Ji Pianran's eyes widened even more, and she looked incredulous.
He can write with a brush?
How is that even possible?
She never knew that Gu Chen could write with a brush.
Ji Pianran blinked, feeling that she could no longer read Gu Chen.
This person has not been completely replaced.
Not only can he make money, he can also fight, and now he can even write couplets?
No matter how you think about it, it's a bit ridiculous.
Teacher Li was also full of disbelief.
It was said that Gu Chen was uneducated and idle, and this was a fact recognised by everyone.
But just such an uneducated person is actually going to help everyone write couplets?
This is no joke.
It's fine if he wastes his own ink and paper, but the red paper costs money!
If it's written badly and wasted, that's money down the drain!
'Chen Zi, writing couplets is not an easy task. There are many things to pay attention to. You...'
Seeing that Mr. Li said this,
Gu Chen also understood.
It turns out that he doesn't believe in him.
But that's normal. After all, he did act recklessly before.
It's not normal to believe in him.
Gu Chen smiled and said, 'In that case, please cut out a square first, and I will write the character fu. Teacher Li, please have a look and see if it is alright!'
Seeing Gu Chen's determined look, Teacher Li was now a little doubtful.
He glanced at Mrs Li and said, 'My dear, just do as Chenzi says.'
He knew very well what others did not.
In this couplet, there is a point to the character fu.
The character fu is made up of dots, which are the side strokes of the character yong.
They look like a bird flipping over and falling sideways. First, the downstroke goes slightly upwards, then bends down and presses, before lifting slightly.
Then there are the le and lue strokes of the character yong. The downstroke starts with an upstroke, turns to the right, pauses slightly at the bend, and then sweeps downwards, like 'using a comb to brush one's hair'.
Writing the character fu is the ultimate test of skill.
If you can write this character well, you can write the rest with ease.
Li Dajiang promised and took out the red paper from the cupboard.
The moment the cupboard doors opened, Gu Chen was momentarily stunned.
Most of the cupboard was full of red paper!
My goodness, how many couplets can you write!
'In previous years, not only the village, but also people from neighbouring villages came to buy them,'
Mrs Li sighed.
Writing couplets was a profitable job, and although it only happened once a year, it was quite a lot of money, at least a few hundred yuan.
The family could live off it for two or three months.
Gu Chen stroked the little head of Tang Tang and smiled at Ji Pianran.
'Keep an eye on Tang Tang, there are a lot of people here, be careful that she doesn't bump into anyone.'
Mrs Li placed the red paper on the table and took out the ink and brush set.
Then she looked at Gu Chen and said, 'Come on.'
Gu Chen nodded and walked over to the wooden table, then picked up the brush and started writing on the red paper.
To be honest, when Gu Chen was a child, he went to school and learned how to write with a brush.
But the extent of what he learned...
It was limited to just holding the brush.
It can be said that apart from the posture of holding the brush, he really didn't learn anything else.
But now, thanks to intermediate calligraphy, he has become a master.
The calligraphic forms of all the characters seem to be imprinted in his mind. Yes, it really is as if the brush is guided by an invisible hand.
As his brush twists and turns, a vigorous and powerful character for 'fortune' springs to life on the paper.
It's beautiful.
Gu Chen places the brush on the ink stone and blows carefully on the character on the paper before presenting it to Teacher Li.
'Teacher Li, please take a look. Is this OK?'
Because he was surprised, Mr Li's eyes suddenly widened. He never expected it.
Gu Chen could actually write calligraphy with a brush!
And it was so good, it was even better than his own!
How could someone reach such a level without decades of practice?
'Did you learn it somewhere when you were a child?' Mr Li asked.
Gu Chen smiled and said, 'To be honest, everyone knows that I'm not actually from our village. My family lives in the next village. When I was little, there was an old man who specialised in funerals living next to our house.'
'Back then, everyone in the village was afraid of him, except me. Maybe it was because I was young. Later, the old man taught me a lot and I practised with him for many years.'
Gu Chen was a consummate liar. He told the story as if it were true.
It was as if what he said was the truth.
He even made it sound as if he had gone to his uncle's house to steal honey to eat, but had actually gone to learn how to write with a brush.
Hearing him say that, Teacher Li understood.
No wonder, those who do funerals can write well, and there are also many who write extremely beautifully.
He nodded, his eyes showing his approval of Gu Chen.
'Good, well written! It's really good!'
Gu Chen smiled, 'How about this, I'll write them for everyone, is that okay?'
After all, it's the New Year, and every household needs couplets, and writing them yourself is much more cost-effective than asking Lei Bo
to go to the city to buy them.
It's also three yuan, and I don't even want to give three cents!
It's just a ridiculous price increase!
When Mr Li heard that Gu Chen was willing to help write the couplets, he nodded quickly, 'That's great, that'll save a lot of trouble.'
Although he had earned less extra income this year, people came to him every year, and it was really a lot of trouble for them if he couldn't write them.
Now that Gu Chen said he could write them, it was a great help.
Gu Chen nodded, 'Okay, that's it, two yuan for one set, after all, I'm not you, I can't write as good as you, and I'm embarrassed to ask for too much.'
Gu Chen's calligraphy was given by the system, and it was so smooth and powerful that it looked better than what Teacher Li wrote.
He said this to completely consider Teacher Li's face, after all, he is a teacher of the people.
How many children have been educated? Teachers in this era dare not say that they are all dedicated.
But at least they don't open cram schools at the drop of a hat, and even if they do, they're free of charge.
Besides, Teacher Li and Aunt Li have also helped Ji Pianran.
So Gu Chen has absolute respect for Teacher Li.
Teacher Li is not stupid, and at first glance, the characters are much better than his own. He knows that Gu Chen is only saying this to spare his face.
He smiles and says, 'To be honest, these characters are really well written. After all, I can't write anymore. It's your freedom to decide how much you want to charge.'
On hearing this, Mrs Li pursed her lips. Gu Chen could read his own handwriting clearly, but he had never seen any other handwriting, so he couldn't say for sure. But this one character was definitely much better than his old man's.
It was definitely worth four yuan!
Besides, the Gu family was not wealthy, so an extra yuan was an extra yuan.
'Chenzi, don't listen to him. You can charge four yuan!'
Gu Chen looked at Aunt Li with a smile, 'Auntie, I'm going to trouble you with the money collection later.'
Aunt Li was kind to Ji Pianran, and Gu Chen knew that.
This writing of couplets could bring the teacher's family a lot of income, and Gu Chen also knew that.
The reason he wanted two yuan was that Ji Pianran had borrowed money from many people in the village, which meant that many people had helped him.
So he gave everyone a discount of one yuan.
The remaining two yuan, although not much, would allow Teacher Li's family to get through the New Year.
As for himself, he really didn't want a single cent.
He was already a wealthy man, and there was no need to waste an entire morning earning a few hundred yuan.