IR Chapter 1

Title: 不正经关系 (Improper Relationship)

Author：御小凡 (Yu Xiaofan)

Translator: 月野 見事 (TsukinoMigoto) @ kin0monogatari

Protagonists ：严海安 (Yan Hai’an – MC), 孙言 (Sun Yan – ML)

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In the early spring of City B, as always, there is no fixed weather. The temperature fluctuates arbitrarily. If you don’t give an accurate weather forecast, people on the street will fall into the situation of dressing indiscriminately.

“Congratulations.” Yan Hai’an signed his name and handed a bouquet of blue hydrangea to Li Qing, who was wearing an off-shoulder dress, and complimented her, “The place is good.”

Li Qing took it with one hand and hugged him warmly. A touch of perfume blends together in an instant, creating a sense of frivolous intimacy.

“Thank you for coming to join us.” She was nearly forty years old, but her face was so radiant that we could not see any flaws, exuding the feminine charm intertwined by nature and time. She looked at the people behind them with a smile on her face: “Yi Sheng? How’s the new painting?”

Mo Yisheng was still looking around, pure curiosity in his eyes, when he heard Li Qing’s question, he turned his head: ” I just started the planning.”

“Take your time.” Li Qing showed a sincere smile and invited the two of them into the door, “I hang Yi Sheng’s painting in a conspicuous place, and you can see it as soon as you enter. You can go look around. I’ll come to see you later.”

This is obviously just her being polite, no matter how many people that had come today, the gallery owner is the real protagonist, Yan Hai’an understands that she must be very busy, and said attentively: “Then you can go on first. “

Li Qing’s new gallery is situated in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the city. It is located on the top floor of a high-end commercial centre. The gallery occupies half of the whole floor. It’s just that although the decor that is too cold shows a sense of high-end, but with the air conditioner whose temperature is not properly adjusted, it makes people feel a little uncomfortable.

A lot of people had arrived at this time, but the thick carpet absorbed the sounds of the footsteps, and the visitors were unwilling to lose their dignity; thus, the gallery didn’t seem to be too noisy.

Mo Yisheng was still a little anxious at first, but he had calmed down and looked at the various paintings on the wall carefully. Each one was marked with detailed information, including the name of the painting, the author, and the size. And Yan Hai’an paid more attention to the crowd. Li Qing’s network in this province is very strong. Many of the people who came today are quite famous painters, and there are even people from some well-known painting association, which can be regarded as them acknowledging her in the industry.

There is only one painting on the snow-white wall facing the corridor. The dark background and light-colored characters highlight the perfect balance of the picture. The elastic lines flexibly divided the colour blocks and outlines, outlining a young man’s life. The bust, posture and appearance are as youthful and handsome as in Greek mythology and legend, and the exposed shoulders are round and white. He was facing the picture, with a hint of curiosity in his deep but clean eyes, staring at everyone who admired him.

The label under the painting displays the author as: Mo Yisheng.

Mo Yisheng walked by without looking at it, but Yan Hai’an stood there and watched carefully.

After walking a few more steps to see that Yan Hai’an  didn’t follow him, Mo Yisheng turned back to look while asking helplessly and doubtfully, “Why haven’t you seen enough?”

Yan Hai’an had watched the whole process of the makings of this painting from the sketch to the finished product. The details of this painting may not look much to the author himself, so Mo Yisheng really can’t figure out what else to see.

When Yan Hai’an heard this, he turned his head and smiled: “I like your paintings.”

Although his friend is not rigid, he is somewhat serious in the world. He rarely smiles. Mo YiSheng laughed as if he was infected by the smile: “You have said that many times.” Yan Hai’an’s phone suddenly vibrated in his pocket and he fished the phone out. He then walked to a place with few people to speak on the phone: “Hello? Well, I know. Now, I was going to call you in the past few days. Do you have time next Friday? Well, that’s about the time.” 

In the first two years, Mo Yisheng’s paintings could not be sold at a high price. In order to make a living, the two of them opened an instant studio, and the rent renewal was signed once a year. In a blink of an eye, another year has passed. However, Mo Yisheng didn’t have to worry about anything other than teaching a few classes, and left the rest to Yan Hai’an.

After answering the phone for a moment, Yan Hai’an turned around and saw that there were several more people beside Mo Yisheng. Only Li Qing of whom he knew while the others are strangers.

He walked over quickly, just in time to hear Li Qing introducing: “This is Boss Sun Yan.”

The man who was introduced by her suddenly laughed, interrupting her and saying to Mo Yisheng, “What kind of boss is an unemployed vagabond. Hey, just call me Sun Yan.”

Sun Yan is the tallest of the four, a bit taller than Yan Hai’an, who is 1.76 metres tall. He has thin cheeks and bright eyebrows. He has an orthodox Asian Appearance and facial features that are deeper than ordinary people, especially since his nose bridge is taller, towering and beautiful.

Even Li Qing made a special trip to accompany him so it means his identity is not ordinary. Such a person is undoubtedly conspicuous, but he is humble in his mouth and seems to be well aware of his own advantages. Although he is polite when he smiles, there is always a bit of cynicism in his demeanour.

Yan Hai’an walked up to them and greeted everyone. Another person there is Xu Ke. Yan Hai’an has seen him in Li Qing’s previous gallery. He is also a rookie painter, but his paintings are not as pleasing to the eye as his own appearance. There’s just too much craftsmanship. Li Qing has never paid much attention to him. Today, he saw one of Xu Ke’s paintings hanging on the wall of the new gallery. Yan Hai’an was still puzzled just now, but now that he notices that Xu Ke has someone like Sun Yan by his side, he understands a little of how this came to be.

