Among the books by Fish Soup Noodles, “Contract Marriage” and “Eternal Night Rose” were the most frequently flipped through, and it could be seen that the girl from the painting was quite fond of them.
On the other hand, “Rebirth of the Interstellar Soldier King” was barely touched. It seemed she skimmed through only a few pages. It was obvious that she was not very interested in stories that revolved around battles and leveling up.
When she noticed the latest issue of the “Star Beast World” magazine added to the collection, she glanced at the giant painting in the central exhibition hall enviously, then flipped to page 78 based on memory.
Although it wasn’t her favorite type of romance story, it was intriguing enough.
Otherwise, why would so many people come to see that painting?
As she read, Belle became completely absorbed. By the time she reached the last page where Da Xi and Gredo parted ways, she couldn’t help but feel her nose tingle and her eyes reddened slightly.
For the first time, she sat with her chin resting on her hand in a daze, staring at the magazine for a long, long time.
The following morning, when the staff arrived early to clean the gallery, they were startled to hear some faint, unusual sounds.
“That’s strange. There’s no one inside, so why do I hear ‘thud-thud’ sounds and footsteps!?”
A group of them timidly ventured into the central exhibition hall and searched repeatedly, only to confirm that the vast gallery was indeed empty.
The painting drawing the most attention, “Da Xi and Gredo,” was still perfectly displayed in its central glass showcase.
“Could we have misheard?”
Exchanging uneasy glances, they finally relaxed and began their cleaning routine.
“But somehow, the girl in this painting looks…”
One staff member, while wiping down the painting “Girl Watching the Morning Star,” paused and scrutinized it with a puzzled expression.
“Looks what?”
“Looks like she’s been crying!”
Faced with their colleague’s observation, the staff member slowly responded.
“Oh, come on. You can notice that? Since when did you become an art connoisseur…”
Unfortunately, the rest of the cleaning crew clearly didn’t believe or care much about this observation. After a quick glance, they resumed their tasks without further thought.
“Alright, maybe I was just seeing things.”
The only staff member who noticed something unusual could only shrug.
Still, the painting had an inexplicable air of mysterious charm and cuteness.
As the auction date for “Da Xi and Gredo” approached, rumors of supernatural events at the Frekton Gallery began to emerge.
It all started when a worker repairing the gallery’s electrical system at night claimed to hear running sounds again.
This time, the worker’s body camera captured a blurry image!
[Ahhh, help! I’m most afraid of ghosts. There shouldn’t be ghosts in the interstellar age, right? TwT]
[I don’t think it’s a ghost. What if it’s a thief? Maybe they were trying to steal “Da Xi and Gredo”!]
[I agree. Frekton Gallery really needs to improve its security. If someone steals or damages the painting, it would be a disaster.]
At first, aside from the fear and tension, many believed it was just someone sneaking into the gallery to steal the painting. This explanation gained widespread acceptance.
When An arrived at the scene, he frowned and scanned the venue. “Did you really see a ghost?”
“Reporting, we found no signs of external intrusion, and there was no one visible on the corridor’s surveillance. But we definitely heard movement inside.”
“And my book seems to have been tampered with!”
The staff member who often read in the gallery opened his “Star Beast World” magazine and instantly drew everyone’s attention.
On one page, there was a faint watermark, as if a teardrop had fallen and spread.
“I swear, I didn’t cry when I read it or touch it with wet hands, but someone clearly did!”
“Hiss…”
“Could it be that the thief went through all the trouble of sneaking in just to read Teacher Fish Soup Noodles’ book? Why wouldn’t they just go to a bookstore?”
“Maybe they originally planned to steal the painting but were moved to tears by Teacher Fish Soup Noodles’ work and gave up their grand theft plan?”
Everyone looked at the article “The King of Tian Mountains-Snow Leopard” in “Star Beast World,” and for a moment, the legends about Fish Soup Noodles grew even more numerous.
#ThiefMovedToTears? Auction of the Legendary Painting from “The King of Tian Mountains” About to Begin! #
On the star network, discussions about the masterpiece “Da Xi and Gredo,” which were already attracting enormous attention, became even more heated due to the rumors of supernatural events.
[Honestly, I can’t make sense of it. Someone sneaked into the gallery, read Teacher Fish Soup Noodles’ work, cried, and then left empty-handed?]
