Chapter 38 Published
There are four different types of roller coasters in the park. Han Xiaolin and his group picked the most exciting ones and rode them all. When they were tired, they went to a nearby restaurant for dinner.
After eating just a few bites, Qin Shan took out his mobile phone and opened the live broadcast of the Han embroidery event. He was still worried and wondered what if Senior Sister Zi Zhang would rush to the scene despite her illness?
Facts have proved that Cheng Zizhang is not that great.
She was having a good rest and eating well in the hospital, so there was no reason for her to go through so much trouble to come here and get the wound broken again. Her mother was there to watch over her so nothing would go wrong.
Qin Shan stared at the screen carefully and sighed deeply: "Alas, it turns out that he will not come..."
"What are you doing?" Han Xiaolin poked his head out while chewing on a chicken leg. "Oh, you're watching the live broadcast again. I told you that my senior sister can't come because of appendicitis, but you're still determined not to give up."
Qin Shan said regretfully: "It's boring, I'll close it."
"Hey wait," Han Xiaolin thought about it and raised his hand to stop Qin Shan's action: "Just leave it there. It's uncomfortable to eat without watching TV. It's good to listen to the sound."
Li Yu agreed: "Yes, it's open now, so just keep watching. It's a good opportunity for us to be influenced by art."
Seeing that both of them said so, Qin Shan nodded and said, "Okay."
He took out a stand from his bag and mounted it on the phone, then placed it in front of the table. The other two dragged their chairs closer and watched the meal together through live streaming.
The event has just officially begun, and the screen shows teacher Cheng Yunxiu introducing the guests and their works one by one, with an elegant temperament and gentle voice.
The three men in front of the screen couldn't help but smile.
"Teacher Cheng and senior sister really look alike, they are just like two peas in a pod, they both have such a great temperament..."
"How can they not look alike? They are mother and daughter!"
"You know what, this kind of delicate work is really beautiful, the color is so rich, is that bird a phoenix or a mandarin duck?"
"Phoenix, right? Don't mandarin ducks always come in pairs?"
The entire event hall was decorated in an antique style. Many of the works that Cheng Yunxiu took the audience to appreciate were particularly famous in recent decades, and many of them needed to be brought out from museums or collectors from all over the country.
The three of them were listening casually at first, but gradually their attention was drawn to the conversation and they even forgot to move their chopsticks.
It was not until the master finished his appreciation and it was the disciples' turn to present their works that Qin Shan buried his head and ate a few mouthfuls of food.
Han Xiaolin stared at the screen while holding a chicken bone in his mouth, and said vaguely: "We have finished watching the masters' work, now should we watch the one made by Ji Ruan?"
Qin Shan immediately looked up: "Really?!"
Li Yu also came over: "Which one?"
Currently in the picture, there is an unfamiliar young girl presenting, and her teacher is smiling with great satisfaction on the side.
Han Xiaolin is not an expert at this, and he can only think that this girl's work is pretty, but he doesn't think it is any different from the previous master's work.
Qin Shan was very excited: "Oh, I see Teacher Cheng in the back. It must be the turn of Xiao Ruan and Senior Sister's embroidery soon! I can't see Senior Sister's beautiful face, but it's good to think of her by looking at her!"
Han Xiaolin: “…”
Li Yu: “…”
They really don't understand this kind of fanboy mentality.
The camera turned, and a tall and thin boy took the microphone from the girl and introduced himself as a disciple of Teacher Cheng Yunxiu.
Qin Shan frowned: "Who is he? Teacher Cheng has this disciple?"
Li Yu nodded: "Your eyes are all on senior sister, how can you know? He is indeed Mr. Cheng's apprentice, and his name is Lin Qing."
Qin Shan was surprised: "How did you know?"
"He is also from the Academy of Fine Arts. We often meet each other in the same building for classes. However, he is two grades higher than us, so we are not that familiar with each other."
Li Yu recalled something as he spoke: "Oh, by the way, he also embroidered a winter scene during the school celebration at the beginning of the year, but at that time everyone was in the corridor looking at Xiao Ruan and the others' paintings, so not many people paid attention."
