Exclusive Model for the Top Painter Chapter 71

Private Party Secrets

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At the invitation of Samuel, an American art investor, Ji Xiuyuan will be creating an LGBT series of paintings with the theme of Amor: love is love.

Amor was originally the name of the ancient Roman goddess of love, meaning love in Spanish, Portuguese and Italian.

Samuel is a Hispanic American immigrant and wants Ji Xiuyuan's series of paintings to be based on Spanish historical figures. Therefore, he was invited to Madrid, the capital of Spain, to collect material for his paintings.

Madrid is known worldwide for its open, welcoming and tolerant culture, and is a pioneer in European music, opera, dance, cinema, painting, architecture and design.

Any visitor to Madrid will undoubtedly recognise that it is one of the world's most joyous and bustling capitals by day, by night, and even at dawn.

There have been huge Pride parades, and there is a famous saying amongst the local LGBT community: "Ames a quienames, Madrid te quiere." (Whoever you love, Madrid loves you.)

On the first day after arriving in Madrid, Samuel personally received the two of them. Although he had taken American citizenship, Madrid was his birthplace and he returned here for a few months every year.

Ji Xiuyuan had also dabbled a little in Spanish. Although he was not as skilled as he was in French and English, there was basically no problem in terms of daily communication.

After arranging food and accommodation, Samuel introduced the art centres and museums all over Madrid to Ji Xiuyuan in detail; in particular, he recommended the Queen Sofia National Art Centre, which contains the masterpiece 'Guernica' by the great Spanish painter Pablo Picasso.

At the end of the day, Samuel suggested that the two of them attend a private party he was organising tonight, before they began their work tomorrow. The Spanish have an inexhaustible passion for song, dance and merriment: "You will definitely love it, please come, my friend!"

Ji Xiuyuan himself was not interested in this kind of activity, but it seemed like it would be fun if he participated with Liang Jin.

So he agreed.

Samuel whistled pleasantly, "Hasta luego! Mi amigos! (See you later! My friends!)"

At about seven o'clock in the evening, following the address given by Samuel, the two arrived in front of a villa on the outskirts of the city.

The entire villa was a mediaeval gothic style old castle with solemn black walls and a few crows perched on the spire.

The ancient castle covered a large area, and there were no other residents for miles around, making it seem unusually secluded and quiet.

There was an old man in a butler's uniform in front of the gate, carrying a dull yellow lantern in his hand.

Liang Jin couldn't help but spit out, "Ji Shen, is this a place where people in the yang world live? Why do I feel creeped out?"

"The theme of tonight's party is [Vampires and Lovers], Samuel should have purposely decorated it like this."

"Spending so much money for a party? Poverty limits my imagination."

Ji Xiuyuan interlocked his fingers with his and carefully surveyed the entire ancient castle for a while, "I thought it was a boring social event, but now it seems to be quite interesting."

After presenting the invitation, the butler respectfully pulled open the iron gate for them and made a gesture inviting the gentleman inside.

There was not a word spoken during the whole process, and a raven swept past with a sharp, piercing caw.

Behind the gate was a large, well-groomed garden, and at the end of the road there was a glowing fountain, in the centre of which stood a statue.

The statue was surrounded by dark red coloured lights, making it exceptionally clear from a distance: it was a handsome vampire with sharp fangs, biting his lover's neck, performing the conversion ceremony of the first embrace.

Liang Jin was studying the statue, when suddenly a figure with a blood-red mask and a black robe appeared from the side and grabbed his wrist; almost as a reflex, Liang Jin immediately turned his hand outward and struck the man's jaw with his elbow. The black robe shrieked in pain and fled as if it were running away.

Liang Jin's head was full of questions, "Ji Shen, what's going on?"

"He should be a staff member of the party."

"Wow, this is exciting, so we're visiting a vampire manor at night right now?"

"Xiao Jin, next time you can be a little gentler with your hands."

"You're afraid I'll hurt someone?"

"No, I'm worried that your hands will hurt."

The black-robed staff member: ???

It was only after circling the fountain that they came to the door of the old castle.

The door had an ancient and solemn look to it, but it was actually quite high-tech. The two of them had just climbed up the steps when the door opened automatically.

The decoration of the hall was the same dark gothic style. On top of the red carpet, a beautiful beauty with a nice figure, dressed up as a vampire, was dancing.

Liang Jin swallowed his saliva, this girl was dressed in such a cool fashion.

He still wanted to admire it for a while longer, but Ji Xiuyuan immediately put his palm over his eyes, "Xiao Jin, don't look."

Liang Jin held his wrist and protested, "Then you can't look either!!!"

"I have no interest in her."

"I don't either!!!"

"Then what are you staring at them for?"

"I was just enjoying the dance! Can't I?"

"No way."

"Alright, I'm not looking, so let go of me."

