Chapter Fifty-Seven How Could It Be Him?

  The oath-taking ceremony and parents' meeting of Jian'an No. 1 Middle School were held in high spirits, but at the gate of Su Lin's house, someone was depressed.

  "Dog brother, you said Su Lin that stinky kid won't go to school today? We've been waiting for two hours already, how come we still haven't seen him coming out?"

  "Impossible! Today is not a weekend, how can he not go to school? Does his family have another exit? Did this little rabbit leave from another door?"

  No, the several little rascals guarding at Su Lin's door were Huang Gouzi and his gang. They had failed to catch Su Lin twice in a row, so this time they steeled themselves and decided to lie in wait at Su Lin's door, waiting for Su Lin to go to school in the morning, then following behind him and looking for an opportunity to grab Su Lin away.

  But they never thought that Su Lin didn't sleep at home last night, so their ambush this morning was naturally in vain.

  "Damn it, maybe this kid is hiding inside, never mind, brothers, follow me and rush in..."

  The yellow dog seemed to have waited for a long time, spat out the cigarette butt in his mouth, and shouted as he led several younger brothers into the courtyard where Su Lin's family lived.

  "Brother Dog, it's this house. But it seems like there's no one inside!"

  A little rascal poked his head into the window of the Su family's house and found that there was no one inside.

  "What? Nobody's here? Then screw it!"

  The yellow dog suddenly became furious and without saying a word, picked up a brick from the ground and threw it at Su Lin's window.

  Rustling sounds...

  Shards of glass scattered all over the ground. A few young hooligans followed Huang Dogzi, picking up bricks and throwing them into Su Lin's house to vent their anger.

  "Who are you people and what do you want? I'm going to call the police!"

  Luckily, the neighbors in the yard heard the noise and called 110 to report the incident. Huang Gouzishen and others saw the situation and quickly escaped from the gate of the yard.

  When Su Lin and her mother Liu Ai Zhen returned home in the late afternoon, they found their house in disarray, with shattered glass scattered all over the floor.

  "What the...! What's going on?"

  Su Mu Liu Ai Zhen saw that her home was smashed and immediately started scolding loudly.

  "Ai Zhen! You're back, this morning there were 4 or 5 suspicious-looking thugs at your doorstep, seemed like they were looking for trouble with your family. When they saw no one was home, they started smashing windows. I reported it to the police after I saw what happened, and they came over to take a statement, but I didn't get a good look at those people..."

  The neighbor who witnessed it in the morning said to Su's mother.

  "Hooligans? When did our family ever provoke these people?"

  Liu Aizhen was a bit disoriented, how did her own family recently have so many things? Not to mention that both husband and wife were laid off, today they even let the hooligans smash their home.

  "Yè Shěn, among those people you're looking at, is there one wearing ripped jeans and with dyed yellow hair?"

  Su Lin suddenly remembered what he had overheard at the Dragon and Tiger Gang's hideout yesterday, that Huang Gouzzi had said that he would be waiting in ambush outside his own home this morning. It was probably those hoodlums that Ye Shu mentioned, who were Huang Gouzi and his gang.

  "Right, right, right... Among those people this morning, it seemed to be the yellow-haired leader who smashed your family's window with a brick."

  The neighbor Aunt Ye also remembered and nodded in agreement.

  "What's going on? Kobayashi, don't scare me, you're not hanging out with those hoodlums, are you?"

  Liu Aizhen immediately jumped up as soon as she heard that Su Lin knew those little rascals. Although Liu Aizhen, Su's mother, usually looked like someone who dared to scold anyone without fear, but when it came to those underworld little rascals, she was actually afraid.

  Now that Su Lin is possibly involved with these hoodlums, how can one not worry?

  "Mom! Don't worry, how could I possibly hang out with these hoodlums? It's just... they're looking for trouble with me. Mom, don't worry about it, nothing's going to happen."

  As soon as Su Lin heard that it was only Huang Gouzi and his gang, he felt a little relieved. It seemed that the 200,000 yuan of dirty money had not been exposed, and the Longhu Gang and Du Xiezhi's group still did not know that they were the ones who did it. If it was just Huang Gouzi and a few others coming to find him, Su Lin didn't need to worry at all about these small-time hooligans.

  "Nothing's wrong? Xiao Lin, you've gotten involved with the underworld and nothing's wrong? No way, no way... You have to go to the police station with mom..."

  Worried about Su Lin, Liu Ai Zhen didn't even have time to pack up the house, and without saying another word, she dragged Su Lin off to the police station.

  At the same time, outside the ICU of Jian'an City Hospital, Fang Liping and her daughter Qin Yanran, who had just finished a parent-teacher conference, walked over with smiles on their faces.

  "Fortunately, the doctor just told me that your grandma's condition has stabilized. She can even get out of bed and walk on her own today! The doctor said that during the day, she even drew a picture with a pencil!"

  Fang Liping is usually not talkative and smile rarely, even when she does, it's just a polite smile. But now, she can't help but smile from the heart, her mother's condition has improved, how could she as a daughter not be overjoyed?

  "That's great. Mom, I said Grandma has a good fate, she'll be fine for sure. And Grandma is still well enough to send me off to college! But, how come Grandma started drawing today? Although it's just pencil sketching, didn't Grandma stop painting long ago?"

  Qin Yanran also had a sunny smile on her face, nothing like the icy beauty that her classmates at Jian'an No. 1 Middle School imagined her to be.

