TMISIU- chapter 32

When they arrived at the museum in the Lan family’s car, the exhibition had already started for more than an hour and the opening ceremony was over.

In the soothing light music, brightly dressed men and women strolled leisurely in the spacious and bright exhibition hall, admiring the paintings, and occasionally talking softly.

This was a world Wei Ying had never been to before, but he didn’t feel out of place, instead he had a sense of ease that he should belong here.

As soon as Zhou Lusi arrived, she joined her university boyfriend who had been waiting for a long time and walked away.

Wei Ying took Lan Zhan and Feng Li all the way to find the booth of his paintings, the most remote corner of the exhibition hall.

“This is my painting.” Wei Ying pointed to the painting he had hung on the wall and said to Lan Zhan.

On the canvas was a little girl in a red corduroy coat, with a black natural curly hair and a pair of bright apricot eyes. She was flying through the golden rapeseed field in spring, happily chasing a pink butterfly.

The little girl’s chubby cheek had a large piece of red spots like butterflies, from the bridge of the nose and spread to the left side of the face, but people who looked at the painting would not have the slightest idea that the little girl looked ugly, because the smile on her face was more brilliant than the spring light in March.

Feng Li looked up at the painting and asked curiously, “Gege, who is she?”

Wei Ying looked at the girl in the painting intently, and with longing in his eyes, he said softly: “This is my sister.”

He turned his head to look at Lan Zhan and asked with a smile, “Isn’t my sister very cute?”

Lan Zhan hummed and whispered, “The same as you.”

Wei Ying was startled, biting his lower lip to hide his embarrassment.

Lan Zhan looked at the painting, finally understood why Wei Ying was always anxious to make money.

For a mountain village family with a meager income, he knew very well what a child with Lupus Erythematosus meant.

He looked at the boy who was looking at the painting.

He thought at the time that this person might have worked harder than he thought.

When Wei Ying noticed Lan Zhan looking at him, he looked back and was slightly stunned.

He heard Lan Zhan say to him: “Wei Ying, you will have your own painting exhibition in the future, and many people will come to see your paintings.”

The tone was serious and determined.

Wei Ying was stunned, curled his eyes and said, “If I have my own exhibition, will you come to see it?”

Lan Zhan answered without hesitation: “Yes.”

Wei Ying’s eyelashes trembled, he looked at Lan Zhan’s beautiful side face, blinked and said with a smile, “Okay, when I have my own exhibition, I will tell you the first thing, you must come!”

The kid Feng Li on the side didn’t quite understand, and shouted, “I want to come, I want to come too!”

Lan Zhan patted the top of Feng Li’s head and said indifferently, “You forget it.”

The two took the kid to see other paintings in the exhibition hall.

On the way, they met Zhou Wanghan and a few seniors from the Calligraphy and Painting Association.

The old man was determined to let his student know more people, so pulled Wei Ying away and refused to let him go.

Originally, Lan Zhan had been by the side, but Feng Li suddenly clamored that his stomach hurts.

Wei Ying asked Lan Zhan to hurry to take the child to the bathroom to solve it, so as not to create other problems.

Lan Zhan had a black face, he was very unhappy to carry Feng Li away.

Wei Ying was led by Zhou Wanghan to meet several seniors in the literary and art world.

He was somewhat nervous, but still tried to be polite and decent.

Those seniors knew that Zhou Wanghan had taken a student after many years and had long been very curious about it, so they were very enthusiastic about Wei Ying.

One of them was the current president of the Painting and Calligraphy Association, named Shion Lee, a well-known calligrapher.

He joked to Zhou Wanghan: “Old Zhou, your student looks a little like my daughter.”

Zhou Wanghan knew that the president, who had been a flirt in his youth, had an illegitimate daughter who had once tried to learn painting from him, but he had refused, so he said:

“Really? He looks more like one of my former female students.”

Shion Lee’s face was a little unsightly when he heard that, as if he was thinking of something.

Wei Ying didn’t notice the undercurrent surging between them.

After bidding farewell to several seniors, he intended to go to Lan Zhan, but halfway there, he was drawn to a painting hanging in the non-sale section of the exhibition hall.

In that painting, a young peasant woman in a straw hat wearing black rubber shoes was planting rice seedlings in a water field in a mountain pass with green seedlings and white water. Another young woman in a long white dress was sitting in front of an easel painting on the edge of the field. A few white herons flew from the field to the damp mist-mantled mountains and fields, rippling lightly on the water surface.

