Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
Advance chapters available for patrons on Patreon. And a chapter can be sponsored by buying me a ko-fi.
Yan Qingchi looked at the painting on the table for a while, thought for a moment, and then began to paint. He painted very quickly, firstly because he painted often and was already skilled, and secondly because he had already conceived the entire picture before painting. Soon, Jiang Mochen saw a girl appear on the paper, her head slightly lowered, her eyes glancing upwards, looking somewhat shy.
Following the shop owner’s instructions, Yan Qingchi painted the girl’s clothes and accessories, and then began to paint the boy. The boy was clearly the one confessing; his eyes, filled with trepidation and anticipation, looked at the girl in front of him, his fists clenched, waiting for her answer.
After finishing the main characters, Yan Qingchi added a street lamp to Jiang Mochen’s vertical lines, then connected the horizontal lines, making some adjustments, and drew a bench.
He leaned closer to Jiang Mochen and whispered, “Draw something on this paper, anything you’re good at.”
Jiang Mochen was a little worried, thought for a moment, and then drew a swallow looking up at them on the ground where the boy and girl were standing.
Yan Qingchi almost burst out laughing, but as he looked at the swallow, it seemed familiar. He racked his brain and realized that the swallow Jiang Mochen had drawn was the same one he’d asked him to draw when he visited the set, saying it was for Qi Qi.
Yan Qingchi looked at him, surprised that he’d actually practiced it and drawn it quite well.
After finishing the swallow, Jiang Mochen felt that this was indeed his forte. After all, when designing the wedding ring shape, he had copied all the swallows Yan Qingchi had drawn onto paper. It proved to be a clumsy but effective method; at least his swallows were now quite good.
So Jiang Mochen drew a standing swallow on the bench.
He looked at Yan Qingchi, indicating that he had done his best. Yan Qingchi knew that Jiang Mochen’s skill in this area was basically beyond saving, just like his singing, so he picked up the brush and added some details, and the painting was finished.
He glanced at Fei Jingyu beside him, seeing that he was still drawing, so he took out another sheet of paper and redrew a picture of a girl confessing her love to a boy. The girl pursed her lips, her eyes wide open, and the boy looked somewhat surprised, yet unconsciously smiled.
Jiang Mochen didn’t quite understand why he had drawn another picture, and the boy and girl in this one looked different from the one the boss had drawn. So he asked Yan Qingchi, “What is this?”
“Preparedness, just in case.”
“Speak plainly.”
Yan Qingchi looked at him helplessly, “Better safe than sorry, for slapping someone in the face.”
Jiang Mochen still didn’t understand. Hadn’t the boss already explained the competition rules? Why did he need to draw another one, and one that completely disregarded the rules?
However, Yan Qingchi didn’t give him a chance to ask again. He raised his hand and said, “We’re done.”
Fei Jingyu was stunned, looking at him in disbelief. He quickly lowered his head and drew the last two strokes, not wanting to be outdone, and said, “We’re done too.”
The shopkeeper checked the time and said in surprise, “Did you learn before? You’re so fast?”
“Yes,” Fei Jingyu vaguely understood the English and couldn’t help but show off, “I started learning to draw in the fourth grade of elementary school, and I’ve participated in some competitions and won some awards.”
“Oh.” The shopkeeper exclaimed, “Then you must draw very well. Let me see yours first.”
The shopkeeper walked over, looked at the drawing paper on his and Yue Ziming’s table, and picked it up. Fei Jingyu felt that his drawing was not bad. Although he was a little rushed at the end and didn’t have time to complete some details, the overall quality was still very good.
After looking at it, the shopkeeper put his drawing down. “Not bad,” he said.
Fei Jingyu glanced proudly at Yan Qingchi and replied, “Thank you.”
The shopkeeper didn’t speak, turning to Yan Qingchi. Yan Qingchi pushed the painting he had drawn according to the requirements in front of the shopkeeper, who picked it up and examined it carefully.
Yan Qingchi waited for the shopkeeper’s comments, but the shopkeeper remained silent. Fei Jingyu looked up at the shopkeeper with some surprise.
Seeing the shopkeeper’s silence, Fei Jingyu assumed the shopkeeper was dissatisfied and instantly felt a sense of confidence.
He looked at Yan Qingchi and deliberately said, “Why hasn’t the shopkeeper spoken for so long? Is there a problem with your painting? Brother Yan, if we’ve judged it and you haven’t, then we’ll be leaving. But you just won a street painting competition a couple of days ago, so it should be fine, right?”
The last sentence was clearly sarcastic.
Jiang Mochen glanced at him impassively. “The boss hasn’t spoken yet, what right do you have to be so nosy?”
Fei Jingyu quickly feigned concern, “I’m just worried about you guys.”
