The Fallen Idol And The Artist

Chapter 19

The night of the exhibition comes sooner than expected, leaving Xie Lian to feel slightly nervous as he had done something different. Something that wasn't within the original plans for the performance. He never showed the lyrics for the song to anyone, not even San Lang. He had instead kept the words to himself, and had even told his composer to just trust him on being able to come up with something that would make everyone's heads turn. He wanted to surprise everyone, and wanted to show to the world that he was still around. He wanted the world to know that he could reappear at any moment to take the spotlight, but only on his own time. There was no one out there that could force him to be anywhere, force him to do anything, or even force him to hide. If he was going to gain attention then he was going to gain it through actual work, and not drama. 

'The world is going to see me once more. They're going to see just what I am fully capable of without any limits. I have never forgotten anything that was taught to me, and now I will be able to unleash it all without the eyes of my father staring at me ruthlessly. I hope that in all actuality, he smiles from wherever he is at....'

He sits before a mirror with his head held high as Mu Qing works a brush through his brown locks as he works to tie his hair up into a high ponytail without causing too much tension to his scalp. He carefully looks through the jewelry that was left for Xie Lian inside the room he was given at Paradise Manor.

"My god...what is this guy doing leaving these here like this?"

"I've asked about it too, and he doesn't seem to bothered by the fact that all of that is there. So I may just take most of it to the bank, anything that can be put together with any certain outfits in the future will be stored into a smaller jewelry box."

"Seriously....? Hm?" Mu Qing stares down at a head piece he felt would be perfect to place at the front of the ponytail. 

"What is it?"

"Let's just say that you will definitely need to owe me after tonight do you hear me?"

Xie Lian nervously chuckles as Mu Qing goes ahead and completes his look. 

At the casino, the massive hall was being filled with those who were invited from art collectors, investors, sponsors, and more. Those from the list of people to watch over Xie Lian were also coming up to the event. The first to arrive were the Lans. The second to arrive were the Nie's, and the third were the Jiangs. Soon after that Pei Ming arrived, along with another friendly face that had helped Xie Lian during his online classes. His name was Shen Yuan, a teacher who appeared to be quite young to be considered a professor. However, his history wasn't so much of a secret and neither was the end result of his previous year. Considering that he was rather young, being twenty-one years old— he had graduated from high school at an earlier age, and immediately went for a teaching role. He had a partner who happened to be one of his students, and was aged at 19 and currently sitting behind a cell door. A story that he himself could only tell. Shen Yuan was strict, professional, and carried a poor temper, but he was still someone who cared fairly well about his students no matter the age. 

Soon after the professors walk through, Shi Qingxuan and He Xuan walk in together with another man walking in behind them. Someone that Pei Ming happened to recognize, a man named Shi Wudu, Shi Qingxuan's elder brother. With permission Shi Qingxuan invited him, as he also wanted to get a chance to speak to Pei Ming as the two have a small history together. As much as San Lang didn't want to invite him, he figured it would be within He Xuan's best interest. 

The casino's main hall was dimmed with silver like bulbs hanging around with white light pouring out from them. The machines were covered in red sheets with fall like decor aligning them and the walls with strings of fall leaves lining up around with stands hanging around in the shadows behind the machines causing the illusion of massive trees in the shadows. The front entrance completely blocked and locked as the side door was used to lead to the main exhibition hall upstairs. The stairs were drenched with a pure crimson rug along its steps with silver like embroidery trailing on its edges with small designs of flowers and butterflies. A custom piece that Hua Cheng had ordered just for occasions like this. Normally he would choose coloring to fully match the seasons that were around, however he wanted some of the decor to feature more of himself and his true colors as it also fit the theme of the exhibition itself. The theme centered around him and him alone. The pieces he will be presenting will have subtle hints of who he is and how he came to be. Nothing too major as he didn't want people to question him too much, but the pieces themselves were enough to draw  a crowd. As the main guests had arrived the doors had begun to close to outsiders, however a single figure manages to get in on his own. He had slipped by during the decoding process and had managed to disguise himself as a worker.