Deeply Affectionate Male Supporting Character Topped the Protagonist 55

Chapter 55: Through Adversity to the Stars

Early in the morning, Rong Xingyi was reluctantly sent to school by his brother.

“Gege! Ge!” Rong Xingyi, his coquettish act failing, started to act shamelessly. “Don’t tell me you’re hiding someone at home, that’s why you’re so eager to get rid of me!!”

Xi Leng paused: “Who’s trying to get rid of you? I had nothing to do, and now, because of you, I have to wake up early and make a trip to school.”

Deep conversations, or any conversation that could trigger strong emotional fluctuations, were definitely not suitable before bed, he had learned his lesson, the faint dark circles under his eyes were proof.

Coupled with his fair skin and unusually long hair, he looked a bit like an anime character, like No-Face.

But a more attractive version.

Rong Xingyi, on the other hand, was full of energy. After all, he was young, used to the late nights and early mornings of a Chinese student’s schedule.

“Let me tell you, ge,” Rong Xingyi said, a piece of toast in his mouth, his words slightly muffled as they walked. “Half of the girls in my class are shipping you and Min Zhi-gege, hahaha!”

Xi Leng choked on his own saliva, covering his mouth and coughing softly.

He then slapped Rong Xingyi on the back of his head: “Let’s go.”

Rong Xingyi yelped.

Xi Leng closed the door behind them and, while Rong Xingyi wasn’t paying attention, sent a message to the sleeping Min Zhi.

【I’m taking Xiao Yi to school, you can go home after you wake up】

These words sounded like he was dismissing him.

Xi Leng tilted his head, deleted the latter half of the sentence, and retyped.

【I’m taking Xiao Yi to school, you can sleep in my bed】

Xi Leng thought he had some understanding of Min Zhi’s behavior.

After seeing Rong Xingyi off and wandering around outside for a while, he returned home close to noon, assuming Min Zhi had already left.

And before leaving, that person would most likely leave something behind, or steal something, to assert his presence. Like his painting masterpiece last night.

However, he couldn’t find any trace of that… abstract art.

And nothing was missing, strange.

Only the oil portrait of Min Zhi from the loft had been moved downstairs, neatly placed on his nightstand.

“…”

Really.

Xi Leng’s solo exhibition was about to have an internal preview, mainly for the friends and family of the organizers and fellow artists. Fans could only wait impatiently.

A sunny September Saturday.

Xi Leng left early in the morning to finalize the preparations with Ou Huixin, the current director of Guizhen Art Museum.

One of the main reasons for Guizhen Art Museum’s financial difficulties was its sheer size. Three buildings, plus an observation tower, like a European castle. A vast lawn, greenery, a small stream, all on expensive land. Even just daily maintenance was a significant expense.

Xi Leng’s solo exhibition was in the main building, occupying three spacious floors. The layout and visitor flow were unique, even allowing access to the observation tower via a sky bridge on the third floor.

Several of Xi Leng’s recently acquired friends were invited. Shortly after the museum opened, Qiao Yusen arrived to show his support.

Xi Leng took him on a tour of the first floor.

There weren’t many people in the art museum, the viewing experience excellent. When they returned to the entrance, two more guests arrived, two young men, with striking appearances, wearing masks that only drew more attention.

One of them had a pair of captivating peach blossom eyes, somewhat similar to Rong Xingyi’s, making Xi Leng take a second look.

But upon closer inspection, they were clearly different, those bright and clear eyes, the natural confidence, he seemed to be from a different world, just like the man he was with, whose temperament was colder, every gesture revealing good upbringing.

Qiao Yusen, seeing Xi Leng’s curiosity, whispered: “Do you know who they are?”

Xi Leng only felt they looked familiar, but he wasn’t sure, so he shook his head: “I don’t know, they seem to be a couple.”

“They are.” Qiao Yusen said. “That’s Shen Wu and Meng Huai Zhi, Sheng Jiao probably invited them.”

Both were celebrities Xi Leng had heard of, especially since their secret, arranged marriage had caused quite a stir in the entertainment industry last year, making the paparazzi and marketing accounts a lot of money.

Even Xi Leng, reborn from three years in the future, had some impression of them.

Qiao Yusen, finding something more interesting, lost interest in the paintings and asked: “Which one do you think is the top?”

Xi Leng wasn’t very interested in other people’s private lives, casually replying: “Shen Wu.”

