Fell Deeply In Love With My Ex-Husband's Fiancé - Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Qiongzhu Gallery

Lu Feiran’s hand wasn’t high enough, covering Lance’s…

A knock came on the door, and a clean-cut man with the appearance of a student entered. He was above average height, with a gentle demeanor. His fingers and palms were slightly smudged with black charcoal pencil marks.

Seeing Jin Zhan, Lu Feiran’s agile, cat-like eyes even showed a hint of delight.

Lance’s eyebrow subtly twitched. A trace of disappointment and displeasure surfaced in his heart, but he maintained his silence.

Lu Feiran: “Curator Jin, I have a somewhat unreasonable request. Could you hear me out?”

Jin Zhan sat up straight: “Please speak!”

Lu Feiran smiled faintly: “After I purchase these paintings, I hope to store them here for a while until the next batch of student artwork appears, then I’ll take mine away. Is that possible? I want their paintings to be seen by more people.”

“Absolutely no problem.”

Jin Zhan breathed a sigh of relief. He thought a difficult request was coming.

Lu Feiran inquired about the pricing, and Jin Zhan told him it was solely to donate more money to the school. If no one bought them, he would personally bear the cost.

Jin Zhan looked at Lu Feiran, seeing in him a purer temperament than a mountain stream, devoid of the sharp, astute elitism he disliked. Yet, just standing there, dressed in a soft sweater and without any external trappings, he conveyed a sense of trustworthiness.

Looking at the person accompanying him, however, his presence was too intense.

Jin Zhan noticed Lance’s gaze lingering on the two of them, making him feel uncomfortable, like being watched by a beast lurking in the forest. He didn’t want to turn his back.

Yet, when he looked over, the man wore a gentle smile, making one feel like they were bathed in a spring breeze.

Jin Zhan found it a bit strange and subconsciously forced himself to ignore Lance’s presence, concentrating only on talking to Lu Feiran, gradually relaxing.

Lu Feiran’s eyes drifted towards Lance nearby, finding him resting with his eyes closed. His gaze lingered for a moment, like a thin veil settling on Lance, disturbing his rest.

Lance: “What’s wrong?”

Lu Feiran pursed his lips, his thumb rubbing the back of his hand. He wanted to chat with Jin Zhan here, but with Lance present, he couldn’t speak openly.

He worried that Lance wanted to look at the art but was forced to remain here listening to topics that were boring to him.

More than that, Lu Feiran absolutely did not want Lance to overhear any discussion about Zhai Qiance during his conversation with Jin Zhan.

So he said: “Do you… want to look around outside?”

Lance paused, then stood up immediately: “I won’t interrupt your conversation. I’ll wait for you outside.”

Lu Feiran defended himself: “You weren’t interrupting. I just didn’t want you to be bored.”

“Being with you is never boring.” Lance smiled, yet showed no reluctance, and immediately stepped out of the VIP room.

Jin Zhan called a staff member and asked him to guide Lance around.

Lu Feiran felt a pang of apology toward Lance. Reviewing his recent actions and attitude, had he been a little cold towards him?

He shook his head, deciding to think about these things later, and redirected the conversation back to Jin Zhan.

They exchanged contact information. In their casual chat, Lu Feiran complimented Jin Zhan on his excellent approach to running the gallery, noting a maturity unusual for his age.

Jin Zhan seemed a little shy, an undeniable look of happiness crossing his face: “This gallery actually belongs to my lover. I just help him look after it. The gallery’s popularity is mainly due to the excellent artists who are willing to send their paintings here for exhibition or consignment out of respect for him.”

Seeing Jin Zhan’s shy expression when mentioning his lover, Lu Feiran instinctively looked away, feeling a knot in his stomach.

How could Zhai Qiance have a “lover”? The person he loves most is himself.

Lu Feiran changed the subject: “Do you have your own paintings here?”

Jin Zhan shook his head: “My skill level isn’t sufficient for exhibition. But it doesn’t matter. It’s already wonderful to be able to work here. Besides managing the gallery, I have plenty of time to paint every day.”

