Chapter 104: Seize the Opportunity

After a few glasses of wine, Li Chungang also started talking about some of his own matters.

When he was young, he was considered an intellectual and almost became an art technical secondary school student in the 1980s. After graduation, he would have been assigned a job and had a secure “iron rice bowl.” At that time, getting into a technical secondary school was a bigger sensation in the local area than getting into Tsinghua or Peking University now.

However, because his father was a disappointment and happened to commit a crime and go to jail at that time, he ended up dragging his son down with him. He failed the political background check, and his dream of attending the technical secondary school was shattered.

Thus, he went from being an intellectual to a farmer, farming in his hometown. He didn’t get married to a rural woman and have children until he was in his twenties. He had to support his family, and it was only after his children were a little older that he picked up his hobby of painting again in his spare time, painting at home.

Slowly, some of his paintings were liked by some people, who then spent money to buy them. At first, he gave away many for free, then he sold them for a few hundred, and then for one or two thousand a piece.

This brought some extra income to his family, and his wife, who had originally opposed his painting as a waste of money, finally began to support his painting.

Now, he, the noodle shop owner and painter, was also somewhat famous in their town.

Some wealthy bosses would even ask him to paint custom paintings, such as portraits or feng shui paintings.

After hearing his words, Chen Feng couldn’t help but feel sad for him.

Chen Feng was sure that if he had become a technical secondary school student back then, he would now be either a government official or a truly great painter.

Others didn’t know, but Chen Feng was very clear that his paintings were much better than those of so-called famous painters. He was the real master of painting.

As a result, such a master was farming and running a noodle shop in this unknown countryside.

This was just like the saying, “Clowns are in the temple, masters are wandering.” Well, he was much better off than wandering now, but without a doubt, his talent was still buried.

This was fate, this was life. Hardship often occupied the majority of it.

“Uncle, it’s really not worth it for you to only charge ten or twenty thousand for these custom paintings. In the future, you must not be so cheap. Your painting skills are no worse than those of famous painters. In the future, if someone asks you to paint a custom painting, you should ask for at least 100,000. Otherwise, don’t paint it. It’s better to paint what you like. When I see something I like, I’ll pay at least 10,000 for each.”

“Haha, it’s rare that you think so highly of my paintings. This is like high mountains and flowing water, Boya and Ziqi. It’s rare, it’s rare. Come, let’s have another drink.”

Li Chungang’s alcohol tolerance was very good, the kind that could drink two jin of white wine. But in the end, he couldn’t outdrink Chen Feng.

Besides Li Chungang downing his drinks from time to time, Chen Feng also suddenly discovered that his own alcohol tolerance had improved a lot.

In the past, when drinking white wine, Chen Feng could at most drink half a jin. But today, he had drunk at least over a jin, but besides feeling a little dizzy, he wasn’t very drunk.

His alcohol tolerance had clearly become stronger, and it couldn’t be for no reason. This was obviously related to his body becoming stronger during this period.

And the reason why his body had become stronger was obviously related to his continuous absorption of energy from these calligraphy and paintings these past few days.

This was another piece of evidence that made Chen Feng even more determined to continue collecting these energetic calligraphy and paintings.

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The next day, at the request of Lin Wan and Wu Mengting, Chen Feng stayed here for an extra day. The enthusiastic Li Chungang voluntarily acted as a guide and they had a good time playing in the local area for a day.

It wasn’t until the third day that the three of them, Chen Feng included, set off and returned to Xiuzhou.

Harvesting eighteen paintings that could absorb energy at once was like digging up a treasure mine for Chen Feng. And Chen Feng randomly selected a few of them to experiment with. The first time, they could basically satisfy an hour of absorption.

This was an even more unexpected joy for Chen Feng.

With so many paintings, he could be guaranteed to enjoy them for the next three or four months.

And according to his current physical condition, besides having a tumor in his head, he had no other uncomfortable symptoms.

So, in his opinion, he still had a high chance of surviving this year.

It was already December, and New Year’s Day was coming soon. The Spring Festival was less than two months away.

So, in Chen Feng’s opinion, he should be able to survive this year.

As long as he survived this year, it would be equivalent to breaking the death sentence previously pronounced on him by the doctors at the damn hospital.

They had previously estimated that Chen Feng could only live for two or three months, but now more than a month had passed, and Chen Feng had no symptoms of his terminal illness at all.

This couldn’t help but rekindle Chen Feng’s desire and hope for life.

A person living really needs to have hope. What if it comes true?

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After returning to Xiuzhou, Chen Feng was in a very good mood. He handed over the art acquisition shop to Lin Wan, while he himself leisurely either read books and scrolled through his phone at home, or absorbed the energy from the calligraphy and paintings. During this time, he would go to Lin Wan and Wu Mengting’s place for a free meal either at noon or in the evening.

