Chapter 7: Intercepted Again

The next morning.

When Gu Yan went downstairs, her footsteps were three parts lighter than usual.

Although her eldest brother said he would help her handle her parents, she still felt guilty.

In the dining room, Gu Fanglin was reading the morning paper, and Yang Bing was spreading jam on a piece of toast.

"Dad, Mom, morning." Gu Yan said in a sweet voice, pulling out a chair to sit down.

Yang Bing looked up at her, smiled, and pushed a bowl of warmed rock sugar bird's nest toward her: "Did you sleep well?"

"Extremely well." Gu Yan took it, drank in small sips, and cast a quiet glance toward her father.

Father Gu lifted his eyelids from behind the newspaper and let out a harrumph.

Gu Yan immediately put down her spoon, leaned over, hugged her father's arm, and shook it: "Dad~ are you still angry with me?"

Gu Fanglin kept a straight face, but his eyes had already softened: "You child, you just do things on a whim. At first, you were the one who said you wanted to meet some young people and get some exposure. Now you're the one throwing in the towel and quitting."

"I was wrong, okay?" Gu Yan dragged out her tone to act spoiled.

Back then, back then wasn't she just listening to Lin Wei's nonsense?

Saying something about how finding inspiration was simple, that you'd have it once you started dating.

She was skeptical, but she decided to give it a try anyway.

What if it worked?

Facts proved that there was no "what if."

She didn't believe that those stiff, boring Mr. Zhaos, Mr. Lis, and whatever-else-Mr. s could be her muse.

However, she had wanted to call it quits long ago, but her own old man somehow got all fired up and started acting as a "matchmaker" with great enthusiasm; what could she do?

She could only bite the bullet and go.

And that didn't mean she could be blamed for asking people if they could break a boulder on their chest.

Right, she couldn't be blamed.

Gu Fanglin lost his temper, "Alright, alright, if you don't want to go then don't go, your eldest brother has already told me."

Gu Yan's eyes lit up: "Really?"

"Would I lie to you?" Father Gu glared at her.

Gu Yan giggled, "I just knew Dad loved me the most~"

She was always good at coaxing people, with sweet words ready at hand, and before long, she had both of them smiling.

After the meal, Gu Yan returned to the studio upstairs.

No matter how much she resisted, the date of the art exhibition was set, and she had to turn in her work no matter what.

The studio faced south with excellent light, yet the large easel was completely blank.

She mixed her paints and picked up a brush.

She stared blankly at the empty canvas for half an hour.

In her mind, one moment it was the warm water in the bathtub last night, the next it was Lin Wei urging her for the manuscript over the phone, and then... Shen Yanhui's bottomless eyes.

She shook her head, trying to focus.

The tip of the brush fell, and she applied a few strokes.

Not right.

The feeling wasn't right.

She irritably let out a "tsk," tore the drawing paper down, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it to her feet.

Beside her, a dozen similar "fallen" paper balls already lay.

Inspiration was like a dried-up riverbed, cracked and without a single drop of water.

Forcing herself to paint really didn't work.

She tossed aside her brush, got up, and left the studio; when she passed the small hall on the second floor, her footsteps paused.

That Jade Guanyin worth one hundred million was properly placed by Zhong Bo on a pear-wood side table, with a kind expression and solemn appearance.

Gu Yan walked over and stood still in front of the Guanyin.

She pressed her palms together, closed her eyes, and lowered her long eyelashes, her expression one of unprecedented piety.

"Bodhisattva bless me, your devotee Gu Yan has no other requests."

"I only ask for inspiration."

"Descending from the sky, gushing from the earth, coming from all directions."

"Anywhere is fine."

"I beg of you."

She bowed three times in earnest.

She opened her eyes, looked at the still-quiet Guanyin, and then looked at the empty corridor.

Inspiration clearly didn't manifest that quickly.

She pursed her lips, feeling a bit discouraged.

She turned around and, shuffling in her soft slippers, walked slowly downstairs.

When Xu Yuan came in with a tablet, Gu Yan was sitting cross-legged on the soft carpet in the living room.

