Chapter 231: Chapter 231

"Little girl, can he really write and paint without looking at the paper?" a middle-aged man curiously touched his chin and asked.

He glanced at Prince Luling, then at the paper.

Li Yuzhu nodded, "Yes, the size of a palm for one character costs one coin, and a painting to hang in the central hall is thirty coins per piece. Would you like a few characters, or perhaps a painting?" Read complete version only at novel[f]ire.net

The middle-aged man was dressed quite elegantly, wearing a green gauze hat, and had a fair and clean look, resembling a scholar.

"Alright, write me a few characters," the middle-aged man casually said four words, "Diligence can make up for clumsiness, just those four words, write them well for me."

Prince Luling dipped the brush in some ink and began to write with flair.

The four characters, each the size of a palm, were completed in one go.

The handwriting was vigorous and strong.

Especially the vertical strokes, which hung down like a sword.

And the slanting stroke was like the sword hanging at a general’s waist.

Though they were characters, they looked like a painting.

Even a few old farmers who couldn’t read applauded enthusiastically.

The middle-aged man nodded repeatedly, "Good characters."

Li Yuzhu took the characters, blew on the ink, and handed them to the middle-aged man, "Uncle, four coins."

The middle-aged man happily paid four coins and took the calligraphy away.

"Write a few characters for me too," another man said loudly, "Just write... ’Make money every day.’

A few people burst into laughter.

Li Yuzhu laughed and said, "Alright, ’Make money every day.’

Someone jokingly said, "Qin Laosan, if you hang this, you’ll make money every day, right?"

"Not really, but it will remind me to make money every day," the man said, lifting his chin.

This man dressed in a slick and disreputable way, clearly a gambler from the village, hence everyone laughed at him for dreaming of wealth.

Prince Luling quickly wrote the four characters, "Make money every day."

This time, the characters were even more imposing.

The man couldn’t read, so he asked everyone, "Does this say ’Make money every day’?"

Someone teased, "It says ’Make a fortune every day.’

"Make a fortune every... wait, that’s more characters, you said five words, but there are four here," the man shook his head, "No, no, that’s not right."

Li Yuzhu said, "Uncle, it definitely says ’Make money every day,’ no extra word."

The man paid four coins, took the characters, and snorted at the onlookers, "Hmph, are you bullying me? Just wait till I get rich, you’ll see!"

"Hahaha, well, we’ll wait for you to get rich," everyone laughed together.

A young man carrying baskets came by, requesting a picture of an old man eating peaches.

This was surely a gift for the elderly in their family.

Li Yuzhu smiled, "One and a half feet wide and two and a half feet long paper, thirty coins."

The painting paper needed to be bigger, and painting required time and effort, so it cost more.

However, for Prince Luling, who had been painting and writing since childhood, painting was not a difficult task.

"Fair enough, just paint it well," the young man said.

Li Yuzhu laid out the paper, saying, "Dad, now we need a picture of an old man eating peaches."

Prince Luling thought for a moment with the brush in hand, then began to paint.

In just the time of half a bowl of tea, a picture of a broad-foreheaded, long-bearded, big-bellied old man eating peaches was completed.

Though it was an impressionistic ink painting, it captured the happiness of the old man eating peaches.

The lines on his forehead and the expression in his eyes were filled with a joyful smile.

The young man was very pleased, "Not bad, not bad, very impressive."

He paid thirty coins and took the painting.

Having seen both the paintings and the calligraphy, the onlookers occasionally called out for a few characters or requested paintings of the three stellar deities of fortune, prosperity, and longevity.

Li Yuzhu laughed and said, "There’s enough for everyone, line up and take turns."

Prince Luling was very pleased as he watched his daughter’s purse grow fuller and fuller. They had earned dozens of coins in no time.

Not bad, not bad, we’ll come again tomorrow.

After writing five sets of characters and drawing two paintings, the crowd began to thin out, giving Prince Luling a moment to rest.

He happily said, "Daughter, today we gained quite a bit."

Li Yuzhu was very proud, "Dad, setting up a stall to paint isn’t that hard, is it?"

"Not hard at all," Prince Luling laughed heartily.

Li Yuzhu then felt the need to relieve herself, she looked around and whispered while holding her stomach, "Dad, I drank too much water this morning, I need to find a toilet. You sit here for a while, I’ll be right back."

There was no one around asking for paintings or writing, so Prince Luling nodded, "Mm, go ahead, the sooner you go, the sooner you’ll be back."

Li Yuzhu then ran off to find a restroom.

Prince Luling sat alone, feeling quite bored, stretching and yawning while rubbing his eyes.

As he rubbed, he accidentally removed the cloth covering his eyes.

He forgot he was pretending to be a blind painter, and casually tossed the cloth onto the table.

The gambler who previously asked for "Make money every day" returned, shaking the paper, "Why is this all smeared? It’s no good, you’ll need to write it again."

Prince Luling glanced at the paper, "Why did you crumple the paper like that? The characters weren’t fully dry, of course, it would smear if you crumple it. The paper shouldn’t be crumpled, it should be rolled ."

He grabbed a sheet of white paper, rolled it up, demonstrating to the gambler.

The man was taken aback, reached out to grab Prince Luling’s collar, "Well, you’re not blind, are you? What are you pretending to be blind for?"

Prince Luling was dumbfounded, oh no, the blindfold had fallen off.

He widened his eyes, pretending to be blind, "I, I, my eyes are blind, I can’t see."

The gambler squinted, let go of him, and began to grab the brushes, ink stone, and ink from the table.

Together these items were worth more than a hundred coins.

Prince Luling, distressed over the loss, fought back for the items.

The gambler shouted, "Ah, you’re not blind! You can see me taking things? Everyone, come here, there’s someone pretending to be blind to scam money!"

With his shout, curious people from the market began to gather around.

Fearing they would hit him, Prince Luling decided to abandon the items, covered his head with his sleeve, and made a run for it.

"Well, he’s running away now that his trick has been exposed? You stop right there!" The gambler rolled up the ink stone and brushes from the table and chased after Prince Luling.

Someone casually took the painting hanging on the wall.

Prince Luling was plump, nowhere near fast enough to outrun the chasing farm boys.

Seeing they were about to catch him, Prince Luling internally lamented his fate—like a tiger fallen to a plain, now bullied by dogs!

At this moment, someone supported him, "Sir, this way, please."

Before he could react, someone pulled him into an alley, and with another flicker of consciousness, he was dragged into a small house.

"All set, no one’s chasing you anymore." The youth who saved him leaned against the door frame, panting.

Slim in build, yet he hadn’t even run much, why was he out of breath even more than Prince Luling? The latter scrutinized his savior.

The young man’s face was pale, lips a purplish hue—one recovering from a serious illness!

"Oh dear, thank you, young benefactor, for saving me. Are you unwell? Let me fetch my daughter, she’s a doctor, she can help you," Prince Luling stepped forward to support the youth.

The young man took a couple of deep breaths and waved his hand, giving a wry smile, "It’s a congenital illness, no doctor can cure it."