The whole painting revealed the tranquility of the mountain village.

The two women in the painting were busy and idle, but the expressions on their faces were calm and peaceful. They dressed very differently but looked like long-time friends and confidants.

Wei Ying held his breath and looked at the name framed by the black frame below.

Cangse Sanren.

He squeezed his fingers instantly, his eyes flushed uncontrollably. He thought.

It turned out that in the eyes of his mother, the years in the mountains when he was born were peaceful and beautiful.

It turned out that his mother also painted Yu Ziyuan, who was with her at the end of her life, into her own world by heart.

But, but…

“Wei Ying?”

Wei Ying suddenly heard a strange and familiar voice calling him.

He turned to look in the direction of the sound, and saw Jiang Fengmian walking towards him with a smile.

There was a beautiful young woman beside him, holding Jiang Fengmian’s arm.

He could hardly describe his emotions at this moment, and could only try to suppress the emotions that were surging up, mechanically lifting the corners of his mouth and greeting Jiang Fengmian: “Uncle Jiang.”

Then he glanced at the woman next to Jiang Fengmian, and a strange feeling suddenly surged in his heart, because that woman, who was probably in her twenties, looked a little like him, especially those eyes.

The woman looked at him, also stunned for a moment, but soon raised her chin slightly to reveal a smile.

Jiang Fengmian said in a polite tone: “Are you coming to the exhibition alone?”

Wei Ying shook his head and said, “I came with my classmate.” He didn’t say which classmate.

Jiang Fengmian smiled and said, “I saw your painting at the booth over there. I thought it was good and wanted to buy it, but I heard from the staff that it had been sold.”

Wei Ying was stunned and couldn’t hide his surprise, “Sold?”

Jiang Fengmian who didn’t expect Wei Ying was still clueless about it, said: “Yes, I heard that the painting was sold not long after the exhibition started, the buyer’s name is Wang Zixuan, do you know him?”

Wei Ying shook his head in a daze and said, “I don’t know.”

But Jiang Fengmian knew the secretary of the chairman of Lanxi Group. He was surprised but didn’t say anything. Instead, he introduced his female companion to Wei Ying and said:

“This is the vice president of the Bingqiu Painting Association. Yeong Lee, maybe you can get to know each other.”

Yeong Lee seemed to be dissatisfied with this introduction. She looked at the man beside her angrily, and handed Wei Ying a business card with a smile:

“Hello, my name is Yeong Lee. I also think your paintings are good. You can join our Bingqiu Painting Association and you can meet many like-minded friends who are about your age.”

Wei Ying guessed that this woman called Yeong Lee was Jiang Fengmian’s lover. She was not like him, but like Cangse Sanren.

But that person had gone, what was the point of doing this for those who had already died?

He took Yeong Lee’s business card with both hands and said thank you.

After exchanging pleasantries, people who were not familiar with each other should have gone to their separate ways.

But perhaps Jiang Fengmian saw Wei Ying staring at the painting too intently, or perhaps because of some innate connection, Jiang Fengmian could not resist asking Wei Ying.

“You also like this painting?”

Wei Ying was quiet for a few seconds and said, “The place in the painting looks very beautiful.”

That was the place where he was born and raised, but the beauty had bound him for sixteen years.

Looking at the painting, Jiang Fengmian seemed to evoke some memories, the gentle and polite smile on his face faded a little, and he slowly said:

“This is my late wife’s painting, she liked it very much and spent the last days of her life there.”

Yeong Lee glanced at Jiang Fengmian, holding back what she wanted to say, but her expression was already a little unhappy.

At that moment Wei Ying thought a lot of things and wanted to ask Jiang Fengmian many questions, but in the end he only asked one question, to his father:

“You didn’t visit there afterwards?”

Your child was still there.

Jiang Fengmian was silent for a while, raised the corners of his mouth and smiled helplessly, and said:

“I really wanted to go, but I did not dare. I had reached the entrance of the village once, I planned to visit the house where my wife was staying when she was pregnant. But I still went back. There is no way, sometimes people are just so cowardly.”

Wei Ying’s breathing was stagnant, and he thought, why did he ask this question?

Cruel and meaningless.

He suddenly wanted to escape from here.

He didn’t want to see this painting.

This painting proved that his mother once cherished Yu Ziyuan, and he didn’t want to see this father who was accompanied by his lover.

When he was about to pull his leg and leave, someone tapped him on the shoulder and said to him: “Why don’t you look for me?”

Wei Ying looked over, and Lan Zhan was looking at him with a slight frown.

