Chapter 79

She glanced at the candy on her table: "Oh, I asked you for some this morning, but you wouldn't give me any..."

She clicked her tongue at Zheng Nian, then suddenly remembered something, so she didn't say anything, walked to her seat, put the cup on the table, took something out of her bag, and slowly walked to Jian Sheng's side.

"This is the photocard of that pretty female idol you mentioned last time. I looked for it when I got home and found I bought a lot. Here you go." Xu Xiaxia took the photocards out of the album, touched them carefully, and then placed them one by one on her desk.

"Damn, I said I liked this last time too, why didn't you give it to me? You won't even let me touch it." He Shang, who had followed, threw the clothes on his table, turned around and reached for the cards on Jian Sheng's table.

Xu Xiaxia raised her hand and slapped the back of his hand: "How dare you, you monkey!"

"Hey, I can't even touch it!" He Shang pouted, withdrew his hand, and clenched the hand that had been slapped behind his back, saying, "You stingy guy."

"Yeah, you're such a cheapskate!" Xu Xiaxia rolled her eyes at him. "I'm only cheap with you."

"You two stop arguing," Lin You said, trying to stop them.

"You can only develop feelings through arguing." Shen Xuzheng strolled in through the front door, followed by Qi Jing.

He walked to Qi Jing's table, sat down in her chair, and his gaze swept over the things on Jian Sheng's table: "Wow, so much stuff..."

He leaned back in his chair, thought for a moment, and then said, "My uncle opened a beef hot pot restaurant on Xinjie Street two years ago. Would you be free to come and support him this weekend?"

“You guys?” he added.

"Wow, wow, it's been so long since we had a get-together! My favorite beef hot pot!" He Shang was the first to chime in. "It's free, you're treating?"

Eat whatever you like.

After he finished speaking, the others agreed.

Qi Jing sat down in front of her, and seeing that Jian Sheng didn't respond, she slowly said, "I'll pick you up later, Jian Sheng?"

“Let’s go together, including Lin You.”

Jian Sheng said "Ah," nodded, and replied, "Okay, what time is it on Sunday? But I have to go to the art studio in the morning; it's my last class before the college entrance exam."

Qi Jing looked up at Shen Xuzheng.

Shen Xuzheng said, "At noon, I asked him to reserve a private room for us in advance."

“Okay, okay, then let’s go pick up Jian Sheng first, just like last time,” Xu Xiaxia said.

“Sure,” Lin You nodded.

"What are you talking about?" a voice came from the back door.

The group turned around and saw Gu Zhenyi and Xu Xiu walking inside.

He Man followed behind.

Lin You raised an eyebrow, lingering on Gu Zhenyi and He Man for a few seconds, before the group walked to the Jian Sheng table.

Gu Zhenyi pulled out Xu Xiao's seat and placed it in front of He Man: "You sit here."

Then he turned to He Shang and said, "May I have a seat, monk?"

"Sit wherever you like." He Shang leaned against Xu Xiao's desk and waved his hand dismissively.

"Why do you always come to Class 13?" He Man asked Shen Xuzheng, who was next to Jian Sheng, then glanced around before finally fixing her gaze on Jian Sheng's desk.

"Aren't you here too?" Shen Xuzheng smiled.

He Man rolled her eyes and said, "What are we discussing?"

"Let's go for hot pot on Saturday, are you free to come along?" Shen Xuzheng asked again.

“Sure,” Gu Zhenyi replied. “Which restaurant should we go to? I ate at your uncle’s house a few days ago, and it’s the best I’ve had in Yanjiang so far.”

“Let’s go to his house,” Shen Xuzheng said.

"That's great! We're in for a treat! He Man, come along too," she said.

"Okay." He Man wanted to ask something, but in the end she didn't say it.

Shen Xuzheng counted the number of people: "I'll create a group later, you can join the group, and I'll send you the location."

After chatting for a while, the school bell rang, and the group left Jian Sheng's spot.

When He Man left, she deliberately walked around Jian Sheng, took a few tickets from her pocket, placed them on her desk, and whispered in her ear amidst the noise, "Please accept my condolences."

