CH 34

A month went by quickly. Su Ruo was at school when Bai Lixin received the invitations to the traditional painting competition award ceremony, and the two envelopes were delivered at the same time.

When Bai Lixin got the invitations, which were pure white and stamped with gold textures, he resolutely hid his.

The original plot was that Su Ruo entered this competition and although he had talent, his work was far from infectious due to the monotony and simplicity of his experiences and his unexplored state of mind, so he only made it to the top twenty.

But the competition was actually a failed experience that inspired Su Ruo’s quest for greater perfection in painting.

The top twenty were also on the list of those invited to the award ceremony, so in the original plot, Su Ruo was invited to the award ceremony, and Qu Yasong was naturally there with him.

When he saw Qu Yasong’s approval of the top three, his competitive factor was triggered, thus inspiring him to keep honing his painting skills afterwards.

And now, Su Ruo was still invited to the event as one of the top 20, while Bai Lixin was invited as one of the top three.

Bai Lixin yawned, he could already imagine Su Ruo’s expresdion when he saw him on the stage as the three stage; surprise, disbelief,  jealousy…

This was the level of difficulty of the E level world; quite unchallenging. He really wanted to tease Qu Yasong and have a chat with him.

He placed the envelope belonging to Su Ruo on his desk. After doing so, Bai Lixin glanced at the invisible camera out of the corner of his eye and pursed his lips.

This demented man, planting cameras around him!

On the other side of the screen, demon Qu Yasong stroked his chin, watching Bai Lixin’s every move. When he saw Bai Lixin put his letter away, he became more and more sure of what he thought in his mind.

What his baby was doing now really looked like he was retaliating against Su Ruo.

Since his baby wanted to do that, he has to help him in anyway.

Previously, he was still worried about how to nudge the boy to see the relationship between Su Ruo and Zhao Yunhai, but looking at Bai Lixin’s performance in this period of time, it seemed that he had recovered his memory.

No, demon Qu Yasong narrowed his eyes, perhaps he hadn’t lost his memory from the very beginning!

Demon Qu Yasong’s eyes were tinged with a touch of gloom.

Why did he deliberately pretend to have memory loss? Just to keep Zhao Yunhai?

Su Qing’s actions seemed to be aimed at Su Ruo and not Zhao Yunhai.

How can his baby be so stupid?

Demon Qu Yasong hammered the table hard, and Bai Lixin received a system prompt; [Ding! Congratulations, Lord Host, the Lord God’s soul fusion degree has reached 15%.]

The corners of his mouth twitched.  He did nothing, but why did Qu Yasong’s soul fusion rise by 1% again?

What the hell did he imagine in his head just now?

The moment Su Ruo returned home and saw the invitation, he hugged Bai Lixin and jumped up and dowm for joy. Bai Lixin pushed him away disgustedly and pointed at his own legs, “Brother, my legs are not very good. ”

Su Ruo laughed, not caring about Bai Lixin’s cold tone, as he excitedly held the invitation and called Qu Yasong’s number.

Qu Yasong was looking at them from other end of the screen, when he saw Su Ruo’s caller ID, he simply cut off the phone.

The call was cut off, which cooled Su Ruo’s feverish head, and Su Ruo then sobered up a little from his excitement.

Yes, he and Qu Yasong had already broken up for more than a month, how could he have forgotten.

After he received the invitation, he subconsciously wanted to tell Qu Yasong the good news. He had been trying to find a chance to talk to Qu Yasong for more than a month, but he hadn’t seen him at alL, not even in the studio after school.

Su Ruo concluded that Qu Yasong was avoiding him, and why he was doing so, it was naturally because he still couldn’t let go.

He did not know that Qu Yasong had actually spent this month at home, jusg observing Bai Lixin through the screen.

After being hung up on by Qu Yasong, Su Ruo called Zhao Yunhai, his face was covered with a layer of red, aand excitedly said, “Yunhai, I got the invitation to the traditional painting competition award party, which means I must be in the top twenty! I will check the official website later ….., en, en good, you accompany me to the ceremony.”

