Of course, Hao Ren knew what was on her mind; she was just trying to escape from the tutoring session and her homework.
"Come on! Stop dawdling!" Seeing Hao Ren remaining where he was, Zhao Yanzi urged him impatiently.
"Where are we going?" Hao Ren asked. Eager to advance to Kan-level, he had planned to cultivate in the attic after the tutoring session. It would be a waste of time if he went out with her.
"To Mom's office, and we will come home with her!" Zhao Yanzi said in high spirit.
Hao Ren had no choice but to go with her.
They took a taxi and went to 1825 Art District in East Ocean City.
Zhao Yanzi was all dressed up, but her little girl habits exasperated Hao Ren. She was too lazy to fetch a bowl and share the noodles, but she would change into a new outfit just for a small outing.
1825 Art District was situated in the southern suburbs of East Ocean City. It had been a zone of factories, but the factories had been moved or closed due to the city's industry adjustment program and environmental regulations. Therefore, a lot of warehouses and factory buildings were left behind.
East Ocean City copied Beijing's method of making the buildings into an Art District. Since then, the area had its own unique characteristics.
Hao Ren and Zhao Yanzi arrived at the Art District and saw large chimneys and old woven wire fences everywhere. However, as they went inside, tastefully displayed art galleries and shops greeted them.
Familiar with this area, Zhao Yanzi led Hao Ren to Zhao Hongyu's studio. The iron and steel steps on the stairs banged loudly under their feet while they walked up to the second floor of a red house. Zhou Hongyu's architectural studio was situated there.
"Mom!" Zhao Yanzi pushed open the door and entered the studio. She immediately spotted Zhao Hongyu who was giving instructions to her employees.
"Zi! Why are you here?" Zhao Hongyu was surprised to see her.
"Uncle… Ugh, Hao Ren and I came together." Zhao Yanzi pointed at Hao Ren behind her.
"Auntie," Hao Ren greeted her modestly. It was the first time that he visited Zhao Hongyu's studio. The exquisite interior design and the little decorations showed the artistic taste of the studio.
"Little Zi is even more beautiful than before!" The staff members were happy to see Zhao Yanzi.
Zhao Yanzi was dressed beautifully today, and her big cute eyes dazzled the young employees.
"Mom, when will you get off work?" Zhao Yanzi asked.
"Probably in a couple of hours," Zhao Hongyu said.
"Hao Ren and I will wait for you. I'll show him around."
Then, she pulled Hao Ren out of the studio.
She wanted to play in the Art District, but she made Hao Ren go with her. Zhao Hongyu looked at them leave and shook her head. She then turned back to the young architects and resumed explaining the key points of the design.
Walking out of the red house, Zhao Yanzi led Hao Ren downstairs and said, "There are many architectural studios in here, but Mom's is the best!"
Looking back at the red house, Hao Ren guessed that it must have been the office building of a former factory since it had the best view and ventilation. The fact that Zhao Hongyu could rent this house showed her value and capabilities.
"There are many interesting things around here, and many artists with moderate reputations come here to exhibit their works." Zhao Yanzi explained while pulling Hao Ren toward another big factory building.
Knowing nothing about art, Hao Ren could only tell if a piece of art was good to look; he wasn't able to describe the reasons behind his judgments.
However, Zhao Yanzi was different. Under the training of Zhao Hongyu, she was a natural with art. Seeing Hao Ren's confusion, she took the opportunity to show off her knowledge of art.
"What are you talking about? This painting has nothing to do with Vincent Willem van Gogh! It's an imitation painting of Manet's The Picnic. Do you know Manet? No? Dumb! You don't even know him! Manet is the founder of Impressionism, but this painting comes under the category of realism!"
"And this is van Gogh's style, Idiot! Do you think he could only paint sunflowers? Look at the use of bright paint which is the symbol of van Gogh's style!"
"This is performance art. I don't like it! Come on! Let's go to the other side!"
"You…... Pervert! You just love staring at this kind of oil paintings!"
"They are art…" Hao Ren finally found a chance to retort.
Being dragged along by Zhao Yanzi in the Art District, Hao Ren listened to her explanations and reprimands. But he admired her strong memories toward art, and she could tell him the history of anything he pointed out. Of course, Hao Ren didn't know if she was making up stuff to cover her ignorance of the things she didn't know. In short, with his little knowledge of fine arts, Hao Ren wouldn't tell the difference if she was making things up.
Besides the exhibitions, they also sold stuff. Zhao Yanzi chose a pile of expensive and useless trinkets and made Hao Ren pay for them.
Walking around holding her little hand, Hao Ren was tired but also happy.
The dilapidated factory buildings, dim illumination, vibrant arts, and brilliant artistic abilities dazzled his brain with their drastic and powerful contrasts.
The huge palm trees lined up on both sides of the wide road in the old factory zone. The swaying tree's shadows and the gusty wind seemed even more enjoyable to him than the university campus.
"Did you know that we have a fine arts exhibition this Wednesday at our school?" Hao Ren asked.
"Yes. It's Qin Shaoyang. But you probably don't know his true identity…" Zhao Yanzi raised her head and said.
"What identity?" Hao Ren asked her.
"Inspector," Zhao Yanzi answered.
"I know, and he even got his face slapped by Lu Linlin and Lu Lili," thought Hao Ren.
"Different from Sister Su who is stationed here, he is a Patrolling Inspector. In general, inspectors are troublesome, but with our great influence here, East Ocean is not afraid of him," Zhao Yanzi continued.
