The man beside her frowned and asked, "What's wrong?"
His gaze, however, remained fixed on Jian Junruo and her daughter, Jian Sheng.
Xu Lan vigorously shook her head, her eyes almost overflowing with terror, and pulled the man away from the crowd.
With her back turned, Jian Sheng cast another small, light spell onto Xu Lan. As Xu Lan walked quickly, her heel snapped, and she twisted her ankle, falling directly to the ground.
Tears of fear streamed down Xu Lan's face, but she couldn't even cry out.
The man cursed under his breath, picked up Xu Lan, and left.
Jian Sheng, with her wide, dark eyes, recalled that in the original story, she wasn't present. The cannon fodder female supporting character, using her newly acquired rich second-generation boyfriend, had verbally attacked her mother, sarcastically insinuating that her mother was a gold digger who relied on men for support. This had infuriated her mother.
However, her mother wasn't one to argue. She couldn't match the verbal sparring of the cannon fodder female supporting character and didn't even know how to curse properly. She could only tremble with anger, and eventually, her cousin Jian Xiuhuan, unable to bear it, stepped in to defend her mother.
The consequence was that the cannon fodder female supporting character, along with her cousin, made sarcastic remarks, suggesting an improper relationship between them.
Even upon hearing her cousin address her mother as "little aunt," she stubbornly believed that her mother had hooked up with an old man to have a nephew as old as her cousin.
Her cousin, at his wit's end, called their maternal uncle to have the two of them escorted out.
They thought the drama was over then. However, a remark made by the cannon fodder female supporting character was filmed and spread online. The cannon fodder female supporting character, already resentful, immediately wrote a lengthy post upon seeing the video.
Starting with a few people, the content was entirely fabricated. With the addition of online trolls, the entire internet was soon attacking her mother for being promiscuous.
Eventually, as the buzz grew louder, even her mother's alma mater was dragged into the mud and had to issue a clarification.
Although the Jian family intervened in this matter, it was limited to suppressing the online heat.
When her mother returned to the Jian family, many people still believed she had disgraced the family and reprimanded her severely.
It wasn't until the scumbag father arrived in the capital and used some means to negotiate with the rich second-generation boyfriend behind the cannon fodder female supporting character that the cannon fodder female supporting character was temporarily removed from the picture and stopped causing trouble.
Even so, this incident sowed the seeds for the white moonlight to target her mother upon her return.
This woman is truly wicked!
Jian Sheng's face was etched with unhappiness. Her hand slipped, casting several more bad luck spells onto Xu Lan.
It was predictable that she would spend the next few days dealing with various unlucky and troublesome matters.
Hmph! So you dare bully Mom!
Jian Sheng tightly gripped her mother's finger with surprising strength, making Jian Junruo feel it.
Jian Junruo's somewhat dejected expression was replaced with a smile. "My darling, Mom isn't really wronged. Sheng Sheng, don't be angry~"
Her lips couldn't help but curl upwards.
This was her Sheng Sheng darling, always unconditionally standing by her side, intelligent and sensible, and shielding her. How could she not cherish and dote on her?
Jian Xiuhuan quietly withdrew the foot he had started to step forward and looked at his younger cousin with a glimmer of admiration in his eyes.
Hmph, let them come, I'll deal with it. With her protecting me, I don't believe anyone can harm Mom!
Jian Sheng thought to herself, then her expression shifted to curiosity. She pulled her mother and ran around the art exhibition.
Jian Sheng's gaze lingered on the dazzling array of different works, constantly emitting exclamations.
Jian Junruo asked curiously, "Does Sheng Sheng prefer Western oil paintings? Why do you seem so uninterested in traditional Chinese paintings?"
Even though her little brother's work was considered outstanding among many masters, Sheng Sheng had never shown such an expression of astonishment.
"Ah?" Jian Sheng snapped back to reality, seeming a bit dazed. "So these are called oil paintings? These paintings are so magical, Sheng Sheng has never seen paintings like these before."
"Then which painting does Sheng Sheng like the most?" Jian Junruo coaxed.
Sheng Sheng was already in elementary school, and although her age wasn't quite there yet, it was time to cultivate Sheng Sheng's interests.
Seeing Sheng Sheng show interest in painting, Jian Junruo was also curious about her darling Sheng Sheng's appreciation for art.
Jian Sheng's clear, bright eyes took in the few nearby works and she shook her head in distress. "But Sheng Sheng doesn't really like any of them. Do I have to choose one?"
Jian Junruo felt a little disappointed. She saw Sheng Sheng's curious and astonished expression whenever she looked at oil paintings, and thought Sheng Sheng was interested in this type of work.
Although her younger brother primarily focused on traditional Chinese painting, and she leaned towards Sheng Sheng studying under him, she had no prejudice against painting styles. It would be good if Sheng Sheng could like one of them and develop an interest.
However, Sheng Sheng clearly wasn't what she had imagined.
Jian Junruo, slightly disappointed, was about to abandon the idea of having Sheng Sheng learn to paint. Jian Sheng propped her chin with her small hand, pondered for a long time, and then her gaze landed on a Chinese ink painting in the corner. Suddenly, her eyes lit up. "Mom, Mom, Sheng Sheng found a painting she likes!"
She pulled her mother and ran to a corner where an unsigned ink painting was displayed. It was a mass of what seemed like thick ink spreading out, but between the light and dark shades of ink, it vaguely resembled a person lying prone. The black lines subtly outlined a few figures.
Despite the seemingly rough and casual brushwork, the first glance from everyone was involuntarily drawn in.
Jian Sheng jumped and pointed at the painting, "Mom, Sheng Sheng likes this. This painting is beautiful."
Jian Junruo, herself almost an industry insider, was secretly impressed by this painting.
An absolute master's hand!
Any painter with slightly less skill could not convey such artistic conception with just a few strokes.
But she wondered why such a painting would be placed here without any signature.
Coming back to their senses from the ink painting, they realized they had already reached the very corner of the exhibition.
Besides this ink painting, the quality of the other works had declined significantly compared to the paintings in the center of the exhibition.
Generally speaking, works that could secure a spot in an exhibition of this caliber wouldn't be too bad, but the quality of the works here had dropped drastically, with this nameless ink painting mixed among them, like a pearl covered in dust.
They saw the introduction to the works on a nearby display board.
It turned out this was a specially designated youth art exhibition area, featuring works from artistic geniuses of various age groups this year. It included competition entries from different age brackets in art competitions, as well as student works recommended by industry veterans.
This was already the farthest corner of the exhibition. Beyond this point was a large poster.
[Huawen Art Studio is recruiting! Twenty meters ahead, turn right. Huawen Art Studio Reception. On-site testing, on-site registration. Interested parties can go directly. Age range: 6 to 18 years old. Contact number: 152xxxxxxx.]
Below that was an enlarged QR code.
As they got closer, they discovered that a small stool was placed behind the poster, on which sat a thin, small old man.
The old man smiled at Jian Sheng and beckoned, "Little girl, I see you have extraordinary bones. Would you like to come to our art studio to learn painting?"