Working three shifts, but not having to work the night shift, is Zhang Lei’s benefit to female employees.
Zhang Lei urged her several times, but she was embarrassed to ask him to wait, so she went to the dressing room to change clothes.
The phone suddenly rang.
She was startled, but it was a series of unfamiliar numbers, local. She guessed it might be some random sales calls. After all, she only knew a limited number of people in this place. But she didn't have the habit of refusing to listen. Even if it was these calls, she would say "No, thank you" and the like.
"School girl."
When Lin Ziyan's voice came from the phone, she was a little surprised.
"Senior?" She immediately remembered something, "Is there something wrong with Xiaobai? How is his injury?"
Lin Ziyan hesitated for a moment, then smiled and said: "It's not like you don't know who he is. This injury is not a big deal. Besides, you were together last night. How is his condition better than me? clear?"
His original intention was to comfort her, but when Youyan thought of something, her face suddenly became hot, and a heavy sense of guilt filled her heart, making her whole body tremble.
"That's right, I'm calling you to say that your crisis is over."
He then explained to her what happened to Chu Ke and the other party's identity.
Youyan was a little surprised, but not too surprised.
"He said that he had already talked to Chu Ke and that you would be fine. Just pay attention to your comings and goings recently. Don't worry." Lin Ziyan said. He naturally refers to Gu Yebai.
Thank him for me. Youyan originally wanted to say this. However, this thank you is suitable for everyone in the world, but it is not suitable for her and Gu Yebai. It is too pretentious. However, they are already the most familiar strangers.
"Thank you, senior." In the end, she could only thank the person who conveyed the message.
Lin Ziyan then asked a few questions about Susan's current situation, and she told him that Susan was training in Turkey. Lin Ziyan smiled and said that he would wait for Susan to come back when he had time, and invited the two of them out for dinner before hanging up.
This was the first time Youyan heard an insincere politeness from Lin Ziyan. She knew that even if he wanted to ask Shan again, he would not go through her.
He is Gu Yebai's best friend, and he has a brotherly stance. And Gu Yebai never wanted to see her again, and he didn't even want to call her, even if it was just a few words.
She was shivering all over, and the despair of saying goodbye was like water, engulfing her, almost suffocating but feeling relieved at the same time.
This is a good thing.
Because even she herself would never see him again no matter what.
She was about to save the number, but typed the word "林" and deleted it. I wanted to delete the number completely, but I couldn't do it.
This is something related to that person.
Youyan changed her clothes and went out. Zhang Lei was waiting for her in one of the booths.
Seeing her coming out, Zhang Lei smiled slightly and said, "Okay, let's go, let's go to the supermarket together."
Youyan walked over and said, "Boss, I can go back to my place to sleep tonight."
She told Chu Ke's story, but she didn't mention her relationship with Gu Yebai. She only said that she offended a powerful girl at the class reunion.
"Another senior helped me solve it. I won't disturb you, boss." She said to him solemnly.
Lin Ziyan's call was cruel to her, but it also made her relieved. She didn't want to stay overnight at the boss and the waiter's place, she just wanted to go back to her dirty pig's nest.
It was unbearably dirty and cold there, but there was an indescribable sense of loneliness and security.
Zhang Lei stared at her for a long time and finally said nothing, "Okay, be careful on the road."
He has seen countless people, how could he not see the relief in her eyes. She didn't really want to spend the night at his place. He knew what she said was half truth and half false, but he couldn't force her at this time. Otherwise, she might not just leave.
He still has time.
The next day was the weekend, and Youyan was on vacation. She went to the city art gallery to look at paintings.
Apart from Gu Yebai, painting is a hobby in her life. She will pay attention to news about various art exhibitions. Although I can’t go to work most of the time on weekdays, fortunately, this huge art exhibition is on the weekend. There were borrowed famous paintings, copies of famous artists from home and abroad, and most touchingly, there were also the posthumous works of Gong Zhang, who had pointed out her paintings during her mother's lifetime.
This person is very important to us. Most of the people watching the exhibition were probably going there for him.
This painting master left not many works in his life, but they were all fine works. He suffered from severe rheumatism and had joints that had been inactive for many years. He had not painted for a long time. Before his death, it was said that he was creating the last painting of his life. Unexpectedly, , died before the painting was completed.
Later, when his eldest disciple took out the painting, people discovered that it was a picture of a hundred birds facing the phoenix, which took up half of the painting paper and then stopped.
