Chapter 14

"Good morning, Melon Seed Girl." Zhong Miao greeted with a smile.

"You still have the leisure to laugh? You don't even know how serious the situation is." Li Hongmei walked into the house without being asked.

"What's going on?"

"Give me some water to drink so I can catch my breath first, ok? Uncle Zhong, you're here too, Brother Ze."

Li Hongmei was quite surprised when she entered the room and saw Zhong Ming and Pei Ze were there.

After saying hello, Zhong Miao pulled Li Hongmei onto the kang, and the two girls sat cross-legged opposite Zhong Ming and drank tea.

Li Hongmei saw Pei Ze sitting on a chair sharpening a pencil, "Brother Ze, what are you doing sharpening a pencil?"

"I carved it for Zhong Miao. She wants to draw." Pei Ze answered casually, his hands moving non-stop, so fast.

"ah?"

Zhong Miao explained it to her.

"Oh my god, you actually have such talent. I'm so blind that I didn't even notice it." Li Hongmei joked.

"Don't tease me, what big thing did you want to tell me just now?"

Zhong Miao grabbed a handful of melon seeds for her father and Li Hongmei, and also took a small box to pack the melon seed shells.

Li Hongmei's face darkened when she mentioned this. "I heard that you two beat up the short guy in the backyard this morning. Is that true?"

"True, but not hard enough."

Zhong Miao was thinking of finding a dark and windy night, when no one was watching, to give that piece of shit a good beating.

Zhong Ming was puzzled. How come he didn't know when the fight happened?

Seeing his father's puzzled expression, Zhong Miao explained, "You were taking a nap that morning, so I didn't let you participate."

"Are you two hurt?" Zhong Ming asked worriedly.

"No, a crushing victory."

"You're kidding me. That short third brother is going around everywhere with a bruised face, telling everyone that you cheated on Brother Ze and that you're involved with that idiot."

Li Hongmei was anxious and took a sip of tea. "He also said that Brother Ze beat you back to your parents' home. My brother told me about what happened on your wedding night. Shorty Third went to my house to spread rumors and got beaten up by my brother. Everyone in the village knows about it now. Isn't it going to get worse and worse?"

Pei Ze stopped smiling and put down his pencil. "Whose house is he at now? I'm going to beat him up."

Zhong Miao disagreed, "Why are you beating him? Let him talk. If you beat him now, it will only be because you are angry and embarrassed. Anyway, it has already been spread out. We can talk about it later."

"Yes, Brother Ze, he also said that you two scolded Song Xing and his wife and started a fight. You must not be impulsive."

Li Hongmei felt that what Zhong Miao said made sense. Going to the house and beating someone up at this time would only confirm the rumors.

"Don't bother with that. Go wash your hands and come up to eat some sunflower seeds."

Seeing Pei Ze's dark face, Zhong Miao called him to come up to the bed and chat with him.

"You're quite generous."

Pei Ze was helpless with this careless daughter-in-law, and washed the pencil dust off his hands with water in the basin beside him.

"Didn't they say you were not doing your job properly before? I didn't see you resist." Zhong Miao retorted.

"Okay, tell me, what's your idea?"

Zhong Miao saw that his father's face was not right, "I don't have time to care about you, Dad, please listen to my explanation..."

She told Zhong Ming bit by bit the rumors about Pei Ze in the village and how a thug sneaked into her bridal chamber on her wedding night.

The old father was furious after hearing this, and rolled up his sleeves to beat up the second gangster and the short third brother. Her daughter had never suffered such a great injustice since she was a child, and she even felt unhappy with Pei Ze.

"Dad, don't worry. I beat up that idiot the day after we got married. I guess he's still not fully recovered."

Pei Ze stopped his father-in-law and said that if anyone was to be beaten up, he had to go, his father-in-law couldn't do it.

After hearing this, Zhong Ming felt a little better, "You are a man, you did a good job." His favorability towards his son-in-law also increased a little.