[Plus, the blurry figure doesn’t seem very strong and even looks like they’re wearing a skirt? Is this really a thief? Q.Q I’m starting to believe in ghosts…]
[In any case, Teacher Fish Soup Noodles’ books are amazing. Whether or not everyone believes this, I’m convinced! When’s the auction? I can’t wait to see which big shot wins it.]
In response, Frekton Gallery ended the exhibition three days before the auction and announced that a significant number of buyers had already scheduled appointments to participate.
Even Yu Mian, the author, was paying attention to the auction of “Da Xi and Gredo.”
After all, when he heard that the proceeds from the auction would be donated to a star beast protection organization, he was deeply impressed by his fan, An’s plans.
If his work “The King of Tian Mountains” could genuinely contribute to the survival of snow leopards in the universe, it would be the most beautiful outcome as an author.
He just didn’t know if the rumors about the supernatural events were true or not, it all felt quite mysterious.
After all, museums and art exhibitions were often the settings for chilling supernatural novels.
That day, Yu Mian had just come out of the aquarium when he noticed a copy of “Star Beast World” on Huo Ting’s desk.
Next to it was an invitation to the auction.
“What?! Huo Ting is attending too?”
[I think it’s probably Huo Yan. Don’t you remember how obsessed he was with keeping up with “Rebirth of the Interstellar Soldier King”?]
Faced with Yu Mian’s surprise, the little system provided a reasonable guess.
“That makes sense…”
Moreover, Huo Yan had been coming over to read books these days, always holding “Star Beast World” in his hands and reading non-stop, even if Fish Soup Noodles’ article was not in the latest issue.
Still, the originally declining “Star Beast World” had regained public interest because of the incident. Even the number of manuscripts submitted had increased significantly.
Huo Yan had thoroughly enjoyed reading it, so much so that he must have pleaded with Huo Ting to attend the event together, which made perfect sense.
Honestly, he also felt like going to the auction in person too. OwO
Still, Yu Mian hadn’t expected that after casually flipping through a copy of Star Beast World on the desk, the next day the study would be stocked with an entire row of novels.
Among them were physical editions of “Eternal Night Rose,” “Contract Marriage,” and others.
—If you’re bored, you can read these. They’ve been very popular lately. -Huo
Holding the small note, Yu Mian couldn’t help but laugh softly.
Did Huo Ting think he was so bored in the study that he flipped through the magazine?
[Actually, with this commission from this short story, if the new full-length novel starts smoothly and gains popularity, I think we won’t even need to wait for your fourth serialized novel to end. We might actually be able to move sooner.]
The little system was seriously calculating data in the background.
Initially, they expected to collect enough popularity points only after Yu Mian finished his fourth full length novel and leave this study that was the start of his career. However, “The King of Tian Mountains-Snow Leopard” had unexpectedly garnered as much attention as a full-length work, so it had been included in the system’s calculations.
“So soon…”
Hearing this, Yu Mian glanced around the study, and for a moment, he felt as if time had flown by in the blink of an eye.
He lowered his head and looked at the small note in front of him, feeling a subtle emotion he couldn’t quite describe.
—Thank you for the books. But do you read these too? Is that why you want to buy that painting?
He picked up a pen, carefully wrote a new note, and neatly placed it under the books.
At the same time, Huo Ting was unaware of the new note Yu Mian had left for him in the study. Because he was picking up Huo Yan after school and going shopping in the mall as planned.
“This one! Cousin, let’s get this one this time. He’ll definitely like it!”
Huo Yan seemed eager to take everything he laid eyes on back for Yu Mian.
Recently, the endless quirky little trinkets Yu Mian had received were almost all chosen by Huo Yan and paid for by Huo Ting.
“…?”
Huo Ting glanced down at the ocean pearl ornament Huo Yan had carefully selected. His expression seemed to ask, “Will he really like this?”
“Trust me, he will!”
Huo Yan tugged on Huo Ting’s arm, trying to persuade him to head to the cashier.
In fact, Huo Yan thought the decoration looked shiny and beautiful, just like Yu Mian’s fish tail. Plus, weren’t mermaids supposed to love pearls From the bottom of the sea?
After Huo Ting finished paying, he looked at the still-excited Huo Yan, who seemed ready to haul the entire mall back home. He didn’t bother telling Huo Yan that their guest in the study might be leaving in a month or two.
