"Nonsense, as if you could have seen Mr. Fang's calligraphy and ink treasures?" Yu Hongying was displeased, her eyes looking down on Wan Yunting with disdain. She scoffed, "Mr. Fang is a contemporary calligraphy master in our Lingnan Province. How can someone like you, a nobody, expect to see his calligraphy and ink treasures? Do you even deserve it?"
"Aunt Yu, don't look down on people," Jiang Peipei said, unhappy with the remark. "Actually, Yun Ting and I are both Uncle Fang's daughters..."
"Xiao Wan!" Suddenly, a surprised voice called from outside the private room. The person was Fang Guowen, who was having dinner with his friends at Deyue Lou. As he passed by this private room, the door was not fully closed, and upon seeing Wan Yunting inside, Fang Guowen entered with a joyous expression and said with a smile, "Xiao Wan, it's really you."
Wan Yunting turned his head, surprised to see Fang Guowen enter. He smiled and said, "Uncle Fang, you're dining here too."
"Yes," Fang Guowen said, holding a folding fan. He gestured to his friends outside, "I'm here to drink with friends tonight. I happened to run into you, so I came in to say hello."
"So that's how it is." Wan Yunting also smiled and nodded slightly to Fang Guowen and his friends from the literary circles outside.
"You, you're Mr. Fang Guowen!" However, Jiang Kangping beside them stared at Fang Guowen with shock, almost in disbelief. Wang Mingye and Yu Hongying, along with their son Wang Teng, had never met Fang Guowen in person. But hearing Jiang Kangping's surprised exclamation and recognizing the man who had come to greet Wan Yunting as Fang Guowen, Wang Teng's family was stunned into a daze.
"Xiao Wan, who are these people?" Fang Guowen naturally didn't know Jiang Kangping and his wife, nor Wang Mingye and his wife. However, Wan Yunting felt a bit awkward. After all, he was attending this dinner as Jiang Peipei's boyfriend, and he hadn't expected to run into Fang Guowen. Fang Guowen and his associates were aware of his relationship with Fang Yanxi!
"Uncle Fang, do you remember me?" Jiang Peipei then pointed to herself and smiled at Fang Guowen, saying, "Yanxi and I are university classmates. I even visited your house once during university."
"University classmates?" Fang Guowen asked, perplexed. He certainly didn't remember Jiang Peipei. He said, "So, you and Xiao Wan are both Yanxi's university classmates."
"Yes," Jiang Peipei nodded, then immediately pointed to her parents and smiled, "These are my parents."
"Hello..." Hearing this, Fang Guowen politely nodded and greeted Jiang Kangping and his wife. Jiang Kangping and Luo Wenyu quickly returned the greeting, "Hello, Mr. Fang. We are so honored to meet you tonight."
This scene left Wang Mingye, Yu Hongying, and Wang Teng beside them looking surprised and more confused. From what they could see, the person before them was indeed the famous calligraphy master Fang Guowen of Huadu City. However, his relationship with Jiang Peipei's so-called boyfriend seemed quite unusual!
"Eh, what is this calligraphy..." At this moment, Fang Guowen noticed the long scroll of calligraphy placed on the table and couldn't help but step forward to examine it closely. Upon seeing the small inscription of his name and the seal, his brow furrowed, and a look of confusion crossed his face. He said, "I don't recall writing this. Where did it come from?"
"Ah, you haven't written it?" Jiang Kangping was shocked by this remark. Wang Mingye, Yu Hongying, and Wang Teng were even more bewildered.
Fang Guowen nodded, tapping the calligraphy with his folding fan. He seemed to realize that someone had imitated his style. "That's right, this was definitely not written by me. Someone imitated my writing style."
"I can't believe those shameless people have stooped to imitating me!" Seeing Fang Guowen's slight anger, Wan Yunting smiled and said, "Uncle Fang, it just shows you're famous."
