Chapter 170: Chapter 170: Shocking the Audience
Yan Yidan smiled modestly, “Aunt Lu is too kind. May I see your son? If he’s not good-looking, I might not want him.”
Lu Mother: “…”
Old Sir Lu, his face flushing with anger, exclaimed, “Nonsense! Shi Yu, look at the person you’ve brought!”
Lu Mother also felt a bit embarrassed. Hadn’t the Yan Family told her that Yan Yidan was knowledgeable, polite, and understanding?
Why did she act as if she had never seen a man before?
Faced with her sincere eyes,
she chuckled and said, “I’ll point him out to you later.”
Yan Yidan nodded in agreement, “Okay, I’m looking forward to it.”
As for Lu Qingyan’s fiancée, she had never taken her seriously. She probably was no different from the usual pampered noble girl, sitting somewhat bored in her seat.
Until a person took to the stage, clad in a red and white martial arts uniform, with long hair tied high and flowing down her back—none of the beauty of the bright moon above could match her. Even unadorned, her features deeply captured the gaze of the onlookers.
Yan Yidan straightened up in her seat.
“Aunt Lu, is that Jiang Nanshu?”
Lu Mother scornfully replied, “Hmm, nothing but a crowd-pleaser with an empty pretty shell.”
“Oh,” she responded, then comfortably leaned back in her chair, ready to watch Jiang Nanshu’s performance.
At first, no one was particularly interested, until the music started.
The person on the stage made her move, wielding the Soft Sword with ferocity.
The supple tip of the sword created a myriad of sword flowers, her movements precise to the rhythm of the music—the swordplay was aggressive and flamboyant.
And when she kicked the hilt, the sword spun three times in the air before steadily falling back into her hand.
The performance reached its climax.
Cheers erupted in the previously silent venue.
“Holy shit, that’s awesome! Where did this martial arts master come from?!”
“Mommy, she must’ve had decades of martial arts training to dare to do that! My heart leaped when that sword flew up!”
“Ah, so cool, so cool, I need this missy’s contact information in a minute! It’s too incredible, please let her star in action movies, the fight scenes would be fascinating!”
The noise from the audience was unceasing.
There were those who’d come just to spectate, as well as Su Ran’s fans; even Jiang Yunchuan and Jiang Zhouye were shocked.
Chu Muxi, who had anticipated seeing her make a fool of herself, had her smile stiffen.
Jiang Nanshu could sword dance?
How come her movements were so impressive?
She comforted herself; surely, Jiang Nanshu had practiced for a long time just for this moment and wasn’t truly that outstanding.
Jiang Leyi’s eyes were filled with pride, yeah, her sister was truly talented.
Director Wen, who had been reclining casually, now sat up straight, his hands trembling slightly with excitement.
This was the most beautiful martial arts performance he had ever seen.
The commotion below didn’t affect Jiang Nanshu at all.
She stepped to the beat of the song, pointing the sword’s tip directly at the ink.
Then she started splashing ink onto the large blank piece of paper with the sword’s tip.
Like a spirited entity, the tip moved as if a brush in her hand, forming an image on the paper as she manipulated it.
The sharp tip didn’t pierce the paper at all.
Her speed was so rapid that the audience could only see the afterimage of the sword’s tip.
In just tens of seconds, the outline of a painting emerged.
For the final touches, she used a brush, and under her guidance, a painting seemingly came to life.
The audience was stunned.
They had seen sword dancing but had never seen painting with a sword, and done so exquisitely!
As Jiang Nanshu completed her final stroke, the front scroll of the “Rich Spring Mountain Residence Painting” was finished, and she inscribed the words: Graceful as a startled swan, supple as a gliding dragon. Glory of autumn chrysanthemums, vigor of spring pine.
In the style of Zhao Mengfu.
Filled with ancient charm.
Jiang Nanshu took a breath, placed the sword on her back, and bowed to the hushed crowd below, “Please excuse my humble skills.”
Director Wen stood up immediately; if the venue hadn’t been so crowded, he would have dashed up to the stage to stop Jiang Nanshu from leaving.
His film needed a lot of such ancient paintings and calligraphy.
Real ones couldn’t be borrowed from museums; fakes didn’t satisfy him as they dishonored his work, his replicas lacked spirit. But Jiang Nanshu’s stunning painting matched her inscriptions, naturally fluid, vibrant, and radiant, like the rising sun in a clear morning sky, so beautiful it rendered people speechless.
Standing up with Director Wen was another old man.
He looked surprised and delighted, as if he had just spotted a treasure.
“Young lady, wait a moment!”