Qiao Yusen, however, let out a surprised “eh?”, his interest piqued, not letting him go: “How did you tell? I couldn’t even tell.”

“Because his name has two characters.” Xi Leng said. “Like me.”

Qiao Yusen was silent for a few seconds, then started laughing uncontrollably, his body shaking with laughter.

“To be honest,” Qiao Yusen said, “My older siblings’ names both have two characters, and they initially strongly opposed my mother giving me a three-character name. But at the time, it was popular to give children English names, and a similar-sounding Chinese name, that’s why I got to keep my name.”

The novel’s outline didn’t mention Qiao Yusen’s family, only briefly describing him as a wealthy young master. Learning that Qiao Yusen had older siblings, Xi Leng wasn’t surprised, even instinctively feeling that they were both outstanding individuals, unlike Qiao Yusen, who was frivolous and pleasure-seeking.

There weren’t many people who were naturally cheerful and loved to smile, and even those who did wouldn’t wear a business smile all the time.

Unless they grew up in a very strict environment, or perhaps they were the neglected and unsuccessful child, thus developing the habit of observing others’ expressions and hiding behind a mask.

Xi Leng looked at him for a few seconds, saying nothing, then looked away.

Then suddenly asked: “Are you also attracted to Jiayan?”

This simple question, unexpectedly, made the usually talkative Qiao Yusen speechless.

The current situation felt familiar, like the night Qiao Yusen’s feelings were exposed by Min Zhi at the bar. However, Xi Leng was far less aggressive than Min Zhi, only casually mentioning it before continuing, “I have to go, you can look around on your own, Jiayan should be here soon.”

Before eleven o’clock, Luo Jiayan arrived at the art museum. He immediately looked around, searching for Xi Leng.

But it was Qiao Yusen who came to greet him.

Even seeing Qiao Yusen was enough to make him smile brightly, and he jogged over, greeting enthusiastically: “Jackson! You’re early!”

Qiao Yusen’s smile deepened, the sunlight outside the window bright, his gold-rimmed glasses gleaming.

“Xiao Leng just gave me a tour, he’s busy now, so I’ll show you around, how about that?”

“Okay! That’s great!”

Luo Jiayan was very enthusiastic.

It was said that Qiao Yusen would show Luo Jiayan around, but in reality, he didn’t know much about oil painting. He had already forgotten most of the technical terms Xi Leng explained not long ago.

Luo Jiayan, on the other hand, understood better, he didn’t know much about painting, but he knew Xi Leng’s intentions and habits.

“Ah Zhao’s works are all in series, he’s a bit OCD.” Luo Jiayan explained. “Look, the paintings in each area have a consistent style and color palette, then in the next area, it’s completely different. His style is very diverse. But overall, they’re all distinctly his style, very strong and memorable…”

Qiao Yusen patiently listened, unusually quiet for a long time.

“What do you think?”

The sudden question, the clear and bright eyes looking at him, made Qiao Yusen speechless.

Luo Jiayan waited patiently, then smiled: “We’re filming ‘Unlimited Escape Room’ recently, I can’t help but feel there’s more to these paintings, do you think Ah Zhao hid some kind of code in them?”

“Hey, am I being paranoid?”

Qiao Yusen smiled: “No, think about it some more, there might actually be something.”

Luo Jiayan didn’t just focus on the paintings, he would occasionally glance at the person beside him.

“What’s wrong?” Seeing Qiao Yusen looking down at his phone, he casually asked.

“I’m checking if Min Zhi is here yet.” Qiao Yusen put away his phone. “He’s not replying to my messages, he’s probably here already.”

Luo Jiayan smiled, his eyes sparkling: “Is that so?”

Qiao Yusen smiled helplessly: “Mm-hmm, he’s probably downstairs, seriously appreciating the art, so he doesn’t have time for me.”

Min Zhi was always clear about the hierarchy in his mind, showing no pretense.

Qiao Yusen, used to being ignored, didn’t really mind, it was just that Min Zhi’s current passionate and devoted demeanor was a bit over the top, he wasn’t sure whether “possessed” or “bewitched” was a more accurate description.

Hearing that his idol might be downstairs, Luo Jiayan naturally felt a bit restless, but after a few recordings, Min Zhi was no longer as unapproachable as before, he had become a down-to-earth colleague, and the fanaticism of chasing stars had faded somewhat.