Yan Qingchi was about to tell him to save his breath when the boss finally spoke. The boss sighed and asked, “How many years have you been learning to paint?”
“I forgot,” Yan Qingchi said. “I started painting when I was little, but I forget the exact age. I haven’t had any systematic or professional training.”
He actually remembered that it was when he was nine years old, a year after he was adopted. But with Jiang Mochen here, Yan Qingchi didn’t know if the original owner could paint at nine, so he had to lie and say he forgot.
The boss nodded. “To be able to paint like this without systematic or professional training, you have a lot of talent.” He said, “You paint very well. If I could have painted a picture like this back then, my girlfriend and I wouldn’t have missed each other for three years.”
Yan Qingchi was a little stunned.
The shopkeeper chuckled. “I just lied to you. The painting you saw was done by my girlfriend. She asked me to paint something in return, but I didn’t understand her intentions, so I just painted something casually, and then she left. Only after she left, and I kept looking at the painting, did I realize what answer she wanted, but she was already gone.”
“But you met again three years later?” Yan Qingchi asked.
“Yes, I found her. She was still single. So I compiled all the paintings I did about her in the three years after she left into a picture book, gave it to her, confessed my feelings, and we got together.”
The shopkeeper pointed to the girl in the painting. “She looks a lot like the girl in the painting, isn’t she beautiful?”
Yan Qingchi nodded. “She is indeed very beautiful.”
The shopkeeper was very happy and commented, “You painted very well. Your painting is very emotional, like watching a real story. The lines are also very smooth, and the composition is complete and delicate. Are you a professional painter?”
Yan Qingchi shook his head. “I’m an actor.”
“Then you must be a good actor,” the shopkeeper praised. “Your painting is very emotional, so you must be very emotional when you act.”
Yan Qingchi chuckled. “Thank you.”
“Wait a minute,” Fei Jingyu didn’t understand how things suddenly turned out like this. Why was Yan Qingchi chatting with the shopkeeper?
He couldn’t understand long passages of English, only a few words, so he didn’t know what they were talking about. He simply walked up to the shopkeeper and asked him, “Between the two of us, who paints better?”
The shop owner pointed at Yan Qingchi and said, “Of course it’s him. Your painting is okay, but it’s just a painting. It lacks emotion, it has no soul, it’s empty.” He looked at Fei Jingyu, “What you painted isn’t scenery, it’s a man and a woman, it’s people. People have emotions, so the people in the painting also need emotions. Your painting is too empty.”
Fei Jingyu didn’t understand. Seeing his bewildered expression, Yan Qingchi translated for him. Fei Jingyu glanced at him, partly dissatisfied that he had outdone him in this aspect, and partly unwilling to believe it. “How come my figures have no emotions?”
The shop owner showed him Yan Qingchi’s painting, “Your painting only has two people, and neither of them has their own emotions. You can’t see the feelings of the person confessing their love, nor can you see the feelings of the person being confessed to. Have you ever been in love? Have you ever confessed your love or been confessed to?”
Yan Qingchi continued to translate, and Fei Jingyu remained silent.
The shopkeeper went over and took his painting, placing it next to Yan Qingchi’s in front of him. “Look closely at both of your paintings. Your brushwork is very rough, and many transitions are not natural enough. You’ve been painting since elementary school, how could you make such technical mistakes? Your whole painting only shows the painting itself; you can’t see what’s behind it. And,” the shopkeeper said in broken Chinese, pointing to the boy and girl in the painting, “the faces of the main characters in your painting are not quite the same as the main characters in the paintings I gave you.”
“Painting is a process of self-expression, not imitation. I’m not an imitator, how could my painting be exactly the same as yours?” Fei Jingyu said.
Yan Qingchi translated his words into English and told the shopkeeper.
The shop owner frowned, pointed at Yan Qingchi, and asked Fei Jingyu, “But he just asked me if I wanted you to paint according to the painting, and I said yes. You should have heard that. So why didn’t you paint according to the rules? Is it because you can’t imitate other people’s paintings and can only paint your own? A mature painter should be able to imitate other people’s paintings perfectly and also create their own original works, right?”
Fei Jingyu was very unconvinced after hearing Yan Qingchi’s retelling. “Is that why you think my painting is inferior to his?”
Yan Qingchi was speechless. “Didn’t the shop owner just say that yours lacks soul, emotion, and has rough brushstrokes and unnatural transitions? These are the key points.”
“These are all based on the fact that you imitated his figure painting, and I didn’t. If you didn’t imitate it either, would he still think you won?”
Yan Qingchi guessed that if Fei Jingyu’s painting wasn’t as good as his, he would probably pull this trick, so he reluctantly picked up the second painting that was upside down on the table and showed it to Fei Jingyu.
