Chapter 137: Selling a Painting

The next day we caught a bus back to Kaifeng. A couple of days later, He Yu packed his bags and went back to his hometown. I was so busy with the start of the semester that my feet barely touched the ground. At first, He Yu and I worried that Lu Ayao would be bored staying by himself, but it turned out we were overthinking it.

Lu Ayao spent all day in his room tinkering with those diagrams of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches^[1]. He was so focused that if I didn’t call him around noon to come eat, I felt like he could sit there motionless like an old monk in meditation all day long.

I didn’t have much in savings. Buying gear earlier had drained my wallet, leaving me pretty strapped lately. With the tiny bit of money I had left, trying to support two people would bankrupt me in less than a month. So I came up with a different plan.

Life comes down to three meals a day. As long as you don’t starve, there aren’t any major problems. To cut down costs on those meals as much as possible, I planned to bring Lu Ayao to eat at our campus canteen. When money was a bit looser, I could treat him to a good meal on weekends.

As I finished sharpening my pencil while laying out this plan, I felt like my brilliance had peaked. I listened to my MP3 player, imagining the scenery I’d seen before, but just as I raised my pencil to draw a line, someone suddenly appeared beside me. He nudged my arm, causing the pencil to punch a hole right through the paper.

“Tsk!” My mood ruined in an instant, I unclipped the drawing board with intense impatience to put on a fresh sheet, not bothering to spare even a single glance at Liang Zicheng beside me.

This guy named Liang was my former roommate. To put it bluntly, he was the person I hated most in the dorm. He was our entire major’s notorious “nice guy”—on the surface he was friendly to everyone, but in reality he was a textbook egoist who only yielded to force, never to gentle words.

“Gan Ji, Gan Ji, I’m talking to you.” Liang Zicheng crouched next to me and pulled out one of my earphones.

“Can’t you see I’m busy? Go find someone else.” I put in a fresh sheet of paper and popped my earphone back in, wanting nothing to do with him. Whenever I partnered with him on any project, even if he didn’t lift a finger, his name would still end up listed first.

I wasn’t going to do that stupid shit again.

“Hey, you…” Liang Zicheng tugged persistently at my arm. “Are you short on cash lately? I see you eating at the canteen every single day.”

I ignored him. A few pencil strokes later, my phone alarm went off, immediately followed by a call from Lu Ayao. He was always punctual, calling right on the dot. I quickly dropped my pencil, answered the call, and stood up from my folding stool to head outside and wash my hands.

Leaving that toxic pest Liang Zicheng behind, I headed straight for the canteen. Lu Ayao had already gotten our food and was sitting there waiting. I’d always felt he was a contradiction—he possessed a mindset completely detached from modern society, yet managed to blend into it seamlessly.

“The food looks pretty good today.”

I picked up my chopsticks and sat down. Just as I shoved a couple of mouthfuls of rice into my mouth, I saw that familiar figure dart out of nowhere again. He stumbled over and forced his way into the seat next to Lu Ayao. I cursed inwardly. Dammit, the guy was like a haunting ghost!

“Let’s go, we’re moving,” I told Lu Ayao, preparing to stand up with my tray.

Liang Zicheng was panting heavily. Unable to grab me, he reached for the nearest person, Lu Ayao, suddenly yanking on his sleeve. This made me even more irritated. I threatened him, “Let go. We’re in public, don’t make me hit you!”

Lu Ayao tugged his sleeve back. When Liang Zicheng saw the porcelain shards on his face, he was so startled he nearly jumped out of his skin.

Once he caught his breath, he quickly hurried around the table to me. “Wait! No, no, no! Man, I really have serious business with you, I’m not joking. Last time was my fault, my fault. I shouldn’t have put my name first on that project. My mistake, okay? I’m apologizing!”

His voice wasn’t quiet, and it happened to be peak hours in the canteen. Seeing quite a few people casting curious glances our way, I had to suppress my temper and sit back down, wanting to see what the hell this Liang guy was up to today.

“What serious business could you possibly have? I’m not doing your projects, and I’m not entering your competitions. End of story.” My tone wasn’t friendly at all. Just looking at him made my blood boil.

Lu Ayao sat across from us, steady as a rock and completely unbothered by the commotion on our side, keeping his head down as he ate his food.

Liang Zicheng gave a sycophantic smile. “No, no, no. I noticed you’ve been a bit short on cash lately, and I happen to have a lead on some quick money. I can’t pull off this job myself, but you’d be perfect for it. Once it’s done, I just want a twenty percent referral fee. I’ll take that twenty percent and not a single penny more.”

I shot him a sideways glance and replied without thinking, “Not interested. Find someone else.”

“Hey! Don’t! Hold on a second! You haven’t even heard what the job is yet, don’t turn it down so fast!”

I picked up a piece of wood ear mushroom and chewed it, smirking at him. “Seriously, man, do you think you have any credibility left with me? You’re way too confident in yourself, aren’t you?”

Hearing me say this, Liang Zicheng immediately held up five fingers. “Five thousand!”

My thoughts paused for a split second, and Liang Zicheng pressed on, “Five thousand! A client wants to buy two of your paintings for five thousand. Remember that forest landscape sketch you did in the studio? I secretly took a photo of the half-finished draft, and a client took a liking to it. He’s offering twenty-five hundred for that one alone.”

My temper flared up the moment I heard that. I slammed my chopsticks on the table. “You’ve got some nerve. You secretly took photos of my painting to show people, and now you have the nerve to come here and ask me to sell it?”

“No, no, no, that’s not the point, man! The point is twenty-five hundred per drawing! The boss told me to find you. He’s in Kaifeng tonight and wants to see the drawings in person. He said if they’re good, the price is negotiable. Aren’t you tight on cash lately? I’m just earning a referral fee, really! I’m not lying to you!” Liang Zicheng pleaded repeatedly.

I thought about it quickly, remembering He Yu’s saying that only a fool turns down easy money. Besides, I had been eating this cheap fast food for nearly a month and was getting pretty sick of it. If I didn’t improve our meals soon, I wouldn’t be able to take it even if Lu Ayao could.

Furthermore, it was just a landscape sketch, a practice piece at that. I had a pile of them in my room. If I didn’t sell them, they were just scrap paper. If some sucker was offering twenty-five hundred for one, I might as well sell it. If I brought it over and the boss didn’t like it, the worst that could happen was I’d take it back. I had nothing to lose.

But coming from Liang Zicheng, I was a bit skeptical. “It’s just your word,” I said. “How am I supposed to believe you?”

Liang Zicheng pulled a bag from under the table and stealthily opened it for me to see. I glanced inside and saw a thick stack of hundred-yuan bills. “This is my referral fee,” he said. “If you don’t believe me, take this with you. Once you come with me to meet the boss tonight, you can give it back to me. Surely you can trust me now?”

I looked him up and down, thinking to myself that it was strange for this kid to be acting so dependable all of a sudden. Something felt off.

Without waiting for my response, he shoved the bag into my arms and handed me a slip of white paper with an address written on it. “Tonight. Bring the sketches and wait for me at this location tonight.”

With that, he dashed out of the cafeteria.

I smoothed out the slip of paper. An address was written on it: 18 North Bookstore Street.