Chapter 306 – Mother Huo finally couldn't help but started to cry. (3)
Even Huo ChuChu, who was single and never been in love, felt her heart tightened.
Never mind Mother Huo who had lost her husband years ago. She was widowed at a young age, had to raise her children on her own, take care of her mother-in-law, and even prop up the Huo's empire.
In the early years, first her husband passed away, then her father-in-law also passed away. Leaving behind nothing but a mess to her. Businesses at the company was not moving forward and their competitors watching them like hawks. Her mother-in-law couldn't handle it and had fallen ill. She was truth helpless with nobody to reach out to back them.
Cry.
Even when she told herself to not cry and that it wouldn't do her any good at all but she just couldn't stop her tears from streaming down.
Mother Huo remembered that she, too, had cried for an entire month.
Every night when it was quiet and others were asleep, she would close her room door, lay in bed alone, pull the blanket over her head and start to cry.
Tears would just stream down uncontrollably.
She couldn't just do nothing else but to cry like Lady Meng Jiang... she had kids to take care of and she needed to learn how to manage the company and to attend all sorts of shareholder meetings... No matter how tired or painful she felt, she could only swallow them all up!
She had almost forgotten how she made it through those dark days of her life.
How to Restore Vision Without SurgeryiFocus
Looking at the painting of Lady Meng Jiang, Mother Huo's could no longer see out of her blurry eyes.
She could no longer tell the sleeves apart from the patterns apart from the collapse of the Great Wall... she only felt that these ink painting lines, each stroke of them, was nothing but thick sorrow and pain that was almost have physical weight.
She could relate to that!
Tears streamed down her cheeks nonstop!
Nobody knew whether Lady Meng Jiang's husband died from corvee, pressure, or accident.
But she trusted that the hatred that she felt was the same as hers.
She was too helpless and too broken down back then to the point of desperation... And the more painful and sorrowful she was, the more she needed an outlet.
She thought this through every single night...
Had he not been driving his older son to a picnic, Huo Qidong, who had always doted on her, would never had sped and died on the highway.
Had Huo Qidong not died, her father-in-law would not have fallen ill from overworking and died after him.
Her thought was like a spell. The more she thought about it, the crazier it got!
The less and less she wanted to see her older son as days gone on!
Every time she saw him, she couldn't help but thought that all of her sufferings were caused by him!
She was in too much pain!
Every time she saw him, it was like a stab in her chest. Forcing her to remember the pain at the hospital where she couldn't even see her husband for one last time and to remember every night that she was lonely, scared, and sad.
Mother Huo felt that this painting in front of her reached straight to the scar in the deepest part of her heart.
How was Lady Meng Jiang's painful crying any different from her placing all the blame onto her older son as an outlet?
But what else could she have done?
There was... nothing else that she could have done!
Mother Huo couldn't hold back anymore and tears streamed down her cheeks uncontrollably.
***
[Beep! Received fondness from Mother Huo and Grandma Huo!]
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[Beep! Received fondness from Huo ChuChu!]
[Beep! Received fondness from Huang Chuan and...!]
[Beep! Mid-level Living the painting activated once.]
A barrage of message almost distracted Gu Shishi from her lecture.
She was in the middle of explaining drawing technique and couldn't possibly take a break to check out the messages.
She finally took a gander at the system news when she went to the restroom.
And she was shocked by what she saw.
Acknowledgement from others went up 30% in one morning.
Old Mrs. Chen had been a great help on this!
The brown-nosers whom she had invited today were all renowned in the society. That and Old Mrs. Chen's friend's circle were all wealthy people and that allowed her experience level to go up and up.
Gu Shishi thought she was mistaken when she saw fondness from the Huo's. But she had it figured out when she saw that her painting's effect had been activated.
Chapter 307 – "Hoho, Huohuohuohuo, would you like some coffee?" (1)
It was the effect of her Lady Meng Jiang!
Her artwork that has emotions associated with it!
Her original thought was to use a painting about mother and son love to strike up Boss Huo's mother's conscience.
But then she vetoed that idea herself. What was the point of her being moved by another mother's story?
Would that really make her realize her own mistake?
It had been so many years already. Even if she had a shred of love for him, would she have never talked to him once? Would she really realize where she was a wrong about abandoning her own child?
She didn't think painting the stories of Mencius's Mother Cuts the Cloth to Teach Him a Lesson or Mencius's Mother Moving Three Times for Her Son would have that effect on her!
Lady Meng Jiang, on the other hand, looked like it was about a wife who mourned the loss of her husband at first glance but it was, in reality, about the society back then that overexploited their people and making life unbearable for them.
Those who died from working on the Great Wall, from exhaustion, from overworked... there was, however, not one version that Lady Meng Jiang's husband died because of her curse.
