Chapter 48: Christmas Exhibition

Xie Bo’s desire and need for Lin Yiwei seemed to have no end.

They explored a variety of activities; Xie Bo enjoyed making new attempts, much like a whimsical child seeking more and different types of toys. Even when the display case was full, he always managed to find new space to accommodate his new preferences.

He pursued novelty and excitement, relishing role-playing. After she fell asleep, he would bind her hands, cover her eyes, and remain silent, allowing her to arrive in a state of panic and uncertainty…

In Lin Yiwei’s unchanging, lifeless existence, Xie Bo was like a belated, torrential summer rain, breaking the monotony with deafening thunder, drizzling continuously throughout the long rainy season.

As the time of departure approached, Lin Yiwei unexpectedly felt a certain irresistible sense of reluctance towards him.

Indulging in the warmth of the room, the affluent lifestyle, and this man, handsome in appearance, sculpted physique, and genuinely exceptional in certain respects…

She often curled up in Xie Bo’s arms like a cat after the end, asking him if he would come to England to see her and how often he would come.

Xie Bo’s fingertips wrapped around her strands of hair, circling around, “How long can you endure at most?”

“Two weeks.”

“Isn’t that too greedy?”

“No hard demands, it’s up to you.” Lin Yiwei rested her head on his slightly firm abdomen, “If you can’t stand me, I’ll find someone else. There are so many handsome guys in England.”

“You dare…” Xie Bo grabbed her wrist, pulling her in front of him, “Try to provoke me and see the consequences.”

Although it was a threat, his eyes were indulgent.

Lin Yiwei was not afraid of him, she embraced his shoulders, bit his lips, licking them as if tasting candy.

Xie Bo did not respond, quietly enjoying her demands, “I will try to come see you once a month.” He cradled her slender back and butterfly bones, gently caressing, “Okay? Yiyi.”

He was so gentle, almost unlike himself.

“Half a month.” She bargained.

“I have many things to do, and many eyes watching me. It’s not good for you if I come too often.”

“Then don’t come.” Lin Yiwei pushed him away decisively.

“Twenty days.” He grabbed her from behind, biting her earlobe, “I’ll come see you once every twenty days, I promise, I won’t break my word.”

“I know you’re good to me, so why not be a little better and help me peel the pomegranate, Master Bo.”

“Do it yourself.” Xie Bo sat up, “I also want to eat.”

“You go, I want to eat the one you peel.”

Xie Bo refused verbally, but willingly went to the kitchen, took out a pomegranate from the fridge, washed and cut it.

“Is one enough?”

“If you want to eat, then one is not enough.”

He took another pomegranate from the fridge, his long legs hooked on a high stool as he patiently peeled them one by one for her.

Watching the man’s tense back, Lin Yiwei realized that she seemed to be gradually testing him, like a sponge soaked in water, trying to occupy the maximum space in his world and indulge in that comfortable space, constantly stretching Xie Bo’s tolerance to her limits.

Whether it was the initial interaction with her foster parents or dealing with Lin Xie, she had done the same.

Only when she wanted to make the other person close to her would she act like this.

…

The Christmas exhibition was held at the Starlight Exhibition Hall, with many political and business figures from Qinggang City attending this art exhibition.

Some of the exhibited works were from touring works of well-known domestic artists, while the rest were selected outstanding student artworks from major art academies.

After this exhibition, the works would be sent to various art festivals at home and abroad for competition and awards.

Chi Xiyu spent the whole afternoon accepting media interviews, interpreting and explaining the artworks, busy and thirsty, and in the evening, she was invited by the TV station for a special interview.

That night, Ye Anning dressed up and attended, wearing a floor-length purple fishtail skirt, elegantly entering the Starlight Exhibition Hall.

Lin Yiwei followed her, wearing a low-key black strapless long dress, paired with a fur shawl, her long hair loosely tied up and hanging behind her head, strands of loose hair falling on her ears. She walked into the exhibition hall holding Ye Anning’s hand, instantly attracting many gazes around her, intentional or not, whether men or women, all noticed her.

Even though there were many elegant ladies in the exhibition hall, she still exuded a unique beauty, blooming in the secluded valley, serene and vigorous.

Lin Yiwei ignored all the gazes, heading towards the most prominent front hall, aiming for her target.

Chi Xiyu’s painting was placed in the prime location of the exhibition hall, a huge oil painting of a girl in a qipao, more than 1.8m wide— a girl in a qipao reading and contemplating in the sunset, her curly hair piled on top of her head, pages of a book casually spread out.

On her knees, her right hand supporting her chin while her left rested atop the right, a gentle breeze tousled her sparse hair, and warm hues framed the silhouette of the girl gently touched by sunlight, her eyes squinting slightly, a cross necklace partially hidden beneath her loose collar.

