Transmigrating into the Genius Cannon Fodder’s Aunt

Chapter 48.2 – Xiao Feng Pays Homage to Teacher! (II)

Some things just come to mind at the right time. No sooner had Xia Mian thought about it than, the next day, they received an invitation from the Ning family.

Fan Xiuzhi’s assistant personally delivered it. Even Ning Shaoyun and Ning Shaobai, who were part of the family, received the same treatment as Xia Mian—each person got their own invitation.

Coincidentally, Ning Shaoyun had just arranged for a highly skilled teacher for Xiao Feng. Over the past half month, she had been secluded in her studio, focusing entirely on painting a gift for her grandfather’s birthday. Xia Mian had specifically instructed Xiao Feng not to disturb her.

But the boy’s understanding of ‘not disturbing’ was entirely different from what Xia Mian had meant. Ever since he learned that the painting at the auction was Ning Shaoyun’s work, he couldn’t help but sneak over to watch her paint. He never interrupted her, but he would lie in the doorway and peek in.

Whenever Ning Shaoyun momentarily pulled herself out of deep concentration, she would see the little boy peeking out from behind the door, staring at her with wide, eager eyes. When Xiao Feng realized she had noticed him, he would shyly smile before scampering away.

It made her both amused and helpless.

In truth, Xiao Feng was a quiet child, and he wouldn’t have disrupted Ning Shaoyun if he were allowed inside the studio. But since she became so engrossed in painting that she lost awareness of her surroundings, she was worried that the children might accidentally ingest the paint.

Eventually, she couldn’t resist Xiao Feng’s pleading gaze any longer. She put a small smock on him, prepared some brushes and ink, and gave him a simple demonstration of ink usage and brushwork. After that, she let him experiment however he liked.

This time, Chenchen wasn’t painting along. A few days ago, Huo Xuewen had returned from Hong Kong with a Lego set as a souvenir, which had completely captivated him. Despite their different interests, the two remained best brothers, enjoying spending time together as each immersed in their own activities.

When Xia Mian came to pick up Xiao Feng, she saw Ning Shaoyun holding a piece of used rice paper with an excited expression. “Xia Mian, Xiao Feng is truly a genius!”

Xia Mian was well aware of that, but she wasn’t sure why Ning Shaoyun was suddenly saying this with such enthusiasm.

Ning Shaoyun held up the rice paper for her to see. “I only demonstrated once, without teaching him any techniques, yet he managed to capture something meaningful in his strokes.”

“This won’t do—his talent must not be wasted!” Ning Shaoyun, who had originally been waiting for a contact, was now too excited to sit still. “I have to call my senior brother Zhu right away!”

“What do you need to call me for?” A strong, resonant voice interrupted, carrying a hint of displeasure. “You still remember you have a senior brother?”

Ning Shaoyun was momentarily stunned as Aunt Wei entered with a man, smiling cheerfully. “Xiao Yun, look who’s here.”

The visitor was a man in his fifties. His sharp eyes gleamed with intelligence, his hair slicked back neatly, and he wore a long robe that gave him the distinct air of an artist.

“Senior Brother Zhu!” Ning Shaoyun was visibly moved, though a trace of shame quickly surfaced. “You… why are you here?”

“When you wouldn’t come to me, I had no choice but to come find you myself,” the man huffed, his tone carrying a hint of frustration. “I’ve never heard of someone quitting painting just because they got married. We were in touch before—why did you suddenly disappear?”

“And then, the one painting you finally produced, you went and auctioned it off. Does the Huo family lack money so badly that you had to rush to sell a painting just to make ends meet?”

Ning Shaoyun’s eyes instantly turned red. “Senior Brother… I’m sorry. I’ve let down our master’s teachings.”

Seeing her on the verge of tears, her senior brother paused for a moment, then awkwardly tried to console her. “Hey, hey, don’t cry. Come on, you’re a mother now—why are you still such a crybaby?”

Chenchen quickly ran over and took Ning Shaoyun’s hand. “Mom.”

Ning Shaoyun stroked his head, then wiped her eyes in embarrassment. She explained with some shame, “I know I’ve been disappointing all these years. That’s why I wanted to take that painting to you all, hoping to make amends…”

“But before I could even do that, the painting was stolen not long after I finished it…”

As she spoke, the memory of that devastating moment came flooding back. The overwhelming despair she had felt back then made her voice choke. “I felt utterly useless… I didn’t even dare to contact you all anymore…”

Her senior brother’s eyes widened in anger. “The painting was stolen? Who would dare?! Tell me who it was—I’ll make sure they never show their face again!”

Ning Shaoyun gave a bitter smile. “Forget it. They didn’t understand the painting at all.”

Senior Brother Zhu frowned. “So that’s why it ended up at an auction? Do you know who bought it?”

Seeing how upset he was, Ning Shaoyun quickly reassured him, “It’s fine. I already bought it back, and something like this will never happen again.”

Only now did Senior Brother Zhu fully realize that his junior sister must have had a difficult time these past years. He sighed and changed the topic. “Where’s the painting? Let me see how much you’ve regressed.”

Ning Shaoyun turned to the sandalwood painting tube by the wall, carefully took out a scroll, and placed it on the long table, slowly unrolling it.

After studying it for a while, her senior brother commented, “Not bad, you haven’t regressed too much.”

As he spoke, he noticed some movement around his leg. Looking down, he saw a small child standing on tiptoe, his little hands gripping the edge of the table, gazing at the painting with an expression of pure wonder.

“Little guy, do you understand what you’re looking at?” He chuckled, amused.

It was only then that Xiao Feng realized he had unknowingly wandered close to a stranger. Startled, he quickly ran back to Xia Mian and hugged her leg.

Xia Mian awkwardly apologized, “I’m sorry, sir. He’s a bit shy.”

Ning Shaoyun suddenly remembered and hurried to introduce everyone to each other. “Xia Mian, this is Zhu Yuanhai, my senior brother. He’s a professor at the Capital Academy of Fine Arts.”

Then she turned to Zhu Yuanhai and said, “This is Xia Mian and Xiao Feng. The reason I was about to call you was that I wanted to find a teacher for Xiao Feng.”

As she spoke, she picked up the discarded rice paper Xiao Feng had drawn on. “Senior Brother, look—Xiao Feng is truly a genius. I just made a few casual strokes, and he was able to understand it on his own.”

“Really?” Zhu Yuanhai was intrigued. He beckoned to Xiao Feng. “Come here, child.”

Xiao Feng seemed to sense something important was happening. He looked up at Xia Mian, who gave him an encouraging nod, so he slowly walked over and softly called out, “Hello, Senior Brother Zhu.”

Zhu Yuanhai was momentarily stunned. Ning Shaoyun, barely holding back a laugh, quickly corrected him, “Xiao Feng, you can’t call him Senior Brother—you have to call him Master.”

Zhu Yuanhai shot a look at Ning Shaoyun. “Oh, so you’re just handing me more work, huh?”

Ning Shaoyun smiled. “I promise you won’t regret it.”