“Shen Nianzhi, someone’s waiting for you downstairs.” She had just come out of the shower after returning to her dorm room. Feeling exhausted, both mentally and physically, all she wanted was a good night’s sleep. However, even that wish was taken away when her housemate pushed her door open and informed her about her unexpected visitor.
Her housemate was speaking in such a friendly manner that she found it weird. Because she had taken time off and it had been two months since she last stepped foot in her school, most of her classmates and housemates were treating her particularly coldly. This was more so for her housemates. It seems they have already made a pact; whenever she was nearby, they would start acting strangely. And yet, here she was, speaking to Shen Nianzhi as if they were the best of friends.
Shen Nianzhi had no idea who that person waiting for her was. She thanked her housemate and headed downstairs immediately.
After she left, another housemate of hers who was lazing on her bed asked nonchalantly, “Now you’re concerned about her?”
“The two looking for her downstairs didn’t seem like they were regular people.” Her housemate was still in a dazed state. Although she didn’t manage to catch a glimpse of the man’s face, she did take a good look at the young woman who was standing next to him. Something about her appearance felt comfortable. That girl was shockingly beautiful and for some reason, she seemed pretty familiar.
She was the type of person people gravitated toward automatically.
And so, her impression of Shen Nianzhi improved after seeing this friend of hers. As the Chinese proverb goes, one who loves a house, loves the crow that stands upon its roof too.
“Someone’s looking for her?” The girl on the bed sat up instantly.
That girl then flipped her closet open to put on some fresh new clothes. Her housemate was surprised by the sudden ruckus. “Why are you acting so surprised?”
The girl that was initially lazing on her bed waved her housemate goodbye before dashing out the door. At the same time, she dialed a phone that she had recently saved into her phone.
***
Meng Yufan had just returned to Sima Jun’s villa. Mu Yunfan did not return to his home; he had been staying here, at his master’s place so that he was the first one to receive any updates.
Fortunately, Shen Nianzhi had not leaked who that person was. With an innocent smile, Meng Yufan went upstairs to Mu Yunfan’s room.
“Miss Meng, Mr. Mu’s in his study room. I don’t… I don’t think you should go in at the moment.” The cleaner lady went stopped Meng Yufan when she was reaching out to grab the door handle of Mu Yunfan’s room.
Meng Yufan tried incredibly hard to suppress her twisted mind from breaking loose. She directed a sweet smile at the servant.
“Yufan? Why are you here today?” Walking out of his bedroom, Meng Yufan was the first person Sima Jun saw, which puzzled him. With a gentle and concerned voice, he said to her, “Look at the downpour outside. Go take a hot shower and get a change of clothes. You don’t want to catch a cold would you?”
“Grandpa Sima, I’ve come here for something today.” Meng Yufan clung onto Sima Jun’s wrist and led him downstairs. “I would like to enter a competition with this painting of mine.”
“Painting?” A glow appeared in Sima Jun’s eyes. If it’s something worthy of competition, then it must be a fairly special painting. Meng Yufan was born into a family of artists, not to mention the two years she had spent in America learning about the subject. In other words, her skills were by no means, mediocre.
“You should show me your painting the next time you’re here.”
“Oh, I’ve already brought it here.” Meng Yufan picked up a painting and placed it over the table, presenting it to Sima Jun.
The subject of her painting was a scene in the countryside. Oil paintings were judged by the artist’s technique and choice of colors. In this regard, Meng Yufan was pretty competent for a person her age. The perspective and depth of her painting was also well-done. To a certain extent, it could be considered a pretty rare piece of art.
“You absolutely must not bring that to the competition!” Suddenly came a gloomy voice from behind.
It took Meng Yufan by surprise. She spun around and found herself face-to-face with Mu Yunfan. Up close, she could see every little detail on his handsome face, even his bloodshot eyes.
“W-Why?” she asked.
Mu Yunfan stared coldly at Meng Yufan for a long while. Reaching out a slender finger, he pointed at that painting. “You dare say that you came up with this on your own? This painting is a blatant knock-off of ‘Looking Homeward’ in the study room!”
The worst sin you could ever commit in the world of art was the act of plagiarism. What made this worse was entering a competition with a plagiarised piece of art. The competition they were talking about was going to be the largest one in China this year. What Meng Yufan was planning to do was downright a crime!
