Chapter 146

Dragonfly Dancing around the Lotuses (1)

She turned on to stream when it was time.

She positioned her phone strategically and saw that the number of audiences quickly went up to 23.

[Channel Master. I have waited like forever for you. You never stream at a set time?]

[Channel Master, what good stuff are you going to make today?]

[What I am more concerned about was, are you going to show off your wealth today?]

All sorts of things were said over the screen.

And, quickly, the subject was deviated.

[Hey, wait there. Did you see the glass mug on her desk? Yeah, the one that our Channel Master is using to wash out her pen, that one!]

[OMG! Is that the cat claw one from Starbucks?!]

[Channel Master, is that a real one? I saw on the news yesterday that it is worth $1,800 right now!]

[Oh darn! Channel Master is using the cat claw mug to wash her pens in? That's too much!]

[Couldn't rival her wealth... but the cat claw is so cute. I want to have one too!]

Gu Shishi never looked at her cellphone against after she finished adjusting her camera angle.

Truth be told, she merely felt that the cat claw mug was the perfect size for pens.

Plus, it was cute and it made her happy looking at it.

Two birds with one stone.

She didn't expect the viewers in her channel to be drooling over her mug.

And they paid particular attention toward the mug when she dipped her pen in it.

While they were all staring when she dipped her pen into the cup of water, the crowd noticed something else.

[I never even noticed it before, but now that I am looking at it closely, I noticed that the channel master has very pretty hands.]

[The channel master has some sort of filter on, right? Her skin quality is so good and white like milk!]

[Her fingers are so slender and long. I am so envious!!]

Gu Shishi glanced over at the comments but just smiled at them.

She put the fan mount that she was going to paint on in the middle of the table and greeted everyone.

"Everybody seemed to like the folding fan that I made last time so I planned to paint a silk fan mount today.

"I am starting now~~"

Having said that, she activated the skill that she had purchased earlier.

A moment later, she closed her eyes and entered into a dimension.

A round hand fan, very similar to a beautiful woman covering up half of her face with a lute.

There was an obscure kind of beauty, like the person had something that they wanted to say, but didn't quite say it out loud.

As the saying goes, a white round hand fan is much like a full moon. Hand fans traditionally represented a pure and clean kind of beauty.

Gu Shishi stroked the ribs of the fan. In front of her eyes, she could see a serene scenery of lotuses in the summer.

Time seemed to have stopped except for a dragonfly tapping on the water and the ripples that it caused.

There was a light breeze and she could also smell the scent of the flowers...

She just stood there quietly.

Only after a long while did she open up her eyes and return to reality.

She lifted up her hand and her paintbrush made from weasel hair started tracing the outline. Before long, the lotus leaves, standing silently and tilting like an umbrella with their states well conveyed, appeared in front of everybody's eyes.

"Ah, I forgot to mention. I am also using gongbi style today.

"As round hand fans are small and delicate and best for petite girls, the details created by gongbi will give the best results."

After Gu Shishi added the last part, she dipped her pen for more ink and started on the lotus flowers and the bundles of lotuses in the background.

It was very different from the conceptual lotuses that she had drawn at the studio previously.

The previous time, she drew the flower with one single stroke and the leaves with the second one.

Gongbi, on the other hand, was about the details and adding the colors one layer at a time.

"Pay attention to the lightness and darkness of the lines and the changes in the thickness of the lines. These are all very important details. From small to large. Also pay attention to the what's primary and secondary objects in your painting as well as the white spaces in your painting."

Gu Shishi explained when she paused.

If Chen Kexin was online, this could be considered as an extracurricular lesson for her.

***

Chapter 147

Dragonfly Dancing around the Lotuses (2)

"Lotuses are known to remain pure and clean even though they grow out of mud. So it is very important to apply ink lightly when painting lotuses to emphasize on their elegance. Lighten the ink one layer at a time and avoid using heavy ink or colors."

She started filling in the painting with colors after the outline was completed.

The lotus leaves closer were of a darker color than the ones farther away. The corollas and the buds were traced with very light ink.

Picture: Lotus with dragonfly painted in gongbi style

"With a silk fan mount, heavy ink will appear very abrupt and will also be difficult to smooth out or make any corrections later on. So patience is the key. After every layer, wait for it to dry completely before you apply the next layer."

