Chapter 186

“There are a hundred people on the Beauty Ranking, and everyone has one or two portraits. How could they all be painted by the same person? Isn’t it normal to switch artists?”

Yun Huizhou raised his hand and patted Lian Li’s head, saying, “Look again. Are the portraits of the top ten in these two booklets all from the same hand?”

Lian Li took the two Beauty Ranking pamphlets and compared them. After looking for quite a while, he finally managed to see some patterns.

“But the top ten are ranked every year, and the portraits haven’t changed, so they must be by the same person.”

Yun Huizhou nodded and said, “You’re right, but I flipped through the previous Beauty Ranking pamphlet several times later. The artist who painted the top ten only painted the top ten.”

Hearing him say this, Lian Li finally understood what Yun Huizhou was trying to get at. He asked, “You mean, this artist likely only paints the top ten, but this time they made an exception for the eleventh rank? Meaning, they painted me?”

Yun Huizhou replied, “It’s a guess, but I’m not entirely sure yet. We’ll buy the Beauty Ranking pamphlets from the past few years and take a look; then we can confirm if that’s the case.”

At the thought that he might have actually snagged the artist who only paints the top ten to do his portrait, Lian Li felt a little surge of excitement in his heart.

Did this mean the artist thought highly of him and felt he had the potential to break into the top ten?

“Then let’s go buy them now!” Lian Li said, grabbing Yun Huizhou’s hand.

“Let the attendant go buy them.” Yun Huizhou told him to sit down. “The ones from previous years might not be in every shop. Let them run the errand.”

Lian Li thought about it and realized he was right. Although Jinzui Pavilion was wealthy and the number of Beauty Ranking pamphlets issued every quarter was large, the printing speed certainly couldn’t compare to the modern world.

The converted cost was also much higher than in the modern world.

Usually, the largest batch was prepared for the initial release. When it was almost sold out, a small batch would be printed as backup, and when more than half of that backup was sold, another small batch would be prepared.

Therefore, there was basically no stock left from previous years.

If they wanted to buy them, it would be quite a hassle to do it themselves. It was better to leave it to the inn’s attendant. If even they couldn’t find them, then there was nothing to be done.

Yun Huizhou called the attendant over and gave him one tael of silver, asking him to buy the Beauty Ranking pamphlets from the past four years, specifically the first quarter of each year.

The attendant took the money and went off readily.

They were staying in the best room of this inn. It was very spacious, with a bedroom, a living room, and a large bathroom that even had a small bathing pool.

Each room had a specific attendant responsible for handling the guests’ needs.

They were different from the waiters in the lobby. The lobby waiters had to stay in the shop to work, while these room-specific attendants mainly followed the guests’ orders.

During the time the guests stayed there, they briefly acted as the guests’ personal servants.

The attendant was gone until evening before he returned.

He knocked softly on the door. Hearing it, Yun Huizhou called out, “The door isn’t locked, come in.”

The attendant pushed the door open and entered. He held five pamphlets in his hand. One look at the covers and Lian Li knew they were indeed the Beauty Ranking pamphlets.

The attendant placed the pamphlets on the table and said, “Sir, I found the Beauty Ranking pamphlets for each of the past five years at the bookstore. They are all from the first quarter. Would you like all five years, or just four?”

Yun Huizhou spread the five pamphlets out on the table. After confirming there were no duplicate years, he said, “Leave them all.”

After saying that, he took out another two hundred wen and gave it to the attendant to cover the cost of the extra pamphlet.

the one tael of silver they originally gave was actually enough to buy all five, and the remaining money was considered the attendant’s tip for the errand.

Consumption in Linjiu City was high, and the wages for people working here were also high.

In other cities, hiring someone for an errand usually cost about a dozen wen.

But here, it basically started at a hundred wen. To be honest, if the West Island Lord hadn’t sponsored them with some banknotes before they left, Lian Li’s heart would truly bleed if he had to spend from his own small private stash.

His private stash couldn’t support him staying in Linjiu City for very long.

Although Yun Huizhou also had money, he and Yun Huizhou were family now. Spending Yun Huizhou’s money felt the same as spending his own—his heart still bled.

Yun Huizhou opened all the Beauty Ranking pamphlets and lined them up. Lian Li leaned over, picked up one, checked all the portraits of the top ten first, and then flipped through the portraits after the tenth rank.

“Do you feel like the portraits of the top ten are more vivid than the portraits of the other ranks?” Yun Huizhou asked Lian Li.

Lian Li flipped back and forth to compare. He found that the other ranks were also painted very well, but for some reason, the paintings of the top ten just looked more alive.

Perhaps this was the difference between a high-level artist and a master-level one?

After flipping through all five newly purchased pamphlets, Lian Li had to admit that Yun Huizhou seemed to have guessed correctly.

If it were just this year, it could be called a coincidence, but in these five consecutive years of Beauty Ranking pamphlets, the top ten were all by the same hand.

And before this time, this master had never painted anyone outside the top ten.

Realizing he was likely the only person outside the top ten that this master had ever painted, the corners of Lian Li’s mouth were harder to suppress than an AK’s recoil. He intentionally twisted his mouth into a wicked, charming smile and said, “So, it turns out I’m an exception. This master has great taste. Do they think very highly of my chances to enter the top ten?”

Yun Huizhou stared at Lian Li’s face. Even though Lian Li was making such a slightly ugly and somewhat wretched expression, that face of his was still incredibly good-looking.

Looking only at the face, Yun Huizhou felt that Lian Li could not only be in the top three but could even be number one.

Unfortunately, this kid was beautiful and knew it, but he just wouldn’t use his face properly. He always gave off an ignorant and innocent vibe, which easily made people overlook his fox-like features.

“I’m asking you a question.”

Seeing that Yun Huizhou remained silent, Lian Li nudged him gently with his elbow and turned to look over.

He then discovered that Yun Huizhou was actually staring at him in a daze. Lian Li, whose confidence was currently bursting at the seams, gave another crooked smile and reached out to pinch Yun Huizhou’s chin.

His tone was so overbearing it was almost greasy: “Man, have you been captivated by me too?”

Yun Huizhou: “…”

Yun Huizhou raised his hand to cover his stomach, suddenly feeling the food he had eaten earlier churning.

He hurriedly closed his eyes and turned his head to the side, trying to banish the image he had just seen from his mind.

However, Lian Li wouldn’t let him off. The hand pinching his chin increased its strength, turning his head back.

“Hmm? Man, speak!”

Yun Huizhou: “…”

Yun Huizhou now wished more than anything that he was deaf.

“Heh! Man, you’re quite rebellious. Admit it… mgh…”

Before Lian Li could finish his sentence, he saw Yun Huizhou snap his eyes open and raise a hand to pinch his mouth shut.