Chapter 93: I Will Take Up the Brush for You and Paint a Picture

The Azure Whale looked at Lin Shenlu with curiosity.

How could that be?

The Azure Whale was full of doubt.

Decorate first, sentiment later?

Who did things that way?

Though the Azure Whale could not begin to imagine what Lin Shenlu intended to do, neither could she simply let the place be fully renovated first and then have him step in afterward.

The Azure Whale did not know what sort of scheme Lin Shenlu was hiding, and Lin Shenlu would not say.

So the matter had to be left there.

“Lin Shenlu, don’t you fool me... This investment of mine is no small sum...” the Azure Whale said.

“Just go ahead and do it. I have my own stratagem,” Lin Shenlu said with confidence, leaning back in his chair and smoking.

Two days passed in the blink of an eye.

The Azure Whale had already finished her preparations.

After the lease for the old house was secured, the designer the Azure Whale had invited arrived the very next day.

A construction crew arrived with her as well.

Naturally, after personally inspecting the terrain and the structure of the house, the designer reached the same conclusion as Lin Shenlu.

Any renovation of this old house must preserve its original state while enhancing it with tasteful decoration.

This greatly reduced the difficulty of the work.

“Lin Shenlu, let me introduce you. This is Miss Lu Chaoxi, the designer I invited from Suzhou,” the Azure Whale said as she ate with the designer and introduced her.

“Chaoxi, this is the friend who helped me choose the site, Lin Shenlu,” the Azure Whale said with a smile.

Lin Shenlu lifted his eyes and looked over.

This Lu Chaoxi was indeed a woman of striking elegance.

“Hello,” Lin Shenlu said softly.

“You are too polite. If anything, I should call myself a fan of Sister Whale. I never expected to personally design the second inn for Sister Whale this time. I’m honored,” Lu Chaoxi said with a smile.

Lu Chaoxi was the sort of beauty whose smile came naturally; every gesture and movement carried a grace that made one look twice.

“I hear from Sister Whale that Mr. Lin is a traveler. You must have been to many places, then?” Lu Chaoxi asked.

“Not really, not really. I’ve only just started in this line of work, and so far I’ve only been to Dali...” Lin Shenlu said modestly.

“Mr. Lin is too humble. From the scale and ingenuity of the wishing pool at the Whale-Lu Hotel in Dali, it’s clear you’re very talented. I came this time because I very much wanted to exchange ideas with you,” Lu Chaoxi said lightly, lifting her glass toward him.

Lin Shenlu glanced at the Azure Whale.

Her cheeks flushed faintly red.

Her two restless little hands rubbed together beneath the table.

Clearly, the Azure Whale had already tipped Lu Chaoxi off.

And of course... the atmosphere turned rather strange.

What was supposed to be an academic exchange between two designers somehow felt to Lin Shenlu as though he were being scrutinized by a best friend.

“Dali is more about sentiment, I suppose. I went there because I had an unfinished regret in Dali, so I wanted to make up for it,” Lin Shenlu said with a smile.

“It’s not only sentiment, though... I heard from Sister Whale that you made it snow in Santorini. I’ve been there myself, and to be honest, even if I wanted snow, I couldn’t do what you did,” Lu Chaoxi said, leaning forward as if to strengthen her presence.

Lin Shenlu only smiled without speaking.

Making it snow in Santorini was hardly just a matter of sentiment or design. He had trekked thousands of miles to fetch the snow himself—almost freezing to death on the road—to accomplish that feat.

Though it lasted only three minutes, the memory was eternal.

“Oh, right. I heard this new inn also has arrangements from Mr. Lin... I wonder if you could reveal a little in advance? That way, I can align the inn’s design style with your future work of sentiment, so it doesn’t feel abrupt,” Lu Chaoxi continued, blinking at Lin Shenlu.

“This... shouldn’t be a problem. The concrete implementation is still being planned, but it shouldn’t interfere with your design. You only need to complete the structure; leave the rest to me. If Miss Lu truly wants to see it, then after you finish the design and the inn takes shape, you may watch from here on the day my plan is carried out,” Lin Shenlu said with a smile.

“Fine...”

Seeing that Lin Shenlu was truly impervious, neither sweet nor harsh words could pry anything from him, Lu Chaoxi had no choice but to stop pressing.

She nudged the Azure Whale lightly with her leg.

“Mr. Lin, excuse me for a moment. I need to use the restroom,” Lu Chaoxi said, wiping her mouth with a napkin as she rose and spoke softly.

“Oh... I’ll go with you...” the Azure Whale immediately understood the signal.

“By all means,” Lin Shenlu said, lifting his hand slightly.

...

“Sister Whale, he really won’t say a word...” Lu Chaoxi whispered to the Azure Whale on the way to the restroom.

“Hey, who told you to ask about that? You’re curious, not me. I believe in him completely,” the Azure Whale said with a delighted tilt of her head and a bright smile.

After a pause, the Azure Whale added, “What I wanted you to look at was what kind of person he is...”

“As for the man... he’s quite handsome, his personality is good, and his talent goes without saying—I can see that for myself... but he probably isn’t right for you. In my view, he doesn’t feel anything for you at all!” Lu Chaoxi said bluntly.

“That’s not important!”

“You poor silly girl. If that’s not important, you’ll have your regrets one day.”

...

While Lu Chaoxi burned the midnight oil drafting the plans and directing the construction crew through the preparatory work, Lin Shenlu did not continue traveling. Instead, he turned his attention to the sentimental design plan for the Azure Whale’s Whale-Lu Inn for this trip to Lishui.

At that moment, Su Baoer was squatting on the ground, watching him from the side.

For several days, Lin Shenlu had not taken her out traveling or taking photographs.

These past few days, he had spent the daylight hours in the courtyard, propped up at an easel, smearing paint over the canvas.

Again and again... Su Baoer could not make sense of it.

He even changed the canvas almost every day, yet what he painted remained more or less the same.

“Little Lu... what are you drawing every day?” Su Baoer asked curiously.

“Baoer, I’m practicing... These are all sketches. I haven’t held a brush to paint in many years... Your Sister Whale is going to open an inn here, and I’m preparing a painting to give her so she can hang it in the inn,” Lin Shenlu said with a smile.

Su Baoer nodded thoughtfully.

“I see... mm... Little Lu... are there many of these blank boards left?” Su Baoer suddenly asked, picking up an empty canvas board.

“They sell these in town. I bought seven or eight of them...”

“Then gief me one... I want to paint one for Sister Whale too...” Su Baoer hugged the blank board, grabbed a brush at random, and ran back to her room.

Lin Shenlu smiled without speaking and continued painting on the easel before him.

At that moment, his phone rang.

It was a video call on WeChat.

“Hm? Mu Xi?” Lin Shenlu answered, asking in surprise.

An Mu Xi rarely contacted him during the day.

Why would she be free in broad daylight today?