"Oh..." Qin Shan thought, "It seems that his level is average."
Han Xiaolin laughed and poked him with his elbow: "We are laymen, so don't talk nonsense. Be careful of getting beaten."
"——This work is called "A Corner of the Courtyard", and it was inspired by the Pear Garden behind the North Corner Square of Peking University..." In the picture, Lin Qing began to introduce it in a gentle voice, looking gentle and elegant.
"My senior sister Cheng Zizhang and I spent nearly a month together to complete this work. The brick wall of the pond is embroidered with dark blue silk thread mixed with silver thread, which can better show the beauty of the water vapor on the brick wall in the fog after the rain..."
The three of them listened attentively. Lin Qing spoke a long and eloquent speech, but until he finished and applause broke out all around, they did not hear Ji Ruan's name from Lin Qing's mouth.
Han Xiaolin frowned.
Qin Shan was confused: "What is he doing? What does it mean? Didn't Ji Ruan and the senior sister do this together? Even if he just helped, he should at least mention it. Otherwise, others will think he has done so much..."
"That shouldn't be the case..." Li Yu curled his lips: "He just clearly stated which part was done by the senior sister. According to this statement, the rest were all done by him. Isn't this equivalent to replacing Ji Ruan's part? Their circle is very taboo about this."
Han Xiaolin spat out the chicken bone and crossed his arms: "It's taboo in every circle, isn't this just a thief?"
Li Yu shook his head: "They are particularly taboo, because there is really no money to be made from Han embroidery, and people don't do it for money. They go through all the trouble to do this kind of hard work just to pass it on. Reputation is everything, it's almost the foundation of survival. Whoever is supposed to do it should do it, and every thread must be clearly separated."
Li Yu gossiped quietly: "I heard a rumor before, I don't know if it's true, it seems that someone did this kind of thing in a small competition and was directly kicked out. This industry will never recognize him again."
Qin Shan was shocked: "Oh my god! How dare he do such a thing? And everyone's skills are always a little different, just like our handwriting. How can Mr. Cheng not see it after teaching him for so many years? It's not easy to be discovered, right?"
"That's right," Li Yu was puzzled and looked at Han Xiaolin, "Do they have another one? Maybe this one was really made by him and his senior sister?"
Han Xiaolin touched his chin and thought back, "No, no... They only submitted one work this time. I remember Ji Ruan told me that."
Li Yu scratched the back of his head: "That's strange, but today is just a small event and not a competition. Maybe even if I'm discovered, I won't be expelled?"
"But it doesn't make sense. It's not a competition and there's no prize. There's no need to take the risk. What good will it do him?" Qin Shan really didn't understand.
Han Xiaolin leaned close to the screen and looked at it carefully. Suddenly he said loudly: "It was Ji Ruan. I am sure Ji Ruan did this... Look here——"
The camera gave a close-up of the works on the stage. Han Xiaolin took a screenshot and enlarged it. He turned the live broadcast into a small window and pointed at his phone and said, "Those trees on the far right are plum trees. Red plums!"
Qin Shan saw it at first sight. The plum blossoms were very conspicuous. "Yes, but what's wrong with that?"
Han Xiaolin turned the live broadcast back to full screen and said, "When Ji Ruan complained to me, he mentioned that the picture was originally going to be a pear tree, but he accidentally pierced his hand and a drop of blood dripped on it, so he had to temporarily change it to a red plum."
"He even said at the time that the work was almost ruined because of that drop of blood. I remember it very clearly!"
In the camera, an audience member raised his hand to ask a question, attracting the attention of the three people.
The person who asked the question was a very cute girl, and her face turned red with joy when she was picked by Lin Qing.
"Hello, Senior Lin Qing, I'm a first-year student in the Finance Department. I especially like your work..." The girl said as she adjusted her bangs a little nervously.
Lin Qing smiled gently: "Thank you, junior sister, don't be nervous and speak slowly - can you trouble the staff to help pass her a glass of water?"