“Brother Mu! Why would you say that? This is a completely different painting!” Meng Yufan responded with a pained expression. “I can’t believe you think of me as that sort of person!”
Mu Yunfan glared at Meng Yufan silently. Sima Jun stared long and hard at this painting before voicing out his opinion. With knitted brows, he said, “The way she’s expressing her emotions on this piece of art is different from the one you’re referring to. Don’t you think you’re just being over-sensitive, Yunfan?”
Upon hearing his master’s remark, Mu Yunfan massaged his temples for a while before quietly muttering, “I’m sorry.”
After that, he picked up his keys and left the place. It was still raining cats and dogs outside when he drove straight toward the heart of the city. Stopping at the city square, he lit a cigarette and fixed his eyes straight ahead. He scanned the area in front of him aimlessly before zeroing in on a milk tea store.
The milk tea shop had large glass panels which had fogged up due to the rain. Although it was a little hazy, he was still able to make out Shen Nianzhi’s silhouette behind the window. He wanted to walk right up to her until he saw the person who was sitting across the table.
The person suddenly raised her head and stared in his general direction. Her eyes were bright and her jet black hair was contrasted with her snow-like delicate skin. Even without makeup, she was as pretty as a scroll of flowers. She was the most eye-catching thing in his field of vision.
Mu Yunfan felt his heart skip a bit. Within a single second, he recognized who that person was. And instantly, his brows furrowed up.
What a waste of good looks.
He drove off into the distance. Leaving Shen Nianzhi, who he wanted to meet behind, he tried to ignore the palpitations in his chest.
***
In the milk tea shop, Shen Nianzhi peered at where Gu Xiqiao was looking. “What are you looking at Miss Gu?”
“Oh it’s nothing.” Gu Xiqiao shook her head. “The reason why I’m meeting you here today is to talk about an art exhibition.”
“Art exhibition?” Shen Nianzhi’s expression darkened as soon as she heard that word. Still, she quickly regained her composure. “You’re thinking about hosting an art exhibition? I will definitely be there to support you then!”
“No,” Gu Xiqiao glanced at Jiang Shuxuan who was still standing in line. “I heard from Dalin that there are many Chinese paintings at your home. Would you like to have an exhibition of your own?”
In her last life, Shen Nianzhi had only gained her fame when she was in the third year of university. In fact, she was on par with Gu Xijin. It seems like the trajectory of her life was going to undergo a change once again.
Shen Nianzhi was stunned. She stared listlessly at the girl in front of her. Artists were an incredibly picky bunch, you could give them the most perfect item and they’d still manage to locate a flaw within it. And yet, the face of the young girl seated in front of her was perfect. Her skin, her eyes, there seemed to be a veil of mist that added to the mysteriousness of Gu Xiqiao. She was so perfect that Shen Nianzhi found it hard to look directly at her.
From the very beginning, Shen Nianzhi did not treat Gu Xiqiao as her fellow peer. On an unconscious level, she treated the person as someone like the dean of a faculty. That was the level of respect she had for Gu Xiqiao.
It took Shen Nianzhi a while to come to her senses. “What do you mean, Miss Gu?”
“Exactly what I just said.” Gu Xiqiao handed a name card over to her. “Call the number on this card. He’ll help you with everything.”
Shen Nianzhi took the fancy-looking card. Embossed in gold was the name—Mu Zong.
***
At the headquarters of Nine Heavens, Mu Zong sneezed. He pulled out a napkin to wipe his nose. “Something’s not right. Is someone plotting against me again?”
“Alright, I’ll be heading back to study that virus Miss Gu so kindly blessed me with. FYI, the only person who can take you down in Boss Gu herself.” Yu Ning tidied up a pile of documents and patted Mu Zong on the back sympathetically before leaving his office.
Luo Wenlang calmly got up from his seat and with a somber expression, he reminded, “Uncle Mu, take care of yourself. I’ll be off to pick Dalin up.”
Mu Zong thought to himself, ‘Didn’t we agree that we would go together? Why are you guys leaving now to do your own things? （︶︿︶)’
His phone vibrated. Holding it up, Mu Zong confirmed that it was a message from Gu Xiqiao.
***
Jiang Shuxuan had just bought a box of cake when Gu Xiqiao finished speaking. She picked up her half-finished cup of milk tea and left the shop.
