Title: 不正经关系 (Improper Relationship)
Author：御小凡 (Yu Xiaofan)
Translator: K (@kin0monogatari)
Protagonists ：严海安 (Yan Hai’an – MC), 孙言 (Sun Yan – ML)
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Standing at the entrance of the gallery, Mo Yisheng was still confused.
His heart had always been filled with fantasies. They are unrealistic, simple and beautiful. They are full of love for the fluffy world. They are conveyed in his paintings through brushes. And that is what Yan Hai’an likes the most about him. This naivety had always been tentacles circling around him.
But in just a week, everything went upside down.
At the beginning, he couldn’t comprehend the situation. He had his clear likes and dislikes about certain things. He rejected what he didn’t like until the end and had no doubts about what he liked until the end. So when he saw this result, he chose to go to He Ling and ask him clearly about what had happened.
And He Ling simply said to him: You must help me.
He Ling said: “You are talented and you can be famous anytime. Did you not care about me? I have been so tepid for so many years. I really can’t stand it anymore. Give your painting to me. But the prize money belongs to you. And I can also give you additional money.”
“But what about after that?” Mo Yisheng finally understood. He Ling said all that because he knew that Mo Yisheng didn’t care about the ranking. So he didn’t understand why He Ling used this method, “Even if you became famous this time for this painting, if you can’t continue to prove yourself that you can paint, don’t you think you won’t be looked up to in the future? What’s the point of winning this award but not being able to paint well?”
His tone was too sincere and he truly expressed his confusion.
But He Ling’s face twisted for a moment, looking at Mo Yisheng with his sharp eyes. It was jealousy. It was like a dark needle that was piercing into his skin. He lowered his eyes to cover it up: “I can handle things in the future. As long as you give me this painting, I believe you can paint a better painting. Maybe next time you can get the special prize for yourself.”
“He Ling, haven’t we discussed this before? No matter how well you paint, a painting made with sincerity is precious.” Mo Yisheng couldn’t believe what He Ling said. He was instantly provoked. “You are not only insulting yourself, you are insulting the painting itself. You are also insulting art! I can’t tolerate this. You go and make it clear to them.”
He Ling’s movements froze. With a pleading look on his face, he coaxed softly: “The result has been written. Everyone knows it. How can you bear to let my reputation go down? I can’t get along in the art circle anymore. Yi Sheng, can you bear to let that happen to me?”
“Why can’t you get along in the circle anymore? You will just tell the truth.” Mo Yisheng was stunned, “Besides, I told you earlier that there is nothing but mess within this circle. It’s just like raising pigs.”
After finishing speaking, he also thought about his good friend: “I can go with you. You just say you made a mistake when you signed it up.”
No matter how He Ling coaxed, Mo Yisheng insisted that he would not let this matter go. He could be persuaded about anything, but only painting was his bottom line.
He Ling’s mouth was dry and he finally stopped.
Mo Yisheng was also unhappy with what he said. He pouted and did not speak, just like a small child quarrelling and waiting for the other party to apologise.
But He Ling suddenly laughed.
Mo Yisheng looked at him blankly.
“…I’m really fed up with you.” He Ling smiled and frowned. He shook his head as if it was ridiculous. And finally couldn’t help laughing, “Why are you such an idiot?”
Mo Yisheng was stunned for a moment. He suspected that he had heard it wrong: “What did you just say?”
“Painting ruins your brain, right?” He Ling didn’t give him a chance to argue, “I’ve never seen anyone more stupid than you.”
After digesting the maliciousness in this sentence, Mo Yisheng was completely stunned.
His mother and Yan Hai’an were not capable enough to protect him, so he had also heard other people say bad things to him. But those words were said by people he didn’t like, so that didn’t matter.
But this time was different. This time, the bad things were said by He Ling. It was from someone he thought of as a friend. When a child is really friendly with someone, they think that the other party will give the same response. If I give you candy, you will also give me candy. If I treat you well, you will treat me well. In their thinking, this is only natural.
Until now, he finally understood one thing. That he had been betrayed.
“You are talented, Mo Yisheng. But you are too stupid. And you have offended everyone in the circle to the death. Yesterday, I mentioned you in front of Wang Yuhu and he said that your paintings will not be displayed in City B in every high-end gallery. In exchange, I think everyone is very happy that way.” He Ling continued to say, “Yan Hai’an also ran away. It might not matter to you, right? I don’t think he can stand you anymore. Who can stand you? What’s all that about you? You’re a simple person. Haha but you are actually a mentally retarded person, right?”
Is that right? Was I too stupid? Mo Yisheng thought to himself.
Yan Hai’an said that he was too simple and his mother, Li Weiwei also said the same thing. Did they all mean that he was just stupid?
He instinctively wanted to give Yan Hai’an a call. But after dialling the number several times, he stopped at the end.
He dared not.