Jin Zhan wanted to get to know Lu Feiran and couldn’t help but share more, talking about his dream of becoming a painter since high school, briefly mentioning how he almost dropped out due to family issues, and finally focusing on the fact that his current lover had been funding him since his sophomore year.

His lover was not only his partner but also the deity who created a new world for him.

Lu Feiran’s face completely stiffened. He couldn’t even force a smile.

Zhai Qiance had been using his money to support lovers for three years. Besides Bai Xi and Jin Zhan, who knew how many others there were!

He gripped his teacup and finished the contents in one gulp.

…

Not long after Lance left the VIP room, a female docent followed him. She asked Lance what kind of artwork he was interested in and offered to guide him slowly.

Lance was completely uninterested in paintings. When his grandmother was alive during his childhood, he followed her and learned to paint for a few years. His learning ability was strong, but his creativity was not outstanding, not to mention… his paintings weren’t exactly sunny…

His grandmother eventually stopped letting him paint. Shortly after, the elderly woman passed away, and Lance never touched a brush again.

Bored, he walked through the crowded hallway, slowly stopping in front of a painting.

The painting was titled Crazy Landscape (1). He saw a familiar figure in it, similar to himself.

Not far away, Lu Xingli, wearing sunglasses and holding his arms, was swaggering through the gallery, only glancing superficially at the artwork.

He understood nothing about art. Not only did he lack appreciation, but he also didn’t allow those close to him to be passionate about art. He believed that people who liked art were merely pretentious, enjoying needless melancholy.

Lu Feiran was especially guilty of this, flaunting his talent and never putting him in his place.

In the end, hadn’t he lost the fight? His father didn’t favor him, and even his husband was snatched away by him.

He heard that artists tend to have some kind of mental illness. Wouldn’t it be fitting for Lu Feiran to also be labeled as having mental issues?

Lu Xingli laughed, inwardly scoffing that the bed Lu Feiran and Zhai Qiance shared was nothing special.

With more and more things falling into Lu Xingli’s hands, he still felt unsatisfied. Two days ago, he suddenly remembered the art gallery Zhai Qiance had intended to give him and asked Zhai Qiance about it in bed.

To his surprise, Zhai Qiance’s passionate expression immediately cooled by three degrees. He patted his back in comfort and told him: “Those matters have already been arranged.”

What does ‘arranged’ mean? Given to someone else?

Lu Xingli was indignant. He said he now had time and could manage the gallery very well, simultaneously pleading and coaxing, trying to make Zhai Qiance change his mind and give the gallery to him.

To his shock, Zhai Qiance was as hard as iron and wouldn’t budge the entire night!

Lu Xingli felt resentful but didn’t dare openly defy Zhai Qiance or throw a tantrum. He had no choice but to pretend to drop the matter, while secretly investigating the current status of Qiongzhu Gallery.

He actually gave the gallery to some poor university student who knows nothing?!

Lu Xingli was furious. He knew Zhai Qiance liked people involved in the arts. Lu Feiran, Jin Zhan—they were all like this!

He secretly cursed Zhai Qiance for being a heartbreaker, and for chasing after people who pretended to be aloof. In the end, wasn’t he the one Zhai Qiance loved to sleep with the most? Could those people be as uninhibited as he was in bed?

Lu Xingli was seething and decided to go to Qiongzhu Gallery to vent his anger on Jin Zhan.

Who knew, he would encounter someone here.

Blonde hair, fair skin, handsome features, but a cold expression. He was scanning every painting with indifferent eyes, seemingly never lingering in front of any of them, yet he paused in front of the painting Lu Xingli couldn’t understand and didn’t like.

Lu Xingli’s mind suddenly buzzed. He wanted to know what that person’s eyes would look like if they landed on him.

He took off his sunglasses, cautiously approached, and started a conversation in somewhat broken English: “H-Hello, let’s get acquainted. What’s your name?”

Lance frowned, changed the direction of his feet, pretended not to understand, and turned to leave.

