Chapter 37: CH 041

TL: Moonlit

The follow-up will be the evaluation in the capital city. Time is running out, and the exhibition in Qingzhou City for the Spring Breeze Exhibition only lasts for two days.

Four hundred artworks were selected from the entire province to be sent to the capital city for the evaluation. The quantity was significant, but fortunately, Qingzhou City had considerable strength with its top-notch national art gallery, capable of exhibiting all four hundred artworks.

While others were appreciating the artworks, Lin Hanchuan’s gaze was more focused on the decoration and layout of the art gallery. Compared to this spacious art gallery, his small gallery was completely incomparable, and he lost utterly.

“This is an official art gallery, and its resources are incomparable to a private gallery. Don’t be upset,” Qi Yuyu noticed Lin Hanchuan’s peculiar expression and whispered to comfort him.

Lin Hanchuan wasn’t upset; instead, it aroused his competitive spirit. “One day, my gallery will surpass this place.”

Qi Yuyu was momentarily stunned, but then a hint of amusement appeared in his eyes. “Go for it.”

“Don’t you believe me?” Lin Hanchuan keenly perceived the skepticism in Qi Yuyu’s expression.

Qi Yuyu subtly paused for a moment and said, “Having dreams is a good thing. At least you have a direction to strive for.”

Narrowing his eyes slightly, Lin Hanchuan was about to retort, but he realized just in time. In this world, all his great achievements were accomplished by his counterpart from the previous world or the previous version of this world. In this current world, he was merely a rookie art dealer.

As a complete rookie, it was no wonder Qi Yuyu didn’t believe him.

Lin Hanchuan no longer explained and just smiled mysteriously. “Look at the paintings.”

In the previous world, Lin Hanchuan had built a cinematic universe, the «Wukong» cinematic universe, with endless materials. He collaborated with the official authorities to prepare for an international film festival. With the allure of the vast film market, attracting foreign films to participate was not difficult, and the entire film industry had revitalized with new vigor.

In this world, as long as he wished, creating an Oriental art capital was not an impossible task.

Looking around, Qi Yuyu noticed that there weren’t many visitors in this enormous exhibition hall.

The art gallery consisted of two buildings and four floors of exhibition space. Each floor could accommodate up to one or two hundred people, but from what his eyes could see, there were only a few scattered dozens of individuals. Most of them had unique temperaments that indicated they were artists, while others had shrewd and worldly expressions, clearly identifying them as art dealers.

After taking another look and observing the architectural structure of the entire exhibition hall, Lin Hanchuan and Qi Yuyu moved on to the next gallery.

“Fenghua, what do you think of this painting?” a familiar voice sounded.

Lin Hanchuan followed the sound and looked over.

Qi Fenghua’s painting had also been selected to be sent to the capital city, so he couldn’t miss today’s exhibition. However, Qi Fenghua’s parents had other matters to attend to, so he had accepted Yuan Xiao’s invitation.

Yuan Xiao was also a graduate of the art academy and believed that he had a strong resonance with Qi Fenghua. However, he didn’t know that Qi Fenghua didn’t consider him a “painter” at all.

Yuan Xiao was even inferior to Yi Qinglou, merely a second-generation wealthy individual using art to gild himself. Qi Fenghua’s expression was cold as he glanced at the painting Yuan Xiao liked and said, “It’s alright.”

But Yuan Xiao happened to appreciate Qi Fenghua’s aloofness. Seeing that he didn’t like it, he didn’t insist and tried to please him by saying, “It’s okay if you don’t like this one. Let’s look at the next one.”

Qi Fenghua walked towards the next painting with a weary expression, neither hot nor cold.

For the past two days, he had been tossing and turning, unable to calm his emotions. Every time he closed his eyes, all he could see was Yi Qinglou and the bite mark on his neck.

Originally, Yin Qinglou was just a substitute for Yi Wusheng, but now his pride couldn’t be placated. Qi Fenghua only considered it as a transfer of affection, shifting his feelings for Yi Wusheng onto Yi Qinglou.

Although he tried to console himself rationally, his emotions remained unsettled for a long time.

Lin Hanchuan didn’t want to encounter them, so he hid behind a large pillar, waiting for the two of them to pass by.

After waiting for a while, Lin Hanchuan didn’t see them passing by. Instead, he heard Yuan Xiao’s surprised voice saying, “What are you doing here?”

Feeling a jump in his heart and a sense of foreboding, Lin Hanchuan looked up and saw Qi Yuyu standing confidently outside, coincidentally face-to-face with Qi Fenghua.