Qin Shan immediately rolled his eyes: "This kid is quite good at pretending."
The girl's face turned even redder because of Lin Qing's considerate behavior, and she stammered, "Thank you, thank you, senior... I just want to say that although, although I don't understand Han embroidery, anyone with normal aesthetic taste will like your painting... Especially those plum blossoms at the end, I like them so much!"
A fleeting emotion flashed across Lin Qing's eyes, but it disappeared so quickly that it was hard to grasp what it was. He half-jokingly said, "Well, you only like plum blossoms, don't you like anything else?"
The girl didn't seem to expect him to ask her this question. She was stunned for a second, then immediately waved her hands: "No, no, no, I like them all. They are all beautiful! It's just that I personally like plum blossoms the most. They are really beautiful, aren't they? They look like the real thing. You embroidered them, didn't you, senior?"
Lin Qing's smile faded a little. He lowered his head and pursed his lips imperceptibly, then looked up at the girl with a smile, without giving a clear answer.
But the girl subconsciously took this behavior as a default, and covered her mouth with her hands, becoming even more excited: "You are so awesome, senior! - By the way, I have another question, can I ask you?"
Lin Qing raised his hand like a gentleman: "Please speak."
"That's right... didn't you just say that the inspiration came from the opera theater in our school?" The girl smiled embarrassedly: "But why do you want to embroider plum blossoms in the opera theater? I'm sorry, my question seems a bit stupid..."
Lin Qing's smile froze for a moment.
——Originally it was a pear tree.
Their work was originally intended to be an embroidery of a pear tree, and the draft clearly showed pear blossoms!
Because of Ji Ruan's obstruction, Lin Qing saw its complete appearance for the first time today, and he actually ignored it.
He bit his lower lip and looked at the plum blossom. His knuckles gripping the microphone were faintly white and protruding.
Qin Shan slapped the table and said, "Great question! As expected of a girl from the Finance Department of my university, you hit the nail on the head! Now let's see how he can get around it!"
Han Xiaolin also laughed: "The inspiration from Liyuan is to embroider plum blossoms, hahahaha, what a talent."
Lin Qing did not answer for a long time, just staring at the plum trees, and the audience began to whisper.
The girl heard some unpleasant speculations from inside, frowned and interrupted, then unconsciously became anxious: "Senior..."
Lin Qing came back to his senses, glanced at the girl, and then glanced at the various looks in the audience. His clenched hands loosened, and he smiled softly again:
"Is the schoolgirl a freshman?"
"Ah?...Yes, yes, what's wrong?" The topic changed abruptly and the girl looked confused.
Lin Qing smiled but said nothing. He looked at the audience for a long time before saying leisurely, "It seems that many of our audience are freshmen like this school girl. Well, let me explain."
Qin Shan was extremely anxious: "What the hell? What else does he want to explain?"
Lin Qing stopped to drink some water without much hurry. "There used to be plum trees in the Pear Garden. There were two of them at the deepest part. When the juniors entered the school, they had all been transplanted to the Plum Garden, so you didn't know."
"——We originally wanted to embroider a pear tree, but maybe because of nostalgia, we accidentally made a mistake, so we just changed it to a plum blossom. If you don't believe me, you can ask the seniors you trust. They will definitely know."
As soon as he finished speaking, a more heated discussion broke out in the audience.
"Is that so? Is it true?"
"Indeed, there were some plum trees at the innermost part of the Pear Garden a few years ago. What he said was true."
"After all, he is an artist, he would not lie like that..."
Lin Qing listened quietly to the changing direction of the wind below the stage, lowered his head, and a subtle smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
The girl immediately breathed a sigh of relief and said excitedly: "Thank you for your explanation, senior. I knew there must be a reason!"
As she spoke, she sat back in her chair, her face full of pride that she had not trusted the wrong person.
"Fuck..." Li Yu was shocked: "Is this even possible? I deserve this because I'm a freshman?"
Han Xiaolin frowned and crossed his arms: "Alright, I underestimated this bastard, he has a good mental quality."
