Chapter 6: Becoming Like Shen Yanhui

Sheng Ze came out of the private room and caught sight of Shen Yanhui standing alone at the elevator entrance, letting out an "Oh?"

His gaze darted back and forth behind and to the sides of Shen Yanhui.

Empty, not even a female mosquito in sight.

"Where is your little rose?"

Shen Yanhui glanced at him and raised a hand to straighten his cuff, which had been slightly ruffled by that little one just moments ago.

"No way? Is there actually a girl you can't win over?"

What kind of earth-shattering news was this.

Sheng Ze was actually feeling a bit curious about this little princess of the Gu Family.

"Noisy." Shen Yanhui couldn't be bothered to engage with him and walked straight toward the private elevator.

Sheng Ze followed him in persistently, and the doors slowly closed.

The elevator descended smoothly.

Sheng Ze leaned against the smooth wall of the elevator car, his posture relaxed, fiddling with a silver lighter in his hand.

"The painting has been delivered," he suddenly remembered something and said lazily, "I had it thrown into the warehouse on Man Island for you."

Shen Yanhui shot a cold look over.

This tyrant, releasing killing intent even toward his own brother.

Sheng Ze rubbed his nose and immediately changed his tune: "Didn't throw it, I know it's your treasure, I had it properly put away for you."

Shen Yanhui: "Mm."

"Seriously," Sheng Ze tilted his head, sizing up the indifferent man beside him, "I looked at it for a long time there, and I didn't see anything special about it."

"Isn't it just a rose garden? And a rose garden that was burned by fire at that, is it worth being specially painted? That painter is really boring enough."

Shen Yanhui sneered: "If you were actually able to understand it, wouldn't I have bought this painting for nothing?"

The elevator reached the underground garage, and the doors slid open silently.

He stepped out, and Sheng Ze followed slowly.

"Fine, it's me who lacks appreciation." He continued, his voice echoing slightly in the empty garage, "But, this is what, the how-many-eth one you've had now?"

"That painter... what was the name again? Yan? Or Yen?"

"Could it be that they put some kind of curse on you? No matter how well it's painted, you don't even know if the person is round or flat, and you're just holding them up like this?"

Shen Yanhui walked to the car, and the driver had already respectfully opened the door.

He paused and turned slightly to the side.

The corridor lights cast faint shadows on his well-defined profile.

"As long as it's delivered, that's enough." He spoke, his voice devoid of ripples, "As for the rest, ask less."

Sheng Ze raised an eyebrow and spun his lighter, but his face still wore that dissolute, roguish smile.

"Fine, won't ask. Who would dare to criticize the taste of you, Boss Shen."

Shen Yanhui didn't respond again and leaned in to get into the car.

The car door closed, cutting off the outside world.

Sheng Ze watched the black sedan drive away silently and rubbed his chin; what a boring man.

What painting or not, nothing is as soul-stirring and lovely as a beauty.

He took out his phone and dialed the number of the little beauty he had just met last night.

He turned and walked toward where his car was parked.

——

Gu Yan snuck back to Gu Zhai, it was already late at night.

The villa was quiet.

Her heart was thumping a little, though mainly not because she had kissed Shen Yanhui.

It was because she had messed up a blind date yet again, and hadn't reported it to the family.

She kicked off her high heels, barefoot, like a cat stealing food, and crept into the foyer.

The living room was pitch black, with only a little moonlight leaking in from outside the window, outlining the vague silhouettes of the furniture.

Great, Mom and Dad must have gone to sleep.

She secretly rejoiced and, relying on her memory, carefully shuffled toward the stairs.

She didn't dare turn on the lights, nor did she dare use her phone for light.

Just as she was groping her way around the sofa and victory was in sight—

"Click."

The massive crystal chandelier overhead suddenly lit up!

The light was blinding.

Gu Yan shuddered all over in fright, almost jumping on the spot, her heart pounding wildly.

Like a conditioned reflex, she stood at attention, closed her eyes tight, and said in a weak voice: "Dad, Dad, I was wrong, I'll go back to my room to reflect right now..."

The expected reprimand did not come.

A familiar, low chuckle rang out.

Gu Yan opened her eyes abruptly.

She saw her older brother, Gu Chen, leaning leisurely against the stair railing.

"You scared me to death!" Gu Yan deflated instantly and patted her chest dramatically, "Brother, why aren't you asleep yet? And you scared me on purpose!"

Gu Chen walked over and ruffled her hair, which was a bit messy from running.

"Heard the car, came down to see." His tone was steady, "Out so late again, hmm?"

"Just... had a meal." Gu Yan's gaze drifted for a moment.

"With the Li family's son?" Gu Chen asked.

Gu Yan lowered her head, her toes scuffing the carpet: "... Didn't finish it."