When facing outsiders, Qi Yuyu was aloof and distant. He didn’t speak and didn’t even glance at Yuan Xiao. He simply admired the artwork in front of him while keeping an eye on Lin Hanchuan, who was hiding behind the pillar.

“Brother,” Qi Fenghua hesitated for a while before greeting him, but he couldn’t say anything more.

Qi Fenghua wanted to interrogate Qi Yuyu, asking him if he knew that Yi Qinglou was his brother’s man. With so many men in the world, why did he have to snatch this one?

He had wanted to ask this question when he discovered the affair between Qi Yuyu and Lin Hanchuan, but he hadn’t returned home, so he had nowhere to confront him.

Now that he saw him in person, surrounded by people coming and going, all belonging to the same circle, Qi Fenghua couldn’t bring himself to expose their secret in public.

Qi Fenghua felt a lump in his heart, unable to swallow his grievances. He then said, “Brother, it’s been a long time since we last saw each other. Don’t leave later. Let’s meet privately.”

After saying that, Qi Fenghua realized his tone was too harsh and added, dryly, “Is that okay?”

“No, it’s not,” Qi Yuyu decisively refused.

Qi Fenghua’s expression contorted for a moment, and Yuan Xiao, unable to bear it, spoke up first, “Qi Brother, Fenghua is being so humble in his request, what more do you want?”

Qi Yuyu furrowed his brow slightly. “Be quiet.”

Lin Hanchuan watched as Qi Yuyu shut down the two of them with just a few words, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.

Yuan Xiao’s face turned red, then orange, yellow, and green as he went through a range of emotions. Suddenly, he said, “Qi Brother, do you know that Fenghua’s painting was selected?”

Qi Yuyu didn’t know about this, but he also didn’t have any interest in knowing.

Regarding this matter, Lin Hanchuan wasn’t surprised at all. After all, Qi Fenghua was the protagonist. Even if he didn’t have any talent for painting, he could still be selected based on the protagonist’s luck. It wasn’t worth making a fuss over.

“Fenghua’s painting was selected for the Spring Breeze Art Exhibition. If he wins an award, he will be the youngest gold medalist in the history of the exhibition,” Yuan Xiao said with a self-satisfied look. “I heard that you also learn to paint. Why not seek guidance from your younger brother? He’s the most outstanding and youngest artist.”

Ever since Yuan Xiao learned about Qi Yuyu’s situation from Qi Fenghua, Yuan Xiao no longer held Qi Brother in high regard, especially after vaguely inquiring and learning that Qi Yuyu had hurt Qi Fenghua’s heart.

Now, seeing Qi Yuyu displeased him, Yuan Xiao mercilessly prodded at Qi Yuyu’s wound.

Yuan Xiao expected Qi Yuyu to get angry and perhaps even take action, but Qi Yuyu’s expression remained unchanged. Finally, he spared a glance at Yuan Xiao. “The youngest gold medalist in the Spring Breeze Art Exhibition was a genius teenager who won all domestic awards at the age of nineteen, six years ago.”

After these words were spoken, both Qi Fenghua and Yuan Xiao felt somewhat uncomfortable.

Yuan Xiao was feeling embarrassed after being slapped in the face, while Qi Fenghua was unjustly implicated. As a result, he also started to dislike Yuan Xiao.

“Tsk.” Lin Hanchuan was listening to their conversation when he heard a faint chuckle beside him.

He looked over and saw a young man in his twenties. His hair was casually tied up in a small bun at the back of his head, and there were paint stains that couldn’t be washed off on his clothes.

“What are you laughing at?” Lin Hanchuan asked the person beside him in a low voice.

The young man glanced at Lin Hanchuan and whispered, “I’m laughing at how each Spring Breeze Art Exhibition is worse than the last. Anyone can participate, and yet they still get selected.”

Lin Hanchuan agreed with this statement.

From the beginning until now, as he looked around, Lin Hanchuan hadn’t seen a single work of art that satisfied him.

Even if he disregarded the inexperienced painting techniques, these artworks lacked soul. They were dryly laid out on the paper, with each line stiff and rigid.

“With such opponents, it’s no wonder Yi Wusheng was able to win the gold medal back then. He became famous just because he was in the right place at the right time,” Lin Hanchuan sighed.

“You don’t like Yi Wusheng either?” the young man suddenly spoke up, his eyes shining. “I don’t like him either!”

From the young man’s words, Lin Hanchuan learned that his name was Yue Hong, and he was a young artist of the same generation as Yi Wusheng. They were competitors known as “Nan Yi and Bei Yue.” They often compared and competed with each other. Six years ago, Yue Hong won the gold medal at the Spring Breeze Art Exhibition, slightly surpassing Yi Wusheng.