Qin Shan was extremely anxious: "Oh my god, we can't just let him have his way, can we?! What is Teacher Cheng standing there for? Can't a master like her see this? Hurry up and skin this bastard!"
A soft laugh was heard as he spoke: "——What are you looking at? Why are you so angry?"
Everyone looked up and it was indeed Ji Ruan. He had returned from a date with Mr. Gu and was walking towards them with a big bouquet of flowers in his hands, smiling.
Han Xiaolin couldn't help but hold his forehead after taking a look.
Ji Ruan is sometimes very childish. He likes furry little things, flowers and laughter. The purple ball of fur that Gu Xiuyi chose for him is still trembling on his head.
Holding a big bouquet of flowers, she looked like a silly white sweet girl, with rosy cheeks and bright eyes.
No one knew what the two men did, but Mr. Gu was in great spirits, and his black coat was covered with the fur from Ji Ruan's purple sweater. Judging from the number of fur, he had to roll over it twice at least, and the battle looked quite intense.
"Oh, ancestor, you are finally back," Qin Shan said with a look of anxiety on his face, "Are you still laughing? Did you know that your home has been robbed? And you are still laughing?!"
"What?" Ji Ruan had just finished his meal and hadn't had time to look at his phone.
Without saying a word, everyone squeezed aside and left the C position for Ji Ruan and Gu Xiuyi.
Ji Ruan carefully put the flowers aside and sat in the middle. She found that they were watching the live broadcast of the Han embroidery event, and each of them was so angry that their faces turned red.
Han Xiaolin pointed at the screen and said, "You know Lin Qing, right? You also embroidered the plum blossom, right?"
Ji Ruan nodded: "Hmm."
Han Xiaolin laughed ridiculously: "This bastard actually said that he embroidered it himself, and he impersonated you!"
Ji Ruan exclaimed, "Ah, so..."
"Not only that," Qin Shan said, "someone just questioned why the opera house had to embroider plum blossoms, but he was fooled by this. Now everyone is praising him! I'm so angry!"
Li Yu frowned: "Actually, what I find most strange is Teacher Cheng. Why didn't she say a word? Your kind of embroidery should be able to show personal style, right?"
Ji Ruan looked at Li Yu and smiled, "Well, you are right."
Qin Shan slapped his thigh anxiously: "What are you doing?"
Six eyes were staring at Ji Ruan, but Ji Ruan remained silent.
Everyone looked at Gu Xiuyi again, and Mr. Gu had a blank expression on his face.
But he has always been like this, no matter what he is thinking, he always has the same expression. No one expects to see anything from his face, so they turn their attention to Ji Ruan.
But Ji Ruan held his chin and looked at the screen. He seemed not angry at all about the facts in front of him, not even a little surprised. The curve of the corners of his lips was exactly the same as at the beginning.
The lighting in the restaurant was bright and soft, making Ji Ruan's eyes look gentle and bright, as if he was not looking at Lin Qing's annoying face, but some healing slow-paced variety show.
Han Xiaolin couldn't hold back his anger and asked Ji Ruan: "What are you thinking about? Aren't you angry?"
Ji Ruan turned his head, with a hint of crimson still around his eyes, looking particularly gentle: "Wait and see."
When he was in the hospital, he deliberately did not tell Lin Qing that he had helped Cheng Zizhan embroider a part, because he was wondering whether the current situation would happen. Now that it has happened, he is certainly not surprised.
Since the protagonist has said so, there is no point in being anxious. We can only hold our anger and calm down with Ji Ruan.
On the screen, Lin Qing finished her introduction and was about to pass the microphone to the next girl, when Cheng Yunxiu suddenly said at the last moment: "Wait a minute."
Lin Qing turned around.
Cheng Yunxiu smiled and said, "I also have a question to ask, is that ok?"
Qin Shan clenched his fists fiercely: "Is Teacher Cheng finally going to exert his strength?"
Everyone saw that Lin Qing was obviously stunned for a moment, and then he forced a smile: "Of course, teacher, you say."
