Chapter 38: Human Knowledge 1
He stopped in his tracks, his gaze settling on the painting before him. One brow lifted almost imperceptibly.
Huang Sui clasped his hands behind his back, interest sparking in his eyes as he leaned forward and studied it carefully.
The colors on the canvas were intensely saturated. At first glance, they even seemed chaotic and dazzling, yet they were unexpectedly harmonious—more like an uninhibited celebration of the pigments themselves. The painting possessed an untamed expressiveness that made the viewer overlook the artist’s lack of technical skill.
This kind of ability, Huang Sui thought, could not be gained through hard work, because a sense for color was innate.
Practice could improve technique, but what mattered more in creating a good painting was inspiration.
Huang Sui turned his feet, about to walk around to the other side for a better look, when a slightly urgent voice sounded beside him.
“Teacher Huang, could I ask for your guidance?”
When Huang Sui turned around, Cen Ning hurriedly continued, “My parents and I are all great admirers of you and your work. I had the privilege of speaking with you at one of your previous exhibitions, and our family has also collected two of your paintings.”
Hearing that, Huang Sui politely and warmly thanked him. After offering a few brief pointers, he turned away and continued examining the other students’ paintings.
Once he had left, Xu Xinyu moved closer to Cen Ning.
“Hey, Cen Ning, Teacher Huang personally gave you advice. You’re definitely getting one of the spots this time, right? I remember you said you had an in-depth conversation with him when your family bought his paintings.”
The surrounding students immediately felt as though they had no chance.
After all, to succeed in this field, the first necessity was talent, and the second was connections.
A trace of smugness crossed Cen Ning’s face.
“Nothing has been confirmed yet. Don’t spread it around.”
“How is that not practically confirmed? Did you see Teacher Huang give anyone else advice?” Xu Xinyu said. “There’s no harm in saying it. At least it’ll stop certain people from thinking they still have a chance.”
As he spoke, he pursed his lips toward Cen Miao.
“That’s enough. Focus on class.” Cen Ning glanced at Cen Miao, his lips curving contemptuously.
At two thirty, after finishing all their classes for the day, Cen Miao and Chengcheng pushed their electric scooters toward the school gates while chatting.
Cen Ning glanced at them as he drove away and snorted inwardly.
Still riding that shabby electric scooter.
As expected, he must have been mistaken last time.
He stepped on the accelerator, and the purple sports car merged onto the main road.
Just over ten minutes later, the car entered the villa district. Cen Ning parked in the garage and went inside.
In the living room, Mrs. Cen sat on a velvet sofa beside the floor-to-ceiling windows, a bone-china teacup suspended in her hand.
She looked up at Cen Ning as he entered.
“Did he sign the agreement?”
“He did.” Cen Ning took the document from his backpack and handed it over. “He also said he wanted to see you and Dad, but I told him neither of you wanted to see him.”
Mrs. Cen nodded and glanced at the signature.
“He probably only wanted to cry in front of us and ask for the money the old man left him. It’s better not to meet.”
She casually placed the document on the coffee table, then smiled warmly and patted the seat beside her.
“Come here! Did my precious baby have a good day at school?”
“Mm. Teacher Huang Sui came to our school today. He’s holding an exhibition after the New Year and plans to select six students from our school. Each person will have the chance to exhibit one painting.”
He took a sip of the black tea Mrs. Cen handed him, the corner of his lips lifting slightly.
“Teacher Huang even praised my solid fundamentals today.”
“Really?” Mrs. Cen smiled with gratification and reached out to smooth his hair. “My precious baby is amazing!”
“Huanyu has a new project recently. Given the old man’s former relationship with Old Master Qin, securing it should be no problem. Once your father wins the project, Mommy will buy you another new car, all right?”
“Thank you, Mom!”
In the top-floor office at Huanyu Group, Fang Huan stood hesitantly after delivering the signed documents.
In the end, he decided to say a little more.
“Boss, tomorrow night is Christmas Eve. Do you need me to prepare a gift for Young Master Cen?”
Qin Zelin’s hand paused while turning a page.
“Are there any auctions these two days?”
Fang Huan raised his brows in surprise.
“There was one last week, but none over the next two days.”
Wow~
When you loved someone, you gave them the very best. Even a Christmas Eve gift had to be auction-house caliber~
“Then bring me the jewelry catalogs the brands sent recently.”
Fang Huan wore an expression that said he understood everything.
“Yes, Boss. I’ll get them right away.”
Qin Zelin: “…”
“Mm. It’s not that I necessarily want to buy him a gift. The psychologist said I should show him more care. If he doesn’t receive anything on Christmas Eve, I’m worried he’ll feel as though no one cares about him, which could hinder his recovery.”
Fang Huan: “?”
Was he being stubborn, or was he genuinely stupid?
“…Mm-hmm. Young Master Cen will definitely be moved!”
A few minutes later, Fang Huan returned to the office with the catalogs.
Qin Zelin had only flipped through a few pages when his gaze was drawn to a rabbit necklace set with a large pink diamond.
When the little monster wore those pink rabbit pajamas, he looked…
Quite similar to this rabbit.
“This one. Have someone deliver it tomorrow.”
Fang Huan craned his neck to glance at it.
Oh.
Thirteen million yuan’s worth of care.
“Yes, Boss. There’s a meeting with the R&D department at three. I’ll come remind you before it begins.”
“All right. You can go.”
At the villa, Cen Miao changed into comfortable loungewear and lazily sprawled across the sofa, eating the strawberries Aunt Wang had brought him. He casually switched on the television.
The screen lit up to reveal a youth romance drama.
In the scene, a girl pouted at her phone, took a selfie, and sent it to a boy. Blushing, she softly asked whether she looked cute.
Before long, the boy sent back a voice message, laughter in his voice.
“Cute. I’ll come see you later and bring your favorite little cake, baby.”
The scene changed.
The girl was happily eating cake. When she noticed cream on her lips, she turned toward the boy and puckered them.
Understanding immediately, the boy leaned over with a loud smack and kissed the cream from her lips.
After that, it was as though they had entered an endless loop.
Cream kept appearing on the girl’s lips, and kissing sounds rang out again and again.
The boy looked at her indulgently.
“Baby, if you keep rewarding me like this, I’ll want to bring ten little cakes when I see you tomorrow.”
Cen Miao bit into half a strawberry and stared blankly at the screen, tilting his head.
After thinking for a moment, he took out his phone, opened the front-facing camera, and snapped a picture.
In the top-floor conference room at Huanyu Group, Qin Zelin was meeting with the R&D department.
The intelligent robot’s test results had fallen short of expectations. The atmosphere in the room was heavy as everyone considered how to solve the problem.
A sudden message notification broke the silence.
Xu Daji, the R&D manager, frowned and raised his head. He was about to ask who was so undisciplined that they had failed to silence their phone during a meeting—
When he saw Qin Zelin, seated at the head of the table, pick up the phone lying before him.
“…”
