Ethan Brooks waited for the glue to dry, tried it a few times, and said with great satisfaction, “You’re really talented, let’s call it ‘Huyou’ then. Now we’re just missing a few characters. Come on, Little Brian, let’s go to a stationery shop and borrow a pen to write a few words.” His original plan was to take the paper fan and fool others with it tomorrow, but he didn’t expect Little Brian to immediately start calling it ‘Huyou’.

Baoyan Pavilion. As soon as Ethan Brooks saw these big characters, he immediately took Little Brian inside. It was clearly a place selling all kinds of brushes, ink, and inkstones.

Seeing Ethan Brooks and Brian Cooper walk in, an elderly man in his fifties or sixties immediately stood up. “What can I help you two with?”

Of course, Ethan Brooks didn’t want to waste money buying brushes and ink, and besides, carrying these things around wouldn’t be of much use. He just wanted to write a few words.

“It’s like this, boss—oh, shopkeeper, I’d like to borrow your brush to write a few words, if that’s possible. If you’re willing, I can pay a few copper coins.” Ethan Brooks made sure to keep the badges on the knees of his cowboy outfit hidden behind the counter, so the old man wouldn’t notice anything unusual.

This old man was clearly a courteous scholar, and after hearing Ethan Brooks’s words, he immediately said, “A scholar writing a few words—there’s no need for money. Come, come, follow me.”

With that, the old man very politely led Ethan Brooks and Brian Cooper to a wooden table off to the side, which was already covered with all kinds of brushes, ink, and inkstones—a spot clearly meant for people to try out the writing materials.

Ethan Brooks took out the paper fan, opened it up and placed it on the table, and had Brian Cooper help hold it steady. Ethan Brooks picked up a brush and casually wrote a few characters on a scrap piece of paper to test it out, feeling that his skills were still there.

He immediately began to write four large characters in the Slender Gold script on the fan: ‘Rare is Confusion’. Although he hadn’t used a brush in a long time, Ethan Brooks’s foundation as a first-prize winner in his university’s calligraphy competition hadn’t faded.

Although these four characters weren’t quite as good as back in the day, Ethan Brooks was still satisfied, considering he hadn’t practiced in a long time. After thinking for a moment and waiting for the ink to dry a bit, Ethan Brooks wrote a poem by Xin Qiji, “Green Jade Table,” vertically on the back of the fan, then stylishly put down the brush.

He blew the ink dry on the fan, then carefully folded it up. Just as he turned to thank the shopkeeper, he saw the old man standing there in a daze, staring at the paper fan in Ethan Brooks’s hand.

Ethan Brooks was taken aback and immediately said, “Thank you, sir, for lending me the paper and brush. I’ll take my leave now.”

“Wonderful calligraphy, wonderful poem! ‘I searched for him thousands of times in the crowd, and suddenly, when I turned around, that person was there where the lights were dim.’ Excellent, excellent, excellent…” The old man repeated his praise several times before realizing Ethan Brooks was about to leave. He quickly grabbed Ethan Brooks and said, “Young man, your calligraphy just now was so good—could you write one for this old man as a gift?”

As he spoke, he kept rubbing his hands, clearly embarrassed. If he didn’t love Ethan Brooks’s calligraphy and that beautiful poem so much, he really wouldn’t have asked.

Ethan Brooks was stunned for a moment, thinking, “Is that all?” and quickly said, “No problem, bring me some paper.”

The old man brought over a sheet of paper, looking at Ethan Brooks nervously. “Could you write the same poem as before?”

Ethan Brooks laughed and said, “Don’t worry, sir, I have more poems like this than I can count.”

With that, Ethan Brooks picked up the brush and quickly wrote: “When will the bright moon appear? Raising my cup, I ask the sky. I do not know, in the celestial palaces above, what year it is tonight. I long to ride the wind and return, yet fear the crystal towers and jade mansions, for the heights are too cold to bear. Dancing with my clear shadow, how can it compare to life in the mortal world!”

Ethan Brooks only wrote the first half of the poem and didn’t continue. After finishing, he put down the brush and looked at the shopkeeper, asking, “What do you think, shopkeeper?”

“Excellent, excellent, truly excellent! Young man, you are a true genius. This style of calligraphy, and such beautiful verses—I never imagined that I, Richard Hill, would live to see such wonderful writing and poetry. A genius, a genius…” Seeing the old man lost in admiration, clutching the calligraphy, Ethan Brooks quickly pulled Brian Cooper away. Otherwise, if the old man snapped out of it and asked him to write more, who knew when it would end.

“Mr. Ethan, I may not understand calligraphy, but your writing just now was really good. How come I never knew you could write so well before?” Brian Cooper’s eyes sparkled.

“Tch, that’s nothing. But as for the script, I didn’t invent it. I have a little brother named Abraham Lincoln, that guy’s a prodigal—squandered the family fortune and only left behind this bit of skill. When I entered the city, I found a ruined temple outside the city. Little Brian, let’s go buy some food first, and tonight we’ll just make do in the ruined temple.” Ethan Brooks rambled as he led Brian Cooper to buy a roast chicken, dozens of buns, and some miscellaneous snacks, spending almost all of his only silver coin.

An hour later, Ethan Brooks and Brian Cooper arrived at the ruined temple outside the city with a huge pile of food.

Starving, Ethan Brooks and Brian Cooper didn’t care about manners anymore. The two of them devoured everything they’d bought with their last silver coin in no time.

Ethan Brooks let out a satisfied burp, went out to wash his hands, and came back to find Little Brian still tidying up the ruined temple. After thinking for a moment, he asked, “Little Brian, there are still some things about last time that I haven’t told you and Samuel Carter. Actually, after I was injured on the battlefield last time, I can’t remember a lot of things. Could you remind me?”