Reborn: The Return of the Villainous Mr. Liu-Chapter 1158: The dreamy sketch

"Ohh what are these sandwiches?" Nuo sparkled. "They look delicious!"

Shui coughed. "Hou Lin’s courtesy. He packed some for everyone."

Zhiyuan, whose face was buried in a magazine until now, raised his head from it ever so slightly with squinted eyes.

"Which courtesy is this?"

"He made a sandwich for me, then thought to make some for everyone. Have a bite. It’s really good!"

Zhiyuan stared at the sandwich suspiciously that earned him a smack on his head.

"Just eat it," Xinyi frowned. "Why are you looking at it like it’s poison?"

She then looked at her daughter. "What happened with Mr. Zhong? I heard he is stubborn about buying Blooming?"

Her expression turned bitter. "Don’t ask me, Mom..."

When she told the entire conversation, Xinyi could barely believe it either. She shook her head. "I don’t feel mad at him actually. I feel pity that he doesn’t understand what goes behind the art."

Zhiyuan frowned. "Don’t worry about it, dear. I will definitely push back on this. As if I will let him take Blooming. He is not the only one influential here."

"Yup, yup," Siying was licking his fingers as he nodded. "I will handle it."

"Aww, you two are so cute."

"Hehe," both father-son grinned sheepishly.

"But no thank you. I will deal with this myself. It’s not just about Blooming anymore but his perception about art itself. Yes, I understand that I cannot force it to change, but I can do my best to at least try to steer it in the opposite direction."

Zhiyuan pressed his lips. "You don’t have to prove anything to him. There are all kinds of people in the world whose viewpoints don’t match with us. His thought process certainly does feel a little extreme but you don’t have to stress over it."

She smiled. "I know that. But art is also my career. I’m not saying everybody should look at art the way I do but at the very least, I can try and make them understand what makes art so appealing. I cannot do anything if nothing moves within him, but I’m confident something definitely will. I will make the best painting he won’t be able to take his eyes off of!"

He sighed. "If that is what you want..."

She grinned. "Thanks Dad! Don’t worry so much. I will definitely find a way to stop this. Hou Lin will be of great help!"

The hand that was finally reaching out to take the sandwich stopped. He gasped. "Why is Hou Lin helping you?"

"Why not? He has spent time with him in the prison, so his inputs to my ideas will be really helpful. He has agreed on it too!" She chirped. "So I will be going to his cafe tomorrow."

"E-Everyday?"

She blinked. "Maybe, maybe not? Depends on the ideas I get. Why? Is there a problem?"

Siying grimaced. "Dad, why do you like to overthink about everything?"

He glared. "Well, my daughter is beautiful and pretty!"

"Aww, thanks Dad, but what is this about?"

He coughed. "Nothing."

Hmph, I won’t let anybody eye my innocent daughter!

—

"How are these?" Shui eagerly showed him some sketches that she had jotted down last night in a zeal to get things moving.

Lin stared at the sketches, slightly tipping his head to the side.

"These are good."

She beamed.

"But these won’t work on him."

Her shoulders slumped immediately. Her sketches were an antithesis of everything that Zhong Sihan valued and believed in. She thought that showing the opposite spectrum of his beliefs would affect him in some way, even though he might have never accepted it within himself. He might have all the wealth in the world but in the end, he was a lonely man.

Was it that loneliness that was urging him to suddenly adopt a son?

Shui had thought to capture those feelings.

Lin touched his chin thoughtfully. "He likes to talk about his beliefs a lot."

"Meaning?"

"Like wealth and ambition."

She nodded.

"I think...showing something that he doesn’t talk about would have more impact on him." 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

She blinked. "What does he not talk about?"

"His brother."

Her eyes slightly widened. "Actually, I feel he talks about him a lot...? In a humiliating manner of course."

Lin thought long and hard about the times he spent with Zhong Sihan in prison.

’You only keep talking ill about him.’

’What else should I talk about?’

’How about you tell me some good things about him?’

’What good things does he possibly have?’ Zhong Sihan scoffed.

’I have heard enough of how things went between you two. Now, I want to know how things were between you two before everything got messed up?’

He had shown a strange expression at that question, Lin recalled now.

It was only momentary, but something had shifted within him.

Shui looked thoughtful. "Hmm, that feels like a good idea."

Maybe the Zhong Sihan we know isn’t being honest to the world. Then again who really is so honest?

"Got it! Let me think about something!"

He thought that Shui would take her leave but instead, she comfortably settled in one of the chairs at the cafe’s corner table, as she took out her drawing pad.

Shui awkwardly scratched her chin. "Will it bother you? The atmosphere here is very peaceful. It will help stimulate my imagination. Don’t worry, I won’t be a free loafer. I will order something too!"

"It’s fine. Please continue."

But even an hour later, Shui didn’t get any ideas. The vision of what she wanted to draw still felt blurry to her. She sighed, leaning on the back of the chair.

His brother...hmm.

Strangely, that reminds me of Jun and Jin for some reason. I wonder why...

Her gaze fell on Lin, who was carrying on with his own work as usual.

He should really hire some waitresses. The workload just keeps increasing and it’s still just him and brother dividing all the responsibilities.

Lin was standing near one table on the opposite side, leaning to place the tray as the filtered ray of sunshine through the glass windows illuminated his right profile. A soft smile tugged at his lips as he greeted the customer.

Shui stared at him for a long moment and picked her pencil, bringing her drawing pad close to her chest.