She was flipping through a thick Impressionist art book, her brow slightly furrowed, trying to squeeze a shred of inspiration from those brilliant colors.

"Miss," Xu Yuan's tone was a bit helpless, "News just came from Elie Saab, that Champagne-colored silk satin gown... has been booked by someone else in advance."

Gu Yan's fingers, which were turning the page, paused, and she looked up: "Didn't we have a reservation?"

"Yes, but the other party paid the full amount with a thirty percent markup, and..." Xu Yuan paused, "it was Miss Chu Yilan."

Gu Yan raised an eyebrow.

Chu Yilan.

She is certainly "persistent."

Ever since they wore the same outfit at a cocktail party once, it was as if some strange imitation switch had been flipped.

Whatever seasonal new arrivals Gu Yan wore, limited-edition jewelry she donned, or even the perfume she used, Chu Yilan would always find a way to track down a similar version.

It is a pity that one cannot learn temperament, and it often results in the joke of trying to paint a tiger and ending up with a dog.

Gu Yan has always found it boring and cannot be bothered to pay it any mind.

"Her again." Gu Yan curled her lip, and the frustration in her heart from failing to find inspiration grew another layer. "What kind of bad luck is this? I get a Guanyin intercepted, and now a dress I'm looking at gets intercepted too."

Although the Guanyin eventually made its way into her hands after a roundabout journey.

But it doesn't matter; she is just unhappy.

Xu Yuan handed the tablet to her. "Also, an invitation to the birthday banquet has been sent over from Miss Chu's side."

Her tone was calm, clearly assuming that, as per custom, this invitation would be politely declined.

Chu Yilan's birthday banquet had always been a stage for her to show off and imitate others, and her mistress had never had any interest in gracing it with her presence.

Gu Yan glanced at the ornate and complex invitation design on the screen.

Her fingers unconsciously twisted the smooth paper of the art book.

Inspiration...

The studio floor was covered in crumpled paper.

Praying to the Bodhisattva was useless too.

Her arch-rival was showing off and posting about the interception again.

Annoying.

She suddenly reached out and took the tablet.

"Miss?" Xu Yuan was slightly surprised.

Gu Yan's fingertips slid across the screen; a Birthday cruise dance party, it sounded like the kind of spectacle Chu Yilan liked.

"Did it say who they are inviting?" she asked.

"It didn't say specifically, but I heard that Miss Chu's brother invited that big shot from the Shen Family."

That big shot from the Shen Family?

Shen Yanhui?

Gu Yan suddenly became interested.

She handed the tablet back to Xu Yuan and leaned back, sinking into the soft sofa.

Sunlight filtered through the floor-to-ceiling windows, dancing on her eyelashes.

"Go," she said, her voice carrying a lazy willfulness and a sense of throwing caution to the wind. "Why not go?"

"You want to attend Miss Chu's birthday banquet?" Xu Yuan confirmed, as this was truly not in line with Gu Yan's usual style.

"Mm." Gu Yan gazed at the light and shadows flowing across the ceiling, her eyes flickering. "Right now... I need to find some inspiration."

Chu Yilan's event would most likely be ostentatious and boring.

But what if?

What if, in that noisy, gaudy atmosphere, or in that outfit on Chu Yilan that was "paying tribute" to her for the umpteenth time, some damn, different color or line could pop out?

Besides, there was Shen Yanhui; looking at a handsome man might just bring some inspiration.

It was better than staring blankly at an empty canvas.

"Reply to her, I will definitely be there," Gu Yan instructed.

She paused, then added, "Also, tell Elie Saab that since that champagne-colored one is gone, send me their unreleased new season haute couture catalog to look at."

"Very well, Miss." Although Xu Yuan was somewhat surprised, she immediately agreed and carefully reminded her, "Do you need me to pick out a gown and accessories for you to attend the banquet?"

Gu Yan picked up the art book again, her fingertips tracing over Monet's Water Lilies.

"Pick them," she said casually, though she narrowed her eyes slightly. "Since I'm going, I can't... be too casual."

Especially not at Chu Yilan's birthday banquet.