After hanging up the phone, the excited Su Ruo then remembered Su Qing. He awkwardly glanced at his brother who was looking at him with probing eyes and explained, “It’s Yunhai, aren’t there many successful business people on the day of the award ceremony, I want to bring Yunhai over, so I can make connections, so you can have a better future.”

Bai Lixin nodded indifferently, “Oh, I see.”

The award ceremony was a week later, and Su Ruo was particularly excited during the whole week. He set up his work as a screen saver and opened his mobile phone to let people “accidentally” see the work and his signature in the bottom right corner, thus earning him a lot of praise from his classmates, teachers and neighbours.

There was no requirement to use one’s real name for this competition, and many of the contestants chose to use pseudonyms.

Su Ruo used his real name, while Bai Lixin chose to use the name “Bai Lixin” as a pseudonym for his painting. So when Su Ruo saw the official top three, he had no idea that the author of the most popular work was his brother, Su Qing, whom he didn’t think much of.

The awards night finally arrived on schedule, after a lot of calls.

Zhao Yunhai came to Su Ruo’s home early that afternoon and brought him a white tuxedo that fit perfectly.

This tuxedo was specially tailored by Zhao Yunhai, and Su Ruo couldn’t stop touching the material of the suit, he had never worn such a luxurious outfit before.

After a grateful glance at Zhao Yunhai, Su Ruo took the box and went inside to try on the clothes.

Zhao Yunhai glanced at Su Ruo, and said to Bai Lixin, who was sitting on the sofa watching TV, “This suit is not easy to put on, I’ll go help him.”

Zhao Yunhai had never cared for Su Qing, so naturally he did not care much about his reply and went straight to Su Ruo’s room.

When Bai Lixin heard the sound of the door being locked, he sneered and continued to watch the television.

Nearly an hour passed before the two came out of the room.

The moment they came out, they saw the hall and froze for a moment, only to see Bai Lixin wearing a well-cut light blue suit, not too heavy and not too dignified, and beside him was Qu Yasong’s butler.

Su Ruo took a big step forward, rubbed his flushed cheeks from the love making just now and said snappily, “Grandpa Butler, I am the one who is Su Ruo.”

The old butler was meticulously helping Bai Lixin with the last of his bow tie and the shape of his handkerchief in his jacket pocket. When he heard this, he looked up and scanned the two men contemptuously and said coldly, “I know. Hello, young master Su Ruo.”

Su Ruo dropped the hand that was left mid-air awkwardly, “So, wasn’t that suiy given to me by Chairman Qu?”

“Heh!” The old butler sneered, “Who gave you the face to be so presumptuous? Although I am old, I am not deaf or blind. The young master instructed many times to deliver this suit personally for young master Su Qing and to bring young master Su Qing to the award ceremony of the traditional painting competition tonight, not you young master Su Ruo.”

Su Ruo bit his lip and frowned at the old butler in front of him and thought, “This old fellow thinks he is too powerful and bullying me. If one day I become the other half of the Qu family, you can just wait for your bunk to be rolled up and leave.”

He glared at the old butler with hatred and turned to Bai Lixin and said gently, “Xiao Qing, that’s great. This way you, me and Yunhai can attend the award ceremony together, thanks to chairman Qu. You must thank him properly on my behalf.”

Bai Lixin smiled, “I’ll thank him. I’ll be leaving now that I’ve dressed up.”

He  nodded to the old butler, who immediately opened the door and escorted him out of the Su family gate.

Su Ruo looked at the two people leaving and frowned slightly before looking at Zhao Yunhai, “Yunhai, let’s go too.”

Zhao Yunhai looked at Su Ruo with a contented look on his face as he lowered his head and kissed him, saying gently, “Okay, I’ll do whatever you want.”

At the ceremony site, Bai Lixin was bored as he found his seat under the guidance of etiquette.