Just like a child who made a mistake without listening to an adult’s warning dared not face an adult, he dared not face Yan Hai’an. It was clear that Yan Hai’an had told him many times not to have a deep friendship with He Ling. But he didn’t believe it.
In the end, Mo Yisheng called Li Weiwei and wanted to ask her for help. But as soon as Li Weiwei got the call, before he could even say anything, she started talking about her family and her love life with her new husband.
For the first time, Mo Yisheng saw clearly that his mother was the same as him. She was only seeing what she wanted to see and only living in her own world.
Mo Yisheng shut himself at home, silently watching the ‘Dinner’, watching how the news reported a Chinese painter emerging internationally and watching how professionals boasted about the exquisite conception of the painting. The report said that after winning the award, the painting will be exhibited in a gallery in China.
That is in City B. In Li Qing’s gallery.
Mo Yisheng stood at the door and kept watching the crowd coming in and out of the gallery, as lively as when he and Yan Hai’an first came here to congratulate Li Qing for moving into the new store.
Li Qing is still so beautiful, coming to the door from time to time and being a good host. Mo Yisheng, who was not moving with the pestle on the side, was very eye-catching. She swept over with her peripheral vision and her brows furrowed slightly.
After pondering for a while, she still walked over to Mo Yisheng: “Yisheng, it’s been a long time since I saw you. Why did you come over to visit my gallery?”
She was smiling, but there was irony in her words. Mo Yisheng couldn’t hear it before, but now for some reason, he seems to be able to easily capture these negative emotions.
“I heard that Hai’an is running around the country with your paintings.” Li Qing smiled slightly. She was so angry at Yan Haian’s behaviour of being a white-eyed wolf. Did he think that his wings were hard enough to fly on his own? “Okay. I asked you to join the association before, but you always ignored it. The president is highly respected, how can you be so disrespectful? I’m a little angry with you. We little shrimps dare not provoke him. We can only be wronged if we’re wrong. I’m afraid I won’t be able to pick up your paintings during this time. So I didn’t inform you in advance this time, sorry.”
Mo Yisheng moved his eyes and looked at Li Qing.
Li Qing felt that something was wrong. Mo Yisheng is like a painting, clean and full of aura, when did he have such a dull look? How could he stare straight at someone with bloodshot eyes?
“Did you make a special trip to see He Ling’s paintings today?” After stabbing a few words, she calmed down a little. She no longer carried a gun or a stick and returned to her former demeanour, “It’s strange to say that he seemed to be enlightened. I really didn’t see that he had such a skill. Have you seen the painting ‘Dinner’? After this, it will be displayed in the city art museum. I’ll be the first to display it.”
Li Qing smiled and said, “Didn’t he get close to you before? Could it be that you helped his creativity?”
This joking remark didn’t get Mo Yisheng’s reaction at all and Li Qing felt even more strange. But it’s not good to leave Mo Yisheng outside like this: “Why don’t you come in and have a look? Let’s have a meal together in a while, hmm?”
When Mo Yisheng heard this, his expression became even more sullen. He walked straight into the gallery with wide strides. Li Qing was wearing high heels but she quickly chased after a few steps: “This kid! Why is he getting more and more rude!”
The painting is hung in the most conspicuous place, surrounded by a group of people in front of it. There are ordinary people watching the fun and most of them are people in the industry. Mo Yisheng has seen some of them but some he has not.
He didn’t come close to the painting. He just stood in the corner, silently watching He Ling play like a duck in water, chatting and laughing.
When it was lunchtime, He Ling and Wang Yuhu were swept away by the stars and the hall became quiet. Suddenly, there were only one or two people wandering around.
Mo Yisheng stepped forward and looked closely at his half-year hard work.
Thinking about it carefully, there are traces to follow. He Ling wanted to walk away with his rough drafts and all the drafts, not letting him interfere in the competition. And even pestering him every day to prevent him from coming into contact with any other people for the current result.
When he painted this picture, he was still wondering why he painted it like this. But it turned out that the painting would not be able to deceive people. His feelings were correct. This might be the representation of those who accompanied him in place of Yan Hai’an. The true face of the ‘friends’ around you.
It’s funny, really funny.
He saw his own life in a trance in this painting. It was like a drowsy person being woken up by a sudden hit of a stick and his heart was heartbroken.
Mo Yisheng took out a small bottle from his trouser pocket. When he opened the bottle, the liquid inside gave off a peculiar smell of turpentine. With a wave of his hand, he splashed it on the painting.
Someone next to him noticed something was wrong and turned to look at him. His suspicious look turned into a shout when he took out the lighter and lit the painting: “What are you doing?!”
Thick black smoke rose from the canvas. Mo Yisheng looked blankly at the destruction of the praised painting and laughed lightly.
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Next update: 2022.09.26
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*Translator’s Note: Well done, Mo Yisheng! You’ve now seen the real world. -K
