Chapter 48 - A Scene Worth Waiting For
Translator: Mr Voltaire
Editor: Phoobiee
Swish swish swish!
The sounds of Qin Feng's brushes landing on the fine paper sounded like beautiful melodies. 10 minutes passed, and after finishing a painting with his right hand, he pushed it away as he opened a new sheet of fine paper and started painting on it.
His focused and handsome face, as well as the majestic and confident air around him, made him seem as if he was on par with Tang Bohu, one of the 4 great southern talents of the Ming Dynasty.
"Alright, I'm done!"
Qin Feng stopped painting, and threw the brushes in his hands to the side. He looked around him, and found that everyone was still immersed in their shock.
"Young master Hua, are you done painting?" Qin Feng ignored these people - he was competing with Hua Ming. He came to his side and saw that he too had finished. The person Hua Ming had painted was the same as one of the people he had painted - Zhao Ling Xian.
It was just that Hua Ming was too focused on Zhao Ling Xian's appearance, and did not truly understand her innermost thoughts.
Although she looked as beautiful as a goddess, her expression made the onlooker feel a chill when they looked at her. It was just like the normal Zhao Ling Xian - beautiful, but completely unapproachable.
Chinese Art was characterised by a freehand style, and focused on the artistic conception of a work, as well as the arrangement of ideas.
From Qin Feng's viewpoint, Hua Ming did not satisfy either of these things.
At this moment, a pleasant voice called out from outside the door. "Students, sorry I'm late. Let's begin class now!" The students turned to see Yun Xiao walk in.
As she entered the lecture hall, she was stunned. The whole class was gathered in a big circle, with the same expression of their faces. It was as if someone had frozen them all in time.
"Students, we're starting now," Yun Xiao called out a bit louder.
This time, a few students noticed her, and they excitedly brought her over to Qin Feng and Hua Ming.
"Teacher Yun Xiao, please adjudicate for us. Which of these 4 paintings is better?"
Yun Xiao still hadn't realised what was happening, and the students wanted her to judge the paintings without knowing who had painted which one.
She was closer to Hua Ming's painting, so she started looking at that one first. It was evident that the subject of the painting was the most beautiful girl in the Arts Department, Zhao Ling Xian.
After taking a careful look at it, Yun Xiao gave a slight nod as she said, "The painter's skill is profound, and has very mature skills in painting. The subject bears a complete resemblance to the real person, and one can tell who it is at a glance."
Yun Xiao could be called an expert in Chinese Art, and for her to say such things, the painter was evidently quite remarkable. However, she continued, "But… this painting lacks spirit. I'm unable to put this clearly into words."
Yun Xiao then looked at Zhao Ling Xian as she smiled and asked, "Student Ling Xian, what do you think?"
The subject of the painting was Zhao Ling Xian, so her thoughts were important as well. Zhao Ling Xian nodded as she spoke, "Mmm, this painting bears some likeness to me. Teacher Yun Xiao, you can have a look at the other paintings."
Zhao Ling Xian didn't really like Hua Ming. Even if his painting was excellent, she wouldn't bother to give it a good look.
On the other hand, she was very curious as to whether Qin Feng had painted her.
Because Qin Feng covered up his paintings after finishing each one, no one knew what he had drawn.
Yun Xiao nodded, showing that she agreed with Zhao Ling Xian's words. She walked over to another painting as she lightly took off the covering.
Her delicate body slightly trembled as her eyes lit up.
This was also a painting of Zhao Ling Xian. However, compared to the extremely icy and cold painting of her from before, this one made her seem lively and full of spirit.
The Zhao Ling Xian in the painting was wearing a light yellow dress as she stood in a flowerbed. She had her eyes closed as she raised her face to the sky, with a blissful smile on her face.
She seemed completely different to the cold and arrogant Zhao Ling Xian in real life, and yet she seemed so real and likeable.
She had a friendly and warm aura around her, and all the boys wished they could drag that Zhao Ling Xian into reality and secretly keep her as his.
Zhao Ling Xian's frame shook. When she looked at this painting, her eyes misted up, and she had to fight back the tears to prevent them from falling out.
That intoxicatingly beautiful girl in the painting stabbed at her heart. It was the girl who happily played with Qin Feng in her childhood - the real self that she buried deep within her.
She was cold and prideful because of the lack of warmth and care she had received. She was afraid of being hurt, so she had put on this icy mask…
Yun Xiao stood in front of the painting for a while without speaking. She suddenly walked over to the next painting while softly saying, "I haven't been able to think of the words to praise the previous painting. I'll have a look at the next one first."
After lifting off the covering, her body once again trembled.
The subject of this painting was someone everyone familiar with. It was one of the other beauties of the Art Department, Lin Bei Bei.