Although Cheng Yunxiu has a gentle temperament, her every move reveals a sense of pressure that comes from her without her anger, and she clearly has the demeanor of a great man.
In this respect, Cheng Zizhang is very similar to her. Ji Ruan smiled unconsciously and felt that they were very similar to her mother and sister. They all had that kind of energy, which Lin Qing could never learn.
Perhaps because of the teacher's pressure, Lin Qing was no longer as comfortable as before, and stood beside Cheng Yunxiu rather awkwardly.
Cheng Yunxiu traced a small area on the plum blossom with his finger and looked at Lin Qing: "Why are the colors of these flowers darker than the others?"
The smile on Ji Ruan's face deepened instantly.
Although no one knew the reason, they knew from Ji Ruan's expression that Teacher Cheng had hit the nail on the head, and they all perked up.
"Oxidation?" Gu Xiuyi said slowly, hugging his arms.
The dumb boss finally spoke his first words since arriving.
Li Yu was thinking like an art student: "Isn't it to use the difference between light and dark to create the light and shadow effect?"
Qin Shan studied science, and had the same idea as Gu Xiuyi: "The blood turned darker after oxidation. That's our little Ruan's precious Rh negative type A blood!"
Li Yu argued: "Yes, but open your eyes and look, there is only one drop of Xiao Ruan's precious Rh negative A blood, but there are several flowers. It is obvious that they want to create a light and shadow effect!"
"No, Li Yu, you can't say that. We have to talk about science. Look—"
"Oh, alright, alright," Ji Ruan smiled and came out to smooth things over: "What's there to argue about? You're both right."
His voice was soft, and he looked particularly soft because of the little ball of hair on his head. When the two saw him like this, they felt too embarrassed to keep yelling with red faces, so they stopped and sat back.
Ji Ruan held his face with an innocent look and pointed at the screen: "Don't worry, let's see what Lin Qing says."
But Lin Qing couldn't even fart for a long time.
He stood on the table without moving, as if the screen was frozen. Qin Shan even tapped his phone, thinking that his network connection was bad.
It was not until they saw that everyone on the stage except Lin Qing was moving that they completely believed that he was stumped by the question.
Han Xiaolin smacked his lips and said, "No... I, a student with special needs, know such simple knowledge points. Why does he need to think about it for so long?"
Qin Shan nodded: "Maybe he is a fool."
Ji Ruan didn’t know whether Lin Qing was stupid or not, but he knew that Lin Qing’s mental quality was very poor.
Just like Han Xiaolin said, it is impossible for Lin Qing not to know such a simple piece of knowledge, but he is on the stage, in front of everyone, with an extremely strict teacher standing in front of him, and he feels guilty and must be confused.
Everyone was in a panic and their brains were not functioning properly.
As time went by, the silence on the stage began to make the audience impatient, and the whispers gradually escalated into a series of doubts.
Just when Lin Qing's breathing rate became so abnormal that it could be seen in front of the camera, Cheng Yunxiu spoke calmly:
"I guess it was because of some minor accident, like a pricked finger and a drop of blood, but blood turns dark when it dries—"
She pointed to a branch nearby and said, "So I simply embroidered a few more plum blossoms of the same dark color, and embroidered a branch on the edge to cover it vaguely, so that it looks like the front branch is shading the back branch under the light and shadow."
"As for why it's a branch instead of a whole tree..." Cheng Yunxiu laughed as if she found it very interesting: "Maybe they ran out of time? Although it's a pleasing approach, leaving blank space like this is also a kind of fun."
Ji Ruan's eyes lit up when he actually guessed them all. Teacher Cheng even said exactly what he had guessed, saying that he didn't have enough time and was only embroidering a branch to be lazy.
For a moment he even doubted whether Cheng Zizhang had already told her, but when he thought that Cheng Zizhang had just had surgery and the teacher only had time to visit her once, he knew that was impossible.
When one wakes up from anesthesia, the brain and tongue cannot be clear. Ji Ruan understands this situation too well. Cheng Zizhang was unable to tell the truth to his mother at that time.
