??Chapter 69: Chapter 066: eting an Acquaintance Again (Second update, asking for votes!)
Chapter 69: Chapter 066: eting an Acquaintance Again (Second update, asking for votes!)
At 3 p.m. on Sunday, Jiang Yan and Huang Mao arrived on ti to pick up Song Jiawen.
“I’ll co over on the day of your college entrance exam.”
With only two months left, Song Jiawen wasn’t sure if the school would have any more holidays, so she told her grandmother, uncle, and aunt that she might not be able to co back in the anti.
Thinking that every other student had their parents accompany them for the college entrance exam, Xie Yanhai couldn’t bear the thought of her going alone.
“No need, Uncle, please don’t forget that the seniors from Jianghai Middle School all go with their teachers, and parents don’t accompany them.”
Children from the town would go to the county to take the college entrance exam, as it was so far away they needed to arrive the day before to find accommodation; it was generally the class teacher who led them, and parents hardly followed.
In the countryside, parents didn’t put as much emphasis on the college entrance exam as those in the city did. Many would only rember it when their children ca ho afterward, “Oh, you were taking the college entrance exam these past two days, huh? Is it over? Does that an you don’t have to go to school anymore? Can you work in the fields now?”
It was that casual.
Upon this realization, Xie Yanhai laughed as well, “That’s how it is here, but now you are in the Experintal Middle School, we have to follow the customs there.”
Xie Yanhai insisted, so Song Jiawen found it difficult to refuse again.
Once on the road in the car, Song Jiawen asked Jiang Yan, “Did you go to your grandmother’s these past couple of days? Have they figured out you’ve transferred schools?”
Jiang Yan hadn’t gone back, but when he and Song Jiawen had gone to see Teacher Yu, Yu had once spoken to him alone and ntioned that his uncle had co looking for him a week earlier.
Which ant they already knew he had moved to the city.
If Jiang Yan wasn’t wrong, his grandmother must be quite happy, after all, she was saving twenty yuan every Tuesday.
Song Jiawen wasn’t surprised by the outco; after all, the whole village knew how Jiang Yan’s grandmother favored his second and third uncles, everyone except his dad.
Or perhaps he knew, but was just unwilling to acknowledge it.
After all, as long as he didn’t admit it, he could still be the illustrious, much-valued eldest son whom his parents took pride in.
You can’t wake a person who is pretending to sleep.
“The results will be out tomorrow, do you want to fulfill the promise in advance?”
Jiang Yan didn’t want to talk about the Jiang family anymore and changed the subject to painting.
“It should be around 4:30 by the ti we reach Yunzhou, how about we take a trip to Shanshui Gallery?”
Busy with exams and competitions lately, Song Jiawen hadn’t visited for two weeks, and she wondered if the painting from last ti had been sold; indeed, it was ti for another visit.
But…
She looked at Jiang Yan and asked, “Fulfill the promise in advance? Does that an you are very confident?”
Wasn’t he bargaining with her before the exam, acting as if he had suffered a great injustice? She hadn’t seen anything remarkable from him right after the exam, so had he only just rembered?
“You’ll find out tomorrow.”
Jiang Yan looked smug and self-satisfied. Huang Mao glanced at his right leg shaking out of the corner of his eye, thinking he almost believed what his brother said.
He wasn’t sure if Miss knew, but usually, Jiang Yan’s right leg would shake when he was nervous.
The group arrived at Shanshui Street right at 4:30.
Eager to make so money, mainly because he found no interest in the gallery, Huang Mao dropped off Song Jiawen and Jiang Yan and left. While there was still daylight, he wanted to look around nearby to see if anyone was selling computers.
“What’s Huang Mao’s real na?”
They were already quite familiar with each other, but she still didn’t know his actual na, which was very impolite.
Jiang Yan fell silent for a mont before saying helplessly, “Why don’t you just keep calling him Huang Mao?”
Song Jiawen: “???”
“Is it that unappealing?”
“That’s not exactly it.”
“Then why can’t you say it?”
Jiang Yan glanced at her, “Fine, I’ll tell you, but don’t ever call him by it afterward, or you’ll end up like , calling him ‘Lao Er’ (Second).”
The two were now sworn brothers: Jiang Yan was the older, Huang Mao the younger.
Hearing this, Song Jiawen beca even more curious. What kind of formal na was so taboo that it couldn’t be uttered?
“Tie Ni, the ‘ni’ with the female radical.”
Song Jiawen: ….
She couldn’t help but ask, “Did his parents get his gender mixed up at birth?”
“How could that be possible with such a clear distinction? The main reason was that his two older brothers didn’t survive. When it ca to him, his parents wanted to give him a cursed na in hopes that he would survive. Who knew that the local registrar would take it as his formal na?”
Well, that’s certainly… one way to be unique.
As they talked and walked, they didn’t go to the main entrance of the Shanshui Gallery but to a small courtyard connected to the gallery, where Song Qingping’s office was located.
Seeing Song Jiawen, Huang Kai was delighted, “Junior, your painting is in high demand! It sold within just a couple of days. If you have enough ti today, why not paint another one?”
Jiang Yan thought, I ca over today just to paint another one, but it’s for , not for you.
With Song Qingping absent, Huang Kai led Song Jiawen directly to the studio, while Jiang Yan, finding himself with nothing to do, went to the Shanshui Gallery up front.
Since I’m here, I might as well imrse myself a little. It wouldn’t do to be selling paintings and not know a thing when asked.
Due to the weekend, there were quite a few people in the gallery looking at the paintings. So were even explaining to their companions as they went.
Jiang Yan sauntered over leisurely and stood beside soone who was giving an explanation, his eyes on the painting but his ears perked up.
“…Choosing a painting is actually quite simple; it’s not as complicated as you think. First, just look at this figure painting. Does it make you feel comfortable? If not, it ans you have no connection with it, so you can’t choose it…”
Jiang Yan: ….
All prepared to listen to so profound and arcane art philosophy, and that’s it?
Jiang Yan understood then that probably half of the people milling around were like him, just there for a bit of excitent.
He wandered the gallery for a while and suddenly saw a middle-aged man with glasses enter through the main door. Quickly, he deftly slipped into the back courtyard.
Yunzhou really is a small place; you can run into an acquaintance anywhere, anyti.
The middle-aged man was none other than Jiang Yan’s uncle, Shu Wan’s older brother, Shu Chao.
Jiang Yan thought he had hidden himself quickly enough that the other man hadn’t seen him, but in fact, his uncle had noticed him the mont he turned.
However, Shu Chao had no intention of approaching and calling out to him. He didn’t have much affection for this great-nephew of his. After all, his sister and Jiang Lao Da divorced so many years ago, the child went with the father, and naturally they weren’t close.
Was it Jiang Yan who didn’t want to get close to them?
It was because whenever he visited the Shu Family, they were indifferent to him. After a few such visits, who would want to go?
Shu Chao pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose, wondering if the kid hadn’t gone back to his grandmother’s in the countryside to attend school. What was he doing here?
Could he have been expelled from school again?
Shu Chao knew that Jiang Yan had been expelled from Experintal Middle School for fighting and had even gone to his mother for money. To this, Shu Chao sneered.
Jiang Fengwei, that country bumpkin, had finally made it out of the countryside, but he only cared about his parents and siblings, totally neglecting his son’s education. Jiang Yan was no good either; what he’d end up like was almost plain to see now.
Shu Chao was only too happy for this good-for-nothing nephew to keep his distance. His own son had made it into Beicheng University, and he couldn’t have been prouder.
So, as far as Jiang Yan was concerned, the Shu Family simply did not want to acknowledge him as their nephew or grandson.
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