Chapter 293 I Only Treat You as My Sister (11)

"It's a great painting, thank you." Lin Shichu thanked Lian Shangrui. The painting was very cute and it was a picture of her playing with the dog yesterday. She liked it very much.

Lian Shangrui nodded but didn't say anything. His beautiful eyes were fixed on her face without blinking, but his eyes were clear and penetrating, and it was obvious that he didn't have any dirty thoughts. It seemed more like he was admiring Lin Shichu's face.

When the old housekeeper saw him like this, he quickly pulled him back and reminded him that it was impolite to look at a girl like that.

Lin Shichu was a little puzzled by this, but he didn't think much about it. He said goodbye to them and left with the painting.

"Why did he give you a painting? And the painting is of you! Could it be that he has some feelings for you?" After leaving the Lian family, Qian Qingqing couldn't wait to ask Lin Shichu.

Lin Shichu rolled his eyes at her: "If he was interested in me, why didn't he take the opportunity to ask for credit from me just now? You think too much, he might have given me this painting as an apology gift because he drew me without my consent."

"Is that so?" Qian Qingqing curled her lips when she heard Lin Shichu's guess, "This is not romantic at all. I thought you and him could develop some romantic story."

"I told you to watch less porn! I don't know what you're thinking about all day." Lin Shichu glared at her. Qian Qingqing said with a smile, "If we don't watch porn, we'll lose a lot of fun. Our senior year of high school is hard enough. Watching porn can help relieve stress."

…The two of them went home laughing and chatting.

Lian Shangrui returned to his studio and painted another portrait of Lin Shichu. This time, there was only her face in the painting. It was lifelike and every detail was visible, as if it had been taken with a camera. Even the fine hairs on her face could be seen clearly, and her eyelashes were distinct. Her eyes were as cool as water, and she looked at people indifferently.

After Lian Shangrui added the final touch of color to the portrait, he threw away his paintbrush and stared at the painting intently.

The weekend in the senior year of high school was only one and a half days long. Lin Shichu spent the day at Qian Qingqing’s house and had to go home on Saturday night.

When Lin's mother saw her coming back, her face looked unhappy: "You finally decided to come back? You didn't do your homework with your classmates, but went out to play, right? I see you are having so much fun that you don't want to leave. You are already a senior in high school. At such a critical moment, wasting time to play is simply a crime..."

She kept talking non-stop, and Lin Shichu quickly pulled Lin Cong out and said, "Mom, you have so much free time, why don't you take care of your little brother? I heard that he is about to graduate from kindergarten, but he can't even remember all 26 English letters. If you don't teach him, aren't you afraid that he won't be able to keep up in elementary school?"

Lin Cong is indeed the lifeblood of Lin's mother. When talking about him, Lin's mother's attention is immediately diverted. Of course, Lin Cong is not a child who can listen to her teachings obediently. He keeps fiddling with his toys and Lin's mother has no way to deal with him.

Lin Shichu felt no guilt for diverting the blame to others. After all, Lin Cong really needed Lin's mother's education more than she did.

The days passed uneventfully as usual. At the next monthly exam, Lin Shichu got the first place for the first time. Although her classmates and teachers were surprised, no one thought she was cheating because her progress was obvious to all. It was a gradual improvement rather than an overnight achievement. Besides, her grades were already very good, and everyone had expectations of her getting the first place this time.

Originally, Meng Shiyang was the top student in the grade, but he was now troubled by Old Madam Meng's illness. All his energy was used to take care of the patient. He was not in good spirits and could not concentrate in class. His grades kept declining, so it was impossible for him to keep his first place.

He ranked fifth in the exam this time and was called by the head teacher to show concern for him for a long time. However, when he came out, his face looked even gloomier. No one dared to approach him and stayed away from him.

Lin Shichu glanced at him. He was listless, thin, and had a gloomy look. He was completely different from the cold and aloof academic master and favored child of heaven.

After seeing this, Lin Shichu no longer paid attention to him. Old Mrs. Meng was destined to be paralyzed in bed and become a burden that would drag him down for the rest of his life. It was unknown whether he could still be a filial grandson.

At the Lian family, in Lian Shangrui's studio, the old housekeeper handed him the investigation report on Qian Qingqing and Lin Shichu and said, "Master, this is the information you wanted about Miss Qian and her classmates."

Lian Shangrui took it, threw the document with Qian Qingqing's name on it on the table, picked up Lin Shichu's document and read it carefully.

The old butler showed an expression of "as expected" and quietly retreated.

When Qian Qingqing returned home, her mother called her: "Qingqing, have you been to the Lian family before? Their housekeeper even brought some fruit snacks over, saying that they were for us to try... This is really strange. The Lian family never interacted with us neighbors before, but this time, I don't know what happened, they actually took the initiative to come to our house and contact us..."

Qian Qingqing thought about it and became a little confused: "Which family is the Lian family?" It was not her fault that she had forgotten the Lian family. After all, she had only been there once and had never interacted with the owner of the house. She just played with the dogs.

"It's the house with the puppy. They said that last time you and your classmates went to their house and played with the dog for most of the day. Have you forgotten about it?" Qian's mother said with a look of disapproval.

"The one with the puppy?!" Qian Qingqing's eyes lit up immediately, her face flushed with excitement, and she said, "The people in their family are quite friendly. They know that we like puppies, so they specially let us in to play with the puppies! By the way, their young master is also very good at painting, and he even gave Shi Chu a portrait of her..."

Qian Qingqing talked endlessly about how cute the Lian family's dog was and how good the Lian family's young master's paintings were. Qian's mother was surprised and asked her, "You and Shi Chu have become friends with their young master, right?"

"I guess so." Qian Qingqing replied, rolling her eyes and tentatively asked her mother: "Mom, you see they have so many dogs. If I ask them for one, will they agree to give me one?"

Qian's mother looked at her coldly and shook her head, saying, "Give up! Don't even think about seeing any furry pets at home before the college entrance examination!"

Qian Qingqing looked at her with resentment, but still couldn't get Qian's mother to give in.

When Lin Shichu arrived at school that day, the head teacher brought a tall and thin boy into the classroom. He clapped his hands to attract the attention of the students, and then said, "We have a new student in our class today. Everyone, welcome him!"

Everyone looked at the new classmate curiously and applauded to welcome him.

"Well, please let this new student introduce himself!" the head teacher said to the new student with a smile.

"Hello everyone, my name is Lian Shangrui." The new classmate was quiet and cold. His self-introduction was as short as it could be. He said only one sentence and then didn't say anything else. The head teacher had no choice but to let him find an empty seat to sit down.

(End of this chapter)