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墨書 Inktalez
During that time, Zheng Mengni often went to her grandfather Zhou Minshi's stall to help out. Although she claimed it was to assist him, she had her own motives. In front of the elderly man, Zhou Minshi would not refuse to tutor her. It must be said that the top student had a very clear problem-solving approach, pointing out several misconceptions in Zheng Mengni's usual study habits. Zheng Mengni gained a lot from these sessions and finally broke through her bottleneck.
After her third year of high school, the old man firmly forbade Zhou Minshi from helping at the stall. Zheng Mengni no longer had the time to seek his tutoring for her homework and devoted herself entirely to studying hard. Her efforts paid off; the college entrance examination was the best she had performed in three years.
Once she entered university, Zheng Mengni, who thought her grades were commendable, finally understood what it meant that there were always people better than oneself. The school was filled with top students from around the world, and in comparison, her grades barely placed her in the upper-middle tier. Zheng Mengni felt discontent; with such an outstanding family, why was she the only one who remained so mediocre despite her efforts?
The consecutive exams dealt her a heavy blow. After seeing her report card, Sun Yao asked, "Xiao Ni, is the pressure of studying too much for you?" Although her mother did not say it outright, Zheng Mengni sensed that falling behind would disappoint them; she wanted to make her parents proud.
Thus, under immense pressure, Zheng Mengni chose to cheat. The false grades garnered unprecedented praise and attention from her family. Tasting the sweetness of success, she became afraid of slipping back and repeatedly opted for dishonest means.
During this time, Zhou Minshi gifted Zheng Mengni a painting as a Christmas present. It was beautiful; his amateur work surpassed what she had painstakingly practiced for over ten years. Dark thoughts crept into Zheng Mengni's mind again. She signed her name on the back of the painting and submitted it to a competition, winning first place.
Zheng Yicheng, who was usually stern and unsmiling, looked at Zheng Mengni with newfound respect and praised her recent improvement in painting skills. As a reward, he proposed to hold an exhibition for her and encouraged her to create more works before then, even offering a dedicated exhibition hall just for her.
Zheng Mengni panicked; how could her paintings possibly match Zhou Minshi's level? Just when she felt lost and helpless, Zhou Minshi sought her out.
"You used my gift to enter a competition?"
Zheng Mengni nearly burst into tears from fright. "You knew?"
She quickly apologized, "I'm sorry; I just thought it looked nice." Her explanations sounded weak and as if she didn't believe she had done anything wrong at all.
"After all, it's your gift; how you treat it is up to you."
In a brief conversation, devoid of any emotion, before Zheng Mengni could continue her explanation, Zhou Minshi had already hung up the phone.
The next day, with a heart full of anxiety, she arranged to meet Zhou Minshi. Although she received no news from him, he arrived punctually at the agreed location.
Zheng Mengni stumbled through the details of her feelings, eventually bringing up the art exhibition. Zhou Minshi chuckled dismissively, "If you don't have the skills, why bother with an exhibition? You can't paint well enough for it."
"Because that painting received my father's praise; the exhibition is his reward for me," she replied.
"You say it's just a moment of inspiration; if you can't reach that level, then what's the point?" Zhou Minshi said lightly.
Zheng Mengni bit her lip in silence, her eyelids slowly drooping.
Zhou Minshi saw through it all: "So you can't bear to part with the false honor?"
"Please help me; I can pay you," Zheng Mengni timidly lifted her head, her watery eyes betraying a glimmer of hope and desire.
Zhou Minshi remained silent, a faint smirk playing at the corners of his lips.
Zheng Mengni lacked the courage to speak further; his gaze was piercing, sharp as a knife. Yet she did not give up. She locked herself in her room for several days, surrounded by crumpled papers—none of which were good enough for an exhibition.
Just when despair began to set in, she learned from Shen Die that Zhou Minshi's grandfather had fallen ill and was hospitalized, requiring a large sum for surgery.
Though it felt somewhat opportunistic, there was nothing wrong with helping each other out. They were merely two unfortunate souls in need of assistance.
Zheng Mengni reassured herself as she grabbed her card where she saved her pocket money and hurriedly took a taxi to the hospital. She didn’t bring the family driver; she didn’t want this transaction to be known by her family.
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