Xingqiu: Words of Gold is an Anecdote during Travelers' Tales: Anthology Chapter.
Start Location[]
Map Location
Location Context
Dialogue[]
The autumn storm has left the forest and turned its sights on the Wanwen Bookhouse...
- (Talk to Xingqiu)
-
- (The time turns to late afternoon)
- Xingqiu: *sigh* My brother's right. I'm a writer of books, but no seller of them...
- (The Traveler walks up from across the pedestrian bridge.)
What are you working on right now?
Done sorting your manuscript out?- Xingqiu: Just about, only a few chapters left. It's just... Could I ask you a question?
- Xingqiu: How much do you think my calligraphy could sell for?
- There are some things money can't buy!
- Xingqiu: Oh, come on, what's with that old-fashioned talk? I'm being serious here.
- I don't know much about the calligraphy market.
- But I enjoy every word you pen.
- Xingqiu: Phew... Thank you. At least you're not couching it in business jargon like they do at home. "Penned words are worth their weight in gold," and "there's no market for such prices as you might command"...
- Xingqiu: Earlier, I asked my brother about the typewriter situation. He cut me off just as I was about to ask why he hadn't brought one back for me, and can you guess what he said?
- That he didn't bring one back on purpose?
- Xingqiu: No. In fact, he'd actually bought one back a long time ago. He even knows about everything that's happened recently, and asked me to try the typewriter to see if the size was appropriate.
- Xingqiu: As it turns out, it did — in fact, its dimensions had been modified to suit the dimensions of my palms, which made it very comfortable to use.
- Xingqiu: He even said that, in an emergency, I could use this typewriter for my novels and other writing needs, and that he'd already notified my great-grandfather of the arrangement.
- Xingqiu: As to why he didn't just give me the typewriter earlier... It was actually because he was hoping that I could eventually improve my penmanship.
- Xingqiu: They say that "to see a person's writing is to see them also." Hand-written words will always give a reader a greater sense of closeness to the author.
- Xingqiu: My brother said that he was also willing to part with the "Chronicle of Cleansing Ink" rather than sending me the typewriter straightaway...
- Xingqiu: ...Because he felt that while my handwriting wasn't up to par, it still showed a sense of remarkable style and vigor.
- Xingqiu: As such, he feared that were I to simply keep using a typewriter, I would forget how to write with a pen altogether, thus ending any possibility for my improvement in calligraphy.
- Huh, and I thought he'd say...
- That hand-written work was more valuable.
- Xingqiu: To be honest, he had me sweating there too. I was so nervous, I almost crushed my teacup.
- Xingqiu: I was afraid he might say something like: "In business, closeness is communication, communication is connection, and connection is Mora — as such, to practice one's penmanship is to earn Mora."
- Xingqiu: If he had said that, I would've had to flee to Chongyun's place and stay there for... maybe ten days to two weeks.
- Well, he seems like a reasonable fellow, then.
- Xingqiu: Yeah. He never talks about the business with me. He just lets me... live my life.
- Xingqiu: But... *sigh* Even though he says nothing about it, we have too many business dealings for me to not know that "to see a person's writing is to see them also, and fine words written are worth their weight in gold"?
- Xingqiu: A single article of my great-grandfather's writing is worth hundreds of thousands of Mora, and a letter from my brother can bring someone here just to say a personal "thank you."
- Xingqiu: When I went out with my brother on a courtesy call, I even saw someone who had hung and framed a congratulatory note left by my great-grandfather.
- Xingqiu: Now take a look at these books. These are novels I just wrote, and the contents are completely identical.
- Xingqiu: But when I signed one of them, the last stroke I penned went a few inches wide, and voila — it can sell for two hundred extra Mora.
- Xingqiu: The words are all the same, and the writing hadn't changed one bit, either. But the price changed, all on account of the length of a single stroke.
- Xingqiu: Congratulatory notes can have the same content, but everyone would hang my great-grandfather's up on a wall, and carefully preserve one that my brother sent.
- Xingqiu: I know that these are just trivial matters of business, and no one really cares what the letters themselves say — it's all about who sent it to them. It's just...
- I remember every letter you've ever written to me.
- See, I've got them all right here. Well-kept, too.
- Xingqiu: I know. Thank you. I know it's been tough on you, reading my scribblings. I'll learn how to use that typewriter as soon as possible. We shall soon be forever rid of badly-written letters!
- I prefer your hand-written letters.
- You call them scribbles, but I call them heartfelt.
- Xingqiu: Pfft... Haha! Alright, alright. In that case, I shall continue writing to you in my finest illegible "calligraphy."
- Xingqiu: But should you ever find my lettering neat and orderly, please do come find me as soon as possible.
- Xingqiu: I may have been kidnapped — or perhaps I just really want to see you.
- (He looks up the sunset-tinged clouds.)
- Xingqiu: Ah, would you look at that, it's getting late. I shall see you later, (TravelerTraveler).
- Xingqiu: I wonder if Mr. Xifan also turned to the sword because he did not want to see the products of his pen peddled for coin...
Xingqiu: Words of Gold
You find Xingqiu lost in thought inside the Wanwen Bookhouse. He guides you to a shelf of books that seem to contain the exact same text, but due to subtle differences in the signatures on the title pages, they have been ordered into different "grades." Perhaps people are right to say "A word is worth its weight in gold"...
Other Languages[]
| Language | Official Name | Literal Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| English | Xingqiu: Words of Gold | — |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 行秋・一字千金 Xíngqiū - Yīzìqiānjīn | Xingqiu - Words Worth Their Weight in Gold |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 行秋・一字千金 Xíngqiū - Yīzìqiānjīn | |
| Japanese | 行秋・一字千金 Yukuaki - Ichijisenkin | Xingqiu - Words Worth Their Weight in Gold |
| Korean | 행추・일자천금 Haengchu - Iljacheon'geum | |
| Spanish | Xingchiu - Palabras de oro | Xingchiu - Words of Gold |
| French | Xingqiu : Mots d'or | Xingqiu: Words of Gold |
| Russian | Син Цю: Золотые слова Sin Tsyu: Zolotyye slova | |
| Thai | Xingqiu: หนึ่งคำดั่งพันทอง | |
| Vietnamese | Xingqiu: Chữ Đáng Ngàn Vàng | |
| German | Xingqiu – Schreiben ist Gold | Xingqiu - Writing Is Golden |
| Indonesian | Xingqiu: Kata-Kata Semahal Emas | |
| Portuguese | Xingqiu: Palavras de Ouro | |
| Turkish | Xingqiu: Söz Altındır | |
| Italian | Xingqiu: Parole dorate |
Change History[]
Released in Version 5.4