Chapter 60 - 48: Let Me Try
Aina bowed and apologized, "I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’ll pay for it, I’ll pay."
Wang Changyue was aggressive. "Can you even afford it? 4.7 million, you think you can just pay that?"
"What are you yelling for? My sister didn’t do it on purpose." Xiao Wanqing stepped forward and pulled Aina behind her.
"So what if she didn’t do it on purpose? Was my painting the one that did it on purpose? I can’t be bothered to waste my breath on you. So, what are you going to do about it?"
Aina’s eyes reddened. She tugged on Xiao Wanqing’s hand, aggrieved and anxious. "I really didn’t mean to."
"Don’t worry, it’ll be okay."
’Saying all this is useless right now. Pay for it? I can’t even bring that up. We really can’t afford it.’
Xiao Wanqing had no choice but to stand her ground.
"Ahem, well, it’s not like it’s an original Tang Bohu. It’s just a painting by Master Shan Zhentian himself. Worst case, I’ll just paint a new one for you."
"You? A little girl like you is going to paint a replacement for me? Hahaha... This is my master’s great work, *Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix*! You’ll paint one to compensate me? Everyone, does that even sound reasonable?"
The crowd started murmuring among themselves.
Shan Zhentian was a contemporary master of traditional Chinese painting, renowned for his skill. For some young girl to claim she could paint an identical copy... well, frankly, to all the artists present who revered Shan Zhentian, it was nothing short of an insult.
Truly, a newborn calf fears no tiger.
Shielding the tearful Aina, Xiao Wanqing braced herself and said, "Just tell me if that’s acceptable or not. If not, then let’s call the police. We’ll let them handle it. We absolutely won’t try to get out of it!"
Wang Changyue smirked. "Fine. Don’t say I didn’t give you three little sisters a chance. You can paint it. But you have to paint me an absolutely identical copy, down to the last feather. If you can’t, even if you call the police, you’ll have to pay the full price. And my master’s painting starts at a minimum of 4 million!"
’Wang Changyue wasn’t an idiot. Who could possibly paint an identical copy? Even his master, Shan Zhentian, couldn’t paint another one just like it. There are no two identical leaves in the world. And even if she did manage to paint it, so what? Did she think that would get her out of paying? What a joke.’
Wang Changyue actually wasn’t exaggerating the price.
Shan Zhentian’s works had been hyped up in recent years, with many of his paintings starting at over a million at auction. Moreover, Shan Zhentian was still alive, which meant there was huge potential for their value to increase.
Not to mention this was a copy of Tang Bohu’s classic masterpiece, *Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix*.
"Stop crying. Don’t worry, it’s going to be okay."
After comforting Aina for a moment, Xiao Wanqing walked up to the large desk, shouldering immense pressure.
The truth was...
...her painting skills were average at best.
But as the leader of her friend group, as Queen Xiao, when one of the women in her "harem" got into trouble, she had to step up and protect them.
’Honestly, she had no idea what to do. Paying for it was definitely out of the question.’
’As for painting it...’
’...she certainly couldn’t reproduce a masterpiece from Master Shan Zhentian’s prime.’
’But what else could she do?’
Queen Xiao was now resorting to stalling tactics, treating a dead horse as if it were still alive. Her plan was to start painting while trying to think of a solution.
’But... Tang Yin’s *Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix*?’
’What a headache.’
’She was terrified she’d end up painting something that looked like Zhu Zhishan’s "Chicks Pecking at Rice".’
"Why don’t we ask Su Ran to handle this?"
Xie Yiren tugged at Xiao Wanqing. She could tell Xiao Wanqing really couldn’t paint an identical copy. Their only option was to ask that rich guy, Su Ran, to solve the problem.
Of course, that was just one possibility. After all, it was several million. Su Ran might not necessarily help.
Xiao Wanqing had, of course, thought of asking Su Ran. But this was a multi-million-dollar issue. As soon as ’money’ got involved—as the saying goes, talking about money hurts relationships—it could very well cause a rift between the new couple.
"He doesn’t need to solve it. I... I can paint it."
Deep down, Xiao Wanqing didn’t want to taint the pure friendship between her friends and Su Ran by dragging money into it.
’Besides, even if Su Ran helped pay for it and resolved the issue, how could they ever pay him back?’
’It was hard to say.’
’It was better to just brace herself, try to stall for time, and think of something.’
At that moment, everyone crowded around.
Xiao Wanqing took a deep breath, picked up the brush, dipped it in ink, and tried to still her trembling hand.
But a drop of ink still fell from the weasel-hair brush, soaking into the rice paper.
"Heh, little girl, do you need me to get you a new sheet of rice paper?" Wang Changyue jeered.
"I... I..." At this, Xiao Wanqing panicked, her mind a complete blank. But looking at Aina, she mustered her courage again. "No need! It’s just the *Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix*, isn’t it? I’ll paint it for you."
By now, many onlookers who had heard the commotion had gathered in the hall, forming a thick crowd three layers deep to watch the show.
Xiao Wanqing finally put the brush to paper.
The tip of the brush touched the rice paper and began to move. It was a failure. The Phoenix is a mythical bird of graceful form, and Xiao Wanqing couldn’t capture that sense of fluency. Even when tracing a gourd to draw a ladle, the divine charm—that was the hardest thing to master.
’Little sister, if you can’t paint, then don’t. Just negotiate a reasonable price to pay. There’s no point in dragging this on.’
’Exactly. Stop wasting everyone’s time. You ruined someone’s painting, just pay up.’
’Hey beautiful, if you can really paint an identical copy, I’ll fry an egg in the palm of my hand!’
"Be quiet!"
Xiao Wanqing roared, slamming the brush down onto the rice paper. The area immediately fell silent.
She was in agony.
Her group of friends was a single unit, and Queen Xiao’s personality was incredibly strong-willed.
In that moment, she was overcome with the frustrating feeling of being unable to protect her "women."
"Little sister, it’s not that ’Uncle’ is forcing you," Wang Changyue said. "You saw it yourself. Your friend’s carelessness destroyed the painting. I gave you a chance, and you can’t paint it, so let’s not waste any more of everyone’s precious time."
"I... I... I..."
Xiao Wanqing clutched the brush tightly, the chattering discussions of the onlookers ringing in her ears. In the end, she gave up. Silently, dejectedly, she slowly put the brush down.
She looked at the teary-eyed Aina with a downcast gaze, her voice completely lacking its earlier confidence.
"How much is it? We’ll figure out a way to scrape the money together and pay..."
Just as Xiao Wanqing spoke these helpless words, an all-too-familiar voice came from the entrance of the hall.
"Let me give it a try."