After awhile, there was a sudden noise from the doorway and Bai Lixin glanced back and happened to lock eyes with Qu Yasong, whom he had not seen for a long time.

Angel Qu Yasong saw Bai Lixin’s position at a glance, and he pointed to the man beside him, and the two men came towards him. Only then did Bai Lixin turn his attention to the man beside him and saw an old man with sunken eye sockets.

The old man was about fifty years old, with a thin, bony appearance, and although his cheeks were rosy, it was clear from the dark circles under his eyes and the sloping corners of his eyes that he was not in good spirits.

The old man hesitated for a moment, but followed Qu Yasong.

Bai Lixin cocked his head and gave a smile to the two men who were approaching him: “You’re here? Thank you for the suit.”

There was tenderness in Qu Yasong’s eyes, “You’re welcome, it fits you well.”

Bai Lixin smiled again, “Thank you.” With that, he got up and made way for the two of them to walk through.

Once seated, Qu Yasong sat on Bai Lixin’s left hand side, while the old man sat on Qu Yasong’s left. Bai Lixin took a sideways glance at the old man and looked at Qu Yasong with a quizzical gaze.

Qu Yasong reached out and rubbed Bai Lixin’s head, his mouth came over to his ear and said, “That’s Dr. Smith.”

Bai Lixin was stunned. This was the mysterious bone repair specialist?

His eyes widened slightly as he looked at Qu Yasong, holding his hand and smiling, “Thank you, really.”

Qu Yasong didn’t care, and shook the boy’s hand: “You’re welcome, As long as I can help you.”

Bai Lixin’s eyes rose and became astringent, his lover was always like this, never using vain and empty words to express his love for him, but his every gesture was permeated with an infinite and tolerant love.

Bai Lixin choked back a sob and nodded, “En, don’t worry, my leg will be fine.”

As they spoke, the award ceremony had begun. First to be displayed on the podium were the works of the top twenty, in order from 20th place onwards, with the author rising to the stage to pay tribute as each work was displayed.

When it came to the eighth place, Su Ruo’s name was finally read out.

Su Ruo took a deep breath, stood up with the most perfect smile and slowly walked towards the podium. He stood beside his work and looked down at the stage with a smile.

The presenter then said, “Mr Su Ruo is so young, it’s not easy for you to create a work of this mood at such a young age.”

The image was of a man who was climbing out of a dark cave, but outside of it was a blooming scene of sunshine and butterflies. Half of the man’s body was already climbing out of the cave, the other half still hidden in the darkness. He looked tired, but his face was filled with a longing for sunshine and the relief of having survived.

Su Ruo smiled and took the microphone, laughing, “This piece is called ‘Survival’, which I created based on my recent feelings. I had a thrilling experience in country S some time ago, and only after that experience did I realise the fragility and greatness of life.”

The host smiled and nodded, “Okay, thank you Mr. Su Ruo for your interpretation of the work.”

The host took over the microphone and went on to introduce the next piece.

Su Ruo gave a coy smile and stood with his piece, smiling and looking straight down at the stage.

In no time at all, the MC finished introducing all the entries from the fourth place onwards, followed by the highly anticipated top three.

The big screen behind them started to light up, and as the soothing music started to play, the MC began to explain each of the three works in an emotional tone.

The third and second were introduced and the authors were invited to the stage to receive their awards. During this process, the other 17 of the top 20 also remained on stage as there was a filming process at the end.

After receiving their trophies, the second and third authors retired with their work to the row in front of the 17 authors, thus differentiating their ranking.

Finally, the host took a deep breath and pushed a pair of the most popular work onto the podium, “Here we have the winner of the championship – the author of ‘Heart of the Waxman’, Bai Lixin, on stage!”

Soothing and soft music played, and to this music, Bai Lixin slowly rose to his feet and limped onto the podium.

