UCS Chapter 56

The exhibition organizer rushed over, and even the best-spoken host was speechless before the police. The organizer forced a smile, trying to smooth things over, “Is there some kind of misunderstanding here?”

Jia Qi struggled desperately, “Did you get the wrong person? I’ve just been painting!”

But before the verdict, no information could be disclosed, so everyone could only watch as Jia Qi was taken away.

In the viewing area, someone suddenly stood up and walked out.

Yun Zhiyi nudged Gao Gusheng. “Xiao Sheng, doesn’t that look like Sun Langgan?”

Gao Gusheng looked over, and sure enough, that back was unmistakably Sun Langgan’s.

Zhou Jing wiped his glasses and put them back on. “Gusheng, what did Jia Qi do?”

Gao Gusheng scratched his head and grinned, “I called my dad.”

…

Halfway through fighting those thugs, Gao Shi arrived.

When the emergency contact was dialed, Gao Shi had just reached the Anomaly Management Bureau, handing over work with the vice-captain of the criminal police.

As soon as he saw Gao Gusheng’s emergency call, Gao Shi grabbed the vice-captain and two officers, threw everyone in a Santana, and rushed to the scene with a car full of cops and a Daoist. They followed the clues straight to the thugs’ hideout.

The thugs never imagined that, with so many strong men, they’d lose to a seemingly delicate pretty boy.

Nor could they figure out who they’d pissed off today—one carload of cops showed up and crushed them.

Five people in one car: four cops, two captains.

What a disaster!

How did they deserve this!

This would be a story to brag about in prison.

At first, the thugs tried to play dumb with the police, but when they saw their boss squatting against the wall with his hands on his head, their resolve collapsed.

To get lighter sentences, their “brotherhood” fell apart instantly. Once separated for questioning, everything they’d ever done spilled out like beans from a bamboo tube. Their leaders were convicted on the spot and “awarded” a pair of silver handcuffs.

The playboy who’d tried to drug Sun Jun had no talent for art. His family had spent everything to get him into art school, hoping he’d make a living after graduation.

He had no talent and didn’t want to work hard—he just wanted to have fun and fish for a rich “big catch,” living comfortably as a live-in son-in-law. But now, thin as a skeleton and without his only asset—his face—he could only cling to Jia Qi, hoping for a hand up.

Jia Qi was good at reading people, so he promised the playboy big rewards. With Sun Jun’s value as bait, he got the playboy to swap paints and try to kidnap Sun Jun.

The playboy was just a skeleton now, but with the element of surprise and the help of the thugs, he thought his plan was foolproof. He never expected to be knocked out before even seeing his target. When he woke up, he had a huge lump on his head and a pair of silver handcuffs on his wrist, and would now enjoy three years of state-sponsored room and board—fulfilling his original wish.

Then the vice-captain started calling for backup. He looked at Gao Shi with admiration, as if seeing a gold mine—no wonder Captain Lu always said there were benefits to working with Captain Gao. Just look! One call to Captain Gao and they’d bagged a whole nest of scum!

Gao Shi felt his hair stand on end from the attention.

Everyone quickly brought Jia Qi back, putting a comma on this operation.

With Jia Qi taken away, the exhibition had to go on.

The organizer kept smacking his head, cursing Jia Qi a thousand times and himself for suggesting a livestream ten thousand times.

But now, with the arrow knocked, there was no turning back. If they stopped the livestream now, the art world’s reputation would never recover—it’d be known for the next ten years as “the art association that sent people to jail live on camera.”

There was no choice. After a quick cleanup, the organizer decisively restarted the livestream. Only twenty minutes had passed, but the trending topics had already exploded, with half of them about Jia Qi.

As soon as the livestream resumed, a flood of comments poured in, turning the screen completely white and making it impossible to see anything for a while.

After a while, faces finally became visible on screen. The host, forcing a smile as if someone had a gun to his head, said, “There was a sudden incident just now. The Art Association will release an announcement later. Please continue to enjoy the exhibition.”

Yeah, right—who could focus on the art now? The comments were all about the latest gossip.

【Why was Master Jia taken away?? What happened?】

【I could tell just by looking at him that he wasn’t a good person.】

【Oh please, people still believe in that stuff? I think it’s probably a misunderstanding. Master Jia is a top talent!】

【LSRZ certified.】

【So annoying, Jia Qi’s been taken away and people are still defending him. Did you even see the painting he auctioned? My dog could paint that.】

…

It wasn’t just the viewers—even the students and masters at the venue were distracted by Jia Qi being taken away. Except for a few unaffected students, most gave up on their previous inspiration and started showing off their technical skills instead.

Inspiration is a mysterious thing.

The hall was silent, the only sound was the scratch of pen on paper.

The masters walked lightly, occasionally standing by a student to admire their work, but no one spoke.

The scent of paint filled the hall, creating a sense of calm.

Gradually, the students’ minds drifted away from Jia Qi and returned fully to their art.

As time passed, more and more masters gravitated in the same direction.

