Chapter 3 Frivolous
Qi Xing said he had a crush on Lin Zhinian, but he didn't seem to be too concerned about it. Several days had passed since the charity reception, and he almost forgot about it.
It was one night when he was drinking and playing cards with others in a nightclub that he remembered it when Yang Kaiming and other playboys who learned that he had changed his target again and were waiting to laugh at him asked him about it.
He casually threw away the cards in his hand, curled his lips nonchalantly, and said, "Why are you in such a hurry? If I say so, I will definitely chase you."
Someone teased him, "Didn't Master Qi still chase after that little celebrity? It's only been a few days, and you're already tired of it now that you haven't caught up with her?"
Qi Xing was too lazy to mention it: "If you know I'm tired of it, then don't mention it."
Yang Kaiming said casually: "This is why you don't understand Master Qi. He likes the kind of pure and unpretentious real white lotus who doesn't want his money but loves him wholeheartedly. Do you think there are such creatures in the world? That's why he is always on the road of chasing people, but he can never catch up."
The playboys burst into laughter. Qi Xing rolled his eyes and said, "Just wait and see. I will definitely catch up this time."
"No way, Master Qi, I heard that the great painter Lin is really the man from the Ye family. Do you dare to snatch him from him?"
"That's right. That Young Master Ye is no simple man. It is said that none of those arrogant old guys in the Ye family have ended up well in his hands. Young Master Qi, do you dare to touch his people? Forget it."
"There are beauties everywhere, why bother trying to challenge something so difficult?"
There were a lot of voices talking at once, some reminding and some dissuading, but Qi Xing didn't like a word he heard.
Is Ye Xingzhou so great? Anyway, he didn't think he was worse than Ye Xingzhou. He just fell in love with Lin Zhinian and had to pursue her.
Qi Xing threw out a powerful trump card and threatened, "Just wait and see. One day Ye Xingzhou will kneel down and call me daddy."
So the next day, he went straight to Lin Zhinian's painting exhibition.
Huaicheng is the first stop of Lin Zhinian’s personal art exhibition tour, which just opened three days ago at the Municipal Art Museum.
It was Qi Xing’s first time to come to such a place, and he sent a WeChat message to Lin Zhinian only when he reached the door. Ten minutes later, Lin Zhinian came out to greet him. Qi Xing saw the man who came out. He was wearing retro overalls, a white shirt, and a beret, looking very literary. He couldn't help but whistle in his heart, and felt that he had made a good choice this time.
Lin Zhinian came over to greet him: "Sorry, Mr. Qi, today is the weekend and there are a lot of people. I just chatted with some people for a while and came out late."
"It's okay, I came here uninvited." Qi Xing said magnanimously.
Lin Zhinian invited him in.
The exhibition hall is not big, but it is decorated in a very artistic atmosphere. Lin Zhinian led Qi Xing in and gave him explanations along the way.
Qi Xing listened absentmindedly. Compared with these paintings in which he could not even see any flowers, he was more interested in the people around him who were painting. He did not come here today to see the art exhibition at all.
Finally, they stopped in front of an oil painting near the floor-to-ceiling window in the exhibition hall. Lin Zhinian simply mentioned the name of the painting without introducing it in detail like the others. However, Qi Xing's gaze stayed on it for a few seconds, as if thinking about something.
He knew that this painting, "A Young Man's Prayer", won the gold medal at a well-known international art exhibition last year, and also made Lin Zhinian famous.
In the painting, there is only the back of a thin boy peering at the only beam of light in the darkness. The tone of the picture is a bit heavy and depressing, but it is placed in the brightest place next to the floor-to-ceiling window. The light inside and outside the painting overlaps, which seems to be some kind of metaphor.
Before coming here, Qi Xing searched the Internet for relevant information about the exhibition and saw an interview with Lin Zhinian. He specifically mentioned that this painting had special meaning, but he did not specify what it was in the interview.
"Teacher Lin, can I buy this painting?" Qi Xing asked with a smile.
Lin Zhinian refused directly: "Sorry, Mr. Qi, I don't plan to sell this painting."
"That's a pity," Qi Xing seemed quite regretful, "because this painting means something different to you?"
Lin Zhinian looked a little embarrassed: "Sorry, this is my personal matter."
Qi Xing: "Oh, forget it then."
As they were talking, a voice suddenly rang out from behind them: "Zhi Nian."
Qi Xing looked back and saw that it was Ye Xingzhou again. He had just walked in from outside the exhibition hall. He had his suit jacket draped over his arm. His clothes were straight, and he still had glasses on his nose. His hair was neatly combed, looking like an elite.
Lin Zhinian went over and was slightly surprised: "Xingzhou, why are you here?"
Ye Xingzhou didn't explain much: "Come with me later."
Lin Zhinian said that a professor had made an appointment with him to come to the exhibition today and would come later, so he didn't want to break the appointment at the last minute.
Ye Xingzhou said: "You go ahead and do your work. I'll wait for you at the coffee shop outside."
Lin Zhinian just breathed a sigh of relief when Qi Xing called him from behind: "Teacher Lin, I'm here now, can I treat you to a meal?"
Lin Zhinian could only apologize to him: "Sorry, Mr. Qi, let's make an appointment next time."
"Well," Qi Xing shrugged, "I just met Teacher Lin, so I'm really not as good as others."
Lin Zhinian became increasingly embarrassed and apologized to him again.
Ye Xingzhou glanced at Qi Xing indifferently, said nothing, turned around and left.