This half of the painting contains exactly fifty birds, with half of a phoenix in the middle. The brushwork is vigorous and full of grace. Although the master was injured in his later years and his technique has not reached the level of his prime, the exquisite brushwork and the superb freehand brushwork are still breathtaking.
Mrs. Gong Zhang passed away at an early age. Gong Zhang had no heirs throughout his life. He devoted much of his income from paintings to charity. Later, this painting was bought by a foreign Chinese collector through a leader in the city, and the price was close to 200 million. Based on the master's life work, a special fund was established with the proceeds, which will be managed by his disciples to support the cultivation of new talents in the painting world.
A large art exhibition was held at the G City Municipal Art Museum. The photographer learned that he took out the paintings from his collection and kept them on display for a month.
Apart from the relationship with his mother, Youyan himself likes this old man's paintings and his teachings very much, but it's a pity that no one can express his full respect and emotion to him.
She came here alone, Susan was not here, and she had no friends here. It was impossible for her to date Zhang Lei and Xiao Er.
In front of Gong Zhang's painting, there were indeed several layers inside and outside. The first few groups of people finally moved away, and she hurried forward.
This painting is truly majestic.
However, after standing still for half an hour and being pushed N times by the people next to him, the doubts in Youyan's heart reached the extreme.
She knew better than to meddle, but approached the staff anyway.
"Hello, how can I help you?" The young girl looked at the anxious visitor in front of her with a smile.
"Mr. Gong's painting...may be fake." She hesitated for a while and finally spoke.
The sound was not loud, but it immediately attracted the attention of several men and women passing by, who all looked over in astonishment.
The staff member was also frightened by her. When he saw the impact, he immediately took her to the office.
In the room, seven or eight people listened to the girl's narration and looked at the young woman who lowered her head in silence. They were all shocked. One of them, an older woman, made up her mind, walked to Youyan, and said with a complicated expression: "Girl. , Don’t talk nonsense about this—”
Before she could finish speaking, someone pushed open the office door.
"Who is spreading rumors here to cause trouble! Can you say such nonsense? Do you know how big the impact will be!" The other party said loudly, and a door clicked, making people frightened.
At this time, the phone rang, and someone was stunned for a moment before remembering to answer the call.
Youyan looked up. He was a middle-aged man in his forties. He was not tall, had a slightly bald head, and a few traces of flesh on his face. He did not have the temperament to work in an art museum.
Next to him was the female staff member just now, who introduced her with a cold face and said she was Director Fang.
Director Fang should be the biggest leader here. He came angrily after hearing the news and didn't even ask anyone to bring her to the office for a secret discussion. "Hello, I'm not spreading any rumors. Although I'm not entirely sure, these parts of the painting don't seem to be the work of a palace veteran. Just to be on the safe side, let's see if we can invite some experts to examine it—" Youyan paused. But he spoke again.
Director Fang also saw the "troublemaker" clearly at this time and became furious, "Not sure? Not sure. What are you talking about? Why do you want to invite experts? Are you just asking for experts? Who are you? ? I’m warning you, if you dare to talk nonsense outside, we will sue you for slander.”
As he spoke, he had already looked her over and over, judging from her clothing that she was neither rich nor noble.
"Blow her out." At this point, he gave the order coldly and glared at the two female staff in the office with his small eyes.
The two of them sat up. At this moment, the male staff member who answered the phone suddenly rushed out and whispered something into his ear. At this time, the two female staff members also walked up to Youyan.
He lifted her half up from under her waist, avoided the entrance to the museum's exhibition hall, and dragged her out in the opposite direction. Youyan didn't argue much, knowing that he couldn't say anything about it, so he could only think of another way. He was about to let them go and leave. Suddenly, someone asked in surprise: "Why are you here?"
Youyan looked at the sound and was equally surprised.
This person was obviously talking about her.
The two people who came towards me, one was in a suit and the other was in a smart suit. They had just met a few days ago.
Huai'an and her leadership.
At this time, Director Fang, who was coming to greet him with several people, was stunned for a moment, "Miss Zhou knows her?"
Huai'an asked before answering, "Director Fang, what's going on?"
"It's trivial, haha," Director Fang was unsure about the relationship between Huai'an and this woman. Huai'an was Gu Yebai's girlfriend and the Chu Bureau's favorite general. He was always polite and attentive, but at this time he was also smiling and went to explore the way first. , "This girl said that there is something wrong with Mr. Gong's paintings. She is probably a painting enthusiast and has some over-imagination. She is just a friend of Miss Zhou. It must be a misunderstanding."
