A penchant for cross-dressing

Anyone who was a woman would have been overcome with maternal affection at that pitiful sight and gathered An Chengyu into her arms.

Unfortunately, Shen Shixu was a man. He had no maternal affection to offer and was largely unmoved by An Chengyu's wheedling.

Shen Shixu tapped An Chengyu's forehead and said, "Is it really as bad as you're making it sound? If you copy one practice sheet ten times a day, you'll finish in just over half a month. How could it possibly take you until New Year?

"Anyone who didn't know better would think I'd given you some terrible punishment!"

An Chengyu stuck out his tongue and chuckled. "Master, practicing handwriting is so boring. I really don't have the patience for it."

Shen Shixu pinched his round cheek, still plump with baby fat, and said, "If you can't settle down and practice your handwriting now, your chief examiner won't have the patience to read your examination paper later.

"Everyone else's writing will be beautiful, flowing smoothly, with strong, elegant strokes. Yours alone will stand out for being ugly. If the examiner can't even tell what you've written, he won't give you a high score, no matter how good your essay is.

"Besides, a person's handwriting often reflects his character. Your ugly handwriting will give people the impression that you aren't much good yourself.

"But if your handwriting is beautiful, you'll make a good impression. For scholars, their handwriting is their public face, their passport."

As he spoke, Shen Shixu picked up the brush An Chengyu had used for his test and wrote four large characters on the back of his paper: "Peace throughout the land."

The four characters flowed without the slightest pause, their strong, elegant strokes carrying a carefree grace. This was his true handwriting.

When preparing