HOW CAN IT BE HIM?
While the Jian’an First High’s General a.s.sembly and parents’ meeting were going on in full swing, some people were standing outside Su Lin’s home depressingly.
“Brother Gou, do you think that b.a.s.t.a.r.d, Su Lin, didn’t go to school today? We have waited here for two hours already, yet there’s still no sign of him?”
“That’s impossible! Today isn’t weekend, so how can he not go to school? Could it be that his house has other gates, and this b.a.s.t.a.r.d left through there?”
Indeed, the few punks standing outside Su Lin’s house were none other than Huang Gou and his cronies. After not catching Su Lin twice, they had hardened their hearts and were determined to ambush Su Lin outside his house. They were waiting for the time Su Lin left for school, and then they would find an opportunity to attack him on the way.
However, what they would have never thought was that Su Lin didn’t sleep at his house last night! That was why all their effort in preparing an ambush so early in the morning had gone to waste.
“d.a.m.n, maybe that brat is hiding inside his home. We can’t keep on waiting like this; brothers, we should rush inside together…”
Huang Gou had finally reached the limit of his patience. Throwing the cigarette he was smoking on the ground, he shouted towards his cronies and rushed towards Su Lin’s house with them.
“Brother Gou, this place seems like there’s no one inside, ah!”
The cronies looked inside Su Lin’s house from all the windows, and finally realized that there was no one inside.
“What? There’s no one inside? Then f**k this place for me!”
Huang Gou was on fire. Without any demur, he picked up a brick from the ground and smashed it on the window of Su Lin’s home.
……
Gla.s.s pieces fell everywhere. A few of the other punks also joined Huang Gou, picked up bricks, and smashed them into Su Lin’s home. This was the only way they could vent their anger.
“Who are you people? What do you want? I am reporting you to the police!”
A neighbor heard the call and called the 110 emergency number. As soon as Huang Gou and his cronies heard him, they ran away from Su Lin’s home.
In the evening, when Su Lin and Mother Su, Liu Aizhen, returned home, they discovered the mess and were confused. Several of their windows had been thrashed into pieces.
“What the f**k happened here?”
As soon as Mother Su, Liu Aizhen, saw the mess in the house, she couldn’t help but shout out abuse.
“Aizhen! You are finally back. In the morning, there were 4-5 punks surrounding your house. They were probably looking to cause trouble for you all, but when they realized that there was no one home, they started to smash the windows. I immediately reported them to the police, and the police even came to make a report. But because I hadn’t seen their faces well, I couldn’t describe them clearly…”
The neighbor who had witnessed the events in the morning told Mother Su.
“Punks? When did our family provoke those people?”
Liu Aizhen couldn’t see any path towards the future. How come her family was suffering so much lately? First, both her and her husband were laid off from their jobs, and now, there were even punks who came and thrashed their homes.
“Aunt Ye, the people that you saw smashing the windows… were they wearing ripped jeans, and had their hair dyed yellow?”
Su Lin suddenly remembered the conversation he had heard over at the Dragon-Tiger Gang’s den. Huang Gou had said that he would siege his house this morning. The punks that Aunt Ye spoke about must be him (Huang Gou) and his cronies.
“That’s right… The punks that surrounding your family in the morning indeed looked like that. And when they were smashing your windows, I seemed to have heard someone call Brother Gou.”
The neighborhood Aunt Ye tried to recall, and replied with a nod.
“What’s the matter, Little Lin? Little Lin, please don’t scare mother! You wouldn’t be mixing with those good for nothings, right?”
When Mother Su, Liu Aizhen, heard that Su Lin knew those punks, she shot up to her feet. Don’t be fooled by Liu Aizhen’s usual appearance when she could be fearless and dare to scold anyone; as soon as the punks from the gangs are mentioned, she can’t feel anything but fear.
So now that she heard that there was a possibility of Su Lin having some connection with gangsters, how could she not be worried?
