The snow flakes were numerous, and after a while, the top of the three people's heads was covered with a thin white, and with a flick of their hands, they turned into water.

He Chushu said to Huai'an: "I have always felt that Brother Meng is not as good as Ting'an to you, but the relationship between your two brothers is very good, and it is difficult for you to see it." ”

Huai'an raised his hand and followed the snowflake, and said casually: "This doesn't need to be compared, and it's not Ting'an's problem, let alone ...... I don't have to worry about food and clothing, and there are people to serve, do you mean that my father and mother are not good to me?"

"Yes. He Chushu nodded.

Siqing looked at Huai'an, it seems that in his heart, the grace of raising is greater than the grace of life, so it's okay, if one day he knows his identity, he will not deviate from the Meng family if he has this thought.

But why are his biological parents gone, is it a coincidence, or is there something else?

This is impossible to investigate, and it is not necessarily a good thing to study it deeply.

The three of them walked to the fork in the road and dispersed.

In the blink of an eye, it is Chinese New Year's Eve, this is the second year that Siqing spent in the Meng family, this year the snow fell heavily, people say, Ruixue Zhaofeng year, the next year must be a good year.

However, the snow fell for half a month, and the weather was cold and gloomy, and many people who were weak and sick could not resist it, and the first month had not yet come out, and the mourning procession could be seen on the street, until the second day of February, when the weather finally warmed up, and this scene was less.

Winter passed, and Siqing was shocked to realize that she hadn't seen Meng Siru for a long time.

Meng Hongxian also had no intention of asking once, Pan Lanfang said that Hong Xuan had not yet been reinstated, and the Hong family was now struggling to make ends meet, and many people had retired, and many things fell on Siru, and she was even busier around the Chinese New Year, and she couldn't spare time to come back.

Meng Hongxian advocated sending some money over, and Pan Lanfang sighed and said that Hong Xuan would rather die than accept it.

"Then what is Hong Xuan doing now?" the old lady also asked.

"I heard Siru say that he didn't do anything at home now, and he had found some work before, but he didn't do it for long, the child himself was stubborn, and he always quarreled with people when he went out, and the old lady in his family was still lenient with him, and he was not allowed to do any heavy work, dirty work could not be done, and he was not allowed to do it if he lost his identity, and only used his son as a porcelain doll for him. ”

The old lady couldn't help frowning: "Isn't that pitiful Siru?"

"Siru is someone's daughter-in-law, and she should take care of the house. Pan Lanfang replied.

The family said no more.

After February, everything really recovered.

The cousin sent some bacon dried at home to Fu Shundao'er, and Siqing saw that he was much thinner than before, but his spirit was fine, and his eyes looked better.

He sent his younger brother to Shen to Xuncheng to study the new school, Si Qing chose to go with him to see the new school, which was changed from the previous Tongwen Academy, and the new Zheng Girls' School that Si Yi read, it is a new school, it will teach history, literature, arithmetic, etc., and you can also learn foreign languages, although it is more expensive, but Xiang Zhihua is still trying to send his son in.

"Dad has always wanted our family to be a learned person, but you also know that it's not good for me to have small eyes, and I can't read, so he hopes that Xiang Shen can read well. Xiang Fu explained to Siqing.

Siqing nodded and asked, "Then do you need money?"

"I'm about to tell you, I found a job in Xuncheng, working as a buddy in the theater garden, enough for Xiang Shen to study, not to mention that my father is also doing things over there, you don't have to worry, if you are really short of money, I will talk to you. ”

"Good. Siqing was no longer polite, "So, cousin, will you stay in Xuncheng in the future?"

"Yes, there is a place to live in the opera garden, I can take care of Xiang Shen, and I can often come to see you. ”

"Great. She was excited, thought about it, and asked, "What about my cousin-in-law, is she home alone, is she cured?"

Xiang Fuwei lowered his eyes and said softly: "She disappeared last year." ”

"What?"

"It's gone, and people always have to look forward. ”

He didn't say much about the sadness, and after settling down with his younger brother, he said goodbye to Siqing.

Although the owner of the garden, Chen Da, was generous, but because of the endless flow of people coming and going, Xiang Fu had a lot of work, so in Xuncheng, he couldn't spare much free time to visit Siqing.

But even so, Siqing still felt that she had a backing, and her heart was a lot more stable.

Her paintings are getting better and better, and in just a few months, in Xiu'e's opinion, she has been able to surpass Huai'an.

But Huai'an is not completely without progress, some people are naturally under some pressure compared to each other, and Siqing found that

Although he was always distracted in class, he could remember what Mr. He had said, which was really a talent.

He Chushu could also see Huai'an's perfunctory class, he knew that it was very boring for Huai'an to learn the same thing from Siqing now, so he suggested to Meng Hongxian that he could practice on the porcelain plate.

But Meng Hongxian refused, he always thought that he had not learned well.

This is not something that He Chushu can interfere in, he is not good at persuading, so he only said to the two of them: "You must prove yourself well, so that Brother Meng can see your ability." ”

During this period, Meng Ting'an also secretly painted a lot of Western paintings, handed them to He Chushu for inspection, and asked him to help contact Siguxuan's exhibition.

The first time he prepared for the exhibition, he painted relatively conservatively, and most of the content of his paintings was the customs and humanities under different lights and shadows, similar to the portraits they had seen before, which tried to express their hearts.