Five minutes later, in the cafe.
Qi Xing pulled out a chair with one hand and sat down in front of Ye Xingzhou. He raised an eyebrow at the man who looked over at him and said, "Let's chat?"
Ye Xingzhou looked indifferent and did not comment, so Qi Xing went on to ask him, "What is your relationship with Teacher Lin?"
Ye Xingzhou did not answer immediately, but just looked at him calmly.
Qi Xing looked back calmly. Only a coffee table away, he could finally see the pair of eyes hidden behind the silver-framed glasses. They were narrow and restrained, pressed under sharp brow bones. The pupils were very dark, and when they stared at people calmly, it was as if there was frost in them.
He was secretly unhappy: "Hello?"
Ye Xingzhou: "Is it related to you?"
This person finally spoke, his tone was contemptuous, and Qi Xing was once again convinced that this person was just so unlikable.
"I plan to pursue Teacher Lin. Originally, what your relationship with Teacher Lin is has nothing to do with me, and it won't affect what I do. But in order to avoid embarrassing Teacher Lin, I'd better say hello to you first. If you don't want to say it, then forget it. Anyway, I'm going to pursue Teacher Lin." Qi Xing sat in the chair with an untidy posture, but his attitude was quite arrogant.
Ye Xingzhou picked up the coffee cup and took a sip slowly. When he put it down again, he said indifferently: "It's up to you."
Qi Xing's eyes stopped on his face and he smiled: "I think you and Teacher Lin are not a couple at all."
Ye Xingzhou said calmly: "Why do you think so?"
"Intuition," Qi Xing pointed to his head and made a shooting gesture towards Ye Xingzhou, "My intuition is always accurate. You have ulterior motives towards Teacher Lin."
If you want to pursue a beauty, you must of course know more about your rivals who have a strong presence.
Last night, when his gang of friends mentioned Ye Xingzhou, some well-informed ones gossiped a little, saying that this Young Master Ye was the eldest and illegitimate son of the old man of the Ye family, who was brought back from outside when he was a teenager. He had been low-key and inconspicuous before the old man of the Ye family died of illness. No one expected that after the old man Ye died, he suddenly appeared, joined forces with other shareholders and directors of the company to seize power, and quickly took the position. He forcibly sent out all the Ye family members who disobeyed him and won a great victory.
Having said that, there are always some people who dare not offend him in major matters, but deliberately make trouble to disgust him in other places. Some of his uncles and aunts want to interfere in his marriage by relying on their status as elders in order to trap him.
"I heard that his uncle was matchmaking for him in public last month, and it was very ugly. Since then, he has started to go out with that painter Lin."
A group of playboys were laughing and talking about other people's romantic affairs just for fun. Qi Xing listened casually, but he took it all in.
It is not difficult to understand Ye Xingzhou's behavior. If someone disgusts him, he will be doubly disgusted in return. He is probably not afraid of outsiders talking about his sexual orientation. But the so-called upper class like the Ye family, who think highly of themselves, and the old guys in the family who are proud of their status, probably can't afford to lose face.
If the person Ye Xingzhou pulled out to take the blame was not Lin Zhinian, Qi Xing would be happy to eat melon seeds and watch the show, but now he has his eyes on Lin Zhinian, so it is natural for him to stand on the moral high ground and despise Ye Xingzhou.
Ye Xingzhou remained unmoved, not taking his repeated provocations seriously at all, and ignored Qi Xing.
Glancing at his watch, he stood up and prepared to leave.
Qi Xing was very unhappy about being ignored and called him: "Hey, didn't you say you were waiting for Teacher Lin here? You left before he came. Is that all your patience? What do you think of Teacher Lin?"
Ye Xingzhou picked up his suit jacket and put it back on his arm. When he passed by Qi Xing, he paused and turned his head to look at him.
Qi Xing raised his eyes, and the moment his eyes met hers, he saw the blatant suspicion in the pair of dark eyes behind the lenses. His expression froze, and he subconsciously raised his voice a little: "Why, you dare not admit it after being exposed?"
Ye Xingzhou looked at him in silence. The dandy second-generation rich man in front of him was like a belligerent rooster, shaking his comb, raising his tail, baring his teeth and claws, and looking domineering. He has seen many people like this. If there is any difference, it is probably that this young master Qi is particularly good-looking, with flying peach blossom eyes, and even when he glares at people it seems like he is flirting with them, but he doesn't know it.
Ye Xingzhou had met Qi Ronghua before. He was the upstart who was just lucky in the eyes of others. He thought that Qi Ronghua seemed honest but was actually shrewd. He did not expect that his son would have such a character.
What a waste of such a good appearance.
Qi Xing felt frightened by Ye Xingzhou's silent stare. Before he could frown, the other party's slender, bony fingers suddenly stretched out and stopped at the side of his face.
Qi Xing was stunned. Ye Xingzhou's fingertips had already brushed his chin. The clear and warm touch made him shudder and almost jump up.
"What are you doing?" Qi Xing asked impatiently.
Ye Xingzhou took his hand back slowly, his face expressionless, but his tone was full of ridicule: "You look as if you were flirted with when someone touched you. You want to learn from others to chase men?"
Qi Xing: “…”
When he came to his senses, he felt a surge of blood, his face flushed, and his eyes glared at the man who had "flirted" with him. The man had already left in a cool manner.
Qi Xing couldn't bear it any longer and raised his middle finger at the figure walking away.
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