Adding some cyanine to the ink, she applied a layer onto the leaves.

Then, she reached out to a hair dryer that she had placed on a stool earlier.

As soon as she picked up the hair dryer, the channel became lively all over again.

[Hot dang! A Dyson hair dryer!]*

[The channel master must be a Second Generation Rich! @King of the Hill, are you there? Is your face hurting??!!]

[A 3,000 yuan hair dryer. Tsk tsk tsk.... Rich Channel Master, are you in need of any more friends?]

[Why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself while you blow dry the painting, Channel Master?]

Gu Shishi was not entirely blowing dry her painting mindlessly. She was carefully planning on the colors to follow.

She talked slowly as she thought everything through.

"I am going to mix the cyanine with gamboge next for the second layer on the leaves. There must be color and lighting differences between the top and the bottom of the leaves. Adjust the ratio between cyanine and gamboge to make one side more green and the other more yellow."

Everybody shrieked in the channel.

Many planes, snacks, and sunflower seeds dropped in the channel.

[Channel Master, I love your style of feigning to be lecturing about painting while you show off your wealth! I am so following you!]

[I suspect the channel master was showing off her wealth, but I can't prove it!]

[I suspect even the fan mount that the channel master is using is high-end custom-made! Too bad I can't tell the difference!]

[Oh, right. Are you selling the fan today? Or are you giving it away for free?]

The channel's popularity was beginning to go up. Even though it was almost 11 o'clock, many night owls were still online.

It was bustling inside her channel, but Gu Shishi, submerged in her process of creating the fan mount, did not notice that at all.

When the ink was dried, she started with her second layer. She didn't even notice that her cellphone was vibrating on the end table.

She finally let out a long breath after she had completed the refreshing, elegant, and lifelike "Dragonfly Dancing around the Lotuses" on the fan mount.

[Shoot! That little dragonfly looks so real!]

[Oh, boo, what are you talking about? Dragonflies are not cute at all in real life. But this one is so cute~]

[I could almost see the wings of the dragonfly vibrating as it tapped on the lotus leaves!]

[Everybody step aside, the guru is here! Channel Master is an expert among Second Generation Rich!]

[Yeah, never mind about anything else. Just these wings alone were worth 10/10!]

[Yeah, this color combination is so incredible... dark green, light green, plus a hint of yellow here and there along with the white lotus leaves... I think this looks much better than the pink and red flowers!]

[I thought it was hot today, but I feel much calmer now that I am looking at the channel master's fan mount.]

Gu Shishi picked up her cellphone that has been streaming.

That's when she saw a string of donations along with '666' scrolling through her screen.

"And that's all for today's creation of the fan mount. I will add the inscription later on and the pictures will be posted on my 'Ink Painting Guru' friends' circle. Do come and check out the detailed photos."

Having said that, she ended the stream.

She wrote down "On the Love of Lotuses" on the backside of the mount and painted her stamp.

While she was waiting for it to dry, she placed her fan mount on the stand that she had ordered specifically as a set.

Picking up her old cellphone next to her, she was just about to take some pictures of the fan mount when she paused a little.

There were a few messages on WeChat.

[King of the Hill: I'll buy it.]

[King of the Hill: Just name your price.]

[MeowMeow: This is the one for my grandmother, right?]

[MeowMeow: My grandmother was asking me about it. Please let me know. As for the price... just let me know.]

Gu Shishi chuckled.

She had, indeed, prepared that for Old Mrs. Chen. She figured she'd like it.

But, as they had never communicated about the drawing ahead of time, she wasn't 100% sure of that.

It'd appear that Old Mrs. Chen was quite happy with it.

Gu Shishi regretfully replied King of the Hill's message. [I apologize. A customer of mine placed the order before you and had already paid me the deposit. I have four more fan mounts to go, so it might be a while, but if that is alright with you then let me know.]

Old Mrs. Chen ordered five fans at one go. Four round ones and one folding one.

She had only finished one so far.

The King of the Hill had been saying that he wanted to buy a painting, but Old Mrs. Chen beat him to it.

She had already paid her 10,000 yuan deposit with alacrity after she had approved her friend's request on Wechat the other day.

