Rebirth: He Decides to Lie Flat
Chapter 297 - 297 294 Fame is on the Rise

Chapter 297: Chapter 294: Fame is on the Rise Chapter 297: Chapter 294: Fame is on the Rise Everyone who came to Beijing University to participate in the competition represented the best of young talent in the calligraphy and painting circles, having been selected through multiple rounds of competition from various regions. It’s safe to say that each person’s foundational skills were quite profound.

Previously, Song Qingping looked down on Deng Tao’s paintings, unwilling to recommend her. However, after arriving at Beicheng University, to redress her earlier disgrace, she practiced her brushwork nearly every day. Being chosen by the teacher to participate in the competition indicated that her abilities had significantly improved.

The selection competition for high school students had ended in the morning, and the afternoon was reserved for university-level contests.

In her hand, Deng Tao held a paintbrush, her eyes fixated on the nameplate at the very center of the judges’ table, which bore three particularly striking characters: Mu Chenyan!

Song Jia… no, that’s not right, it should be Mu Jiawen. Did she tell her mother about the rumors?

If she did, would Master Mu deliberately give her a lower score later?

Due to her unease, it was especially hard for her to focus on her painting. By the time she finished, there wasn’t even a moment to take a final look before time was up.

Knowing she hadn’t painted well, Deng Tao left feeling very dejected to wait for the results.

…

After school in the afternoon, Mu Jiawen and Jiang Yan received a text message from Zhu Zhen. The time for their gathering had been changed to seven o’clock that evening, at a Xiang Cuisine Restaurant diagonally across from the “Holiday” Hotel.

Jiang Yan found it a bit strange, why choose that place?

But he didn’t ask; after all, Zhu Zhen was the host this time, so wherever he chose was fine with him.

Besides the five of them, Zhu Zhen also invited “Lao Er.”

The physics department was particularly busy, and the timing set by Zhu Zhen gave Mu Jiawen a buffer. After class, she organized the problems left by the teacher and wrote down the solutions to the most difficult one for Shen Mengfei and the others.

Xue Weisong was also working on the same problem, but his approach was different from Mu Jiawen’s—yet similar to Zhong Liangang’s.

Their methods were slightly more complicated, lacking the simplicity and clarity of Mu Jiawen’s.

He took Mu Jiawen’s notebook and discussed the solution with Zhong Liangang on the side, while Shen Mengfei and the others sat and listened.

After finishing, Mu Jiawen packed her bag to leave, and it was then that Huangfu Yun suddenly looked up and asked, “Mu Jiawen, is Chancellor Mu your mother?”

In recent days, the Fine Arts College had been bustling, with many participants from outside Beijing visiting Master Mu’s gallery eagerly upon hearing about its opening.

As a result, Mu Jiawen’s name started to spread.

Most visitors from other regions assumed she was from the Chinese painting department at Beijing University Fine Arts College and many inquired about her.

However, few knew that she actually belonged to the physics department.

Last semester, Huangfu Yun’s grades hadn’t been very promising, leading to a stern reprimand from his father over the winter break; apparently, he had been neglecting his studies, engaging in all sorts of trivial pursuits.

So, at the start of this semester, Huangfu Yun hadn’t visited the Fine Arts College even once, dedicating himself entirely to his academics. Only today had he found out that Master Mu had opened a gallery in such a low-key fashion in Beijing.

Even more discreet was the fact that her daughter also displayed her paintings there.

Huangfu Yun had seen them—a set of paintings of the Chinese zodiac that almost exactly matched the ones in their classroom.

So there was no doubt that the “Mu Jiawen” hanging there was the Mu Jiawen in front of him, his classmate.

“Had you mentioned earlier that Chancellor Mu is your mother, I wouldn’t have entertained the idea of targeting your paintings,” he said.

Mu Jiawen glanced at him, “Even if I hadn’t said it, you still failed to do so, didn’t you?”

That was indeed the truth.

Huangfu Yun sighed, “After this competition ends, your reputation, Mu Jiawen, is going to grow.”

