Chapter 6
Lin Ran pinched the corner of her clothes nervously and blurted out: "You, why are you here?"
Shen Jinghan narrowed his eyes: "This is my study."
Lin Ran was stunned for a moment. She was really scared.
Shen Jinghan came in, his tall and slender figure completely covering her. He pinched her chin and saw that she was indeed clean. Her hair was half wet and tied up casually, revealing her palm-sized oval face, her eyes were black and sparkling, her lips were thin like flower petals, and she looked very charming.
His eyes dimmed slightly, and he stroked her cheek with his fingertips, lowering his head to kiss her.
Lin Ran subconsciously avoided him. She could tolerate emotionless physical transactions, but she couldn't accept kissing, which was something only lovers could do.
They are no longer lovers.
She can succumb to power, but she will never fall in love again.
Shen Jinghan's face turned cold, and he looked at her quietly for three seconds, then said indifferently: "Go back and apply some medicine. Your face is ruined, and even if you want to sell it for a good price in the future, it won't be worth it."
Very ruthless.
Lin Ran lowered her eyes and said softly, "Okay, big brother."
Shen Jinghan lost interest instantly and said coldly, "Get out."
She secretly breathed a sigh of relief and ran downstairs, but was stopped by Lin Ruolan who was waiting for her.
"Come with me." Lin Ruolan pointed to the courtyard outside.
Lin Ran frowned slightly and followed her out.
In the courtyard outside, the housekeeper was leading people to lift up the lawn and lay new one. Lin Ruolan stepped in the mud and her face turned green immediately.
"Is Chen Jinghan crazy? Is he going to turn Chen Garden upside down every day? Yesterday he threw out the furniture, and today he changed the lawn? What's wrong with him?"
Lin Ran sneered, he was a mysophobe, a sick kind.
He was disgusted that the Zhao brothers and sisters had made Chen Garden dirty. Not only the lawn in the courtyard, but perhaps the small garden would also have to be plowed up again.
He couldn't even tolerate this, and sooner or later he would kick her and her mother out.
She lowered her eyes and twitched her lips in self-mockery. He had chased her away once seven years ago. Shen Zhongqi was now at the peak of his career. Since he couldn't chase away the older one, he chased away the younger one.
When his power surpasses Shen Zhongqi's, his mother's fate will not be good.
Of course, her ending wouldn't be good either.
She had a premonition in her heart.
So, she wanted to leave Chen Garden as soon as possible and wake up from this nightmare.
Lin Ruolan was furious. Seeing her almost dead look, she said unhappily, "What did Chen Jinghan ask you to do? Why is your hair wet?"
Lin Ran said calmly, "Does humiliating me count? My eldest brother said that Zhao Mingkai has nothing to do with the Shan family, and that I'm not destined to be a wealthy wife in my lifetime. This should give me some self-awareness."
Lin Ruolan said with a guilty conscience: "Did he really say that?"
Over the years, the Shen family's father and son have been at odds, seemingly calm and composed on the surface, but deep down they've been embroiled in a fierce feud. Shen Jinghan hated those who tried to seize his inheritance the most, and after Shen Zhuoyu was driven out of Shen Garden, the first to bear the brunt of the consequences were the mother and daughter.
Ranran was implicated by her.
Lin Ran silently rolled up his sleeves, revealing the horrific purple bruises on his wrists.
Lin Ruolan cried out, "He actually took action? This is unacceptable."
Lin Ruolan cursed a few times, then took her hand and softly comforted her, "Ranran, when you're under someone's roof, you have to bow your head. We've endured for so many years, there's absolutely no reason for us to fail at the last moment.
Then Zhao Mingkai is indeed not worthy of you. Wait for your Uncle Shen to come back and ask him to help you choose carefully. When you marry into a wealthy family, my mother and I won't have to worry about Shen Jinghan's face anymore.
Mom has been doing this for you all these years."
No one would believe this.
Lin Ran smiled sarcastically, with no ripples in his heart.
Her mother had endured for years, just to get the Shen family's property and snatch food from Shen Jinghan's mouth. Shen Jinghan insulted her just for revenge, the daughter pays the mother's debt.
They are all birds of a feather.
It was only because she was naive and stupid back then that she ended up with such a miserable end.
Lin Ruolan pressed her solar plexus, frowned, and said, "It's been so noisy today, my headache has come back. I'm going to go back and lie down first. Ranran, if you need anything, just tell the housekeeper and ask him to get it for you."
Seeing that she had dispelled her doubts, Lin Ran went back to her room to apply medicine.
The room was a mess and her suitcase had been turned all over.
Lin Ran quietly packed up. She had been penniless and muddled these past few years, like a wandering soul. Lin Ruolan couldn't find anything useful in her.
