Wen Long left the scene in a panic, not even daring to call Xie Jiu “godfather” to his face. He had been Xie’s adopted son for years and knew how heartless this man was. If Wen Long dared to say a word, Xie Jiu would never care about their four years of friendship and would kill him.
However, he did not quite understand why Xie Jiu was so gentle to He Tiantong, setting him up as the heir to his estate and even having frequent contact with him. No matter what the reason was, ‘He Tiantong’ must be very important to Xie Jiu.
Wen Long, who had always been jealous of Xie Jiu, couldn’t help but think deeply. If he could take down He Tiantong, he could not only get money, but also perhaps deal a blow to Xie Jiu. Just imagining this kind of thing made Wen Long tremble with pleasure.
“Only how to do it?”
After Wen Long left, An Yinong never mentioned him again. Xie Jiu would not embarrass himself. He wished that Wen Long would disappear from An Yinong’s world forever. Xie Jiu already knew what Wen Long was going to do. His adopted son was a little clever and always took shortcuts. If he could get close to the He family when he was down and out, he would be able to soar to fame. But, he could look for anyone except here.
“Uncle Jiu, shall we go?” An Yinong came down from upstairs after changing his clothes. He changed into a thicker wool sweater, and put on a dark grey cashmere coat and boots. If one didn’t know, they would think this was the north. How could he be so afraid of the cold?
Xie Jiu couldn’t help but tease him: “You are so afraid of the cold, if you go to the north, won’t you be stuck under the quilt and unable to go out?”
“It’s cold in the north, but it’s not as humid as here. The wind is filled with moisture, and it’s eerie, as if you were walking into a morgue…” said An Yinong.
“You’re just talking nonsense. You’re just saying something unlucky.” Xie Jiu covered his mouth, and then quickly let go. He believed in ghosts and gods. He then looked around, and whispered: “Don’t blame the kid for talking nonsense.”
An Yinong just remembered that metaphysics was prevalent here, and raised his hands in surrender: “Don’t blame those who don’t know. I won’t say it again. Then, Uncle Jiu, can we go now?”
“Let’s go.”
They took a car to the Port Restaurant, which they had been to once before. They didn’t know if it was because of the approaching Chinese New Year, but there was a lot of free time. The restaurant was full and reservations had to be made after the holiday. However, as the boss, Xie Jiu had privileges, and a private room was always reserved for him.
Ignoring the manager’s puzzled look, An Yinong was the first to walk into the reserved box.
“It’s worthy of being a reserved seat by the boss, the scenery is really good.” Standing outside the window, he could see the beautiful harbor, with the lights on the ground and the stars in the sky shining brightly against each other.
He turned to look at Xie Jiu: “Why did Uncle Jiu think of treating me to cake today? Ah, do you have a request for me?”
“Am I so stingy? Do I ask for something else by treating you to a snack?”
“That’s not the case, but Uncle Jiu, you are always so nice to me. You are such a handsome man, and you know everything. You are so outstanding that you have spoiled my tastes.”
An Yinong sat down, poured himself some water, and said casually, “If I date someone in the future, and I see that he is not as sentimental and considerate as my Uncle Jiu, I will definitely be dissatisfied. Then won’t we just have to break up?”
After saying that, he lowered his head to drink water, as if he didn’t notice Xie Jiu’s momentary unnaturalness.
“Does Tiantong have someone he likes now?”
“Guess?” An Yinong raised his head with a mischievous look on his face. “As for the people I’m dating, there’s definitely no one. I’m so busy, how can I have time for a relationship. But Uncle Jiu, are you ‘long nights without sleep’? What type do you like? Do you want me to keep an eye out for you?”
“Even the elders are making up stories.” Xie Jiu barely suppressed a bit of sadness and asked him again, “What type do you like?”
“Of course, he should be mature, steady, considerate and gentle. It would be best if he could talk to me and I wouldn’t get bored with him.” An Yinong smiled and added the last sentence, “Male.”
“Cough!” Xie Jiu choked on his water and took out a handkerchief from his pocket.
An Yinong, however, held the cup and sat there steadily: “So, Uncle Jiu, if you keep hanging around in front of me like this, I really won’t be able to find a boyfriend in the future. Oh.” He even sighed in a mocking manner.
Xie Jiu was not stupid. After connecting the dots, he suddenly had a guess that made his heart beat faster. He looked at An Yinong, but met a pair of curved eyes, the smile in them was an invisible encouragement.