And if Qin Zhen was free in the evening, the two of them would go to a barbecue stall for skewers.

As for sleeping at night, it depended on his mood and physical condition. If he needed it, he would definitely go to Red Villa Bay. If he felt it was boring, he would stay alone at the East Lake villa.

Life was very comfortable. The only slight imperfection was that Sun Xiaorui had not yet returned.

Although her father had been discharged from the hospital, as a daughter, she still had to stay by his side to take care of him for a while, to fulfill her filial piety, and also to talk to her timid and frail mother.

The good news was that Sun Xiaorui said she would be back in ten days to half a month. At the same time, she would also hire a nanny for her family to help take care of her parents.

Chen Feng was too embarrassed to rush her. After all, she was doing it for filial piety. Instead, he told her not to worry, and that it was fine if she came back later.

For this, Sun Xiaorui was of course very grateful to Chen Feng.

However, she did not thank Chen Feng again.

Because, no matter how many words of thanks she said, they seemed a bit pale at this time. She planned to repay him well with practical actions after returning to Xiuzhou.

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On this day, Chen Feng was very lucky and received another painting, only spending 30,000 yuan. Then, Chen Feng was very happy and personally went to the wet market to buy a lot of groceries and brought them to the two women’s place, asking Wu Mengting to cook.

Chen Feng was very used to this kind of thing now, and so were Lin Wan and Wu Mengting.

Wu Mengting couldn’t ask for more, thinking that by spending time with Chen Feng day and night, their relationship would naturally develop. And Lin Wan was now working for Chen Feng and could often eat for free, so what could she say?
So, the three of them eating together now became very natural and commonplace.

It was precisely because Chen Feng could now eat Wu Mengting’s hometown dishes every day and chat and laugh with the two beautiful women every day that his longing for Sun Xiaorui had also unconsciously faded a lot.

People are like that. If they are separated for a long time, the longing will slowly fade.

After all, they hadn’t experienced any unforgettable stories together, let alone life-and-death situations.

Therefore, many so-called feelings, under the constant erosion of time, will slowly be diluted, and even leave no trace in the end.

“Boss, that fat woman came over with her son again last night. This is happening more and more frequently. You have to help us think of a solution. It’s best to help us find a house nearby and move out.”

At the dinner table, Lin Wan once again brought up the matter of moving to Chen Feng.
She had already said it many times these past few days. It was mainly because she couldn’t stand the constant harassment from the landlady, Auntie Wang.

Chen Feng looked at Wu Mengting. She also said with some distress, “Auntie Wang seems to have taken a fancy to me. She keeps trying to get me to go on a date with her son.”

When Chen Feng heard this, he immediately felt very unhappy. No matter what, Wu Mengting was his… fellow villager.

If the other party had taken a fancy to Lin Wan, Chen Feng could still tease her a few times, telling her to try dating Auntie Wang’s son, Xiaoming. But if it was Wu Mengting, then Auntie Wang and her son were really dreaming.

Chen Feng couldn’t help but speak up, “This Auntie Wang’s skin is too thick. Doesn’t she know what her son is like? A toad really wants to eat swan meat.”

Lin Wan immediately chimed in, “That’s right. I already told her clearly last time that we don’t plan to find a boyfriend for now, but she’s still like this. I’ve had enough of her.”

After a moment of contemplation, Chen Feng said, “How about this. Why don’t you guys move your luggage to my shop first, then stay in a hotel. I’ll pay for it. In the next few days, we can look for another house together.”

Lin Wan immediately said, “Why stay in a hotel, isn’t that a waste of money? Why don’t we just stay at your place for now? It’ll save you the trouble of running over to our place every day. And it’ll be convenient for Tiantian to cook for you every day.”

Chen Feng was suddenly stunned, and at the same time, he understood her plan. So she was still惦记ing his villa.

Seeing that Chen Feng didn’t say anything for a moment, Lin Wan immediately pressed on, “Boss, you’re not reluctant to let us stay, are you? We’re just staying temporarily. Your place is so big, isn’t it a waste for you to live alone? Also, aren’t you scared sleeping alone in such a big house at night?”

That was really true!

Seeing Chen Feng’s difficult expression, Wu Mengting immediately said, “Forget it. Let’s just endure it for a few more days. It’s almost a month anyway. We can look for a house in the next few days.”

When Chen Feng heard Wu Mengting say this, he thought for a moment and then said, “Originally, with me being a man and you two being women, it would definitely be a bit inconvenient to live together. But since you both don’t mind, what’s there for a man like me to mind? However, I have to make it clear first. Xiaorui isn’t back yet. She said she’ll be back in ten days to half a month. At that time, it won’t be convenient for you to stay anymore. You have no objection, right?”

