“Like it? How could I not?” The smile on Jiang Ling’s face stiffened for a split second.
In the blink of an eye, he adjusted his state, turned to look at Huo Junnian, and said, “Art is wonderful. It cultivates one’s temperament and enhances one’s inner self. It’s only after I fell in love with art that I became so,” he scanned his brain for every vocabulary word he knew, but unfortunately, there wasn’t much ink in his stomach. Finally, under Huo Junnian’s gaze, he said without a blush or a racing heart, “refined.”
Huo Junnian heard this, and his footsteps came to an abrupt halt. He tilted his head toward the youth beside him and stared at him for quite a while.
Even under such scrutiny, Jiang Ling’s expression didn’t change much. The black-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose shielded him from the man’s probing gaze. As if reacting belatedly, he looked up to meet Huo Junnian’s eyes and said with a smile, “Uncle, what’s wrong? Is there something on my face?”
“No.” Huo Junnian withdrew his gaze and said with a light chuckle, “I just think A-Ling is very confident. That’s a good thing.”
Hearing this, Jiang Ling’s lips curled into a slightly shy arc, yet his words were unreserved. “Thank you for the compliment, Uncle. I’ve always been this way.”
As he spoke, his back was straight, and his slender figure stood there looking very much like a tall, upright young poplar tree. Huo Junnian had never imagined that extreme shyness and extreme confidence could exist in the same person. Perhaps he was getting old and didn’t understand what young people were thinking these days.
Huo Junnian shook his head with a laugh and said, “Let’s enter the exhibition hall first.”
Upon hearing this, a sweet smile spread across Jiang Ling’s face. “Okay, I’ll listen to whatever Uncle says.”
“Good, let’s go in.”
Jiang Ling followed Huo Junnian into the exhibition hall, and the paintings on the white walls immediately came into view. His first impression of the hall was its size, and the second was its silence. Even though there were quite a few visitors, it was eerily quiet. The visitors seemed as if they never spoke. Even when they did communicate, it was like ants silently touching antennae.
The moment he entered, he felt uncomfortable. He was naturally incompatible with the magnetic field of such environments. But there was no helping it; words already spoken couldn’t be swallowed back. He did have quite a bit of confidence in himself. It was just wandering through an art gallery, right? He could handle it.
Huo Junnian spoke up, “I don’t know much about art. A friend recommended this exhibition to me. In a moment, I’ll have to rely on A-Ling to help me broaden my horizons.”
Hearing this, the smile on Jiang Ling’s face froze, and his confidence instantly dropped by half. “Of course, of course I can.”
However, just as his voice trailed off, the two of them happened to stop in front of a painting. Jiang Ling took one look and retracted his gaze. After two seconds of silence, he spoke, “The artistic conception of this painting is quite good.”
Hearing his voice, Huo Junnian leaned in slightly, his head tilted, listening with a focused expression to the youth’s explanation. Jiang Ling’s mind instantly jammed. He hadn’t expected the man to lean in so suddenly. Soon, a faint scent of cedar followed. It was light but pleasant. It wasn’t like the heavy, lingering scents he had smelled the night before; this felt more like a fragrance emanating from the man’s very bones.
This caused him to subconsciously hold his breath, his whole body freezing in place. Only the tips of his ears, hidden beneath his black hair, began to burn hotter and hotter. “Um,” he thought, “Stupid brain, think fast!” He had just talked big; he couldn’t let himself fail now. It would be truly embarrassing!
Just as he was trying to force a mental reboot, a voice suddenly cut in from the side, asking cautiously, “Excuse me, is this President Huo?”
Huo Junnian immediately looked away. Jiang Ling let out a silent sigh of relief. Although his face remained relatively expressionless, the beads of sweat rolling from his forehead to his chin betrayed his true state. Taking advantage of the distraction, he turned slightly, quickly pulled out his phone, and began a last-minute cram session.
[Quick Introduction to Art Appreciation] [Art Appreciation Techniques: Fast Track]
While Jiang Ling was skimming through his phone at lightning speed, the man’s magnetic voice sounded beside him. “Why are you sweating? Are you hot?”
After Huo Junnian finished exchanging pleasantries with the person beside him, he turned back to see the youth looking down at his phone with a focused, even serious expression. It didn’t look like he was playing; it looked like he was preparing for an exam.
Hearing the question, Jiang Ling’s finger froze on the screen. He shut the phone off almost instantly, looked up, and gave Huo Junnian a polite, obedient smile. “Uncle, I’m not hot.” He raised his hand and casually wiped the sweat from his chin with the back of his hand. “Maybe I’m just dressed a bit thick today.”
Although it was summer, the temperature had been a bit low when they left in the morning. His grandfather, fearing he would catch a cold, had insisted he wear an extra layer. Plus, the exhibition had the air conditioning on, so it wasn’t hot at all; he just hadn’t taken his coat off yet.
