For the sake of fairness, both of them wrote the words ‘hard work always pays’. Soon enough, both the
old man and the young boy completed their pieces, and they placed their calligraphy writings on the
most eye-catching spot in the store. Then, they halved the original price of the item in order to get
passersby to purchase it as soon as possible.
A young man walked past them just a few minutes later before purchasing the old man’s piece. Then,
the old man beamed as he took the cake away from the young boy. “The cake is all mine now,” the old
man said cockily.
The young boy hung his head low in disappointment before wrapping his arms around himself. He wore
a grumpy look on his face—it was clear that he was shocked by the results. Elise pressed her lips into
a smile before she walked over to ruffle the young boy’s hair. “Hey, old man. Do you think it’s right for
someone your age to bully a kid?”
The old man stuck his arms behind him to hide the cake. Then, he responded with a slow smirk. “We
both agreed to do this, so why would it be inappropriate? You can always try to win the cake back for
him if you feel that I didn’t win it fair and square.” The young boy parted his lips to say something but
shut his mouth again after meeting the old man’s gaze.
People nowadays enjoy using their seniority to make themselves appear more impressive, Elise
thought. He assumes that he has the right to be demanding and arrogant just because he is older. Elise
didn’t wish to play along with his rules. “Sure. Let’s compete against each other again, then.”
“Are you serious?” The old man grew excited upon hearing her words. Then, he stroked his white
beard as he spoke eccentrically. “If you lose, you’ll have to buy two more pieces of the same cake for
me.”
“I don’t mind buying you an entire cake,” Elise replied. “Let’s do it.”
“Yes, let’s!” The old man put the cake down before lifting his brush. Then, in one swift motion, the man
wrote the word ‘perseverance’ on a piece of paper. Elise walked over to take a good look at it before
nodding lightly. “That’s a really smooth stroke,” she commented.
The old man held his head high as he ran his fingers through his beard. “It’s your turn.”
Elise curled her lips into a smile as she picked her calligraphy brush up before writing the same word
on a different piece of paper. However, her actions were just as swift. Initially, the old man didn’t pay
much attention to Elise, but when he glanced in her direction, he realized that he couldn’t look away
after that.
‘Perseverance’ was just a simple word, but the woman’s aura transformed when she picked up the
brush. A gust of wind seemed to circle around her figure as she ran the brush across the paper. “I’m
done.” The old man was still mesmerized by the woman’s actions even after completing her piece and
lowering her brush. Her expression was stiff as she gestured for him to look at her work. His throat felt
dry, so he gulped his saliva as he tried to ground himself in the situation.
The moment his gaze landed on the piece of paper, it seemed almost as if he was hypnotized for a
moment. He widened his eyes as he stared at her writing. D-Did she write this free-handedly? Her
strokes are firm and gentle at the same time, and her lines are so smooth and neat! QH’s presence
isn’t even needed anymore!
The man glared at Elise with a look of disbelief. She’s just a young girl—I can’t believe she’s so good at
calligraphy. Even at my age, I’m not at her standard yet. On top of that, she’s so good-looking! God’s
clearly on her side!
Elise was pleased with his response, and she teased him with a slight smirk on her face. “How’s my
writing? Do you think I can get your cake this time?”
The old man returned to his senses after hearing her voice. “Of course. Young lady—I mean, master, I
am humbled to meet you. Would it be okay for me to know your name?!”
“Elise Sinclair,” she replied.
“It’s great to meet you, Miss Sinclair,” the old man uttered while nodding thoughtfully. Unfortunately, he
couldn’t seem to recall any local calligraphy artists whose last name was Sinclair. But he didn’t
overthink that and simply lowered his voice before asking her for a favor. “Miss Sinclair, would it be
possible for me to bring your writing over to be displayed at the gallery?”
“Well… The child’s cake…” Elise raised an eyebrow. She didn’t answer his question. “Oh… I nearly
forgot about that.” Finally, the old man seemed to realize something, so he quickly turned around to
bring the cake over before handing it to the young boy. “Here you go. You can have half of it, and you
can’t tell your mother that I bought this, okay?” he whispered as he bent down to speak to the boy.
“Got it! Thanks, Grandpa!” The boy grinned happily. “Grandpa?” Elise’s eyebrows shot up immediately.
“Grandpa? Is he your Grandpa?” she asked the boy.
“Yeah…” the boy replied with a shy smile. Elise shot Alexander a somewhat confused look—she felt
rather amused and a little embarrassed at herself. It seemed like she had been too much of a
busybody. “I’m sorry,” she uttered with a smile. “I thought—”
“Don’t worry about it, Miss Sinclair.” The old man waved her off before returning to his main point. “I
was wondering, Miss Sinclair… Would you be interested in joining Tissote’s Calligraphy Association?”
“I’m already one of the members,” Elise replied with a shrug. “Oh?” Andy Nixon, the old man, was
taken aback by her response. Judging by Elise’s skills, she would definitely be at a higher level than
the old man, and he was very clear of all the names that were listed above his station. He was
confident that Elise’s name wasn’t there. Could she be one of the low-level members who just entered
the club this year? That would be a waste of precious resources! How could we keep such a talented
person at a low position in the association?
“Why don’t you leave me your contact, Miss Sinclair? Then, I’ll gather a panel of members to
reevaluate the level you’re at.” Andy immediately pulled his grandchild’s smartphone out. “Hurry, young
boy. I want to get Miss Sinclair’s number!”
Elise felt terrible for rejecting a man who seemed so passionate, so she ended up giving him her
contact. However, Alexander could tell that Elise didn’t want to stay there for long, so he found an
excuse to get her to leave.
…
That night, Andy brought Elise’s writing of the word ‘persevere’ over to the Calligraphy Association’s
gallery. Cody and Tiana happened to pass by the area, and they called for the staff members to stop
when they saw them opening one of the doors requiring high-level clearance.
“Hold on,” Cody shouted at the staff members before glancing at the package in the staff’s hands.
“Who sent you guys over? Do you think you guys can just send any random artwork into this area?
This is the most guarded section of the gallery!”
“Mr. Andy Nixon was the one who sent this over, Mr. Carlson. He had already checked the item
beforehand,” the staff member replied politely.
“Did you say that Andy was the one who checked this?” Cody sounded rather intrigued. “Who’s the
artist?”
“Elise Sinclair,” the staff replied. Tiana held her breath for a moment. I can’t believe Elise knows Andy,
and I can’t believe her item received an S-Class rating.
“Why haven’t I heard this name in the past?” Cody asked confusedly. “Where did Andy get his student
from this time?”
“Miss Elise Sinclair is one of the participants who took part in the Calligraphy Contest, Mr. Carlson.”
Tiana reminded him intentionally. “But I don’t think she’s a member of the Calligraphy Association. Of
course, my memory might have failed me.”
“You’re right, Miss Hill,” the staff member replied with a smile. “Mr. Nixon said he would arrange for her
to enter the association soon.”
“Nonsense!” Cody’s expression turned stone cold as he spoke in a harsh tone. “Do you think any
random stranger can receive an S-Class ranking just like that? She’s not even part of the association!
Even if she was, her piece shouldn’t be allowed to be on an S-Class display. How do you do your job
when you can’t even differentiate where to place these items?! Take that away right now!”
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