It fell from his fingertips

After the final draft of the illustrations for the publishing company was completed, Tang Luoqing was temporarily out of work.

That's how it is with freelance illustrators: their working hours are flexible, but the content of their work is not fixed, and their income is naturally not fixed either.

It's currently the off-season, so there's no need to say more.

For the next two weeks, Tang Luoqing had absolutely nothing to do.

She was in a bit of a hurry.

That day, Tang Luoqing stared blankly at the drawing paper for half an hour, unable to calm her mind. Coupled with her anxiety about her next job, Tang Luoqing simply put down her pen and decided to go out to find some inspiration.

While browsing local news on my phone, I discovered that the Chengxi Cultural and Creative Park, which has recently been booming, has already opened for business.

Tang Luoqing suddenly remembered that a colleague had mentioned that the cultural and creative park seemed to contain the studios of several senior illustrators, and deep inside was Lu Lao's private calligraphy and painting garden.

Mr. Lu is a leading figure in Chinese illustration. She copied his works countless times when she was in school and always wanted to see his original works in person.

So Tang Luoqing immediately changed into a light apricot-colored dress, tied her hair in a low ponytail, fed Naitang cat food, and went out.

The afternoon sun was warm and soft, filtering through the gaps in the leaves and casting dappled shadows on the ground.

It was a bit hot, and there weren't many people in the cultural and creative park. The walls along the way were covered with various illustration display boards, as well as various stalls filled with all sorts of illustration-related merchandise.

Tang Luoqing looked at each stall one by one, not missing a single shop. Looking at the various illustrations and related merchandise, she couldn't help but think that one day, her illustrations could also appear in various parts of the cultural and creative park.

Tang Luoqing walked further in, passing through the cultural and creative market, many handmade studios, and several independent bookstores, before finally stopping in front of a separate courtyard at the deepest part of the park.

The fence outside the courtyard was polished smooth by the years, and a simple wooden plaque hung above the gate, engraved with the two characters "Qinyuan" in vigorous strokes, the work of Mr. Lu.

Tang Luoqing stood on tiptoe and saw several old osmanthus trees in the courtyard, with lush branches and leaves. Under the eaves, there was a bamboo rack for drying paintings, on which several paintings that were not yet completely dry swayed gently in the wind.

That's all we can see.

Tang Luoqing couldn't resist taking out her phone to take a picture, but then she glanced at a wooden sign at the entrance that read: "[Private Courtyard, No Unauthorized Entry]". After thinking for a moment, she put her phone away.

After standing there reluctantly for a while, Tang Luoqing finally turned around and walked along the exit, intending to take the bus.

So they didn't notice that a black car was parked on the side of the road not far away.

In the back seat of the car, Zhou Jinbai was looking down at the project report on his tablet, his expression cold and his aura slightly subdued.

In the passenger seat, Assistant Shen didn't dare to breathe.

Today was a chess game arranged with Grandpa Lu a week in advance. They had been there for five minutes, but the boss still hadn't let them get out of the car.

Only when a pale apricot-colored figure slowly walked away from the car window and disappeared around the corner did Zhou Jinbai slowly raise his eyes and calmly order, "Get out of the car."

Assistant Shen quickly agreed, went around to the back seat, opened the car door, and took out the gifts he had prepared in advance from the trunk.

Zhou Jinbai stepped out of the car with his long legs, straightened his suit cuffs, fastened his cufflinks with his well-defined knuckles, and walked towards Qinyuan.

As Zhou Jinbai passed the fence where Tang Luoqing had just stood, his steps slowed involuntarily for a second before he quickly stepped into the courtyard.

As they crossed the front yard, they heard Old Master Lu's hearty laughter. Only then did a faint smile appear on Zhou Jinbai's face as he nodded earnestly, "Grandpa Lu."

"Jin Bai is here, please have a seat."

Old Master Lu, dressed in a gray Tang suit, looked sprightly and pointed to the spot opposite the stone table: "We've been waiting for you. I'm going to beat you two rounds today."

Standing to the side, Lu Yu smiled and handed over tea: "My grandfather has been talking about you for a while now. He said he was not satisfied with the loss in that game of chess last month and that he must win it back today."

Lu Yu is the head of Lu's Cultural and Creative Industry and Zhou Jinbai's college classmate. The two were in the same year but different departments. After graduation, they became closer due to business dealings.

Qinyuan is the private residence of Old Master Lu. After retiring, he loves to grow flowers and play chess here. Every now and then, he asks Lu Yu to invite Zhou Jinbai over for a few games.

Zhou Jinbai took off his suit jacket and handed it to Assistant Shen. He rolled up his shirt sleeves to his forearms, revealing his hard, cold wrist bones.

He sat down on the stone bench, picked up a black chess piece with his fingertips, and said in a slightly warmer voice, "Please."

The chess pieces landed on the chessboard with a crisp sound.

Sunlight filters through the branches and leaves of the osmanthus tree, casting dappled light and shadow on the chessboard, which sways in the breeze.

Grandpa Lu made his moves quickly, displaying the decisiveness of the older generation, while Zhou Jinbai moved steadily, each move carefully considered, his fingertips holding the chess pieces with composure.

