Running an art gallery was, after all, different from a one-time transaction of lifeless objects. After a moment of contemplation, Mo Hanzhou set his phone down.
By evening, the usually workaholic Mr. Mo surprisingly left the office on time. As the city lights began to glow, the mansion located in the most prestigious area of Pingcheng was bathed in a soft, warm glow that gently dispelled the evening chill.
Mo Hanzhou tightened his coat and slowly walked into the house. When he entered, Lu Qiao was sitting in the living room, listening to the housekeeper talk about the Mo family’s seasonal dining table. He was practically drooling, his face filled with longing, looking utterly silly a stark contrast to the provocative way he dressed and wrapped his arms around a man’s shoulders in the bedroom.
Seeing Mo Hanzhou, Lu Qiao happily stood up and rushed toward him.
“Sir, you’re back.”
He ran up and kissed Mo Hanzhou’s cheek. Mo Hanzhou patted his head and said:
“I’ll go upstairs and change first.”
“Alright, I’ll ask Aunt Lin to set up dinner.”
After changing into casual clothes, Mo Hanzhou came downstairs to find Lu Qiao already seated at the table, his face beaming with excitement, his eyes filled with anticipation for the meal. Mo Hanzhou recalled Lu Qiao’s earlier remark about being “grown-up” and couldn’t help but smile.
He adjusted his wheelchair and began his usual dinner routine.
Lu Qiao was indeed not an exceptional marriage partner he was too naive, his thoughts and actions often lacking consideration. But he had a unique quality: he could effortlessly blend into any environment, whether facing Uncle Zhuang or anyone else in the household. It was as if he naturally belonged to this family.
He gave Mo Hanzhou a sense of family.
Remembering the text message, Mo Hanzhou asked during a pause in the meal:
“Did you buy an art gallery?”
“Yes,” Lu Qiao nodded without any surprise at how he knew.
“Why did you suddenly decide to buy a gallery?”
Lu Qiao briefly recounted the story of meeting Mrs. Sheng and then Dong Jingyi. When he mentioned Mrs. Sheng suggesting he buy the gallery, Mo Hanzhou’s expression shifted slightly before softening again.
He listened patiently until Lu Qiao finished, then asked, “I understand how you bought the gallery, but why did you buy it?”
“Because I like it,” the boy replied without hesitation.
“I saw the gallery and thought it looked interesting. Since I don’t have much to do anyway, running a gallery seems nice.”
“I see.”
Mo Hanzhou nodded. “As long as you like it.”
He didn’t bring it up again.
Lu Qiao waited another two days until all the formalities were completed before officially taking over the gallery.
Lu Qiao felt an unprecedented sense of happiness. In the past, his so-called subordinates had entrusted their lives to him, and he constantly felt the pressure. But now, things were different.
All he had to do was dress beautifully every day, leave all the work to the professional manager, and occasionally say elegant and refined things to important guests when they visited!
He had seen it on TV those beautiful ladies all held several titles, like honorary president of an art institution or director of a charity organization. Even Mrs. Sheng and Mrs. Chen, whom he met yesterday, managed several institutions. If others had it, he wanted it too!
On one side, Lu Qiao was eagerly anticipating his first day on the job, while on the other, the gallery staff were also looking forward to their new boss.
Since the previous owner had gone abroad, the gallery’s performance had plummeted. Several professional managers had been hired, but none had made a difference. Although the owner was kind enough to continue paying their salaries, there was no telling when that might stop. The work at the gallery wasn’t particularly demanding, and it offered a relatively high degree of freedom. If possible, they all hoped to keep their jobs and work steadily.
The gallery didn’t have many employees. The financial manager, in his mid-thirties, had been there for seven years and was the undisputed veteran of the gallery, usually sitting comfortably in his position. This year, a newcomer had joined the finance department—a recent college graduate who handled both financial and administrative tasks.
In addition, there were two assistants in the events department, a supervisor and an assistant in the design department, a salesperson who handled external business, and a warehouse manager who, despite his title, was a jack-of-all-trades changing light bulbs, fixing pipes, and carrying water dispensers with ease.
In the morning, before work officially started, a few colleagues were chatting in the break room.
“I wonder what the new boss will be like. Will he run off too if things don’t look good?”
“I heard from Miss Dong that the new boss is very interested in galleries and art, and his family is wealthy. As long as the gallery doesn’t incur losses and can cover daily expenses, he probably won’t mind keeping it running.”
“It’s good that he’s rich. Rich people don’t care much about making money. Our previous owner was like that too even though we didn’t earn much for him, he loved it and was always full of passion and energy.”
“Yeah, I really miss the old boss. Xiao Qi, you just joined this year, so you wouldn’t know, but when the old boss was around, we often went out for meals together. The boss was happy, and so were we.”
Xiao Qi, the newcomer from the finance department, blinked. “I really didn’t know that.”
“By the way, Xiao Qi, you were there when the new boss made the payment, right? What did he seem like?”
“I…”
As they chattered away, a stern voice suddenly interrupted them. “What are you all doing so early in the morning? Don’t you have work to do?”
A man in a gray suit walked in, his sharp eyes sweeping coldly over the group. The moment they saw him, they all shrank back.