He thought about the news he received today (that Wen Long came to see An Yinong), and when he dropped the order and rushed back, An Yinong’s eyes lit up.
Not only Wen Long saw his preference, but Xie Jiu also saw it clearly. Xie Jiu had never been so nervous. He felt that he should make some more plans and find a better place with a candlelight dinner, a violin, and fireworks instead of the current situation with nothing. But he was now more afraid of missing out.
“Tiantong, have you ever thought about… Uncle Jiu?”
Xie Jiu looked at An Yinong, afraid that he would show any embarrassment or hesitation, but An Yinong’s smile suddenly blossomed. In Xie Jiu’s heart, bunches of fireworks soared and exploded, and the night was bright. The new couple had dinner, walked around the harbor, went home, and said their goodbyes. They were next-door neighbors, but Xie Jiu insisted on walking him to his house before leaving.
An Yinong’s face was always smiling, and his eyes were sparkling. Granny Lian could see something was amiss. But before she asked, An Yinong said first: “Granny, I found a boyfriend. What do you think of Mr. Xie next door?”
The tea bowl in Granny Lian’s hand fell to the ground.
Granny Lian was a traditional person. In her opinion, men should be with women, get married and have children. That was the right way. She knew about homosexuality, but she didn’t understand it. However, she also saw that the young master was truly happy when he was with Mr. Xie.
“This, I don’t quite understand.” Granny Lian lowered her head and hurriedly picked up the broken tea bowl.
“Mr. Xie is afraid that I am acting on impulse, so we will not be officially together until I am 18 and still insist on this idea. Grandma, I am really happy and relaxed with him.”
An Yinong squatted down to pick up the broken pieces of the tea bowl. He spoke his thoughts as if he was chatting: “Grandma, I want to get the support of my family, will you support me?”
The word “family” touched Granny Lian’s heart, and her eyes became moist: “Master, Granny has never been to school, has no knowledge, and doesn’t know what is right and what is wrong, but as long as you are happy, I will support you.”
An Yinong reached out and hugged her: “I will, I will definitely be happy.”
He returned to his room, picked up a pen, but did not start drawing. The system floated out, hesitating again and again: “You guys were in such a good mood just now, I am embarrassed to remind you, that…”
“Wen Long has some regret value?” An Yinong asked directly.
“How did you know?” The system was surprised. Based on the host’s obsession with homosexuality, he actually guessed that there was a regret value?
An Yinong leaned back in his chair and turned his pen: “He is Xie Jiu’s adopted son. Before Xie Jiu died, he didn’t dare to breathe. After Xie Jiu’s death, he made a fortune by relying on Xie Jiu’s inheritance and connections, and he didn’t dare to say a bad word. Xie Jiu is a mountain in his heart, but also another obsession of his – he desires, envies, hates, and wants to replace him.
“Then, isn’t it normal for him to have a self-righteous ‘dislike’ for Xie Jiu’s specialness towards me?”
“Eh?” The system found something wrong. “Strange, host, why don’t you seem to be very resistant to the mission?”
An Yinong stopped spinning his pen and looked at the system with a smile: “I’m only sure of one thing. As long as he stays with me, it doesn’t matter if I keep changing where I live and the people around me. Just like that time.”
In the last world, he had to abandon the past and start over after three years, but he did not resist, because as long as that person was there, his home was there.
“Given the He family’s conservative values, there will be more trouble in the future. Without the ability to live independently, I can’t even like someone according to my own wishes. I can’t live in a muddle-headed way. I have to work harder!”
An Yinong picked up the pen, and a question mark appeared on the system’s face: Host, when did you become confused? Didn’t you work hard enough before?
An Yinong ignored the system. He once again split out the shadow puppets, giving each of them a sketch. He first used a pencil to outline the general picture, and then used an ink pen to refine and color it. The popular Hong Kong comics were all in color, but An Yinong prefered pure black, white and gray. So his coloring was simply black.
At this time, the ways of detailing “Yi Nong” and “Gu Pan” will be completely different.
The painting that Yinong was going to draw was “Monster City”.
His painting style was tough, the lines of the characters were clearer, and the background also liked to emphasize depth, using many buildings with sharp corners. He also liked to use lines to draw shadows. In fighting scenes, using lines to draw shadows was very visually impactful.