Lin Ran picked up the discarded sketch on the ground, put it on the drawing board, and painted the unfinished part. She was painting a girl offering sacrifice in the water.
The girl slept peacefully in the water, her face calm, her black skirt pulled down by the green waves, and her whole body was covered with withered and dried roses.
Burning rose red, emerald green water, and a girl in a black dress. She likes to use such vivid colors to express the undercurrents and joys and sorrows hidden beneath the deep water.
Over the years, painting has been her only spiritual sustenance.
She only painted one picture of a girl a year. She spent three months on this painting and had not yet completed the last part. Unexpectedly, she finished it on the second day after returning to Chen Garden.
Lin Ran pulled herself out of the emotions in the painting, and with a pale face, she found the medicine, swallowed two pills with water, called Yiwen, and said gloomily, "The painting is done."
Ivan's scream came from the phone: "Ran, you finally let me off the blacklist. What painting is finished? You don't mean that you have finished the girls' series this year? Oh my God!"
Ivan's screams nearly broke through the roof, and he danced with joy.
This is definitely the best day of the year.
"Yeah." Lin Ran swallowed the medicine, his heart palpitations eased, the feeling of suffocation gradually subsided, and he breathed deeply.
Ivan was a broker she met at the gallery.
To be precise, Ivan works as a profiteer, specializing in digging out some niche and unknown paintings, buying them, packaging them, and then selling them to suckers at high prices.
Lin Ran chose him because there were few foreigners who could speak Chinese so fluently, which saved the communication barrier. Also, when she was at her most destitute, it was Ivan who spent 100,000 to buy her paintings, saving her from starving to death on the streets.
So, over the years, most of her paintings were sold to Ivan.
The only problem with this guy is that he is too talkative and likes to ask for the draft of the painting. He comes to ask every now and then, which puts her under a lot of pressure. So Lin Ran blocks him all year round and only releases him from the blacklist when she needs money to sell paintings.
On the other end of the phone, Ivan was overjoyed and babbled, "Oh my God, you finally heard my heart. Ran, do you know how amazing your Dark Girl series is?
In addition to the previous buyer of your painting, there are several other collectors in the market who are asking for it, and the price has been driven up to over three million. I really regret signing the contract."
Lin Ran's ears were almost callused from hearing these words.
When the Dark Girl was still unknown, a mysterious buyer bought it for $500,000 per painting, and then signed a ten-year contract with Ivan to buy one of her Dark Girl paintings for $500,000 every year.
Even a dog would sign such a good deal.
Ivan signed the contract happily and even conscientiously lowered his commission.
Despite all her calculations, she never expected that her body would not allow her to paint with too rich colors or strong emotions, so she could only paint one picture a year.
Nowadays, the Dark Girl series is being sold for three million per piece on the market, and Ivan is regretting it very much.
Lin Ran didn't feel anything about this. In her first twenty years, she'd fallen from heaven to hell, and the rest of her life had been nothing but a tormenting struggle in hell. So, money, fame, and fortune were nothing more than beautiful flowers blooming before a blind man's eyes—ultimately empty.
For her, as long as she doesn't starve to death, that's enough.
"Ran, your painting has been going so well this year. Is it possible for you to paint another one? As long as you paint one, I can definitely help you sell it for three million, no, four million. You're so short of money, are you really not tempted?"
Ivan advised earnestly.
Lin Ran was as steady as an old dog and said calmly, "I can't draw."
Ivan burst into tears: "Ancestor, are you so busy? What are you busy with? I went to your apartment yesterday to look for you, but you were not there."
"Well, I'm back home and looking for a part-time job."
Ivan's incredible scream came from the phone: "You don't paint, but you want to find a part-time job? Do you know how many people out there are begging you for your paintings? Lin Ran, don't make me kneel down and beg you."
Lin Ran curled her thin lips, and her depressed mood dissipated a lot after he made such a fuss.
She rolled up the painting and said calmly, "Should the painting be sent to you, or will you come and pick it up?"
Ivan said quickly: "I'll do it, I'll do it myself."
Over the years, Ivan has traveled to various countries. Wherever the buyers are, that's where he goes. Hong Kong is simply his second home.
"Dye." Ivan paused and asked cautiously, "Have you been taking that medicine recently?"
Lin Ran was silent.
Ivan didn't dare ask any more questions. No wonder she said she couldn't paint. She was grateful if she could paint one picture a year.
Lin Ran's paintings were the most gifted and spiritual he had ever seen. Each painting seemed to be burning with life, gorgeous and poignant.
After Lin Ran hung up the phone, she heard a commotion outside. The head of the Shen family, Shen Zhongqi, had returned.
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