It wasn’t long before several young people arrived after Qin Yang.
Among them were Jiang Muxue’s three male cousins.
“Hello. You must be our brother-in-law, Qin Yang.”
“I’m Jiang Haolong, Muxue’s eldest cousin.”
The tall, burly young man at the front extended his hand.
“I’m Qin Yang.”
Qin Yang reached out and shook his hand.
Very quickly, Qin Yang felt a powerful force coming from the other man’s hand.
He wasn’t genuinely trying to shake hands.
He was trying to give Qin Yang a show of strength.
Qin Yang smiled faintly.
He applied force with his right hand as well.
His Constitution was already at 16 points.
Unless the other man was a martial artist, his physical strength should be inferior to Qin Yang’s.
“Hm?”
Jiang Haolong narrowed his eyes.
Qin Yang actually dared to resist?
Jiang Haolong hadn’t been using his full strength at first.
Now that Qin Yang was resisting, he immediately exerted all his strength with his right hand.
“Heh.”
Qin Yang likewise increased his strength.
Jiang Haolong’s expression changed slightly.
He wasn’t a martial artist, but he had practiced martial arts.
His grip was much stronger than that of an ordinary person.
He hadn’t expected Qin Yang’s grip to be no weaker than his own.
“Big Cousin, I didn’t expect you guys to arrive so early too.”
Qin Yang smiled.
He continued increasing the pressure of his grip.
“I know Third Uncle has a wide circle of connections, so we came early to interact with and learn from some of the elders.”
Jiang Haolong’s expression was beginning to change.
Qin Yang’s strength was actually far greater than his.
At this point, Qin Yang’s right hand felt like an iron clamp around his.
“Big Cousin, you’re so hardworking. I really should learn from you.”
Qin Yang smiled.
He increased the pressure again.
Jiang Haolong felt as though his hand was about to be crushed.
“Brother-in-law, we should learn from each other.”
A trace of pain appeared in Jiang Haolong’s eyes.
“Sure.”
Qin Yang nodded with a smile.
Only then did he finally release Jiang Haolong’s hand.
Jiang Haolong silently pulled his hand behind his back.
It was trembling.
If Qin Yang had applied even a little more force, he felt that the bones in his hand might have cracked.
This bastard Qin Yang has such incredible strength.
A trace of fear flashed through Jiang Haolong’s eyes.
“Second Cousin, Third Cousin, let’s shake hands too.”
Qin Yang smiled at the other two cousins.
“Ahem. Having Big Brother represent us is enough. There are so many people here, so shaking hands one by one would be a little troublesome.”
Jiang Muxue’s second cousin, Jiang Haohu, coughed lightly.
Yet after shaking hands with Qin Yang, his brother had been the one to suffer rather than Qin Yang.
If they went up one after another, wouldn’t they simply be asking for trouble?
“Qin Yang, how is your calligraphy?”
“Grandfather likes calligraphy. He often tests us on it.”
Jiang Muxue’s third cousin, Jiang Haoran, spoke.
He was carrying a bag containing brushes, ink, paper, and an inkstone.
His calligraphy was quite good, and he had even won first prize at the city level.
“Calligraphy? It’s all right.”
Qin Yang replied.
Originally, he knew nothing about calligraphy.
But he had now obtained a B-grade Calligraphy Skill, a level that ordinary people might not reach even after twenty or thirty years of practice.
To reach the B-grade level required both talent and hard work, along with frequent guidance from renowned masters.
“Qin Yang, you’re being modest.”
“If you say you’re merely ‘all right,’ then your calligraphy must be excellent.”
“How about we go over there and exchange some pointers?”
“Third Uncle’s calligraphy is pretty good too. We can ask him to give us some guidance.”
Jiang Haoran smiled.
They had only one purpose in coming today:
To make Qin Yang lose face and feel ashamed of himself.
There were many guests invited by Jiang Wancheng today.
Directly confronting Qin Yang wasn’t wise.
“Ahem, Haoran. I’ll give you some pointers another time. There are so many guests today, so I’m afraid I won’t have the time.”
As Jiang Wancheng spoke, he gave Qin Yang a meaningful glance.
“Third Uncle, then you can go about your business.”
“We’ll just write for fun and ask Grandfather to judge us later.”
Jiang Haolong smiled.
He had just suffered a silent defeat during the handshake.
