Rebirth: He Decides to Lie Flat
Chapter 295 - 295 292 Biological Mother

Chapter 295: Chapter 292 Biological Mother Chapter 295: Chapter 292 Biological Mother Just like water that’s been spilled cannot be collected again, rumors had already formed and they weren’t so easily dispelled.

Jiang Yan wasn’t in a hurry, after all, he wasn’t the one who should be anxious.

As for Mu Jiawen, she hadn’t taken the matter to heart at all. She had intended to ask Jiang Yan about it at noon after mentioning it in the morning, but after class she received two test papers from Professor Li and became so busy that she forgot all about it.

The next day, Friday, the Chinese painting competition officially began.

Song Qingping, along with Huang Kai, sat in the spectator seats, watching Mu Chenyan, the leading judge who was assigning scores, and he felt somewhat dazed.

He had originally planned to rest in the morning and take Huang Kai to Master Mu’s gallery in the afternoon, but he heard that they needed tickets.

The tickets were free, but one had to go to Beijing University Fine Arts College to get them. Contest participants could exchange their competition certificates for them.

It wasn’t that Mu Chenyan intentionally wanted to raise the threshold; it was simply because there had been too many people visiting the gallery in the past few days, and one of the displays had even been damaged. This measure was taken out of necessity.

After lunch, just as Song Qingping and Huang Kai were about to go to Beijing University to get the tickets, the parents of the two students he was accompanying called him, saying they hadn’t been able to visit the competition venue and wanted him to take them to see it, to avoid being too nervous the next day during the competition.

The competition organizers were Beijing University Fine Arts College and the Beijing Chinese Painting Association, and those who had the privilege of visiting the venue before the competition were mainly from various city Calligraphy and Painting Associations. So, it was normal for them not to be able to enter.

The request wasn’t too much to ask for, it was just very time-consuming.

By the time they finished the visit, it was almost four in the afternoon. When he went to get the tickets, a considerate student from the college reminded him, “Master Mu’s gallery closes at half-past four, you might not make it if you go now.”

Song Qingping felt quite regretful.

With a room costing more than a thousand per night, even though Jiajia had paid for three nights, he only wanted to stay for Thursday and Friday nights and return to Yunzhou early Saturday morning. He naturally had to repay Jiajia for the extra night.

So, since he couldn’t go on Thursday, and he had to watch his students compete on Friday, and it was too late on Saturday…

He had thought that, in this trip to Beijing, he would miss the chance to see Master Mu’s gallery, but he didn’t expect to encounter Master Mu at dinner.

No, to be precise, he was surprised that Master Mu would actually invite him to dinner.

Jiajia had made a reservation for them at the most famous restaurant in Beijing, Dexin Building. When he heard the name of this restaurant, he was somewhat resistant, “Aren’t you just that kid who doesn’t know how to spend your money now that you have it? Do you know how expensive this restaurant is? Vegetables that cost a few cents per pound can sell for double digits here, and a fish can cost in the hundreds. I’m your teacher, not someone else. If you really want to treat me to a meal, the lamb noodles at the gate of your school are good enough.”

Song Qingping did earn quite a bit, but he really didn’t like spending it on himself. Booking a five-star hotel was already luxurious enough for him, he wouldn’t agree to dine at such an expensive restaurant no matter what.

Mu Jiawen was helpless. She still had two questions left to solve and had called Song Qingping hoping he would go there first, not expecting the old man to be so stubborn.

She had no choice but to say, “It’s my mother who wants to treat you to dinner. I didn’t have time to tell you, but I’m the one who was adopted previously, and my birth mother found me after I came to Beijing. She heard you were here and wants to invite you for a meal. Don’t worry, she can afford it.”

Song Qingping was slightly surprised, but it didn’t take long for him to figure it out. Liu Meng, who was Jiajia’s art teacher at Jianghai Middle School, had mentioned before that Jiajia’s parents weren’t very good to her; she sold paintings to earn tuition fees.

It’s hard to think of another explanation for such an exceptionally intelligent and gifted child not being cherished, apart from her not being their biological child.

But for Jiajia’s birth mother to invite him to dinner, it was indeed hard to refuse.

As for changing restaurants, you’re a guest, so can you be that picky?

However, it also showed that Jiajia’s birth mother greatly valued him, despite not having taught Jiajia for more than a few days.

Song Qingping and Huang Kai took a taxi to the Dexin Building. Upon arrival, they reported the name of the private dining room to the receptionist and followed the staff inside. Huang Kai was whispering to Song Qingping, “Teacher, Little Junior Sister’s family must be extraordinary. Otherwise, they wouldn’t invite us to such a high-end restaurant, right? If she hadn’t gone missing when she was little, wouldn’t she have become famous by now? Maybe she could have even skipped a few grades…”

“Enough,” Song Qingping couldn’t help but interrupt, impatiently saying, “You’ve been going on about this the whole way. There are no ‘what ifs’ in life, we can only look at the present. Also, if Jiajia doesn’t mention it herself, don’t pry into her business.”

Huang Kai was quite curious. He had intended to ask Little Junior Sister all about it once she arrived, but hearing his teacher’s words, he dismissed the thought.

The two followed the staff up to the second floor, took a turn, and arrived at the innermost private dining room marked with the word “Bamboo”. They knocked on the door politely and waited for a voice from inside before the staff pushed it open for Song Qingping.

“You’re Teacher Song, I presume?”

Mu Chenyan was discussing gallery matters with Su Qiang in the private dining room when she heard the knock. She stood up quickly, with Su Qiang standing alongside her.

Moving the chair away from behind her, she approached the door and shook hands with Song Qingping, greeting him, “Hello, I am Jiajia’s birth mother, Mu Chenyan.”

Song Qingping couldn’t quite remember how he had extended his hand. All he remembered was staring blankly at Mu Chenyan’s face for a long while, until Huang Kai pinched him from behind to snap him out of it.

“Mu… Master Mu?”

Although they were about the same age, their accomplishments in the art world were incomparable. Simply put, when Mu Chenyan became famous, he was still diligently studying painting at school.

And of course, Song Qingping recognized Mu Chenyan. He had attended the national Chinese painting competition last year, where Mu Chenyan had been a chief judge.

He was all too familiar with her face.

So when he first walked in, he thought he had entered the wrong room, that he had stumbled into Master Mu’s private dining room, until Mu Chenyan introduced herself as Jiajia’s birth mother… It felt like he was dreaming.

Song Qingping was quite embarrassed by Mu Chenyan’s courteous treatment.

“Master Mu, to be honest, I didn’t really teach Jiajia much. She had prior enlightenment by someone, and her talent is exceptional. Even after she became my disciple, I only offered some guidance, and some of her work is even better than mine. I can learn a thing or two from her paintings,” he said.

“But you are her teacher, once a teacher always a father figure, and that will never change. Besides, you were not just her teacher but also her support when she was still at Jianghai Middle School and hadn’t left Jianglin Village. You gave her hope and courage by selling her paintings. You may not know, but if you hadn’t accepted her paintings, she might have been trapped in that small place and might not even have been able to come to Beijing,” Mu Chenyan replied earnestly.

Mu Chenyan was not exaggerating. The first painting that Song Qingping had purchased from Liu Meng was indeed the dawn of hope and a ray of light for Mu Jiawen.

Knowing her paintings could be sold for money gave her the means to leave both the Song Family and Jianglin Village.

Therefore, she had always been grateful to Liu Meng and Song Qingping.