“Be careful not to dirty your clothes. Use this,” Huo Junnian said softly.
Jiang Ling’s movements froze as a handkerchief was held out before him. After a few seconds of daze, he cautiously took it. The moment their fingertips touched, he quietly clenched his grip, and his eyelashes fluttered behind his black-rimmed lenses. “Thank you, thank you, Uncle Huo.”
Seeing the youth’s well-behaved and polite manner, Huo Junnian’s lips curled into a faint smile. He said warmly, “If you feel hot, then take one layer off.” He raised his hand, wanting to pat the head of the youth who was looking down. However, the moment he moved, he realized that the grown-up Jiang Ling was actually quite tall. In the car, he hadn’t noticed it much, but now with the boy’s head lowered, he was only a few centimeters shorter than him. If he stood up straight, they would likely be about the same height. And since he was still young, boys usually kept growing after eighteen.
He couldn’t help but feel sentimental. “Time really flies. I remember when I first met you, you were only as high as my waist. Eight years have passed, and now you’re almost as tall as your uncle. As you grow older, your uncle will only get older, too.”
Jiang Ling had originally stayed frozen in place to let the man pat his head, but hearing this, his brows furrowed instantly. He didn’t like hearing such things. He wasn’t old at all; he was exactly the same as before. Dissatisfied with the remark, he subconsciously pressed his head firmly against the man’s palm, a silent rebuttal.
Feeling the force in his palm, a flash of surprise crossed Huo Junnian’s eyes. “What’s wrong?”
Jiang Ling looked up then, meeting the man’s deep eyes. He pursed his lips and said seriously, “Uncle isn’t old at all. You’re still very young and handsome. Please don’t say such discouraging things. I don’t like hearing them.” He emphasized the last part with a stronger tone.
Huo Junnian was stunned for a moment. It was the first time he had seen such clear emotion in the eyes of the grown youth. In that instant, it was as if he saw the quirky, clever boy from eight years ago standing before him again. His heart softened, and he replied gently to the boy’s request, “Alright, Uncle won’t say it again.”
Jiang Ling felt very soothed by those words, and he couldn’t help but quirk the corners of his mouth, though he quickly pressed them back down. Huo Junnian lowered his hand, ending the moment of tenderness. Mainly because they were in a public place and he didn’t want to be stared at, he said, “Alright, let’s continue the tour.”
Someone must have leaked the news, because more and more people began to approach them to strike up a conversation. Huo Junnian had no choice. Fearing the crowd would disturb Jiang Ling’s enjoyment of the art, he gave a few instructions and led the others to another area to talk.
Jiang Ling nodded. After Huo Junnian left, his gaze fell on the painting in front of him, and he began to daze out.
“The title of this work is ‘Symbiosis.’ Red and black represent two different meanings; they are in modern society,” the speaker began.
“Stop!” Jiang Ling’s consciousness snapped back, and he directly interrupted the long-winded speech. He came here to see an exhibition, not to attend a lecture. He wasn’t interested, and he didn’t want to listen.
“Who are you?” He tilted his head, looking expressionlessly at the stranger who had suddenly appeared.
The man looked to be about twenty-five or twenty-six. He was average-looking with sharp, rodent-like features, dressed respectably, but the smile on his face was very fake. His scrutinizing gaze swept over Jiang Ling as if evaluating a piece of merchandise.
“A hypocrite,” Jiang Ling thought with a cold huff.
The man wasn’t bothered by Jiang Ling’s cold attitude. Still wearing that mild smile, he said, “I apologize for disturbing your viewing. Allow me to introduce myself. I am the manager of this exhibition and the creator of this painting, Zhou Li. This is my business card. I saw you looking at this painting for a long time just now. You must be interested in it, so I took the liberty of coming over to explain it to you.”
Jiang Ling didn’t reach out to take the card. He merely lifted his eyelids for a quick glance. Zhou Li, International Rising Artist.
Oh. And what did that have to do with him? Jiang Ling didn’t think this deliberate approach was an accident. Ever since he was with Huo Junnian, he had noticed this person looking over. Back then, there were too many gazes, so he hadn’t cared. He didn’t like beating around the bush. “If you have something to say, say it. If not, get lost.”
Being treated with such arrogance and rudeness caused the smile on Zhou Li’s face to stiffen instantly, feeling a rare moment of embarrassment. He hadn’t expected the youth before him to be so boorish and crude. How could President Huo possibly take an interest in someone like this?
His smile faded. “Are you a student at A University?”
Jiang Ling raised an eyebrow but didn’t deny it. If he hadn’t taken a leave of absence and had taken the entrance exams this year, he would indeed be a prospective college student.
Seeing no rebuttal, Zhou Li continued, “While I don’t know how you managed to hook up with President Huo, I advise you to give up early. His previous lovers have never been your type.”