Chen Feng was mainly worried that Lin Wan would overstay her welcome, so this question was mainly directed at her.

Lin Wan pouted unhappily, “As if we would overstay our welcome.”

Wu Mengting quickly said, “Don’t worry, we’ll just stay for a few days. We’ll move out as soon as we find a house.”

Seeing this, Chen Feng couldn’t say anything more. Anyway, he had already said what he needed to say. They were all friends now, and some things couldn’t be said too heartlessly.

“Alright then. Let me know when you’re moving.”

Lin Wan immediately said, “Let’s move after dinner. I’ve had enough of that fat woman.”

Wu Mengting didn’t object either.

It seemed they had really had enough of that Auntie Wang.

Chen Feng had no objection either. So after dinner, Lin Wan immediately called a moving company.

The reason she called a moving company was mainly because the two women were reluctant to part with their Simmons mattresses, which they had bought not long ago. As for the rest of their things, the two women could pack and move them to Chen Feng’s place themselves.

As for the two Simmons mattresses, they would be moved to Chen Feng’s shop first. Anyway, the back of Chen Feng’s shop was always empty.

More than two hours later, the moving was finally done.

The two women moved into Chen Feng’s East Lake villa as they wished. It was a room in the back of the second floor, about thirty square meters, with a 2.2-meter solid wood bed already inside.

The two women just needed to come over and lay out their bedding.

After making the bed, Lin Wan, without any regard for her image, immediately lay down on the bed in a spread-eagle position, then let out a comfortable sigh and said to Wu Mengting, who was still tidying up, “Tiantian, do you think Brother Feng has already bought this villa?”

“Impossible. This villa costs twenty to thirty million. Didn’t Brother Feng say last time that he couldn’t afford it?”

“You really believe his nonsense. I think he’s richer than we imagine. He’s just low-key. Didn’t you see him buy a painting for millions without even blinking an eye?”

“I was the one who told you that. That painting by Master Wang Yi is indeed worth that much.”

“I don’t care about that. Anyway, I can feel it, my boss is very rich, richer than we imagine. So, you have to make a move soon. Otherwise, when Sister Sun comes back, you’ll have no chance again. While he’s in a ‘window period’ now, you should really take advantage of the opportunity. Understand?”

“I don’t understand.”

“Aiya! You silly girl, I’ve worked so hard to help you, and now we’re finally living here. The pavilion closest to the water gets the moon first. Sister Sun isn’t here, this is a golden opportunity that won’t come again. If you miss this chance to catch a golden turtle, even heaven will punish you.”

“We already have a tacit understanding, to let things take their natural course. The way we get along now is actually quite good, there’s no awkwardness or unnaturalness. If I were to take it a step further, we might not even be friends anymore.”

“You’re really driving me crazy. Do you want to be his friend for a lifetime? If so, I have nothing to say. If not, why don’t you try to fight for it? A woman chasing a man is like chasing through a layer of gauze, you know? Men are all lecherous. And they are very possessive. Didn’t you say you’re still a virgin? Believe me, if you give him your first time, he will definitely be responsible for you. He will want to possess you for a long time. Men are just like that. Then, your matter will naturally come to fruition.”

“You’re really… alright, I know what I’m doing.”

“Sigh, you’re really a blockhead. If you don’t seize the opportunity, we’ll see how you cry in the future. If you weren’t my sister, I would have already competed with you for him.”

“You should know, he really doesn’t have any romantic feelings for you.”

“Go away, how do you know he’s not interested in me?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Don’t tell me you don’t know yourself.”

“…”

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Chen Feng was currently downstairs contacting Li Chungang. He had painted two paintings in the past few days, one ink wash painting and one oil painting. He had sent a video and a few photos to Chen Feng.

Unfortunately, Chen Feng couldn’t sense the energy of these two paintings through the video and photos.

Previously, Chen Feng had done experiments and found that he could slightly feel whether these calligraphy and paintings would attract him through videos and photos.

So, to avoid traveling back and forth, he adopted this method to keep in touch with Li Chungang and the previous amateur young painter, Zhang Lidong.

If they had new paintings, they would contact Chen Feng. If Chen Feng liked them, he would buy them.

Unfortunately, Zhang Lidong had painted about ten paintings in the past many days, but none of them were to Chen Feng’s liking.

And now, Li Chungang’s two paintings were the same.

This made Chen Feng somewhat disappointed. After all, these two folk painters were the “dairy cows” he valued most now, waiting for them to produce milk for him.