Episode 20 A Chance Encounter
"It would be great to go river tracing in this weather, why don't you go?"
Early on Saturday morning, Cheng Xinran hung out the clothes that had accumulated for many days on the public balcony.
It was a rare sunny day in Shanghai on the weekend, but Lin Ying gave up this excellent opportunity for outdoor sports and chose to accompany her daughter to learn painting near Jing'an Temple.
"It's such a rare weekend, I'm too lazy to go that far. Besides, they're all fresh graduates, why would I want to join in the fun?"
"Come on, you're still acting like an old man. I think you haven't figured out how to face others yet, have you?"
Lin Ying shrugged without responding, concentrating on packing everything she needed to take with her daughter: her water bottle, snacks, and the homework she had done earlier. He stuffed them all into a super-sized soft cloth tote, then put Lina Belle's small shoulder bag on her back, straightened the brim of his hat, and reminded her—
"Okay, set your watches and let's go!"
She pinched her daughter's face and asked, "Say goodbye to Aunt Xinran?"
Little Ruxing raised her head and waved, showing her little teeth to Cheng Xinran: "See you tonight, Aunt Xinran~"
Looking at Lin Ying walking away with her daughter, Cheng Xinran couldn't help but sigh - charm is really a metaphysics, for some people it is fleeting, while for others it is timeless. As a single mother, Lin Ying is now more eye-catching than the "Mrs. Xiao Yan" back then, no wonder the interns like her too.
However, what the interns like may be just the glamour she exudes, while the embarrassment she hides may scare away many people.
Lin Ying's car was recently sent in for inspection, so she temporarily relies on the subway to get around - this car is the one that she and Yan Yiming rarely used back then: it is the common property of the couple.
The Jing'an Temple business district is crowded with people on weekends.
The studio is located in a shopping mall with a semi-open layout and no specific physical partition walls. This is to increase the overall flow of the shopping mall and to facilitate passers-by to visit and appreciate the art, thereby achieving a traffic-attracting effect.
Lin Ying had just dropped her daughter off in front of the teacher when her boss called. She said hello to the teacher and went outside to answer the call.
"Mr. Wang?"
Wang Duo, the boss, sounded tired and forced: "I saw you called me after get off work yesterday. Is there something urgent?"
Lin Ying was finally reminded and said with a slightly cheered voice, "It's urgent, but it's good news. We've already contacted the French painter Pierre you mentioned earlier and have arranged a meeting."
"Pierre?" The other party seemed a little surprised. "You've already made contact?"
"Yes, to be precise, it was intern Cen Shuo who contacted me..."
Lin Ying switched to Tengchun Culture shortly before the lockdown. She was struggling to find a job, and stumbled across Chen Canfa's recruitment post on WeChat Moments. She suddenly remembered how he'd thanked her profusely for his help back in Wuzhen, so she decided to go all out. She sent him a private message and sent him her resume...
At that time, all industries were in a state of disrepair, Tengchun was not doing well, the turnover rate was skyrocketing, and the market was not optimistic. However, she chose to face the challenges head-on.
But everything is subject to fate. If the market conditions had not been bad at that time, Tengchun would never have considered letting an inexperienced single mother join the game. It was also impossible for her to be valued by Wang Duo just by her unswerving tenacity.
Success and failure are all due to Xiao He.
Wang Duo admired her determination and her unique aesthetic vision. He owns numerous companies and brands, and the gallery is just one of them. After three years of struggle and rebirth, the gallery is now flourishing. Earlier this year, he appointed Lin Ying as business director, freeing up his energy to focus on other businesses.
Lin Ying had previously heard Wang Duo talk about Pierre, a young French painter with a modern Impressionist style. He had reached peak popularity right from the start, with two of his works fetching impressive prices at Christie's, earning his agent considerable fame and fortune. However, this proud new artist had yet to secure agency rights in mainland China...