The rain was gradually letting up. Jiang Shuxuan opened up his umbrella and subsequently pulled her close to him. Then, he started speaking. “Zhu Yuan was looking for you a moment ago.”
“For what?” Gu Xiqiao rolled her eyes. No way he came up with a solution so soon right? It had only been two days after all.
“Divine Doctor Rong wants to meet you.” Jiang Shuxuan said as he lowered his head to look at her. She was sipping on her milk tea, and her lips looking pale. But her beauty was undeniably shining through, and such a person would turn heads no matter where she went.
She was approaching the ancient martial arts world one step at a time. It was only a matter of time before he couldn’t keep her a secret any longer.
“Divine Doctor Rong?” Gu Xiqiao responded abruptly. That was Zhu Yuan’s master. He was a renowned healer and his name frequently appeared in the ancient martial arts forum. Naturally, she was curious about who this mighty miracle doctor was.
“Can I meet him?” Gu Xiqiao looked up.
Her eyes were so enchanting, how was it possible for Jiang Shuxuan to turn her down? “Of course.”
He was just Rong Feishuang. She had already met pretty much everyone he was close friends with back in the ancient martial arts world.
When they returned home, Luo Wenlin was still studying with Hua Youlin. Jiang Shuxuan tucked away his umbrella and upon seeing Haha’s droopy eyes, he immediately went over to prepare some chow for the mutt.
Luo Wenlin had already left when he returned to the living room. Gu Xiqiao sat next to Hua Youlin, explaining the problems on his practice sheet patiently to him while tapping her delicate fingers on the table.
Jiang Shuxuan had an excellent sense of hearing. He tuned in fully on Gu Xiqiao’s gentle voice, allowing it to resonate throughout his body.
“How many paintings are you going to enter into the competition?” he asked out of the blue.
Gu Xiqiao looked up and pondered. “I guess one?”
She was referring to the portrait she painted of Yu Man. She wanted the show that piece of art to everyone.
After she replied, she went back to tutoring Hua Youlin.
On the second day, Hua Youlin woke up to discover that there was no breakfast waiting for him on the table.
“…”
Haha looked up from his bowl.
“Bark bark bark bark bark!”
Hua Youlin could not understand dog-lingo and so, Xixi translated it for him. “Haha said that you’re a trash-ass b*tch and that you deserve what you get!”
“I think you’re the one saying this, aren’t you?” Hua Youlin stared emotionlessly at the feather ball.
Haha thought to itself, ‘What on earth happened to this poor little boy? Whoever that did this to him, give him his innocence back! Sniffle, come to papa little one. Tell me what you’ve gone through.’
***
The grandiosity of the oil painting exhibition at the Imperial Capital was comparable to the recent International Biennale. Painting enthusiasts from all over the world came here just to see the artwork that was on display.
Because of how important this event was, even Meng Yufan wanted to take part in it.
At the International Biennale, only two paintings were submitted. One belonging to Mu Yunfan and the other, to ‘For A Millenium’. She herself had not the chance to take part in the competition.
And so, she could not let this chance pass. She had no idea how large the scale was for this upcoming exhibition at the Imperial Capital, but she knew that both Sima Jun and Mu Yunfan were going to be the judges. Apart from them, there were also a couple of other big-shots in the art industry.
If they were attending this exhibition, then this local Biennale must’ve been a pretty significant event. Meng Yufan swore to herself that she would stand toe-to-toe with Mu Yunfan by the end of this exhibition.
Knocks rang out on the door of the person in charge of this upcoming exhibition. In came a young man who greeted, “Mr. Wu.”
“What’s the matter?” Mr. Wu looked up. He was looking through the list of candidates that have signed up for the exhibition.
“Miss Meng had just called us. She said she wants to participate in this event.”
Mr. Wu shook his head. “The candidate list is already maxed out.”
“We can strike one of them off the list.” The young man made a slicing gesture with his finger. “She’s Miss Meng we’re talking about. Her father’s a member of the committee.”
It was then that things started making sense. Mr. Wu had no choice but to give his father face. “Who does she wish to strike off?”
The young man pointed at the final entry of the candidate list. “This person here.”
“Her?” Mr. Wu was amused. “Do you know why this exhibition is being held here at the capital? This entire battle, it was designed for the purpose of singling out a specific individual. The rest of the candidates are just to cover up the truth. Now you’re asking me to strike that very person off?”
Are you looking for a war?