The Painting Ruined

Ning Li headed to her room the moment she returned home.

When she walked past the painting room, she noticed that the door was half shut.

Su Yuan's warm and loving voice came from within.

"Lil Ci, are you tired? You have been drawing for a long time now. Take a rest, have some fruits."

Ye Ci replied with a sweet voice, "Thank you, mom."

Ning Li paused and looked at the door.

Inside the room, Ye Ci sat in front of the easel and smiled at her mother when asked.

"I'm almost done. Can you place the fruits there? I'll eat them later."

Su Yuan placed the fruits aside and walked to her daughter. She carefully sized up the painting and her well-maintained looks showed a kind and proud smile.

"Look how good our Lil Ci is drawing."

Unlike the impatience and disgust she showed to Ning Li, Su Yuan was always the kind and caring mother in front of Ye Ci.

The praise from her was genuine. 

Like how every mother viewed their children as the best genius in the world, Ye Ci was her pride and glory.

10 years of blood and sweat raised Ye Ci into the decent lady that she was, and Su Yuan felt proud.

Ye Ci subtly glanced at the door before she said with a smile, "Mom, it's getting late. You don't have to stay up for me. Go take a rest."

Su Yuan tapped on her daughter's forehead and chuckled. "Silly girl, I should always be by your side."

Ye Ci blinked. "When I was younger, I was always by your side but I was immature then. Now, I care about you."

"All you know is to sweet talk and make me happy."

The interaction between the mother and daughter in the room was sweet and warm.

However, even though it was a door apart, the atmosphere outside the room was cold and bleak.

Ning Li shifted her attention away, barely reacting to the scene.

She simply turned a deaf ear and walked to her room.

Ye Ci looked at the door and said, "Mom, I think Ning Li is back."

The smile on Su Yuan's face faded. 

When she turned around, she did see a slender figure move across the corridor.

She frowned and decided to go after Ning Li.

"Ning Li."

Ning Li turned around and saw a frustrated Su Yuan.

The incident on the internet had gotten out of hand fast and it spread like wildfire. Through that video, all of Yunzhou's upper-class circle had now seen Ning Li's character with their own eyes.

Although the surveillance footage that appeared later proved that the students provoked her first, Ning Li was the one who resolved the matter with violence.

Even Su Yuan was scared of Ning Li's ruthlessness and violent methods, let alone others.

Now, she had to bear with the collateral consequences, enduring all the sneers and mocks from others. 

If it was not for Ye Ci, she would lose all her pride and glory.

"I know you've lived freely in Lincheng all these years, but you are in Yunzhou now. Please tone down that hot temper of yours. And this Saturday is Master Cheng's dinner, so you can skip your night self-learning class for a few days and I'll get you a teacher to teach you some manners."

Su Yuan did not want Ning Li on such a proper occasion.

Only the most influential and powerful people of Yunzhou were invited to Master Cheng's birthday dinner.

Ning Li knew nothing about manners and if she attended the event, the number of people she would embarrass was unimaginable.

However, when Cheng Xiyue dropped by to deliver the invitation, he made it clear that Ning Li must be there. On top of that, he had been sending Ning Li home for a few days now, so it seemed like they were close.

Su Yuan was forced to compromise. The best she could do was try to prepare as much as possible despite the timing and hope that Ning Li would behave herself on that day.

"I don't have the time for that. But if you insist, you can give Mr. Zhou a call and tell him I'm not going," Ning Li said succinctly.

Su Yuan was baffled. 

Mr. Zhou? Zhou Fei?

"Mom, Ning Li has joined the competitive Physics class. That's why she had to attend night class for it." 

Ye Ci said as she walked out from the painting room.

She looked rather jealous.

Only then did Su Yuan understand the rejection, but she frowned.

"There are so many students in the class and there are only so many prizes for you to take. Sparing a few days for the occasion won't affect your studies."

She did not believe Ning Li could win first place and compared to that, she was more concerned about Ning Li's behavior at Master Cheng's birthday dinner. She really hoped Ning Li would behave herself and not cause trouble.

A hint of frustration and impatience clouded Ning Li's furrowed brows.

Ye Ci tugged Su Yuan's sleeve and said, "Mom, Ning Li is tired. Why don't we continue this tomorrow?"

Su Yuan was fine until Ye Ci reminded her about the frustrating incident that happened earlier.

Tired? Ning Li? 

Su Yuan was the one who should be tired!

Ning Li looked at Su Yuan. 

The woman's eyes were dark and coupled with her blank look, her stare felt extra cold and bleak.

"I'm innocent, so why am I tired? Those who took the video and released it should be the tired one, am I right?"

Ye Ci's heart skipped a beat.

For a moment there, she thought that Ning Li had figured something out! 

However, Ning Li's face was as calm as water.

Ye Ci felt nervous but Ning Li had already left for her room.

Seeing that Ning Li was as stubborn as ever, Su Yuan left angrily too.

Ye Ci spent some time calming her mother down before she returned to the painting room. She locked the door and checked her phone again for any possible traces of her. She sighed a breath of relief after she made sure she had cleaned everything.

…

Ning Li returned to her room and washed up. When she came out of the bathroom, she noticed a transfer notification on her phone.

[Sister Li, the buyer really likes your painting! I told him that we are raising the price but he agreed! Damn, I should have asked for a higher price.!]

Ning Li dried her hair with the towel using one hand while she checked the phone. She grinned when she saw the numbers.

[Don't push it.]

[Oh right, Sister Li! Huatsing Cup final is this Friday! The organizer sent us a VIP invitation, do you want to go?]

[No.]

[I knew it, but I got you one anyway. It's just a normal invitation, I'll send it to you later. Master, if you have the time, please grace us with your presence.]

[Okay. We'll see.]

Ning Li thought about it.

[Oh and I changed my phone number. I'll contact you with the new number later.]

Ning Li then backed up her contacts and data before taking the old sim card out from her phone. She cut it into half and put in the new sim card she got from Lu Huaiyu.

Only then did she remember that Lu Huaiyu had meddled with her phone before. Her hands froze for a while before she checked her phone thoroughly.

What she found silenced her.

Lu Huaiyu had set his phone number as the quick dial on her phone.

"Call this number if you have any problem."

It was as if his words were ringing in her ears.

She shook her head and discarded the thoughts out of her mind. She then went on Weibo and realized the accounts that had insulted and criticized her earlier in the day were all wiped, and everything about her was cleaned up.

It seemed like this marked the end of the little scandal.

…

Two days passed peacefully.

Friday. 

Ye Ci took a day off from school to participate in the Huatsing Cup finals in the city's art center.

Su Yuan, of course, followed her beloved daughter to the competition.

Ning Li rejected Ye Ci again and went to school alone.

The moment she arrived at the entrance, she got a call.

She answered it and heard an anxious voice.

"Sister Li! HELP! Mayday! The painting that I'm going to use for the competition is ruined!"