32: Chapter 32 Ugly Characters

"Hehe!"

Chen Shaoping gave an awkward laugh, looking a bit embarrassed.

"Old Cai, my handwriting is really ugly. Let's not do this."

"What are you afraid of? Come on, young man, don't be so modest. I still prefer the confident look you had just now."

Cai Guoqiang didn't mind. He had already spread the paper and started grinding the ink. His movements were so quick he didn't seem like a man in his sixties at all.

Seeing he couldn't get out of it, Chen Shaoping had no choice but to bite the bullet.

As he struggled to finish the first character, Cai Guoqiang's hand grinding the ink trembled violently several times, nearly spilling ink onto the rice paper, and his face contorted.

He thought Chen Shaoping was being modest, but it turned out he was telling the truth.

This handwriting was truly ugly!

There was no aesthetic sense at all!

It was just at the level of a beginner with a brush.

But the strokes were all there, and the characters were clearly recognizable.

It was better than those so-called 'Roar Calligraphy', 'Spray Calligraphy', 'Chaos Calligraphy', or 'Abstract Calligraphy'.

At least his attitude toward calligraphy was upright.

He dared to admit his writing was ugly.

Unlike those calligraphy masters jumping around wildly on the internet, whose writing was clearly a pile of dog shit.

And yet, they would keep that dog shit in their pockets, frequently pulling it out for the world to smell just to disgust everyone.

Even worse, they would put that dog shit on display in a grand hall.

They'd find a few others also carrying dog shit to come and critique it.

Then they'd laugh heartily and compliment each other: "Yours stinks," "Yours stinks too," "Yours stinks even more."

Despicable!!

After finishing those few dozen characters, Chen Shaoping felt completely exhausted.

"Old Cai, I'm sorry for wasting your precious rice paper."

Zhang Ying leaned in, took one look, and immediately turned away, her face scrunched up.

Cai Guoqiang stopped grinding the ink. Feeling a bit of heartache, he still said firmly, "It's not a waste; paper is bought to be written on. But you really do need to practice."

When Chen Shaoping and Zhang Ying left Cai Guoqiang's house...

...Cai Guoqiang silently assigned himself a task: supervising Chen Shaoping's calligraphy practice.

"Are we going to the company now?"

Zhang Ying asked as the two of them walked along the path in the residential area.

"Yeah, let's go."

Chen Shaoping originally wanted to ride in Zhang Ying's red Trident car, but realizing he would need his own car later, he gave up on the idea, and they drove separately.

[Ding! Congratulations to the Host for completing a piece of intelligence. You have gained 4 paparazzi points.]

[Host's current paparazzi points: 14.]

Just as he arrived at the company, the system's voice rang out in his mind.

Meanwhile, in the university dormitory group chat...

Second Oldest (Wang Bo): I'm now the spokesperson for Wahehe Mineral Water! I'm famous! Congratulate me, everyone!

Eldest (Chen Shaoping): You show-off!

Third Oldest (Han Minde): Congratulations! Should we get together and celebrate?

Eldest (Chen Shaoping): When can you get here? I have something to talk to you about.

Second Oldest (Wang Bo): I won't land until after nine tomorrow.

Eldest (Chen Shaoping): I have things to do with Four Jun tonight, so today won't work @Third Oldest (Han Minde).

Third Oldest (Han Minde): Another day, then.

Fourth Oldest (Tian Jun): ? @Eldest (Chen Shaoping)

Eldest (Chen Shaoping): I'll come find you in a bit to explain in detail. @Fourth Oldest (Tian Jun)

Fourth Oldest (Tian Jun): OK!

Just as Chen Shaoping was about to lie down for a bit in his office, Zhang Ying and Zhou Bule walked in.

"Da Ping, Li Qian just called. The Director told us to go sign the contract."

"And he's already paid the 500,000, as if he's afraid we'll back out."

Zhang Ying smiled happily; she had never encountered something like this before.

"Okay, Sister Ying, why don't you go with him?"

"Mm, okay!"

After the two left, Chen Shaoping also felt full of energy.

He had already figured out what to do about Li Tianyi's matter.

But just in case, he had to meet with Tian Jun beforehand.

If things took a bad turn, he didn't want Tian Jun to get dragged into it.

More importantly, he had no way to explain to Tian Jun how he knew the exact time in advance.

After driving to the Baiyun District Police Station, Chen Shaoping waited in his car for Tian Jun to come over.

He had just lit a cigarette and taken a few puffs when Tian Jun opened the car door and sat inside.

"Da Ping, not bad! You're driving an E30 now."

"How about we trade? You drive mine, and I'll drive yours," Chen Shaoping said with a smile.

Tian Jun quickly waved his hand. "I can't afford to drive yours, and you wouldn't dare drive mine. Just let me take it for a spin some other day."

"No problem! Just come and drive it whenever you have a day off."

"I'm looking for you today because I need you to get to Room 808 of the Hongyi Hotel by 23:28 tonight. Including you, there must be at least three people. Bring as many as you can."

Chen Shaoping said solemnly after thinking for a moment.

There were five people on the other side. If there were too few Police Officers, he was worried things might go wrong.

Tian Jun pondered for a moment and then nodded.

"Alright, I'll make sure your request is fulfilled."

"I've put you in a tough spot, haven't I? I'll try my best not to make you break any regulations." Chen Shaoping grinningly handed a cigarette to Tian Jun and lit one for himself.

"Aren't you going to ask what this is all about?"

"What else could it be? I can guess," Tian Jun said, taking the cigarette and inhaling. "I was just spacing out thinking about how to swap my shift."

"If there's nothing else, I'll head out first."

"Alright, just don't forget about tonight."

"I won't."

After Tian Jun got out of the car...

...Chen Shaoping tossed his cigarette butt and was about to drive away when another 5 paparazzi points were credited to him.

Zhang Ying and Zhou Bule had finished signing the contract with the Director.

[Ding! Congratulations to the Host for completing a piece of intelligence. You have gained 5 paparazzi points.]

[Host's current paparazzi points: 19.]

Hongyi Hotel.

A man approached the front desk and lightly tapped his fingers on the marble countertop.

"Hello, I'd like to book Room 808. Is it occupied?"

The receptionist smiled and replied, "Hello, sir. Let me check."

After moving the mouse a few times, she looked up at Chen Shaoping.

Although there weren't many guests who requested specific rooms, it wasn't unheard of.

"Sir, Room 808 hasn't been booked. Please show me a valid ID, and I'll check you in."

After entering Room 808, Chen Shaoping walked around the room once and then went to the bathroom to take a quick shower.

The whole thing took less than twenty minutes.

Then he sat on a chair, leisurely smoking a cigarette, and picked up the hotel room's landline to make a call.

"How does your hotel handle cleaning? There are red stains on the bedsheets."

"I demand a room change. If you don't change it for me, I'll expose you online immediately."

Chen Shaoping was furious, roaring into the phone.

The front desk apologized repeatedly, stating they would send someone over to check right away, and if the situation was true, they would definitely change his room.

After Chen Shaoping's outburst, he was moved from Room 808 to Room 8007.

Although his goal was achieved, he still felt a bit uneasy.

At 22:18 that evening, Li Tianyi and four other men walked into the Rehuo Bar with their arms around each other's shoulders. They were already walking unsteadily, appearing to have already had a round of drinks elsewhere.

After picking a booth, they started carousing wildly, with bottles of alcohol being opened one after another.

Chen Shaoping changed his position so he was facing Li Tianyi directly, allowing him to clearly film his every move.

As for the other four, he would just film as much of them as he could.