"Miss Zhou, please tell her why there is something wrong with the painting?" He said and winked at his two men, asking them to let them go first.
When Chu Tingyue heard this, his expression changed slightly, but he had always been reserved. He quickly looked away and just looked at Youyan and said, "Hello, we met in a coffee shop not long ago. Do you have any impressions?"
Youyan nodded and said, "You said there is something wrong with this painting. Do you have any evidence?"
"My mother... I have liked Gong Lao's paintings since I was a child and am very familiar with his paintings. Gong Lao suffered from rheumatism in his later years. In the few flower and bird paintings he made during this period, the bird tails tended to be slightly upward. This was due to insufficient exertion. This is undoubtedly flawed, but it also adds to the charm. In this painting of hundreds of birds facing the phoenix, the birds are too stable, and two of the flowers are colored twice. It can be seen that the person who wrote the painting was not satisfied and wanted to make some changes. Revised, but Gong Laoda started five years ago. Although he was trapped by illness and his painting skills seemed to have deteriorated, in fact, he had reached a perfect level in creation, and all his strokes were done in one go. These things may sound big, but they look extremely subtle. The copyist is very familiar with Mr. Gong, so it’s almost as if it’s real, but this is definitely not Gong—”
Chu Tingyue listened without saying a word. When he reached this point, he couldn't help but said in a deep voice: "
Girl, I believe you are a painter, but it is extremely unreasonable to use so-called speculation to figure out the master's painting style and determine the authenticity of a thing based on a little liking. This painting has been formally authenticated, and it is even more authentic. It is handed over to us by the hands of our direct disciples, so no mistakes can be made in any aspect. I hope you will stop talking nonsense, otherwise you will not only affect the order here, but also make Teacher Gong's disciples suffer injustice.
"Slander is no small matter, let alone such a master. Now that you are a classmate of Huai'an, the matter just fell into my hands. I will not pursue it this time. But if you spread rumors outside, we will have to hand it over to the police Agency," he said, motioning to Huai'an, "Xiao Zhou, tell your classmate that this painting has been formally authenticated by us, how could it be fake, and tell her not to cause trouble here."
Huai'an nodded and took Youyan aside.
"What's going on?" Her voice was cold.
"Huai'an, I know this seems... ridiculous to me, but I hope you can find an expert to make an appraisal." If you are worried about the impact, maybe you can find a few top painters, collectors or Gong Lao's former friends to take a look. Look—" Youyan said.
The sincerity in her eyes made Huai'an furious. At this moment, she didn't want to pretend to be a snake anymore. What's the difference between being sarcastic or overt
"Youyan," her pupils shrank slightly, "have you studied painting since you were a child? In the past few years with Gu Yebai, you don't necessarily know anything about painting, right?"
"Looking for a top painter, you want to say Gu Yebai. If you want to see Gu Yebai, just say so. I can help you make an appointment with him. Of course, whether he is willing to meet him or not is another matter. It involves the master's legacy. Is it interesting?"
"I didn't refer to him specifically, and I have no plans to see him again." Youyan explained, but he also knew that it was useless to say anything, so in the end, he remained silent.
"You have no intention of seeing him again, so why did you work near his company, why did you attend the class reunion, why did Chu Qing misunderstand that you had something to do with him, and couldn't help but touch you? Gu Yebai settled the matter for you, but Tang Huang told me that he even asked Lin Ziyan to convey it to you, but he didn’t even want to say a word to you."
She said it to the point, clearly watching the face of the man opposite her turn pale little by little.
Youyan knew that she must look ugly now. She wanted to tell Huai'an that she returned to G City to work near him, not because she wanted to renew her relationship with him, and she didn't know that he would go to the class reunion.
But these explanations are useless.
Huai'an wouldn't believe it.
"I have no intention of meeting him again. For this painting, I propose to invite a top painter just for identification. As for whether you invite him or someone else, that is up to you."
Her tone was solemn and she didn't linger.
Huai'an watched her leave coldly, wondering why Chu Ke's people didn't kill her by mistake.
When Chu Tingyue saw that she had finished handling it, she said a few words to Director Fang and asked him to keep an eye on her and make sure no mistakes were made. Director Fang only agreed.
He and Huai'an walked to the side and said calmly, "How is it?"
