Hope, Qiao Nan’s first officially exhibited work, had been receiving inquiries from art collectors and enthusiasts in the industry since its first day on display.
After the exhibition concluded, it was successfully sold for 50,000 yuan.
For a student like Qiao Nan, who hadn’t even graduated yet, 50,000 yuan was already a very high price.
The payment for the painting was transferred to Qiao Nan’s account a week later.
This amount wasn’t a lot for Qiao Nan; it wasn’t even a fraction of the pocket money his brother casually gave him.
However, this was the first money he had earned truly by himself.
After admiring the extra money in his bank account for a while, Qiao Nan transferred it to Grandma Mingda.
After Grandma Mingda agreed to accept Qiao Nan’s assistance, Qiao Nan used Grandma Mingda’s name to open a new bank card and downloaded the corresponding banking app on his phone, teaching Mingda how to use it.
After the transfer, fearing the grandmother and granddaughter might miss the deposit notification, he specifically called Grandma Mingda again.
Hearing he had transferred another 50,000 yuan, Grandma was quite flustered and refused, “This is too much, what you gave last time hasn’t even been used, and Mingda doesn’t need much money for school.”
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“This isn’t the previously agreed-upon sponsorship; it’s Mingda’s payment. The oil painting that sold was of Mingda, this is what she deserves,” Qiao Nan gently persuaded.
“Please save it for Mingda. She has a great talent for painting, and if she wants to continue studying in this direction in the future, it will cost a lot.”
Grandma Mingda hesitated to accept it.
For them, 50,000 yuan was already a huge sum.
But Qiao Nan’s attitude was firm, and unable to refuse, Grandma could only express her thanks repeatedly.
After finishing the call with Grandma Mingda, Qiao Nan logged into Weibo.
He had registered this account casually, occasionally posting some of his completed artworks.
Other than that, he rarely posted updates, only logging in occasionally to check gossip or look at trending topics.
But since the trending incident, he didn’t know how those netizens found his account, and it had actually gained 100,000 followers during this time.
Many people even left colorful compliments under his most recent Weibo post, urging him to update.
Most of these people probably weren’t there for his paintings; more likely, they saw him on the trending list and clicked “follow” out of curiosity.
But this wasn’t a bad thing for him.
Qiao Nan thought for a moment, then organized the photos he had taken in Fengxi Village and posted them on Weibo.
As for the caption, he couldn’t think of anything to write, so he simply copied and pasted “Zhao Yutong’s Adventure,” which Zhao Yutong had written vividly on her Moments after returning to Nanjiang.
The response was unexpectedly good, and many netizens became interested in the situation in Fengxi Village because of it.
Because the recent flood disaster in Guizhou was unprecedentedly severe, many people in remote mountain areas suffered huge losses due to inadequate rescue efforts and had to seek help online.
This generated significant public attention, and with it, increased concern for the poverty in remote mountain areas.
Many enthusiastic netizens, in addition to donating money, also purchased local poverty-alleviation products under the promotion of local poverty alleviation offices, helping the local disaster victims overcome the difficulties.
However, Fengxi Village, as an inconspicuous small village under Shitai County, actually received little attention.
After Qiao Nan posted this Weibo, many netizens realized there was also a Fengxi Village.
The village had beautiful scenery, preserving undeveloped, pristine landscapes.
The Miao ethnic clothes embroidered by the grandmothers and the handicrafts handmade by the uncles were all very exquisite and beautiful.
Many travel-loving netizens said they wanted to visit Fengxi Village after the disaster.
Qiao Nan scrolled through the comments, thinking that perhaps next time he could release a detailed travel guide.
***
Soon after the art exhibition, it was time for school to start.
After Old Li returned from Fengxi Village, it was as if he had unblocked his creative channels. Inspiration surged, and he was immersed in creation all day long.
After school started, they were practically left to their own devices, enjoying a rare leisurely life without constantly slaving over assignments.
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Zhao Yutong, with nothing to do, wanted to drag Qiao Nan to watch the first-year freshmen’s military training.
“I heard the quality of freshmen this year is really high, especially lots of beautiful girls!”
Zhao Yutong said excitedly.
“With a face like yours, you’ll definitely get their WeChat!”
“The sun’s so hot outside.”
Qiao Nan wasn’t keen on going; the scorching sun made people feel like they were melting.
Nowhere was as good as an air-conditioned room.
“That’s exactly why we should go and bring some cool relief to the new junior girls! What a great opportunity!”
Qiao Nan rolled his eyes at him.
Just as he was about to make an excuse to slip away, his phone suddenly rang.
“Hello, Mom?”
The call was from Zhou Ruo.
She was clearly busy, getting straight to the point, “Do you still remember your Uncle Xie’s youngest daughter? Her name is Xie Ruanruan.”
Qiao Nan thought back, not having a very deep impression, “I remember a little, what about her?”
“She also got into Nanjiang Academy of Fine Arts. Your Uncle Xie isn’t at ease about her, and hearing you’re also at Nanjiang Academy of Fine Arts, he came to me,” Zhou Ruo said.
“Your Uncle Xie said that Xie Ruanruan wasn’t in very good health during high school. She even had a tutor teach her at home for classes. After the college entrance exam, she had surgery and is still in recovery. Originally, they wanted her to come to school after military training, but she insisted on coming to school first to familiarize herself with the environment. Your Uncle Xie had no choice but to let her come, but he’s really worried, so he wants to ask you to look after her.”