After saying that, she left towards the front door.

Jian Sheng picked up the four tickets on the table, which read "Art Journey" on them.

It was a ticket to an art exhibition in the city center, open during the summer season, just one week after the college entrance examination.

She looked up, just as He Man's figure disappeared around the corner of the front door.

Jian Sheng clutched the ticket in her hand, looked at the things on the table, and felt a tightness in her chest. She carefully put the things on the table into the small bag in front of her schoolbag.

On the weekend morning, Liang Shuyuan didn't talk much, but just looked at her greatly improved paintings and admired them for a long time.

He stood behind her, watching her write, occasionally letting out a long "hmm" in a drawn-out tone.

When Jian Sheng finished drawing the last few lines, she stopped, turned to look at him, and said, "Teacher."

Her expression was somewhat helpless. Liang Shuyuan coughed and said, "I'll just take a look."

After a few seconds of stalemate, Liang Shuyuan hissed, "I still think it's a pity you didn't take the art exam route."

A hint of regret flashed in his eyes as he circled her easel: "You can tell me if you have any unspeakable difficulties. If you don't have the money, I'll pay for it."

“If you go, I guarantee that you will be the top scorer in Yanjiang, or even the entire Huai’an last year.”

He stood behind her with his arms crossed.

Jian Sheng pursed her lips, picked up her paintbrush again, and made some dots on the palette.

After a long silence, she finally spoke: "Does Teacher Liang know my mother?"

Liang Shuyuan raised his right eyebrow, the words he was about to say stuck in his throat, and instead asked, "Did I tell you that?"

“There’s a painting in your office,” Jian said slowly. “My mother’s name is signed in the lower right corner.”

“I couldn’t guess, because I’ve never seen her paintings.” After finishing the last stroke, she stood up, turned to the stunned Liang Shuyuan, and smiled, “Thank you for taking care of me during this time.”

"If needed in the future, I hope to have the opportunity to take your class."

Liang Shuyuan gazed at her quietly for a while, then finally turned his attention to her painting. He sat down on her painting stool, pondered for a moment, and then said, "When we were young, Teacher Qin was both her and my teacher. I was her classmate for a period of time. During that time, Teacher Qin only had ten students in total, and your mother was the best painter among them..."

"I didn't like drawing back then; my family forced me to do it."

"So I pretended to study very hard every day, pretended to be very diligent, but in reality, my mind was full of thoughts about where to go during the holidays, what to eat later, and that I hadn't finished my schoolwork yet."

"A month later, during the first test, I successfully portrayed myself as the most hardworking and diligent person, but with the worst score. As a result, everyone thought I was a person without talent."

“My mom believed it too, so she started thinking about having me learn piano or something so I wouldn’t be able to draw anymore. But at that time I thought that if I didn’t draw, I wouldn’t have to learn anymore and I could go out and play. But I overheard my mom and Teacher Qin’s conversation.”

"In a fit of anger, I ran to the studio and tore up all the paintings I had ever painted. They all thought I was crazy."

"But only your mother told me..."

"If you want to stop drawing altogether, then draw as much as you can, get to be number one, get to be the best, and meet the results your mom wants. Then you'll have the confidence to say you're not going to learn anymore."

Liang Shuyuan paused for a moment, then suddenly laughed.

He turned to look at Jian Sheng: "And then I believed it."

"After that, I started drawing like crazy. She was the best, so I learned from her. I drew whatever she drew, however she drew it, whenever she drew, I drew too."

"Later I realized that it wasn't that I didn't like drawing; I just didn't like the expectations my family imposed on me."

“Back then, learning to paint wasn’t very common in Huai’an, but there was a painting competition in Huai’an, and we both signed up.”

She came in first place, and I came in second.

"She used the 5,000 yuan bonus she received to treat me to a meal, and that was the last time I saw her."

She said that people shouldn't get trapped in a relationship or an emotion. Stepping back and looking at things from a different perspective, and taking the initiative to find a way out for yourself, will only make things better.