Teased by him, Fang Guowen chuckled, "Xiao Wan, stop teasing me. If anyone's famous in Huadu City right now, it's you, Wan Yunting. By the way, next month is the National Calligraphy Orchid Pavilion Competition. I've registered you for it. You must participate then."
"Alright, if I have time then, I will," Wan Yunting replied with a smile. Meanwhile, Wang Mingye, Yu Hongying, and Wang Teng's expressions were uncertain. Jiang Kangping also didn't expect this calligraphy to be a forgery and not Fang Guowen's authentic work. "Mr. Fang, is this calligraphy truly not your own handwriting?"
Returning to the topic, Fang Guowen nodded and said, "Correct, this calligraphy was definitely not written by me. After all, every work I release has my seal, and the cursive style here, although it imitates my brushstrokes very closely, doesn't quite capture the essence of my technique in some places. Therefore, this is a forgery by someone imitating me."
"By the way, how did you get this calligraphy?" This question left Wang Mingye, Yu Hongying, and Wang Teng's families with a sense of dread, realizing that this calligraphy was indeed not Fang Guowen's original work.
"Who did you buy it from?" Fang Guowen's eyes widened, and he said sternly, "There have been some people in Huadu City lately who specialize in imitating others' calligraphy and passing off fakes to deceive people. In such cases, you must report it to the police."
At this moment, Wan Yunting, Jiang Peipei, and Jiang Kangping's couple's gazes all fell on Wang Teng's family. Their faces turned extremely pale, even filled with embarrassment. They had spent hundreds of thousands to buy this calligraphy, intending to give it to Jiang Kangping to facilitate the engagement. Now, Wang Teng had been deceived into buying a fake calligraphy treasure, and the author had appeared in person to declare it a forgery. How could the three members of the Wang family not be so embarrassed that they wanted to disappear into a mouse hole?
"Wang Teng, you really have too much money. Hurry up and say who you bought this calligraphy from. Report it to the police now, and perhaps you can even get your money back," Jiang Peipei said with contempt, coldly taunting Wang Teng. This made Wang Teng's face even more ashen. He couldn't utter a word, and neither could his parents; it was utterly humiliating.
Wan Yunting smiled and then said to Fang Guowen, "Uncle Fang, aren't you going to have dinner with your friends? Don't keep them waiting."
"Well, you can come over to my place later, and we'll have a few drinks with the old man." Fang Guowen seemed to find the situation somewhat complicated. Hearing Wan Yunting's suggestion, he didn't linger. After greeting Jiang Kangping and the others, he left.
"Xiao Teng, quickly put it away." Wang Mingye felt utterly disgraced. He couldn't believe his son had been deceived into buying a calligraphy treasure to give to Jiang Kangping; it was too embarrassing. Wang Teng could only quickly pack away the long calligraphy scroll and toss it under the table. His face was grim, and he resolved to find the person who sold him the calligraphy and settle the score.
"Ahem, let's eat, everyone." Jiang Kangping knew that the Wang family trio was embarrassed and quickly changed the subject.
"Yes, yes, let's eat quickly, or the food will get cold..." Yu Hongying also said with a smile, but her smile was more forced than tears.
"Come, Old Jiang, let's open this bottle of wine." Wang Mingye directly opened the 30,000 yuan Moutai and poured it for Jiang Kangping and the others. Jiang Peipei also reached for the Moutai bottle and poured for Wan Yunting, smiling, "A bottle of wine worth thirty thousand yuan, we must try it."
"Mhm, drink more," Yu Hongying said, glancing at Wan Yunting and Jiang Peipei with resentful eyes, gritting her teeth.
Jiang Kangping and Wang Mingye clinked glasses and smacked their lips, savoring the 30,000 yuan Moutai. It seemed no different from ordinary wine. Wan Yunting also picked up his wine glass and took a sip. He immediately sensed something was off with the wine. A smile then curved his lips, and he put the glass down.
"What's wrong?" Jiang Peipei turned to look at him. Wan Yunting smiled at her and whispered, "Fake wine!"