“We should get some clothes too. He looks so good in them!”
Huo Yan tugged on Huo Ting’s hand again, trying to drag him upstairs.
If Huo Yan had ever played a certain game, he might have understood his own joy as akin to dressing up a miraculous little mermaid. After all, Yu Mian was a natural clothes hanger, he looked good every time he put on something.
“What will you do if he leaves one day?”
The casual question made Huo Yan freeze and stare at Huo Ting with wide eyes.
“It’s just hypothetical,” Huo Ting added.
“Even hypothetically, it’s not okay! Wuuu, what would I do if he left? Who else could I play with?”
Huo Yan had subconsciously grown used to thinking of Yu Mian as a small fish in his aquarium, believing that as long as he took good care of the aquarium, Yu Mian would stay forever.
Could it be that Yu Mian is going to go to someone else’s aquarium?
“And besides, why would he leave if you didn’t bully him? You must have done something to annoy him. I’ve always been super well-behaved.”
After thinking it through, Huo Yan narrowed his eyes at Huo Ting with suspicion.
The next moment, Huo Ting shoved the shopping bag in his hands with a cold face.
“…Pay for it yourself.”
Huo Yan: !!!
Help! Ever since he failed another exam, his allowance had been cut in half. How was he supposed to afford such shiny but expensive things?
After some desperate pleading, Huo Yan finally got his way, clutching the bag as he followed Huo Ting home.
“We really need to take good care of him. Otherwise, what if he really leaves?”
Huo Yan muttered as they walked, his words causing Huo Ting to fall into thoughtful silence.
As they passed the mall’s cinema, they saw a giant promotional poster for “Eternal Night Rose.”
“Wow, Teacher Fish Soup Noodles! My idol!! It’s such a pity I’m not old enough to read that book yet.”
Huo Yan stared at the original author’s name on the poster with starry eyes, his feet rooted to the ground.
If his Chinese grades weren’t so terrible, he’d have joined some of the girls in his class who wrote great essays and tried writing novels himself!
“You’re not old enough for this one.”
Huo Ting paused, recalled something for a moment then explained in an inexplicable tone.
“How come I’m not old enough? Is there anything I can’t see at my age? I want to be a super tough guy like Lin Mu in the future!”
Huo Yan threw a few punches in the air, trying to show off his strength, but noticed his cousin had a rare, peculiar expression.
Huo Ting dragged the person along without another word.
“Then can we buy that painting, “Da Xi and Gredo”? If he likes reading books, he’ll definitely like that painting too!”
Huo Yan, who was still reluctant to leave and buzzing with excitement, sat in the back seat of the car and talked nonstop.
Honestly, before Yu Mian came to their home, Huo Yan had never experienced going shopping with his cousin like this.
“Do you want it, or does he?”
It was a rare occasion that Huo Ting didn’t ask the driver to accompany him. He drove the car himself and glanced in the rearview mirror at Huo Yan, who was sprawled across the backseat.
“What do you think? Of course, it’s for him! But that painting is amazing, right? And it’s from the work of my idol, Teacher Fish Soup Noodles!”
Huo Yan leaned forward, gripping the back of the car seat as he tried to convince Huo Ting.
“If we buy it, it’ll be the best surprise ever!”
“…”
Huo Ting decided he didn’t want to hear more of Huo Yan’s rambling.
But when he returned to the study, he found that not only had the books been flipped through, there was also a long lost new note.
‘So, sending books would indeed get a response?’
‘Do you really love reading?’
—He’s an excellent writer with a very innovative style. Do you like him too? Huo Yan really wants to buy the painting. – Huo
After all, Master Qiao Li was a renowned painter.
Yu Mian read the new note. He hadn’t expected Huo Ting to comment on Fish Soup Noodles so highly. His face felt slightly warm as he hurried to reply.
—No, I was just asking! You should stop Huo Yan. He’s about to fill the study with stuff.
Yu Mian couldn’t help but feel alarmed at Huo Yan’s sudden shopping spree. What surprised him even more was that Huo Ting hadn’t stepped in to stop him.
Once he left, Huo Yan would be stuck with all this stuff. Did this kid really have so much pocket money?
The hidden meaning behind Yu Mian’s reply didn’t escape Huo Ting’s notice.