"The drunkard doesn't care about the wine. She asked for someone to come and identify her. She wanted to make a fuss about seeing Gu Yebai again. There will definitely be trouble." Because Chu Tingyue knew about the two of them, Huai'an was not afraid to make harsh comments.
Chu Tingyue's eyes were dim behind the lenses.
"Don't say she is talking nonsense. As your leader, I will definitely stand by you. If you want to test this, you have to find someone else and won't involve President Gu. Don't tell President Gu about this, so as not to fall into her trap. "
"Of course. Her wishful thinking was good. It would be best if the museum agreed to find Gu Yebai. If she didn't agree, she would definitely come to the door herself. Gu Yebai would be interested in Gong Zhang's affairs, but she didn't expect that I would be there. , this." Huai'an said word by word.
Chu Tingyue patted her shoulder and said, "Do you know her phone address? I asked someone to give her a phone number and told her to leave her contact information and contact her at any time. Keep her steady and ask her not to go to Gu She first. Long. The rest is up to you."
"I don't have her contact information, but some of my classmates know. Huai'an nodded and pulled up the name "Xu Qing" on his phone.
"I didn't expect that I was wrong. I didn't expect that this was someone who would cause trouble. No wonder that Chu Ke wanted to touch her. It's unclear how much trouble she will cause." Chu Tingyue said lightly with his eyelids slightly drooped.
Youyan made a decision. After receiving a call from the art museum, saying that the leaders were considering asking experts, including Gu Yebai, to conduct appraisals, they would invite her there.
She planned to resign to Zhang Lei when she finished work the next day. It's good that Zhang Lei needs someone to replace him, but the cafe's manpower is currently busy.
She didn't want the half-month salary she had received when she joined the job, and regarded it as a small compensation for the coffee shop, although she knew Zhang Lei was not short of it.
She knew she had promised Zhang Lei, but she could no longer stay in G City.
She no longer wanted to be a thorn in the relationship between Gu Yebai and Zhou Huaian, even though Gu Yebai had long been a stranger to her.
But she didn't expect that Huai'an would appear in front of her again that afternoon.
She invited her to the restaurant opposite the art gallery.
"You should be grateful that I have a clear leader," Huai'an looked at her with a half-smile, "I heard him say that after the exhibition is over, he would consider asking some of his old friends, Mr. Bai and Mr. Gong, to do an appraisal."
"Thank you." Youyan nodded, for which she was grateful.
"I'll invite you over then." Huai'an looked at her expression lightly.
"I won't go there, don't worry." Youyan said almost immediately.
Huai'an paused and then smiled.
"Aren't you afraid of being slapped in the face if you say this too much?" She said softly while stirring the coffee in the cup, "Youyan, you can show up when the time comes. You can show up naturally. I won't stop you, but smart people know what to take. , what should I give up?"
"Actually, you don't need to wait until then. You might as well look for Gu Yebai now to see what his attitude is, whether he will still pay attention to you or not give you face. In fact, you should know very well that even if he is willing to let you get close, , not out of sincerity, but more importantly, you understand better than me. Now that I have told him, it will be better if he is willing to let it go.
I have some money on hand, three million, not much, but not much. If you leave G city, I can give it to you. I'm not afraid of your threat, you can't threaten me, but you are here and I'm annoyed by it. "
Of course, you can appear in front of him again and again, but if you do it twice more, you can't expect to get the money. "She stood up, put her hands on the edge of the table, and looked at her from above.
"Huai'an, I know what I should do. Thank you for your money." Youyan smiled and got up quickly. At this moment, she heard a scream and her body felt hot. However, she got up too hastily and sat up straightly. The approaching waiter bumped into her.
"Guest, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..." The other party was flustered and apologized repeatedly.
The hot soup and thick sauce spilled on the skin, which was spicy and painful, but looking at the other person's apologetic look, Youyan just shook his head, and even comforted the other person and said: "I happened to want to eat this dish just now, but I didn't order it, but now it can be considered Got a taste.”
It's not easy for anyone in this world.
The other party was stunned for a moment, but couldn't hold it back, smiled, and then asked her to go to the dressing room and put on the clothes he left in the locker first, and then return them to her after her clothes were washed.
Youyan just said no, but the other party insisted. It was hard to refuse the kindness, so she went.
When she came out, she was saying goodbye to Huai'an when two people suddenly came over.
"Huai'an," one of them was a little surprised, "Why are you here?"
"Mom?" Huai'an paused, stood up, and then greeted the middle-aged woman next to him, "Master's wife, are you here?"
