When Li Xiangfu emerged after conversing with the assistant director, it was already dark.
His phone had been on silent, but as he got into the taxi, he noticed an unread message from Qin Jin: [The performance is very unique.]
Unique?
After pondering the word carefully, Li Xiangfu raised his eyebrows and formally replied, thanking him.
The journey was smooth, and the taxi drove swiftly. The time suddenly rang from the radio.
He pricked his ears to catch the time. As expected, the segment about his performance in the program had concluded. Li Xiangfu checked the online reviews and found that he was trending.
#Skillful Folk Painter MASK MAN#
was higher up due to its long and eye-catching title.
Comments flooded in:
“Dazzling dance skills, incredible legwork, astonishing acrobatics.”
“Those legs are astonishing! I thought he was going to twist himself into a knot during that spin.”
“The entire performance showcased his skills, with a touch of exaggeration, but technical finesse deserves recognition.”
…
Li Xiangfu had used the Mask Man title during his performance and had registered an account early in the morning. So far, this account has only reposted a trailer released by the program team. After getting verified, the fan count skyrocketed.
It was exactly ten o’clock in the evening when he arrived home.
Upon opening the door, he heard the clamor of the TV. The variety show was coming to an end, with commercials interrupting just as the audience voting results were to be announced.
Since it was a prerecorded broadcast, Li Xiangfu already knew the result. Seeing Li Huaichen and others sitting in front of the TV anxiously, he confirmed their concern.
Li Xiangfu stated directly, “I am the ‘master’ for whom you voted.” There was no cheering, no congratulations.
After a moment of silence, Li Xichun stood up and turned off the main power to the TV. The living room fell into instant silence.
“I’ll leave first,” Aunt Zhang said as she stood up. Normally, she would have left by this time, but she stayed to watch the show with everyone.
However, the recent talent show made her feel the need for a quick-acting Jiuxin Pill.
After Aunt Zhang left, Li Huaichen looked up and said casually, “When did you learn to dance?” “To add some risk, I underwent flexibility training earlier. I also joined a dance club in college.”
Tossing out a few random reasons, Li Xiangfu deflected the topic, “How was the show?”
“Caught everyone off guard,” Li Huaichen summed it up in a sentence.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Pa kjr ilxf j rbcu klat j mbcalceber milwjz, ifjnlcu qfbqif ygfjatifrr ogbw rajga ab olclrt.
Qtlif atfs mtjaafv, Zg. Ol tjv jigfjvs ubcf eqrajlgr. Lf kjr abb biv ab tjcvif atf fzmlafwfca. Rbk, eqbc gfoifmalbc, atf ‘rtbkwjcrtlq’ Ol Wljcuoe tjv wfcalbcfv atja vjs kjr mfgajlcis cba jc fwqas ybjra.
Li Xiangfu glanced around and didn’t see Li Shasha.
Knowing whom he was looking for, Li Xichun, legs crossed, mentioned while playing with his phone, “Once your show ended, he went back to his room.”
Li Xiangfu nodded, turned, and made his way toward the second floor, but he didn’t search for the System. He took a shower and went directly to bed.
He slept soundly that night. When he woke up the next day, he first checked his phone and found that, with the TV station’s help, the masked man was now in the top ten trending.
The number of comments had already reached 1.5k+.
Several popular comments critiqued the performance from a professional perspective, criticizing the lack of soul in the dance and reliance solely on technical movements. Below, people expressed their varied opinions, sparking a massive debate.
After a quick review, Li Xiangfu reclined on the bed and let out a murmured sound of agreement. Indeed, he concurred with the assessment that mainstream movies lacked depth.
The goal of generating traffic had been achieved successfully, and now he was moving on to the second step of showcasing his painting skills.
Li Shasha had simply been an assistant. Midway through the book, he was spontaneously reassigned from the room to be the photographer.
He was quite proficient in this role. Facing a height challenge, he had temporarily brought in a stool to elevate herself.
After setting the shooting angle, Li Shasha made sure to avoid the upper body and any glass or reflective objects, and focused solely on recording the painting process. Of course, for those unversed in painting, the emphasis might mistakenly fall on those exceptionally beautiful hands.
Li Xiangfu continued to paint Siga cactus flowers. This time, there were no flashy dance moves. Every stroke was highly focused.
The pen integrated some dreamlike elements, with the petals being crystal clear and slightly variegated. Just as he was about to complete the work in one go, the pen tip paused momentarily, and a vague human face formed in Li Xiangfu’s mind.
Initially, he didn’t pay much heed, thinking it was some kind of inspiration.
As he started dotting the stamen, the image in his mind became clearer. He still couldn’t perceive the outline clearly, but the eyes were as proud as a nightingale.
Legend had it that the nightingale had an incredibly wide vocal range. At this moment, it seemed to have materialized and appeared before Li Xiangfu. Its sharp beak moved, as if displaying its melodious singing voice.
“Welcome – back -”
The nightingale finally opened its beak, its almost tuneless singing voice chilling and shrill.
Li Xiangfu flicked his wrist, and in his fright, he lowered his head to find that he had accidentally dipped it in red ink at some point, and two long red streaks extended from the stamen.
This painting had lost the mysterious elegance that a cactus flower should possess. At first glance, the stamens resembled a human face with tentacles.
Li Shasha paused the recording: “You don’t look well.”
“Maybe you caught a cold, and your hair is wet.” He took the offered phone and reviewed the video content.