He looked at Lan Zhan and watched hard, as if he finally found a shore to anchor after a long time drifting in the water.

He raised a smile and said, “Came across a very nice painting and looked at it more.”

Lan Zhan didn’t mean to blame Wei Ying. He looked at Jiang Fengmian and said “Uncle Jiang” indifferently.

Jiang Fengmian looked at the two teenagers in front of him, remembering the painting that Wang Zixuan had bought. With a thoughtful smile, he said:

“Zhan, I thought you would not be interested in the exhibition.”

When Gu Yihan held an exhibition for Cangse Sanren, Jiang Fengmian and Jiang Cheng also went there, but they had never seen Lan Zhan.

Lan Zhan slightly blocked Wei Ying behind him, and said coldly to Jiang Fengmian: “Just because I wasn’t interested before doesn’t mean I’m not interested now.”

Jiang Fengmian smiled, understood that he was not welcome here. He did not say anything else and took his female companion to say goodbye and left.

Lan Zhan turned around, looked at Wei Ying’s eyes for a moment, and asked in a low voice, “Do you want to go and rest?”

Wei Ying still looked at him and nodded obediently.

Whenever Wei Ying showed such a look and looked at him with dependence, Lan Zhan wanted to raise his hand and rub his hair, but he finally resisted and took Wei Ying to the tea break in the corner of the exhibition hall.

Sitting there were Zhou Lusi who was bored and playing with his phone, and Feng Li, who was sleeping on his back after having an upset stomach.

“You have finished looking? My boyfriend was approached by a mentor, so he left me and ran away.” Zhou Lusi lowered her mouth unhappily.

Wei Ying sat down by the coffee table and saw Lan Zhan poured a cup of coffee in front of him, and asked him, “Should I add sugar?”

He nodded and said, “Yes, a lot of sugar.”

He wanted to eat a lot of sweet things now.

Lan Zhan, however, directly placed a whole candies from the tea break in front of him and asked, “Is this enough?”

Wei Ying looked at the exquisite packaging of various candies in front of him, and suddenly remembered that night at the hospital, Lan Zhan put a candy with a smiley face on it in his hand and said to him: “All children will become happy after eating this candy.”

He looked up and said to Lan Zhan with a smile, “Of course it’s enough.”

This person always seemed to be easily aware of his unhappiness.

Wei Ying picked up a candy, removed the paper and put it in his mouth, feeling the sweetness on the tip of his tongue.

Gradually, the sweetness diffused from his tongue to his chest, as if there was really no bitterness left.

The three people sat and chatted, mainly Zhou Lusi complaining about how unreliable her boyfriend was.

Wei Ying occasionally responded, but Lan Zhan did not say much, looking down and playing with a colored candy paper.

Before long, a staff member came over to Wei Ying and said, “Hello, Mr. Zhou asks you to come over.”

Wei Ying was startled and looked at Zhou Wanghan, who was across from the exhibition hall.

There were several middle-aged people standing beside him, men and women, who seemed to be waiting for him.

Zhou Lusi said, “Someone must be interested in your paintings, don’t be nervous, just chat, go ahead.”

Wei Ying subconsciously looked at Lan Zhan, who nodded to him and said, “I’ll wait for you here.”

Only then did he get up and leave.

Zhou Lusi looked at Wei Ying’s back, smiled at Lan Zhan and joked, “Not worry about him going alone? You’re not going to accompany him?”

Lan Zhan took a sip of coffee and said flatly: “He will always have to face many people and many things alone. I believe he can handle it.”

Zhou Lusi tsk-ed: “Look at your tone, like an old father.”

Lan Zhan glanced at her coldly.

Zhou Lusi was not shocked.

She looked at this old friend who was obviously a year younger than her, but seemed much older than her, and thought to herself, such a twisted person, when will he get what he wanted?

She suddenly remembered that when she was a child, because the two families were friends, she and Lan Zhan often visited each other to play.

When she was about seven years old, the family raised a clingy white kitten. When Lan Zhan came to her home, the cat wrapped around Lan Zhan’s legs, but Lan Zhan was cold-tempered at the time.

No matter how cute the cat was, he held the cat’s neck and threw it.

However, after that, Lan Zhan suddenly came to her house more frequently. Every time he walked in, the cat would meow and pester him. He was neither cold nor warm, but didn’t bother to touch the cat.

She hated her cat for eating inside and picking outside, but she was obsessed with it.