For example, in the picture he was drawing now, the male protagonist had his back to the audience. In front of him were two rows of skyscrapers that seemed to have no end, and a huge aircraft flying close to the buildings, which created a strong sense of oppression.
The painting that ‘Gu Pan’ wanted to draw was different. His lines were softer, and his backgrounds preferred homely sofas, pillows, flower arrangements, photo walls, etc. He also paid more attention to depicting subtle changes in the characters’ expressions, as well as physical contact that represented “softness, warmth, and emotion.”
The latest one was when the heroine’s skirt accidentally brushed against the hero’s fingers, and as an ancient man, he instantly expressed emotions such as shyness, nostalgia, and self-moral condemnation. All of this required very precise expressions and body language.
An Yinong was fully focused on his work, and the system was tactful enough not to interrupt him. However, this scene really shocks it every time it sees it. It would not be surprised at all if his host suffered from a split personality one day in the future.
He worked until New Year’s Eve, when all the He family members returned to the old house and stayed there until the third day of the new year. These were the three busiest days of the year in this huge villa.
On the first day of the Chinese New Year, relatives from abroad came back, and on the second day, his two married sisters also came back.
The eldest cousin came alone, saying that her sister-in-law was busy, so her husband did not come. The eldest aunt was a little unhappy, and the uncles also talked about the Yan family (the eldest cousin’s husband’s family) wanting to set up their own publishing house and compete with them for writers. The Yan family had produced literary masters and had connections in the literary circle, which had brought some trouble to the He family’s publishing business.
His second cousin came with her husband, and she was pregnant. Her little nephew/niece might be born in two months.
Grandpa He prepared big red envelopes for each of them. Not only them, but also the descendants of his two great aunts who went overseas received big red envelopes.
He heard that they were engaged in finance and insurance overseas, and their business was very large. This could be seen from the huge gem rings on the fingers of several cousins. One gem was enough for ordinary people to live a stable life for several years.
In fact, the He family also had foreign assets, such as mines and real estate. An Yinong even had several rental apartments under his name (near famous foreign universities), and he earned tens of thousands of yuan in rent every year without doing anything. This was said to be a gift for his first birthday.
An Yinong had returned from visiting his mother for New Year’s greetings. In addition to receiving red envelopes from a number of aunts and uncles, he also enjoyed many face rubs and head touches.
“Based on the amount of New Year’s money I received this year, I can buy a sports car,” he thought, “but I don’t need a car. I wonder if I can save up this money to start an animation studio.”
Those relatives heard that making animation was just a waste of money. They rarely get together once a year, and they don’t do anything else but sit together to play cards, mahjong, or chat.
An Yinong was not interested and did not want to contact his overseas relatives.
The original owner was used as a comparison for them before, and now An Yinong hadn’t changed much, he was still used as a comparison. These two aunts had always looked down on the original owner’s mother, thinking that an “actress” was not worthy of the He family, and they also looked down on him as a product of marriage.
“Ignore them.” His third cousin sat next to him. “Don’t underestimate them. It’s a prestigious university. You paid for your admission. And, you secretly got someone pregnant and you don’t take responsibility. Eh (a disdainful interjection).”
“Third sister, do you have something to say?”
The third cousin chuckled: “You’re so smart. You knew I had something to talk to you about.”
An Yinong thought to himself, you’ve shown it so obviously, how could I not see it?
“Atong, ‘Huayou’, no, no, ‘Rose House’ magazine is your responsibility, right?” The third cousin coughed and said seriously, “Actually, it’s like this. I have a good friend who really likes the comic ‘Master Teacher’, so, is there a chance to meet her idol?”
“…A very good friend? But I don’t care much about things.” An Yinong said with a smile.
“You’re the boss, please help me.”
“Third sister, what do you want to talk to Gu Pan about?” An Yinong asked straight to the point.
“How do you know it was me?” The third cousin covered her mouth.
“It’s all written on your face.” An Yinong pointed at his own face, “On the left is ‘I have something to do’, and on the right is ‘Looking for you’.”
The third cousin gave up on secrecy: “It’s me, I just… want to film “Master Teacher”. I have only filmed one movie, and the box office was not good. I am afraid that Mr. Gu Pan will not agree. “But this time my mentor, Mr. Mei, will also come out to help!”
WhiteMoon x BlackSun 