“How do you think my this painting compares to yours?”
Fei Jingyu was stunned. He looked at the painting in Yan Qingchi’s hand, unable to believe it. “You painted two?”
“Yes, two. I was afraid that if your painting wasn’t as lifelike as mine, you would blame it on that aspect, so I spent extra time on an extra one.”
Fei Jingyu couldn’t understand. He didn’t even have enough time to paint one, and he finished it hastily in the end. How could Yan Qingchi have time to paint two?
“Where do you find the time?”
“The same amount of time as you, but I paint more often, so I paint more smoothly and faster than you.” Yan Qingchi looked at him. “Fei Jingyu, I said before in the square that everyone has a different understanding of painting. For me, painting is just a hobby; I simply find it fun, so I paint from time to time. But for you, it’s just a tool to win awards in competitions, so you’ve bound yourself to it. You haven’t painted in a long time, have you? So when you put pen to paper, you can’t even guarantee the smoothness of the lines. Is this what you call professionalism?”
He looked at Fei Jingyu’s painting. “Whether a painting is good or not, not only experts but also laymen can sometimes easily tell because people’s feelings are very direct. Forgive my bluntness, but you haven’t won many awards with paintings like this, have you?”
Fei Jingyu didn’t speak.
Yan Qingchi smiled, “So I won, and we’re the ones leaving first.”
After saying this, Yan Qingchi turned to the shop owner and asked, “Can our group leave now?”
The shop owner smiled, “Of course! You drew wonderfully. Here’s your task card.”
He took out the task card the production team had given him and handed it to Yan Qingchi.
Yan Qingchi thanked him and he and Jiang Mochen left.
Fei Jingyu watched them leave, then looked at the shop owner. The shop owner was somewhat dissatisfied with his unauthorized alteration of the figures in the drawing and asked him to redraw the figures to make them more realistic.
Fei Jingyu had no choice but to take back his drawing and redraw it. He wasn’t good at imitation, but he hadn’t expected that Yan Qingchi had not only drawn a drawing imitating the figures in the shop owner’s drawing within the same timeframe, but also created a completely new drawing. Moreover, both drawings were of a higher standard than his own.
Fei Jingyu had always believed he was the best artist among their group. He believed Yan Qingchi when Yan Qingchi said he wasn’t a professional, and genuinely thought Yan Qingchi couldn’t possibly be better than him. Unexpectedly, reality slapped him hard in the face. Holding his pen, he felt utterly humiliated.
Yan Qingchi and Jiang Mochen, of course, had no idea what he was thinking. In fact, after leaving, Yan Qingchi didn’t even think about him anymore. Fei Jingyu was naturally easygoing and open-minded; if Fei Jingyu hadn’t repeatedly provoked him, Yan Qingchi wouldn’t have paid him any attention.
Looking at the task card in his hand, he pointed to swimming and gymnastics, saying, “Let’s choose swimming. It’s your strength, and I’m not bad at it either.”
“Okay,” Jiang Mochen agreed.
The two followed the route on the task card to the swimming pool. Yan Qingchi asked the coach in charge of their assessment if anyone else had done the task before.
The coach shook his head. Yan Qingchi was pleasantly surprised and said to Jiang Mochen, “Did you hear that? We might be in first place now.”
Jiang Mochen had certainly heard it, and he even thought that Yan Qingchi was very likely right. In the first round, only his group and Yan Qingchi’s group, and Fei Jingyu and Yue Ziming’s group, chose painting. The others, who hadn’t studied painting, chose to do pottery. Now, in the second round, swimming and gymnastics, he felt that at least the groups with boys would be more inclined to swim, for no other reason than that gymnastics was not very friendly to boys. But so far, it seemed that only their group had arrived at the swimming pool.
Therefore, it was very likely that the others were still doing the first round’s task and hadn’t had time to get here yet.
This challenge was to swim five laps in a relay between two people within a specified time. Yan Qingchi and Jiang Mochen changed into the swimming trunks the coach had prepared for them, warmed up in the water, and prepared to start the challenge.
He discussed it with Jiang Mochen. Given that Jiang Mochen had a greater advantage in this area, they decided that Jiang Mochen would swim first, then he would high-five him, and then he would swim second. This way, Jiang Mochen would swim three times, while he would only swim twice, making it easier to pass. Jiang Mochen agreed and told Yan Qingchi to wait for him at the finish line.
The coach called “start,” and Jiang Mochen quickly swam out. Yan Qingchi watched his swimming style in the water, waiting for him to hand over the baton.
Unsurprisingly, they passed on their first try. The coach was somewhat surprised and applauded them, praising them, “Very good, very good.”
