193, playing chess
193, playing chess
Obviously, no.
The evidence was irrefutable, and he had been caught red-handed. If he continued to deny it, it would seem like he was trying to cover up his mistake. It was just a painting, not something to be ashamed of, so Lu Mingfei generously admitted, "Yes, it's you."
"Isn't there a competition going on at the Imperial Academy recently? Painting is one of the events, so I... practiced my painting skills."
That's right, he just practiced a few paintings and didn't do anything murderous or arsonous, so there was nothing he couldn't let others know.
Although the person in the painting was exactly the one who appeared in his study tonight, but who made the young master's face so handsome? It would be a pity not to paint it, Lu Mingfei thought to himself.
Zhao Lang looked at the drawing of himself on the paper. It was the first time he had seen this kind of painting method. The person in the drawing looked almost exactly like him. "Can I take a look?"
"Here, feel free to look at it." Lu Mingfei picked up the painting and handed it to Zhao Lang.
Zhao Lang took it and looked at himself in the painting carefully. He had an indescribable feeling in his heart. Is this how Lu Mingfei sees him?
He never knew that he looked like this.
"How did you create this painting? It seems a little different from the paintings I've seen before." Not only is the painting technique different, but it also doesn't seem to be made with ink and wash? Zhao Lang asked.
"Here, I used this to draw." Lu Mingfei picked up the charcoal pencil he had made on the table and showed it to Zhao Lang. "This is a brush made of charcoal. The texture of this charcoal pencil is harder than a brush, so it can draw more delicate lines."
Zhao Lang put down the painting in his hand and then took the charcoal pencil from Lu Mingfei.
Taking a closer look at the charcoal pencil in his hand, Zhao Lang was a little surprised that such a delicate painting could be created with just a stick of charcoal. "I never thought a small piece of charcoal could be used for painting."
"Have you drawn anything else?" When asking this question, Zhao Lang's eyes fell on the notebook next to Lu Mingfei. He had already seen the finished paintings on it.
Lu Mingfei understood the question in Zhao Lang's words and took up his sketchbook and handed it to Zhao Lang. "Here are some of my other paintings. You can take a look and give me some feedback."
"Just sit down and take your time."
After saying that, he moved a chair over and placed it next to his seat, and asked Zhao Lang to sit down and watch slowly.
There were teapots and cups on the table, but there was only his own drinking cup. Lu Mingfei asked Zhao Lang to look at paintings in the study, then went to the next room, brought Zhao Lang's usual drinking cup, and poured him a glass of boiled water.
"Just have a sip. I won't boil water for tea this late at night." The weather wasn't cold enough to light the fireplace at night, so Lu Mingfei didn't bother to boil water for tea. Zhang Qi would have gone back to sleep by this time, and there was no way he would wake anyone up just to boil a pot of water.
Zhao Lang flipped through the pages of the sketchbook in his hand and saw that there were paintings of landscapes and people.
Through these portraits, he could recognize who was painted on them.
Originally, he thought that he was the only person painted by Lu Mingfei, but when he saw that there were also portraits of Zhang Lingxuan, Ye Zhuoran and others, the ripples that had just arisen in Zhao Lang's heart disappeared without a trace in an instant.
He calmly placed the portfolio back on the table before turning to Lu Mingfei and asking, "Is this the way of painting that your teacher at the Imperial College taught you?"
"...No, I, I learned it from another teacher." Lu Mingfei said after hesitating for a moment.
"Other teachers?" Zhao Lang looked into Lu Mingfei's eyes and asked.
"Well, it's an old man I met on the street before. He taught me how to paint with charcoal." Afraid that Zhao Lang would continue to ask him who the teacher was, Lu Mingfei just picked out a person on the street to act as a teacher.
Zhao Lang looked at Lu Mingfei and stopped asking.
Seeing Zhao Lang silent, Lu Mingfei recalled how badly he had failed the chess exam this month. He asked Zhao Lang, "Can you play chess?"
"Yeah." Zhao Lang nodded and looked at Lu Mingfei with a questioning look.
"How about playing two games with me?" Lu Mingfei asked.
"Okay." Zhao Lang didn't refuse.
Seeing that Zhao Lang agreed, Lu Mingfei went to get out the newly bought chessboard.
The table in the study was too high, so the two of them went to his room, where there happened to be a low table that he usually used to put things. He placed the chessboard in the room, and the two of them sat on small stools around the low table.
Lu Mingfei asked the person opposite him: "Do you want black or white pieces?"
"It's all fine." Zhao Lang said indifferently.
"Then I'll play the white pieces, and you play the black pieces."
"good."
So the two of them started playing Go.
After a few moves, Zhao Lang discovered the level of Lu Mingfei's chess skills, but he just glanced at Lu Mingfei and began to teach this student who didn't know how to play chess.
That night, the two played chess until late at night.
After finishing the third game, Lu Mingfei couldn't help but yawn, "No, I'm too sleepy, let's play tomorrow."
"Do you have anything to do tomorrow?"
"Nothing to do tomorrow." Zhao Lang originally had something to do tomorrow, but when Lu Mingfei asked him this, he said it was nothing even if he had something to do.