"After that, she disappeared. Later, I heard that she got married, and then I heard that she had you."

"During this period, I won first place in the painting competition held in Huai'an every year. I gained the confidence to say no, and gradually..."

"Gradually, I stopped receiving any information about her."

"But I remembered what she said."

"I'm telling you this now. Although I regret that you didn't take the art exam route, no matter what the future holds, whatever path you choose, it will be a great choice."

“Your talent and abilities are not limited to the art exam.”

Liang Shuyuan took a breath and slowly stood up: "Let this painting air out for a while longer. There are no students using the classroom this afternoon, so I'll come back to collect it this afternoon."

He walked to the door, then poked his head in again: "This is the last time today. I'll treat you to a meal sometime. If you have any academic questions or anything else in the future, you can come to me. You have my phone number and WeChat. I'm only doing this because of you."

"Good luck on the college entrance exam. Get yourself in the right mindset. I believe in you. You can succeed at anything."

"Oh, I remember to turn off the air conditioner. It's strange, it's only the beginning of May, and it's so hot..." His voice faded into the distance.

Even after he left, Jian Sheng was still somewhat disoriented, standing blankly by the easel, maintaining the same posture as when he left.

She only guessed that he knew Zhou Yilian, but she never expected that there was such a story between Zhou Yilian and him.

To be honest, she knew very little about Zhou Yilian, so little that she only learned that her mother had been a great painter after she came to Jiangzhou to study.

He is an award-winning painter who is well-known.

Before coming here, her impression of Zhou Yilian was based on He Ying's words that Zhou Yilian used to be a person without a proper job, who liked to travel around, didn't care about her family, and had no conscience.

Bang.

A sound came from the back door, snapping Jian Sheng back to her senses. She turned around and saw only the door shaking.

"Who is it?" She walked over, but there was nothing at the door.

Just as I was about to turn around, I heard voices coming from the front door.

Is it here?

"I don't know, this art studio is huge, how much is the venue fee?"

"That teacher, who was quite handsome, said this is the place."

"Wow, you think he's handsome too? He has a kind of refined scoundrel vibe."

"Hey, Jian Sheng!"

Ding-dong........

Xu Xiaxia's voice rang out at the same time as the school bell.

She turned around and saw a dozen people standing at the front door, smiling and greeting her.

People gradually came out of the next classroom and looked this way.

Qi Jing stepped forward first, followed by Shen Xuzheng, who had his hands in his pockets.

Then, the dozen or so people walked towards her against the flow of people.

"get out of class is over, right? They weren't supposed to let us in, but luckily I ran into a teacher at the door. Hearing that we were looking for you, he let us in right away," Qi Jing said.

Jian Sheng nodded: "That's my teacher. I just finished my class."

"Wow, your teacher is so handsome!" Xu Xiaxia leaned closer. "Do you have his contact information?"

Jian Sheng opened her eyes wide and exclaimed.

He Shang curled his lip and said, "You keep saying this guy is handsome and that guy is handsome. What's so handsome about him? I don't even know how old he is. Maybe he already has kids. How can you be so shameless?"

He gritted his teeth and walked up behind her with a gloomy expression.

Xu Xiaxia's face darkened: "He's more handsome than you."

“Jian Sheng, I haven’t seen your paintings yet. Show us?” she said, turning her head.

Jian said in a low voice, "Sure, this classroom will do."

She pushed open the half-closed door: "Come in."

A group of more than ten people walked inside.

Yu Chao, who was at the back, did not go in when he passed by her. Instead, he stopped, leaned against the door frame, and looked at her.

Jian Sheng: "What? Aren't you going in?"

"He's pretty fierce." Yu Chao smiled.

Jian Sheng didn't think to respond and was about to enter when he heard him casually say, "Please accept my condolences."

He didn't say much, but slowly strolled in, stood between Gu Zhenyi and Xu Xiu, and bent down to look at the paintings on Jian Sheng's easel.

As Jian Sheng watched these people crowd in front of her small easel, praising her without any restraint, a warm feeling welled up in her chest.