“Get back to work, all of you!”
The young employees tiptoed out of the room.
The design department supervisor was a friend of the previous owner. A graduate of an art academy, he had gained some fame for his works in his youth. Later, feeling a lack of creative inspiration, he went out to sketch, but his works still didn’t gain mainstream recognition. When he was struggling financially, the gallery’s previous owner hired him as an event planner and designer.
He was an extremely demanding person, often looking down on others with a haughty attitude. However, due to his relationship with the owner, everyone at the gallery had to put up with him. When the owner hired professional managers some time ago, conflicts between them were frequent. After the managers resigned, the gallery, for a short period, was practically under his control.
Once everyone had disappeared, the middle-aged man’s eyes flashed with disdain. He strode confidently and swaggered back to his seat.
At a quarter past nine in the morning, a fiery red Ferrari approached the gallery as scheduled. After circling the underground parking lot, it came to a smooth stop. A young man in a trench coat stepped out of the car and glanced around.
The driver in front got out of the car as well and hurried forward to ask, “Madam, are you sure you don’t need me to go up with you? Mr. Mo instructed me to stay by your side at all times.”
Lu Qiao waved her hand dismissively. “My husband just wants you to ensure my safety. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine!”
The driver hadn’t interacted much with Lu Qiao, but from their occasional encounters, he felt that his boss’s new wife seemed a bit naive and overly trusting hardly reassuring. Still, she was the boss, and if she said not to follow, he could only watch silently as she went inside.
Inside the gallery, having received word that the new owner had arrived, all the employees sat stiffly in the office. A few minutes later, the office door opened, and a young man in a gray-brown trench coat walked in.
Calling him a “man” felt almost forced “man” implied maturity, but the person before them was better described as a “boy.”
Their new owner had a face no less striking than a TV star’s, with rosy lips, pearly teeth, jet-black hair, and snow-white skin. Beneath his long, narrow eyelashes, his eyes gleamed like glass, shimmering with a clear, radiant light. Standing in the bright sunlight streaming through a window, he looked like a beauty who had just stepped out of a painting.
The sight was quite impactful. The new owner paused at the doorway, a smile spreading across his face as he stepped inside and said:
“Hello, everyone. I’m Lu Qiao, and from now on, I’ll be your new owner.”
“Hello, Boss!”
Only then did the employees belatedly stand up, their expressions still tinged with unease.
“No need to be nervous we’re all colleagues here,” the new owner said with a gentle smile.
Lu Qiao thought to himself, I’ve intimidated them. Perfect! From now on, they’ll be diligent cows, working hard to produce milk for me!
Lu Qiao’s ultimate dream was to be a carefree slacker someone who had everything handed to them, didn’t lift a finger, yet sat atop mountains of gold and silver. As a slacker, of course he had to coax his subordinates into creating wealth for him. In his eyes, they were now black-and-white-striped cows. Just thinking about how they would one day squeeze out creamy, fragrant milk for him ahem, cough well, in short, he felt nothing but affection for them.
He smiled warmly at everyone and said softly:
“I have no experience managing a gallery, so I’ll need everyone’s help with many things. But don’t worry I have great confidence in the gallery’s future. Even if we don’t turn a profit in the next six months, your benefits won’t change. For now, please continue with your work as before. If anything troubles you, feel free to come to me.”
As a boss, he didn’t need strong leadership skills or grand plans. All he had to do was make his employees believe the company wouldn’t go bankrupt, lay anyone off, or cut salaries!
Lu Qiao’s lofty speech managed to steady the team’s morale. Once everyone was reassured that their jobs were safe for the time being, they breathed a sigh of relief and returned to their posts.
After the exhibition ended, the borrowed paintings needed to be returned, and the empty spaces had to be filled with new works, paired with appropriate lighting essentially, the entire gallery required a complete overhaul. Lu Qiao knew nothing about these matters and had no desire to get involved.
On his very first day in charge, he became a hands-off boss. While appearing busy, he actually had nothing to do and simply wandered around the gallery, gently reminding the movers to be careful here, to handle things gently there, to watch their heads… It was the epitome of elegance.
After walking around for a while, he actually felt a bit thirsty, which showed just how much he had been talking. As the boss, he could afford to be indulgent, so he simply returned to his office.
This office was still the one left by the previous owner. Since the hired managers had all had short tenures, there hadn’t been time to make any adjustments, so it perfectly preserved the style of the former boss.
As a person with an exceptionally high artistic sensibility, the previous owner had meticulously decorated and arranged the office, filling every corner with an elegant artistic atmosphere! Standing in the midst of it, Lu Qiao felt as though his entire soul was being cleansed by art. At that moment, he was England’s Ingres, Portugal’s Rubens, and America’s Vorobyov!
Unable to resist, Lu Qiao snapped a photo of the office and sent it to his husband, captioning it:
[Lu Qiao: My office [cute]]
Mo Hanzhou saw the message during his lunch break and replied with a smile:
[Big Husband: Elegant, tasteful [thumbs up]]
[Big Husband: Next time, the great artist should decorate our home too.]
[Lu Qiao: No problem!]
Mo Hanzhou chuckled, not taking the words to heart. After chatting for a few more moments, he returned to his work.