  "Who knows! Maybe it's your grandma's good mood today, and she made an exception to paint one. Let's go take a look at what your grandma painted today!"

  Pushing open the door, Fang Leping saw her mother still lying in bed, wearing reading glasses and reading the newspaper. She smiled and called out: "Mom, I've come to see you with Yanran."

  "Grandma, I've come to see you with a smile."

  Qin Yanran also happily leaned over to the head of the bed and sweetly said.

  "I told you yesterday, didn't I? If you're busy, don't come visit me. The doctors and nurses in the hospital are all taking good care of me, and if anything happens, I'll just press the nurse's button. Lifen, as the mayor of Jian'an, you have so many official duties to attend to every day. And my dear Yanyan, with only three days left before the college entrance exam, why waste such precious time coming to see an old lady like me instead of staying home and studying?"

  Although seeing her daughter and granddaughter come to see her, Tang Huiqin's heart was warm, but she still deliberately put on a serious face and said.

  "Mom! What are you talking about? No matter how busy we are, if you're sick, we should be allowed to come and keep you company! Besides, today is Yanran's school parent-teacher conference. I didn't do anything else today, just stayed at the school listening to the teachers praising Yanran. Our little Yanran got first place in her grade again."

  Fang Liping sat on the small stool beside the bed, her hands not idle, picking up an apple from the fruit basket next to her and peeling it, "I'll peel an apple for you, eating more apples is good."

  "Really! Grandma, don't you want to see Yanran? If you don't want to see Yanran, then Yanran will go back to study."

  Qin Yanran also pretended to be angry, turned her head and made a gesture as if she was about to leave.

  "Alright, alright. My dear Yanyan, how could Grandma not miss you?! Our Yanyan is such a great learner, always ranking first in every exam, Grandma doesn't need to worry about you at all."

  Tang Huiqin, lying in bed, finally smiled and stretched out her thumb to tease her granddaughter.

  "Hehe! Grandma, I'll peel a banana for you!"

  Qin Yanran also picked up a banana from the fruit basket and quickly peeled it off, handing it to Tang Huiqin.

  "Come on, mom... eat an apple..."

  At this time, Fang Liping also peeled the apple and handed it over.

  "Again with the apples and bananas, you two mothers and daughters! This old bone of mine can't eat so much. You just eat it yourselves!"

  Tang Huiqin couldn't help but smile, especially when looking at her granddaughter Qin Yanran, her face was full of kindness.

  "By the way, Grandma, I heard from the doctor that you painted another picture today. Hurry up and show it to Yanran, she hasn't seen your new work for several years."

  Curiosity drove Qin Yanran to eagerly want to see what her grandmother, Tang Huiqin, the country's top aesthetics professor, had painted today.

  It is worth noting that the works of Tang Huiqin circulating in China are mostly traditional Chinese ink paintings and Western oil paintings, but most of them were created by Tang Huiqin in her early years. In her middle age, Tang Huiqin repositioned herself from a free painter to an aesthetics professor, dedicating herself to the study of the historical origins of Eastern and Western aesthetics, serving as a lifelong professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts.

  Since retiring a few years ago, Tang Huiqin has not taught at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, only occasionally giving academic lectures. As for painting, at least since Qin Yanran was in high school, she had not seen her grandmother pick up a brush again.

  So, today I heard the nurse at the hospital say that Tang Huiqin had started painting again, and Qin Yanran was very excited to see her grandmother's new work.

  "My home's Yanran's little mouth is really sweet. Grandma just scribbled with a pencil, it can't be considered a work of art. What my home's Yanran painted is the real deal, Yanran, why don't you take the college entrance exam for the Central Academy of Fine Arts?! With your aesthetic foundation, those old guys at the academy have already called me several times in the past few months to ask me to tell you to go to the academy!"

  Tang Huiqin smiled contentedly, actually her life's work was not insignificant, and the students she had taught were also not lacking in domestic well-known painters. However, her most satisfying work was still her own granddaughter Qin Yanran, who had an extraordinary talent for aesthetics, combined with Tang Huiqin's careful guidance, integrating the essence of Eastern and Western aesthetics, Qin Yanran's attainments in Western oil painting and classical ink wash were also extremely high.

  "Oh dear! Grandma, didn't you used to tell me that painting is just a hobby? Yanran also thinks so. When I'm in the mood, I'll casually scribble something, but it can't be considered as career development. Quick, quick, quick... Grandma, let me see your new work today?"

  Qin Yanran smiled slyly and urged.

  "Alright, alright, can't argue with you, this little stubborn donkey. It's in the drawer at the head of the bed, not a formal painting, but that morning grandma bought vegetables and suddenly fell ill? There was a young man who sent grandma to the ambulance, and today grandma had some free time, so she drew his appearance..."

  Tang Huiqin explained with a smile, "You can't argue with Qin Yanran."

  "Oh? Is that the person who saved Grandma? I must take a look, to see who it is. Yanran will definitely thank him on behalf of Grandma."

  She carefully pulled out the drawer and took out a sketch drawn by her grandmother with a pencil. As they unfolded it, Qin Yanran and her mother Fang Liping saw the young man in Tang Huiqin's mouth, and they were both stunned, exclaiming: "How could it be him?"

  No, this pencil sketch vividly depicts a young man rushing to the ambulance with Qin Yanran's grandmother Tang Huiqin in his arms. And this young man is none other than Su Lin, who delivered an impassioned speech at the oath-taking ceremony on the rostrum of Jian'an No. 1 Middle School today.