"Who's there!"
"Come out!"
Sheng Yuxiao suddenly turned around and called out in a cold, stern voice.
Li Qingqing froze, then hesitantly emerged from behind a potted plant.
Xu Ji immediately asked on the other end of the phone: "What's wrong? Who dares to eavesdrop on your call?"
Sheng Yuxiao's gaze fell disapprovingly on Li Qingqing as he said coolly: "An unnecessary person."
Li Qingqing's expression immediately stiffened. She spoke weakly: "I-I wasn't eavesdropping... I just felt the atmosphere inside wasn't suitable for me, so... just like you said..."
Li Qingqing's eyes welled with tears: "I'm an unnecessary person... so I came out."
Sheng Yuxiao spoke softly into the phone: "Thank you for your trouble. I'll hang up now."
Xu Ji chuckled on the other end: "So polite all of a sudden. If you really feel I've gone to trouble, one of these days you could bring Li Xiaoya..."
"Beep beep beep."
The call had truly ended this time.
Xu Ji lowered his head and cursed: "Brat."
On this end of the line, Sheng Yuxiao put away his phone and looked at Li Qingqing again: "At least you're self-aware."
Li Qingqing choked up.
But she had long since accepted the fact that Sheng Yuxiao had a bad temper and a heart of stone, so she couldn't really feel heartbroken now.
"Brother Sheng!" Ning Heng's voice suddenly rang out nearby, getting closer. "There are so many people today! Has Xiaoya arrived?"
Sheng Yuxiao didn't answer Ning Heng's question. He first leaned down slightly and said to Li Qingqing: "I don't know why my dad is still keeping you here. Be smart and don't do anything unnecessary."
Li Qingqing lowered her head and said sadly: "Such a big thing happened to my family, so Uncle..."
Sheng Yuxiao interrupted her: "I'm not interested in your emotional journey."
Li Qingqing could only swallow the rest of her words and obediently said: "Okay, I'll remember."
By now Ning Heng had walked over, asking as he approached: "Brother Sheng, who are you talking to?"
"Whoa! So dark! Whose kid is this?" Ning Heng jumped back half a step.
Sheng Yuxiao said lazily: "The one exchanged with me."
"Exchanged what? Oh... I remember now! The kid who was supposed to swap with you for the show recording, right? What's her name?" Ning Heng paused. "Never mind, can't remember."
Li Qingqing immediately lowered her head even more, feeling utterly humiliated.
These rich second-generation kids were too high and mighty!
But no one cared what Li Qingqing thought. Sheng Yuxiao and Ning Heng continued talking as they returned to the living room.
Sheng Jun looked up and smiled gently: "It seems today is a gathering for you young people. We appear to have come at an inopportune time."
Xu Ruying's mother, Qiu Lan, said: "It's alright, we'll leave soon. But there's one issue..."
"What issue?"
"Ah, where's Li Qingqing?" Qiu Lan turned her head, looking around.
Sheng Jun looked at a nearby servant: "Go find her."
The servant acknowledged and soon brought Li Qingqing back.
"We feel she's no longer suitable to continue with us," Qiu Lan said, her words still relatively tactful.
Her husband, Xu Huishan, was much more direct: "She doesn't truly like biology and zoology, so there's no need for her to follow us."
The cameras were still rolling at this point.
The bullet screen comments were briefly stunned.
[Brutal...]
[Does this count as being "returned"?]
Li Qingqing's face fell, and her heart felt like it was being pricked by needles. But compared to this moment of humiliation, not having to crawl through forests and climb cliffs anymore was already a relief!
She was finally going to be free!
Sheng Jun wore an expression of regret: "You can't persist? That's a shame..."
"Well, the show has finished filming anyway, so let the crew send her back tomorrow," Sheng Jun said.
How could Li Qingqing be willing to return home in such a sorry state?
Her expression changed, knowing that Sheng Jun was deliberately pressuring her. After all, she still hadn't been able to reveal the exact time of Xu Ruying's parents' accidental death.
She thought bitterly to herself that with their style of field research, they could die from falling off a cliff or from a poisonous snake bite at any time!
She couldn't risk her life for this!
She bit her lip tightly and didn't speak.
Seeing this scene, some netizens couldn't help but feel sorry for her: [She's not that old, her grandfather and father have been arrested. You shouldn't visit the sins of the fathers upon the children. How is she supposed to face returning to Li Family Village like this?]
[Are you stupid? Doesn't she have a mother? She has a mother and a maternal grandmother's family. Why would anyone else need to worry about how she'll manage? Back then, Li Xiaoya had nothing and still had to take care of that old man. It's a pity there weren't kindhearted people like you speaking up for her.]
[You can't say it like that. I think there's a problem with the premise of this show itself. Think about it - a rural child like Li Qingqing comes to the big city, enters a wealthy family, experiences luxury and romance. How could she not have a psychological gap when returning to the village? Even adults would struggle with that gap. The essence of this show is actually quite cruel.]
[Come on, Li Qingqing's grandfather was the village chief. She lived better than most rural children. Others might talk about a gap, but she really has no right to.]
The netizens had moved on to discussing the essence of the show.
At this moment, Li Xiaoya tilted her head and suddenly asked curiously: "What are you holding? Is it heavy? Why don't you put it down?"
Ning Heng grinned: "Hey, I was waiting for you to ask!"
He carefully placed what he was holding onto the table and said: "After seeing it too much, it's not fresh anymore. I'm planning to sell it, but of course I had to bring it for you to see first..."
As he spoke, he lifted the cloth covering it.
Now everyone, both in front of and behind the camera, could clearly see what it was.
It was a human-shaped sculpture with its face slightly tilted upwards.
The sculpture didn't have clear, distinct facial features, only barely outlining the contours of the face.
This is where the artist's magic lies - even with blurred features, at first glance you would feel it was beautiful.
Not just beautiful, but stunning -
The main body of the sculpture was made of fired porcelain, white and thin, carrying the unique beauty of ceramics. It was pure yet fragile, easily evoking thoughts of beautiful things.
Yet this layer of porcelain was broken from the ear downwards, with cracks extending below.
As if someone had once grabbed and smashed it.
The reason it hadn't completely shattered was because the exposed parts revealed steel-like sinews and bones.
This was what made it so impactful.
Both fragile and beautiful, yet cold and strong.
As if it contained an unyielding soul within.
In the silence that followed, Sheng Jun spoke up: "No wonder your Aunt Xu was willing to give you exhibition space."
Qiu Lan also marveled: "Nature has its beauty, but what humans create with their hands can be no less beautiful than nature. This is the significance of an artist's existence."
[Although I've already seen close-up photos on foreign websites, seeing the actual object through the lens again still feels stunning]
[Didn't Ning Heng say before that his inspiration came from Xiaoya? It really fits]
"Want to touch it?" In the frame, Ning Heng held the sculpture out towards Li Xiaoya.
Ning Heng smiled happily, with the unique flamboyance and abandon of youth.
He said: "Apart from the person who created it and the next person who will collect it, you're the only one who can touch it."
Li Xiaoya blinked slowly and gradually reached out to touch it.
[Ah, doesn't anyone else think this scene is beautiful!]
[Already screenshotted, thanks]
[If Ning Heng can make a name for himself in art history, then this story from today will probably be recorded too, right? How wonderful]
The one most impacted by this scene was actually Li Qingqing.
Because in her previous life, Ning Heng never became an artist at all.
He only developed the characteristics of messing around in artistic circles, dating girlfriends like fish swimming across a river, just short of trying something new by dating some boyfriends...
Li Xiaoya's influence... was it really this significant?