Pei Ze got on the kang, and Zhong Miao also grabbed a handful of melon seeds for him. "What about this? You didn't even tell me. Don't be so bitter and resentful. It's not a big deal."

"That's right. That short third kid was beaten pretty badly by my brother. You'd better not go there, or you might cause trouble again." Li Hongmei said.

"By the way, Dad, that Zhong Cheng is my cousin. He's a sycophant to Song Xing and Wang Yingying. If his family comes looking for you, don't be polite. We don't have such relatives, so we don't have to have any contact with them."

"Okay, got it."

"Zhong Miao, tell me, what do you want to do?" Pei Ze couldn't help but ask.

"Wait until your injury is healed before beating them up. If you can find a chance to trip them up, don't be polite to them. I am a person who holds grudges." Zhong Miao said heartlessly.

"Okay." Pei Ze agreed.

Zhong Ming also agreed: "Wait until evening, I will go to meet that second idiot, he is almost well, isn't he? Let's not let him get better."

"I'll go with Dad." Pei Ze refilled his father-in-law's tea.

Li Hongmei was shocked. As the saying goes, people from the same family are alike. Are this couple and her father-in-law so simple and rude?

"Zhong Miao, what about your and Ze's reputation?"

Zhong Miao took over the conversation, "Reputation can't be eaten. Just live your life behind closed doors. Don't take it too seriously."

The few of them chatted casually, and Li Hongmei sat for a while and was about to go back.

Before leaving, Zhong Miao wanted to get her some snacks again, "Please don't give them to me. I don't want to buy you melon seeds again tomorrow."

"Okay then, thank you."

As soon as Li Hongmei left, Zhong Ming couldn't sit still anymore and dragged his son-in-law to Erhunzi's house.

The days are getting shorter and shorter, and it's already dark at around four in the afternoon.

The father-in-law and son-in-law talked as they walked. Zhong Ming was an investor in his previous life and was worth quite a lot of money. Pei Ze had also been doing business for several years. They talked and chatted openly, one sentence after another.

"Uncle, what do you think of our Miaomiao?"

"fine."

"Humph, of course you think it's good, but how old is my daughter and you're already someone's mother?"

"That can't be helped. Who made your girl fall for me?"

"You think too much, kid."

He didn't know his precious daughter? If she hadn't traveled through time and space and had no choice but to go to the wedding scene, she would have had a hard time getting married in her lifetime.

Pei Ze seems okay, and his family conditions are acceptable. Since she has been forced to get married, it is better to let her daughter give it a try, just as a love relationship. If she doesn't like it, she can still get a divorce.

He is old and cannot stay with his precious daughter forever.

He didn't care much about the plot. The plot was the plot and reality was reality. What's more, he knew very little and his daughter didn't tell him too much.

How could Pei Ze not see that Zhong Miao didn't like him? "Even if you don't like me, why did you marry me? What were you two thinking?"

"Oh, I didn't think about anything. It was like this the moment I closed my eyes and opened them again."

It was rare for Zhong Ming to tell the truth, but to Pei Ze, this sounded like nonsense.

"It's really hard for you and your daughter to make such a big decision to marry someone."

"What's the matter? Do you have any objections? You are so ungrateful after getting the advantage." Zhong Ming said dissatisfiedly.

"Okay, okay, I got the advantage. By the way, how did you raise this girl? Why is she so heartless? I'm just curious."

"Haha, whatever you want, I'll give you. You can do whatever you want. Besides coaxing you, I'll throw money at you. I'm telling the truth. I don't mean to think you're poor."

Pei Ze curled his lips and said, "Then your daughter will live a poor life with me, so you can rest assured?"

"Of course I'm worried. It's because I'm poor now."

Zhong Ming only wanted to make more money, buy a villa, renovate it well, and then make a big room for his daughter to use as a studio.