"Okay, then I'll go play chess with you next door tomorrow." Worried that his family might come back at any time, Lu Mingfei decided to play chess in the courtyard next door. However, he knew that apart from Zhao Lang and the guards, no one else would enter the courtyard next door.
They don't have to worry about being seen or disturbed when they go to the yard next door to do something.
"Okay." Zhao Lang nodded.
The two men looked at each other, and Zhao Lang stood up from his seat.
Lu Mingfei also stood up and saw Zhao Lang out the door. "See you tomorrow. I'll come over to have breakfast with you tomorrow morning."
"Yeah." Zhao Lang nodded and left.
Only after watching Zhao Lang leave did Lu Mingfei close the gate of the yard.
After leaving the Lu family courtyard, Zhao Lang returned to the courtyard next door. Sitting alone in the pavilion in the courtyard, listening to the sound of water coming from next door, he curled his lips and smiled.
On the other side, Lu Mingfei went back to his room and lay down on the bed after taking a shower. He fell asleep in a short while.
***
After waking up the next day, Lu Mingfei went to the yard next door to find Zhao Lang.
As soon as I came in, I saw Zhao Lang writing in the study with a lively look on his face?
But when he walked over, he found that Zhao Lang was not writing, but drawing, and it seemed that the two of them were in the painting?
It seems like there was a scene where they were watching the moon on the roof?
Hearing the familiar footsteps approaching, Zhao Lang turned his head and looked at the young man who was walking towards him.
"You got up so early in the morning to paint?" Lu Mingfei looked at the painting on the table, then looked at the person who was painting.
"What do you think of my painting?" Zhao Lang looked at the person who came and asked.
"Well, it's a very good painting, very vivid." Lu Mingfei admired the ink painting on the table. As one of the characters in the painting, he could recognize who the two characters in the painting were.
Unlike sketches, ink paintings cannot reproduce the figures in a one-to-one scale. However, the vividness and charm of ink paintings are not found in sketches.
Seeing this painting, Lu Mingfei looked at Zhao Lang with a little surprise and said, "Today is the first time I know that you are also a master painter."
"Just average." Zhao Lang said modestly.
"You're too modest." The two looked at each other, with smiles in each other's eyes. Lu Mingfei asked, "Can you give me this painting?"
"Yes, if you want." Zhao Lang nodded, but he added one more condition, "But you need to exchange your own portrait with me."
"Okay, I'll give it to you after I finish drawing it." Lu Mingfei agreed without any hesitation.
"I brought breakfast. Shall we go outside to eat breakfast first?"
"Um."
Zhao Lang nodded and motioned Lu Mingfei to go first. He followed Lu Mingfei and the two of them walked out of the study together.
That morning, after breakfast, the two of them played chess in the house.
The two of them played chess for the entire morning. Playing chess requires patience, but they both had it in abundance.
Lu Mingfei spent the entire morning learning chess from Teacher Zhao, and the two of them finished their lesson at noon. He even ate lunch at Zhao Lang's place, and after lunch, the two of them drank tea and chatted in the room.
When he heard the sound of the door in the next yard opening and the voices of children talking, Lu Mingfei knew that the children at home had returned.
"I need to go back over there. I'll be back to the Imperial College this afternoon. Can you come to see me there someday when you're free?" Ever since he went to study at the Imperial College, Zhao Lang had come to see him quite often. But most of the time, he would come in the middle of the night.
"Okay." Zhao Lang nodded.
Seeing Lu Mingfei was about to leave, he stood up and walked Lu Mingfei to the door.
After watching Lu Mingfei leave, Zhao Lang went back into the house and sat back in the place where they had just been drinking tea. He picked up the remaining tea on the table and drank it in one gulp before asking someone to prepare the carriage to leave.
***
On the other side, Lu Mingfei returned to his yard.
"Brother, where have you been?" Zhang Qi came to open the door and asked when he saw someone outside.
"I went to a friend's place for tea. Did you go to the escort agency to pick up the three of them?" Lu Mingfei touched the head of his younger brother who ran to his side and asked Zhang Qi.
"Well, we went back to the store first. Brother, have you had lunch? I brought back some food." Zhang Qi said.
"I've eaten at a friend's house. Have you guys eaten there?" After returning home, Lu Mingfei remembered that he had forgotten to take the painting that Zhao Lang had promised to give him.
It’s okay. After he finishes his own painting, he will take it to exchange with Zhao Lang.
"We had some sesame cakes on the way back, and the food in this lunch box is for you," said Zhang Qi.
"Oh, then keep it for now. You can eat it when you are hungry later." Seeing that the boys were full, Lu Mingfei brought the three children to the study to check their homework.
He thought the three boys had studied harder during his absence, their grades had improved significantly compared to the previous two times, and they no longer had to be punished. However, remembering the words on the table, he still let the three boys practice calligraphy in the study.
After the three boys sat down to practice calligraphy, he also took the opportunity to inspect Zhang Qi's learning during this period and answered some questions that Zhang Qi did not understand during his studies.
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