Zhou Yiyi headed to Beijing, Lin Mu to Shanghai, and Zhou Mo to Guangzhou.
Once they left the city, their Xiao Lingtong phones were of no use. Lin Mu and Zhou Mo both had cell phones and reminded Zhou Yiyi to rember to contact them online.
Contacting online was more suited for out-of-town situations since mobile phone charges were quite expensive at the ti, especially for long-distance calls, but surfing the internet for an hour only cost two yuan.
Because there was a three-day holiday, the school locked its gates that night. She told them her train was at midnight, so after dinner, she took the bus with her bag to the train station. In reality, she found a restroom to enter the "space" and would enter the station tomorrow morning. Her train was scheduled to depart at 5:40 AM.
She had bought an upper bunk sleeper ticket which cost her over 130 yuan, and the train, being one of the older green trains, wouldn’t arrive until around 11 or 12 at night.
Zhou Yiyi boarded her train just after 5 AM. It was still early, and without any other entertainnt, she climbed into her upper bunk, placed her shoes in a plastic bag, then took out a novel and began reading against her pillow.
Her backpack was like Doraemon’s belly, she continuously fetched fruits and sunflower seeds to snack on, and soon, all the passengers in the lower bunks arrived.
The bottom bunk accommodated an elderly couple, the middle bunks were occupied by two office-workers, and her neighbor seed to be a college student.
At 5:40, the train departed on ti. Under the clattering sound, she once again headed towards Beijing.
Regarding the competition registration, Teacher ng had taken full authority in handling everything for her. She had mailed the first batch of selected calligraphy pieces to the relevant departnts, essentially aning she had smoothly passed the preliminaries and entered the semifinals, qualifying her for this trip to Beijing.
She arrived in Beijing past midnight, the train was delayed by several minutes. Reluctant to spend money on a hotel, she found a park to enter and after freshening up inside the "space," she slept soundly. The next day, June 19, the official competition was tomorrow.
She asked for the specific address of the exhibition hall, took three rides back and forth to get to the hotel where the venue was located, and efficiently checked in with her ID card. After finding out Teacher ng’s room number and visiting her, Teacher ng briefed her on the schedule for tomorrow’s test and took her out that evening to et the teacher who would ntor her for the next two months.
Qin Qiong was a director at the Calligrapher Association and held a significant position. Since viewing her work in the preliminaries, he felt Zhou Yiyi was a talented child. Although only fourteen, she had already won two competition awards, and her future was certainly promising.
So after several back-and-forths, Teacher ng learned that Mr. Zheng, due to health reasons, couldn’t co to Beijing and had entrusted his young disciple’s future to his good friend Teacher ng. Hence, tonight’s gathering took place.
Qin Qiong appeared in his forties to fifties, very well-preserved, with an elegant scholarly aura. He spoke with a thick Beijing accent, evidently a native. Zhou Yiyi introduced herself a bit rigidly, ntioning that at 14, she would soon be starting her sophomore year of high school, and he affird and praised her qualifications.
After questioning her about her field of study, Qin Qiong inquired about her future plans, essentially asking if she intended to pursue calligraphy as her ultimate career goal. Zhou Yiyi knew it was ti for flattery, to make those teachers beam with delight, their efforts to guide her not in vain. Yet, she was an honest girl.
In front of various calligraphers, she denied any intentions of pursuing a career in this field.
"I practice calligraphy purely out of interest and can continue it as a hobby, but it’s not the career I aspire to defeat in the future. I’m interested in studying computer science or law, and I am striving in those areas with my own efforts. Of course, I will not give up on calligraphy; I’ll continue practicing for decades as I have for many years, as it has beco quite habitual,"
Qin Qiong and others were surprised by her response and began inquiring about her academic performance. Learning that she maintained top five grades in her class and was at a key high school, they comforted her with kind words.
"You are very opinionated, which is good. Since your grades are decent, keep working hard towards the university of your dreams. However, to be precautious, when you apply, consider the Central Academy of Fine Arts or Beijing Normal University as backup options."
They also cited examples, explaining that in their circle, not many were true scholars; many were cross-disciplinarians, so they respected her choice greatly.
Given Zhou Yiyi’s potential and continuous guidance from teachers, her future achievents would not fall short of theirs. Seeing her rational approach to life, everyone felt she was surprisingly mature and held high hopes for her.
Though the dinner was sowhat tense due to her young age of fourteen, the elders didn’t fuss. Most of the ti, she sat there listening, as there were no peers her age. The youngest in this field were well into their twenties; few were as young as she.
She struggled until eight or nine at night before dinner concluded. Teacher ng then advised her to rest in her room, while they prepared for the next activity. She was relieved.
Given that it was a national competition, the entire hotel was booked, with dedicated advertisers bustling about, aning all expenses were covered by the organizing committee. They only had to focus earnestly on the competition.
Since every room was equipped with a computer, Zhou Yiyi, realizing she had been out of touch for so long, quickly logged on. As expected, both of them had left ssages.
"Zhou Yiyi, I’ve already arrived in Shanghai. Are you done with your stuff? Hurry and get online; we start closed training at the school from tomorrow." This ssage was from Lin Mu.
"I’ve reached Guangzhou and joined the training camp, but it’s a closed one. I can only get online on Sundays." This ssage was from Zhou Mo.
Yiyi hurriedly replied, updated them on her situation, learned their school plans, and then agreed to et every Sunday afternoon from 2 PM to 6 PM.
After chatting for a while, by ten o’clock, the three of them left the group chat and logged off to wash up.
Her competition was on the afternoon of the 20th, so before going to bed, she didn’t forget to write four large character sheets in her "space." Afterwards, she could sleep.
The next morning, she followed Teacher ng for a buffet breakfast, then went to the exhibition hall to admire the calligraphy works shortlisted from the preliminary round. This was the best ti to understand her competition, and Teacher ng explained earnestly which pieces were excellent, how they excelled, which ones lacked, and where they lacked.
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