Volume 2 Chapter 57: Bringing My Rival into the Bedroom… to Draw!
Phew~
Although there was a bit of trouble during the morning preliminaries, overall, it went pretty well.
Not long after leaving the competition room, the girl received a text message telling her that she had advanced and should attend the afternoon round. Of course, that was expected. She got a perfect score, there was no way she wouldn’t pass.
As for the afternoon round… well, the girl still hadn’t even decided what to draw. And the results wouldn’t come out right away either. After finishing, the artwork had to be handed in, and the judges would review everything together later.
Anyway, passing the preliminaries was already a good thing, right?
But still… what should she do this afternoon…?
On the way back to her home for a lunch break, Lin Lin kept thinking about this. Because of that, Gao Liang didn’t really dare to talk to her much along the way.
She just looked… really worried.
Actually, he wanted to ask her about it. Gao Liang had seen Lin Lin draw earlier. How should he put it? Even someone who had studied Leonardo da Vinci for decades was shocked by her work. Gao Liang didn’t understand art as deeply and couldn’t see all the fine details, but even he could tell that her drawing style didn’t look like that of a beginner at all.
And then there was her almost scary memory-based drawing skill she had shown before. It really made people wonder, how on earth did Lin Lin do it?
Gao Liang walked her all the way home. Just as he was about to say goodbye and come back to pick her up in the afternoon, suddenly—
After thinking for a long time, the girl grabbed Gao Liang in the residential area just as he was about to turn back to his car. She looked up at him, her face red, and spoke in a small voice.
“Can… can you draw a picture on the spot that is guaranteed to win a prize, Gao Liang? I-I-I… I’m really in a hurry!”
“Huh?”
Gao Liang froze for a moment, then said, “That’s not possible, Lin Lin. You’re not allowed to bring a pre-drawn picture into the competition. You have to draw it on the spot within the time limit.”
“Ahem, of course I know that! I’m not stupid!”
The girl puffed up her cheeks unhappily and explained.
“What I mean is… Gao Liang, can you draw a picture in front of me that would definitely win a prize? I’ll memorize your drawing method and use it in the afternoon round.”
“Uh…”
Gao Liang touched his chin and thought to himself, hasn’t Lin Lin already understood even Leonardo da Vinci’s techniques? Why would she still need to copy his style?
Ahem…
Could it be that, in Lin Lin’s mind, his art skills were… better than Da Vinci’s?
“You’re really overestimating me, Lin Lin…”
Gao Liang quickly waved his hands nervously. But to Lin Lin, this gesture of refusal…
Felt kind of different.
That helpless look on his face… didn’t it just mean he didn’t want to teach her?
Had he… already started thinking she was stupid?
This guy!
“Ah… it’s nothing. I’ll head off now and won’t disturb your rest. I’ll come pick you up again this afternoon.”
Taking advantage of her distraction, Gao Liang loosened her grip and got ready to go home and rest.
But suddenly—
The girl gritted her teeth in anger, grabbed his sleeve on the spot, and shouted sharply.
“You can’t leave!”
“Huh?”
“I want you to teach me! Even if you don’t want to, you still have to!”
“Eh? Eh? Eh?”
So, the girl used all her strength and dragged her mortal enemy all the way home. Gao Liang was still shouting behind her, saying, “I really can’t compare to Da Vinci!”
Yeah, right. That spirit-calling tool was one-time use. If she could still summon Da Vinci, who… who would bother dragging you home?
After that, the girl kept pulling her rival until they reached her front door. She knocked, and once the door opened, even though Gao Liang felt awkward visiting Lin Lin’s house at noon, he could only bite the bullet and go in.
He straightened his clothes, but his sleeve was still being tugged by Lin Lin. Suddenly, Gao Liang felt this scene looked strangely familiar. Then Lin Lin’s mom opened the door.
“Oh? Student Gao, welcome, welcome~”
The family seemed to have already gotten used to Gao Liang coming over. Even Lin Yu was about the same. Gao Liang felt a bit nervous, but Lin Lin, blushing hard, directly dragged him into her bedroom.
She was in such a hurry for two reasons. First, the lunch break wasn’t very long, and Gao Liang needed time to draw. Second… well…
She had gotten a bit angry earlier and dragged her rival home on impulse. Honestly, it was like a crime of passion. After she calmed down, to avoid the “tragedy” of her rival ending up at the family dining table again, she could only grit her teeth and take him straight into her bedroom.
As for how people outside the bedroom would react… whatever. Ugh—
In fact, Lin Lin’s parents just blinked when they saw that scene, and then casually started discussing whether they should find some time to ask their “future son-in-law” about his family situation.
Lin Yu still had a “I see through everything” look on his face, while studying the new class handwritten newspaper activity the school had started.
This thing… just like his sister joining competitions, was completely pointless work anyway…
…………
Back in the bedroom, Gao Liang looked at the girl’s bed and thought for a moment. Then she lightly smacked his head. He turned around and saw Lin Lin pointing at the drawing board.
“P-please… I’m counting on you…”
“Oh, Lin Lin, you’re getting more and more skilled at asking me for help,”
Gao Liang said with a smile and nodded. He then picked up the brush and started drawing on the paper.
Lin Lin stood beside him, watching his movements closely, sometimes even helping him mix the paints.
Right, as Gao Liang said, the competition provided paint, so most students were doing oil paintings. If she drew a sketch again in the second round, it would be hard to win a prize.
She didn’t know whether a sketch Mona Lisa or Gao Liang’s painting was better, but she decided to play it safe.
So, under her careful observation, Gao Liang’s painting slowly took shape.
But…
This painting was kind of… hard to describe.
Th-this—this was basically an improved version of the painting from that day, when she was wearing a cheongsam!
The girl’s face turned red, her lips trembling slightly. Gao Liang’s painting was really good, but still…
“Hey! Isn’t it kind of wrong to draw your own portrait in a competition?!”
“Well, actually, drawing a portrait in a competition is pretty reasonable. And the real focus is the background! I put a lot of effort into it!”
Gao Liang wiped his sweat and said while breathing heavily, “There’s no choice. Time is limited. If I started from scratch, I definitely wouldn’t finish. I could only draw something I had already drawn before. I’ve already changed your anime-style image into a realistic style!”
“Mm…”
The girl nodded helplessly, accepting his explanation. Gao Liang patted her shoulder and, looking at the painting, confidently promised:
“Don’t worry, Lin Lin. Look at this background, the matching sunlight and the beautiful girl, such a lovely scene. As long as you can recreate this painting, I guarantee you’ll win a prize!”
“Ah… um…”
Even though he said a lot, the girl only noticed one thing.
Gao Liang had called her a beautiful girl.
She covered her face… embarrassed.