But once she happened to see Lan Zhan squatting in the corner of the stairs. He took out a few dried fish that he had brought home from his pocket, and was feeding the cat, petting it gently while feeding it, obviously he liked it so much.

She finally understood the reason why her cat was pestering Lan Zhan, and felt that this younger brother was really twisted. He liked it, but he refused to admit it.

Soon afterwards, the cat fell ill and died. She burst into tears and buried the cat in the courtyard.

Lan Zhan heard from somewhere and he rushed over soon. He moved a small bench and sat next to the cat’s grave. A few dried fish were placed in front of the mound, he didn’t cry nor did he speak, he was just sitting there for one whole afternoon.

Later, Lan Zhan rarely came to her house.

Zhou Lusi remembered this funny childhood story and smiled.

She thought about it for a while, but couldn’t resist taking out her sister’s posture and said to Lan Zhan in a serious manner.

“You’ve done so much for him, paying for him to study at our school, asking me to take care of him at the art club, introducing him to my grandfather as a teacher, even buying him clothes for the exhibition. You even bought the painting early in the morning for fear of people taking it away. So many things, why didn’t you talk to him?”

She believed that in a place she did not know, Lan Zhan must have done more things for that person that were not known to anyone.

Lan Zhan looked at the person who was talking and laughing with someone in the distance, and after a moment of silence, he said in a calm tone.

“I just hope that he will be an excellent and proud person, looking at me with a straight look, not because of gratitude or debt, nor does he have to return the slightest bit of it to me.”

Zhou Lusi was startled, she was silent when she heard the words. It was rare that she did not tease and joke again.

She just felt that the ten relationships she had before seemed to have suddenly become insignificant.

Perhaps true love was to be kind to a person in such a silent and restrained manner, not to pursue this goodness as a means of pursuit, nor to ask for it because of this goodness.

Zhou Lusi also looked at Wei Ying in the distance.

The beautiful young man in an expensive dress was talking calmly with several elders.

He seemed to have faded from the gloom he had when she saw him for the first time, and she couldn’t tell that he was born in the bottom of the mountain village.

It was as if he was born to be a proud young master from an extraordinary background and had become the outstanding and proud person Lan Zhan wanted him to be.

But the so-called self-confidence and pride, had always been watered by favor, it was very difficult to grow flowers in muddy swamps.

Zhou Lusi looked at the other side, and suddenly found that Zhou Wanghan and the middle-aged men who spoke earlier had left, and a pretty young girl went over to speak with Wei Ying.

Her heart moved, she looked at Lan Zhan on the side and found that Lan Zhan was also looking there.

She calculated the time in her heart, and as expected, Lan Zhan got up before it was even a minute the two had talked with each other.

Zhou Lusi laughed and said: “What? Can’t help it? Didn’t you just say he can handle it?”

Lan Zhan ignored Zhou Lusi and set off to walk over there.

He thought, how could he be as glamorous as he said.

There was no way he could stand Wei Ying saying more than a few words to other people, painting for others and smiling at others.

He hoped that Wei Ying would only look at him forever.

Obviously he was the one who brought him here, he thought darkly, he even wanted to hide him in a place that only he knew.

But he knew he wouldn’t do it.

He would not let Wei Ying become a canary or dodder that was only attached to him.

He wanted Wei Ying to be as bright as a star, bright as the moon, and had a good life.

And he…

“Are you going to leave?”

Wei Ying was surprised to see Lan Zhan coming.

Qin Su, a freshman art student who was talking to Wei Ying, stared blankly at the tall handsome man who came by.

Her face flushed, and she hurriedly looked at Wei Ying whom she had just met, hoping that he would introduce this handsome guy.

But since this person came, Wei Ying’s all attention had been locked on him, and he had not given her any attention anymore.

Lan Zhan didn’t even look at the girl, and said to Wei Ying: “It’s getting late, let’s go back together.”

Wei Ying nodded and apologized to Qin Su.

“Sorry, I have to go back to catch up with my homework. I will consider joining the Bingqiu Painting Association as you said. Thank you.”

Qin Su had a strange feeling in her heart.

She felt that the two boys in front of her seemed to have only one another in the world, and even if she stood there, it seemed redundant.

She smiled and said, “You’re welcome. I still hope you will join our association.”

Lan Zhan was about to turn around and leave, and Wei Ying behind him soon followed after bidding farewell to Qin Su.

He paused, and waited for Wei Ying to walk completely beside him before starting to walk back.

And he.

He wanted to be a fellow traveler in this wonderful life.

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