Reborn: The Return of the Villainous Mr. Liu-Chapter 1155: A painting worth a thousand words

It became very crystal clear for Shui why Han Tian hated Zhong Sihan's guts. It was one thing to not like something but to humiliate art to this extent by dragging monetary value in between was beyond her understanding.

Her expression turned more and more sour. "You know I thought I should feel angry at you, but I guess…I pity you."

Zhong Sihan's eyes narrowed.

"If all you can think about is money, money and money, then nobody has lived a sadder life than you. You haven't even bothered to understand what art is, yet you are very confident you know what art is. But the reality is that you don't know a single thing about it."

"Because I don't want to know about it. Simple. Why should I stare at a bunch of lifeless brush strokes on a canvas?"

The more she listened, the more she felt at a loss. Before she could lash out, Lin asked plainly, "Have you ever seen a painting before?"

"Tons. And they do nothing to me," he shrugged. "

Lin tilted his head slightly, his voice calm but his gaze sharp. "Then you have never looked. You only glanced."

Zhong Sihan scoffed, "Don't play word games with me. Looking, glancing - it's the same thing."

"No, it's not. Glancing is what you do at a price tag. Looking is what you do when you care enough to see. Art isn't made to please your wallet. It's made to challenge your beliefs, to disturb your momentum and to stay with you long after you have turned away. If you have never felt that, then you have never truly looked at anything."

Shui watched him silently. She hadn't expected Lin to defend art so fiercely, yet there was no fury in his words, only a cold, precise blade. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Zhong Sihan's lips twisted, but his eyes flickered for the briefest moment. "Hah. So you are saying it's my fault? That I'm blind?"

Lin didn't blink. "Exactly."

The silence that followed was heavy. Shui found herself staring at Zhong Sihan, wondering if the insult would spark another one of his arrogant exclamations. But instead, he simply laughed.

"Blind, huh?" He leaned back in his chair, "Maybe. But let me tell you something. Blind men don't waste time staring at meaningless colors. They build empires with what they can grasp. And that's why I'll always be steps ahead of dreamers like her. But that's not the point. You can use all flowery words you want, but Blooming will be mine."

Lin plainly said, "That's not going to change anything between us. My answer was and is still the same."

"Things will change once the distance closes."

"The distance wasn't much in prison either, but that hasn't changed anything over these years."

"That's because you are a stubborn prick! But oh well. After all, Zhong Sihan is adopting you. Stubbornness must definitely run in your personality. I cannot say blood."

Shui pinched her lips together. "So are you saying that you won't give up on buying Blooming?"

"My interests are aligned with it, so no."

Lin's eyes narrowed. "I'm rejecting your offer anyway, but if you keep targeting people like this, then you should forget about anything changing between us."

Zhong Sihan glared. "Show some gratitude toward the man who took care of you in prison! Otherwise, you were just raw fodder for the bullies."

"I want to appreciate your strong side, not your ruthless side."

"And what did you get by being kind to those bullies and just taking their beatings?"

"I would have fought back if I didn't have a brother waiting for me back home," he plainly said without much emotion, but it was clear to Shui how not leaving Cai behind was the single most driver toward his choices.

Zhong Sihan raised a brow. "So much love for a brother. Is it even worth it?"

Lin stared. "Yes."

Zhong Sihan, who had thrown his own brother over the edge, couldn't relate to him at all. He tapped his fingers on the chair's armrest thoughtfully.

"I'll step back only on one condition."

"I'm not agreeing to being adopted."

He glared. "Keep repeating that and I'll definitely add that as my condition!"

He blinked. "It isn't?"

He sneered. "No. It's for this young lady standing in front of me."

Zhong Sihan stared at Shui with a smile. "Make a painting for me."

"Painting?" Shui squinted.

"Yes. A painting that will shake me to my core. If you want to act as the heroine of justice for all artists, then show me what you have got. None of the paintings I have seen has ever evoked anything within me. No feeling. If your painting can make me think beyond money, then Blooming will remain where it is."

—

"What nonsense do you think you are planning?"

The same elderly woman who had guided Shui to the study room before stood in front of Zhong Sihan, glaring daggers at him.

"You want to adopt a son? Of all people, you? Have you gone senile finally?"

Zhong Sihan opened his eyes and arched his brow at her.

"Why not? Oh! Are you afraid you and your family will be left to eat the dust? Ding ding! Right answer. You won't be getting a single penny, Anrui."

Zhong Anrui balled her fists as her chest heaved. "I see that prison didn't change anything for you. You are one arrogant son of a bitch even after all these years."

He tilted his head. "Are you in any position to say that 'sister-in-law' who, I still remember very clearly, had tried to seduce me - her brother-in-law - in her moment of weakness once upon a time?"

Tears welled in her eyes, her cheeks aching. Silence hung for a moment.

"It's the price of that one mistake that I have been paying for my entire life…"

"Indeed. My useless brother tricked me into snatching all the family assets but poor him to fail so miserably. What did he expect thinking of double playing Zhong Sihan? Even more regretful is his wife cheating on him. Ah. He was already falling and your betrayal just pushed him into the abyss."

She only trembled but said nothing.

"Anyway, it doesn't matter. I know what your grandchildren are trying to do and trust me, they can crawl and grovel all they want, but they won't get a cent of profit like their grandfather never had," he smiled.