Madam Hou nodded, "Hmm, the calligraphy is getting better and better! The painting is also very good." She handed it to the people next to her, and they all passed it around to look at it. Even Old Madam Liang had to admit that it was excellent!

When it reached Wang's hands, she exclaimed, "These plum blossoms are quite beautiful!"

Although there is no snow depicted, you can feel that the tree trunks, branches, and petals are covered with snow!
Liang You examined Mo Yi's painting. A large, menacing stone lion leaped from the paper, its mouth wide open, standing on a round ball.

In the blank space at the upper right, a few words were drawn in the shape of a tripod: "Strike the stone lion with a stick, discuss the facts, not the rumors."

His eyes crinkled with laughter, and he wanted to send some to the Lady Hou as well.

Just as he reached Grandma Liang's side, she snatched him away. If he didn't let go, she was afraid she'd tear him! Liang You was a little unhappy, but this was his grandmother; what could he do?

When Grandma Liang saw the painting, she saw it was of a stone lion. "Beating the stone lion with a stick..." What does that mean?
"Grandmother, these two lines of poetry are from Huang Tingjian. They mean to be practical rather than idealistic."

Grandma Liang got very angry: Who is she talking about?
Liang You took the painting from the old lady and handed it to Madam Hou.

Lady Hou took it and examined it closely: This girl's painting skills can only be considered to have some basic foundation.

The lines are smooth and powerful, and the brushstrokes are confident.

The stone lion sits in the lower left corner of the paper. Its size is moderate, and the white space is just right. A few characters are placed in the upper right corner, echoing the lion. Generally speaking, flowers, birds, fish, insects, landscapes, and ladies are subjects that women like to paint, just like the snow plum blossom painting by Xianlin.

And this girl's paintings... actually have a unique and unconventional feel to them.

Hiss...

Could this be what Liang You saw in her?
The Marquis's mansion and Liang You shouldn't have a mistress who's too effeminate. For the first time, she looked at Mo Yi seriously, and for the first time, she wasn't so dismissive of her.

"It's rather pointless for a young girl to paint like this. I think Shanlin's paintings are far superior. I heard that Miss Mo's father only has the title of Xiucai (a scholar who passed the lowest level of the imperial examinations), and he's just a clerk. Judging from the style of this painting, it's possible that it reflects his personality—carefree and frivolous. Otherwise..." This was Old Mrs. Liang babbling on again.

You can talk about Mo Yi, but you can't talk about her father!
She couldn't handle the discrimination from her relatives. But she wasn't willing to tolerate the praise or criticism from outsiders.

"Madam, my husband is law-abiding and upright. He makes no mistakes in his official duties and is never passive. He is also a good father at home. You don't even know my husband, so it's unfair and biased to criticize him like this!"

Mo Yi's sudden outburst startled not only others but also Wang Shi: "Oh my, this girl is not a blockhead, but a sly bandit!"
Grandma Liang was furious when a younger person talked back to her… “You! How dare you speak to your elders like that?!”

Mo Yi gave a slight bow: "Grandma, Mo Yi's painting isn't very good. Please just tell me..." She turned to look at Liang You, her heart pounding again. Sigh, she rarely gets angry, but in front of him and the Lady of the Marquis...

Liang Youwei kept his head down, so his expression was unreadable.

Lady Hou sighed inwardly: Oh, this girl!
Just then, Mo Yuan said with a grin, "Disciple, I'm sorry, Master won!"

Everyone was taken aback. This delicate and petite girl had beaten Wang Xiaowei? Wang Xiaowei looked at the chessboard in disbelief, "You... how could you play like that?"

"Miss Wang, have I broken any rules? If not, then how I play is my business. Does it have to be according to the chess manual and the opening stance? You're being too old-fashioned!"

"That's impossible! That's some kind of crooked and heretical practice!"

"You're really good at making things up! Where's the problem?" Mo Yuan laughed frivolously.

"No! I was careless! Let's play another game!" Wang Xiaowei was anxious and unwilling to accept defeat! When the national champion Mr. Huang came to her house, she could hold her own against him for a long time. How could she possibly lose to this bitch?
"We agreed to settle this in one round! But... if you're not satisfied, I'm ready to play again. This time, let's do it your way... and play properly!" Mo Yuan was now bathed in an aura of brilliance.

