My older sister is a villainous rich girl

She was very confident only when it came to painting.

'As long as you can limit the questions to areas where you have an advantage, there's no way you can lose!'

Chris thought.

Beside her, Wayne, who was pretending to admire the scenery, sighed silently.

After Chris argued and pestered her for a long time, Ge Li reluctantly agreed.

Seeing that everything was going according to plan, Chris smiled with satisfaction.

She walked briskly back to Wayne and yanked open the black box he had brought over.

It was filled with cylinders, each marked with a color.

"Bring your own paints." Chris took out the painting tools and patted her old friends like a general about to go into battle.

Ge Li's gaze lingered on the paint for a moment before he turned to the maid standing guard at the pool entrance, who dared not look up into the pool, and said, "Go and fetch my box."

The maid bowed and left.

Chris was slightly surprised. "You prepared too?"

She had thought that she would have to wait a while for Ge Li to temporarily fetch the paint from elsewhere, which would give her more time to prepare.

But she did not doubt the possibility that Ge Li already knew all her cards.

Yes.

—In this match, Ascletis has no chance of losing.

Because Wayne helped her cheat.

Wayne, that traitor, betrayed Chris.

“I used to draw a few things occasionally when I was bored, and I left them here,” Ge Li explained casually.

To make room for painting, the water that had been stored in the pool was drained away by opening the gates.

Under the relentless scorching of the summer sun, a large area of ​​the previously damp and smooth pool bottom was quickly dried out.

"Let's start from the higher ground. You're on the left, and I'll be on the right."

Ge Li took the tools handed to him by the maid and waved for the unrelated person to leave.

As she stepped into the pool, a hot wind, already quite strong, swirled around her several times.

Chris was quite envious of this cool-looking and highly practical skill.

"It's definitely more convenient for people who possess magic..."

That sour tone was like eating an unripe green orange from the roadside.

Ge Li ignored her and continued painting stroke by stroke with the mixed paint.

Because the work to be done was quite large, they both prepared various types of paintbrushes, and judging from the tools alone, it was impossible to tell which was better.

Wayne sat down in the wicker chair that Goli had sat in, watching the two of them splashing colorful paints without giving up, while leisurely basking in the sun and shaking his legs.

Seeing that the juice on the table next to him had only cooled down, Wayne called out to the two people in the pool, "Do you want drinks? I'll go get some."

However, this pool seemed to be a separate domain.

Wien sat on the shore, seemingly in another world, unable to exert any influence on the two girls.

"Well... you guys keep drawing," he had no choice but to say.

What to do! Even Chris's competitive spirit has been completely aroused.

The higher your expectations, the greater your disappointment will be.

Wayne... has already seen the results.

Chris has loved drawing since she was a child.

Wayne, who had always been by her side, was well aware of this.

Just as she had learned to play the piano in her previous life, Wayne could tell that she must have practiced painting for many years before she transmigrated.

But her passion wasn't intense.

Chris never said she wanted to join a painting club or art department; nor did she ever deliberately pursue or want to spread her fame as a master painter.

Normally, she only picks up a pen when she's happy or has free time.

In fact, she preferred to drag Wayne to other people's art exhibitions and to see other people's works rather than to create them herself.

She doesn't even participate in public commentary; she usually just observes things firsthand and then quietly leaves.

It seems that for her, this is simply a pure hobby.

Chapter 241 Coral, Seaweed, Dragon Palace... and Mermaids

"—Your painting is very good!"

From a very young age, this kind of situation would occasionally occur in various different art classes.

The painting teacher, whom they had paid a hefty fee to hire, held their artwork as if it were a piece of gold.

“You have a real talent for this… Have you ever thought about pursuing it professionally in the future?” They always asked in unison.

And I always responded to them with the simplest refusal.

"--No."

"What's wrong? Don't you like drawing?"

How could I not like it?

Whenever I immerse myself in painting, it's like communicating with another version of myself within the canvas.

Ignore the endless worries from the outside world and simply immerse yourself in your own world.

You can speak freely to yourself without hiding anything.

...It is precisely because I like it that I want it to remain unrestrained forever.

No one made any demands, and no one dictated how things should be done; every little detail on the canvas reflected his own preferences.

