My Taoist nun girlfriend is from the Republic of China era, 1942.

Chapter 23 Chen Xiaomiao's First Pot of Gold
Lu Yuan realized a problem.

Chen Xiaomiao is reluctant to spend money. Besides her past habit of thrift, the more important reason is that she doesn't have any money that truly belongs to her.

Whether Lu Yuan gave her two thousand or twenty thousand, in Chen Xiaomiao's heart it was always "Lu Yuan's money".

She felt like she was clinging to Lu Yuan, sucking his blood and eating his flesh, and the guilt and burden made her unable to even drink a cup of milk tea in peace.

But how can we get Chen Xiaomiao to earn money on her own?
The ID card has always been an invisible barrier between Chen Xiaomiao and modern society.

We can't exactly let her go back to her old ways, like setting up a fortune-telling stall under a pedestrian bridge or doing a live-streamed cyber fortune-telling session.

After a moment's thought, Lu Yuan immediately dismissed the idea.

Chen Xiaomiao is so beautiful that she is likely to become an overnight sensation, attracting a flood of attention. Some people praise her as the "newly crowned goddess of metaphysics," while others criticize her for "using religion to grab attention" and "making a comeback of feudal superstition."

If this blows up, official intervention is inevitable.

Moreover, once someone discovers that her predictions are accurate, it won't just be netizens who come knocking on her door to watch the spectacle.

All sorts of wicked and unscrupulous people—those seeking wealth, those asking for fortune-telling, and even those plotting evil deeds…

Just as Lu Yuan was at his wit's end, Chen Xiaomiao, who had finished her housework, sat quietly at the dining table with a dictionary and a stack of white paper, and began to practice simplified Chinese characters stroke by stroke.

Lu Yuan leaned over for a look and clicked his tongue in amazement.

No wonder Chen Xiaomiao laughed at her handwriting, saying it looked like chicken claws.

Her strokes were graceful and well-proportioned, exuding a steady sense of strength between the horizontal and vertical lines, while the turns and twists also carried a touch of rounded resilience.

Even though Lu Yuan was a complete novice in calligraphy, he could still intuitively feel that these characters were written incredibly beautifully!

Moreover, Chen Xiaomiao used to write with a brush, and had only been using a pen for a few days, and was still unfamiliar with simplified characters.

Lu Yuan asked curiously, "Have you been practicing this since you were a child?"

"Ah."

Chen Xiaomiao nodded and wrote as she spoke: "Before my master became a Taoist priest, he was a scholar from the Jiangzhe region. At that time, he was only fifteen years old."

He has exceptionally beautiful handwriting; I've heard he's quite famous in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang region.

She got so into it that she couldn't stop talking and continued rambling on.

"Later, my master saw through the illusions of the world and gave up fame and fortune to go up the mountain to cultivate himself."

He made me practice calligraphy from a young age, saying, "You can tell a lot about a person by their handwriting. If your handwriting is crooked and weak, then you are a restless and unstable person who will not achieve great things..."

At this point, Chen Xiaomiao abruptly stopped.

She glanced quickly at Lu Yuan, meeting his ambiguous smile, her face flushing red. She hurriedly waved her hands, explaining, "I...I didn't mean you...you...you..."

Chen Xiaomiao racked her brains for a long time, but couldn't think of anything suitable to say, so she had no choice but to give up and act recklessly.

"What your master said may not always be right, so don't take it to heart."

Lu Yuan grinned but didn't say anything more.

It's not unusual that many calligraphers have been Taoist priests throughout history, and he certainly wouldn't hold a grudge against this silly girl over a single sentence.

Lu Yuan then asked, "Xiao Miao, would you like to make money by writing?"

Chen Xiaomiao asked in surprise, "These days, you can still make a living by selling calligraphy and paintings?"

"It's generally not very likely, but you can try your luck."

Lu Yuan opened his phone, clicked on a recruitment app, and typed "calligraphy" into the search bar.

When the page is refreshed, most of the pop-up ads are for positions such as "XX calligraphy training institution is recruiting calligraphy teachers" or "hard-pen calligraphy tutor".

Lu Yuan kept refreshing the page until he finally found his target.

[Hiring] Calligraphy Assistant

Company: Shuyu Zhai
Requirements: Proficient in traditional calligraphy, with strong brushstrokes, able to calm the mind, and patient.

Job duties: Assist in the organization and mounting of calligraphy and paintings, and participate in some creative support work.

Salary: Negotiable (daily payment available)
Lu Yuan made a quick decision: "Come on, come with me!"

"Huh? Now?"

"Correct!"

"I still need to prepare the dishes for dinner later, how about we wait a bit?"

"No wait."

"What?"

"I have a short temper!"

"..."

Chen Xiaomiao's face fell, knowing she was in the wrong, and she silently got up to change her shoes.

Half an hour later, the two drove to Shuyuzhai.

The storefront isn't large, but the decor is quite presentable, with various antiques and handicrafts arranged in a pleasing and orderly manner, most of which are calligraphy and paintings.

Several photos of old men are displayed in the most conspicuous position, with titles such as "Director of a certain Calligraphy Association" and "Gold Medal Winner of a certain Competition" written below them, some real and some not.

The receptionist approached slowly, her smile gentle: "Hello, gentlemen. What would you like to see?"

Lu Yuan waved his hand and said directly, "Hello, I just called you to apply for the calligraphy assistant position."

