I used to think that the metaphors in this prose were interesting, but now I understand them on a deeper level. Perhaps it might be stretching the original meaning, but I still perceive it as cold and indifferent.
"In the past, I was also an ant at the base of the mountain."
Li Shi Fa was stunned for a while, not until Zhang Hui Jing messaged to say she was on the way, did he shake himself back to the desk and pick up the brush again, dipped it in ink, and wrote on the third line:
Humility at the top, resilience at the bottom.
Having written this, he didn't put down the brush but continued to inscribe on the fourth line: Keep calm.
"The first two phrases are for the outside world, the latter two for the inner self. This is my ideal of a chivalrous character."
Li Shi had called in Zhang Hui Jing not only to help him buy rice noodles, but mainly to discuss some work in person.