Jiang Nanshu was about to leave when the old man had already made his way to the stage, his face flushed with extreme excitement: “I am the President of the Hua Country Calligraphy Association, and I would like to invite you to join us.”
Jiang Nanshu thought about it, but she had never heard of it. Her goal this time was Director Wen, so she declined directly: “Sorry, I’m not joining.”
Director Wen jumped up, cursing with anger: “Old Man Zhong, how dare you compete with me for people! What’s so good about your shabby association, nothing but a bunch of old men.” Then he looked anxiously at Jiang Nanshu: “Young lady, would you like to join my crew? My crew is short a martial arts director and a master skilled in calligraphy. We can talk about the salary, just as long as you come.”
What had been a normal performance space had turned into a battle between two old men for recruits.
Everyone was stunned.
Director Wen’s status in the entertainment industry was well-known to all stars; acting in his movies was a sure ticket to fame!
As for this Zhong Kai, who claimed to be the President of the Hua Country Calligraphy Association, he was a legendary figure.
He had countless disciples under his tutelage, each with extraordinary achievements, and he knew countless big shots in politics and business.
To be personally offered an olive branch by him meant a carefree future for the recipient.
This was truly an unexpected joy.
Jiang Nanshu had been planning to bargain for a lower condition to make Director Wen agree to a term, but now there was an additional old man vying for her.
Zhong Kai countered resentfully: “As long as you join our association, I will take you as my disciple!”
Director Wen scoffed: “The young lady obviously paints better than you, right? To be your disciple would be a waste of her talent. How about this, come to my crew, and I’ll give you the role of the second female lead! I’ll make you a star! I mean what I say.”
“My goodness, you old coot, playing so big…” Zhong Kai hadn’t expected Director Wen to go this far, so he clenched his teeth and said directly: “As long as you come, I will take you as a teacher, how about that!”
The music in the venue had been turned off.
The only thing left was the quarrel between the two old men.
A female lead role in a drama given just like that? No auditions and it’s offered right away?
And another highly respected and famous figure in the calligraphy world was actually willing to take Jiang Nanshu, this girl who had painted a subpar painting, as his teacher?!
Had the world gone mad, or had they?
Please forgive them for really not seeing anything special about this painting, other than the fact that it was indeed very well executed and lifelike.
Jiang Nanshu stood on stage, smiling as she watched the two men: “I’ll think about it.”
After saying that, she walked away without any hesitation.
The two men: “Hey! Let’s talk some more… we can still raise the offer.”
In the end, Zhong Kai went up on stage and took away Jiang Nanshu’s painting.
They simply did not understand the significance of this painting; it was not done with a brush, but with a sword!
To control it to such a degree, her foundation in calligraphy must be profound. He felt uncomfortable just thinking about such talent not belonging to their association.
Director Wen was smarter, he quietly went to find Jiang Nanshu.
This person must be roped into the crew.
It wasn’t until everyone had left that they slowly found their voices.
“Are you sure, the person just now was the useless Jiang Nanshu? Has she been reborn?!”
“Not sure… maybe she was possessed, otherwise how could she have changed so much?”
“Although, how come… I suddenly like her? Does she mind the gender? I can change for love.”
Fang Minghe stood up from the front, his smile impossible to hide as he turned to the equally stunned Jiang Yisen: “The Jiang Family really has raised a treasure; I’ve found my ‘Shanhai’ jewelry series endorser.”
Jiang Yisen gritted his teeth: “…Swindler!”
“I’ve signed a contract with her. She can’t sign with other companies while she’s endorsing for me. I’ll give her double the pay later, she just needs to stay with Fang Group steadfastly.”
Jiang Yisen truly regretted it. Why bother with those stars when he could have used his sister? Now Fang Minghe had beaten him to the punch, and it twisted his nose with anger.
After everyone left.
He hurriedly caught up: “Wait for me, let’s talk… give me back my sister.”
Su Ran leaned weakly against the wall.
Having witnessed Jiang Nanshu’s performance, her own performance, which she was confident would be a great success, turned out to be clownish, putting her in a dilemma.
Eventually, she suppressed the irritation in her heart. Upon entering the stage, she found that most of the audience had left, and those who remained were lost in thought, showing no interest in her performance.
Jiang Nanshu again!
Why did she always like to sabotage her path?
The frustration inside her turned into a black hole and swallowed her whole.
And Director Wen, upon hearing Jiang Nanshu’s conditions, widened his eyes.
“What, what did you say?”
Jiang Nanshu repeated herself: “I can join your crew, but the role of the second female lead must go to Jiang Leyi.” She paused, her lips curling into a smile: “I don’t need your payment either, I’ll work for you for free. But you must give a chance to those who are working hard to prove themselves.”