103: Chapter 103 Beware of fire, theft, and best friends

"I always thought there was no such thing as a genius in this world. Today, I've truly seen it, and I admit defeat wholeheartedly."

"Mr. Lin, you are only in your early twenties, yet your Calligraphy has reached such a god-like realm. It must be what our ancestors called 'born with innate knowledge'."

The two stood in the parking lot chatting for a while, and Han Meilin let out a long sigh.

The dejection on his face was impossible to hide, revealing a deep sense of powerlessness.

He had spent his whole life writing, copying stele rubbings for a lifetime, yet in the end, he couldn't even touch the heels of a young man in his twenties.

All the hard work of most of his life had basically been for nothing.

"When Wang Xizhi wrote the 'Orchid Pavilion Preface', he was only in his early thirties."

Lin Chen said indifferently, turning his gaze to Han Meilin, "Old Han, do you know where you fall short?"

Han Meilin was stunned for a moment: "Is it that my talent is insufficient?"

"Nonsense." Lin Chen was blunt, "I just looked at your writing. In terms of brushwork technique and the maturity of your layout, you have already reached the peak. What you lack is here."

Lin Chen reached out and tapped Han Meilin's chest, not too lightly and not too heavily.

Tong Liya, watching from the side, was stunned, and her expression became very strange.

Lacking in the chest? How did this scene suddenly become so... philosophical?

Hubby, you can't go down the wrong path; your women are still waiting for you in bed!

Han Meilin looked down at his chest, brows furrowed, deep in thought.

Lin Chen continued, "Writing reflects the person; writing is about cultivating the heart. Old Han, if your heart isn't calm, how can your writing be masterful? Just like that nonsense you said earlier, what does it mean? Seeing that I write better than you, you feel discouraged? Disheartened?"

"Let me ask you, what was your original intention when you first learned Calligraphy? Was it to compete with others? Where did your passion go?"

"You are completely boxed in by yourself now! You think you are a famous Master, and every stroke you write must consider your status and the eyes of others. Carrying such a heavy burden, it would be a miracle if you could write well! With your current state of mind of worrying about gains and losses, your writing will always be at this level!"

Lin Chen's words, like a teacher scolding a primary school student, came crashing down on him.

Yet Han Meilin, like a child who had done something wrong, nodded repeatedly with a look of humble receptiveness.

Tong Liya watched from the side, her beautiful eyes shining.

This was a nationally renowned art Master, a big shot whose Calligraphy could easily sell for millions.

Now he was being lectured by her husband like a grandson, and he didn't even dare to talk back.

If this got out, she could brag about it for a lifetime!

"I have been taught... This is my own inner demon. Teacher Lin, your words are like a wake-up call!"

Han Meilin shook his head bitterly, "In recent years, I have been obsessed with various empty titles, kidnapped by all kinds of associations and forums, and I have indeed forgotten how to write purely... Sigh! Let's not talk about this anymore. In the future, whoever bothers me with those crappy meetings, I will tell them to get lost!"

Lin Chen smiled and reached out to pat Han Meilin's shoulder, "That's the right attitude. Cast aside those superficial things; when you pick up the pen, you are just someone who writes."

"Right! It's too late today, so I won't disturb you two lovebirds. Another day, let's find a quiet place, I'll be the host, and we can have a good discussion while drinking!" Han Meilin gripped Lin Chen's hand tightly, his eyes filled with sincerity.

"Sure, we'll contact each other by phone. We're leaving now."

Lin Chen took Tong Liya and got into the car to leave.

Han Meilin stood where he was, waving his hand until the taillights of the Beetle disappeared into the night, only then did he slowly lower his arm.

This scene was seen clearly by Zhang You, who was standing at the entrance of the teahouse.

An indescribable jealousy and anger burned fiercely.

Zhang You considered himself to have a wide circle of friends, knowing people in various industries.

But in his long list of contacts, the true big shots at the pinnacle of the pyramid could be counted on one hand.

Han Meilin was definitely at the top of the list.

Although Master Han didn't work in the entertainment industry, he was a bona fide national treasure-level artist, and his status was more than a notch higher than those actors in the entertainment industry.

Over the years, when Zhang You bragged outside, his favorite thing was to say, "Teacher Han is my close friend," which always attracted looks of awe.

But he knew in his heart that the so-called "close friend" was just a superficial friendship he had cultivated by shamelessly serving him for years.

But what about now? Lin Chen, a brat in his early twenties, a gigolo supported by women, actually made Han Meilin lower himself to befriend him!

When leaving, Han Meilin even took the initiative to step forward and open the car door for Lin Chen!

You are a great artist! Is it worth being so obsequious to a kept man?!

Zhang You felt so aggrieved he was about to vomit blood, feeling worse than if he had discovered his wife was having an affair.

What broke him even more was that after Han Meilin saw Lin Chen off, he didn't even return to the teahouse, nor did he greet him, the boss, and just left in a car!

Is this how a human being behaves?

