Liu Chang'an's Exhibit

The New Year's Day holiday was neither too long nor too short. Only some students from within the province or from their hometowns or Junsha had direct high-speed rail connections to go home; the majority stayed at school.

Some people who are already in a good relationship with their partners organized various New Year's Day activities, such as hiking, camping, and hiking.

What does "learning from a donkey" mean? It means engaging in activities as foolish and clumsy as a donkey, such as recklessly venturing into uninhabited areas or undeveloped tourist spots. What else could you be but a donkey?

There are still quite a few innocent and lively people among college students.

However, most people still chose to stay in their dorm rooms or go to internet cafes with their roommates for all-night gaming sessions, which is also an extremely enjoyable and healthy activity for both mind and body.

The school held an art exhibition at the right time, which was a very meaningful plan to improve students' aesthetic taste. However, in reality, most of the visitors were relatives and friends who were invited by the exhibitors through social media posts.

For example, Liu Chang'an brought An Nuan and her mother with him.

"The quality of this exhibition is unexpectedly high."

"Some of these works are very innovative."

"Teacher Wang is also exhibiting; he won the top prize in our office's calligraphy and painting competition."

How many people are in your office?

"Three awards: one participation award, one encouragement award, and one excellence award."

"Good."

"I saw a freshman who used a bunch of crab shells to build something that looked like an alien. That was pretty creative..."

"Yes, and there's even a student who reconstructed a chicken skeleton from leftover chicken bones; that's pretty impressive."

Listening to the conversations of other visitors, Liu Yuewang couldn't help but hesitate. What kind of exhibition was this?! Were there absolutely no entry requirements or vetting process? Wouldn't all these crab shells and chicken bones go bad?

Fortunately, it's winter, so the smell probably won't be too strong.

"Reconstructing chicken bones into a skeletal specimen is actually quite skillful, because the author didn't simply take the bones left over from eating the chicken. The specimen needs to fix the position of the bones and accurately distinguish the location of each bone. A chicken has 120 bones, and the spine is the most difficult part to work on because it has 39 individual bones. The next most difficult part is the chicken feet because the bones are too small..."

"Liu Chang'an, this chicken skeleton specimen, could it be the work you asked us to see?" Liu Yuewang asked suspiciously as she listened to Liu Chang'an's confident talk.

"Well... well... that's amazing too, definitely worth watching." The simp hesitated for a moment, then awkwardly offered her support for her boyfriend.

"Then I'm really glad this was a surprise... I didn't have to post it on my WeChat Moments to invite people to come and see. Otherwise, if my friends came to the scene and found out that I had invited them to see a pile of leftover chicken bones, I'd better keep my face at home." Liu Yuewang patted her chest. Liu Chang'an's ability was beyond doubt. She had seen his calligraphy and paintings before and thought that the works he participated in the exhibition must be of high quality. She hadn't thought of anything else at all.

"That's not my work. The skeletons of small animals are very delicate and subtle, but for exhibition purposes, large creatures like dinosaurs and whales are more suitable. Do you know giraffes? A giraffe's neck only has a few bones, isn't that interesting?"

"It's pointless."

"It's pointless."

Liu Chang'an then stopped telling stories related to the Animal World. The exhibition was free; admission was based on ID cards, and after passing through security, visitors could enter.

Liu Yuewang tried to conceal her age by pressing the numbers on her ID card, but the security guard, who was a teacher at the school, recognized Professor Liu and didn't find her attempt to hide her ID suspicious, so she was allowed through.

"Mom, there's no point in doing this. All the teachers at school know your age and recognize you. What's the use of hiding your age?" An Nuan followed behind Liu Yuewang with a puzzled look.

Liu Yuewang turned around and tried to poke An Nuan's eyes with her fingers, but fortunately An Nuan was prepared and cleverly dodged.

Liu Yuewang relentlessly slapped An Nuan a few more times. ID cards were truly terrifying. Normally, Liu Yuewang never even looked at an ID card; as long as it was used, who cared what kind of nonsense the numbers displayed on it were?

Liu Chang'an followed behind, watching the mother and daughter who seemed to get along like sisters. A slight smile appeared on his lips. He rarely shared the same view as Liu Yuewang, that was, the numbers on the ID card had no meaning for him either.

"That's really ruthless." An Nuan escaped Liu Yuewang's pursuit and came over to take Liu Chang'an's arm.

