Monster Apartment

Gu Bai squared up.

He lowered his head, fished out his mobile phone and sent a message to Zhai Liangjun for help.

What to do if Mr Si across the hall is here to see me!

But unfortunately, he didn’t get an immediate reply.

Although Zhai Liangjun had a lot of spare time when he wasn’t working, when he was working, he was basically working back-to-back. It was common for him not to return once every few months.

The doorbell rang again.

Gu Bai moved over to the cat’s eye to look. He saw that the person outside the door had frowned slightly and seemed to have lost a bit of patience.

Si Yiming was very handsome and very tall. When that face was stern, it had an air of nonchalance. When he frowned and showed his unpleasantness, it made people’s legs tremble.

Before he met Si Yiming, Gu Bai did not have a concrete concept of words like aura and might. It was only when Si Yiming gave him a glance with his daggers and pinned him to the spot shivering; that he had a clear idea of such words.

Frankly speaking, Gu Bai was quite afraid of Si Yiming.

He couldn’t think of a reason for Si Yiming to come looking for him.

It can’t be because he(GB) saw his(SY) previous violent behaviour. Therefore, he came to threaten him to stop talking, right?

The more he thought about it, the more frightened he became. He leaned against the door with his hand on the handle, wondering if he should open it.

The doorbell rang for the third time, sounding like a death sentence to Gu Bai’s ears.

He took a deep breath and twisted the door handle, pulling open a small gap.

“Hello, how are you?” Gu Bai greeted in a small voice through the doorway, “Is there something wrong?”

Si Yiming looked at the doorway and was silent for two seconds before saying, “Looking for you to do some painting.”

Gu Bai was stunned: “Eh?”

“Introduced by Huang Yining.” Si Yiming spoke with his eyes wide open “Are you free?”

Gu Bai hesitated for a while under the temptation of money. He finally chose to give in.

To his surprise, Si Yiming was not at all intimidating when he was calm.

At this moment, the legendary big man was sitting upright on the sofa in the living room, and had the courtesy to nod slightly at him as he finished his steaming tea.

“What kind of painting would you like?” Gu Bai asked.

Si Yiming paused and replied, “Anything… I want to see you paint it live.”

Gu Bai froze, not knowing for a moment how he should reply.

It is not impossible to paint on the spot. When he used to set up a small stall, he was incredibly efficient at watercolour sketching. Fifty yuan for one sheet, he could finish one sheet in forty minutes at most. It is not impossible to do it in twenty minutes when it is rushed.

But for this big man to draw a painting for fifty yuan…

Gu Bai looked at Si Yiming and felt as if the price of fifty yuan was an insult to this gentleman.

“Is it inconvenient?” Si Yiming asked.

“No.” Gu Bai pursed his lips, “What degree of finish do you want for the painting?”

Si Yiming answered quickly, “The Huang Yining kind.”

Gu Bai was confused for a moment, thinking of the equal-sized painting he had painted for Ms Huang, and shook his head, “That kind takes a lot of time.”

The implication was that painting on-spot was basically impossible.

He had to follow his teachers and brothers on field design runs every day recently, and the remaining time he had for painting for the exhibition was already looking a bit tight.

Gu Bai counted the time and said, “I haven’t…been too free for a while recently.”

Si Yiming’s brow furrowed.

Gu Bai looked at his face, and his heart “thumped”.

“I’m not in a hurry.” Si Yiming’s brow slowly released and he pondered for a while longer before putting the tea in his hand on the coffee table and turning his head to Gu Bai and saying, “Wait a moment.”

Gu Bai watched as Si Yiming left the door and walked back in three minutes later, holding a framed scroll in his hand and handing it to Gu Bai.

“Paint this.” He said.

Replicate?

Gu Bai took the scroll blankly and slowly unfolded it.

The painting is a fierce and roaring dragon in ink as if it were about to lunge at someone outside the painting. The black strokes of the brush are marked with a halo of dip, and as it continues to unfold, its four claws open, its fingertips sharp and imposing.

Ink painting is more about meaning than form.

This scroll of the roaring dragon’s head is the perfect illustration of both form and meaning.

Gu Bai unfolded the entire scroll but did not see the signature of the artist.

He froze and inclined his head to look at Si Yiming, somewhat hesitant to ask about it.

Si Yiming keenly sensed his hesitation: “What?”

“Can I ask, who drew this painting…?” Gu Bai plucked up the courage to ask.

Si Yiming shook his head, indicating his refusal.

Gu Bai silently withdrew his eyes and carefully rolled the scroll up, “Sorry, Mr Si. I’m not good enough for this.”

“That’s okay.” Si Yiming said, “You paint. Name your price.”

Gu Bai was a bit stumped.

He knew in his heart how good he was, and if he were to copy this painting, it would be inconsistent with the style of the painting. On the other hand, it would be an insult to the original author of the painting.

Besides, for those in the art industry, it was a bit disrespectful to the people who bought the paintings to demand a copy of someone else’s work.