His walk was not graceful, but his forehead was high and his eyes were steadfast, not showing the slightest hint of inferiority because of his disability. On the contrary, the confidence that emanated from him even infected the public.

Su Ruo, who was still standing on the stage, opened his eyes wide and stared in disbelief at the fact that it was Su Qing!

“Su Qing! Su Qing is Bai Lixin! How is this possible, he obviously can’t draw!”

The host swallowed his saliva and said in a somewhat incoherent manner, “When I saw this piece of artwork, I could only use the word shock! Oh my god! What the hell am I even saying.”

The crowd on stage smiled heartily when they saw this look on the host’s face, it was inevitable that people in the art world would look like this when they saw a stunning piece of work, not that the host’s work ethic was not good, they all just understood this.

The host wanted to say something else, but after thinking for a long time he couldn’t come up with anything, so he simply handed the microphone to Bai Lixin.

Bai Lixin stood by his work and took the host’s microphone. On the big screen behind him, an enlarged image of his work was finally shown. It was only now that everyone could see it and they let out a sigh.

The image had a few similarities to Su Ruo’s, as Bai Lixin had also used the technique of contrasting black and white. The difference, however, was that the two of them had different starting points.

In Bai Lixin’s work, the outer circle had a thick layer of darkness applied in a thick coating, while in the lower right corner had a man made of wax who was reaching up to cover his chest. His chest was a circular hollow in which a warm, fiery, yellowish fire was burning.

Drops of hot wax were falling down from where the flames were burning in his heart, forming drops of water. The wax man is unaware of this, his face is flat and warm, and he has one hand stretched out in mid-air with a wick in it, which was smouldering with fire. It was this fire that dispersed the darkness around him.

Around that hand were four or five children with longing eyes, some sitting cross-legged, others with their eyes closed, all feeling the warmth from the wax man.

The wax man’s other hand was covering his chest, and a wick is faintly visible as if the wax man is lighting another fire.

This is a work of sacrifice and positive energy, as the wax man brings warmth to the child by burning himself. Although it is a sacrifice, he is plain-faced and unconcerned with the act of burning himself. One can only feel sorry for him, but more than that, one feels a warmth and a high respect for his act.

“Survival” was also a work of contrasting black and white, but in comparison to “Heart of Waxman,” the latter starts from a much lesser point of view:

“Survival” is about the individual’s quest for life, while “Heart of Waxman” is about how to make life shine better. From this point of view alone, “Heart of Wax” beats “Survival”.

“I’m a dancer by nature, and I see dance as my life.” Bai Lixin took the microphone and laughed, “Four months ago, I had an accident that cost me my life. And just when I was desperate, my mentor came along and helped me. He led me with all he had and guided me into the heaven of painting. This painting is credit to my teacher, Mr Qu Yasong.”

Bai Lixin stood on the stage and bowed in the direction of Qu Yasong.

The light in Qu Yasong’s eyes shone brightly, and he even stood up and returned the bow with the same dignified etiquette.

At once, the arena erupted in resounding applause. It was a story of a great genius creating another great genius, a magnificent stroke of brilliance in the world of painting, and a heroic exchange between them.

Dr. Smith saw the interaction between the two men and lowered his eyelashes to cover the cold light that shot through his eyes.

The host took another microphone, “I’m curious, Mr. Bai Lixin and Mr. Su Ruo, the author of the eighth-place work, Survival, seem to look nine-and-a-half times alike, may I ask what your relationship is?”

Bai Lixin looked back at Su Ruo who was smiling with an embarrassed face and laughed, “Bai Lixin is my pen name, my real name is Su Qing and Su Ruo is my twin brother.”

The host’s eyes widened in disbelief as he said, “My goodness, you brothers are wonderful, to have such profound attainments in painting. But from what I just heard about Mr Su’s experience, did you only start painting four months ago?”

“To be exact, it should be three months ago,” Bai Lixin smiled, correcting the host’s timing, “In fact, the reason why I have achieved what I have achieved is thanks to Mr Qu Yasong’s in-depth and concise explanation and guidance. Without him I wouldn’t be who I am now.”