Lu Xingli chased after him, forcibly blocking Lance’s path. The other person’s tall figure stood there like an insurmountable mountain, and he became a fragile, swaying willow.

The back of Lu Xingli’s head was tingling. He desperately wanted to know this person!

He didn’t care anymore and took out his phone, opening his QR code, gesturing for Lance to scan his WeChat.

Lance was extremely annoyed by Lu Xingli. He signaled to the staff member following him, shifted his body, bypassed Lu Xingli directly, and headed straight for the VIP room.

He had been out for a while now. He needed to go back and find Lu Feiran.

Lu Xingli was stopped by the staff member. He was already very dissatisfied with Jin Zhan managing Qiongzhu Gallery and felt the staff member was clueless, quickly starting an argument.

Seeing that he was being unreasonable, the staff member worried he would cause trouble in the quiet gallery and disturb other guests. He quietly called security, intending to escort Lu Xingli away from the crowd to calm down.

Since being recognized and brought back into the Lu family, Lu Xingli hadn’t endured this kind of humiliation. If Zhai Qiance had given him Qiongzhu Gallery in the first place, how could Jin Zhan’s people be driving him away?

Lu Xingli yelled angrily: “Call your curator out! I have something to discuss with him! Ask him if he knows anyone surnamed Lu!”

Lance returned to the VIP room and sat down next to Lu Feiran. Lu Feiran poured a cup of hot water and handed it to Lance: “Is plain water okay? Do you want tea?”

Being handed something by Lu Feiran for the first time, Lance put on a flattered expression: “That’s fine, thank you, Feiran.”

Lu Feiran chuckled, intending to wait for Lance to rest for a while before leaving.

“Excuse me for interrupting, Curator, there’s a guest outside who insists on seeing you.” The staff member looked troubled, reluctantly interrupting their conversation.

“The gallery is closing soon. Could you ask him to come to my office later?”

“That won’t work… he’s very insistent and won’t leave outside. I’m worried he’ll affect other guests.”

Understood. Someone is causing trouble.

Jin Zhan had no choice but to apologize to Lu Feiran and Lance, and immediately left with the staff member.

With Jin Zhan gone, Lu Feiran didn’t feel it was appropriate to stay either. He and Lance followed the staff member’s guidance toward the exit.

Suddenly, a strong hand grabbed Lu Feiran’s arm.

He heard someone arguing, and the voice of the troublemaker sounded familiar.

Lu Feiran and Lance, ignoring the embarrassed expressions of the staff members, took a few steps towards where the argument was happening.

Fortunately, it was already near closing time. The proactive manager had guided guests to leave early, and there were no others in the exhibition hall besides them.

Lu Xingli was shouting: “Jin Zhan, do you have any shame? What tactics did you use to make him give you this gallery? Everything he gave you, you better spit it all out!”

This was like a clap of thunder, directly hitting Qiongzhu Gallery. Not only was Jin Zhan stunned, but Lu Feiran was utterly shell-shocked.

What is Lu Xingli doing here, acting like the legitimate spouse?

Fortunately, he hadn’t mentioned Zhai Qiance’s name.

Lu Feiran quickly pulled Lance, trying to hurry out, as if there were a man-eating tiger behind them.

He worried that if they left any later, he would hear Lu Xingli shout the name “Zhai Qiance.”

Too embarrassing!

Lu Feiran didn’t want Lance to hear about Zhai Qiance’s dirty business. Someone as pure as Lance, as white as fresh snow—just knowing about Zhai Qiance’s affairs would make Lu Feiran feel like Lance was being contaminated.

Lu Feiran was desperate to drag Lance away, but Lance seemed very interested in the sudden “gossip.” No matter how hard Lu Feiran pulled, he couldn’t move him an inch.

Lu Feiran grew anxious. He stood on his tiptoes and covered Lance’s ears, saying urgently, “Hurry and leave! Don’t listen!”

Lu Feiran’s hand wasn’t high enough, covering Lance’s cheek.