Lin Yiwei knew that Lin Xie’s painting required a lot of emotion. Sometimes, to complete a satisfactory piece, he would lock himself in a room for ten days or even half a month without seeing anyone.

This painting was extremely expressive… it must have drained all of his efforts.

Standing beside Lin Yiwei, Ye Anning gazed at the large painting and commented, “Chi Xiyu’s artworks exhibited over the past two years have often featured young girls as subjects.”

“Yes,” Lin Yiwei’s eyes were fixed on the painting, “He can depict the most lifelike girls, their emotions, spring drowsiness, sorrow…”

Suddenly, Lin Yiwei’s words caught in her throat.

She saw what seemed to be a faint letter “W” on the necklace of the girl in the painting.

Ye Anning checked the time on her watch and glanced towards the entrance of the exhibition hall, noticing more and more people entering.

Anxiously, she told Lin Yiwei, “Weiwei, Chi Xiyu’s interview is ending soon. Let’s not let her see us, or it’ll be troublesome. Let’s go.”

“Wait… just a moment.”

Lin Yiwei seemed to have discovered something, her eyes scanning the painting… soon, she found another letter “Z” on the yellowed page held by the girl.

“Weiwei, we really need to leave! Chi Xiyu is coming back!” Ye Anning didn’t want to run into her here.

Lin Yiwei tightly grasped those two letters, her temples throbbing.

When she was younger, Lin Xie taught Lin Yiwei how to paint. At that time, just learning the alphabet, Lin Yiwei’s favorite thing to do was to hide letters in her drawings.

Every time she submitted homework to Lin Xie, she would hide some scattered phonetic letters in the drawings, making Lin Xie guess the “secrets” she left in the painting.

Several times, Lin Xie would sternly educate her with a serious face, “All information in a painting should be conveyed through its lines and colors. Adding letters or text deliberately disrupts its overall integrity and artistic conception.”

She didn’t understand what Lin Xie was saying at all; she just looked at him expectantly, “Brother, guess what message I left for you? Guess, guess.”

Pretending to be angry, Lin Xie would say, “I won’t guess. If I can’t guess, and if you keep scribbling like this, I won’t teach you anymore.”

Despite saying so, he would still hold her every day, guiding her on how to draw lines and match colors.

Lin Yiwei remained unchanged, passionate about leaving phonetic initials in hidden corners of her artworks.

“jtwxcy — today I want to eat fish.”

In the evening, Lin Xie would stew braised fish for her.

Some small wishes Lin Xie would fulfill for her, but some he couldn’t, like when she wrote in the painting, “This weekend, I want to go to the mountains with my brother to watch the meteor shower.”

There were too many letters, so many that they affected the overall presentation of the painting.

Lin Xie was very angry, sharply tapping her head with a pen to make her give up this bad habit, forbidding her from leaving messages in her paintings again; if she wanted to say something, she should say it face-to-face.

But Lin Yiwei was, after all, a child at heart, and she tirelessly played this word-searching game with him. She let him discover her small wishes, little secrets, and even Lin Yiwei let Lin Xie leave messages for her in the paintings, telling her some secrets.

Lin Xie had never done this before; he was loyal to his art and would not allow even the slightest destruction.

At this moment, when Lin Yiwei saw these two letters, she instantly reacted.

This was Lin Xie leaving her a message!

Two very inconspicuous phonetic letters, WZ, ZW…

Find me.

Find me!!!

He was asking for help, begging her for help!

How could she wait any longer? She couldn’t wait even a minute; she had to find Lin Xie!

Lin Yiwei could no longer control her emotions. She grabbed her handbag and attempted to smash the glass display case containing the pensive painting of the girl…

Ye Anning, quick-eyed and nimble-handed, grabbed Lin Yiwei around the waist from behind.

Her tear-stained appearance attracted the attention of many people.

Ye Anning lowered her voice and said in Lin Yiwei’s ear, “If Chi Xiyu knows your true identity, will you be able to see Lin Xie again? Xie Bo can’t help you!”

This statement worked indeed.

Lin Yiwei instantly calmed down, staring at the painting with a painful and twisted expression, as if Lin Xie was sealed within the painting, and she needed to tear it open to rescue her dearest brother.

Ye Anning took her cold and withered hand and led her out of the Starlight Exhibition Hall.

The cold wind mixed with silvery rain resembling flying ash drilled into her body, her eyes and nose tingling with an uncontrollable sense of bitterness.

Ye Anning’s driver was waiting on the street. She invited Lin Yiwei to get in the car first and take her back. Lin Yiwei shook her head and told her that she needed to calm down and process things, asking Ye Anning to go ahead and get into the car.