The Xie family, like the Qiao family, started in Nanjiang.
However, after the Xie family grew larger, the group’s focus shifted to Yanjing.
In the early years, the two families had close ties, and Qiao Nan often visited the Xie family as a guest.
Later, the Xie family moved their entire household to Yanjing, and their interactions became less frequent, but the cooperation between the two families did not cease, and their relationship remained good.
Qiao Nan recalled vaguely that Xie Ruanruan was a very beautiful and gentle girl.
When he visited the Xie family, she would softly call him “Gege” (older brother).
“Which department is she in?”
“She’s in the Oil Painting Department.”
Zhou Ruo told him the information she knew, and also sent him Xie Ruanruan’s WeChat contact card.
After a few more instructions, she hung up the phone.
Qiao Nan added the other party’s WeChat and said to Zhao Yutong, who was waiting beside him, “Let’s go.”
“Aren’t we not going?”
Zhao Yutong looked confused, not understanding why Qiao Nan changed his mind after a phone call.
“I want to go again,” Qiao Nan said.
***
The freshman military training was held on the south sports field.
Under the scorching sun, the freshmen in their military green uniforms looked like wilted cabbage.
Zhao Yutong searched for a long time but couldn’t spot the great beauty others had talked about, and his teenage heart instantly felt disappointed, “It’s so hot and sunny, with sweat smeared all over their faces, you can’t even tell who’s pretty?”
“You keep looking, I’m finding someone.”
Qiao Nan casually brushed him off, then looked at his WeChat.
The other party had already accepted his friend request.
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He politely sent a message, explaining his purpose.
Xie Ruanruan then sent him a photo of a game arcade outside the school.
Xie Ruanruan was still in recovery and wasn’t participating in military training.
However, students who didn’t participate in military training usually sat in the shade to watch, showing their participation.
But Xie Ruanruan had actually snuck off campus.
No wonder he had searched for so long and hadn’t seen her.
“I’m going to West Street to find someone, are you coming?”
“You go ahead, I’ll watch for a bit longer.”
Zhao Yutong wasn’t giving up, still using his “beauty-detecting” eyes to search around.
So Qiao Nan left him and went to find Xie Ruanruan.
***
The game arcade on West Street wasn’t far.
Its gaming equipment was abundant and quickly updated, so it usually had a very large crowd.
However, because there were several bars and KTVs nearby, many people from society, in addition to university students, also went there to play, making it quite a mixed crowd.
As Qiao Nan took a shortcut through the back door, he bumped into a few men with somewhat outlandish hairstyles surrounding a girl, laughing and saying they wanted to make friends.
The girl had her back to him.
She was very thin and pale, wearing a floral camisole dress, with long hair draped over her shoulders in the summer.
She looked like the gentle, easily bullied type, but when one of the men reached out to put his arm around her shoulder, the girl unceremoniously slapped his hand away, her tone disgusted, “Get lost.”
“Quite a feisty temper.”
Unexpectedly, she was quite fierce.
The man who was hit felt he had lost face, and reached out to grab her shoulder.
The girl deftly dodged, about to call the police with her phone, but there were four of them.
Seeing this, they immediately tried to snatch her phone, saying, “We just want to make friends with you, don’t be ungrateful.”
All of this happened in an instant.
Seeing two men intentionally forcing the girl towards the nearby alley, Qiao Nan quickly rushed forward, pushing away the man who was reaching for the girl’s arm, shielding her behind him, “What are you doing? If you don’t leave, I’m calling the police.”
“Oh, little brother wants to play hero?”
The four men were also genuinely angered by these repeated interruptions.
They often hung around this area.
Sometimes, when they saw a pretty girl, they would go up and tease her a bit.
If the girl was soft-spoken, they might even take advantage.
They just didn’t expect this seemingly gentle girl today to have quite a temper, and they also ran into a hothead trying to be a hero halfway.
The leader of the four was in a bad mood today and had drunk some alcohol.
Seeing Qiao Nan’s naive face, he immediately knew he was a student from nearby, so he signaled the other three, “Brothers, let’s go. Today, we’ll teach this little brother a lesson.”
“You run first.”
Qiao Nan pushed the girl, signaling her to leave first.
He had learned some boxing and fighting, and although he practiced on and off, he could hold them off long enough for the girl to escape.
The girl glanced at him, gritted her teeth, and left first.
Qiao Nan, outnumbered four to one, naturally fell to a disadvantage, but luckily the police arrived quickly, and he only got hit twice on the face.
The four men probably didn’t expect the police to arrive so quickly; they were all caught before they could even run.
And Qiao Nan, as the victim, also had to go to the police station to give a statement.
“Are you okay?”
The girl who had left earlier came out of the alley again.
She hadn’t gone far, hiding to call the police.
At this moment, she looked at Qiao Nan, lips pursed, a little nervously, “Thank you for earlier.”
Qiao Nan waved his hand, saying it was nothing.
The two then got into the police car together and went to the police station.
Qiao Nan looked at his slightly red and swollen face in his phone screen.
After hesitating for a long time, he still didn’t call Pei Xu. Instead, he called Uncle Wang.