After the final set of illustrations for the publishing company was approved, Tang Luoqing temporarily had no work.
That was simply how life was for a freelance illustrator. Her working hours were flexible, but the amount of work was unpredictable, so her income naturally fluctuated as well.
And since it was currently the off season, there was even less work available.
For the entire next half month, Tang Luoqing had absolutely nothing to do.
She was starting to get anxious.
That day, Tang Luoqing stared at a blank sheet of drawing paper for half an hour. Her mind simply would not settle, and with the anxiety over finding her next job weighing on her, she finally put down her pen and decided to go outside for some inspiration.
As she scrolled through local updates on her phone, she discovered that a recently popular cultural and creative park in the western part of the city had gradually begun opening its various businesses.
Tang Luoqing immediately remembered hearing someone in her field mention that several veteran illustrators had studios hidden within the park, and that deep inside was even a private garden belonging to Master Lu.
Master Lu was a leading figure in Chinese illustration. When Tang Luoqing was still in school, she had copied his works countless times and had always dreamed of seeing his original paintings in person.
So Tang Luoqing immediately changed into a light apricot dress, tied her hair into a low ponytail, fed Milk Candy some cat food, and headed out.
The afternoon sunlight was warm and gentle, filtering through the gaps between the leaves and casting dappled shadows across the ground.
It was a little hot, and there were not many people in the cultural and creative park. Various illustration exhibition boards were displayed along the walls, while all kinds of stalls were filled with assorted illustration merchandise.
Tang Luoqing looked through every stall without missing a single shop. As she gazed at the colorful illustrated products, she could not help thinking that it would be wonderful if one day her own illustrations could appear throughout the cultural and creative park as well.
Tang Luoqing continued walking inward, passing through the creative market, numerous handicraft studios, and several independent bookstores, until she finally stopped in front of an independent courtyard at the very back of the park.
The fence surrounding the courtyard had been polished smooth by the passage of time. A simple wooden plaque hung above the entrance, engraved with the two characters “Qinyuan” in vigorous calligraphy that was unmistakably Master Lu’s handwriting.
Tang Luoqing rose onto her toes and looked inside. Several old osmanthus trees grew in the courtyard, their branches lush and flourishing. Under the covered walkway stood bamboo racks for drying paintings, with several unfinished pieces hanging from them, gently swaying in the breeze.
That was all she could see.
Unable to resist, Tang Luoqing took out her phone and wanted to take a picture. However, when she caught sight of the wooden sign beside the entrance that read, 【Private Courtyard, No Entry Without Invitation】, she thought about it for a moment before putting her phone away.
She lingered for a while longer, reluctant to leave, before finally turning around and following the path toward the exit, intending to take a bus home.
She did not notice the black car parked beside a small road not far away.
Inside the back seat, Zhou Jinbai was looking down at a project report on his tablet, his expression stern and his presence slightly subdued.
Assistant Shen sat in the passenger seat, hardly daring to breathe.
They had arrived five minutes ago for the chess game with Master Lu that had been arranged a week in advance, yet the boss still had not asked him to open the door and get out.
Only when the light apricot colored figure outside the window gradually walked away, turned the corner, and disappeared from sight did Zhou Jinbai slowly raise his eyes and calmly order,
“Get out.”
Assistant Shen immediately answered. He hurried around to the back and opened the door, then took out the gifts they had prepared in advance from the trunk.
Zhou Jinbai stepped out with his long legs, adjusted his suit cuffs, fastened his cufflinks with his well defined fingers, and walked toward Qinyuan.
As he passed the section of fence where Tang Luoqing had stood moments earlier, his footsteps involuntarily slowed for a second before he quickly continued into the courtyard.
After crossing the front courtyard, the hearty laughter of Master Lu came from inside. Only then did a faint smile appear on Zhou Jinbai’s face as he nodded respectfully.
“Grandpa Lu.”
“Jinbai, you’re here. Come, sit down.”
Master Lu was dressed in a gray traditional Chinese jacket and looked energetic and vigorous despite his age. He pointed to the seat opposite him at the stone table.
“I’ve been waiting for you. Today, I’m going to beat you twice no matter what.”
Standing nearby, Lu Yu smiled as he handed over a cup of tea.
“My grandfather has been talking about you since early this morning. He still can’t accept losing that game last month and insists on winning it back today.”
Lu Yu was the head of Lu’s Cultural and Creative Group and Zhou Jinbai’s university classmate. They had been in different departments but graduated in the same year, and after graduation, their business dealings had gradually brought them closer.
Qinyuan was Master Lu’s private residence. After retiring, the old man had taken to growing flowers and playing chess there, and every so often, he would have Lu Yu invite Zhou Jinbai over for a few games.
Zhou Jinbai took off his suit jacket and handed it to Assistant Shen, then rolled his shirt sleeves up to his forearms, revealing the sharp lines of his wrist bones.
He sat down on the stone stool and picked up a black chess piece between his fingers. His voice softened slightly.
“Please go first.”
The chess piece landed on the board with a crisp sound.
Sunlight filtered through the branches of the osmanthus trees, casting fragmented shadows across the chessboard. They swayed gently whenever the breeze passed through.
Master Lu played quickly, carrying the straightforward decisiveness of the older generation, while Zhou Jinbai played steadily, carefully considering every move, his fingers holding each chess piece with calm composure.
Lu Yu watched from the side for a while before letting out a sigh.
“Seeing the two of you enjoying yourselves like this really annoys me.
Surely I can’t be the only one with problems? Don’t either of you have anything troubling you? Tell me about it so I can feel better and restore my psychological balance.”