Lin Bei Bei was in a busy city, with people all around her. However, she was squatting in a forgotten corner with her head resting on her knees. There was a trace of loneliness in her eyes, as if she was a child forgotten by the world.
However, there was a pair of big, strong hands on her shoulders. They seemed to contain boundless strength, causing what should have seemed like a dreary scene to become warm and blissful.
Everyone who looked at the Lin Bei Bei in the painting felt that she was not lonely, because there was someone to protect her and stay with her.
As for who the hands belonged to, only Lin Bei Bei knew.
She was sure that these hands belonged to Qin Feng. Qin Feng had helped her too much, to the point that she had started to become dependent on him. Every time she stood next to Qin Feng, she would have a sense of safety.
Lin Bei Bei, who had suffered many hardships since she was young, felt the toughness within her shatter. She could feel a pair of large hands meticulously protecting her.
She turned around as tears flooded down her face.
Once again, Yun Xiao did not say anything as she hurriedly came to the third painting and pulled off the covering.
She suddenly felt as if her head had been hit by something heavy as it buzzed and her mind blanked out.
Yun Xiao's body swayed, and would have fallen to the ground if Qin Feng hadn't caught her.
The subject of this painting was Yun Xiao.
In the painting, she was standing in an amusement park. There were couples everywhere, creating a sweet and romantic scene.
However, Yun Xiao was standing by herself. She looked at this blissful scene with a bit of emptiness in her eyes. At her age, she desired finding a lover, marrying and settling down much more than people around Qin Feng's age.
Those who looked closely would find that in a corner of the amusement park, stood a shadow. His features weren't clear, but the man stood silently, looking at Yun Xiao.
This shadow didn't escape Yun Xiao's eyes. When she looked at it, she felt that it looked incredibly familiar. Slowly, the shadow and Qin Feng's likeness fused together, giving her clarity.
She suddenly thought of that night when Qin Feng had come alone to save her. It was the first time someone had risked so much for her.
However, that scene was quickly replaced with the sight of blood and guts. The black-clothed men who had been chopped in half, as well as the blood-covered Ma De Hu also flashed in her mind. Qin Feng's actions that night had completely frightened Yun Xiao.
If it wasn't because Qin Feng had killed those people for her, a righteous teacher like Yun Xiao would have reported him to the police.
"Teacher Yun Xiao, have you finished looking? Have you made a decision?" Qin Feng held Yun Xiao upright as he smiled and asked.
Yun Xiao hurriedly shook away those horrifying memories. After steadying her emotions, she slowly said, "If I'm not wrong, those 3 paintings were painted by the same person. That person's talent in art is simply astounding, and their skills are unimaginably profound. They're at a level where even I can't comment."
After letting out a breath, Yun Xiao continued to speak, "As for the other painting, it's also quite good, but compared to these 3, it's lacking some spirit. Simply put, the 2 artists simply aren't on the same level. The person who painted these 3 paintings completely defeated the other person."
This conclusion was already extremely clear. Even an idiot would be able to understand it.
Qin Feng's artistic skill far surpassed Hua Ming's.
Although the crowd had already guessed that Qin Feng would win after seeing how he painted and the lifelike paintings, hearing Yun Xiao say these words sent waves crashing through everyone's hearts.
Recently, this young master Qin seemed to have become someone else. He was now some sort of godly person!
Hua Ming's face became incredibly gloomy and cold as he stood in the corner. He gnashed his teeth as he glared at the people praising and cheering on Qin Feng.
He simply couldn't believe that he had lost to Qin Feng in art. This was a massive blow to him, causing him to feel utterly humiliated.
"Since the adjudication has finished, I'll give these paintings to you three. I hope you like them."
Qin Feng smiled as he gave the respective paintings to Zhao Ling Xian, Lin Bei Bei, and Yun Xiao. The 3 women accepted the fine paper as they looked at the true depictions of themselves. They gently scrolled up the paintings, each of them thinking to treasure this painting and take good care of it.
Yun Xiao then went to the lectern, and after calming herself down, she began to teach.
During this lesson, Qin Feng didn't make any trouble. He had been working hard for the entire morning, and now lay on the desk as he napped. This caused Yun Xiao to feel a bit strange - going through a lesson smoothly made her feel like something was missing.
After class, Yun Xiao packed her things and left, but the students all quietly sat in their seats. Not a single person dashed out of the lecture hall like they usually did.
This was because victory and defeat were decided between Qin Feng and Hua Ming, and the rewards and punishments hadn't been given out yet.
No matter if it was hitting Hua Ming's face or Qin Feng kissing Zhao Ling Xian, they were all a scene worth waiting for!