Those Sweet Times
Chapter 24 Part 3
Xiang Nuan gave her father a call.
Her father on her contact list was listed as “Comrade Xiang Daying.”
Though comrade Xiang Daying was a renowned artist, he wasn’t a difficult
person to deal with. Unlike the rumors about him being prideful or trying to
uphold the market value of his work, the real reason why he wouldn’t paint
for others was because his feelings had been hurt by those who were after
his paintings.
In his younger days, comrade Xiang Daying was a passionate young artist,
full of talent, and already quite popular in the arts circle.
He was a generous person. He would paint for free for friends.
One time, two of the friends who had received free paintings from him were
talking with others about how much those paintings would be worth after
Xiang Daying passed away. They even said that it would be better if Xiang Daying
died young, then his paintings would be worth even more because there would
be less of his paintings in the world……
Xiang Daying heard about it from his friends and it deeply hurt his feelings.
From then on, he wouldn’t give away his paintings for free. Even people that had
come asking for his paintings with money didn’t interest him either.
He wasn’t in need of money; plus people who came with money for his paintings
were obviously treating his paintings as commodities. He wasn’t comfortable with
the thought.
After he got married, he would give the paintings he had finished to his wife and
even jokingly said: “After I die, these paintings would be a huge inheritance.”
“What are you talking about, don’t talk nonsense.” Xiang Nuan’s mom would say.
Xiang Nuan heard all these from her mother as her father never talked about it.
One time Xiang Nuan asked her mother: “When you chose to marry dad, were
you attracted by his talent or his personality?”
Mom replied: “Neither. He’s so good looking, so I……,” couldn’t resist him.
Xiang Nuan was shocked: “Mom, you’re so superficial!”
Her mom jabbed Xiang Nuan’s forehead: “If I wasn’t superficial, I won’t have
such a beautiful daughter like you.”
……
After the initial greetings, Xiang Nuan asked her father over the phone: “Dad,
is there a Mr. Lin asking you for a painting lately? The one who wants to have
a painting for his wife for her birthday.”
“Yes, there is. What about it?”
“En. He…...is the father of a xuezhang who belongs to the same club as me.”
“Hrm?” Xiang Daying was suspicious. “Looks like you’re quite close to this
xuezhang.”
“Not really. He just mentioned it and then we found out that the world is quite
small. Such a coincidence. His parents care about each other deeply and his
mother is your fan. His father wants to purchase a painting from you just to give
his wife a surprise.”
Xiang Daying patiently listened, then said: “Tell me about you and this xuezhang.”
“Dad……” Xiang Nuan didn’t know what to say. “You’re missing the point.”
“No, the point is this.” Her father sounded quite seriously. “Why do I feel that the
baby of our family is going to be taken away? Who is this brat? Tell him to come
see me.”
“Dad!” Xiang Nuan was embarrassed and spoke in a low voice: “He’s quite
annoying, don’t see him.”
Her father didn’t believe her: “If he’s annoying, why are you helping him?”
“En, it’s because if I get this thing done, he’ll have to call me papa.” Xiang Nuan
couldn’t help feeling quite proud of herself when telling her father about it. This
time, Lin Chuyan would definitely be unable to get away with it. Ha……
Xiang Daying was quiet for sometime, then sighed: “The young people nowadays
really know how to have fun.”
“Dad, please just do a painting for them, please, please!”
“Alright, alright. I’ll do it, I’ll do it.” Xiang Daying laughed while speaking. As he
was laughing, he felt a bit of sadness thinking: Aw, my daughter has grown up……
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Lin Xueyuan couldn’t believe his ears when he received confirmation that Xiang
Daying would do a painting for him. He called his son immediately: “You’re good,
you really did it. Alright, you’ve got me!”
Lin Chuyan said humbly: “It’s alright, I just have to pay a small price for it.”
“What price?”
“En, I have to change fathers.”
“...........................”