The receptionist suddenly realized, "Oh, are you Mr. Lu and Ms. Chen? This way, please." She led the two through a moon gate to a studio at the back.

The large desk was covered with a felt mat, and was fully equipped with writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones, with some discarded Xuan paper piled up beside it.

A middle-aged man, around forty years old and wearing a Chinese-style mandarin jacket, was lying on a mahogany rocking chair with his eyes closed, resting. He only lazily opened his eyes when he heard a noise.

"Here for a job interview?"

"Correct."

Do you know what a calligraphy assistant does?

"I write a few pieces of calligraphy to entertain casual guests, and occasionally participate in imitation calligraphy writing."

Lu Yuan used to share a dormitory with the president of the Jiangcheng University Student Calligraphy Association, and he had heard him talk about it.

Such calligraphy and painting shops are actually intermediaries, responsible for connecting customers and "masters".

The so-called "calligraphy assistants" are mostly disciples personally taught by the masters, used to deal with unimportant guests.

Most of the time, when a job posting is done directly online, it's because the boss and the "master" hanging at the door have fallen out.

The middle-aged man then slowly sat up straight and looked Lu Yuan up and down: "How many years have you been writing?"

Lu Yuan pointed at Chen Xiaomiao: "It's not me, it's her."

The middle-aged man's face darkened: "Young man, don't cause trouble for me. How many calligraphy classes has your sister taken? Does she even know how to hold a calligraphy brush?"

"It's just a waste of your pen, ink, and paper anyway, why not give it a try?"

"Fine, I'm just killing time anyway."

The middle-aged man got up and went to the desk, spread out a four-foot-long sheet of raw Xuan paper, and pointed to the brush and ink: "Come on, write a few words and let me see."

Chen Xiaomiao walked to the desk, looked up at the middle-aged man with a puzzled expression, and asked, "Sir, what do you want me to write?"

"What are you good at writing?" the middle-aged man asked in return.

"I follow the Wu School of calligraphy, specializing in running script, and I've also practiced some regular and cursive scripts," Chen Xiaomiao answered honestly.

"The Wu School of Calligraphy?"

The middle-aged man's mouth twitched; he almost burst out laughing.

You speak with a strong Yuzhou accent and claim to be a disciple of the Wu School of calligraphy in Jiangnan?

The vendor selling roasted sweet potatoes at the entrance even claims to be a descendant of the imperial chef!
He suppressed a laugh and said, "Alright, then write Chairman Mao's 'Qinyuanchun: Snow,' and try to make it as grand as possible."

"Qinyuanchun...Snow?"

Chen Xiaomiao, who had traveled from 1942, blinked blankly.

Lu Yuan's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately stepped forward: "Write something you're good at, like Li Bai's 'The Road to Shu is Hard'."

"Oh...it's working!"

Chen Xiaomiao nodded obediently and didn't ask any more questions.

She rolled up her sleeves, revealing two slender, fair wrists, and picked up the ink stick to grind the ink in the inkstone slowly and deliberately.

Her movements were skillful and her demeanor calm, exuding an aura that kept others at bay.

The moment the brush touched the Xuan paper, the middle-aged man's expression changed drastically.

With her wrist suspended in the air, Chen Xiaomiao wielded the brush with the fluidity of flowing water, completing the stroke in one go without any hesitation.

Although it is in running script, it is rigorous in its rules and exquisite in its strokes. The characters exude a refined and elegant air, which is a typical style of the Wu School of calligraphy!
As Chen Xiaomiao finished writing the last character "嗟", she gently put down her pen and took a step back.

The middle-aged man had already unknowingly moved closer to the table and gasped.

"hiss--!"

He started practicing calligraphy at the age of five, entered the industry at sixteen, and has been in the calligraphy market for over twenty years, so he naturally has a keen eye for it.

Chen Xiaomiao's calligraphy, while not breathtakingly beautiful, is certainly not something produced by the assembly line of calligraphy training classes on the market.

The brushwork is skillful and mature, the structure is rigorous yet lively, and the spirit flows smoothly without any trace of "craftsmanship" or "vulgarity." It is by no means something that can be achieved through short-term intensive training.

In particular, that calm and natural demeanor is something that could never be achieved without years of hard work and cultivation under the guidance of renowned teachers from a young age!

What surprised middle-aged people even more was that this style was indeed the authentic Wu School of calligraphy!

That kind of refined, elegant, and graceful charm is something that most people can't imitate!
"Young lady, may I ask who your master is?"

The middle-aged man adopted a cautious attitude, quickly reviewing the names of several leading figures in Chinese calligraphy known for their Wu School style.

Upon seeing this, Lu Yuan decisively stepped forward and stood between the two, a knowing smile on his face.

"Boss, this is something I can't go into detail about. Her family recently cut off her source of income, so she's been trying to find ways to earn some money. If her mentor finds out she's ghostwriting for others..."

He shook his head halfway through his sentence, giving off a "the consequences will be severe" look.

"So how about we don't sign a contract and don't leave our identities?"

"That!"

The middle-aged man pulled out several scrolls from a nearby bookshelf and unfurled them, each bearing the seals of the "masters" at the entrance.

"I'll give you 30 for the girl's own writing, and 60 if she can imitate the writing of these masters. But whether the quality is up to me."

thirty?!
Chen Xiaomiao's eyes widened instantly; she could hardly believe her ears.

Good heavens! You can exchange a few words for ten pounds of flour!
(End of this chapter)