Ji Xiuyuan released the hand over his eyes. Liang Jin stood on his tiptoes and kissed the side of his face, "Yuan Yuan, I only look at you, okay?"

"Mhmm."

The vampire lady at the side who was trying to do her job: ?????

Passing through the hall, Ji Xiuyuan held Liang Jin and stepped onto the dark brown spiral staircase that encircled the room, heading upstairs.

The light on the second floor was still dark, and the door to the main hall was closed, with only two standing candles on the table.

There was a small note taped in front of the door, and Liang Jin asked, "Ji Shen, what does it say? Do you have to break the code to open the door?"

"Only those who undertake the first embrace will be able to enter Death's Door."

"Your translation is so literary!"

Ji Xiuyuan wrapped his arm around his waist and hung his head down to gently bite his neck.

Suddenly, the door opened, and Samuel greeted them from within, smiling broadly, "Bienvenido a mi reino! (Welcome to my kingdom!)"

The atmosphere in the ballroom was lively and vibrant, a world away from outside.

Introducing the two into the hall, Samuel fetched a glass of red wine from the waiter's tray and raised his glass to them, "Diviértete! (Have a good time!)"

More interested in the mysterious old castle than bouncing around the ballroom, Liang Jin whispered to Ji Xiuyuan, "Ji Shen, why don't we sneak off and take a stroll somewhere else?"

"Where do you want to go?"

"The bell tower, the garden, the treasure room!"

"Xiao Jin, that last one is only found in fairy tales."

"Ha ha well, I'm just saying it casually, right? Who doesn't have a fantasy..."

"To me, doing anything with you is as enchanting as a fairy tale." Ji Xiuyuan squeezed his palm, "So, let's go find it together, the treasure room."

———

Quietly leaving through the side door of the ballroom, there was an exquisitely manicured garden outside.

Roses and thorns grew together, beautiful as blood under the moonlight.

Liang Jin thought of a scene from the film Beauty and the Beast: the heroine Belle's father travelled far away on a business trip and promised to bring back a rose for his daughter. Later, he entered the castle by mistake, and because he broke a rose in the garden of the old castle, he was imprisoned by the beast in the castle, which led to the meeting of the male and female protagonists.

Liang Jin asked with great interest, "Ji Shen, do you think that if I pick a rose here, a wild beast will capture me and imprison me?"

"Xiao Jin, is it roses, beasts or imprisonment that you want?"

"Why does that sound so strange when you say it?"

Ji Xiuyuan pondered for a while and whispered, "Actually, I can satisfy these three elements for you."

"You're really thinking about that kind of stuff again!!!"

"Xiao Jin, you're the one who brought it up first."

"I brought up fairy tales!"

Hand in hand, they walked through the garden path and along one side of the pond until they reached the entrance of the bell tower.

The steps were winding and long, and the sound of footsteps echoed through the long walkway.

Surrounded by eight Roman columns, the bell tower overlooked the entire castle.

The night breeze was refreshing and blew gently across their faces.

Under the moonlight, Ji Xiuyuan's voice was elegant and moving, "Xiao Jin, do you want to listen to a fairy tale?"

"Mhmm."

"In Beauty and the Beast, the beast has a rose that symbolises life. Unless he finds the true love of his life, when the last rose petal withers, the curse will never be able to be lifted. Time is already running out, yet he is able to let his beloved go because of love."

Ji Xiuyuan paused for a moment and continued, "In the past, I never understood this plot, always thinking that if it were me, it would be absolutely impossible to let go. The person I love can only stay by my side, no matter what."

"It was only after I met you later on that I truly understood its meaning. To truly love someone to the bone is to be unable to see them suffer the slightest bit of aggravation. Xiao Jin, you are an irreplaceable treasure to me."

Liang Jin hooked his neck and said in his ear, "Ji Shen, shall we do it here?"

Ji Xiuyuan wrapped his arms around him, "Are you serious?"

"Mhmm, your confession was so passionate that I can't wait to respond to you. I want to see the look on your face when you get intoxicated with me, I want to see the madness when you completely lose your mind for me."

Ji Xiuyuan pressed him against the Roman column, his breathing becoming heavy.

Liang Jin's silhouette was reflected in the bottom of his eyes, "We can do it many times, but after that, it might be a bit difficult to go downstairs, you'll have to carry me."

"Okay."

"Xiuyuan, I love you."

Ji Xiuyuan dropped his head to kiss him, and the two of them hugged each other tightly, helping each other remove their clothes.

Liang Jin used his teeth to bite open the buttons on his collar, but after undoing just one of them, his chin was pinched and he received an even more intense kiss.

The moonlight flowed, his eyes were moist, and his expression was intoxicated, and he was even more beautiful than the roses in the garden.

‿︵‿︵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: September 11, 2023