They were drawn to Sun Jun.

The comments in Sun Jun’s livestream window also increased, and the discussion began to shift from Jia Qi to Sun Jun’s painting.

His work seemed to have a kind of magic.

This painting session lasted eight hours, but for artists, eight hours wasn’t really that long.

By evening, as the sky turned red and the bell rang, everyone put down their brushes and the masters began their critiques.

Among all the technical show-off pieces, Sun Jun’s painting stood out.

He had painted a wisteria.

Everyone’s gaze was drawn to it.

Layer upon layer of wisteria, spreading deep and light purples, forming a beautiful arched bridge that seemed to stretch endlessly.

Sunlight filtered through the wisteria, casting dappled light on the path below, creating an ethereal, fairy-tale scene. Just looking at it made people quiet down, even swallowing their exclamations, as if afraid to disturb the sleeping sunlight.

The warm sunlight seemed to shine right through the paper, warming everyone, making them want to smile.

No one knew how long it was before the first comment appeared.

【Holy crap…】

Like a signal, the comments flooded in like a dam breaking, all echoing the same stunned reaction.

Gao Gusheng and his friends watched Sun Jun on stage. Sensing their gaze, Sun Jun looked over and gave them a bright smile.

Gao Gusheng knew that Sun Jun had won this silent battle.

While Sun Jun was basking in the masters’ praise and the viewers’ awestruck comments, Jia Qi was struggling in the detention center.

Meanwhile, Sun Langgan clenched his fists and said to the police, “Actually, I was the one who hired those people.”

He kept his head down, his expression unreadable.

The police, surprised, paused what they were doing. The officer in charge of the case looked up seriously and asked, “Do you know what you’re saying?”

“I know.”

Jia Qi’s eyes seemed to catch fire as he looked at Sun Langgan—this man he had once truly admired. After all those men, he once again felt that maybe Sun Langgan was still the best.

Jia Qi was nothing if not quick-witted. With one dip and lift of his head, his expression changed completely.

His eyes were red from crying, tears at the corners, looking as if he’d been terribly wronged.

But when his gaze met Sun Langgan’s, there was a hint of apology and guilt, mixed with feigned affection, as if saying: 【Thank you, big brother. Thank you for doing this for me. I love you, I love you most. I’ll wait for you to get out, and when you do, we’ll be together forever, okay? I’ll never do this again. I was wrong.】

With that one look, he seemed to say a thousand words, silently pushing Sun Langgan to take the fall for him.

Sun Langgan looked at the officer and said firmly, “I know. I really did hire those people.”

“Even though Sun Jun is my biological brother, I actually don’t welcome him.”

Sun Langgan took a deep breath. The skills he’d honed in the business world now became his strongest armor.

“Feelings are something that need to be cultivated. I’m a businessman. I can’t accept that the brother I’ve lived with for years is cast aside by the family, only to be replaced by a stranger who wants half the inheritance.”

His words were logical and cold, as if he was sending himself to jail.

But the officer in charge said, “If you were willing to kidnap Sun Jun for the family business, why would you go to jail for Jia Qi?”

“Jia Qi going to jail doesn’t affect you, does it?”

Sun Langgan wanted to say something, but Gao Shi interrupted, arms crossed, expression cool. “Sun Langgan, there’s something you might not know.”

“Your body produces far more alcohol dehydrogenase than normal.”

“In other words, you’re what people call ‘never drunk.’”

“Do you really think a few glasses of red wine could get you drunk?”

Sun Langgan frowned, about to retort, but suddenly froze in place.

Jia Qi’s face went pale. “Big brother, don’t listen to him. If you can’t get drunk, then that night, how could…”

Sun Langgan had always been restrained at social gatherings and had never been drunk. The only time he ever got drunk was the night he slept with Jia Qi.

His mind had been foggy; he couldn’t remember what happened. When he woke up, he saw Jia Qi lying beside him, disheveled and tear-streaked.

So the feelings and desire he’d long buried finally broke through that last barrier. He felt guilty, but also a faint joy.

Later, when Sun Jun appeared and Jia Qi came to him, crying pitifully in his arms, he stood by Jia Qi’s side without question.

Because of guilt, he indulged Jia Qi endlessly.

Even when he saw Jia Qi surrounded by so many other men.

Because he always thought, maybe it was his own forcefulness that had led Jia Qi down this path.

So even as Jia Qi’s attitude toward him grew more impatient, even when he could no longer feel a shred of affection from Jia Qi, even when following Jia Qi became a kind of torment for himself, he still silently stayed by Jia Qi’s side.

Because of a love and guilt he could never let go.

And now, someone was telling him, with a medical report, that he was genetically immune to alcohol—born unable to get drunk?

Then what did that drunken night mean?

If the moments that had moved him were staged, if the touches that had shaken him were temptations, if the pleasure that made him fall completely was a trap…

Then what about all his restless, sleepless nights?

What about the self-interrogation, the careful affection and restraint?

What did he amount to?

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T/N: apologies for the delay T_T