Lady Hou glanced at Wang Xiaowei with some displeasure. The Wang family's maids were no good. Liu Yuan… humph, just for Old Madam Liang's sake, she was no good either! Seeing that the other girls had stopped, she said to Zhang Mama, "Bring up the gifts I prepared for the young ladies!"

After a while, the little maid came over carrying a tray. She lifted the cloth, and inside were a string of pearl bracelets... The Lady Hou picked one up, gave it to the girl, and wanted to say a few words to her and take a look at her paintings and calligraphy.

Madam Wang was astonished. The quality and size of the strings were remarkable. She took out more than ten strings at once... Wow, she is indeed the Lady of the Marquis. Her generosity is truly remarkable.

Liang You craned his neck to look; everyone looked the same.

Lady Hou presented Mo Wen with a gift, which Mo Wen initially declined. Madam Wang also said, "She's a grown woman now, Madam, you don't need to worry about her!"

Others who saw it thought that Mrs. Wang wasn't as eager for quick success as she appeared.

But since Lady Hou insisted, Mo Wen accepted it.

All that was given to Mo Yi was this bracelet, and the Lady Hou also spoke with her for a while.

Liang You thought that what Madam gave to Mo Yi would be different, but it wasn't. Did she... not like Mo Yi? He felt anxious and kept glancing at Madam Hou, but he didn't say anything.

The most ridiculous one was Mo Yuan. As soon as they mentioned bringing gifts, she became distracted, only worried about not getting one herself. When the Lady of the Marquis was giving gifts to the young ladies, she hastily grabbed something and ran over.

Lady Hou handed her a string of beads, which Mo Wen accepted with both hands, thanking her profusely. Both of them looked at the beads with shining eyes! The genuine joy she felt made Lady Hou feel as if she had done a great deed.

Then, Mo Yuan ran back to play chess, making two random moves.

Wang Xiaowei's eyes gleamed with excitement; she was confident of victory!
"As expected, this is all you're capable of, that's all you've got!" she whispered, looking at Mo Yuan with malice as the bitch was admiringly wearing her pearl bracelet.

Hearing her say that, Mo Yuan turned to look at the chessboard. "Oh! I was careless! You actually made it this far!"

Then, she took a step seemingly unintentionally, and Wang Xiaowei nervously followed.

Mo Yuan took another step... and Wang Xiaowei followed.

Then, Mo Yuan slapped a chess piece with her hand adorned with beads...

"My dear disciple! You lost again!"

Wang Xiaowei stared for a long time, dumbfounded. It wasn't entirely because she had lost… but rather, she hadn't even realized she had lost!

Mo Yuan smiled coldly: "So? Are you convinced? I have a very good temper! Unlike you, arrogant and looking down on everyone. If you're not convinced, we can play again! Until you're convinced..."

Wang Xiaowei flew into a rage and overturned the chessboard. "Shut up!"

The aunt from the Liang family was startled: "Xiaowei!"

Wang Xiaoyang quickly went over to pull her away.

Wang Xiaowei then realized what had happened, her face turning bright red with embarrassment: "Sorry, my hand slipped!"

Lady Hou said coldly, "It's getting late, let's go to Xiangzhai Restaurant for dinner!"

Liang You quickly moved closer to the Lady Hou, "Madam..."

Lady Hou glared at him irritably and said in a low voice, "What's the rush? Let's see!" Then she left.

Liang You felt empty inside, and the bad thing was that nothing was settled.

The good thing is... no one else has been chosen either.

Wang quickly moved closer to Mo Yi, "Don't talk back to that old lady like that! After all, you're a junior! In front of the Lady of the Marquis! How can you do that? She didn't say anything excessive... You, you!"

Mo Yi said coldly, "Mother, I need to use the restroom!"

Turned around and left.

"That brat!" Madam Wang's voice was almost impossible to suppress.

Mo Wen quickly stepped forward: "Mother, keep your voice down!"

(End of this chapter)