“My goodness,” the host’s eyes widened, “that’s impressive too, if someone doesn’t have the talent, even giving him the best teacher won’t help.”

The speaker had no intention to say that, but the listener felt attacked.

Su Ruo stood in the last row, shaking with anger. He was the one who “had no talent” because Qu Yasong had taught him alone for almost a year, but he had lost out to Su Qing, who had only been in the painting world for three months.

No, it shouldn’t be like this!

Looking at the radiant Su Qing in the light, Su Ruo’s eyes were red.

Su Qing was supposed to be his sidekick, not the other way round!

Su Ruo’s body trembled, as if he could already see outsiders pointing at him.

This is the mediocre brother; this is the elder brother of that Su Qing; this is the brother who can’t even compare to his crippled brother; this is the loser, a sidekick.

Su Ruo only felt that the sky was dark and a great malice surrounded him in it. His ears perked up and his head was even more dizzy and his feet were weak. Finally, his eyes went black and he fainted.

Su Ruo’s fainting caused chaos, and Zhao Yunhai even flew up and gave Su Ruo artificial respiration.

Seeing this, Dr Smith stood up and said to Qu Yasong, “I promised to help you operate on that teenager, he is a genius and should not be left with such regrets.”

With that, he stepped past Qu Yasong and walked straight towards the podium.

Dr Smith knelt down beside Su Ruo, pushed Zhao Yunhai away and felt his pulse. He looked into his eyes and said, “My name is Tony Smith, although I am a bone repair doctor, I am also proficient in general diseases.”

“ Please don’t worry, there is nothing wrong with him, he just fainted because he felt attacked and was momentarily irritated.”

As it was a live broadcast, his words were also transmitted through the microphone as they were.

Seeing this, Zhao Yunhai hurriedly said, “Then I’ll take him to the hospital.”

“I’ll go too,” Dr Smith nodded and looked to Bai Lixin who was on guard, “Mr Su Qing please come too, just so I can talk to you about bone repair on the way.”

Bai Lixin was stunned, but nodded, “Okay.”

Due to Su Ruo’s unexpected situation, the championship trophy was not sent out. The host, who was a veteran at this, smiled and steadied the situation, “As you can hear, Mr Su Ruo is fine. Mr. Su Qing has a deep brotherly love, this trophy will be passed on to him when we are through, when the time comes ……”

“No need, give it to me.” A raspy magnetic voice interrupted the host’s words, and the crowd looked over to see a black-suited Qu Yasong already standing up and slowly walking up to the podium.

Seeing this, the host said excitedly, “Great, then we have Mr. Su Qing’s mentor – Mr. Qu Yasong to receive the award instead of Mr. Su Qing!”

Su Ruo was lying in the back seat of the car, and Bai Lixin was sitting at his feet, watching Dr Smith from behind with a measured gaze. He didn’t know why, but he felt that there was something wrong with him.

Dr Smith felt the glances from behind and smiled gently, many crow’s feet at the corners of his eyes, “You need not be so guarded, I have sworn not to treat the mafia but I also respect the arts, my daughter was also a dancer.”

Dr Smith’s voice became indistinct and seemed to fall into a memory, “My daughter, so beautiful, was killed by the mafia.” He coughed twice and covered his mouth and nose with a hanky, “I’m not happy about that.”

The wariness in Bai Lixin’s heart increased. There was something wrong with this Dr Smith.

He looked out of the window at the rapidly receding landscape and suddenly felt his mind wobble and he was about to faint.

At the same time, the car swayed, and Dr Smith held the steering wheel with his hand in time, and with his other hand, he threw the fainted Zhao Yunhai into the back row with a tug, pressing him against Su Ruo.

When Bai Lixin saw this scene, he only had time to spit out the phrase “so strong” before his eyes rolled back and he too passed out.