Chapter 38: Results of the Competition

Wei Qingwan’s gaze focused on Chu Lan through the drapery and did not retract for a long time.

Tall and long, all noble, his outstanding appearance and powerful aura made it hard not to pay attention to him.

Wei Qingwan was very sure that this person was not from Xing Shan County, his clothes were by no means commoners, if he was a local noble from Xing Shan County, there was no reason for her not to know about it.

“This gentleman please.” The shopkeeper smiled and asked the store’s second to set up a new paper.

Chu Lan walked forward, and seeing the papers laid out in front of him, a hint of surprise appeared on his cold face.

Reaching out, he brushed over the paper, and his surprise intensified.

This paper was different from the ones he used in the past, why would there be good paper in such a remote place that was not even available in the capital?

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

The shopkeeper replied smilingly, “This is the paper that our Four Treasures Store exclusively sells, if you like it, you can come buy some after my store opens. After this competition is over today, our store will officially open.”

Chu Lan looked up at the store behind the shopkeeper, the plaque was written with three big words “Four Treasures”.

Chu Lan said “Interesting”, then picked up a pen and paper and wrote.

The shopkeeper’s title is “Food for the People”.

Chu Lan put pen to paper and similarly wrote a hundred or so words.

The handwriting is grand and powerful, with a dominant, wide-open stroke.

The crowd immediately applauded and said several “good” words.

Xiao Er also hung up Chu Lan’s characters right next to Wei Yi Chen’s.

The contrast between the two pieces of writing when placed together was obvious, Wei Yi Chen’s handwriting was much milder.

The shopkeeper then asked the crowd if there were any more to participate in the competition, and after asking three times to make sure there was no one left, he issued a wooden sign to everyone present.

On the top of the wooden plaque was carved three simple words “Four Treasures”, which was worn with a red rope.

“Today’s judges are all of you present, and whoever you think has good characters will hang a wooden plaque on a hook on that person’s work, and the person with the most wooden plaques at the end of the day will come out on top today.”

Lu Yuhong looked at the wooden cards inside his hand and smiled, whispering to Chu Lan, “How interesting, actually letting the onlookers vote on the winner.”

“A smart choice.” Trulane said.

This type of judging allows the person hosting the competition to not offend anyone, and as a new store, the last thing you can do is offend anyone.

Lu Yuhong smiled and asked Chu Lan, “If I don’t vote for you, will I be able to go back tonight?”

Chu Lan: “Then you have to think clearly.”

Lu Yuhong: “No, I thought you were just playing around, how come you still have a sense of victory and defeat?”

Trulane: “It does seem a bit more interesting than I thought.”

Lu Yuhong: “I told you this store was interesting!”

The polls are open.

Spectators with wooden signs cast their handfuls of votes.

Unsurprisingly, Wei Yichen and Chu Lan had the highest number of wooden plaques hanging above their works, far ahead of the others.

Wei Qingwan also got a wooden sign, she knew that her wooden sign was definitely going to be voted for her big brother, but before hanging it up, she couldn’t help but look at Chu Lan twice.

I wonder who will win between this gentleman and Big Brother.

Unfortunately, Chu Lan was talking to Lu Yuhong and didn’t notice the concerned gaze cast by the beauty.

Wei Ruo also got a piece, and she quickly hung the wooden sign on the hook above Wei Yi Chen’s work before running away again at light speed.

The voting was over and the shopkeeper counted all the wooden tiles in front of the crowd.

Everyone else’s had only three or five votes, nothing to see here, and it was Wei Yichen’s and Chu Lan’s that got the most attention.

Twenty wooden plaques were counted out on the hooks above Chulan’s work.

Twenty-one wooden plaques were counted out on the hooks above Wei Eichen’s work.

Wei Yichen narrowly won by just one vote.

The shopkeeper smiled and said to Chu Lan, “This gentleman, I’m sorry, I’m one short, I’m going to sentence you to lose, do you have any objections?”

“No.” Chu Lan replied, “Since I’m participating in your competition, I have to abide by your rules, and you have no problem with this process.”

“Well then, then I will announce that the one who came out on top today is this male in white.”

Boss Jia smiled as he looked at Wei Yi Chen.

Wei Yi Chen walked to Chu Lan’s front and made a bow, “Thank you, sir, today I was able to narrowly beat you, largely because my two younger sisters were also assigned wooden tiles, if not, the one who won should be you.”

“Losing is losing, you have a sister and I have a close friend here, there’s nothing to say.” Not only did Chu Lan not get angry, he seemed to be in a good mood, with a shallow smile at the corner of his mouth.

There was something more interesting to him than the hidden forest dweller’s ink.

Wei Yi Chen nodded, so he didn’t say anything.

The shopkeeper put the scroll containing the paintings of the hidden forest dweller into a wooden box and handed it to Wei Yi Chen.

Then announced, “The paper you used in the party, the store is available for sale, if you need it, you can enter the store to buy it, each person is limited to fifty sheets per day, the number is limited, while stocks last.”

Just participated in the competition a group of students have already used the four treasures Zhai’s paper and pen, pen and ink are general, and elsewhere there is not much difference, but this paper is very different.

It’s a little more expensive than elsewhere, but the quality is so much better.

And the price is acceptable to people with a good family.

As soon as they heard that the purchase was limited and the quantity was limited, people immediately crowded into the store. They were afraid that they would not be able to buy it if they were late.

Not long after the Sibaozhai’s doorway formed a long line, the scene is very lively.

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

It can be seen that the bad times are still the bottom of the old people, those who can support a scholar’s family, or can afford to take out the silver to buy a good pen, ink, paper and inkstone.

Wei Yi Chen also told the boy to get in line and buy some more for himself.

Not a moment later, Jia shopkeeper announced that today’s copy of the paper has been sold out, if there is a need can only wait until tomorrow to come again.

Those who didn’t get one showed disappointment when they learned it was sold out.

As the crowd dispersed, Wei Qingwan was still in the midst of the crowd, looking around, subconsciously searching for the figure of the noble gentleman from earlier.

Wei Yi Chen pulled her back, “Wan Wan, what are you looking at?”

“I …… I’m looking for my sister ……”

Wei Yi Chen looked around and really didn’t find Wei Ruo’s figure.

Wei Ruo had already walked away long ago when the competition ended, going to other nearby stores to hang out.

Wei Yi-chen found Wei Ruo in a dried fruit store on the street.

Wei Ruo had just finished buying several large bags of dried fruit and was ready to return.

Looking at the things Wei Ruo bought, Wei Yi Chen took a look and thought it was a bit much, but instead of criticizing Wei Ruo, he said, “Sister originally likes to eat dried fruit, next time I’ll bring it to you, you don’t need to stock up on so much at one time, it won’t be fresh after it’s been set aside for a long time.”

Wei Yi Chen thought it was Wei Ruo go out less, rare today have the opportunity to come out, buy so much may be afraid of the back no opportunity to come out to buy.

Wei Ruo smiled, didn’t agree or retort, and followed Wei Yi Chen back to his family.

Wei Yi Chen asked Wei Ming Ting, “Father, that gentleman just now looked like he had an extraordinary status, does father know who he is?”