The blue sky was like a natural canvas, daubed with paint.
Xu Yezhou's private art museum had very few people in it, quiet, with only the sound of footsteps and soft conversations.
Xu Yezhou, the second son of the Xu family, was a friend of Song Lian and a well-known playboy in A City, but not the kind who was idle and ignorant.
The Xu family was a typical commercial family, but the second son was devoted to art, uninterested in business, and had no interest in the family's industries. He wasn't a spendthrift either; his only hobby was holing up in his studio and painting.
Fortunately, he had an excellent sister, so the Xu family heir was naturally the eldest Miss Xu.
And he wasn't entirely useless. He spent his days leisurely painting, occasionally holding one or two exhibitions through the Xu family's connections, and actually made a name for himself in the art world, becoming the youngest and most promising emerging painter in A City, which also added some fame to the Xu family.
The exhibition Song Lian invited Su Zhiyi to was a private exhibition that Xu Yezhou held for fun, with tickets not sold to the public.
Xu Yezhou only invited friends he knew.
His friends were naturally people from high society and wealthy families.
Su Zhiyi didn't understand art much, but even as a layperson, she could see that Xu Yezhou had solid painting skills. The colors and compositions were beautiful and matched her aesthetic, unlike those self-proclaimed unique artists whose abstract works she, as an ordinary person, couldn't appreciate at all.
Most were landscape oil paintings, with an occasional figure, but even those oil paintings with figures were mostly landscapes.
She felt a strange familiarity with the style...
As Su Zhiyi followed Song Lian through a corridor of paintings, the more she looked at the oil paintings on the walls, the more familiar the style seemed. Her brow furrowed involuntarily.
"Brother Song."
Just as she was about to ask Song Lian the question that puzzled her, a male voice interrupted her thoughts.
A young man walked straight toward Su Zhiyi and Song Lian.
The man had handsome features, dressed casually, with waist-length hair loosely tied back, exuding an artistic aura.
This man had just called Song Lian "Brother Song"...
If she wasn't mistaken, this man was probably Song Lian's friend, the second son of the Xu family, the owner of this exhibition, Xu Yezhou.
"Yezhou."
Song Lian smiled at the newcomer, shook his hand politely, then let go and asked, "Didn't I say you didn't need to come entertain me this time? Why are you here?"
"Alas, those people don't understand my art. Only you, Brother Song, get me." Xu Yezhou put one hand in his pocket and looked at Su Zhiyi beside Song Lian. A hint of surprise appeared on his casual expression. "You are my sister-in-law... oh, wrong words, look at this mouth of mine. You're the one from the Su family, Su Zhiyi, right? Nice to meet you, nice to meet you."
He extended his hand to Su Zhiyi. She shook his hand briefly and let go: "Hello, I only heard Song Lian mention you last month."
Xu Yezhou grinned. "Oh? How did he talk about me in front of you?"
Su Zhiyi replied truthfully, "He said he has a friend who paints well and is already a famous young painter."
Praise for an artist was that simple.
Hearing Su Zhiyi's words, Xu Yezhou's eyes lit up instantly. He chuckled twice and humbly said, "Haha, not at all, just painting casually."
"Brother Song, you're something else, saying that about me in front of others. You're making me embarrassed."
"I only spoke the truth." Song Lian smiled lightly.
"Zhiyi, let me introduce you two."
He introduced Xu Yezhou to Su Zhiyi.
"This is Xu Yezhou, the second son of the Xu family."
He raised an eyebrow at Xu Yezhou. "You already called out Zhiyi's name just now, so no need for me to introduce her, right?"
Xu Yezhou patted his chest. "Of course not. You should introduce me to Miss Su. I'm not famous. I've heard Miss Su's name since I was a child, especially from your mouth, Brother Song. When we chatted before, you couldn't stop talking about Miss Su."
"Not at all. I've heard your name for a long time too."
Su Zhiyi raised her hand to cover her mouth and smiled.
Flattery cost nothing, so she readily threw it out: "Of course, not from Song Lian."
"It's my honor that Miss Su knows me."
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Xu Yezhou didn't seem inclined to go chat with others. Instead, he took them around the exhibition.
As the creator of the paintings, Xu Yezhou explained his own works even more smoothly than Song Lian.
Listening to Xu Yezhou's endless explanations, Su Zhiyi also became interested in the art, listening attentively and occasionally offering an objective comment or two.
"This is a piece I made a year ago when I went to Provence in southern F country. I wanted to capture that dreamlike lavender field. Ah... whenever I see this painting, I feel like I'm back in that sea of lavender. If I have the chance, I'll definitely go again. The scenery there is simply amazing, it made my inspiration gush like a spring!"
They came to a large oil painting depicting an endless sea of lavender.
As Xu Yezhou spoke, his face flushed slightly, clearly immersed in the art.
He gently touched the frame as if cherishing his own child, his eyes tender as water.
But as he finished his last sentence, his eyes drooped with slight disappointment.
"Alas, but this painting isn't perfect yet."
"Huh?" Su Zhiyi looked at the landscape painting left and right.
From her layman's perspective, she couldn't find a single flaw.
Why did the creator think it was imperfect?