They were two well-dressed middle-aged women. One was smart and noble, and the older one was dignified and kind, but her temperament was no worse than the former. She smiled at Huai'an and said, "Lao Xia is on a business trip. It will take two days." When you come back, your mother and I will make an appointment to come over to look at the paintings. We’ll have afternoon tea first, and then go over. Why, you and your friends are eating here too—"
As she spoke, her eyes suddenly stopped on Youyan's face, and her smile froze at the corner of her mouth.
Youyan was also stunned, "Master's wife."
But then she fell silent.
She knew that this woman who treated Gu Ye as if she were her own child would not want to see her. And this title of mine is obviously no longer suitable.
"Why are you here?" Mrs. Xia asked calmly, the kindness on her face disappeared and turned serious.
Youyan opened her mouth, but didn't know how to answer. Back then, how much this mistress loved her and Gu Yebai, and how much she wanted to see them stay together for the rest of their lives. Today, how much she hates and hates her.
The place where I was burned was so hot that it went straight to my heart.
"Master's wife, Youyan is back. Let's meet our old classmates, that's all." Huai'an said this for her.
"Mom," she looked at her mother, "please stay with my wife, my classmate and I will leave first."
She walked up to Mrs. Xia again, held her hand, and said with a smile: "Master's wife, when the teacher comes back, we will go over to have dinner. I miss your steamed pork belly and braised pork elbow."
"Okay," Mrs. Xia patted her hand and said warmly, "I'll do it for you then."
"It's just that these classmates get together, and they should break up after the gathering. People who are not the same will not drink the same tea." Mrs. Xia's eyes finally fell on Youyan.
This was also the first time that Youyan saw something like a tempered knife in Mrs. Xia's eyes.
She lowered her head silently and left with Huai'an.
"Don't appear in front of Xiao Gu again." When they were leaving, Mrs. Xia caught up with her, her voice saying clearly from behind.
Youyan turned around and bowed slowly.
good. she shouted back.
When she went out with Huai'an, she didn't want Huai'an to see her out-of-control emotions and was about to leave, but Huai'an was obviously calmer than her and turned a blind eye to all this. She just said lightly: "Let's go to the art gallery again. We have an appointment today. You are also on official business.”
Seeing her doubts, she explained: "The leader asked you to talk about Mr. Gong's paintings, and point out the places you mentioned."
"Okay." She agreed.
The two entered the art museum.
In the restaurant, Huai'an's mother suddenly chased her out. Mrs. Xia followed. Huai'an's mother took a breath and said, "I made you laugh. I lost my composure. I almost wanted to chase after that woman and let her leave."
"I heard from Huai'an that Xiao Gu loved this person very much back then. Why did she come back? Huai'an didn't even tell me." She smiled bitterly.
Mrs. Xia patted her on the shoulder.
"She is such an old person, she must have her own ideas. Besides, Huai'an has always been calm and smart. You can also rest assured that Xiao Gu can't have anything against her, and she may not be looking for Xiao Gu when she comes back. Even if she dares, Xiao Gu won’t care either. We know our apprentice well.”
"Let's go, if you're worried, we'll go over and have a look."
Huai'an stood out among the crowd. Tall and beautiful.
The two of them immediately spotted her and Lu Youyan in the bustling art gallery.
Lu Youyan was standing sideways, and her appearance couldn't be clearly seen, but she had shoulder-length hair and a blue skirt that was easy to recognize.
The two girls were arguing fiercely in front of a painting. Suddenly, Youyan raised her hand and slapped Huai'an hard.
The force was so fierce that Huai'an took a few steps back, and then Youyan said something else and walked quickly to the other door.
Everyone looked at him in shock, but Huai'an was not like before. He slowly slid to the ground and didn't care about other people's eyes.
The staff came over to check.
Mrs. Xia and Mrs. Xia were also shocked. Huai'an's mother covered her mouth with her hand, uttered an ouch, and ran over first.
"Huai'an, what's wrong?" Seeing the people around her looking over, she quickly blocked them with her body.
The staff also recognized Huai'an at this time and said in surprise: "Miss Zhou—"
Mrs. Xia also came over at this time, stretched out her hand to help Huai'an, "My daughter, get up first."
Huai'an's eyes were red and her face was swollen, but she didn't care. Her face was as pale as paper, but there was still a smile on her lips.
"She said that Gu Yebai was still meddling in her affairs. Gu Yebai still had feelings for her. She came back just to win him back." She looked at her mother and said softly.