But the capitalist would probably not understand the sensitive and fragile feelings of such art practitioners.

So Gu Bai said honestly, “I can’t copy it.”

“It’s not copying. It’s recreating.” Si Yiming corrected him.

Gu Bai gave a light heave.

Using this painting as the basis for a re-creation, that was still feasible.

Si Yiming asked him, “What kind of fee do you want?”

Hearing this, Gu Bai instantly ploughed out the idea that he had thrown into a corner only yesterday.

“So, that…” he asked with a face full of apprehension, “can you please introduce me to a stock?”

Si Yiming: “…”

Si Yiming gave the same incredulous expression as Huang Yining.

“Wait, wait after two months when I have the capital…”

Gu Bai’s voice grew smaller and smaller under Si Yiming’s one-word stare. The courage that had risen from the smell of money deflated back at a rate visible to the naked eye.

“Is it…not okay?” He murmured in a small voice.

“…can.” It was the first time Si Yiming had encountered this type of monster.

Well, for the first time, to be exact, he encountered a monster that didn’t take advantage of the opportunity to trade with him to slay him hard.

Are the little monsters these days so simple?

No, modern-day monsters with a lot of evil intentions don’t deserve the word “simple”.

It’s all the fault of humans. Look what they’ve done to all those monsters who only have violent thoughts in their heads?

Who taught them that they can turn 18 turns behind a sentence?

The monsters were clearly not like this a thousand years ago.

Thousands of years ago monsters were simple. They were straight in the head and had no major flaws, except that most of them fed on humankind and human fears.

And now!

When Si Yiming looked at Gu Bai, he was furious at the thought of those fancy little monsters that he had stumbled upon when he was outdoors.

The real simple one was probably only this little monster in front of him who had not yet delved into human society.

Mr Si looked at Gu Bai’s eyes shining with happiness because he had nodded his head and agreed to the compensation. For a moment, he looked at him until Gu Bai felt uncomfortable, then he looked away.

It was really cute.

Si Yiming thought with an expressionless face.

“I don’t have much time lately, but I will finish the painting you want as soon as possible!”

Gu Bai was so blinded by money that he even forgot the shock Si Yiming had given him and complimented him, “You’re a really nice person.”

Si Yiming, who had been issued a good man card, was quite happy in his heart.

He took a sip of tea and stood up to prepare to say goodbye.

As he walked to the door, he said to Gu Bai, who sent him out, “Do not play with Zhai Liangjun and Huang Yining.”

The fox spirit and the painted skin were causing a lot of trouble in the building. Just because Si Yiming didn’t like to take care of it didn’t mean that he liked this kind of trouble.

It’s a pity that such a simple and obedient little monster would be led astray!

Gu Bai looked up at Si Yiming, who was even taller than Zhai Liangjun. He thought of how not long ago, Mr Zhai was also standing here, telling him in the same tone of voice and seriousness: don’t mess with our building’s householding beast. He is super fierce.

Looking at Si Yiming’s equally serious face, Gu Bai couldn’t help but laugh twice and whispered, “Thank you, Mr Si.”

Si Yiming took it as a promise from the little one.

Satisfied, he closed the door and made a trip back home. Carrying another thirty or so paintings he had scavenged from Huang Yining earlier, he left the building and turned his head towards the 7th unit next door.

He naturally had a reason for seeking out Gu Bai to draw a picture.

In the past ten years or so, natural disasters had occurred in all parts of the Divine Continent, and many beasts that symbolized great evil had escaped from their nests. And the workload of the divine beasts who were responsible for guarding the Divine Continent had suddenly increased. As a result, they wanted to split their workload into two.

If Gu Bai’s painting could meet the requirements, it would be able to help a lot.

It was just that Si Yiming was still unsure where the special essence of Gu Bai’s aura on those paintings came from.

He seemed to have some impression, but it was a bit vague as it felt plausible.

The divine beasts had lived for so many years and it was really normal for them to feel vague about old memories.

Si Yiming guessed that it was probably some old guy who had let the cubs out for training.

Which one of the old man’s cubs was it, thought Si Yiming. In fact, Bai Ze, who was in charge of Unit 7 next door, should have been able to identify it by the painting.

When he arrived at Unit 7, he was told that Bai Ze had gone on a trip. He had gone to the Amazon jungle, half a world away, to explore deeper.

How dare he go on a trip at a time like this!

The good mood that Si Yiming had just developed at Gu Bai’s place instantly vanished into thin air. He was so angry that he kicked the door of Bai Ze’s house and left in a rage, carrying the paintings with him.

Gu Bai hung the scroll carefully in the middle of the large drawing room on the first floor, then rubbed his hungry stomach and went to make dinner. After eating to his heart’s content, he received a message back from Mr. Zhai.

Mr. Zhai sent him a candle.

Gu Bai paused and sent a message back to Mr. Zhai.

He said: Mr Zhai, I think Mr Si is a good man.

Zhai Liangjun, who was in the film city preparing to shoot a night scene, saw the message.

He showed a horrified expression as if he had seen a supernatural being.