She hoped that this would be able to wake Boss Huo's mother up!
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Who would predict which would come first, tomorrow or an accident?
Who could guarantee that one would live to 100 years old?
So why blame another person's life and death on another individual? There was certainly no cause and effect between the two!
Gu Shishi sighed.
Gu Shishi was so angry when she painted the painting that she didn't even use her regular hard pen calligraphy for its caption. The proper and soft style would not be able to convey her indignation and her strong urge to pry open Boss Huo's mother's brain. Instead, she opted for a raging cursive style calligraphy all the way to the end and that finally made her feel better!
"Now that I received fondness from it. Did that mean it was successful?"
She was perturbed as she looked at the system's interface.
That being side, whether she did successfully pry open Boss Huo's Mother's brain or not, she had no intention to interact with them for the time being.
Of the Huo's, with the exception that Huo ChuChu was a genuine person, the others.... Meh.
Even Huo Wencheng, whom original owner was fond of, was one who was unable to think clearly or have questionable behavioral issues.
Even if he was still young at the time it all happened and didn't know better. But he should figure out by now how ridiculously superstitious this cursing talk was in this day and age.
His mind was even as clear as his younger sister Huo ChuChu. Another braindead product of the author... no wonder he would fall for Gu Wushuang. She figured all it took was some whining form Gu Wushuang and he could no longer tell left from right.
Those two were match made in heaven for sure!
Gu Shishi shook her head.
"Never mind that. My job is done as long as I've taught them a lesson."
She refocused herself and went back to her class.
At this very moment, was like a circus over at the Chen's.
Mother Huo suddenly broke down and started to bawl. Then it was Grandma Huo, who put on her bifocal lens, studied the painting carefully, and also started to cry.
Both of these women had lost their husbands.
The sadness of the painting reminded them of their own fates.
They could both relate to the painting at that very moment.
They completely blended into the role of Lady Meng Jiang and only wished that their tears could somehow brought their husbands back.
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Standing in front of the painting, they all felt that this Ink Painting Guru was simply incredible.
Her painting style was mature and flawless and, as though she could completely relate to their pain that they had experienced, each of the strokes perfectly conveyed their pain of losing their husbands.
"This painter must have experienced losing a loved one or witnessed it happening to someone that she is close to."
Vice President Huang Chuan lamented.
As such, more and more people walked over to the painting.
After all, Old Mrs. Chen was up there in age and many of those that she had invited were her age and a few of them, inevitably, had lost their spouses.
Even when one passed away in one's golden years, it would still sadden their loved ones.
As such, nobody was able to comfort Mother Huo and Grandma Huo who were still crying in front of the painting.
Finally, more and more people started crying in front of it.
Chapter 308 – "Hoho, Huohuohuohuo, would you like some coffee?" (2)
Emotions could be infectious.
Same goes with sadness. Everybody stood around and the light sobbing quickly infected everyone's heart like a virus. Looking up at the sorrow of Lady Meng Jiang the painting one more time and thinking about their own loneliness or that of their elders... or thinking about what would happen if they lose their spouses...
Sobbing sound could be heard in the entire show room.
Even Huo ChuChu's eyes were reddened.
Chen Kexin, who came a little late, was baffled and surprised.
Finally, she, too, joined the others with her reddened eyes.
It was much like in a theater when, during a particularly sad scene, the audience next to one started to wiped their tears secretly and one would be quickly affected... and, just like that, the suffocating sadness spread in the entire area.
By the time Mother Huo and Grandma Huo were done crying and wondered and regretted about how they had lost control of their emotions so completely, they were startled by the realization that everyone around them were crying.
Giving that some more thought, their expressions changed as well.
Old Mrs. Chen's brother passed away from heart failure last year.
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The old man of the Zhang's passed away from cancer three years ago.
The little uncle of the Li's died in his twenties in a rock-climbing accident.
The grandma of the Gu's had also passed away a few years back from health issues.
***
They never thought about it this way before but, when everyone was crying today, they finally realized that every family has their own painful story.
Were the men of the Huo's the only ones who had passed away unexpectedly?
No! Death had touched every family!
Mother Huo and Grandma Huo's hearts tightened violently.
They had always thought that they were the most unfortunately people.
The pillars of the family were gone with only the women left... but, in looking around, many of those around them had lost their husbands or fathers. Someone even lost their loved ones from a younger generation!
They have made a lot of money and lived an upscaled lifestyle.
But many had also over exhausted themselves in this circle. Or that they over consumed alcohol when they were networking or out having fun. Most of the men had high cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar. They lacked rest and a healthy lifestyle!