Liu Yuewang snorted. A woman's right to keep her age a secret is sacred and inviolable.

The three of them strolled around the exhibition center and ran into An Nuan's classmates Bi Wanwan, Ding Lin, and Gu Meng. Zhao Xiaotong, whom An Nuan considered a "green tea b*tch," wasn't there... which was understandable; if she was called a "green tea b*tch," how could she not even have a date during a holiday like this?

So they traveled together, which made things lively. As a result, the group, including Liu Yuewang who was initially the most disdainful, spent the most time in front of the crab shell and chicken skeleton works. On the contrary, Liu Chang'an didn't pay much attention to them. For biology students, such things are actually quite common.

"Didn't you also participate in the exhibition?" An Nuan asked Liu Chang'an as if she were just starting to talk about this topic. Her voice wasn't loud, but it was enough to attract the attention of Bi Wanwan and the others.

Since they can be amazed by things like crab shells and chicken skeletons, their boyfriends' creations will surely impress them even more.

Liu Yuewang rolled her eyes at An Nuan. This girl was really dramatic. She doted on her boyfriend all the time, always feeling like the whole world was trying to steal him from her, yet she couldn't help but brag about how outstanding, capable, and talented her boyfriend was.

For example... if she hadn't flaunted the face cream Liu Chang'an made in front of Liu Yuewang, would that whole mess have happened later?

"This way, please." Since it was his girlfriend's wish, Liu Chang'an was more than willing to oblige, gesturing as if he were her guide.

"Liu Chang'an, you're exhibiting too? I didn't know you had artistic talent!" Bi Wanwan laughed in surprise. "Looks like it's not some kind of performance art like live-streaming someone beating someone up."

"Of course not." Liu Chang'an smiled as well. After all, they were old classmates. Unlike other girls, Bi Wanwan didn't secretly look at her, but because of An Nuan, she was too shy to take the initiative to talk to him.

"An Nuan, what's your boyfriend's artwork?" Ding Lin asked An Nuan curiously. "You probably already know."

An Nuan loves to show off her boyfriend, which is common knowledge. Her social media is filled with things related to her boyfriend. I've never seen a girl cherish her boyfriend so much, like a fanatical fan.

"I just found out too." An Nuan looked at Liu Chang'an, feigning nonchalance as if she were already used to it.

Liu Yuewang opened her mouth, wanting to mock An Nuan, but then decided against it. She wanted to save face for An Nuan in front of outsiders, and besides, she needed to maintain her image. How could the elegant Professor Liu show such a sharp and sarcastic face?

The group arrived at the corridor and saw a strange painting.

The painting is seven or eight meters long, but it is missing pieces here and there. It looks like a complete scroll that has been cut into pieces. Many parts have been removed, and the remaining parts have been mounted on the back.

Seeing Liu Chang'an stop, Liu Yuewang looked at him with a puzzled expression. "This wouldn't happen to be your exhibit, would it?"

"It feels... it really feels like performance art." Bi Wanwan couldn't help but laugh. If it were a proper painting, the length of the canvas alone would be enough to amaze people.

"I really can't understand art these days." Another classmate Ding Lin, and Gu Meng also sighed, their eyes wide as they tried to understand what kind of artistic concept was being expressed.

"This... this looks like the Along the River During the Qingming Festival!"

An Nuan was also confused and stared wide-eyed. However, she and Liu Yuewang had seen the "Along the River During the Along the River During the Qingming Festival" scroll together when it was exhibited at the Forbidden City, and it left a deep impression on them.

"No. Look at this tavern below the platform. In the 'Along the River During the Along the River During the Qingming Festival' scroll, the man resting here has taken off his shirt, indicating the weather is hot... This is also a peculiar aspect of Zhang Zeduan's original work; the clothing of the pedestrians in the entire scroll makes it difficult to discern the seasons." Liu Yuewang frowned slightly as she pondered. "But in this painting, in the same location, there is a man wearing a padded jacket, indicating the weather is bitterly cold... And look at the people elsewhere; their clothing is clearly that of early spring."

"Professor Liu has a good eye," Liu Chang'an praised. When Liu Yuewang was a housewife, a young mother, and a single woman, she seemed like a vase, but in many fields she was still able to demonstrate the knowledge and experience that matched her status as a professor.

