Seeing A Yue’s half-joking expression, Dai Feng raised a finger to her mask, her eyes full of warning.
“Shh! What do you mean by ‘skulking’? I’m just… standing here admiring this… this abstract painting!”
She randomly pointed at a wildly colored decorative painting on the wall.
A Yue glanced in the direction she pointed; the painting looked like an accidentally knocked-over palette.
She curled her lip and mercilessly called her out.
“Come on, my dear Miss Dai. Your ‘just happening’ to stand here is really well-chosen, with such a tricky angle that you can perfectly observe Miss Yan Yu’s every move.”
She looked over Dai Feng’s outfit today and couldn’t help but twitch her mouth.
“Speaking of which, Sister Dai, not to be mean, but your outfit today… is too ‘flashy’, isn’t it? People who know you’d think you’re here for an art exhibition; people who don’t would think you’re about to pull out a sack and rob a bank.”
Dai Feng rolled her eyes at that and retorted indignantly.
“I’m dressed totally normal? Black, goes with everything, low-key, get it? A Yue, don’t judge me with your weird influencer aesthetic.”
“Yes, yes, you’re low-key, the lowest-key.”
A Yue raised her hands in surrender, but her eyes were full of laughter.
“Then may I ask this low-key Miss Dai, how long do you plan to ‘admire’ here? Or do you intend to keep hiding and watch Miss Yan Yu finish the whole exhibition?”
Dai Feng was choked by the question, her eyes darting. Through the mask, her voice was a bit muffled.
“I-I’m just looking for the right moment to strike up a conversation…”
A Yue held back her laughter, watching the usually bold and carefree Miss Dai now acting like a lovestruck, flustered high school student. She found it both amusing and… amazing.
It seemed Miss Yan Yu’s importance to Dai Feng was even greater than they had guessed.
“Alright, take your time finding that ‘moment’.”
A Yue patted Dai Feng on the shoulder.
“I’ll go look around and see other paintings. Good luck, Sister Dai, I’m rooting for you!”
With that, A Yue, holding back a laugh, turned and slipped into the crowd on the other side, leaving Dai Feng alone hiding behind the decorative wall, waging an intense internal battle between “go up” and “keep observing.”
On the other side, Yan Yu rolled her wheelchair slowly along the exhibition line, finally reaching a relatively independent wall at the innermost part of the hall, where she saw her own painting.
Reflection of Time was hung alone on this wall. Soft spotlights shone on the canvas, giving the golden fragments on the river, the city’s silhouette, and the reflection a calm and moving luster.
Below the work, a simple label bore the painting’s name, the artist, and a short description.
Seeing the name “Yan Yu” printed neatly there, a sense of accomplishment quietly filled her heart.
Yan Yu stopped in front of the painting, quietly looking at this work she had poured her heart into.
“Hey, come over and look at this one!”
A few voices with the unique vitality of teenagers rang out nearby.
Yan Yu turned her head slightly and saw three high school students in blue-and-white uniforms, jostling and laughing as they came this way.
Judging by the uniforms, they were from a key school in the city.
“I’m telling you, among all the works on display today, this one is definitely my favorite!”
The leading boy, slightly taller, walked up to the painting, crossed his arms, and announced with great gravity.
A girl with a ponytail next to him leaned in to look, then stepped back, tilting her head.
“Huh? This one? It looks nice, but… is it really that amazing?”
Another boy in glasses pushed up his glasses and studied it carefully.
Yan Yu was instantly drawn in. She was curious about what this seemingly opinionated boy could “interpret” from her painting.
“I’m telling you, look at the composition,”
The tall boy lowered his voice as if sharing an amazing secret, his finger pointing vaguely at the city skyline part of the painting.
“It seems like just a random riverside view of the city, but look closely—the three most prominent and strategically placed high-rise buildings—”
He paused to make sure his companions were paying attention.
“They are respectively the three most famous landmark office buildings in the center of Jiangcheng: Lingyun, Shengjing, and Guanchao.”
“So what?”
The ponytail girl still didn’t get it.
“Everyone knows that, landmarks are easy to put in paintings.”
