Xu Jia Li slightly raised her brow when she heard Zhou Bingbing said,"I think this painting shouldn"t even be here, it doesn"t even fit."
She looked at her with eyes full of disbelief. She moved back a little as she heard her call Zhou Jiayin. She observed how she hugged him as she gave him a peck on the cheek. There was something heavy at the corner of her eyes – something hot which she tried hard to ignore.
She shrugged her shoulders and focused her attention on the painting. No matter how hard she tried to pay no heed to the two, a part of her still couldn"t deny the fact that she wanted to know how Zhou Jiayin treat Zhou Bingbing.
She could hear the irritating voice of Zhou Bingbing despite the buzz of the people talking nearby.
"Dad, I"ve been looking for you."
"Why, Xiao Bingbing?"
"I"m with Weimin-ge. We are looking for you. Why are you even here staring at this trash?" Zhou Bingbing pouted as she put her arms across her chest. She gave off that air of a spoiled child.
"Bingbing..." Zhou Jiayin said with a hint of warning as a sign of reprimanding her.
"What dad?" Zhou Bingbing stomped her feet as she looked at her father with aggrieved expression."This is not even suitable to be here this night." She continued as she looked with mockery at the painting hanging on the wall.
"Okay. Stop it, Bingbing." He turned his gaze at Xu Jia Li and said, "Xiao Li, this is my daughter, Zhou Bingbing."
Hiding her abhorrence, she bowed her head before she looked at Zhou Bingbing and said, "It"s a pleasure meeting you, Ms. Zhou."
"Isn"t the pleasure all mine?"
The mockery on Zhou Bingbing"s tone didn"t escape Xu Jia Li"s ears. She sneered inside, cursing the father – daughter in front of her.
"If Ms. Zhou thinks that way then I"m elated to know you"re happy to know me."
After saying that, she put on her smile. She saw how Zhou Bingbing"s face turned red with anger. She rejoiced inside and continued,
"Uncle Zhou, do you love paintings?"
"Yes, Xiao Li. How about you?"
"I do, too. In fact, I collect paintings. I could show you around as some of the paintings here are Paul"s magnificent collection."
"That sounds good." Zhou Jiayin nodded while smiling.
However, Zhou Bingbing was fuming with anger as she glared at Xu Jia Li before saying, "Dad, I wanna go home now. This is such a boring event. Let"s say goodbye to Paul."
"But Bingbing, I haven"t seen all of the paintings yet. Just go around for a while more. Mingle and socialize with your friends."
"Dad, I wanna go home. NOW."
"Okay. Okay. I"ll call our driver to bring you home."
"Dad! Aren"t you going home with me?"
"Dear, you can go home first. You must be tired that"s why you are so grumpy." Zhou Jiayin laughed as he nudged Zhou Bingbing."This old man will stay for a bit to accompany Xiao Li."
Zhou Bingbing gritted her teeth upon hearing Zhou Jiayin"s words. The sweetness and fondness on his tone made her hate Xu Jia Li more. She threw her a disgust expression before she turned her gaze to her father.
She stomped her feet as she said, "Then I won"t go home yet and just stay here with you."
Xu Jia Li couldn"t help but to suppress the laughter forming in her throat. She smirked before she held Zhou Jiayin"s arm. "Let"s look around, Uncle Zhou."
Zhou Bingbing glared at her before she pushed Xu Jia Li and took Zhou Jiayin"s arm.
She only smiled as she rolled her eyes.
"The two can play this game, Zhou Bingbing." She smiled mockingly.
She took the other free arm of Zhou Jiayin and started to engage him in a conversation. Zhou Bingbing dropped her father"s arm, infuriated at Xu Jia Li.
The three of them started to walk around, the two admiring the paintings while Zhou Bingbing sulked around, throwing daggers at Xu Jia Li"s back.
Xu Jia Li intentionally tried to make Zhou Bingbing feel as an outcast as she explained some of the paintings to him.
"Uncle Zhou, this painting over here is the first painting of Paul during his Cui Ruzhou days..."
The conversation between Xu Jia Li and Zhou Jiayin went on and she learned something that she didn"t want to recognize – first, there was a part of her that ached for a father and last, Zhou Jiayin was a nice man, very relaxed and compa.s.sionate to all.
She saw how he treated other people...
She saw how he treated her...
Was there something she needed to learn more?
Should she give him another chance?
Did she get it all wrong?