Yan Qingchi felt this was mainly due to Jiang Mochen; after all, he really swam incredibly fast. When he finished the last lap, there were still nearly two minutes left before the allotted time.
As they were leaving, they saw Mo Xiaoxiao and Zhang Ningwei run in. Seeing them, they asked in surprise, “You’re already done?”
Yan Qingchi nodded. “Go on, no one’s here yet.”
Mo Xiaoxiao quickly thanked them and pulled Zhang Ningwei along.
Yan Qingchi and Jiang Mochen looked at their newly received task cards and chose to make a cake for the third round of tasks.
Jiang Mochen actually didn’t know how to make cakes. During the year Yan Qingchi was pregnant, he had only learned hardcore cooking techniques and hadn’t yet dabbled in Western pastries. However, Yan Qingchi said, “I know how! I’ll teach you in a bit.”
So the two happily prepared to make a cake for themselves.
The person in charge of assessing them for this task was a plump woman in her fifties. The teacher first demonstrated the steps, then let them make a cake within a set time. The cake’s taste and appearance had to be satisfactory to pass.
Yan Qingchi had made cakes before, so he was quite adept at it. He directed Jiang Mochen while working on his own, and the two proceeded methodically. After Yan Qingchi baked the cake base in the oven, he and Jiang Mochen decorated it with frosting before having the teacher check it.
The teacher was very satisfied with the cake’s appearance, picked up a cake knife, cut a slice, took a small bite with a fork, and tasted it.
“Delicious,” she said. “Congratulations, you’ve passed! As a reward, this cake is for you both.”
Yan Qingchi and Jiang Mochen felt incredibly lucky; they had passed all three rounds of tasks so easily.
Yan Qingchi was pleased and looked at Jiang Mochen, “How about we finish the cake here before going back?”
Jiang Mochen readily agreed.
The teacher brought them two cups of black tea to accompany the cake.
Yan Qingchi and Jiang Mochen thanked her and ate the cake while drinking the tea.
Jiang Mochen had never been a big fan of sweets, even cake. After eating a piece, he put down his fork and watched Yan Qingchi eat. As Jiang Mochen looked at the cake, he couldn’t resist dipping his finger in cream and smearing it on Yan Qingchi’s face. Yan Qingchi was exasperated. “You’re doing this again!”
“I couldn’t help it.”
Yan Qingchi reached out and smeared some cream on his face as well. Jiang Mochen was about to retaliate when Yan Qingchi grabbed his hand. “Don’t ruin my cake anymore.”
“It’s our cake.”
“Then you’re even more not allowed to ruin it.”
Seeing his possessive expression, Jiang Mochen had no choice but to give up and wipe his face. “Little kitten.”
“It’s all your doing.”
“So I want to draw a few more lines.”
“No, you don’t!”
Jiang Mochen: …Instantly understanding Li Mo’s feelings at that moment.
Meanwhile, Li Mo, whom he had been nagging, finally entered the cake shop, ready to take on the cake-making challenge.
As soon as Li Mo entered the room, she turned around and saw the two of them. And she exclaimed in surprise, “Brother!” Without saying a word, she ran over and asked curiously, “Who won? Brother, did you beat Fei Jingyu?”
Yan Qingchi and Jiang Mochen were taken aback by her question. Then, Yan Qingchi said, “We won. I didn’t expect you to care so much.”
“Of course I care, I knew you would win.”
Yan Qingchi smiled, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Brother, are you finished?”
Yan Qingchi nodded and pointed to the cake on the table, “This is our result.”
“How did you two finish so quickly? I guess you’ll be first again this time. Well, I won’t say goodbye anymore, I have to hurry up and do my task, bye-bye.”
“Okay, good luck!”
“Yeah,” Li Mo smiled, “I did cake baking with my classmates last year, this is no problem for me, don’t worry.”
After she finished speaking, she ran away in an instant. Yan Qingchi watched Li Mo leave and looked at Jiang Mochen, “Let’s go too.”
“What about the cake?”
“Let’s ask the teacher if we can pack it up.”
Jiang Mochen asked the teacher and got a positive answer. So he picked up the packed cake and said goodbye to Li Bozhong and Li Mo, preparing to go to Uncle John’s Pizza with Yan Qingchi.
“Target: Pizza shop, let’s go!” Yan Qingchi grabbed Jiang Mochen and ran forward quickly.
The author has something to say:
President Jiang: I can draw swallows now, so happy~
Guys, ads are my only source of revenue, so please do not turn on the AdBlock when you are accessing this website…. Thank you, this would be a great help…
You can buy me a ko-fi and sponsor a chapter on: https://ko-fi.com/midnightrambles
Or become a Patron on: https://www.patreon.com/bePatron?u=45665005
If you support me, I would be able to provide more chapters….
Previous • Table of Contents• Next
