A Blessed Daughter

  Chapter 38 Competition Results

  Wei Qingwan's gaze focused on Chu Lan through the veiled hat, and she didn't look back for a long time.

   Tall and slender, full of luxury, outstanding appearance and strong aura, it is hard not to pay attention to him.

  Wei Qingwan is very sure that this person is not from Xingshan County, and his clothes are definitely not common people. If he is a local nobleman in Xingshan County, their Wei family must know about it.

   "Please, sir." The shopkeeper smiled and asked the waiter in the store to put a new paper.

  Chu Lan stepped forward, seeing the paper in front of him, a hint of surprise appeared on his stern face.

   Stretching out his hand to caress the paper, his surprise grew stronger.

  This paper is different from the one he used in the past. Why is there such a remote place with good paper that is not even available in the capital?

   "Where did this paper come from?" Chu Lan asked the shopkeeper.

  The shopkeeper replied with a smile: "This is the paper exclusively sold by our Sibaozhai. If you like it, you can buy some after my shop opens. After today's competition is over, our shop will officially open."

  Chu Lan looked up at the shop behind the shopkeeper. On the plaque was written the three characters "Sibaozhai".

  Chu Lan said "Interesting", and then picked up a pen and paper to write.

  The shopkeeper’s title is "Food is the Heaven of the People"

  Chu Lan picked up a pen and wrote about a hundred words.

  The handwriting is grand and powerful, the strokes are domineering, and they open and close.

  The audience applauded immediately and said several "good" words.

  Xiao Er also hung up Chu Lan's writing, right next to Wei Yichen's.

  Put the two characters together, the contrast is very obvious, Wei Yichen's handwriting is much gentler.

  The shopkeeper asked everyone if there were still people who wanted to participate in the competition. After asking three times, he confirmed that there was no one, and gave everyone present a wooden sign.

  The wooden sign is engraved with three simple characters of "Sibaozhai", and it is worn with a red string.

   "Today's judges are everyone present. Whoever you think has the best handwriting will hang the wooden plaque on the hook on that person's work. In the end, the person with the most wooden plaques will win the day."

  Looking at the wooden sign in his hand, Lu Yuhong smiled, and said to Chu Lan in a low voice, "It's really interesting that the onlookers are allowed to vote to decide the winner."

   "It's a smart choice." Chu Lan said.

  This method of evaluation allows the organizers of the competition not to offend others, and as a newly opened shop, the last thing they can do is to offend others.

  Lu Yuhong smiled and asked Chu Lan: "If I don't vote for you, can I go back tonight?"

  Chu Lan: "Then you have to think clearly."

  Lu Yuhong: "No way, I thought you were just playing around, why do you still have the will to win?"

  Chu Lan: "It is indeed more interesting than I thought."

  Lu Yuhong: "I just said this store is quite interesting!"

   Voting begins.

  The spectators who got the wooden sign cast their votes one after another.

   Not surprisingly, Wei Yichen and Chu Lan's works have the largest number of wooden plaques, far ahead of other works.

  Wei Qingwan also got a wooden sign. She knew that her wooden sign was definitely going to vote for her eldest brother, but before hanging the wooden sign, she involuntarily glanced at the young man in brocade clothes.

  I don't know who will win, the son or the elder brother.

  Wei Ruo also got one, she quickly hung the wooden sign on the hook above Wei Yichen's work, and then ran away at the speed of light.

  The voting ended, and the treasurer counted all the wooden signs in front of everyone.

  The others had only three or five votes, nothing to look at, and Wei Yichen and Chu Lan got the most attention.

  Twenty wooden plaques are counted on the hook above Chu Lan's work.

   Twenty-one wooden plaques are counted on the hook above Wei Yichen's work.

   Wei Yichen narrowly won by only one vote.

  The shopkeeper smiled and said to Chu Lan: "My lord, I'm sorry, there is one short, and I will sentence you to lose. Do you have any objections?"

   "No." Chu Lan replied, "Since participating in your competition, you must abide by your rules. There is no problem with your process."

   "Very well, then I will announce that the one who won the first place today is this young man in white."

   Shopkeeper Jia looked at Wei Yichen with a smile.

  Wei Yichen walked up to Chu Lan and made a bow: "Thank you, young master. The reason why I narrowly beat you today is probably because my two younger sisters were also assigned wooden cards. Otherwise, the young master should have won."

   "If you lose, you lose. You have a sister, and I have a good friend here. There is nothing to say." Not only was Chu Lan not angry, she seemed to be in a good mood, with a faint smile on her lips.

  Compared with the Tibetan Layman's Calligraphy, he has something more interesting.

  Wei Yichen nodded, but didn't say anything.

  The shopkeeper put the painting scroll containing Layman Lin into a wooden box and handed it to Wei Yichen.

   Then he announced: "The paper you used just now is sold in the store. If you need it, you can enter the store to buy it. Each person is limited to 50 sheets per day. The quantity is limited and it will only be sold out."

  All the students who just took part in the competition have already used the paper and pens of Sibaozhai. The pens and inks are average, and there is not much difference from other places, but this paper is quite different.

  Although it is more expensive than other places, the quality is much better.

  And this price is also acceptable to wealthy families.

  As soon as the purchase limit was heard, the quantity was limited, and people immediately crowded into the store. I'm afraid I won't be able to buy it too late.

   After a while, there was a long queue at the entrance of Sibaozhai, and the scene was very lively.

  This is a rare scene in Xingshan County, where the economic situation is not very prosperous.

   It can be seen that it is the people at the bottom who are having a hard time. Those families who can support a scholar can still spend money to buy good pens, inks, papers and inkstones.

  Wei Yichen also asked the boy to queue up to buy some more for himself.

   Not long after, shopkeeper Jia announced that today's paper has been sold out, and if necessary, he can only come back tomorrow.

   Knowing that it was sold out, those who didn't buy it showed disappointment.

  The crowd dispersed, but Wei Qingwan was still in the crowd, looking around, subconsciously looking for the figure of the noble young master just now.

  Wei Yichen held her back: "Wanwan, what are you looking at?"

   "I...I'm looking for my sister..."

  Wei Yichen looked around, but he did not find Wei Ruo.

  Wei Ruo had already walked away at the end of the competition, and wandered around other nearby shops.

  Wei Yichen found Wei Ruo in a preserved fruit shop on the street.

  Wei Ruo has just bought a few large bags of preserved fruit and is about to come back.

Seeing what Wei Ruo bought, Wei Yichen glanced at it and felt that it was a bit too much, but instead of criticizing Wei Ruo, he said, "My sister likes to eat preserved fruit. Next time I will bring it to you. You don't have to stock up so much at once. Keep it for a long time." It's not fresh."

  Wei Yichen thought that Wei Ruo rarely had the chance to go out, and it was rare to have the opportunity to come out today, and he bought so many because he was afraid that he would not have the chance to buy later.

  Wei Ruo smiled, did not agree or refute, and followed Wei Yichen back to his family.

  After returning, Wei Yichen asked Wei Mingting: "Father, the young master just now looks like he has an unusual identity. Does father know who he is?"

  (end of this chapter)