Chapter Sixteen: Trash Should Stay in the Trash Can
Su Xiao was startled by him.
Xu Bozhou raised an eyebrow and glanced at her sideways:
"The Tang family's project is related to calligraphy and painting. I need you to join the Xu family."
He paused, a wicked smile creeping onto his lips:
"One hundred and sixty million, consider it what you owe me. If we get the project, it'll be settled. If we don't..."
He paused:
"Then return it to me according to the nine-out-of-thirteen rule."
Su Xiao was stunned.
She looked at his nonchalant attitude and suddenly laughed.
"OK."
It's better to just use her than to use the Yan family, who want to use her while also making her willingly comply.
Su Xiao ate something casually with Xu Bozhou, then took a taxi back to Qin Yu's studio.
There was still plenty of time in the afternoon, so she decided to finish retouching the flower and bird painting. Otherwise, when she went to the Xu family's place later, she probably wouldn't have time to continue working on it.
Su Xiao had just gone up the stairs when she came face to face with Qin Yu, who was walking downstairs:
"Senior sister? I thought you were going to take a day off today."
"I'll come over and finish the flower and bird painting."
Su Xiao paused, staring into his eyes: "You didn't sleep last night?"
Qin Yu, with his dark circles under his eyes, stubble beard, and noticeable signs of thinning, looked much thinner.
"Um……"
Qin Yu knew he couldn't avoid this situation, so he simply admitted it honestly:
"I was about to go to sleep in the early hours of the morning when the Xu family suddenly called me, asking for the details of the compensation from the Zang family."
He took a sip of water to moisten his throat:
“I was a little worried and couldn’t sleep, so I got up and helped you put up the new birth paper. It should be almost dry by now.”
"Yesterday morning?" Su Xiao frowned.
Xu Bozhou had known the news in advance and had even planned to pay off her debts.
What is he after?
"Yes." Qin Yu paused, then suddenly remembered something from the past and fell silent for a moment.
He always felt that there was a misunderstanding about what happened back then.
But later, when the shares actually ended up in Xu Bozhou's hands, he did gain importance in the Xu family because of this.
only…
In his mind, Xu Bozhou shouldn't be that kind of person.
"It's okay, I'll go upstairs first, you rest for a while."
She lowered her eyes, walked upstairs, and transferred five million to Qin Yu on her phone.
Qin Yu's studio has turned down orders for almost half a month because of her situation; they need to make sure all these people can eat first.
She would calculate their wages separately after the painting was finished.
Su Xiao picked out two relatively easy-to-use calligraphy brushes on the workbench, ground the ink, and slowly began to apply the brushes to the artwork.
Su Xiao stayed up in the studio until after 10 p.m. before she finished half of the flower and bird painting.
The brushstrokes for the eyes are very fine and the technique is beautiful. Su Xiao tried almost all the pens in the studio but couldn't find a suitable one.
The eyes are the soul of this painting; if they were even slightly off, it wouldn't feel right.
Su Xiao sighed and prepared to go home. She remembered that there seemed to be two purple brushes with similar tips in the small art studio at home.
I'll bring the rest of the tools with me this time.
She won't go back there again...
After the divorce, she will sell the house and stay far away from the lives of these two people.
Su Xiao greeted Qin Yu and drove back to the villa.
The car was parked in the yard. The villa was dark, with only the motion-sensor light on the porch lit. Yan Mingshen's car was not there.
Su Xiao breathed a sigh of relief. She took out her key and opened the door, only to see a sliver of light shining from the stairwell on the second floor.
It seems to be in the direction of the small art studio.
Su Xiao paused, wondering what Xia Zhi was doing in her small art studio so late at night instead of sleeping.
She frowned as she walked upstairs, and the closer she got, the stronger the smell of turpentine mixed in with the air became.
The studio door was ajar. When Su Xiao pushed it open, Xia Zhi was sitting in front of the flower stand with her back to her.
She held a silver oil painting palette knife in her hand and was slowly wiping the paint off the knife with rice paper from the cabinet.
Su Xiao recognized the Xuan paper; she had specially asked someone to bring it back from out of town last month to make fan surfaces. Fortunately, it was paid for by Yan Mingshen.
"Are you going to use 20,000 yuan worth of paper to clean a scraper?"
Su Xiao leaned against the door frame and suddenly spoke, startling Xia Zhi, who was wearing headphones.
She turned around, defiantly crumpled the rice paper into a ball, and threw it into the trash can next to her.
"Why is Miss Su back?"
Su Xiao didn't answer, her eyes sweeping over the painting table.
Several small sketches were piled up in the corner of the desk, all crumpled and covered in messy oil paint.
Several calligraphy brushes were carelessly tossed on the paint palette, their tips smeared with oil paint.
Fortunately, it wasn't her who needed those two.
"I've come to pick up something."
Su Xiao's voice was flat.
She just wanted to get back as soon as possible to finish the painting and didn't want to waste any more time arguing with Xia Zhi.
"I'm so sorry, Miss Su. I couldn't find a suitable soft brush the other day, so I just used your brush."
She deliberately emphasized the word "make do" and looked up at Su Xiao: "I'll have Ming Shen buy you a new one in a couple of days."
"Need not."
Su Xiao took two steps forward, picked up the two calligraphy brushes, and wiped the dry paint off the brush tips with her fingertips.
This set of pens was a gift from Yan Mingshen. She used it carefully for two years, but now Xia Zhi has ruined it like this.
She narrowed her eyes, turned around, and slowly approached Xia Zhi.
"Here you go."
She spoke with the disdain of someone tipping a prostitute as she shoved the paintbrush down the neckline of her skirt.
It's not just the pen, but also its owner.
She rewarded her with everything.
"Ah—Su Xiao!"
She screamed and dodged away, her eyes instantly welling up with tears: "Are you crazy?"
"What? Haven't you had enough of that slap from the other day?"
Su Xiao pressed her shoulder and, amidst the other woman's cursing, calmly reached out and took down the art supply box behind Xia Zhi.
She opened it and took a look; luckily, the contents hadn't been touched.
Xia Zhi probably hasn't had a chance to make a move yet.
Su Xiao put the box into her bag and turned to leave.
As she passed the drawing table, she glanced at the small sketches smeared with paint and casually swept Xia Zhi's manuscript next to it into the trash can.
"Su Xiao! What are you doing!" Xia Zhi anxiously tried to grab Su Xiao's arm, but the other woman dodged her.
Su Xiao had already learned her lesson once, so naturally she wouldn't be completely unprepared.
"Your stuff should stay in the trash can."
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