Fellow Daoist! That scoundrel has written a new book again.

Chapter 495 Seeing is Believing

Day two.

Zhu Wuyao rarely opens the courtyard gates wide.

She ground the ink, took up her brush, and wrote several large characters, which she then hung in the courtyard to dry.

The banner that read "The fortune teller of the Jianghu, one coin per divination" was hanging next to the table, seemingly unnoticed. It appeared that the blind fortune teller hadn't set up his stall but was instead at home reciting poetry and practicing calligraphy.

At noon.

Someone is passing by.

This man, named Shang Qi, was a merchant who had come to this remote place to buy furs from hunters. As anyone who has traveled far and wide knows, if you want to get good stuff, you have to go to the hunter's house and pick it out yourself.

After the secondhand market, all the good stuff gets shelved.

Not only furs, but also rare stones and wood carvings—you have to be there in person to find the best ones.

He and a few of his men were planning to return to Changxiao Town as soon as possible.

However, they passed by Zhu Wuyao's courtyard gate.

I glanced inside—whoa! A reclusive scholar?

Shang Qi has a keen eye; he is not only good at identifying furs, rare stones, and wood carvings, but he is also quite knowledgeable about calligraphy and painting.

He narrowed his eyes, stood outside the courtyard and stopped, examining the calligraphy hanging in the courtyard. These characters... had a good structure, and the brushstrokes were bold and imposing.

But for some reason, I always feel that the strokes are a bit off.

It seems that he has lofty aspirations but lacks the ability to back them up.

The wind blew.

As the drooping scroll swayed, revealing the writer's true face, Shang Qi's eyes widened.

The author is actually blind?!

Shang Qi became interested.

He stepped forward, gently knocked on the wooden door, and called out, "Miss, may I come into the courtyard for a chat?"

Invited by the person holding the pen, Shang Qi entered the courtyard to observe closely and chatted for a while. He felt as if a gentle breeze was blowing, and realized that the person holding the pen had quite a few writings in mind.

Hearing Shang Qi's praise, Zhu Wuyao seemed unwilling to believe it, shaking his head and saying:

"That's too kind of you."

"Others have said that my handwriting is quite good, but..." Zhu Wuyao pointed to his eyes with a hint of helplessness and continued:

"But I have never seen it."

"Many things are best left unsaid, Young Master Shang. Even if you praise my writing to the skies, I still won't believe it."

"I only flatter you because you think I'm blind."

Shang Qi opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something.

But then I thought of my own business philosophy—I have to see for myself and go to the actual place to see for myself before I can believe that I haven't been fooled.

Just as Shang Qi was at a loss for words, unsure how to console the refined gentleman, he suddenly noticed the banner hanging beside the table—

"A legendary fortune teller, one coin for each divination."

Because of a good first impression, Shang Qi didn't think this Miss Wu was a fraud. Instead, he became quite interested and changed the subject, asking:

"Miss Wu can tell fortunes?"

Zhu Wuyao put down his pen and smiled, "Indeed, I have some understanding of it."

For a single penny, you won't lose out or be cheated.

Shang Qi immediately said:

"I wonder if I, Shang, might have the honor of obtaining a divination?"

"Then it depends on whether Young Master Shang can afford this one coin."

Shang Qi handed over a coin, also curious about how this blind scholar would perform the divination.

Unexpectedly, Miss Wu did not ask him for his birth date or make any divinations. Instead, she took something from a wooden box next to her.

It's a small wooden plaque that I carved myself.

The handwriting above is exactly the same as that on the Xuan paper in the courtyard, but it is even more vigorous and powerful. The four characters are: "Seeing is believing".

Based on his long-held business principles and his recent conversation with the young woman, upon suddenly seeing those four words, Shang Qi almost thought—

This wooden sign is waiting for me.

Zhu Wuyao laughed and asked, "Is it worth a single coin?"

Just as Shang Qi was about to say something, someone suddenly burst in from outside and shouted:

"Boss Shang, I've finally found you!"

"Boss Liu is still waiting for you. She said that if you don't go over and talk to her in person, but just send those people to talk to her in circles, the business will not be done. Why are you still wasting your time here?"

"She's the kind of person who won't act until she sees the benefits. She said that if she doesn't see you and the tangible profits, the deal isn't believable; she has to see it for herself!"

Shang Qi exclaimed "Ouch!" before remembering that he had to hurry back to Changxiao Town.

Unexpectedly, I ended up chatting with this Ms. Wu for a long time here, which delayed my important business.

He quickly said to Miss Wu:

"I've made a profit by exchanging this wooden plaque for a single coin, but I have urgent business to attend to now. I'll take my leave now, if we have the chance to meet again another day."

After saying that, he hurriedly walked out.

The figure disappeared from Zhu Wuyao's divine sense.

She turned her head to the side and naturally noticed that there was a curious little girl peeking into the yard from outside the door.

He seemed quite interested in the large characters that filled the courtyard.

Zhu Wuyao knew her; she was a little girl from her neighbor's family, whose family was poor and could not afford to send her to school.

Let alone going to school, even basic necessities like food and clothing were a problem.

Zhu Wuyao pretended not to know anything, walked forward on his own, and closed the courtyard gate.

The spirit pen's voice resounded in my consciousness, saying:

"The future of Wuyuko was already decided the moment you handed over the wooden plaque!"

"How does it feel? The thrill of turning the tables and becoming the one holding the pieces?"

Zhu Wuyao sighed:

"If it weren't for this, I wouldn't have known that Gu Lang and Luo Budao were looking for me."

"This is a good opportunity to slow down the two of them's schedule."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"The challenge has been sent out?"

In the Qingzhai Bookstore, Wu Cang asked a question.

The young man opposite him nodded hurriedly and said, "Now, everyone knows that I, Wuyuzi, have issued a challenge to Mohen Bookstore!"

The release date for Wuyu's new book has been set for fifteen days from now.

Therefore, Qingzhai Anthology also set the release date of Wuyuzi's new book for fifteen days later.

At that time, Qingzhai Wenji will take the lead in organizing a book review meeting, and sincerely invite everyone in Beixuan City to vote. This grand event has rented a venue for various activities, which can accommodate many people.

Let's see who has more votes: Wuyu from Mohen Bookstore or Wuyuzi from Qingzhai Collection.

However—over the past few days, Mohen Bookstore has still not produced any evidence.

It cannot be confirmed whether the current silence is the same as the silence of the past, or a fake silence used to deceive people.

This matter is extremely detrimental to Mohen Bookstore.

At first, the crowd didn't believe it, but they still supported Ink Trace Bookstore, only saying—

"Compare the original manuscript that Wuyu wrote back then with the manuscript of his new book now. Use the handwriting as proof, and don't let that kid jump around like that!"

The people's demands are reasonable.

But Li Fuwei and others had no way to express their grievances.

Zhu Wuyao's handwriting was once used to post missing person notices throughout the streets and alleys of Beixuan City. Using handwriting to prove one's identity is tantamount to revealing one's identity.

This kind of cover-up behavior is extremely dissatisfying.

Everyone was well aware of this; revealing the handwriting risked exposing Wuyu's true identity.

But what if revealing Wuyu's true identity is what everyone wants?

Under the deliberate instigation of Qingzhai Wenji, everyone was forcing Mohen Shufang to reveal the truth—whether it was proving that Wuyu was forced to stop writing, or finally revealing Wuyu's true identity, it was all acceptable.

Fanatical people don't care.