Chapter 997: Empty-Handed

Translator:

Henyee Translations

Editor:

Henyee Translations

Happy birthday to you.

Everyone came forward to give their blessings. The blessings were endless. Everyone cupped their hands and gave the gifts they had brought. Clearly, everyone was prepared.

Only s.h.i.+ Jin was empty-handed.

When everyone saw s.h.i.+ Jin like this, they felt a little strange, but could not ask anything.

However, it was inevitable that some people would think that she was being rude. Who would come to someone elses birthday party like this?

Thank you, thank you. Thank you for coming to my birthday party. Thank you, everyone, for your gifts. Look at my memory. It really gets worse when Im a year older. When I invited s.h.i.+ Jin previously, I forgot to tell her that it was my birthday. It caused s.h.i.+ Jin to come without any preparations.

She spoke matter-of-factly and picked up her gla.s.s. Ill punish myself with three gla.s.ses.

Everyone was infected by her cheerfulness, but they also felt that s.h.i.+ Jin was a little insensitive. Everyone else knew that Zhang Xuelin was celebrating her birthday, but s.h.i.+ Jin did not. This did not make sense.

Even if Zhang Xuelin didnt say anything, didnt s.h.i.+ Jin have a manager and a.s.sistant? Wasnt such an important matter worth asking about?

Although no one said anything, their att.i.tude was obvious.

Ji Hanxue tried to smooth things over. s.h.i.+ Jin didnt come in the past two days, so its normal for her not to know. Its my fault for not communicating with s.h.i.+ Jin.

With him speaking up for her, everyones doubts lessened a little.

s.h.i.+ Jin glanced to the side and said, It was indeed my mistake not to bring a gift. Theres a brush, ink, paper, and inkstone here. From the looks of it, Xuelin likes Ms. Qing Mings paintings very much. Why dont I copy one for you?

Beside it were the Four Treasures of the Study and Qing Mings paintings. These were all Zhang Xuelins treasures.

She usually liked to imitate these paintings herself. She was good at drawing and writing.

Seeing that s.h.i.+ Jin had spoken, she also wanted to know how capable s.h.i.+ Jin was. She smiled and said, Alright, then Im really happy. I like Ms. Qing Mings paintings the most, but its difficult to learn her painting style. Ive always tried to imitate it, but I cant. If I can get a gift from s.h.i.+ Jin, my long-cherished wish will be fulfilled.

Everyone knew that Zhang Xuelin especially liked to draw and her calligraphy was excellent as well.

s.h.i.+ Jin actually wanted to take on a challenge on the spot. Everyone was very interested. They wondered how far she could go.

Which one are you going to paint? Zhang Xuelin asked. Im quite close to Ms. Qing Ming. She said that among her paintings, the most difficult thing to copy is the scenery. Animals are quite easy to start with.

Everyone couldnt help but look at Zhang Xuelin. They usually only knew that she loved painting and had outstanding abilities. They didnt expect her to be so close to Ms. Qing Ming.

She had always had a different temperament from other female artistes. That should be the reason.

She had a high-cla.s.s face. One look and one could tell that she had outstanding acting skills and temperament. On the other hand, s.h.i.+ Jin was too beautiful. She was so exquisite that she did not look like a real person. It was inevitable that she gave off the feeling of being pretty but useless.

That was the downside of looking too perfect.

Ill do Ink Bamboo, said s.h.i.+ Jin.

The Ink Bamboo is Ms. Qing Mings signature work. It has her style. This is probably difficult to draw, right? The last time I visited her, she still said that it would be difficult for herself to imitate that painting. Zhang Xuelin was very surprised that she wanted to choose the most difficult painting.

The others were also a little surprised. They knew that s.h.i.+ Jin was talented, but it was indeed very difficult to imitate this.

s.h.i.+ Jin, are you sure?

Thats not very easy to paint. Its too hard for you to copy this.

Ji Hanxue was quite interested in this. He smiled and looked at s.h.i.+ Jin. s.h.i.+ Jin, try it.

Zhang Xuelin immediately said, Ill get the picture for your reference.

No need. I remember it. With that, s.h.i.+ Jin had taken the appropriate pen, dipped it in the thick ink and begun to move it across the paper.

It was very difficult to copy such a painting, and the time required was also very long.

For example, Zhang Xuelin usually had to choose a period of time when she was not busy to imitate these paintings.

Most large Chinese paintings often took hours to copy.

s.h.i.+ Jin actually just picked up the brush and began.

Initially, everyone did not think much of it and felt that s.h.i.+ Jin was too arrogant, but a few minutes later, when they saw the prototype on the paper, everyone couldnt help but exclaim, This is really identical!

Its been less than ten minutes and shes already halfway through copying!

She wasnt looking at anything at all. She painted it from memory!

Zhang Xuelin could not help but be very surprised. She lowered her head to look at s.h.i.+ Jins painting and saw that she was really painting casually without any difficulty.

Her eyes gradually widened as she stared at s.h.i.+ Jin in disbelief.

Slowly, she regained her composure. s.h.i.+ Jin had finished painting everything.

Everyone was amazed. Not only was s.h.i.+ Jins drawing no different from Qing Mings, but she had also grasped that little bit of strength of character perfectly.

Ji Hanxue nodded and smiled. s.h.i.+ Jin, I havent seen you for a while and youve improved again. Ill have to discuss it with you another day.

Its also time for me to learn more from Director Ji.

In Director Jis production team, the staff who came over in the early stages had basically worked with various directors. Everyones horizons were extraordinary.

Initially, everyones impression of s.h.i.+ Jin was closer to that of a popular female celebrity. The more beautiful a person was, the more they would a.s.sociate her with popularity. It was inevitable that they would ignore things other than her beauty. Therefore, their feelings for her were not too special.

Now that they saw the painting, they realized that some of the rumors about her in the outside world were not false. She did have a lot of talent. It was dazzling.

Zhang Xuelin took the painting with a smile. Thats great, s.h.i.+ Jin. You copied it so well. Other than not having Teacher Qing Mings name, everything else is almost the same as Teacher Qing Ming. Its my honor to have you give me such a painting.

Youre welcome. My mother also said that my paintings are not much worse than hers. s.h.i.+ Jin smiled politely.

Your mother is

Gu Qingqing, Ms. Qing Ming, my mother, s.h.i.+ Jin admitted frankly.

Zhang Xuelin was stunned and looked a little embarra.s.sed. She had been bragging about her relations.h.i.+p with Ms. Qing Ming just now. She was using this relations.h.i.+p to flatter herself.

Now, s.h.i.+ Jin casually said that they were mother and daughter. And s.h.i.+ Jin had not mentioned any of this before.

Even during her acting career, no one knew about her relations.h.i.+p with Ms. Qing Ming.

But I think theres still a huge gap between me and my mother. Theres still a lot to learn. Theres still room for improvement in the future, s.h.i.+ Jin said calmly.