So, smiling brightly, he said to Qiao Yusen: “Then let’s continue upstairs, there seems to be another floor.”

At this time, Min Zhi was on the first floor.

He observed carefully, almost staring a hole through the paintings, still lingering in the first exhibition hall.

He had seen most of these works in Xi Leng’s studio. Back in the rented apartment, these paintings were scattered everywhere like trash. In the loft of the duplex, they were also stacked in piles, their full view obscured, the details blurred.

But now, displayed in the spacious and elegant art museum, each painting was carefully arranged, placed in just the right spot, no longer interfering with each other, but complementing each other.

As if they belonged here.

Like dust-covered pearls, after a long period of darkness and neglect, finally seeing the light of day again, their brilliance shining through.

This was the magic of painting.

Even Min Zhi, whose drawing skills were limited to doodling, couldn’t help but agree, it was as captivating as music.

But he also admitted that 80% of it was probably due to the artist. He was always shamelessly biased, loving the house and its crow, wasn’t that a human virtue?

Xi Leng said he had only painted portraits of him in recent years, it seemed he wasn’t lying.

He had almost finished the first floor, and there were indeed very few paintings with human features. Even if there were, they were fragmented and abstract, devoid of any human likeness, as if Picasso had been reborn.

He returned to the first exhibition hall, standing in front of those abstract works, observing them again and again.

From left to right, then from right to left.

He suddenly froze.

From left to right was the designated route, but he, as always, didn’t follow the rules, looking back again. Only then did he notice that starting from the painting on the far right, the gaze of the eyes in the paintings seemed to connect.

And hidden in this painting were four letters, back.

He followed the gaze of those strange eyes, returning to his starting point, the painting on the far left, but the gaze in this painting was directed at the ceiling, he looked up, but there was nothing there.

He thought for a moment.

Min Zhi opened the exhibition guide, he was the kind of person who never bothered with instructions, always doing whatever he wanted, but now he carefully studied the guide.

Hand-drawn, it seemed to be Xi Leng’s work, with the locations of the exhibition halls marked, each painting also numbered.

The painting in front of him was F1-01.

His finger traced a vertical line upwards—to F2-05 in the third hall on the second floor.

Having confirmed his target, Min Zhi immediately went upstairs.

To support an exhibition spanning three floors, Xi Leng had practically brought out all his hidden works, even creating some installation art pieces, leaving early and returning late every day, pulling several all-nighters.

The third hall on the second floor was a digital new media art installation.

A three-dimensional, dazzling night sky surrounded him, a mesmerizing blue, with golden specks of light rotating, as if he was in space.

There were no paintings here, the entire space was Xi Leng’s artwork. Min Zhi admired it as he walked around, estimating the spot directly above “F1-01.”

The lights in the exhibition hall shifted, and he realized that it took about five minutes for a full rotation, starting from the opposite wall and ending at his current location.

His surroundings suddenly brightened.

He saw a square electrical outlet in the corner, with the inconspicuous number “05” engraved beside it.

Without knowing the starting point on the first floor, who would have thought that an electrical outlet was the second part of the puzzle?

There happened to be a cylindrical pedestal nearby, with a gray meteorite on top. There were several such pedestals in the room, like a space setting.

Min Zhi fumbled behind the pedestal and found a hidden power cord.

He plugged it into the outlet, and the gray meteorite instantly lit up, becoming a bright, yellowish planet.

So, it was a planet lamp.

As the light came on, small black text appeared above it:

Per aspera ad astra

A Latin motto.

A translation was helpfully provided below: “Through adversity to the stars.”

Min Zhi took out the exhibition guide again. The third hall he was in was called “Universe,” and the fourth hall next door was “Stars.”

Cautiously unplugging the planet lamp, not wanting to make it too easy for those who came after him, Min Zhi set off again.

The third hall also had a unique ambiance. This time, there were no explicit instructions, the laser beams were the most eye-catching, forming constellations through the reflection of mirrors.

A diagram of the twelve constellations was displayed on the wall, and the three-dimensional star chart formed by the spotlights in front of him was Cancer.

What a coincidence.

Even if he weren’t a Cancer, he would find a way to relate it to himself, and he happened to be a Cancer.

And the artist himself, Xi Leng, was a Pisces, born on March 3rd, easy to remember, but irrelevant to the current Cancer.

Tsk, tsk.

Min Zhi was in a great mood, indulging in his excitement for a while before composing himself and focusing on the puzzle.