Xu Ke himself is self-aware and is very polite to everyone. Sun Yan’s gaze just swept past Yan Hai’an, as if he was just an item not worthy of his attention, and then returned his gaze to Mo Yisheng: “Is this painting on the wall painted by Yisheng?”

Yan Hai’an frowns a little. Sun Yan, he has heard of this name. After all, if he wants to mix in the art circle in City B, he always needs to know the situation of the circle here. The Sun family started out with real estate and they are ranked first on the list of the richest. Sun Yan has an eldest brother, who is the current ruler of the Sun family. Sun Yan is known in the circle to be the kind who plays around just to have a good time and he is not afraid of people’s perceptions of him.

In Yan Hai’an’s view, one word is enough to describe the man: a playboy.

He really didn’t expect to see the real person in flesh and blood here today. To be honest, Sun Yan is much more lively than what Yan Hai’an imagined, but this still cannot change his image in Yan Hai’an’s eyes.

This kind of person will only bring endless trouble and Yan Hai’an is absolutely unwilling to let Mo Yisheng deal with him.

Li Qing batted her eyelashes and immediately said: “Yi Sheng’s paintings are very appealing and very popular. Many people have asked about this painting. Is Mr. Sun also interested?”

Sun Yan smiled and did not hide his appreciation for Mo Yisheng: “The painting really represents the painter.”

After speaking, he looked back and forth between the painting and Mo Yisheng, and added: “They are both very beautiful.” 

It’s a bit strange to describe a man as beautiful, but Mo Yisheng is really unconcerned since it is not worthy of his evaluation. He is addicted to painting and he is a bit ignorant of the world. That almost pure temperament plays the finishing touch in his perfect facial features. This kind of beauty sometimes even blurs the gender. For that reason, he always becomes an attraction in the crowd. He is clearly eye-catching.

He stood in front of the painting, facing the madrigal boy in the painting, and the beauty of the mutual echo was impressive.

Mo Yisheng was a little puzzled, which made him look cleaner. Anyway, Sun Yan had already praised him so he said hesitantly, “Thank you.”

Xu Ke, who was completely ignored, remained silent from beginning to end, watching calmly. He looked at Mo Yisheng and then looked at Sun Yan with a smile.

Yan Hai’an felt upset for a moment.

With an inexplicable smile, Sun Yan said to Li Qing, “I want this painting. Do you have any other works by Yi Sheng?”

Inadvertently, a business was facilitated. Paintings that are of interest have always been sold, and Li Qing is still very happy: “They have already been sold. If Mr. Sun likes it, you can look at other similar styles.”

Sun Yan snorted: “They’re really popular.” He turned to Mo Yisheng: “It’s a pity, I met you too late, can you notify me first when the next work comes out?”

It is always a pleasure to be appreciated and valued by others. Mo Yisheng’s impression of this Mr. Sun has become very good: “Then you have to wait for a while, I have just started a new project.”

“It doesn’t matter, this kind of waiting is worth the wait.” Sun Yan raised his brows and said with a smile, “But I’m very curious about what theme you’re going to paint in your next painting. Have you already thought about it?”

Mo Yisheng likes to chat with people about painting the most, so he immediately opened for more conversation: “It’s Greece. A story in a myth. I want to draw a series.”

Yan Hai’an, who was watching silently, took a deep breath, trying not to frown any more. Although he makes up his mind about everything between the two, he never hinders Mo Yisheng’s communication with others when he is outside. Mo Yisheng doesn’t care about this, but he has to think about it. He doesn’t want others to think that he is controlling Mo Yisheng’s life.

But now if he doesn’t interfere, his innocent little friend will be abducted.

Yan Hai’an put a suitable smile on his face: “Yi Sheng, I just heard on the phone that there was something wrong with the studio. I guess we have to go back.”

“Huh?” Mo Yisheng asked indifferently, “What’s wrong?”

Yan Hai’an smiled without saying another word, with a look of ‘it’s a personal issue not to be talked about in front of others’, the people present were all human, so naturally they wouldn’t ask questions ignorantly.

Seeing that a sharp gaze was poking at the side of his face, Yan Hai’an looked back generously. When he met Sun Yan’s indifferent gaze, he smiled apologetically: “I’m so sorry.”

Li Qing saw it. After hesitating for a moment, she glanced at the delicate-looking Xu Ke, and said to Mo Yisheng, “Since you have issues, you can go first if you have something to do.”

“Thank you. I wish you a prosperous business.” Yan Hai’an patted Mo Yisheng’s back, “Then let’s go first.”

Mo Yisheng is a man of worldly ignorance and has always listened to Yan Hai’an’s words. He nodded and followed him.

***The author has something to say: I’m pointing it out… It is Sun Yan x Yan Hai’an. With that said, the others have cannon fodder faces, don’t stand on the wrong side of the OP hahaha. Is it expected to be completed within 2000 words?

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*Translator’s Note: I will include the author’s notes in my translation of this work. 48 chapters in total. A few ‘parking lot’ (‘car’, ‘meat’, ‘papapa’) chapters. This is the second book that I’m translating and I probably won’t publish the offline reading version on my wattpad page. It’s hard to manage. I fell in love with this author (Yu Xiaofan) recently but of course Shui Qian Cheng is still my number one favourite. This author has gained my attention and I have read almost all of the works by this author. I’m surprised that I haven’t found any of his/her works translated. So, here I am. I encourage other translators to translate his/her works too. If you can’t find the ‘parking lot’ scenes for the works, come to me, I’ll help you find them. Recently I’ve read the ‘parking lot’ scenes in Shui Qian Cheng’s latest work ‘Alpha Predator’ and it was so satisfying. OMG I talked a lot. See you in the next chapter. Bye . -K (2022.03.31)

★ If you missed reading this in the description, do note that the chapter title with (M) at the beginning means it’s a mature/smut chapter.

Next update: 2022.04.04