"Three years ago, Shanghai held an international art exchange exhibition, and Pierre attended as a special guest. Cen Shuo was the head of the university's student union at the time, and Pierre was deeply impressed by him, so the two of them kept in touch."
"Is that the intern you mentioned who's so good at dealing with things?"
"It's him. It's really a coincidence this time."
But Wang Duo didn't ask for details, only asking: "When is the appointment? Does it conflict with my schedule?"
"Tentatively, we'll meet at 3:30 on Tuesday afternoon at a coffee shop near the Wukang Building, not far from the gallery. I've confirmed the time with your assistant. Would you like to come with us?"
"Remember, have that intern double confirm."
"I'll remind him at work tomorrow."
The call should have ended there. Out of courtesy, Lin Ying wanted to wait for the other party to hang up first, but Wang Duo didn't move. Lin Ying had no choice but to ask:
"Mr. Wang, do you have anything else to say?"
After a brief silence, he finally said, "You rarely contact me after get off work, so I thought you had something important to tell me. I went to a social event last night and I'm a little hungover. I didn't get back to you sooner. I'm sorry."
The listless tone, coupled with this string of words, was filtered through the electric current, making it even hoarse... Lin Ying couldn't help but swallow back the polite words she had prepared.
"... Mr. Wang? I was rude yesterday and forgot you don't answer calls outside of working hours. I won't bother you for now. Please rest for a while. See you next week."
The moment she pressed the phone, she seemed to see Wang Duo's unpredictable eyes behind his glasses...
Lin Ying cleared his mind and chose to lock the screen.
However, as soon as he returned to the studio, he found a familiar figure standing behind his daughter who was painting - Jiang Shu.
This time he said first: "What a coincidence, I saw that this child looked familiar, and then I realized it was Ruxing."
"Mom, my uncle likes the Psyduck I drew. What about you?"
Lin Ying suppressed her apprehension and surprise and answered her daughter's question first, "Mom likes it too. Ruxing has made great progress. Did the teacher praise you again?"
Ruxing loves to be praised. Every time she is praised, she makes rapid progress. Lin Ying sometimes wonders if she will develop a conceited personality if she continues like this... But then she changes her mind and thinks that she has obviously made great progress. Why should she lie to herself that she is not that good?
Looking at Ruxing's masterpiece, Jiang Shu couldn't help but sigh: "Ruxing is quite talented in painting, probably inherited from her father."
Lin Ying retorted dissatisfiedly, "Why do I take after my father? I was not bad at drawing back then, right? It's just that I didn't study hard enough. Otherwise... I might be an illustrator now."
This may sound like bravado, but it is not groundless.
In elementary school, she had taken painting classes with Yan Yiming. She enjoyed learning and the teacher praised her. But one day, she scribbled gouache in the study and stained Jiang Yueling's couture dress, which she had casually placed. This forced her to change her outfit at the last minute. Because the dress didn't fit the theme of the party, she missed a great investment opportunity. When she returned home, Lin Jidong yelled and scolded her before his wife did, and finally threatened her:
"Don't learn this dirty and smelly thing from now on. Do what a girl should do."
What is a girl supposed to do? Lin Jidong never mentioned it. Anyway, he didn't want her to "cause trouble." She had no chance to say no to Jiang Shu's noisy and running-about skills, even though she finally satisfied these two requirements with her drawing.
Lin Ying, who gave up halfway, did not become a professional painter, but due to the influence of her ex-husband and her amateur interests, her level is remarkable among all amateur players. Her simple sketches and doodles are also quite distinctive.
Now running a gallery and working as an agent, she inevitably deals with paintings. When discussing works, she not only has the blessing of basic painting skills but also has unique insights. When it comes to investment, her usual reading volume is also enough to support her insights and opinions. Not to mention that in the past two years, she has deliberately studied resources related to art investment...
To some extent, it is also a kind of "same destination" as childhood regrets.