They felt that they were the most unfortunate people some ten years ago and that their worlds had collapsed.
Nevertheless, they weren't the only ones who had lost their loved ones and had their worlds crumbled around them.
Looking at the women around them with their eyes reddened, both Mother Huo and Grandma Huo had complicated looks on them.
When one suddenly realized that others were even more misfortunately than them, what rights did they still have to complain about their own lives?
When Gu Shishi arrived home from work while rubbing her shoulder and had taken a tub bath, she received a string of text messages from Grandma Chen and Chen Kexin.
[Happy Chubster: Oh boy, I've cried so much today. Aye, I ended up hugging and crying with a few old girlfriends of mine...]
[MeowMeow: My grandma's exhibition almost turned into... a memorial... That was so scary... even as a single dawg, that Lady Meng Jiang made my heart ached. How did you do that, Instructor Gu?]
Chen Kexin, too, was one of Gu Shishi's students.
Gu Shishi couldn't answer her question.
How did she do that?
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Keke, relying on the system, of course!
She could achieve beginner's level of Living the painting a few times on her own already.
But this ability to affect others' emotions and made them bawl and completely absorbed into the painting was... a little bit more challenging. She hasn't quite gotten the handle of it yet. That has yet to come.
[Just practice more.]
She gave her student a simple and cool response.
She would just have to exchange for that skill a few more times, try it out, and see if she could figure out some sort of a logic behind it!
[Happy Chubster had sent you a video clip.]
Gu Shishi clicked it opened and was stunned immediately.
Crying could be heard throughout the venue and MeowMeow wasn't lying when she said the event was more like a memorial than an exhibition appreciation!
Guilty as charged!
She quickly clicked out of the video and stopped watching it.
Scary!
The effect of this skill could be very severe.
Chapter 309 – "Hoho, Huohuohuohuo, would you like some coffee?" (3)
[Happy Chubster: Many asked me to introduce you to them. I have given them your WeChat information. Do as you see fit.]
Meaning that it was up to Gu Shishi whether she wanted to pay them any attention or not.
Gu Shishi did not have her Ink Painting Guru's old cellphone with her when she left for work.
Now that she was flipping through it at night, there were, indeed, a lot of chat windows from people that she didn't know.
Some were just saying hi. Others asked for her paintings. Some asked her to attend Chinese painting gatherings.... Even Huo ChuChu had messaged her.
[Sister-in-law, my mom and my grandma want your paintings too ORZ... They used up all the tissues in the car on our way home day. Both tears and snots coming out at the same time.]
[By the way, your painting seemed to have reminded them of Big Brother! Sister-in-law, how did you do that? That was incredible!]
Gu Shishi felt a bit embarrassed.
The effect was that good?
They were completed enlightened and bawled their eyes out?
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She replied Huo ChuChu expressing that she would not have time to painting anything for her mother for the time being.
She has not responded to anyone else.
She was a busy person.
She didn't have that much free time.
After taking a bath, Gu Shishi shook her head and sighed.
She was just a pitiful soul who was forced to replay scenes in Korean drama by the system!
After she had quickly wrapped her wet hair up with a towel, she resorted to a sigh and started doing eeny, meeny, miny, moe with the assignments from the system.
"Eeny, meeny, miny, moe. Catch a tiger by the toe. If he hollers let him go. Eeny, meeny, miny, moe."
Finally, her finger landed unfortunately on coffee kiss.
Wonder. Middle of the night. Coffee!!! Simply incredible!!!
Gu Shishi did not believe in fate but, after some consideration, she couldn't possibly make noodles in the middle of the night and force the boss to eat the same strand as her nor could she possibly go see him with a piece of tissue... Finally, she gritted her teeth and made a cup of Nestle 3-in-1 instant coffee in her cat paw cup.
She just bought that over lunch today at the supermarket with Ling Xiaomei!
An entire box of 12.
She must be able to succeed in one of the 12 times!
Done thinking, Gu Shishi, carrying the cup of coffee with her back straight and her chest thrusted out, walked out of her room and stepped onto the Persian rug in the hallway....
She cleared her throat and knocked on the door to the boss's study.
Then, she lowered her head and took a big gulp of the milk coffee!
Most importantly, there need to be milk form around her lips... Mmmhmm!
That way...
When the door to the room opened, Gu Shishi suddenly realized a detail that she had overlooked!
Instant coffee had no foam!
Gosh darn it!
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Her little face twisted.
"Hehe, Huohuohuohuo, would you like to have some coffee?"
That was the goofy line that Huo Sishen heard when his tall and handsome body appeared by the door.
Huo Sishen paused for a little bit at the entrance to his study when he figured out what Gu Shishi had just said.
"Coffee at 11 PM?"
