Old Man Gu’s laughter subsided as he picked up a hanging brush and dipped it in ink. "It’s wonderful, just wonderful, that a little girl like you is so eager to learn."

Ye Qianning watched as Old Man Gu’s brush descended, writing a large character with flourishes like dancing dragons and phoenixes. The strokes were powerful and the form was beautiful, but she had no idea what it was.

"See? Now *this* is what I call a character," Old Man Gu said with a chuckle, setting down his brush.

’His writing is the real chicken scratch,’ Ye Qianning thought.

Seeing her confused expression, Old Man Gu’s eyes crinkled in a smile. "You don’t recognize it, do you? Hehe. This character is pronounced ’ái’."

"Ái?"

Ye Qianning stared at it for a long time but couldn’t see any resemblance. The character was written in a purely calligraphic style that she truly couldn’t decipher.

"You need patience to write. It’s not something you can learn in a day," Old Man Gu said, glancing again at her "chicken scratch."

"It’s not that I don’t understand, it’s that yours is too complicated. I think the character should be written like this." Unconvinced, Ye Qianning picked up a brush and wrote her own version of the character.

Old Man Gu laughed again after seeing it. "That’s not right. It looks a bit similar, but you can’t cut corners when you write."

"This is the new version."

"PFFT-HAHAHA! Little girl, that cleverness of yours isn’t meant for things like this."

"It’s not..."

Ye Qianning couldn’t explain it clearly. For the first time, she felt a little stumped.

’A classic case of mutual misunderstanding...’

"It’s all right if you don’t recognize it. From now on, Grandpa will teach you," Old Man Gu said, amused by her puffed-up cheeks.

Ye Qianning’s cheeks remained puffed out. "My father said I’m not allowed to have you as my god-grandpa."

"Huh?" Old Man Gu’s smile froze. "Not allowed? Why not? What right does he have to say no?"

"My father says it messes up the generational seniority."

"Messes up the seniority? We’re not even from the same family! And even if it did, the Gu family would be the one getting the short end of the stick. What’s he worried about?" Old Man Gu’s beard bristled with indignation. ’I’ve already prepared everything, and now he won’t let her acknowledge me at the last minute? How can this be?’

Ye Qianning spread her hands. "There’s nothing I can do. He’s my father, after all."

"This won’t do. I have to go find him." Old Man Gu set down the brush and marched out the door without a moment’s hesitation.

Feeling uneasy, Ye Qianning trotted after him to the door and called out, "Talk to my father calmly! Don’t get too worked up, or you might get... asked to leave!"

Old Man Gu had already vanished in a huff, and she had no idea if he’d even heard her.

’Other than her, her father had no patience for anyone else. If they didn’t see eye to eye, he’d toss them out, no matter who they were!’

Ye Qianning went back inside and climbed onto the chair again. Her gaze fell upon the two characters on the rice paper. The difference between the complex and simple versions wasn’t actually that great; traditional and simplified characters were essentially two different paths to the same end. If the writing wasn’t overly sloppy, one could still tell them apart with a careful look.

Her inability to understand was mostly due to the calligraphic style. If Old Man Gu hadn’t told her, she could have racked her brain and still never have recognized the character he wrote.

Ye Qianning sighed and shook her head, putting the rice paper away. After a moment of thought, she pushed aside the list she had been writing earlier. ’If he can’t understand my writing, I’ll just draw it instead.’

He might not understand her characters, but her drawing skills were top-notch. She would draw pictures of the medicinal herbs and then label the required amounts using traditional numerals. That way, anyone would be able to understand it at a glance when she went to buy them.

Before long, she could faintly hear the sounds of Old Man Gu and her father arguing. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Ever since his injury, Xiang Minghou had been staying in a side room of the Yuehua Small Building. His room was only a corner and a corridor away from hers, so she could hear any commotion.

First, Old Man Gu tried to reason with him. Then he tried wheedling and pestering, and finally, he just started acting shameless. In the end, he was "escorted" out of the General’s manor. Moreover, her father gave an iron-clad order: Old Man Gu was forbidden from entering the manor again without permission...

Although Ye Qianning felt bad for him, there was nothing to be done. Her father was still recovering from his injuries and truly couldn’t handle being pestered every day. He needed peace and quiet to recuperate.