Gu Chen sighed, though he wasn't particularly surprised. He stood still in front of her, carefully observing his younger sister's face, which looked somewhat guilty yet was pretending that nothing was the matter.

"You didn't like him?"

"Mm." Gu Yan nodded honestly, stretching out her fingers to gesture, "We couldn't talk to each other; it was boring."

Actually, the main thing was that she didn't like his looks.

But she was too embarrassed to say it.

She was afraid of being called superficial.

If it were someone like Shen Yanhui, it would be a different story.

"Since you don't like him, you won't go anymore in the future."

Gu Yan suddenly looked up, her eyes wide: "Huh? But what about Dad..."

"As for Dad, I'll go talk to him."

Gu Yan let out a happy cry, pouncing over to hug Gu Chen's arm just like when she was a child, her cheek rubbing against his soft sleeve.

"Brother, you're the best! The best, best brother in the whole world!"

Gu Chen felt slightly helpless as she shook him, but his eyes were filled with indulgent amusement.

"None of that now, go get some rest."

"Yes, sir!" Gu Yan ran upstairs with a thud-thud-thud, her steps light and airy, the previous anxiety swept away completely.

Halfway up, she suddenly stopped and looked back.

Her bright eyes curved, and it seemed as if stars were twinkling in their depths.

"Um... when you say I won't go anymore, does that mean I don't have to go to any future blind dates?"

Gu Yan asked with a lack of confidence, yet she was secretly expectant.

"Mm," Gu Chen replied.

"Yay!" A cheer was the response he received.

——

Having resolved the blind date issue, Gu Yan was in a great mood.

If she continued to meet such dull and uninteresting people, she felt she would soon be assimilated.

That wouldn't do.

She wanted to be an interesting person.

No, an interesting little Fairy.

Gu Yan hummed a tuneless song, her steps light as she swirled into the bathroom.

To be a little Fairy, one must start with a petal bath.

In the bathroom, the huge arched floor-to-ceiling window reflected the silhouette of distant mountains, and by the window was a bathtub carved from a single piece of natural snow-white jade, with steam swirling around it.

She shed her clothes and stepped barefoot into the slightly hot water.

The water temperature enveloped her just right; she sighed with satisfaction and slid down, letting the water surface submerge her collarbones.

In the swirling heat, her skin was flushed a faint pink, appearing and disappearing in the rippling warm water.

Her wet, curly hair clung to her graceful neck and smooth shoulders, and droplets of water rolled quietly down her delicate curves.

Her worries seemed to have evaporated along with the steam.

Just as she was becoming drowsy, the phone resting on the waterproof counter by the bathtub rang.

It was her good friend and agent from when she was studying in Europe, Lin Wei.

"Hello?" Gu Yan answered lazily, her voice softened by the steam.

"Young Miss, the payment for your 'Embers and Moon' has been settled," Lin Wei's capable voice came through. "The money has been transferred to the old account."

"Oh." Gu Yan toyed with the bubbles on the water's surface. "The buyer... still didn't leave any information?"

"None." Lin Wei paused. "This time, they didn't even reveal a forwarding address; they sent someone directly to the warehouse to pick up the painting."

Gu Yan pouted, blowing away a bubble that had drifted in front of her eyes.

"That's just too mysterious... I don't even know if they're a man or a woman, old or young."

"Heh," Lin Wei scoffed unceremoniously on the other end of the line. "You're allowed to be mysterious as the seller, but the buyer isn't? Great Painter Gu, you're playing this double standard quite well."

Gu Yan was choked up for a moment and said sheepishly, "I... I was just afraid that if I were too famous, it would affect my creative mindset."

Actually, that wasn't it; she was just afraid of trouble.

When she auctioned her first painting, she used the name "Yan," and she had continued to use it ever since.

Lin Wei couldn't be bothered to expose her and returned to the main point, "How many paintings have you done for the second half of the year's touring exhibition?"

"..."

The phone suddenly went quiet.

There was only the faint sound of flowing water.

Gu Yan silently buried her chin in the water and blew a string of small bubbles.

"Gu, Yan!" Lin Wei's voice rose by an octave.

"I'm painting, I'm painting!" Gu Yan hurriedly lifted her head, wet hair sticking to her cheeks, her tone unconsciously coquettish, "Inspiration is the kind of thing you can't rush..."

"I'm not in a rush, but there are only three months left; you handle it yourself."

The phone hung up decisively.

Gu Yan looked at the phone screen that had returned to calm, then looked at her own fingertips, which were soaked to a pale pink.

With one final wail, she slid entirely into the water, leaving only a few restless strands of hair floating on the surface.

It really was not that she did not want to draw.

It was that she truly had no inspiration!