The girl standing in front of the door had a cat claw mug in her hand and, clearly, she had already taken a sip out of it.
It wasn't even bought specifically for him.
Turning to look at the clock on the wall, he couldn't help but frowned.
Drinking coffee at this hour? Did she plan to stay up all night tonight?
Gu Shishi started to sweat. She was anxious to complete her assignments.
And anxiousness brought about oversights.
She pursed her lips a little and she didn't even need a mirror to know that never mind about foam, there wasn't even any sign of coffee on her face right now.
Round 1, a complete failure!
"Hmmm... yeah, I just felt like some all of a sudden," said Gu Shishi, embarrassed, as she stroked the side of the mug with her finger.
"Em..... goodnight then."
She then turned around to leave with her cheeks flushed.
Chapter 310 – "Where are we going this late in the night?" (1)
But an arm reached over faster than she could take off and blocked her.
"Give it to me."
The man's voice was deep.
"Didn't you just ask me if I want it?"
Gu Shishi was dumbfounded and looked down at the 3-in-1 instant coffee in her hand...
While she was dazed, the mug in her hand was taken away from her.
Huo Sishen lowered his eyes and casually took a sip from the mug. His thin lips twitched the very next second.
The strong taste of artificial flavoring and creamer overpowered the taste of the coffee.
This was what she suddenly wanted in the middle of the night?
Huo Sishen's brows furrowed almost unnoticeably.
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Gu Shishi blinked and noticed that the mood of the man standing in front of her seemed to have turned bad all of a sudden.
How odd.
"If you want some too, I can make you a new cup."
Did he suddenly recall that she had already drank out of it?
Hey, system, that's a indirect kiss, right?
[Progress of coffee kiss: 0.1%]
Gu Shishi, "......"
She could murder this doggone system.
"Follow me."
A clear voice interrupted the random thoughts in her head.
Her cat claw mug was confiscated by Huo Sishen.
With the mug in his hand, he grabbed a sweater from the cloth rack by the door and tossed it onto Gu Shishi's head.
"Put this on."
It was a non-negotiable tone.
Gu Shishi acknowledged him, baffled.
She glanced over at the light grey knitted sweater but didn't hear anything from the system.
What was the meaning of this?
If it was a gift, she didn't get the credit for it.
If it was her to put on temporarily... but she wasn't cold at all!
She looked down at herself. She had on a sleeveless night skirt with Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon kissing.
It was a wordless hint.
Fine, she would put it on.
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The boss probably didn't like it.
Gu Shishi sighed and put on the very loose sweater over her night skirt. She looked like a kid wearing an adult's clothes. She even had to roll the sleeves up a few times.
The sweater fell all the way to her thighs and only a little bit of the night skirt could be seen.
As she was dilly-dallying in the hallway tugging and pulling at the sweater, she looked up and noticed the man a few steps away from her was giving her a profound look while frowning.
Gu Shishi stuck her tongue out quickly and resorted to holding up the bottom of the sweater and quickly pitter-pattered toward him in her fuzzy slippers.
Huo Sishen's dark eyes became more profound all of a sudden.
She was the only one running around the mansion with her bare arms and legs.
Even with his sweater on, it did not cover up the colors on her.
The thick and grey sleeves were rolled up a few times and stopped on her lower arms. A part of her jade-like lower arms could still be seen along with her wrists that was so delicate that they looked fragile.
Her long and slender fingers draped around the bottom of the sweater like green onions.
The bottom part of the sweater was very loose but obviously not long enough. It only got down to the middle of her thighs and a part of her lake blue night skirt and her slender calves could be seen...
The oversized sweater made her looked fair and petite, perfectly accentuating her femininity.
Huo Sishen's jaws tightened. "Why are you holding onto the bottom of the sweater?"
Gu Shishi resorted to an "oh" and slowly and unwillingly let go of it.
As an artist who always pursued the beauty in things, she didn't want to wear anything that not even her waist could be seen... with his sweater on, she had turned into a water barrel in a second or less...
But she couldn't not listen to what the boss had to say.
She didn't want his fondness for her to go down.
She let go of the sweater obediently and her two hands ended up next to her thighs docilely.
What she didn't noticed was that the man's breathing paused for a second.
The sweater, once it was let go, fell down all the way and leveled with her night skirt, making her legs appeared even more delicate.
Her features, under the effect of Snow White halo went from a young lady to those belonging to a charming woman even with no makeup on. Fair skinned, red lips, and black hair. She was the dream woman of many men – sexy and charming.
And that style was mixed in with her pure and innocent character.
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That made it difficult to tell at first glance whether she was soft and pure or mature and sexy... just enough to bring out one's curiosity and made them want to look at her over and over again.