"This painting... is not any version of 'Along the River Along the River During the Qingming Festival,' but judging from the remaining parts, the painting technique is superb. It's so lifelike that it's hard to tell the difference between the real thing and the fake." Liu Yuewang approached the display case in disbelief, only snapping back to reality when her nose touched the glass. "Chang'an, did you paint this?"

"This isn't my painting. This is the original 'Along the River During the Qingming Festival'." Liu Chang'an shook his head.

"If this were the original 'Along the River During the Qingming Festival,' I'd eat it." Liu Yuewang said irritably.

"You even said you were going to eat my cheongsam." An Nuan didn't believe it either; the original "Along the River During the Along the River During the Qingming Festival" was in the Forbidden City. However, she still had to stand by her boyfriend and retort to those who questioned Liu Chang'an.

"The 'Along the River Along the River During the Qingming Festival' Zhang Zeduan in the Forbidden City is the second version presented to the emperor by Li Dao... no, it's the first version he painted," Liu Chang'an explained.

"You know so much! You speak as if it were the truth!" Bi Wanwan said with a look of admiration.

Ding Lin and Gu Meng also laughed.

Regardless of its authenticity, Liu Chang'an's exhibit is truly... truly... shocking to everyone.

"You call cutting up a painting into a mess an art exhibition piece? I think that chicken skeleton specimen is more interesting than yours." Liu Yuewang took the opportunity to strike at Liu Chang'an, mainly because she could use Liu Chang'an to severely damage An Nuan.

"Absolutely not! That chicken skeleton specimen is rotten!" An Nuan said angrily to her classmates, "You all be the judge, which one is better?"

This...

It's hard to say...

Difficult situation.

"This is not my work," Liu Chang'an said.

"No? You just said that this was your exhibit." Liu Yuewang asked curiously.

"This is what I'm exhibiting... but 'Along the River During the Qingming Festival' is just used as a backdrop; my work is in there." Liu Chang'an pointed to the bottom of the scroll.

The morning sunlight streamed through the corridor and the floor-to-ceiling windows, falling on the dark pebbles. On each of those smooth stones sat a rattan box.

The box had been quiet all along, but it was only at this moment that it attracted everyone's attention.

"Go open the box," Liu Chang'an said to An Nuan.

An Nuan was slightly surprised, but she quickly remembered something—something he had told her not long ago...

An Nuan suddenly looked up at the painting above.

Liu Yuewang also realized what was happening, and the two of them stared intently at the painting.

The other girls hadn't reacted yet; they were still staring at the box. What was Liu Chang'an up to?

"This isn't a painting, it's a piece of cloth, the leftover fabric after clothes have been made!" Liu Yuewang said through gritted teeth, feeling like she'd been tricked by Liu Chang'an again!

Liu Yuewang was Wang Jiangzi's good friend. When Wang Jiangzi made clothes herself, she would not avoid Liu Yuewang. When a whole roll of fabric with a custom pattern was used to make only one garment, the fabric had to be cut and selected according to the pattern on the fabric.

After the entire roll of fabric is cut, the pieces needed to make clothes are removed, and the remaining scraps will look like the picture before you!

"Clever," Liu Chang'an said with a smile, praising the beautiful Professor Liu.

Liu Yuewang really wanted to do what An Nuan often did: jump over and pin him to the ground, then start punching him repeatedly.

Or she could simply walk away, ignoring this infuriating scene, but she wanted to see what clothes Liu Chang'an had made for An Nuan this time.

The other girls, after hearing Liu Yuewang's explanation, finally understood and looked at An Nuan in disbelief. Had this girl saved the universe in her past life? Did one have to save the universe to find a boyfriend like this?

An Nuan was overjoyed. She quickly took the key from Liu Chang'an, opened the glass door, ran inside, and squatted down in front of the rattan box.

An Nuan turned and glanced at Liu Chang'an, Liu Chang'an nodded.

An Nuan then opened the box.

There was a dress inside the box.

At this moment, the winter sun seemed to exert all its strength, shining its intense light into the room.

The shallow stream beneath the pebbles seemed to murmur softly, stirred by the passage of time.

The beautiful young woman lifted up a skirt that had traversed a thousand years of time.

The primary fabric used was the first edition of Zhang Zeduan's "Along the River During the Along the River During the Qingming Festival" scroll.

Designer and maker: Liu Chang'an.

Its name is "Along the River During the Qingming Festival Dress".

This is dedicated to the most adorable girl An Nuan.