“You still don’t understand?”
The tall boy looked at her with an expression of ‘you can’t carve rotten wood’, his voice a little mysterious.
“Those three buildings symbolize the real ‘three great mountains’ of Jiangcheng’s business world—the Su family, the Bai family, and the Dai family.
“Although the three buildings are treated with unified colors and seem to blend into the overall scenery, their height and position still subtly give a sense of being above the other buildings.
“This composition, this focus of light and shadow… tsk, this painter is definitely not just painting casually. This is clearly using subtle brushwork to depict the tripartite balance and mutual checks of Jiangcheng!
“Beneath this calm surface, that painter wants to control the three families and grasp the hearts of the powerful…! You might only see a corner of the scene in the painter’s eyes, but I can see… ordinary people just can’t understand the deeper meaning of artists. Don’t you think?”
“Come on, you!”
The boy in glasses couldn’t help laughing and patted the tall boy on the shoulder.
“Listen to yourself, as if it were true. I think the painter just thought this angle looked good and painted it on a whim. It’s not as complicated as you think, with power structures and all!”
The tall boy wanted to continue, but his companions obviously had no patience to listen to his long-winded theories.
“Go on, go on, it’s not as mystical as you say. Let’s go, finish looking at this and get our souvenirs!”
The ponytail girl tugged at him.
“I heard the souvenir this time is a limited-edition metal bookmark, and it’s really pretty! If we’re late, they’ll be gone!”
The glasses boy also urged.
“I don’t care about bookmarks—hey, wait, don’t go! I’m not finished… hey, wait for me!”
The three of them laughed and jostled away, leaving Yan Yu still standing there, somewhat dazed, ruminating on the boy’s words.
Shake the pattern of the three great families? Ambition?
She really hadn’t noticed that her painting, born from personal feelings, could be interpreted with such a… horrifying layer of meaning.
“Ha…”
Yan Yu couldn’t help but laugh softly, shook her head, and muttered to herself in front of the painting, her voice low enough for only herself to hear.
“What control over the three great families? How could I have that ability?”
“Maybe… you will?”
A sweet and soft female voice suddenly sounded very close behind Yan Yu.
Yan Yu’s heart tightened slightly, and she immediately wanted to turn around.
But her movement was stopped by a hand gently placed on her shoulder. That hand was slender and soft, clearly a girl’s hand.
The owner of the voice leaned in slightly, warm breath brushing Yan Yu’s ear.
“If it were anyone else, I would probably think it’s a fantasy… but if it’s my sister…”
She paused and chuckled softly.
“I believe that at least you will win me over, as long as you… lean a little closer.”
Yan Yu’s back suddenly stiffened for a moment, her body motionless. She finally felt the gaze that had been fixed on her all along.
It was Bai Yan’er. Yan Yu didn’t know why Bai Yan’er had suddenly appeared here or when she had come up behind her. But she knew that even if she asked now, this unpredictable and surprising sister would never give a real answer.
After all, Bai Yan’er was always like this.
“Stop joking,”
Yan Yu sighed softly and finally managed to turn around.
“You know I’m just an ordinary person.”
As she spoke, when her eyes fell on Bai Yan’er, she couldn’t help but be a little startled.
Bai Yan’er today was dressed… very cute, even unexpectedly so for Yan Yu.
In her impression, the young lady of the Bai family’s style always leaned toward an aloof, aristocratic heiress look. But today, she was wearing a Lolita dress suitable for a daily outing.
It was a mainly pink-toned dress, the fabric looked soft and comfortable, the skirt was a light A-line, adorned with embroidery and lace in the same color scheme. The collar had a small white bow, and the puff sleeves added some sweet playfulness. She even wore a headband of the same color with tulle and small flowers.
She looked just like a noble girl from a fairy tale picture book, oddly harmonious with this art-filled gallery.
“What’s wrong, sister?”
Bai Yan’er tilted her head slightly, her thick, curled eyelashes blinking.
“Do I look good in this outfit today?”
Her gaze was fixed directly on Yan Yu, her eyes filled with undisguised expectation and a hint of a subtle signal.