Chapter 45 What the hell are you doing?
Wei Chuan felt guilty and took a long time to reply:
I'm afraid they'll damage it if I put it in the dormitory, so I put it at home.
Liang Heng has been irritable for a long time.
Meng Tang: [……]
Wei Chuan didn't know whether she believed it or not, but he believed it anyway.
Meng Tang didn't want to interfere with other people's confessions, so he just chatted for a few sentences and then ended it.
Wei Chuan's fingertips slowly slid across the phone screen, knowing that something was wrong with him recently.
Shao Yiming and his friends always ask themselves when they will confess their feelings and whether they need their brothers’ help.
In the past, he would have pointed at them and said, "Not one of them can escape."
But recently they have been talking a lot and he has been making excuses.
Tian Yu joked that he might have fallen in love with someone else, and his heartbeat inexplicably accelerated.
When I saw the ornaments carved by Meng Tang, my first thought was not to give it away to confess my love, but to keep it for myself.
In fact, he did so.
When Meng Tang asked, no one knew how guilty he felt.
But he still made excuses for himself. Xie Lingyin didn't like it anyway.
Meng Tang naturally didn't know what he was thinking. Her restoration work was nearing completion and would probably be handed in by mid-month.
My phone vibrated, notifying me that there would be a department lecture in the lecture hall at 7:00 p.m. next Monday.
The topic was also related to wood carving. When Meng Tang saw the speaker's name, he was stunned.
It’s actually him!
For several days, Meng Tang was a little absent-minded, until Monday, when she was the first to arrive at the lecture hall.
The first row is filled with the speaker's team and leaders of the organizing organization, as well as reserved seats for media reporters.
Meng Tang chose the middle seat in the second row.
The lecture hall was soon full, and the projection screen was emitting a cold light, which reflected the dimness deep in Meng Tang's pupils.
The speaker, Li Hanjin, was elegant and handsome, and many girls gathered together to discuss with him.
The theme of the lecture is dialogue with intangible cultural heritage, and 15 minutes will be reserved for questions at the end.
Some asked whether Li Hanjin was married, some asked about the boundaries of boxwood carving, and some asked about the nature and plasticity of wood.
Meng Tang slowly raised his hand.
Li Hanjin gestured "please." "The last question, please ask the student in white. What's your name?"
Meng Tang stood up, took the microphone handed to him, and said:
"I'm Meng Tang, a sophomore in the Sculpture Department. I'd like to ask Mr. Li, do you think wood has a soul?"
Everyone else called him Teacher Li, but she called him Mr. Li, and there was a sharp edge in her tone.
Li Hanjin smiled and asked, "What do you think?"
Meng Tang smiled faintly: "When carving, if you encounter knots or insects, the wood will remind your carving knife to adjust and then adapt the design. This is the art of the wood soul, and I naturally think it exists."
Li Hanjin said, "I have the same idea as you."
Meng Tang scoffed, "So you think CNC-carved objects have souls? Or is your soul the result of a blind box of co-branded boxwood carvings that sold over a million copies in a single month?"
Everyone was shocked, and everyone knew that this was not a polite remark.
Xie Lingyin, who was standing by, pulled Meng Tang under the table. Meng Tang didn't move and stared at Li Hanjin.
Li Hanjin didn't say anything, but his assistant spoke up: "Student, there's no need to be so sharp. Collaborating with certain brands doesn't mean that our teacher Li doesn't promote traditional crafts. There's no contradiction between the two. It's just—"
"Are you saying that the joint-branded items that have sales exceeding one million per month were all carved by Teacher Li himself?"
It's impossible to even imagine it with your toes.
Li Hanjin stopped the assistant and said:
"In the past, leftover wood was either thrown away or burned. Now I use it to make thousands of bookmarks, allowing others to feel the warmth of boxwood. Isn't this promoting it?"
Meng Tang was silent for a moment and put down the phone.
After the lecture, she did not go back to the dormitory with her roommates. Instead, she wandered around aimlessly and ended up in a half-abandoned basketball court.
She knew Li Hanjin was following her.
"The little girl has grown up. She doesn't even call out to her senior brother when she sees him." Li Hanjin walked forward slowly and said with a smile.
Meng Tang turned around on the steps and said, "Just because I didn't say anything doesn't mean I agree with you. It's just that everyone has their own way, and I can't ruin yours."
Li Hanjin: "Then suppose we are still in the lecture hall, what would you say?"
Meng Tang took out a bookmark from his schoolbag, broke it and showed it to Li Hanjin.
"Mr. Li, are you sure your consumers know this is boxwood? And not a joint brand of a certain brand?"
"The cross section is grayish white, with serious glue marks. Don't tell me you don't know."
Li Hanjin's eyes flashed with surprise. "This... is this made of pressed basswood powder? Only the skin is boxwood. I really didn't know they were fooling around like this. I'll definitely check when I get back."
"It doesn't matter whether you know it or not. It has nothing to do with me anyway. I just don't agree with your way of inheritance."
Just as she was about to walk past him and leave, Li Hanjin suddenly called her, "Junior Sister."
Meng Tang was slightly stunned. The words "Junior Sister" still stuck in his mind four years ago.
Li Hanjin is seven years older than her and was her childhood playmate and senior.
Although he started late, he is extremely talented and the old man often praises him.
But on the day Meng Tang turned 16, he was expelled from the sect, and she still doesn't know the reason.
The old man never mentioned it and didn't allow her to ask.
When Meng Tang saw Li Hanjin again, he didn't expect the scene to be like this.
Li Hanjin sighed: "You don't even want to call me Senior Brother?"
Meng Tang: "If I leave the sect, I'm no longer considered a senior brother."
Li Hanjin knew she was in a dilemma and said with a smile, "It's okay if you don't call me Senior Brother, just call me Brother Jin."
Meng Tang: “…”
"Are you still angry that I refused to admit my mistake?"
Meng Tang found it absurd and laughed sarcastically: "I don't even know what mistakes you made back then."
"It's all over. Since you don't want to acknowledge me as your senior brother, why don't we just be friends?"
Meng Tang said: "It's getting late, I'm going back to the dormitory."
"You don't have to be afraid of the master. He is still thousands of miles away."
"If I had made a major mistake in the industry, would I have achieved what I have today? How could my master have allowed me to rise to prominence in this industry?"
Meng Tang naturally knew this.
"It's getting late. I need to go back to bed."
"Dinner tomorrow?"
"No time."
"Then when are you free?"
“I’ve never been free.”
“Meng…”
Before the word "Tang" came out, Li Hanjin screamed in pain and fell backwards.
Wei Chuan grabbed Meng Tang's wrist and kicked Li Hanjin hard: "What the hell are you doing?"
Meng Tang was stunned, and Li Hanjin was also stunned. He pointed at Wei Chuan with a trembling finger: "You——"
"What do you mean? You're harassing female students here late at night, and you think there's no one in our school?"
Meng Tang was distraught when the player hit someone. She grabbed Wei Chuan's arm with both hands and explained to him: "You misunderstood, he didn't harass me."
"I saw it with both eyes." Wei Chuan was furious. "Don't be afraid, stand behind me."
"He's an expert invited by the hospital to give lectures. You're really mistaken."
“…”
Wei Chuan was stunned.
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