“Mother, I am good! How can I mix with those dregs of society? It’s just that… those punks have been looking to cause trouble for me for some time. Mother, you don’t need to be worried as everything will be all right.”
When Su Lin heard that there was only Huang Gou with his cronies, he felt relieved. It seemed that the matter regarding the 200,000 Yuan drug money had yet to be exposed. Moreover, it wasn’t like the Dragon-Tiger Gang and Poisonous Scorpion would know that it was his doing. If the opponent was just Huang Gou and his cronies, then Su Lin didn’t need to be worried about those minor punks.
“Nothing will happen? Little Lin, have you provoked gangster from the underworld? Not good, this is definitely not good… You… You come with mother; we will immediately go to the police station!”
Liu Aizhen was so worried about Su Lin that she couldn’t care less about the thrashed house any more. Without looking around the house, she tidied up her clothes and pulled Su Lin towards the police station.
At the same time, outside the special care ward in Jian’an Munic.i.p.al Hospital. Fan Liping and her daughter, Qin Yanran, had also left the parents’ meeting and were now talking and smiling merrily.
“Yanran, the doctor just said that your grandmother’s condition has stabilized. She can now get out of the bed, and I even heard from the doctor that she drew a picture in the morning!”
Usually, Fang Liping was quite serious in her speech and manner, and even when she smiled, it would just be out of politeness. However, her smile right now was full of happiness. Her mother’s condition was getting better, so how can she, her daughter, not be happy from the bottom of her heart?
“That’s great, mom! Didn’t I say that a virtuous and kind person like grandma won’t be ill for long, and everything will be all right! Fortunately, Grandma can now accompany me to University as well! But, how come grandma took a pencil and started drawing today? Although it’s just a sketch, hasn’t she not drawn anything using a pencil in a long time?”
Qin Yanran was also smiling, and her face was as radiant as the sun. She looked completely different from the icy beauty the Jian’an First High students were familiar with.
“Who knows? Maybe, because she’s in a good mood, so she made an exception. Let’s go, let’s see what she has painted today.”
Pushing open the door, Fang Liping saw her mother reading a newspaper while still lying on the bed. Immediately, Fang Liping said with a smile, “Mother, Yanran and I came to see you!”
“Grandma, Yanran is here to see you.”
Qin Yanran also happily got on her grandmother’s bed and said sweetly.
“Didn’t I tell you yesterday that you don’t have to come to see me if you are busy? The doctors and nurses in the hospital are all taking very good care of me. If there’s anything I need, I just have to press a b.u.t.ton and someone would come to help me. Liping, you are the mayor of Jian’an City, so there are a lot of government affairs that you need to deal with daily. Also, my darling Yanran, you are going to be taking the College Entrance Examination in a few days, so how can you waste your precious study time on an old woman like me?”
Although seeing her daughter and granddaughter made Tang Huiqin feel warm in her heart, she deliberately put on a serious expression.
“Mom, what are you saying. We are busy all the time, so now that you have fallen ill, can we not even accompany you? Moreover, today was the parents’ meeting at Yanran’s school, so I didn’t go to work and only listened to the teachers at school. The teachers were showering praises for our Yanran, our family’s Yanran has taken the first place in the Grade!”
Fang Liping sat on a small stool next to the bed, while her hands were not idling. Taking an apple from the fruit basket nearby, she started to peel it, “Mom, I will cut this apple for you. Eating apples is good for your health.”
“Good, grandma, since you don’t want to see Yanran, then Yanran will go back and study!”
Qin Yanran also pretended to be angry, turned her head away, and looked like she was going to leave.
“Alright, alright, my good little Yanran, how can grandma not want to see you? Our family’s Yanran is so good at studying; every time you take an exam, you place first, so grandmother doesn’t need to be worried about you.”
Tang Huiqin smiled while still laying on the bed. Stretching her thumb out, she teased her granddaughter.
