Chapter 54: Writing Like Flying Dragons and Scurrying Snakes

"Yo!"

"Good, good, good!"

"This inkstone is quite something!"

Taking advantage of a break after work, Zhang Yuan was leading several young women on a stroll around the film set.

Despite being located in the suburbs with inconvenient shopping and living conditions, the scenery was truly magnificent; otherwise, the crew wouldn't have chosen this place as an exterior location.

Accompanied by beautiful women, it was incredibly pleasant. He truly felt the carefree freedom of an ancient hero wandering the world with his lady—the vastness of heaven and earth reflecting a broad and open mind.

As he was wandering, he saw a group of people gathered around a table. Among them were two directors and the "middle-aged iron triangle."

Hearing their bursts of applause, Zhang Yuan and the others squeezed their way in.

Before them sat a large wooden table covered with a massive piece of wool felt.

What were they doing?

Calligraphy.

Zhang Yuan wasn't an expert, but having worked on the set of *The Story of a Noble Family*, he had reaped quite a few basic calligraphy attribute points from Wang Bozhao. At a glance, he could tell the felt was of top-tier material and wasn't cheap.

And what everyone was praising was an inkstone.

"Tie Lin, this is a Duan stone inkstone, isn't it? It looks like it has some history," Wang Gang, who had a keen interest in collecting, leaned in, observing closely with his bulging eyes.

"Hmph!" Zhang Tie Lin puffed out his chest, looking exactly like his usual emperor persona from his TV dramas, and raised his head arrogantly.

"This was used by Taiping Laoren."

Yu Youren, known by the pseudonym Taiping Laoren, was a master of modern Chinese calligraphy.

Before Old Master Yu, Chinese cursive calligraphy was generally divided into three types: "Zhangcao," "Jincao," and "Kuangcao." However, the old gentleman, being well-versed in both ancient and modern styles, combined their strengths to create a fourth type—the "Standard Cursive" most common today. He made it easy to understand, easy to read, and easy to learn, making a massive contribution to the advancement of calligraphy.

But what Zhang Yuan didn't understand was: Taiping Laoren was indeed impressive, but why were you acting so high and mighty just because you're holding his inkstone?

It's not an enchanted weapon with a soul ring; writing with it isn't going to let Old Master Yu possess your body.

Brush, ink, paper, inkstone—Zhang Tie Lin pulled out his tools one by one, drawing waves of gasps. Everything was high quality, with pedigree and value.

Curious, Zhang Yuan turned to Yang Tao.

"Director Yang, is this a calligraphy convention?"

"The crew needs it," Yang Tao explained patiently when he saw Zhang Yuan was asking him.

He wasn't lying; the film actually required it.

In *The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber*, there is a scene that is considered a classic.

When Xie Xun first appears, Zhang Cuishan, knowing he is no match, still proposes a duel and wins through his wits.

This is the moment where the Golden Lion King's martial arts are peerless, yet inferior to the "Iron Pen Writing" of the Five Heroes.

Zhang Cuishan uses a Judge's Pen to write twenty-four large characters on a stone wall: *"The supreme of the martial arts world, the precious Dragon Slaying Saber, commands the world, and none dare disobey. Until the Heaven Sword emerges, who can contend with it?"*

If this scene were filmed using traditional wuxia methods, they would have the actors swinging on wires in front of a large rock, setting off some pyrotechnics, and then cutting to a shot of a pre-carved stone.

But Lai Shuiqing had filmed the old version and thought that since it was the new century, they needed something fresh, so he planned to use special effects.

His idea was to have Su Youpeng dancing gracefully before the mountain rock with sword qi, and then, much like a Hollywood hero who "never looks back at explosions," he would turn around immediately after finishing the writing, causing the rock to crumble and reveal the characters.

The idea sounded great, but special effects can't just appear out of thin air; they need a template, especially for large characters on a rock.

So, they thought of finding someone skilled in calligraphy to write a sample for the post-production team.

Zhang Tie Lin loved showing off, so as soon as he heard about it, he rushed to the front.

*It has to be me!*

And thus, we have today's scene.

Zhang Tie Lin indeed knew calligraphy; he was a member of the China International Calligraphy Association and would even become its vice chairman a few years later.

However, with this "International Calligraphy Association," the important word wasn't "Calligraphy," but "International"...

With a flourish of his arm, Zhang Tie Lin's brush moved like dragons and snakes, splashing ink with vigor. In an instant, a large-scale piece of calligraphy was completed.

"Come, everyone, appreciate it! Hahaha!" He was quite self-satisfied, laughing loudly at his own work.

The surrounding crowd, however, fell into silence. They were as quiet as people visiting a hospital to congratulate a relative on a healthy baby, only to find out two Chinese parents had produced a dark-skinned child. Not a single word was spoken; they could only offer awkward yet polite smiles.

Zhang Yuan was also stunned. How should he describe these characters... they were "unique."

The style was like the neighbor of Uncle Ben Shan, Mr. Wu, walking after suffering a stroke—constantly veering off in one direction!

Then again, "the handwriting reflects the person." If the heart is crooked, how can the characters be straight?

*Clap, clap, clap...* Yang Tao was a man of the scene. After the initial shock, he immediately took the lead in applauding, and the other onlookers, including Zhang Yuan, followed suit.