Three years later, Yi Wusheng also won the gold medal but unfortunately passed away unexpectedly.

Since then, Yi Wusheng became an unbeatable figure in Yue Hong’s eyes, as the deceased was regarded highly in people’s minds. Yue Hong couldn’t surpass someone who was already dead.

“But his paintings are not as good as mine,” Yue Hong snorted. Despite being twenty-five years old, his eyes were still clear, and his mannerisms were childlike. “His style is messy and lacks a distinct and consistent identity. Even if his paintings are good, he will never become a great artist of his generation.”

This was the artist who won the gold medal at the Spring Breeze Art Exhibition at the age of nineteen. Lin Hanchuan’s eyes flickered.

“Brother, did you also participate in the Spring Breeze Art Exhibition? How did it go?” Qi Fenghua felt annoyed and didn’t intend to save face for Qi Yuyu anymore. He asked directly.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Xiao also exclaimed, “Qi Brother, you also participated in the Spring Breeze Art Exhibition? Why didn’t you mention it earlier? Do you know which section your painting is in? Let me have a look.”

Ignoring Yuan Xiao’s sarcasm, Qi Yuyu calmly said, “The result is not bad. My painting is currently displayed in the Chinese painting section. Do you want to go and see it?”

Qi Fenghua and Yuan Xiao both widened their eyes instantly.

Yuan Xiao blurted out, “How is that possible! You haven’t even learned how to paint. How could you be selected?”

Qi Fenghua didn’t say anything, but Qi Yuyu could tell what he was thinking.

While talking to Yue Hong, Lin Hanchuan had also been paying attention to the situation with Qi Yuyu. When he saw Qi Yuyu being bullied, he felt somewhat angry. He walked out and stood beside Qi Yuyu. “Since that’s the case, seeing is believing. Why don’t you all go and see together?”

Qi Fenghua was taken aback when he saw Lin Hanchuan, and Yuan Xiao also felt uneasy in the presence of this “good friend.”

With a dry laugh, Yuan Xiao tried to greet Lin Hanchuan, “Brother, you’re here too…”

Lin Hanchuan’s gaze swept past Yuan Xiao and Qi Fenghua, and he forcefully led Qi Yuyu toward the Chinese painting section without saying a word.

He remained silent, which made Qi Fenghua suspicious and unable to speak. Yuan Xiao felt guilty and didn’t dare to utter a word.

For some reason, Yue Hong, who was following behind them, looked left and right with a curious expression on his face that he couldn’t conceal.

As soon as the group reached the entrance of another building, they noticed that it was different from the previous one. The exhibition hall was packed with people, crowded with visitors.

“Why are there so many people here?” Yue Hong exclaimed, feeling overwhelmed and wanting to retreat.

A kind passerby who overheard Yue Hong’s remark explained, “Don’t you know? There’s a masterpiece in the Chinese painting section. Our professors can’t stop praising it.”

“Our teacher said the same thing. They mentioned that there would be a surprise in the Chinese painting section of the Spring Breeze Art Exhibition and urged us to come and see.”

“I’m from Qingmei Academy. Which school are you from, buddy?”

…

What was once a peaceful art gallery suddenly became lively, resembling a marketplace. Lin Hanchuan and his group squeezed through the crowd, pushing and shoving until they finally reached the center.

Yuan Xiao couldn’t bear such discomfort and immediately wanted to give up. “Let’s just go and see Qi Brother’s painting. Who needs to see a masterpiece? What masterpiece can compare to Fenghua’s painting…”

Before he could finish his sentence, he caught sight of the so-called masterpiece, and the rest of his words got stuck in his throat.

It is often said that art is for the few, but art is also a form of creative expression. The best art is not exclusively for the few. Works that strike a chord with people’s hearts, evoke empathy, and touch the ordinary viewer are the pinnacle of art.

The painting hanging on the wall was simple, straightforward, and emotionally intense. Even those who knew nothing about art or painting could feel a strong emotional impact.

Lin Hanchuan smiled as he asked, “What do you think of Qi Brother’s painting?”

There was a hint of pride and arrogance in his tone, and Qi Yuyu’s ears turned slightly red upon hearing it.

The expressions of Qi Fenghua and Yue Hong, however, were rather strange. They looked at the painting, their brows furrowed, lost in thought. After observing it for a while, Yue Hong couldn’t help but ask, “Was this painting influenced by someone or something?”

As rivals, Yue Hong was most familiar with Yi Wusheng’s paintings. With just one glance, he could tell that this painting had the exact same expressive techniques and skills as the one Yi Wusheng won the gold medal with years ago. Even the subtle confrontation and fusion between the sun and the city were identical.