“Hehe, I will peel the bananas.”
Qin Yanran also picked up the bananas from the fruit basket, and started to peel them off with deft movements, handing them to Tang Huiqing.
“Mom, eat this apple as well.”
At this time, Fang Liping had also cut the apple into pieces and handed them over to her mother.
“So much apple and bananas; ah, you mother and daughter pair, how can my old bones eat so much fruit? You also eat!”
Tang Huiqin smiled happily, especially when she looked at her granddaughter, Qin Yanran, her expression was full of affection for her.
“Right, grandma, I heard the doctor said you drew a picture today. Quick, let Yanran take a look! Yanran hasn’t seen grandma’s work in several years now!”
Qin Yanran was urged by her curiosity and was eager to have a look at her grandma’s drawing. Her grandma, Tang Huiqin, was a top national artist, so she wondered what kind of painting she made today.
It must be known that most of Tang Huiqin’s works that were spread around in the country were mainly cla.s.sical ink paintings, or western oil paintings, and most of them were drawn by Tang Huiqin in her early years. When she was middle-aged, Tang Huiqin had changed her profession from an artist to an arts professor. She devoted herself into studying the historical origins of cla.s.sical Chinese and Western art, and held the position of a tenured professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts.
Since she retired a few years ago, Tang Huiqin had not taught in the Central Academy of Fine Arts, but she would occasionally be invited to do some academic lectures. As for drawing, Qin Yanran had not seen her grandmother draw anything ever since she entered high school.
Therefore, when she heard that Tang Huiqin actually asked for a pencil and drew a painting, Qin Yanran couldn’t help but be excited to see her new work.
“Our family’s sweet little Yanran, it’s just something Grandma casually sketched using a pencil, and isn’t any professional work. The painting that our family’s Yanran draws is what professional work is. Of course, if you want, you can easily get admitted to the Central Academy of Fine Arts after taking your College Entrance Examination. Because of your fine standards and foundation in art, many of the old fogies at the Academy have been calling me for months to have you visit the Central Academy of Fine Arts!”
Tang Huiqin smiled with satisfaction. She had made a lot of professional works in her life, and taught students who grew up to be famous painters both nationally and internationally, but the student Tang Huiqin was most satisfied with was Qin Yanran. Not only was Qin Yanran her granddaughter, she also had great talent when it came to arts. With her great talent, and Tang Huiqin’s careful teachings, Qin Yanran was able to blend together the aesthetics of Western and Eastern art. Qin Yanran’s attainments in Western oil paintings, and national ink painting were quite high.
“Oh grandma, didn’t you always say that painting was just a hobby? Yanran also thinks that painting should be taken as a hobby, and its good to be able to paint a few good doodles, and I can’t put focus on it as a professional career… Now, hurry up and show me your new painting.”
Qin Yanran replied with a smile.
“Alright, you stubborn little girl, you win. It’s in the drawer of the side table. It’s not any professional work, just something I drew. Remember the day I fell ill when I was out on grocery shopping? It’s the sketch of the young man who brought me to the ambulance! Since grandma had free time and could move freely, I decided to sketch that young man’s appearance…”
Seeing that Qin Yanran was going to stay stubborn, Tang Huiqin explained.
“Ah? So it’s the person who saved grandmother? Then I must certainly have a look and see who it was! Yanran will certainly thank her for saving grandma.”
Pulling open the drawer, Qin Yanran carefully took out the sketch that her grandma drew with a pencil. As soon as she spread the sketch open, both Qin Yanran and her mother, Fang Liping, were stunned and looked at Tang Huiqin’s face while wonder, ‘How can it be him?’
That’s right, the sketch was of a lifelike young man holding Qin Yanran’s grandmother, Tang Huiqin, and rushing towards the ambulance. But the youngster… he wasn’t someone unknown, instead, he was the very person who gave that high spirited speech in Jian’an First High’s General a.s.sembly, Su Lin!