Lu Yu sat to the side watching the game. After a while, he couldn't help but sigh, "Seeing you two so relaxed makes me really unhappy. I can't be the only one who's troubled, can I? Don't you two have any worries? Tell me so I can have a laugh and feel a little better."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Jinbai continued making his move and asked, "If you have no worries, what's wrong?"

Upon hearing Zhou Jinbai's words, Lu Yu sighed even more deeply before saying, "I'm currently having a headache over one of the healing-themed merchandise items in our cultural and creative park's 'City Impressions' series that we're going to make in the second half of the year. From postcards and refrigerator magnets to picture books, the whole series needs to be accompanied by illustrations. We've been collecting submissions for almost two months now, and the submissions are either too tacky or too stiff. None of them hit the tone I'm looking for."

As he spoke, Lu Yu glanced at his grandfather playing chess next to him and muttered, "I don't dare ask my grandfather to recommend someone for me. As soon as he heard that I was going to do commercial merchandise, he said I was ruining art."

Upon hearing this, Old Master Lu paused slightly in his white chess piece, then snorted, "Your fancy little trinkets, you dare call them illustrations? Aren't they just a disgrace to art?"

"grandfather……"

Lu Yu exclaimed helplessly, "This is called cultural and creative industry, something young people like. How is it ruining art?"

"snort."

Old Master Lu ignored Lu Yu, but he placed his piece with a bit more force, clearly showing his dissatisfaction.

Lu Yu, unconvinced, raised his chin and looked to the other side.

Out of the corner of his eye, Lu Yu noticed that Zhou Jinbai was completely ignoring him, still holding a chess piece between his fingers as he continued to ponder. He sighed deeply again, his face full of worry: "If you hadn't given up your art to go into business back then, I wouldn't have any trouble finding the artists I wanted. And forget about the healing genre, I wouldn't need to look for any type of artist, you're an all-rounder. But now, sigh... I'm having such a hard time, it's all your fault, you lousy report reader."

Zhou Jinbai: "..."

He still didn't look up. The black piece landed on the board, neither too light nor too heavy, just enough to block the last way for the white pieces to live.

Assistant Shen was pouring tea for Old Master Lu when he heard this, and his hand paused slightly in mid-air.

He lowered his eyes, his face remaining expressionless, but his mind was in turmoil.

Could it be that what was said in private in the company back then was true?

He had heard about it when he first joined the company, but the details were vague and the rumors were quite dramatic. They said that Zhou Jinbai didn't study finance at all, but rather oil painting in college, and that he had won three international awards at a young age. Everyone in the industry said that this young man had a bright future.

Later, when Old Master Zhou fell ill, he dropped out of school without a word and came back to take over the Zhou family business.

That year, he was twenty years old. The old fogies on the board of directors were all waiting to see him make a fool of himself, and they were all saying that an artist could manage a multi-billion dollar group. But in less than three years, he cleared those people out of the game one by one, with ruthless methods and no room for compromise. In eight years, he also multiplied the company's business several times over.

From then on, no one dared to mention the words "art is worthless" in front of Zhou Jinbai.

Assistant Shen put the teapot back on the tray, glanced at the chessboard out of the corner of his eye, and thought to himself, "The boss's move wasn't a block; it was clearly a way of blocking the path he himself hadn't finished exploring back then."

Then, the boss's gaze swept over them indifferently.

This glance was fleeting, swift, as fast as the wind, devoid of any emotion.

Assistant Shen immediately understood what the boss meant.

Secretly praising himself, Assistant Shen quickly pulled out his phone, his fingers flying across the screen to a Weibo page. He then strode over to Lu Yu, handed him the screen, and said in a perfectly measured tone, "Mr. Lu, do you think this style suits you? I stumbled upon it before and thought it was quite soothing. I wonder if it meets your requirements?"

Lu Yu glanced down at it casually.

But the next moment, his eyes lit up.

The phone screen displayed illustrations: a white cat perched on the windowsill watching the snow, a kitchen under the warm yellow light of dusk, two pairs of rain boots placed side by side on a rainy day, and a dessert shop steaming at the entrance of an alley.

The brushstrokes are delicate and gentle, and the color scheme is a warm tone with low saturation. Each picture seems to be wrapped in a layer of sunshine, making people feel soft-hearted when they look at it.

"This is it."

Lu Yu slapped his thigh, his voice rising several octaves: "That's exactly the feeling! It's down-to-earth and healing. I've been searching for almost two months, how come I haven't been able to find this artist?"

He looked up at Assistant Shen, his eyes full of admiration: "Assistant Shen, you're quite something! Your judgment is so accurate. You even know exactly what style I want. Impressive."

"Jin Bai, you've really struck gold with this assistant. She's thoughtful and capable."

"No, no, I wouldn't dare."

Assistant Shen quickly put away his phone, bowed his head and gave a polite reply, but inwardly he was groaning: How could he be so thoughtful? This was something the boss had shared with him before, how could he not follow it?

But he dared not say such a thing.

Assistant Shen secretly glanced at his boss and saw Zhou Jinbai playing chess with Grandpa Lu with his eyes down, looking calm, as if the glance he had just given him had never happened.

If you look closely, you'll notice that the boss seems to be gripping the chess piece with slightly more force than before.

On the chessboard, the black pieces have already gained a firm advantage.