When you need me, you call me "Old Zhang," but now that you've met someone more awesome, you treat me like air?

People in the arts are indeed heartless dogs!

Han Meilin is scum, and that guy named Lin Chen is even more of a scum!

The night was deep, and the neon lights flickered.

The city night was brightly lit, as if it would never tire.

The blue Beetle crawled slowly like a turtle on the wide road.

It was evident from the fact that Tong Liya usually didn't like to drive herself; her driving skills were truly touching.

Although she drove poorly, she drove steadily.

The speedometer was stuck at thirty, and even the delivery e-bikes beside her could easily overtake her, leaving her with a stylish retreating figure.

Tong Liya gripped the steering wheel tightly with both hands, in a great mood, humming an unknown tune.

Suddenly, as if remembering something, she asked Lin Chen with shining eyes.

"Hubby, that piece of Calligraphy you wrote earlier, can it really sell for millions?"

Lin Chen lowered the seat and put his hands behind his head: "Why are you asking this?"

Tong Liya's voice rose an octave in excitement: "To make money! One piece for three million, ten pieces would be thirty million, one hundred pieces would be three hundred million!"

"I saw you finish writing in a flash, it only took a few seconds. If you wrote two hundred pieces a day... Oh my god, Hubby, we're going to be the richest people!"

Lin Chen rolled his eyes speechlessly and ruthlessly shattered her dream of becoming the richest: "What kind of sweet dream are you having? Art, when it comes to people who know the trade and like it, is a priceless treasure. When it comes to those who don't, it's too hard even to wipe your ass with. Moreover, how much a piece of Calligraphy sells for has never been just about whether it's written well or not."

"Then what does it depend on?" Tong Liya asked, full of curiosity.

"It depends on whether the piece is famous, whether the person writing it has status, and it also depends on scarcity. To put it bluntly, it's just like stock speculation. If people support it and hype it, the price can skyrocket. If no one cares, it's just a pile of waste paper."

Tong Liya nodded, half-understanding: "So the water is so deep; I thought that as long as it was written well, it could be directly exchanged for a big villa."

Lin Chen smiled: "Why is the 'Orchid Pavilion Preface' revered as a divine masterpiece? Besides Wang Xizhi's own attainments, more importantly, it is an absolute masterpiece, the only authentic copy in the world, and it has gone missing."

"Think about it, if Wang Xizhi had been bored back then and mass-produced ten thousand copies of the 'Orchid Pavilion Preface' and passed them down, would it still sell for a sky-high price today?"

"Take Emperor Qianlong, who liked to stamp his seal everywhere. To be fair, the poems he wrote were passable. If he had only written ten or eight poems in his life, he could probably have left a name in literary history. But he was a poetry-inscribing maniac who wrote over forty thousand poems in his life! With such mass production, he turned his own works into street-stall goods; who takes his poems seriously now?"

Tong Liya smacked her lips and sighed: "You art people really have a lot of tricks up your sleeves."

Lin Chen agreed deeply: "There's no other way; if you don't play some tricks, how can you fleece the leeks?"

"Hubby, where are we going for our date tomorrow?" Tong Liya looked ahead and asked casually.

Without a doubt, today was one of the happiest days of her life.

That time last night when she was tossed around so much she couldn't get out of bed also counted.

This also made her full of anticipation for tomorrow's world for two, and she had already conceived several romantic plans in her mind, but she still wanted to hear the man's arrangements.

Actually, it didn't matter where they went; even if it was watching a bad movie in the cinema like today, as long as Lin Chen was sitting beside her, she felt it was sweeter than honey.

"Hubby?" Seeing that Lin Chen hadn't responded for a long time, Tong Liya quickly turned her head to glance at him, then hurriedly moved her gaze back to the road.

For a road menace like her, turning her head while driving was practically risking her life.

"Yang Mi and Reba are returning to Beijing tomorrow." Lin Chen's voice drifted over, indifferently.

The little woman, who had been full of happiness just a moment ago, instantly sank her face.

The light and sweet atmosphere in the carriage vanished completely.

"Everyone is my woman; you see each other all the time, and you'll meet sooner or later. Besides, didn't you get along quite well in the Film Crew before? Good best friends, right."

Lin Chen also felt a headache.

The blessing of having multiple women is not easy to enjoy; harem fires are the norm.

But since he had taken all these women, he had to face what he had to face.

This is probably the antonym of being heartless after sex — the price of universal love.

God is fair; if you enjoy several times the pleasure, you have to deal with several times the trouble.

"Who is a best friend with them!" Tong Liya muttered in a low voice, her red lips pouting enough to hang an oil bottle.

Lin Chen raised his eyebrows: "Didn't you say you had deep sisterly love yourselves?"

"Sisterly love my ass! The most unreliable thing these days is sisterly love! Haven't you heard that saying? Guard against fire, theft, and best friends! How many times have we seen 'good sisters' on the surface stealing men behind each other's backs?" Tong Liya gritted her teeth.