Zhang Yuan looked at the expensive brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones on the table and thought to himself that they were truly wasting a bunch of fine things.

"Is this what they mean by 'the poor student has the most stationery'?"

He said it softly, but it was overheard by Chen Zihan, Lin Jing, and Gao Yuanyuan behind him.

The three of them were dying of laughter but didn't dare make a sound.

As for how good Zhang Tie Lin's calligraphy actually was, it could only be described as mediocre.

However, his writing had once sold for a high price of 100,000 yuan, simply because back then, he was the Dean of the Art Academy at Jinan University.

Just as the handwriting of many ancient eunuchs could sell for thousands of taels of silver—was it because the writing was good, or were they buying the status?

"Director Yang, given our relationship, I'll give you a friendship price: one thousand per character!" Zhang Tie Lin shook his head rhythmically, quite self-satisfied. One had to admit he was perfect for playing Emperor Qianlong.

He truly had the aura of a "stamping fanatic."

Yang Tao was cursing him inwardly—*this junk is going to cost me over twenty thousand*—but his face maintained a smile.

"Ah, Zhang Yuan, you're here too!" Zhang Tie Lin spotted him at once.

"You mentioned the other day while eating that you liked calligraphy and wanted some guidance. Today is a perfect opportunity; I'll give you some pointers."

Zhang Yuan pointed to himself: "That wouldn't be appropriate."

"It's very appropriate! You must cherish this opportunity." Zhang Tie Lin looked at his own work and thought about the tens of thousands he could earn, feeling in high spirits.

*I gave you a few compliments and you actually took it seriously...* Zhang Yuan complained in his heart.

After several refusals, he was still pulled to the table.

Zhang Yuan scratched his head and picked a brush from the table. As his palm brushed past the expensive brush Zhang Tie Lin had just used, the other man's lip twitched.

*Such a stingy little brat...*

He picked up a sturdy wolf-hair brush, soaked it thoroughly in ink, and smoothed it against the edge of the inkstone to wipe away the excess.

He lifted the brush to proceed, but before he even started writing, Wang Gang nearby raised an eyebrow.

"Yo, quite a stance."

The grip, the pressure, the hook, the structure, the support—the distribution of the five fingers was firm yet supple. In one word: steady.

Then there was the posture.

Head straight, body upright, arms open, feet planted, calm and composed.

Even the layperson Chen Zihan noticed it.

"Look, Zhang Yuan's state is so stable. It's completely different from his usual temperament."

Gao Yuanyuan came from an intellectual family. She wasn't skilled in calligraphy, but she had seen her parents and friends write.

The feeling Zhang Yuan gave her now was clearly more composed than anyone else's writing posture, which made her very curious; her large eyes scanned him up and down.

The reason was that in his stance, Zhang Yuan utilized certain secrets of maintaining body center of gravity from the Natural Gate's "Inner Circle Hand" and "Crow Step" basic skills.

Calligraphy and martial arts are both part of national studies; they share commonalities.

Zhang Yuan dropped the brush, applying force from his wrist. The tip of the brush was like a blue dragon entering the sea, roaming freely across the rice paper.

Unlike Zhang Tie Lin's flamboyant and ostentatious style, Zhang Yuan made no grand movements, nor did he display wild, unrestrained energy. Instead, he was as still as water and as serene as a gentle breeze.

"Jingjing, Zhang Yuan has practiced!" Gao Yuanyuan leaned close to Lin Jing's ear and whispered.

"How can you tell?" Lin Jing didn't understand.

"Look at his arm and wrist. All the power comes from the wrist; his arm is completely motionless, as if the elbow joint is welded in place."

"And look at his grip. As the brush moves, it stays almost perfectly perpendicular to the paper."

"Zhang Yuan is writing Regular Script. Regular Script is also called 'Correct Script,' and the most important thing is the concept of being 'correct' and 'upright'."

Gao Yuanyuan tilted her head. She never expected that the usually carefree and lively Zhang Yuan had such a dignified and upright side.

The brush moved like dragons and snakes. After finishing the vertical stroke of the final character, "Feng," Zhang Yuan retracted his momentum like a blade, without a hint of hesitation or messiness.

He gently placed the brush on the brush rest and blew lightly on the paper.

"Teacher Tie Lin, please advise."

Zhang Tie Lin crossed his arms, habitually blinking rapidly, and pursed his lips in silence.

After several seconds, he finally spoke.

"The characters are quite disciplined, but they look more like the work of a student. They lack spiritual vitality and aren't quite elegant enough."

"There is no prominent personal style; it's a bit too mechanical."

"Zhang Yuan, you need to be more heroic!"

"When we men write, we must have dominance!"

Hearing the words "men" and "dominance," the girls who had seen him stick his tongue out just two days ago almost lost their composure.

Zhang Yuan nodded worldly and wise from time to time, just like most people do when being lectured by a superior.

Smiling on the outside, cursing on the inside.

Just as Zhang Tie Lin was talking grandly about his calligraphy philosophy, a bald head poked through the crowd. Seeing the writing on the table, the newcomer nodded with a smile and spoke.

"Teacher Tie Lin, this Regular Script of yours is quite well-written."

*Thud!*

Zhang Tie Lin's face dropped instantly.

*Is this even mine?!*

He turned around to snap back, but upon seeing the newcomer, he helplessly lowered his head...