Exclusive Model for the Top Painter Chapter Chapter 11

Cohabitation Relationship Misunderstandings

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A City Airport, 11:10 a.m.

Liang Jin had come to pick up his cousin as promised.

Shu Yue, with his hair dyed silvery grey, waved at him from afar in the crowd. When Liang Jin saw him, he headed towards him.

Shu Yue was carrying his guitar on his back and carrying his luggage in one hand, while the other hand naturally hooked around Liang Jin's shoulder: "Brother, where do you live now? Can you take me to your house?"

Liang Jin pushed his hand away, "Don't be silly, didn't you book a hotel?"

"A hotel is a hotel. It's rare to come to A City, so I want to visit your place."

"No."

"Wow, you're so heartless, Brother!" Shu Yue frowned exaggeratedly, "Could it be that you're involved in something?"

"Yes, you'll find out right away." Liang Jin said, "Over here, to the subway station."

"Take the subway?" Shu Yue was puzzled, "Why don't we take a taxi?"

"I'm having financial difficulties, so I have to save some money."

"Huh? Why? Didn't you make a lot of money before?"

Liang Jin patiently explained, "For some reason, I terminated my contract with my previous company and paid out a huge amount of money for breach of contract, so now I have almost nothing."

"So where do you live?"

Liang Jin suddenly smiled, "I sold myself to pay off my debts, so I am now living in my boss' house."

"No way, Brother!" Shu Yue dropped his suitcase with a sharp thud, distressed, "You can't fall from grace, your head can be broken but you can't lose your integrity! I didn't think you were like this, Brother, did you..."

"Just kidding," Liang Jin interrupted, "I have a business deal with my current boss and I'm staying at his place for the time being."

Shu Yue was relieved, but only then did he realise: "Wasn't your previous company owned by Zhou Hai? You've been friends for ten years, and now he screwed you over? Shit, that's too much. Brother, don't worry, in a few days I'll give him a piece of my mind so you can feel better."

Liang Jin seemed to be looking at something, and suddenly stopped and said to Shu Yue, "Wait for me here, I'll go help her."

Shu Yue followed his gaze and saw an elderly foreign woman carrying an easel and luggage, who was having a very difficult time. He laughed and said to Liang Jin, "Brother, do you like this type now?"

"Why is your head so full of nonsense?"

"I was wrong, Brother. I know you're passionate about charity. I'm too bad at English so I'm not going to embarrass myself, I'll wait here for you."

The lady looked to be in her mid-forties, fair-skinned, soft and gentle, with dark brown hair.

Liang Jin had noticed her solely because she had her easel with her. Ever since he had known Ji Xiuyuan, he had been very attentive to such things. For some reason, he felt that this woman had a distinctive but familiar air about her...

"Need a hand, Madam?" Liang Jin asked politely.

"Thanks," she looked at Liang Jin with slight surprise, "actually, I can do it myself, but if you would like to help me, I would appreciate it."

"You speak Chinese?"

"Yes, my husband is Chinese." She held out her hand towards Liang Jin: "My name is Morgana, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Liang Jin shook her hand politely before picking up her luggage, "My name is Liang Jin, where are you going? I'll take you there."

"To the place where you can get a taxi, I know it, it's a hundred metres ahead."

"You seem to know A City well?"

Morgana smiled: "I have spent many years here, and my son lives here, he doesn't like France."

"Then why didn't he come to fetch you?"

"Shh," Morgana said as she made a gesture of secrecy, "I didn't tell him."

Liang Jin took her to the taxi station and helped load the luggage into the car. As she said goodbye, Morgana thanked him again and said sincerely, "You are a beautiful child with a good heart, God will bless you."

———

He went back to meet Shu Yue, had lunch with him, then dropped him off at the hotel to get settled before returning to his residence, some time after four in the afternoon.

Stepping into the hall, Liang Jin never expected to see Morgana again.

There were a few sketches on the sofa, and Morgana was holding a piece of artwork in her hand, talking about something in a nice, foreign language. Ji Xiuyuan listened, occasionally commenting.

Liang Jin's appearance broke the harmony of the academic exchange.

Ji Xiuyuan stood up and smiled at him, his voice gentle, "You're back, this is my mother, Morgana."

Morgana covered her mouth in surprise and quickly spoke a few sentences in French, and Ji Xiuyuan's smile deepened.

Morgana winked at Liang Jin, "We met a while ago, this morning, at the airport, didn't we?"

"Mmm," Liang Jin sighed, "what a coincidence."

An unusual light suddenly erupted from the bottom of Morgana's eyes, "So, you're living here?"

"It's just a temporary stay, I..."

"Oh God," Morgana's excitement grew clearer as she complimented Ji Xiuyuan, "I like this kid a lot, I'm so glad you're living with him."

"I think you may have misunderstood," Liang Jin tried to explain, "Actually..."

Morgana was excited, "It's okay, I know you're shy in front of your elders, you don't have to tell me too much, I'm totally supportive. Vincent, I mean Xiuyuan, that's his French name, he has never lived with anyone else, thank you for being there for him."

Morgana's words were so full of relief and sincerity that Liang Jin could not speak for a moment, and he could only look at Ji Xiuyuan for help.

Ji Xiuyuan went to his side and said quietly, "Just pretend that you're acting and make her happy. If you perform well, I'll give you a raise."

Liang Jin: ......

Seeing the 'intimate' interaction between the two, Morgana looked at Liang Jin even more lovingly.

Ji Xiuyuan's eyes were full of smiles, "You guys talk, I'll go cook dinner, we're having Chinese food tonight."

"Great, I love Chinese food." Morgana waved her hand at Ji Xiuyuan and sent him away. As if Liang Jin was her own child, she pulled him down on the sofa, "Liang Jin, perhaps I can call you Xiao Jin?"

"Ah, you can."

"Xiao Jin, I'm very good at reading people. I can feel that you are the one who can always be by his side. He treats you very differently from other people, and he likes you very much."

"... Is that so?" A sudden, inexplicable feeling of joy came over Liang Jin: he... liked him?

"No one knows her own child better than a mother," Morgana said firmly: "The eyes don't lie to me."

The liking she spoke of was an emotion between lovers. At the thought of such a possibility, Liang Jin's thoughts were suddenly in turmoil.

"Xiao Jin, I am not, in fact, a good mother. I am a painter, and his father is a businessman. I met his father at a painting exhibition, fell in love and eventually married him in China. Vincent showed great artistic talent from a young age and for his education and future, we sent him to school in France when he was ten years old. He spent his entire teenage years in an elite private boarding school, which was very demanding and where he developed his withdrawn personality. I spent most of my time in China with his father, and I felt guilty for not being there for him as much as I should have been. Later, he graduated from a university in France and achieved a considerable amount of success in the art world. At that time, his father died suddenly of an illness and he returned to China to take over his father's company, which he has been running ever since."

Tears welled up in Morgana's eyes: "After his father's death, I went back to France to live. My greatest wish now is for him to find someone to be with and to settle down. When I met you at the airport this morning, I had a special feeling."

"Now, this feeling has finally been explained, and it is God telling me that you are the one for him."

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: April 23, 2023