He Chushu felt very good, and took one of his paintings to meet Lin Shaowei and a group of consultants and experts.

It's just that he expected it right, Sigu Xuan didn't welcome Western paintings, and when they saw the paintings, their first reaction was to shake their heads: "There are too many colors, there is no blank space, no, no, Si Gu Xuan exhibits such paintings, which is a self-smashing signboard." ”

He Chushu said: "If you look carefully and pick out the shortcomings from the composition of the pen, then that's fine, but you don't even look closely, just because it is not our traditional aesthetics, you try your best to deny, such an artistic vision, how can we progress, that foreigners come to us, and still know to learn our things, are we so stubborn and old-fashioned?"

The people present were slightly silent, and had to admit that his words were reasonable, but most of them were old, and their deep-rooted thoughts were not something that could be moved.

In fact, it's not just them, even Meng Hongxian, He Chushu has been talking for several years, isn't he still unwilling to accept foreign things?

The crowd still shook their heads, He Chushu sighed, and pulled Lin Shaowei alone: "This is my student's hard work, and it is also his future, if there is no opportunity for him, he can't continue to paint, Brother Shaowei can be accommodating, at least let him show his paintings, yes or no outsiders have their own evaluation, I can make a guarantee, even if these paintings are not popular, they will never be criticized, and they will not smash the signboard of Sigu Xuan!"

If these words had been put before, Lin Shaowei would have agreed with his face, Zuo was just a matter of opening an exhibition hall, but before He Chushu broke the contract and left, although he didn't say it on the surface, he always had a hurdle in his heart.

And He Chushu still asked him to help for the students he taught, which made him even more uncomfortable, he said to He Chushu expressionlessly: "Although I am the president of Sigu Xuan, I also have to listen to everyone's opinions...... I think it's a good thing, but it doesn't necessarily catch everyone's eye. ”

He Chushu said: "Brother Shaowei's so-called 'everyone' is only these people in front of him, and the real 'everyone' should be thousands of people in the world, and the elegance and vulgarity can be appreciated together, which is a masterpiece that can stand the test, and it is too unfair to judge by these people alone." ”

He has always been easy-going, but now he is clearly unwilling to back down.

Lin Shaowei actually didn't reject that painting, he was just dissatisfied with what He Chushu had done before, and now that he was willing to stop when he saw that he was bound to achieve his goal, he was embarrassed to take out the little emotion in his heart again.

But he still refused to accept him so easily, thought about it, and found a compromise solution: "It's better to do this, I'll go and ask the teacher, if he agrees, the others will naturally have nothing to say." ”

"Then there is Lao Wang Lao who will come forward. He Chushu arched his hand.

Lin Shaowei's teacher, Mr. Wang, was the last president of Sigu Xuan and a senior who was respected by everyone in the art world.

He Chushu is big in age with him, he hasn't met much, and he can't talk about it, if he wants to ask him to say a few words, Lin Shaowei can only come forward.

He thanked Xie Lin Shaowei again and returned to Meng's house.

In the library, he couldn't help sighing while holding his chin on the desk, and said silently: "That Sigu Xuan is becoming more and more closed now, which is really heart-wrenching!"

The three brothers and sisters all looked at him, Huai'an had been to Siguxuan a few times before, and he had also seen some people inside, and when he heard his emotion, he said: "Their so-called expert consultant team is all old, and it is unreasonable to talk to them." ”

Siqing was surprised to hear it: "Why have you ever reasoned with them?"

"I didn't, Cheng Yiheng did, I negotiated with them when I bought paintings before, I was there at the time, and they had a good theory for the sake of mounting. ”

"Why do you want to reason with them because of the framing thing?" Siqing asked, "The paintings are all sold and still framed?"

"Anyway, let's not talk about the stereotyped sizing inside, Cheng Yiheng wants to use pear blossom wood for the frame, they don't recommend using sandalwood, saying that it is more suitable for painting and coloring, the two parties quarreled for a while, and finally they didn't do what Cheng Yiheng said. ”

"Cheng Yiheng is too serious. Siqing couldn't help but say.

"The so-called three-point painting is seven-point mounting, that Mr. Cheng is more real, I think it makes sense. It was Meng Ting'an who answered.

"How serious do you think Cheng Yiheng is, he actually looks good at pear blossoms. Huai'an said with a smile.

Meng Tingan frowned, reacted for a while, and then said, "Oh." ”

Several people discussed for a while, seeing that it was not early, He Chushu did not wait for Wang Lao's reply, and his heart began to feel uneasy again.

He held a folding fan in his hand, and the fan was whirring, which was very inconsistent with the gentle appearance, but it made people feel that this was the state that a young person should have.

Siqing wanted to relieve his anxiety and joked: "Teacher, you say, will my second brother and I be able to hold an art exhibition in Siguxuan one day?"

"If you draw well, you will naturally have a chance, and you must believe in yourself. ”

"I'll forget it. Huai'an lazily continued: "I don't have that leisure and elegance, fourth sister, you work hard." ”

As he spoke, he also asked He Chushu: "Teacher, if the fourth sister has the ability to hold an art exhibition in the future, will you fight for her as hard as you did for Huai'an today?"

He Chushu was stunned for a moment.

He thought a lot about it in this "moment", but he didn't know what he was thinking, and by the time he realized that there was no need to think about anything else about this simple question, Huai'an had already asked again.

He nodded slowly, heavily: "Yes!"