"Mom, you can learn with Ruxing, and then we can become painters together."
Ruxing turned her head and faced the bright afternoon light, beautiful and pure.
Lin Ying said, "Mom is already so old, how can I be a painter with you? It's enough for me to just watch you paint."
"But didn't you tell Ruxing before that it's never too late to do it if you want to?"
"But right now, Mom has more important things to learn than painting. Only by learning these well can I help Ruxing promote her paintings in the future, right?"
"Really?"
"Of course. Mom just left to learn how to find excellent painters to work with. If Xing becomes a painter, will she work with Mom in the future?"
Ruxing was finally persuaded and immediately nodded and continued to devote herself to her own creation.
Lin Ying took two steps back and asked Jiang Shu in a low voice:
"Why are you here?"
"I just met with a developer here. He smoked a cigarette and then came to the terrace on this floor to talk. He just left."
Lin Ying, however, was full of suspicions. When he offered to treat her to a meal a few days ago, she immediately declined. "I have to accompany Ruxing to Jing'an Temple to learn painting this weekend, so I'm afraid it won't be convenient."
He didn't try very hard to invite me, but not only did he arrange work today, but he also happened to come to this studio. It was obviously too accidental.
Lin Ying didn't want to play dumb with him and directly asked, "How do you know it's this studio?"
Jiang Shu smiled and said, "I guessed it, but it turned out to be a lucky guess."
This question is meaningless. He has such a wide network of contacts that it is not difficult for him to find a painting studio.
Seeing that Lin Ying was silent, he took the opportunity to invite her again: "I've booked dinner. Let's go together after it's over?"
Lin Ying subconsciously rubbed her fingertips—she always did this when she was at a loss, a bad habit she couldn't break. However, she knew she shouldn't be at a loss.
"Why do you have to treat me to a meal? There's no need to be polite between us."
"I'm not being polite to you. I really have to treat you to this meal."
He interrupted softly, but his tone remained calm.
"…Why?"
Jiang Shu glanced at the little girl in front of the cartoon Psyduck and gave a clichéd but true reason: "At that time, I had already promised Ruxing that I would treat her to crepes that night. If I broke the promise, she would think that I, as an uncle, was untrustworthy, which would not leave a good impression on her, right?"
…
Lin Ying thought to herself: It's time to strengthen her daughter's education on "not making bets with people she doesn't know well."
In the evening, Jiang Shu specifically asked the driver to pick them up. When the back door opened, Lin Ying discovered that a child safety seat had been arranged inside.
Afraid that the mother and daughter would not have enough space to sit, Jiang Shu took the initiative to sit in the passenger seat.
From Jing'an Temple to the Bund, the traffic was endless, with traffic lights one after another. The closer we got to our destination, the more congested it became. The child was so upset to be in a stranger's car that he felt dizzy and nauseous before he even got to the destination...
Fortunately, we left early. If we had arrived at the restaurant a minute later, Ruxing would have vomited in the car. Fortunately, Lin Ying had anticipated this. As soon as the car door opened, before the restaurant waiter could greet us personally, he walked in and said, "Excuse me, can you use the restroom?"
Ruxing vomited into the toilet as she wished, without causing any trouble to anyone except herself.
Afterwards, Lin Ying helped her clean her mouth, nose, and fingers, making sure she was healthy. She then fed her two children's stomach-strengthening and digestion-promoting tablets she had brought with her. Seeing Ruxing's aggrieved expression, Lin Ying rubbed her belly and encouraged her:
"That's perfect, we can free up some space to eat some crepes!"
Children are easy to coax. Once they hear the word crepes, their energy immediately returns and their worries are forgotten.
After coming out of the bathroom, the waiter led the mother and daughter to a secluded and elegant seat.
The Michelin restaurant's service was extremely thoughtful. They had already equipped a children's dining chair in the middle of the table for two people and kindly informed us that -
"Mrs. Jiang, the children can sit here."
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