He knew Jiang Haoran’s calligraphy was excellent, and all three of them had practiced calligraphy.
Naturally, he wanted to win back some face through this.
“Third Uncle, we won’t disturb you.”
Jiang Haohu spoke as well.
“President Jiang, it’s still early. Let them write.”
President Wang of Hongyu Group smiled.
“The atmosphere in your Jiang family is quite good. The younger generation gathers together to practice calligraphy. Whenever people from my family gather, all they do is play cards.”
Jiang Wancheng hesitated.
In his opinion, Qin Yang definitely couldn’t compare with Jiang Haoran and the others.
His father loved calligraphy, so all three cousins had studied it.
Jiang Haoran was particularly skilled, while Jiang Haolong and Jiang Haohu were also quite good.
“Uncle Jiang, we’re just writing for fun.”
Qin Yang smiled.
“All right, then.”
Jiang Wancheng nodded.
As long as Qin Yang’s writing wasn’t too poor, it shouldn’t be a problem.
After all, most of the people present weren’t particularly skilled at calligraphy.
Qin Yang followed Jiang Haolong and the others to a table.
Jiang Haoran laid out the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone he had brought.
“Big Brother, will you go first? Second Brother second, me third, and brother-in-law fourth. How does that sound?”
Jiang Haolong flexed his hand.
It was still hurting.
“Normally, as the eldest brother, I would go first. But today’s main character is our brother-in-law, so let him go first. As for the rest of us, the order doesn’t really matter.”
Jiang Haohu smiled.
“How about we add a little wager?”
“The person who writes the worst has to drink three cups of wine later. Nothing too big—just cups of about fifty grams each.”
“Sure.”
Jiang Haolong and Jiang Haoran readily agreed.
“Brother-in-law, are you okay with that?”
Jiang Haohu asked.
Everyone’s eyes fell on Qin Yang.
“Sure.”
Qin Yang smiled and nodded.
Even if he had to drink, what was there to fear?
Even if his alcohol tolerance hadn’t increased, he had his System Space.
The System Space was several hundred cubic meters.
Who could possibly outdrink him?
He could simply send the wine into the System Space after putting it in his mouth!
“Brother-in-law, here.”
Jiang Haoran cheerfully handed Qin Yang the calligraphy brush.
Jiang Wancheng and several others also gathered around.
“What do you usually write?”
Qin Yang asked.
Jiang Haoran replied, “We usually write a poem. If you think that’s too much, you can write just one or two lines. If you think that’s too little, you can write something longer.”
Qin Yang nodded.
He dipped the brush into the ink and began writing:
“In a fury, my hair rises to my crown, Leaning against the railing, I watch the drizzling rain subside. I lift my eyes toward the distant sky, Raise my head and let out a mighty cry, my heart filled with heroic passion. Thirty years of fame are but dust and earth—”
Qin Yang’s brush moved smoothly across the paper.
Each character he wrote was vigorous and powerful, pleasing to the eye.
B-grade calligraphy was already an extraordinarily high level.
If he reached A-grade, he could probably rank among the top ten calligraphers in the entire country.
At his current level, ranking among the top ten in the province would be no problem.
Jiang Haoran had won first prize at the city level, but that had only been compared with other young people who entered the competition.
Qin Yang’s top-ten ranking referred to everyone in the entire province.
The difference in quality was simply enormous.
Before long, Qin Yang calmly finished the entire piece.
“Xiao Qin, your handwriting is incredible!”
“President Jiang, your calligraphy is already very good, but from what I can see, Xiao Qin’s calligraphy may not be any weaker than yours.”
The surrounding people exclaimed in admiration one after another.
Everyone present came from impressive backgrounds.
Even if they didn’t know how to write calligraphy themselves, they still had enough appreciation to recognize good work.
Jiang Wancheng stared at Qin Yang in surprise.
He hadn’t expected Qin Yang to give him such a pleasant surprise.
“My calligraphy isn’t as good as Xiao Qin’s.”
“I never expected Xiao Qin to be this skilled at calligraphy.”
Jiang Wancheng exclaimed in admiration.
Qin Yang smiled.
“Uncle Jiang, you’re flattering me.”
“Big Cousin, who’s going next?”
Jiang Haolong and the others fell silent.
A masterpiece had appeared before them.
Their own work suddenly seemed unbearably ordinary by comparison.
(End of Chapter)