UCS Chapter 28

When Sun Jun was found, he had just finished class.

 

Seeing the exhibition coordinators come to the studio, all the students stopped packing up their art supplies.

 

They secretly glanced in Sun Jun’s direction.

 

Would Sun Jun’s exhibition eligibility be canceled?

 

How would Sun Jun’s situation be handled?

 

Would Sun Jun receive a demerit?

 

All art students knew just how devastating it was to have a competition piece, which they had painstakingly prepared for a month or even longer, destroyed in an instant.

 

Therefore, Sun Jun, who had previously been seen as extraordinarily talented, mild-mannered, and open-minded in their eyes, had transformed into a narrow-minded and vicious person.

 

The students quietly distanced themselves from him. Sun Jun was like someone carrying a terrible contagious disease, with an uninhabited zone forming around his easel.

 

Seemingly unaware, Sun Jun painted quietly.

 

In his painting were fields of sunflowers, with bright sunshine and a blue sky. At a glance, one could almost hear the sound of wind blowing across the field.

 

Holding the brush was like holding his life.

 

When the exhibition teacher saw him, a flash of pity passed through his eyes, but then he remembered this student’s despicable character, and his gaze returned to coolness.

 

How could a child with such talent and diligence have such poor character?

 

“Student Sun Jun, please come out with me for a moment.”

 

Sun Jun raised his head from the paint, slowly blinking his eyes.

 

He hadn’t fully recovered yet, his reactions were still a bit slow. He had been bedridden for three days, but forced himself to get up.

 

Because his painting wasn’t finished yet.

 

On the day of the incident, he had originally intended to complete the finishing touches of his painting, but then lost consciousness.

 

When he regained awareness, he was holding a tube of black paint, and before him was a painting that no longer resembled its original form.

 

He smiled gently, “Teacher, wait a moment, I still have one stroke to finish.”

 

A strange anger rose in the exhibition teacher’s heart, not knowing whether he was angry at the student before him for wasting a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, or at his unrepentant appearance.

 

The exhibition teacher said coldly, “No need to continue.”

 

Words that should have been told to him in private slipped out, “Your eligibility has been revoked.”

 

Sun Jun’s hand holding the brush paused, but he still dipped it in paint and gently made the final stroke.

 

The last stroke completed the sunlight on the flower petals, filling the entire painting with a whole summer’s day.

 

The anger in the teacher’s heart grew stronger, but in the end, he did nothing, only looking at Sun Jun with disappointment, as if looking at a hopeless scoundrel.

 

Students who were on good terms with Jia Qi couldn’t help but mock, “Sun Jun, why are you pretending? Who are you trying to look pitiful for?”

 

“That’s right, acting like someone bullied you.”

 

“Jia Qi painted for so long, and you destroyed it in less than ten seconds. Don’t you feel any guilt?”

 

“Really scary, this kind of person.”

 

“Stay away from him, in case he holds a grudge against you someday.”

 

…

 

And Jia Qi, standing to the side, hadn’t said anything since entering the classroom, only looking at him with eyes full of malice, containing mockery and sarcasm.

Sun Jun’s hand holding the paintbrush slowly tightened. His head grew dizzier as all the voices of condemnation felt like sharp blades trying to tear him apart.

 

But he couldn’t even defend himself.

 

Because he didn’t know why such a thing had happened that day.

 

He had never intended to destroy Jia Qi’s painting from beginning to end.

 

He was such a proud and arrogant person, confident that he could defeat Jia Qi openly and effortlessly. Why would he need to resort to such underhanded tactics?

 

But he couldn’t explain it.

 

The evidence against him had been captured clearly. The video on the phone was so sharp that it even showed the black mole on his wrist.

 

A drowning sense of despair surged up.

 

Here it was again—this feeling.

 

His rationality struggled to reach out for help from the outside world, but the overwhelming despair dragged it down, determined to plunge them both into the abyss.

 

“Sun Jun!”

 

At that moment, the classroom door was flung open.

 

No, perhaps “burst open” would be more accurate.

 

A breathless young man burst through the door, with the midsummer sunlight flooding into the classroom behind him. The boy stood against the light, his brows curved in a smile.

 

In that instant, it felt as though Sun Jun had traveled thousands of miles to arrive at the sunflower field he had painted.

 

The boy seemed to be the sunlight transformed into his final brushstroke.

 

…

 

Gao Gusheng walked confidently toward Sun Jun. The crowd instinctively made way for him, not knowing whether they were intimidated by his aura or captivated by his appearance.

 

Gao Gusheng nodded inwardly.

