Chapter 97: Gu Chengyun
Chapter 97: Gu Chengyun
Gu Xiaoyue’s younger sister was named Gu Chengyun. Xiao Lin hardly had any time left, but fortunately, it did not take long for him to find her. As soon as he arrived at the fine arts academy, Xiao Lin asked a random person about her and managed to find her directly.
“Gu Chengyun? The paralyzed girl who was admitted to the academy this year! Of course! Who in this school doesn’t know her! Who are you to her?”
“I’m a friend of her elder sister. I was asked to deliver something.”
“Oh. She does have an elder sister.” The tall girl who spoke probably knew Gu Chengyun and let her guard down slightly after hearing what Xiao Lin said.
“Yes, they were dependent on each other since they were young and it’s such a pity too. Her sister is very busy and isn’t able to leave for the time being,” Xiao Lin explained vaguely as much as he knew.
The tall girl really did believe it. “I’m her classmate. I’ll bring you there.”
As soon as they saw Gu Chengyun in the corridor next to the studio, the girl went over and pushed Gu Chengyun’s wheelchair over. Xiao Lin was rather stunned for a moment when she saw Gu Chengyun. He almost thought that he was looking at Gu Xiaoyue; the two of them were spitting images of each other. The only difference was that Gu Chengyun did not wear glasses, but she was nevertheless very beautiful. She was not the stereotypical beautiful woman, but a single glance at her delicate and bright temperament was truly an unforgettable sight.
“Who are you? Do you really have a letter from my sister?” Gu Chengyun’s first reaction was that of great caution and suspicion when she saw Xiao Lin.
Xiao Lin did not say much and handed the letter directly to her. Gu Xiaoyue said that the letter was written in a secret language. Needless to say, it was a nonsensical thing that only herself and her sister would understand.
Sure enough, Gu Chengyun’s doubts were relieved after she opened up and saw the contents of the letter. Its contents were not lengthy, and it looked as though it was about a page long. The girl read very slowly though, and Xiao Lin could not help but quietly lean over to take a few glances. He did not intend to peek, but his actions were done out of pure interest in the so-called secret language.
The letter was full of tadpole-like words. Each word was distorted, slanted, or upside down, but they did not appear to have been written randomly. It looked just like how words should look like.
Xiao Lin’s neck was sore from all the peeping, but he did not even recognize a single word.
“Uncle, just tell me if you want to see it. I didn’t say I wouldn’t show it to you.” Gu Chengyun suddenly looked up. Her bright eyes winked and she remarked playfully in a voice reminiscent of a silver bell.
Xiao Lin retracted his gaze. “I don’t indulge in reading other people’s letters. And I’m NOT an uncle!”
“You can’t understand it, can you!” Gu Chengyun smiled. She was very lively, unlike Gu Xiaoyue who was often very unfeeling. Although Gu Chengyun was paralyzed, the bright smile on her face was very much genuine.
Gu Chengyun tilted his head cutely and said, “I’m really curious, actually. Do you really know my sister? I’m not suspicious of you or anything, but I still can’t believe that someone like my sister actually asked someone for help. And I’m even more surprised that someone was willing to help her!”
Xiao Lin’s mouth twitched after being jibed and smiled resentfully. “I don’t think there’s anyone in China who would be so silly as to write letters in such a cryptic language.”
The girl giggled for a while. “I actually don’t know what text it is either. Father taught it to us when we were young and we learned it.”
Her statement conflicted with Xiao Lin’s imagination of their parents dying since childhood, so he asked casually, “What happened to your father then?”
The smile on Gu Chengyun’s face faded in an instant and she said bluntly, “He died!”
Xiao Lin remembered Gu Xiaoyue mentioning that they had no parents, so he quickly apologized to Gu Chengyun. In spite of that, the girl’s expression did not seem to improve. Xiao Lin was a little embarrassed and quickly asked about Gu Chengyun’s current situation, such as what difficulties she might have in her life and whether she needs people to take care of her, but after recalling that Gu Chengyue had donated 20 million yuan to that art academy, Xiao Lin felt those topics quite irrelevant...
Gu Xiaoyue only spoke briefly about her family’s riches, but rather than being rich in the ordinary sense of the word, they could be considered Miss Perfect because they were fair, rich, and beautiful!
Xiao Lin did not know how else to continue the conversation; he knew very little about Gu Xiaoyue. Moreover, he was not good at chatting with girls, so he prepared to leave since he had already sent the letter. Gu Chengyun threw her hair back and regained a faint smile. “Sorry. I just remembered some unpleasant things. How is my sister?”
“Well, she’s good, but she might not be able to see you for a while.”
“I’m used to it.” Gu Chengyun did not seem to mind it and appeared to show no indication of talking too much about her sister. Xiao Lin had to give up asking further questions, despite his intent to try and find out about Gu Xiaoyue’s lifespan and ascertain whether the girl had any terminal illnesses or cancer.
“You came all the way to send me the letter and I have nothing to thank you for. I’ll give you a painting I just drew.”
Xiao Lin thought for a while and added. “Sure. I can bring it back and show it to your sister to prove that I actually delivered the letter.”
“Then I’ll autograph it for you! Hehe. You can even auction the painting once I become a great painter!”
She was a happy-go-lucky girl indeed, and if Xiao Lin had not noticed her wheelchair from time-to-time, it would have been difficult to imagine that her legs had been paralyzed since she was young. Xiao Lin respected her for that. He pushed her wheelchair into the studio again while smiling and answering, “Sure.”
The Statue of Liberty was painted on the girl’s drawing board. Xiao Lin looked at it for a while and lauded her, “It looks so real. Your skills are amazing.”
“I’ve been dreaming of traveling around the world since I was a child, but I also know that my legs are troublesome, so I won’t bother my big sister. It’s good enough that I’m able to show the world with my drawing paper.”
Xiao Lin was silent for a moment and no longer continued the somewhat depressing topic. Instead, he pointed to the sky on the drawing paper and said, “Is that rain?”
“No, it’s hail!”
“Why did you paint the Statue of Liberty with hail? Those hailstones look quite big too.” Xiao Lin was very curious.
Gu Chengyun pursed her lips and shook her head. “I don’t know. I always imagine the subject in my mind before painting. When I picked up the pen today, the Statue of Liberty in a hailstorm suddenly appeared in my mind, so I painted it.”
That reason was strong enough and Xiao Lin had no words for it.
Due to his limited time, Xiao Lin kept the painting and could not stay any longer. After bidding farewell to Gu Chengyun, he rushed to the airport without even stopping on the way. When he contacted Song Junlang, he discovered that the latter had been waiting there for a long time with Hank.
Xiao Lin jogged all the way to them, panting while asking, “I didn’t miss the flight, did I!”
“It doesn’t matter. It’s a chartered flight anyway.” Song Junlang pointed to the American next to him and added, “It’s their money.”
“Sorry to interrupt your vacation, but unfortunately, I just received a message from our HQ. People from several other academies have already arrived and we’re the only ones left. They’re urging us already.” Hank came up to Xiao Lin, shook hands with him, and apologized politely. He surmised that Xiao Lin had visited home over the past two days and did not give Xiao Lin a hard time over it.