By combining all these elements, this painting is complete.

A work can only be created because of "liking" it.

After receiving such a reply, the teachers could only shake their heads and sigh.

They said you were wasting your talent.

She turned a deaf ear to those admonitions, whether they were made out of helplessness or anger.

Is it a waste?

maybe.

but--

What's wrong with wasting time if you can keep it the way you like it forever?

In a sense, talents destined to be wasted are all the more precious.

Although she was indulging in this extravagant thought, there were still some responsible teachers who would find opportunities to communicate with her parents.

Unfortunately, that's the case.

My relationship with my father has never been close, and as long as I remain stubborn enough, these people will ultimately only return empty-handed.

She felt sorry for letting down those good teachers.

However, that was the first time she realized that indifference towards family ties also had its advantages.

The father, who was always very busy, had no time to discipline him.

As I grew up, I didn't pursue this career path, nor did I attend any additional painting classes, and these things gradually subsided.

then.

She was selfish, but also very successful, in turning painting into the purest form of hobby.

—It exists solely because of one's own liking; it will become whatever one desires it to be.

Of course... in the end, I still have to thank my parents, whether they are from the past life or this life.

If he hadn't never had to worry about food and clothing, the story might have had a different ending.

Chris looked up.

Although the workload has been reduced as much as possible to make it easier, it is still not an easy task in this hot summer.

She wiped the sweat from her forehead and looked at the completed painting in front of her.

Lifelike corals and seaweed, and shrimp and crabs swimming among them.

A magnificent dragon palace is partially visible at the far end of the picture.

The colors are extremely vibrant and beautiful, and they seem to sparkle under the sunlight.

She nodded in satisfaction, saying she had performed very well this time.

For me right now... this might be one of the few things that allows me to prove my abilities without using magic, right?

Thinking of this, she gave a soft "humph".

I, Chris, am not a useless character with only the protagonist's halo!

"Chris, would you like some juice?" Wayne's voice suddenly came from beside her.

She turned and looked around.

By the pool, Ge Li was leisurely leaning back in a wicker chair, holding a delicate fan in his hand to cover his chest, comfortably closing his eyes to rest.

Wayne sat on the steps by the pool with his feet dangling in the air, holding two glasses of juice in his hands, and handed over the full one on the right.

Seeing the full glass of juice, still radiating cold air and with water droplets condensing on the outer rim, Chris suddenly felt tired, thirsty, and hot.

Before setting off, she actually brought a bottle of water, which she packed in that black suitcase.

However, after being outside for so long, the kettle must have become scalding hot, just like the temperature...

Many thoughts flashed through my mind, but in reality, they only lasted for a moment.

After a brief moment of hesitation, Miss Chris, who hadn't originally planned to eat anything from the Edgeworth family, awkwardly accepted the iced juice that Wayne offered her.

Watching her gulp down the juice, Wayne also finished the last bit of his glass.

He had been waiting here for a while. Although the juice was still air-conditioned, it wasn't too cold.

“Now that your work is finished, do you want to find someone to evaluate it?” Wayne asked.

After putting down the half-finished juice, Chris finally came to her senses and turned her back to look at Ge Li's painting.

She was stunned into silence after just one glance.

Seeing Chris's stunned expression, Wayne followed her gaze.

Geli's paintings are equally impactful.

The bold use of color gradually depicts the appearance of a mermaid.

With her upper body covered by seashells, the mermaid swayed her tail in a backward-facing posture, as if she were really swimming in a dry pool.

She held a bright green branch in her hand, and her slightly green eyes held a faint smile, as if she were looking directly at the man and woman on the shore.

At the mermaid's tail, a few strokes depict several vortexes swirling around her, like whirlpools stirring up water.

“This… how is this possible?” Chris seemed unable to believe what she was seeing.

She turned to look at the leisurely Ge Li standing on the pond's edge. "This...is this really your painting?"

Ge Li curled the corners of his mouth slightly.

"As you can see."

Chris stared blankly at her, then at the mermaid in the pool, still unable to recover from the shock.

Wayne, standing to the side, kept his eyes down, seemingly lost in thought.

Chris was completely baffled, but he knew the inside story perfectly well.