 

【Not bad, not bad. I didn’t expect my face could have such an impact.】

 

【Next time I encounter a creep, I’ll use a “handsome man strategy” first and then slide tackle him to take him down.】

 

Under everyone’s gaze, Gao Gusheng walked up to Sun Jun and stood beside him. “Teacher, you said Sun Jun’s eligibility was canceled because he destroyed Jia Qi’s painting, correct?”

 

The exhibition teacher snapped back to attention, his expression not looking good. “That’s right. At Beijing University, our primary requirement for students is character.”

 

Gao Gusheng smiled lightly. “So you’re saying that as long as Sun Jun didn’t destroy Jia Qi’s painting, he can continue participating in the exhibition?”

 

The teacher frowned. “Naturally.”

 

Jia Qi looked at the smile in Gao Gusheng’s eyes and felt an ominous premonition rising in his heart.

 

Before he could react, Gao Gusheng carefully pulled out a painting from a large package behind him.

 

The painting was still attached to its board and meticulously wrapped in white cloth for protection.

 

When Sun Jun saw the delicate embroidery on one corner of the cloth, his pupils contracted sharply.

 

“This is…”

 

“Everyone, please take a look—” Gao Gusheng’s voice was clear and rang throughout the classroom.

 

With a dramatic “swish,” the cloth was pulled away and fluttered in the air.

 

The smiling tone of his voice pushed this farce to its climax:

 

“Everyone, please admire—Jia Qi’s masterpiece.”

 

A half-finished painting was revealed under everyone’s gaze.

 

One student froze for a moment and exclaimed in disbelief, “Jia Qi’s painting?! Wasn’t his painting destroyed by Sun Jun?!”

 

“Could it be a forgery?”

 

“The progress is exactly the same as what we saw before.”

 

Sun Jun stared blankly at the painting, countless questions crowding his chest.

 

Gao Gusheng winked at him, then turned to the student who had just raised the question and said, “You think it’s a forgery?”

 

“Although I don’t study painting, I do know that it’s impossible for a forgery to be completely identical to the original. Why don’t you take a closer look and see if this painting is genuine or fake?”

 

The student who was called out walked up to the painting decisively and examined it carefully.

 

Gao Gusheng already knew that this painting was the original.

 

Because Jia Qi’s panicked screams were echoing wildly in his mind, like a frightened mouse.

 

【How did he find my painting?! I clearly left it in the studio!】

 

【Why is the blocking barrier failing again??】

 

【System!!!】

 

That’s right—Jia Qi had used the psychological trick of “hiding in plain sight,” placing the painting directly in a pile of canvases in the corner.

 

This classroom had recently experienced a painting-destruction incident. Until the surveillance cameras were repaired, no students dared to paint there.

 

Additionally, with the system’s blocking barrier in place, it made cleaning staff overlook Jia Qi’s canvas board.

 

This was supposed to be an almost foolproof hiding spot.

 

Unfortunately, no one expected that all of the system’s little tricks were completely ineffective against Gao Gusheng.

 

The moment Gao Gusheng entered the room, he spotted Jia Qi’s board.

 

Jia Qi had unknowingly used some kind of effect card on it—the board was slightly hovering above the ground, surrounded by a vacuum-like field to ensure that the painting wouldn’t get dirty.

 

This made Gao Gusheng’s search for the board even smoother.

 

Meanwhile, Jia Qi continued screaming in his mind.

 

【Quick! Use a puppet card! Use it on that boy!】

 

【Control him and make him prove that this painting is fake!】

 

Gao Gusheng felt his heart tighten.

 

Although he suspected he could break through the system’s hypnosis and control abilities, his previous successes were more accidental than deliberate. Now that he had to take proactive action, he felt a bit nervous.

 

Recalling Gao Shi’s analysis and theories, Gao Gusheng steadied himself. As soon as he heard the system’s notification sound indicating that an effect card had been successfully used, he spoke up. “Excuse me, classmate.”

 

The boy instinctively turned his head toward Gao Gusheng. Standing very close to him, Gao Gusheng clearly saw the boy’s pupils dilate for a brief moment before returning to normal.

 

The moment was so fleeting that the boy himself almost didn’t notice it.

 

Instead, because Gao Gusheng was standing so close, the boy blushed.

 

“W-What is it?”

 

“Nothing,” Gao Gusheng said calmly. “I just wanted to ask if you’ve come to a conclusion yet.”

 

When it came to professional matters, the boy regained his composure and professionalism. “This painting is indeed Jia Qi’s.”