Cheng Yunxiu finished explaining on behalf of Lin Qing on the stage, and suddenly asked casually:
"Am I right?"
But she was not looking at Lin Qing. Her eyes passed Lin Qing's ear and looked directly at the camera behind her.
The cameraman was very tactful and gave her a close-up right away.
Ji Ruan looked carefully, and this glance was like a sudden eye contact from a distance, which came suddenly and made his heart flutter, like a huge rock falling from a height into the water, stirring up huge waves, but leaving only shallow ripples after sinking into the water.
Ji Ruan suddenly felt a kind of refreshing pleasure. An extremely happy smile appeared on his face and he took a deep sip of the milk tea.
Lin Qing was completely panicked and didn't notice Cheng Yunxiu's expression at all. He nodded repeatedly when she asked, "Yes, yes! Teacher, you are right!"
Cheng Yunxiu turned his gaze back to Lin Qing's face, revealing a faint smile: "You can't even express what you were thinking about your own work. Do you need my help?"
Her eyes were gentle, yet they carried a look of scrutiny and an almost naked look. Even if Lin Qing was dumb, he could see the meaning behind them.
His whole body froze, as if he couldn't even breathe, and cold sweat broke out.
Snap——
The microphone in Lin Qing's hand fell to the ground, and the speakers made a sharp roar, causing the audience to cover their ears and complain, and the scene was boiling.
At this moment, Lin Qing knew very well that Teacher Cheng was giving him the last bit of face by not exposing him in public.
"Fuck, that's really cool!" Qin Shan slapped his thigh and stood up: "Look how scared that bastard is, it's so cool for you, Brother Qin!"
Gu Xiuyi handed Ji Ruan a tissue and asked him to wipe the milk tea off his lips. He said softly, "So Mr. Cheng saw that these plum blossoms were neither made by Lin Qing nor belonged to Cheng Zizhang. They were made by a third person?"
Ji Ruan pressed the beads of his lips with a tissue, smiling: "Well, I think so."
Li Yu frowned: "But I still don't understand one thing, you all have your own style of embroidery, then Lin Qing can't see it, how dare he take over?"
Ji Ruan smiled faintly: "Maybe it's that part that is similar to but not like senior sister's technique."
"……What's the meaning?"
Ji Ruan took another sip of milk tea and said slowly, "I was just helping out. In order to make the whole work more coordinated, I consciously tried to imitate the needlework of my senior sister. However, due to time constraints, I was unable to do it exactly like her. So if you insist on saying that my part was from Lin Qing, it actually makes sense."
He looked at Li Yu: "Lin Qing and Senior Sister's needlework is similar. He probably didn't even think there was a third person. He thought that even if he was suspected, it was just a dispute between him and Senior Sister. Maybe the teacher believed him because Senior Sister is his biological daughter and was afraid that others would say he was biased."
"Fuck...how despicable!"
Ji Ruan smiled and blinked: "This is just my personal guess."
There were beads of milk tea hanging on his lips again, and he subconsciously stuck out his tongue to lick them.
Gu Xiuyi saw the eyes of the three men opposite instantly shifted to Ji Ruan's mouth.
“…”
He sat up straight, giving up his motionless posture. For the first time, he lifted his back from the chair and pulled out a napkin, and covered Ji Ruan's mouth with it steadily, accurately and fiercely.
“——Huh?” Ji Ruan raised his eyes in horror.
Gu Xiuyi had no different expression. He folded the tissue in half elegantly and pressed it accurately on Ji Ruan's lips: "It's stained again, wipe it off."
“Oh~~~!” Everyone covered their eyes in despair.
Ji Ruan's ears turned red instantly when someone wiped his mouth in public, but his body was unable to react for a while.
It was not until his cell phone rang that he hurriedly pushed Gu Xiuyi away.
——It’s from Cheng Zizhan.
Ji Ruan waited for a while, letting the caller ID jump on the screen, and then pressed the answer button under everyone's curious gaze. The voice was the same as usual:
"Hello, Senpai?"
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