Li Xiangfu’s eyes darkened when he saw the movements while painting the stamens. Except for a slight tremor in his hand towards the end, the entire painting process was smooth, an instinctive method of painting.
Subconsciously, he opened the drawer, and the card that had arrived via express delivery that day lay silently inside, with the writing side facing up:
——Welcome back, my friend.
When he first saw the card, the elegant script gave him a sense of a pleasant breeze.
Now, it sent a shiver down his spine for no apparent reason.
Li Shasha asked pragmatically, “Do you still want to upload the video?”
After Li Xiangfu nodded, Li Shasha selected the music. Modern audiences weren’t very patient, so she sped up the middle part to double speed to ensure a smooth upload to the social platform.
After the video was reviewed, Li Shasha helped brew a cup of tea to calm his nerves.
Li Xiangfu sat on the chair, cup in hand, lost in thought. Suddenly, he rolled up the painting on the table without a second thought about whether the paint was dry, and tossed it into the drawer, letting the painting and the card be sealed in the dark confines.
He had had a headache all morning, and his initial plan was to rest in bed for a while. Little did he know that it would be two hours before he opened his eyes again.
The slight tingling sensation persisted. Li Xiangfu sat at the head of the bed and started reading the feedback on the painting.
Li Shasha was smart with marketing. The background music he chose started off gentle, and midway through, the erhu was used as an exaggerative instrument. Just like Li Xiangfu’s mood while painting, the gentleness abruptly shifted to fear, and the finished product had a slightly mystical quality.
The level of this painting was much higher than what was seen on stage. Finally, the attention of netizens shifted from flaunting his skills to recognizing his true talents.
He was sure the buzz had almost reached its peak, and the next appearance would be a piece of cake. After lunch, Li Xiangfu declined the deputy director’s suggestion from yesterday for a mysterious guest to perform as a warm-up act, and began preparing the preliminary pieces for the competition.
He excelled in ink painting, but unfortunately, he wasn’t comfortable painting on a tablet, so he simply sketched it out instead.
Before attaching the file to upload, Li Xiangfu reviewed his resume one last time. In the experience column, there was just a brief line: “Masters come from among the people” and the winners of the 13th issue of “Master” were referred to as “masters.”
Quite plain, but very eye-catching.
Li Shasha remarked, “The topic is sufficient. The video also showcases your painting skills. The likelihood of success is very high.” She paused and voiced her concern, “What if someone pretends to be the masked man?”
Li Xiangfu chuckled, “Not everyone can pull it off. Those who’ve won awards would never think of such a ‘sideways’ approach.” To be fair, such an odd presence did exist. He had signed a contract with the program team, so proving his identity was simple.
While waiting patiently for the resume screening, Li Shasha, leveraging his position as a temporary photographer, requested him to whip up a dessert as payment.
Li Xiangfu’s lips curved when he heard this, “Strawberry pudding or…”
The message notification interrupted the latter half of the sentence, and he paused as he was about to open the door:
[Your card ending in *5800 was issued on June 13th. 13:10 Mobile banking transfer of 50,000.00 yuan received, and the balance after the transaction was 71,519.39 yuan.]
His immediate reaction was to log into mobile banking and check the transaction status.
As Li Xiangfu was halfway through downloading the app, a new text message arrived.
It was the same transaction alert with the same amount.
Sitting behind him on a small bench, Li Shasha remarked, “Is this some new type of telecommunications fraud?”
“I don’t know.”
Upon realizing that he still needed to register, Li Xiangfu intended to postpone the process to prepare desserts for the voracious cat.
However, their plans took an abrupt turn. As soon as they reached the stairs, Mr. Li halted them.
“Come with me.”
Compelled to accompany him to the study, Li Xiangfu assumed it was related to Li Xichun’s incident, so he lowered his head, ready to absorb any scolding or admonitions.
“I’ll extend your break for another month, and your living expenses will continue for now.”
“Ah?”
Li Xiangfu looked up in disbelief, making sure it wasn’t a joke, raising an eyebrow. The old man was known for his sternness and rigid principles, but this time he made an exception.
Mr. Li wasn’t inclined to offer explanations and simply waved, indicating he could leave.
As he trudged towards the kitchen, Li Xiangfu couldn’t stop pondering the reason for the sudden change of heart.
Aunt Zhang was occupied in the kitchen. Upon hearing footsteps, she turned around, hastily wiped her hands, pulled him aside, and whispered, “Xiangfu, if you’re really short on money, I can lend you some.”
“…” It took Li Xiangfu a moment before he responded, “Auntie, I have money.”
Aunt Zhang looked distressed, “Don’t hesitate to ask. I’ve heard about your pocket money being stopped.”
Li Xiangfu, someone she had known since his childhood, had grown up with her care. Now, to make ends meet, he had to perform for the public, even if it meant risking his life. It pained her deeply. Those flips he did yesterday were utterly terrifying.
“No, I’m really…” Li Xiangfu struggled to explain, feeling a headache coming on.
However, Aunt Zhang’s words reminded him that those two sums of money were likely transferred by Li Huaichen and Li Xichun.
…because he looked pitiful.
The author has something to say:
Li Shasha: Perhaps they just don’t want to see you perform anymore if you want to be more open-minded?
Li Xiangfu:…
That reversal of situation. More money yay !
Thanks for the update
Thanks for the update 🤣❤️🤣❤️
Well at least it’s proof that his family still cares for him right?? 😂😂😂😭
Not the family and nanny not appreciating the beauty of his art X’D it ain’t just a stunt lmao
but why the sudden change? so confusing