Hao Ren nodded. His experience told him that the East Ocean Dragon Clan was like a kingdom here and had great power. That was why it was cautious about but not afraid of the Patrolling Inspectors.
"Will you come this Wednesday?" Hao Ren asked her again.
"Do you want me to go?" Zhao Yanzi asked back.
"No," Hao Ren said.
"Bah! Then I will go!" Zhao Yanzi was contradictory.
Hao Ren grinned, knowing she would say that.
"By the way, which level are you now with the so-called Light Splitting Sword Shadow Scroll?" Zhao Yanzi asked.
"Hey! I haven't checked your homework yet, and now you are checking my cultivation progress!" Hao Ren thought.
A black car suddenly stopped in front of them.
Zhao Kuo stuck his head out of the window. "Zi! Haha! Third Uncle is back!"
"Oh, Third Uncle! Aren't you in isolation cultivation?" Zhao Yanzi yelled in surprise at the sight of her Third Uncle.
"Seclusion, seclusion! My butt was going to crack!" Zhao Kuo opened the car door and got out. His gaze turned weird when he saw them holding hands.
Zhao Yanzi blushed. Fortunately, the light here was dim, and Hao Ren didn't notice it.
Quickly, she withdrew her hand and stammered, "Ugh, Third Uncle, how did you know I was here?"
"Who is Third Uncle? I can find anyone if I want to." Zhao Kuo grinned smugly, though the grin didn't look good on his dark-skinned face.
"You are here just in time. I ran out of pocket money." Zhao Yanzi extended her hand to Zhao Kuo.
"Well, well." Zhao Kuo sighed as if he was being robbed. Obediently, he took out his wallet and drew out several 100-yuan bills, placing them into Zhao Yanzi's hand.
Who would believe that the No.1 cultivator the Human Realm would look so vulnerable before Zhao Yanzi.
Putting away the money, Zhao Yanzi smiled cheerfully. "Third Uncle, you got out of seclusion early. Aren't you worried that you can't pass the Heavenly Tribulation next month?"
"Do you think you can pass the Heavenly Tribulation by being in seclusion?" Zhao Kuo looked from Hao Ren to Zhao Yanzi. "It seems the West Ocean is restless recently. You'd better not come out by yourself."
"Who dares to touch me with Third Uncle around?" Zhao Yanzi poked her finger into Third Uncle's chest.
"Right! I'll skin anyone who dares to bully you!" Zhao Kuo said viciously before turning to look at Hao Ren.
Hao Ren inhaled deeply, feeling he was an outsider here.
"Kid, is it true that you chose Light Splitting Sword Shadow Scroll?" Sure enough, Zhao Kuo didn't want to make it easy for him.
"Yeah." Hao Ren didn't like Zhao Kuo, but he forced himself to answer him. Third Uncle was not a reasonable man and was not nice to people he didn't like. "Rubbish techniques! I once tried it and made no progress in three months. You shouldn't have chosen this scroll!" Zhao Kuo scolded him immediately.
"Maybe I can make it a success," Hao Ren said.
"If you can make it, I will crawl backward before you!" Zhao Kuo retorted viciously.
Alarmed by the direction of the conversation, Zhao Yanzi said immediately, "Third Uncle, why are to so upset with him?" She pushed at Zhao Kuo, saying, "You go back now, and I'll visit you some other day!"
"Don't you want me to drive you home?" Zhao Kuo changed his expression to a smile before asking.
"No! No! Stop bothering me!" Zhao Yanzi waved her arm impatiently.
The No.1 cultivator the Human Realm looked wronged. He had gotten out of seclusion early to visit his cute little niece, not expecting that he would be driven away by her.
Seeing Zhao Kuo drive away, Zhao Yanzi heaved a sigh of relief.
After a moment of consideration, she declared, "I held your hand because I was afraid you would get lost in this unfamiliar place. There was nothing in it…"
"Ok. I got it." Hao Ren sighed heavily. It seemed it was hard to win the little girl's heart. She built layers of defense around her which were more complicated than the most advanced array formation.
"Did you have a good time in Beijing?" Hao Ren asked her.
"It was ok. Nothing special." Zhao Yanzi kicked at the pebbles at her feet.
Then, silence fell.
The streetlights shone on them and left two shadows on the road, one longer than the other.
It suddenly occurred to Hao Ren that when he was in Grade 8, she was only in the third grade of elementary school. It was a remarkable sense of distance… They walked along the quiet factory road and returned to Zhao Hongyu's studio, finding the latter was already waiting for them with the car key.
Hao Ren suddenly remembered that Zhao Hongyu drove a Ferrari.
"Auntie, you can take Zi home. It's time for me to return to school," Hao Ren said.
"Ok. Thanks for keeping Zi company." Zhao Hongyu smiled.
"No problem!" Hao Ren waved his hand cheerfully before walking out of the studio with them.
After saying goodbye to them, Hao Ren took a bus back to school.
Sitting in the back of the quiet last bus, Hao Ren began to cultivate the Light Splitting Sword Shadow Scroll silently.
He must spend any free time he had on cultivation since the breakthrough could happen at any moment, usually without warning.
The unbalanced five elements circulated in his body. Hao Ren was releasing the inner essence with the third level of the Spirit Concentration Scroll when suddenly a surge of white sword energy shot out from his finger!
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