"Zero’s ’Death Legend,’ Barlow."
Nora Scott looked up in astonishnt.
For a brief mont, a hint of surprise flashed across her face, then she returned to calmness.
How did he notice the clues?
She neither admitted it openly nor denied it sheepishly. Nora elegantly sidestepped the probe hidden within the request, and casually said, "Okay."
With a glance full of deeper aning, Pedro Langley didn’t point it out, and the topic was thus set aside.
Pedro Langley bought two folding fans, and after securing a place, he asked Nora Scott, "What do you want to paint?"
Nora, who just opened a folding fan, was taken aback upon hearing it, "You’re painting it for ?"
"Yes."
"What did you study?"
"Traditional Chinese painting."
"..."
Using the Four Treasures of the Study, he learned quite deeply.
After thinking for a few seconds without coming up with anything specific, Nora let him improvise and then found a place to sit down.
Barlow, who is the main character’s pet, is designed based on a fox, slightly modified, easy to draw. Nora asked for a brush, and from painting to coloring, it took less than ten minutes.
After putting down the brush, Nora stowed the folding fan away and cast a glance toward Pedro Langley, suddenly noticing a few people surrounding him, exclaiming in admiration.
"My drawing of Barlow is so ugly, I have absolutely no talent for painting."
"Hahaha, if Uncle saw this painting, he might just expel you from the fan base."
"A considerate act like delivering courier services right to the door, Uncle wouldn’t mind. Besides, he didn’t co to the convention, so he won’t know."
"Such a rare convention, what if Uncle ca quietly?"
"If he really appeared at the convention, that would be entertaining. Given his penchant for grand gestures, it might actually happen."
...
Not far away, two young girls chatted with whimsical guesses they didn’t even believe, then burst into laughter.
They didn’t talk for long before leaving together. Seeing Pedro Langley take a while to finish painting, Nora squinted and suddenly ca up with an idea.
Sitting idle is still idle, why not...
The joys of humans are always so plain and unadorned.
Wandering to a spot, Nora curled her lips and said to a staff mber, "Give a folding fan."
A quarter of an hour later—
On a table filled with various brushes and miscellaneous items, there quietly appeared a folded fan.
*
The people around Pedro Langley dispersed, and Nora Scott leisurely walked over.
"Did you really practice?"
After teasing him, Nora then stopped beside him, lowering her gaze, and was slightly taken aback.
The painting depicted a beauty in a tight-fitting outfit, with ink-black hair tied high, holding a long sword. Her glance was lively, her beauty unparalleled, and her deanor unrestrained. A few strokes inclined to the side added a bamboo grove, with branches and leaves fluttering like knives and swords, adding a bit of chivalrous passion to it.
This scene was so lifelike, the artistic conception was clear.
Pedro Langley placed the brush aside, "Studied for a few years, can’t compare to what’s in your study."
"..."
Those were painstakingly collected, ordinary paintings naturally couldn’t compare.
"However," Pedro Langley handed the folding fan to her, changing the topic, "compared to Charlotte Mason’s and Fátima’s works, it shouldn’t be far off."
"..."
Nora’s mouth twitched slightly.
Charlotte Mason and Fátima are her senior sisters, determined to gift her "calligraphy and painting," commandeering her "study," she couldn’t refuse.
To her, they were all trivial matters.
Not bothering with Pedro Langley, Nora handed the folding fan back to him, "It’s yours."
Holding the folding fan in hand, with warmth still lingering on the handle, Pedro Langley opened it, seeing Barlow in its entirety—the darkened Barlow, large in size, standing on swirling flas. The painting was simple, yet with just a few elents, it vividly ca to life, delivering a strong visual impact.
It seed ready to burst out of the paper at any mont.
If not by the original artist, how could it capture such spirit?
Pedro Langley curled his lips into a light smile, glanced at Nora Scott, who rely shrugged, not responding to him.
*
After leaving the DIY area, the convention exploration was about complete.
Pedro Langley had a eting in the afternoon, so he couldn’t join Nora and arranged for soone to find a car to take her ho, along with a carload of gifts.
Directly delivering it ho, sparing her the cold wind, Nora accepted without reservation from Pedro Langley.
Once she was sent off, both the bald-headed and the person in charge secretly sighed in relief, then crowded next to Pedro Langley.
The two exchanged a glance, hinting at the discussion about who would take the lead. Finally, the bald-headed subtly pushed the person in charge, who stumbled forward to Pedro Langley.
"Mr. Langley!"
The person in charge greeted with a nervous smile, his voice trembling like walking a tightrope.
Pedro Langley cast a sidelong glance, and the person in charge, sensing the reprimand implied, began to feel anxious.
At once, without waiting for Pedro Langley to speak, the person in charge voluntarily said, "Mr. Langley, the staff mber who tampered with the bitter gourd juice was a temp. We’ve already let her go. We have also blacklisted her in the company and will never hire her again."
Being a temporary worker, this was as severe as their punitive asures could get, but obviously, this failed to satisfy the "wife-protective" Pedro Langley.
Nora despises bitterness and doesn’t touch bitter lon at all. However, she’s determined, never backing down from her promises. Considering soone so picky would have to drink that big cup of bitter gourd juice...
Pedro Langley furrowed his brow, speaking coldly, "Dismiss whoever recruited her as well."
The person in charge was stunned, feeling a chill from his gaze, and didn’t dare to say anything in defense, quickly complied.
"Yes."
Formal employees, dismissed just like that.
Can’t afford to provoke a protective husband...
*
Afternoon, four o’clock.
Visitors beca fewer.
In the DIY area, the staff took advantage of the sparse visitors to tidy up the brushes and tools on the table.
"Whose folding fan is this? Did soone leave it, or is it unwanted?"
One staff mber found an unclaid folding fan and curiously furrowed their brow, whispering to the colleague next to them.
The colleague, busy cleaning up, glanced at it and responded disinterestedly, "No idea, open it and see."
Considering for a mont, the staff mber paused their task, slowly unfolding the fan.
The instant the scene ca into view, astonishnt crept into the staff mber’s expression, leaving them entirely speechless.
"Traveled here. —Zero"
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