 

“The teacher mentioned before that Jia Qi’s paintings tend to have a grayish tone. When he paints bright areas, he likes to mix in a bit of black. All the bright areas in this painting have that hazy gray color.”

 

“Also, Jia Qi has a habit when lifting his brush—he likes to pull slightly to the right. Look here—at the ends of these strokes, you can see small hooks.”

 

Hearing the boy’s words, the classmates crowded around to take a closer look.

 

“It’s true!”

 

“I remember when I saw Jia Qi’s painting before, the house in the bottom-right corner wasn’t finished—only half of the chimney was painted… Holy crap, this painting also only has half a chimney painted, even the brushstroke order is identical.”

 

“This painting is real, so what was it that Sun Jun destroyed earlier?”

 

The students exchanged bewildered glances before all turning to look at the teacher.

 

Everyone had started to realize that something was wrong here.

 

It seemed likely that Sun Jun had been falsely accused.

 

After all, Sun Jun was the most talented student in the entire art department; a forgery couldn’t possibly fool his eyes.

 

Jia Qi’s face turned deathly pale.

 

At this moment, he wasn’t even scolding the system or agonizing over why the puppet card had failed.

 

His inner voice was reduced to just two words:

 

【It’s over…】

 

The exhibition teacher looked at the painting with an ever-changing expression, recalling his earlier sympathy for Jia Qi and feeling like a complete fool.

 

But when he looked at Sun Jun, he felt a strange sense of relief.

 

Thankfully, someone capable of creating such hopeful artwork wasn’t a person of poor character.

 

He took a deep breath and suppressed his anger. “Sun Jun’s eligibility to participate is retained. The school will continue investigating this matter.”

 

He swept his gaze over Sun Jun and Jia Qi, speaking with deep meaning: “At Beijing University, our primary requirement for students is character and morality.”

 

…

 

The issue between Sun Jun and Jia Qi quickly spread throughout the art department. Many classmates apologized to Sun Jun for their previous remarks. Over the next few days, Sun Jun received numerous apologies from his peers.

 

He didn’t hold grudges and responded with tolerance and generosity—not just toward his classmates but even toward himself. He had once doubted whether he might have mental issues or even split personalities that led him to commit such an act.

 

In truth, he understood his classmates’ feelings completely.

 

But he still felt immense gratitude toward one person—someone who believed in him even when he began doubting himself.

 

Sun Jun handed an exhibition ticket to Gao Gusheng.

 

“Do you… have time in a few days to come see my painting at the exhibition?”

 

Looking at Sun Jun, who seemed slightly nervous, Gao Gusheng smiled and snatched the ticket. “Of course I do—I’d be delighted!”

 

…

 

That’s what he said.

 

However, on the day of the exhibition opening, Gao Gusheng was completely overwhelmed by the surging crowd.

 

He even saw one male student dragging someone else’s boyfriend toward the front while muttering under his breath, “Baby, why are your hands so rough now?”

 

Leaving behind two girlfriends who stared at each other in bewilderment.

 

“Good grief—why is it so crowded?! Are there really this many people with an artistic streak in A City??”

 

The male student’s voice sounded particularly aggrieved. Amidst the chaos, Gao Gusheng glanced down and noticed that one of the student’s flip-flops had been reduced to just a “person”—the strap had broken off completely.

 

“Brother, your gear isn’t cutting it. Wearing flip-flops to the art exhibition won’t get you in.”

 

The male student, hearing this, raised his squashed bun high above his head as proof of innocence. “I’m not here for the exhibition! I just wanted to grab breakfast and got dragged into this!”

 

Nearby, a slightly short, slender man who was sandwiched between two burly guys had both feet off the ground, looking as though he’d given up struggling. “Ah, there’s no helping it. They invited a celebrity for the opening ceremony—it’s that super popular Qin Shi. His fans have gone completely crazy.”

 

The surrounding crowd finally understood, nodding in agreement as if enlightened.

 

Gao Gusheng squeezed his way through the crowd. Though he felt like his stomach was about to be squished out, chatting with the nearby guys made it somewhat amusing.

 

Little did he know that while they were discussing Qin Shi, Qin Shi himself was looking in their direction.

 

Qin Shi’s gaze lingered on Gao Gusheng’s profile, tracing the curve of his high nose bridge, sliding down the edge of his mask, and finally landing on his snow-white neck.

 

His eyes were heavy with desire, carrying a greed that seemed intent on devouring the person before him.

 

“I didn’t expect to have such a feast-for-the-eyes fan,” he murmured.

 

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