In the second round of the competition, in addition to being scored by professionals, the works that passed the first round would also be uploaded online for public voting. A total of fifty works were displayed on the official website of the country’s Artists Association. In order to prevent cheating, voters must be registered members of the official website and each painting was only marked with a serial number without the artist’s name.

The final result was a seven to three split between the professional juries and online voting scores.

It not only prevents people from bribing the professional jury, but also eliminated online canvassing, which better ensured the fairness of the competition.

The National Painting Competition had also become a hot search topic, but because not many people pay attention to this field, it only attracted discussion for less than half a day, before falling silent.

Yu Mian’s work was also displayed among the fifty paintings. At first, she would take a look every day to see how many votes there were, but such behavior was meaningless and she herself didn’t care much about the final ranking, so after a few days, she put it out of her mind.

As the new year was approaching, 《Long Ting》 has officially finished filming and Lin Jianshen was close to full recovery. The crew had released stills and promotional videos, preparing its screening in the upcoming spring.

The whole country was becoming increasingly lively as the holiday drew nearer.

Yu Mian’s injuries weren’t serious and the fracture she got was also minor. It healed after a month or two. When Lin Jianshen was undergoing rehabilitation training, she acted as a companion and took care of him.

Yu Xing had gotten busy with more things at the end of the year and even Father Yu went over to the company to help. With no one at home to watch her, Yu Mian was able to stay in the hospital all day.

Originally, Lin Jianshen was also very busy at this time of year, such as rehearsing some channels’ Spring Festival Gala programs, promoting new dramas, and so on. It’s just that this year, he had a car accident, so he had a rare time of rest.

After another round of exercise was completed, Lin Jianshen’s forehead was covered with cold sweat.

Yu Mian took out a tissue and wiped it off for him, carefully supporting him with her shoulders. This kind of rehabilitation training was very painful at first. He hadn’t moved his legs for months and had always maintained the same posture. Now he had to walk again. Even if the previously broken bones healed, there were still some discomforts.

In order to distract him, Yu Mian pulled Lin Jianshen to talk, “Are you going to your family’s home for the New Year?”

Lin Jianshen’s breathing was a little labored but his voice was steady, “No, I haven’t gone back there for a long time.”

Yu Mian had long guessed it. Looking at the way he and Lin Jiahua got along, it was impossible for him to go back.

“Then where do you celebrate the New Year every year?”

Lin Jianshen lowered his head and looked at her with gentle eyes. He said softly, “Sometimes I go to the Spring Festival Gala, and when I don’t have work, I just stay at home.”

Yu Mian wasn’t surprised at all. She thought about it, tilted her face and told him, “This year, do you want to come to my house to celebrate the New Year?”

Lin Jianshen laughed. “I’m worried that Uncle and your brother will kick me out.”

Yu Mian furrowed her brows. She felt that it was possible. She had been running to the hospital frequently these days and her father and brother’s faces looked worse every day.

Just as she was in a dilemma, her cheek was suddenly pinched lightly by the man.

Lin Jianshen had a smile on his face. “There’s no rush. On New Year’s Eve, shall we go watch the fireworks together?”

There’s a firework show every New Year’s Eve in X city and Yu Mian agreed without hesitation, “Okay!”

———pr

A few days before the New Year, Lin Jianshen finally got discharged from the hospital. Yu Mian also stopped by his home.

It’s unbelievable that half a year ago she had never even met Lin Jianshen in person. And now half a year later, she could actually sit in his place.

Lin Jianshen’s house was spotlessly clean and had a simple European style overall. It looked very much like a finely decorated room without much personal touch. It’s cold as if no one had ever lived there.

“Is this really your home?” Yu Mian walked around and couldn’t help but ask doubtfully.

Lin Jianshen rubbed her head, his expression light, and there’s a hint of nonchalance in his eyes. “Not really. For me, it’s just a house where I can sleep.”

Yu Mian saw a photo placed on the bedside table, which looked like it had been around for some time. On the slightly yellowed photo paper, there’s a young and beautiful woman wearing a long white dress, holding a two or three-year-old child in her arms while smiling melancholically at the camera.

She had a hunch in her heart and guessed who the other person was.

Lin Jianshen followed her line of sight and also saw the photo. He slightly froze, then reached over to pick it up.

He his eyelids drooped, covering his pupils. He whispered, “This is my mother.”

His expression didn’t change and he looked calm and indifferent, but when he said those words, it made people inexplicably feel a hint of sadness and grief.

Yu Mian bit her lip, put her arms around his waist, and boldly leaned into his arms. In the past, she would never have dared to do so. But at this moment, she wanted to hug him and tell him that she would accompany him in the future.

Lin Jianshen subconsciously hugged the young woman back. He was stunned for a moment, but soon understood her thoughts and couldn’t help but chuckle lightly.