She knew she needed space to be alone and process things, so she didn’t disturb her, handing the black umbrella from the driver’s hand to Lin Yiwei before leaving.

Lin Yiwei boarded the bus back to the Ramon Apartments. The streets outside the window rushed by like an ink painting, everything seemed faint.

Neon lights gradually brightened, and the wind gushed into the compartment, as if piercing through her chest, trying to shatter her mind and body.

At the doorstep, Lin Yiwei quickly wiped away her tears, having mentally prepared herself for a long time, attempting to put on a smiling mask.

She couldn’t cry in front of Xie Bo. Aside from whether he would become annoyed, Lin Yiwei herself couldn’t accept it.

She didn’t like crying in front of Xie Bo, partly because she was a bit stubborn, not wanting him to see her weak side.

He said he would help her, so he definitely would; there was no need for her to cry in front of him.

She stood at the door for a long time, using a wet tissue to wipe the corners of her eyes, trying to make herself look relaxed and keeping a smile on her face. But when she raised her head, she noticed the surveillance camera at the entrance. It turned out that her crying and smiling outside for more than half an hour had all been captured by AI.

The next moment, the automated door opened, revealing Xie Bo in a pale home shirt, looking at her expressionlessly.

Lin Yiwei squeezed out an awkward smile and took a deep breath, “It’s so cold outside.”

Xie Bo glanced at her, “There’s no need to force a smile if you can’t, it looks strange.”

Lin Yiwei lowered her eyes slightly and nodded softly. Xie Bo didn’t need to guess; he knew this was her reaction after visiting the art exhibition.

He took her hand and led her inside, using a towel to wipe her tears rather roughly.

“Yiyi, this is the only time I’ll tolerate you crying for another man. Even if he’s your brother, it won’t be allowed in the future, understood?”

What a domineering person.

Lin Yiwei could only obediently nod her head. “Alright, I’ll count to three, stop crying.”

“One, two…”

Lin Yiwei wiped away her tears, looked up, and kissed him, carrying the bitterness of her tears. Xie Bo opened his mouth and let her in, swallowing all her sadness and tears.

They cuddled for a while, then Xie Bo sat her on the sofa’s edge and fed her pomegranate.

“What’s going on?”

“He left me a message,” Lin Yiwei said hoarsely, honestly telling him, “He wants me to find him; he must be in a lot of pain right now.”

Xie Bo raised an eyebrow skeptically, “How do you know?”

“It’s a game we used to play a lot when we were kids,” Lin Yiwei told Xie Bo about the first-letter guessing game she played with her brother Lin Xie.

“Why not just say it straightforwardly,” Xie Bo’s focus was always different from hers, “Is this game fun?”

“It’s not about whether the game is fun; it’s that my brother left me a message! He wants me to find him quickly; he must be feeling really, really miserable right now!”

…

That night, after Xie Bo comforted her to sleep, he went to the study alone, turned on the computer, and searched for the recent art exhibition, finding Chi Xiyu’s painting.

He sat at the computer for a long time, then woke Lin Yiwei up shortly after she fell asleep, making her think he was up to something again.

Grumbling, she sat with him at the computer chair, “Darling, look at what I found.”

He enlarged the painting for her to examine closely. Besides the letters ZW, there were two other inconspicuous letters blended into the background wood panel door and sleeve in the upper left corner.

Xie Bo isolated these two letters and rearranged them with the other two letters to derive the message — “Don’t look for me.”

Lin Yiwei couldn’t believe it, logging into another official website of the Christmas exhibition to search for Chi Xiyu’s displayed painting, still finding these four letters on the original painting, confirming without doubt that it was a message from her brother.

She looked at him suddenly, and he looked back at her.

The blue light from the screen outlined his sharp features; his eyes were deep and playful, “Your brother wants you to stop immediately and not go crazy.”

“How could this be…”

“Perhaps he did this willingly.”

Lin Yiwei firmly denied this possibility: “Perhaps he’s afraid I’ll get into trouble! He couldn’t have done this willingly! Money obtained at the cost of sacrificing freedom, even for a day, my brother couldn’t endure!”

“Who knows?” shrugged Xie Bo, “Should we follow his words?”

Lin Yiwei lowered her eyes, pondered for a moment, then in a deep yet resolute voice, she said, “Seeing is believing.”

Her sharp gaze unknowingly stirred a certain indescribable jealousy in Xie Bo.

“If I were in danger, would you disregard everything to find me like this?”

“Master Bo has extraordinary abilities; you wouldn’t let yourself get into such a situation.”

Lin Yiwei was exhausted, almost collapsing, her eyelids fighting to stay open as she attempted to leave.

However, Xie Bo grabbed her, persistently asking,

“Would you, Lin Yiwei?”