“Ahem. Nobody said a mighty general can’t also be scholarly,” added Gu Shishi softly.
“Some people are just multi-talented.”
Huo Sishen had just picked up the bottled water and his slender fingers almost crushed the bottle.
Was she complimenting him through the painting?
It was the elderlies who avoided him the most back then.
And, all of the grandchildren had no choice but to listen to their elderlies and kept their distances, or was afraid of him.
He never thought that the day would come when he was complimented by a group of elderlies.
Without the rumor, he, too, could be praised by the elderlies.
Something stirred within him.
His black eyes flickered a little and he could see the girl’s face that was delicate and slightly pink.
It was getting close to winter and leaves were flying in the air.
Inside the car, however, it was warm like summertime still.
***
They waited for another 1.5 hours and Gu Shishi even needed to go to the bathroom half way through. Huo Sishen went with her to look for a bathroom at a shopping mall nearby.
He even bought a sandwich and coffee, worrying that she might be hungry while they waited.
Gu Shishi had finished eating and drinking and even all of the manga that she had brought with her before the debate from Siyi’s end was finally over.
Ever since President Huang Chuan had arrived, they had opined on each piece of work and voted anonymously.
This group of old naughty children would fight so adamantly when they did not see eye to eye on things.
It took Huang Chuan a lot of work before they got to the voting portion of the event.
Finally, Gu Shishi took first place with just two extra votes.
“We will be nice to the newcomer.”
“It’s something fresh. I am getting bored of all styles of all the regulars already.”
“The newbie has some good ideas and had enlightened me a lot. Some of her skill could still use some work on and the caption was not original, but it is still pretty good overall.”
“Mmm. I’ve hedged my bet against President Huang Chuan anyway so I have no problem voting for the newbie.”
The group was stubborn till the very end.
None of them would admit that any of the other members were better than them.
At least, they could just lose to the newbie by a little and they would be able to beat her next time around.
Gu Shishi, sitting in the car, smiled so much that she had to cover up mouth.
“I am going to head upstairs then.”
She scooted over to the door but was stopped by the man.
“All this so you can have an instructor for your studio?”
Huo Sishen frowned.
He no longer wanted her to go upstairs by now.
There was a kind of beauty that was meant to be hidden away from others.
Just like the slender girl in the painting, with her look cleverly covered up by a furry hat.
“Yeah, Manager Jie said we will need a master from the field,” replied Gu Shishi truthfully. Everybody upstairs was a master of the field.
Huo Sishen nodded. “If you don’t like to show your face, you can have Siyi relay the message.”
Gu Shishi puffed up her cheeks a little. It wasn’t that she didn’t like showing her face; it was just that her age was a big distraction.
“That’s not very nice, no?
“They would feel that I have deceived them when they find out my identity one day…”
“It is your painting that they appreciate, not the artist herself.”
Huo Sishen narrowed his eyes.
“What kind of expert will it make them if they are to overturn their comments on your work when they find out about your age later on?”
Gu Shishi somewhat agreed with what he had said but also felt that something was off at the same time.
She couldn’t quite place her finger on it for the time being.
Gu Shishi was starting to get a little sleep now that she was full.
Huo Sishen sent Siyi a message right away.
Siyi, upstairs, immediately reflected his boss’s idea to the elderlies. “My boss had asked for a token gesture from the fellow members of this group prior to this exchange.”
The elderlies looked at each other and said, “Alright, what is it?”
Their chat was logged. It wasn’t like they could deny it now.