The clues for this level were too few, making it more difficult than he had imagined.

He circled the exhibition hall several times, interfering with each laser beam. He even ran into a familiar colleague, the singer Meng Huai Zhi, whom he often compared himself to.

And Meng Huai Zhi’s legal spouse.

Meng Huai Zhi was usually aloof and unapproachable, only offering a polite greeting if their eyes met.

Such a pretender.

The two took the initiative to greet him, led by the cheerful Shen Wu.

“Are you alone?”

Min Zhi raised an eyebrow, glancing to the side: “Isn’t there someone right next to me, in white, can’t you see him?”

“…………”

The lighting in the exhibition hall was dim, originally creating a romantic atmosphere, but his words instantly turned it into a horror scene.

Shen Wu and Meng Huai Zhi, not wanting to impose, walked away side by side, chatting as they looked around: “We haven’t seen Xi Leng, is the artist not coming? I haven’t been to many art exhibitions before.”

Meng Huai Zhi said: “It’s my first time.”

Shen Wu smiled: “Then we’ll have experience next time.”

The two left, chatting and laughing.

Min Zhi: “?”

What kind of people were they, coming here specifically to show off their affection? This made it even easier to feel superior without guilt. 🙂

The lovebirds went to the next exhibition hall, leaving Min Zhi frowning and deep in thought.

After a while, he stood up, took out the exhibition guide from his pocket, and shone the spotlight on it. The paper became translucent, but there were no hidden codes.

Come to think of it, wasn’t the constellation diagram on the wall a bit too big? One constellation was as large as the entire exhibition guide.

Min Zhi suddenly realized and hurriedly placed the guide on the wall, aligning it with the diagram.

Under the strong light, the lines of the constellations shone through from the back of the paper.

He first tried aligning it with Pisces, it didn’t work. He thought for a moment, the artist’s constellation wasn’t part of the clues, it was unlikely.

He then switched to Cancer.

Shining the spotlight on it again, several artworks on the guide were cleverly connected by the lines of the constellation.

Starting from the bottom right corner, the first artwork on the first floor, upwards, the path he took upstairs. Then a horizontal branch to the left, across the third and fourth halls on the second floor, his trajectory.

And then a branch to the top right corner, a path he hadn’t taken.

Min Zhi looked up, towards the end of the upper branch.

It was the observation tower.

He suppressed his excitement, hurriedly left the hall, followed the Cancer path, ran across the long sky bridge, and continued upwards.

Huff, huff, huff.

Along the way, Min Zhi could only hear the wind and his own excited breathing.

His vision became wider, brighter.

He quickly climbed the winding staircase, arriving at the top floor of the observation tower.

The circular observation tower, the wind blowing in from one window and out the other, well-ventilated, the breeze strong, ruffling his hair, his earrings gleaming amidst the dark strands.

Xi Leng was standing by a window.

A beautiful white shirt, a beautiful leather choker, beautiful curly hair.

So dazzling.

“Due east.”

Min Zhi, after catching his breath, revealed the last clue he found along the way, taking out his phone and checking the compass. And indeed, east pointed directly at Xi Leng, who looked slightly bewildered.

He smiled, immensely satisfied: “Isn’t that you?”

Xi Leng gradually came back to his senses, clearly surprised by the speed at which the exhibition puzzle was solved. He was still setting up the telescope.

“I solved the puzzle.” Min Zhi, looking at him, asked deliberately, “Where’s my treasure?”

Xi Leng said: “This is it.”

Min Zhi, however, stared intently at him.

Realizing his words caused a misunderstanding, Xi Leng opened his mouth, about to explain.

“Oh?” Min Zhi strode forward, looking out the window, then, with a seemingly amused expression, asked, “The treasure is watching the scenery with you?”

Actually, it was just the scenery. Xi Leng was setting up the telescope and hadn’t had a chance to leave.

But inexplicably, Xi Leng didn’t explain, but smiled faintly, looking back at Min Zhi, revealing a glimpse of his white teeth, then also looking out at the lush green mountains in the distance.

The two stood side by side, no one speaking for a while, the early autumn breeze blowing between them, rustling softly.

Xi Leng’s long, curly hair swayed in the wind, even brushing against Min Zhi’s cheek.

The phrase “crisp autumn air” seemed to take on a tangible form at this moment.

Not just the scenery outside, but also the person beside him.