Observing the rule of first come first serve, Gu Shishi must prioritize Old Mrs. Chen first.

***

Chapter 148

Dragonfly Dancing around the Lotuses (3)

Another bigger issue was that once she completed the remaining four fans and another painting as a gift for Ling Xiaomei, she probably wouldn't want to paint anything else for a while.

She had wanted to paint one for herself but that probably wasn't going to happen either.

King of the Hill would just have to keep on waiting.

Gu Shishi felt somewhat apologetic about it. [My apologies. King of the Hill. You might need to act faster next time.]

She finished responding to King of the Hill before she got back to Chen Kexin. She had always been straightforward when dealing with Chen Kexin.

[MeowMeow, 30,000 yuan each. You can pay me all at once when I am finished with them.]

[But there is a slight problem. The fan mount was made out of silk, so they could be easily damaged during shipping and handling. Do you think you can pick them up in person?]

One her side, Chen Kexin was just about to let out a long sigh of relief after she read the first text when the second message attacked her eyes!

Pick them up in person?!

To her place?

To look for Gu Shishi at Big Brother Huo's place??

Ugh...

Chen Kexin was wide awake in the middle of the night!

Was she going in the capacity of a guest?

Should she bring any gifts with her??

Wait, whatever happened to keeping a distance from Gu Shishi??

"Ugh, what should I say to her? Do I have to go?"

Should she go and hit up Li YiRu, who had just quit the group chat and ask about what was the situation of Gu Shishi's place?

"OOOHHHHH, I am going to go insane!!"

Chen Kexin, once again, shrieked while clutching onto her cellphone.

***

Meanwhile, Siyi stood awkwardly inside of Huo Sishen's study.

He was making a report on the entire conversation during Ms. Li and her father's visit while looking at the sticky-looking soup sitting on top of the desk.

The soup looked somewhat familiar.

Was it the one that Miss Gu experimented in the kitchen today?

Miss Gu invited him to try it so he took a sip.

Did that mean... Miss Gu turned around and brought some to the boss?

"Alright, I guess the house master of the Li's still has half a brain," commented Huo Sishen after he finished listening to Siyi.

"Send someone to let them know that we will not be resuming our cooperation. They will have to do what they need during the bidding. Whether they will land the deal or not will all depend on their ability."

Siyi immediately acknowledged that, but he still couldn't help but look over at the bowl of soup.

It's almost midnight already. Did Miss Gu not know anything about the boss? He never ate anything after dinner.

"Boss, should I take that away for you? I can take this bowl of soup back to the kitchen?"

Siyi was deadly worried that his boss would be unhappy again if he so much as saw the bowl of soup for one more second. He'd feel bad for Miss Gu then.

Huo Sishen's brows stirred a little.

"Dinner tonight wasn't all that good."

Holding his left cufflink with his right, he twirled it around.

Siyi was a bit surprised by that. Whatever did that mean?

The boss wasn't full from dinner?

"Should I have Chef Chen come to prepare something for you then?"

Huo Sishen's right hand paused mid-motion. Almost unnoticeable, he looked at his employee that seemed a little slow.

"No need. Chen Qi had already brought me the soup."

"Um... okay..."

Siyi excused himself. He walked outside of the study, closed the door behind him, before he blinked a couple times.

Brought him the soup? Who did? Chef Chen Qi?

Eh.... He distinctively remembered seeing Sier walk Chef Chen out and locking the door behind him.

Plus, he had the same soup. It was definitely made by Miss Gu!

"I discovered my boss's big secret!" said Siyi.

Sier, Siyi's twin brother, simultaneously said the same thing as Siyi as he excitedly returned to the building outside of the main building where he and his brother lived.

A second later, as the two of them faced each other, they said the same thing simultaneously again-

"You first!"

They both paused together again.

But, quickly, they both started up once again.

"Miss Gu brought a love late-night snack for Boss!"

"Boss had Butler Lin steal soup from the kitchen!"

Siyi was stunned. Then, he rolled his eyes and said, "What? He stole... stole it?!"

Sier, too, was stunned. "What? The soup was made by Miss Gu?!"

___

Author's rambling:

Boss Huo (while defending the bowl of soup in front of him): Mind your own business!

Siyi: ......