Oil paintings require a lot of space, and his daughter's large paintings can be more than two meters long.

On second thought, it seems that there are not many good houses in Qing City now, and not many have been built.

"If you're poor, just throw your daughter to my house and raise her. Do I owe you anything?"

Pei Ze was unhappy. Neither the father nor the daughter had a normal way of thinking.

"Hey, didn't your family agree to your marriage? If you don't want to raise her, just send her back to me. Get a divorce first, and I'll take her to the city."

It’s not that going to the city is not possible, but the conditions there are worse than in the village for the time being, and there is no one to take care of his daughter. After all, he doesn’t earn much money yet.

"Do you really think the city is so good? You're so naive. Is my house a kindergarten?"

"It's not that the city is better, but the village is just like this, there is no room for development."

“…”

When the second gangster opened the door and saw Pei Ze and Lao Zhongtou, he wanted to run away again, but thinking of the consequences of his last escape, he could only force himself to smile.

"Uncle Zhong, Brother Ze, why are you still here?"

"Didn't I tell you, I'll beat you up every time I see you." Pei Ze was nonchalant, showing his typical Pei-style smirk, and he didn't look like a good person.

"No, Brother Ze, I really haven't bothered Zhong Miao again. Haven't we never met before?"

The second gangster was grinning. Some time ago, he was beaten into a pig's head by Pei Ze. He just got rid of the pig-like appearance these days and the swelling finally subsided. He didn't want to be beaten again.

"Hasn't it been seen now?"

Second idiot...

-

The house was very quiet, with only the rustling sound of pencils rubbing against paper, and the sound of a bell gradually appearing on the drawing paper.

The light was not too bright, but it did not affect Zhong Miao's painting.

Zhong Ming was half leaning and half sitting against the wall, cracking melon seeds and acting as a model for his daughter.

"My dear daughter, take a rest if you are tired."

"I'm not tired. Dad, if you're tired, you can change your pose. It won't make a difference when drawing a portrait."

"Okay, Dad isn't tired either."

Pei Ze knew nothing about this and sat next to Zhong Miao watching her paint.

Zhong Miao's brush strokes never cease. As time passes, light and shadow chase each other, and finally converge into a line of light and dark boundary that stands out and becomes the most eye-catching part of the entire work.

The lighting is just diffused light, without strong sensitive contrast, which is her subjective design.

In fact, she hadn't done any sketching for a long time. Before she traveled through the book, she was either creating or playing.

However, no matter how things change, the essence remains the same. Expressing structure and light and shadow are just the basics for her. She needs to find the feel for it first.

This body of my father is a few years younger than his previous life, but his face has more wrinkles.

"Dad, you look older than before. You need to take care of yourself in the future."

"Hehe, you look older, but your body is healthier and your strength is better than before."

Zhong Miao took a small piece of toilet paper and rubbed it on the shadow part of the picture, instantly highlighting the relationship between reality and illusion.

"Dad, who did Zhong Miao learn this painting from?"

Pei Ze didn't understand the structure of light and shadow, nor did he understand the concept of reality and illusion. He only saw the image of his father-in-law vividly portrayed on the paper. The expression of the person in the painting was even more contagious than the real person.

Previously, a student from the Sculpture Department of Qingdao Academy of Fine Arts came to his furniture factory to seek cooperation to make wood carvings. They discussed the wood materials and woodworking techniques with him for a long time.

During the chat, Pei Zecai got a general understanding of the Academy of Fine Arts. As the number of collaborations increased, he also went to the sculpture department studio of Qingmei with that classmate.

There were many paintings hanging on the walls of Qingmei's corridor, of all kinds, and he had seen some of them before.

In the eyes of this layman, Zhong Miao's paintings were no worse than those.

How could he not have doubts?

He still remembered what the classmate said when he introduced the paintings to him. These required a long period of aesthetic accumulation and a lot of practice, and consumed a lot of financial resources and time.