Hearing this, Zhou Jinbai’s hand did not pause as he placed his piece.
“No problems. What’s wrong with you?”
Hearing Zhou Jinbai say that, Lu Yu sighed even more deeply before saying,
“Isn’t it because I’ve been having a headache over one part of the entire ‘City Impressions’ series our cultural and creative park is going to launch in the second half of the year? It’s a healing themed merchandise. Everything from postcards and refrigerator magnets to picture books needs matching illustrations. We’ve been collecting submissions for almost two months now, but the entries are either too tacky or too stiff. Not a single one has captured the mood I’m looking for.”
As he spoke, Lu Yu glanced at his grandfather playing chess beside him and lowered his voice to complain.
“I don’t even dare ask Grandpa to recommend someone. The moment he hears I’m making commercial merchandise, he’ll say I’m ruining art.”
Hearing this, Master Lu’s white chess piece paused slightly in his hand before he snorted.
“Those flashy little things of yours deserve to be called illustrations? Aren’t you just ruining art?”
“Grandpa…”
Lu Yu called out helplessly.
“It’s called cultural and creative work. It’s what young people like. How is that ruining art?”
“Hmph.”
Master Lu stopped responding to Lu Yu, though he placed his next piece with noticeably more force, clearly unwilling to concede.
Lu Yu was equally unconvinced and raised his chin toward the other side.
Seeing from the corner of his eye that Zhou Jinbai was completely ignoring him and was already holding another chess piece while continuing to think, Lu Yu let out another long sigh, his face full of worry.
“If you hadn’t given up painting to go into business back then, why would I be having such a hard time finding the artist I want? And don’t even mention healing styles. I wouldn’t need to look for an illustrator of any kind because you’re good at everything. But now… sigh. I’m suffering here. It’s all your fault for becoming such a boring person who only knows how to look at reports.”
Zhou Jinbai: “…”
He still did not raise his eyes. The black piece landed on the chessboard with neither too much nor too little force, perfectly cutting off the white pieces’ final route to survival.
Assistant Shen was pouring tea for Master Lu when his hand paused slightly in midair upon hearing this.
He lowered his eyes, keeping his expression perfectly calm, but his thoughts were already churning.
Could those rumors that had circulated privately within the company all those years ago actually have been true?
When he had first joined the company, he had heard people mention it vaguely, though the rumor had spread widely. They said that Zhou Jinbai had not studied finance at all. He had majored in oil painting at university, won three international awards at a young age, and was widely regarded within the industry as a young man with limitless potential.
Later, when Old Master Zhou fell ill, he had quietly dropped out of university and returned to take over the Zhou Group.
He had been only twenty that year. The old fashioned members of the board had all waited to see him make a fool of himself, wondering whether someone who studied art could really manage a group worth hundreds of billions.
Yet in less than three years, he had removed those old board members from the game one by one. His methods were ruthless, he never gave an inch, and within eight years, he had multiplied the company’s business several times over.
From then on, no one had dared mention the words “art is worthless” in front of Zhou Jinbai again.
Assistant Shen placed the teapot back on the tray and glanced at the chessboard from the corner of his eye. He could not help thinking that his boss’s move was not merely blocking a chess piece. It was clearly the final move that had personally closed off the other path Zhou Jinbai had once failed to finish walking down.
Just then, he saw his boss’s gaze sweep lightly toward him.
It was a very faint glance, and it disappeared quickly, as fleeting as the wind passing by. There was no emotion in it at all.
Yet Assistant Shen immediately understood what his boss meant.
Secretly praising himself for being so perceptive, Assistant Shen hurriedly took out his phone and quickly swiped through the screen until he found a Weibo page. He then walked over to Lu Yu and held out the screen, speaking with just the right amount of casualness.
“President Lu, do you think this style would work? I happened to come across it before and thought it had a very healing feel. I’m not sure whether it matches what you’re looking for.”
Lu Yu casually lowered his head and glanced at it.
The next moment, his eyes lit up.
The phone screen displayed one illustration after another: a little white cat lying on a windowsill watching the snow, a kitchen bathed in warm yellow light at dusk, two pairs of rain boots sitting side by side on a rainy day, and a sweet soup shop at the entrance of an alley with steam rising from it.
The brushwork was delicate and gentle, with low saturation and warm tones. Every illustration seemed wrapped in a layer of sunlight, making the viewer’s heart soften just by looking at them.
“This is it.”
Lu Yu slapped his thigh, his voice rising several degrees.
“This is exactly the feeling! It has that everyday warmth and healing quality.
I’ve been searching for almost two months. How did I never come across this illustrator?”
He looked up at Assistant Shen, his eyes filled with admiration.
“Assistant Shen, you’re really something. How did you manage to pinpoint exactly the style I wanted? Impressive.”
“Jinbai, your assistant is truly a treasure. He’s thoughtful and capable.”
“Not at all, not at all.”
Assistant Shen quickly took back his phone and replied politely with his head lowered, while inwardly crying in frustration.
How was he thoughtful? This was something the boss himself had shared with him before. How could he not follow the account?
But he would never dare say that aloud.
Assistant Shen secretly raised his eyes and glanced at his boss. Zhou Jinbai was looking down as he continued playing chess with Master Lu, his expression calm, as though that glance he had given Assistant Shen earlier had never happened.
Only if one looked carefully would they notice that the strength with which the boss held the chess piece seemed to have increased ever so slightly.
And on the chessboard, the black pieces had already gained a firm advantage.