Chapter 14 (1)

The Painting

It had been a long time since Bo Ziren had had such a lively meal. At Uncle Mu’s house, her mother was mostly just following her two sons with a rice bowl, trying to coax them into eating. Meanwhile, she would be sitting quietly eating her rice at the table and occasionally answering Uncle Mu’s questions. With such an atmosphere, even the delicacies of the mountains and the seas would not feel like much. 

But now she sat in the afterglow of the setting sun, listening to the grandmother and granddaughter quarreling, the noisy TV blaring in the background, and Cheng Jingbo sitting quietly beside her.

When she was very young, the family would gather around a square table for dinner in the evening, turn on the same TV, and there would be a show with a similar name on.

Thousands of dinner lights, ordinary people sitting together.

She stared down at the plump, oily rice in the bowl and decided to eat more slowly.

After they were done, Mrs. Xu made tea and put out a plate of fresh jujubes on the table. Fang Rong had nothing to do, so she handed her sketchbook over to Bo Ziren.

“Sister, you said I might become a painter?”

Bo Ziren took a good look through, then praised her work sincerely after turning over the final page.

“I think it’s very likely you can.”

Fang Rong received the answer she had been expecting and smiled reservedly.

“I signed up for a class and went to study during the winter vacation. I hope to be able to improve further.”

Mrs. Xu smiled kindly.

“It’s good to have an interest. I support you on this point. It’s better than wasting time in other areas.”

She was alluding to the books hidden in her drawer.

Fang Rong immediately pretended to be confused and changed the subject by asking Bo Ziren to draw her something.

Bo ZIren thought for a moment.

“I haven’t painted for a long time. I don’t know what to even paint.”

“Just draw Teacher Cheng.” Fang Rong answered.

Bo Ziren felt stunned.

“Draw me?” Cheng Jingbo turned his head towards them.

“A sketch is fine, or even a cartoon version.”

Fang Rong reached over into the bowl and took a bite from a jujube.

Bo Ziren and Cheng Jingbo looked at each other. His face had an easy-going expression and a respectful look, so she picked up a pencil and made the first stroke on the blank sketchbook.

Twenty minutes later, Bo Ziren finished the portrait and handed it to Fang Rong. The little girl smiled as soon as she saw it.

“Sure enough, you caught Teacher Cheng perfectly, especially here on the brow.”

“Let me see,” Cheng Jingbo said, still seated on the opposite side.

Fang Rong turned it around and showed him.

“Do you think it looks like you?”

Cheng Jingbo looked at it for a bit before his gaze fell on Bo Ziren’s face.

“Did you study painting?”

“Only when I was in elementary school. I participated in extracurricular classes.”

“Really?” Fang Rong asked. “What a pity. Sister, you are really talented. Why didn’t you continue in this direction?”

Fang Rong grabbed the pen and held it between her fingers very sophisticatedly. 

“But the shadow on the cheeks is not enough. I will deepen it a bit.”

Before she could get her hands on it though, Cheng Jingbo reached out and took the sketchbook away. 

“It doesn’t need to be revised. It’s fine.”

He tore the page out.

“Give it to me as a souvenir.”

“You want to keep my drawing?” asked Bo Ziren to confirm she understood correctly.

“Do you want me to buy it? He asked rhetorically.

Bo Ziren shook her head quickly.

“If you like it, take it.”

Mrs. Zu smiled very happily.

“Look how handsome this painting is. When someone you know paints you so well, you will indeed want to keep it.”

Bo Ziren lowered her head and silently reached for a date from the bowl. It was not that she was stingy, but rather that she had wanted to keep it for herself. After all, there would be no other opportunity for him to sit and model for her in the future. 

“Grandma, I will also paint my boyfriend one day.” Fang Rong announced.

Mrs. Xu poured a splash of cold water on her.

“You’re thinking about those things while being so young!? Get a solid foundation first.”

Cheng Jingbo spoke up encouragingly to fang Rong. 

“Then you must persist with your art until you have a boyfriend, and you can’t give it up halfway.”

“Of course. I am not the kind of person who fishes for two days, then hangs the net on the third day.”

Mrs. Xu’s immediate response to her though threw her under the bus.

“That sounds pretty good. Too bad last month you ran out every day and slept late on weekends. I never saw you take out a single pen and practice.”

“I’m not being lazy! I’m looking for inspiration, and I’m thinking hard.” Fang Rong curled her lip.

As the two conversed, Bo Ziren turned her gaze to meet Cheng Jingbo’s eyes. His pupils were lovely, as if they had been drawn with an ink brush and then lightly sprayed with a light layer of gold.

As they stared at each other, she felt a distinct impression that he was also studying her just as intently.

Right before she was about to look away, he smiled at her, and her world took on a sudden, rose tinge.

They stood up to leave, and Cheng Jingbo grabbed a couple of jujubes from the bowl. He handed them to Bo Ziren.

“Put them in your pocket and eat them on the road.”

Fang Rong let out a snicker from the side.

After they left, Mrs. Xu was in a good mood. “Finally, he brings a girlfriend after it’s been worrying me for so long,” she muttered.

Fang Rong looked at her grandma quizzically.

“Grandma, why has he never had a girlfriend until now? Does he have a hidden illness?”

“What hidden illness?”

“Nevermind. I can’t explain this rich world to you in a sentence or two.”

Fang Rong glanced at the bag of medicine left on the corner of the table.

“However, he really is a good person.”

Mrs. Zu limped to the corner and carefully picked up the bag. Finding it strangely heavy, she guessed he must have added something. On the one hand, she was pleased with her student’s good intentions, but on the other hand, she knew that this medicine was expensive, and adding too much would have made the price very high.

She brought the bag into the kitchen and worriedly opened it to take a closer look. She rummaged through until she reached the bottom, where she found a bulky envelope. She squeezed it and sighed when she realized what it was. She had told him that morning that she didn’t want his money, and had made him promise too.