“My mother passed away very early. In fact, I can’t remember much of the time I’ve spend with her.” He spoke slowly, as if he was talking to Yu Mian, but also as if he was just talking to himself. “My father…… he refused to admit his mistakes. I also feel like I caused my mother’s death, that’s why I didn’t go back to the Lin family to hinder their eyes. Over the years, I have never regarded the Lin family as my own.”

Yu Mian said, “A place with family is called home, but there are no relatives there.”

Lin Jianshen withdrew his blank gaze and lowered down his eyes to look at top of the young woman’s head. He smiled and answered, “You’re right. A place where there is family is called home.”

Yu Mian looked up with her arms tightly wrapped around him as if holding a piece of driftwood for survival, and asked determinedly, “We’ll definitely have a home, right?”

Lin Jianshen gazed at her silently. He saw the anxiety, restlessness, desire and hope for love in her eyes. The two of them were so similar and so lucky to meet each other.

He slowly lowered his head to drop a light kiss on her brows and held her firmly in his arms. Their two bodies were pressed tightly together, inseparable.

“Mm.” He said hoarsely, “Definitely.”

———pr

On the day before new year, Yu Mian was at home making dumplings for New Year’s Eve dinner with her mother. The Auntie had also gone home for the holiday so they could only do things themselves these days.

Yu Xing was finally able to sleep in, but even so, he still got up early and sat in the living room with Father Yu to receive some visiting guests.

It was only in the afternoon that the visitors thinned out and the house finally quieted down.

Their daughter’s marriage was settled but their son was still single, so Mother Yu kept talking and urging Yu Xing to find a girlfriend and start dating. She even pulled him to show him the daughters of wealthy wives from her circle of friends.

Yu Xing was fed up. He’s a complete workaholic and had never been interested in romantic relationships. Mother Yu started urging him to get married so he hid in the study all afternoon on the pretext of handling company affairs.

It was the first time that Yu Mian saw her elite brother being embarrassed and couldn’t stop laughing. She even told Lin Jianshen about it on WeChat. She was afraid that he would be lonely alone, so she would occasionally send him messages, hoping to pass her happiness to him.

After a simple dinner in the evening, the family began to watch the New Year’s Gala. The New Year’s Eve dinner wouldn’t start until midnight.

While the others weren’t paying attention, Yu Mian quietly went out and got into a car in front of the house.

The man was sitting in the driver’s seat. As soon as he saw her get into the car, he came up to her. He grabbed Yu Mian’s waist, pressed her down on the seat, and kissed her deeply.

When he stopped, Yu Mian was almost out of breath and Lin Jianshen was also slightly panting.

Prior to this, they hadn’t seen each other for several days and could only communicate through phone, which was why they lost control as soon as they met.

Yu Mian’s face was scarlet and she feebly pushed him. “Hurry up. I only sneak out so I can’t be gone for too long.”

Lin Jianshen sighed softly in her ear. He put her seat belt on and whispered, “I wish you can turn twenty tomorrow.”

He had mentioned the matter of turning twenty before and Yu Mian immediately understood what he meant. Her big watery eyes glanced at him before she began going through old accounts. “Didn’t you say that we’ll just be pretending?”

He indeed said so, Lin Jianshen had to admit it. He gritted his teeth secretly and his long eyelashes drooped down. He appeared pitiful. “It’s my fault, Wife.”

Yu Mian’s face instantly turned red. “W-who’s your wife……”

The man has a light complexion, his thick black eyebrows slightly raised, and his pair of dark eyes was profound, resembling a bottomless ancient pool in the forest, deeply moving.

A smile appeared on his lips with a hint of unruliness as he said slowly, “You’ve already called me husband online yet you won’t admit it?”

……Yu Mian stopped talking.

Her daily clock-in was still ongoing, but her previous account had too many people paying attention to it, so she applied for a new account to do so every day.

She didn’t tell anyone about her sockpuppet so she was quite open with her words……

“How did you know?” Yu Mian was puzzled. She thought she had hidden it well, so how could he still discover it?

Lin Jianshen smiled but didn’t answer Yu Mian’s question.

The two arrived at the square where the fireworks display would take place and found an inconspicuous spot to sit down. There were many people there but Lin Jianshen was wearing a mask and the sky had already darkened, thus no one noticed him.

The fireworks started on time at eight o’clock in the evening. The shining light rose up into the sky and exploded into huge colorful flowers in the dark night. Yu Mian looked up and her eyes reflected the night sky like mirrors, making them appear bright and brilliant.

She watched the fireworks, mesmerized by its beauty. After a while, she turned to look at Lin Jianshen, only to see that he was quietly looking at her.

Yu Mian’s eyes bent in smile and she made her voice louder, “The fireworks are so beautiful!”

In the night, the man’s brows were clear and his gaze was deep and gentle as he watched her, as if they were responding to her words.

A beautiful colorful flower exploded in the sky and Lin Jianshen suddenly took off his mask. He held her waist, pulled her closer to him and bent down to kiss her lips.

You’re more beautiful and mesmerizing than any fireworks.