Mu Jiawen slung her backpack over her shoulder and said nonchalantly, “Not necessarily, many people still think I’m just riding on my mom’s coattails. But I don’t care about that, it’s purely a hobby for me.”

Such a waste, an utter splurge of talent!

Huangfu Yun thought with a heavy heart.

After Mu Jiawen had left, Zhong Liangang looked at the few of them and asked in a low voice, “Who is Dean Mu?”

Xue Weisong and Shen Mengfei, who had both known already, explained, “The honorary dean of the Fine Arts College, a leading figure in the Chinese painting community, very impressive.”

Before Zhong Liangang could digest these terms, Kou Chuan suddenly said, “Dean Mu’s gallery hires Beijing University students to work part-time as guides on weekends. Usually, students from the Fine Arts College go, but those from other departments also sign up—one hundred a day, two hundred for two days. Liangang, talk to Mu Jiawen about it and sign up as well.”

The library part-time job only paid a little over two hundred a month, nowhere near enough for his living expenses.

Zhong Liangang had saved his scholarship money, planning to use it to pay tuition fees.

Zhong Liangang was originally planning to shake his head and refuse; he didn’t want to trouble Mu Jiawen, but Xue Weisong decided for him, “I’ll talk to her, ask her to inquire with Dean Mu. If they’re full, then forget it, but if not, you should go give it a try.”

He opened his mouth, and though he felt touched, he still honestly said, “But I don’t understand paintings.”

Kou Chuan said, “They have specialized staff training, even if it’s the students from the Fine Arts College going, they get briefed by their staff first. You have a good memory, what’s there to be afraid of?”

After finishing their discussion, they continued working on problems. Zhong Liangang’s eyes reddened slightly, and he quickly bowed his head.

…

After Mu Jiawen went downstairs, Jiang Yan happened to come by on his bicycle.

The Computer Science department wasn’t as busy as the Physics department, but lately, Jiang Yan had to juggle school and visits to the electronics factory. Running back and forth had caused him to lose quite a bit of weight.

Mu Jiawen sat behind him, one hand around his waist, the other squeezing his waist.

Jiang Yan turned his head, “Stop fidgeting.”

At the same time, keeping his right hand on the handlebar, he reached back with his left to grasp her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, “What are you trying to do to me?”

“What do you think I’m trying to do?” Mu Jiawen forcefully withdrew her hand and gave him a pat on the back, “Focus on biking, I was just checking how much weight you’ve lost on your waist. Have you been too busy lately?” She could hardly pinch anything.

Whenever this topic came up, Jiang Yan felt exhausted. As someone who had been reborn, in his previous life, he was as tired as a dog every day, and after being reborn, he was still tired like a dog.

If there were a reborn person’s group in this world, he’d probably have been kicked out by now.

He hadn’t managed to live an impressive life, certainly a letdown to others.

But perhaps it was the hard studying in his senior year of high school that had etched into his marrow, making him yearn for high scores whenever he saw an exam. To get high scores, he had to keep studying, and to keep studying, he had to be serious and diligent… With diligent study, and also busying with new products and assembly, it was hard not to lose weight.

“When will you be done with all this busyness?”

“Soon, the new product has gone for testing. Once it passes, we should be able to mass produce it next month, and then I can relax a bit.”

He wouldn’t have much of a break, though. Jing Junyang had taken over an internet café right outside Beijing University, with two floors that were to be transformed into a computer store.

Just thinking about it gave Jiang Yan a headache; he felt no sense of accomplishment from his business ventures. All he wanted was to rest, date, and rest some more!

The two arrived at Xiang Cuisine Restaurant, where Zhu Zhen, Zhu Jin and Yu Hang had already arrived.

The private rooms at Xiang Cuisine Restaurant were scarce, but the main hall was spacious, divided into inner and outer sections. The outside had tables for four, while the inside housed round tables for larger groups, both small and large.

Upon entering the inner side, Jiang Yan immediately noticed a group of familiar faces sitting around one of the smaller round tables next to theirs…