Gu Nanyan's words were like a heavy hammer, striking Le Xuanji and leaving her feeling dizzy and disoriented.
She took a few steps back, clutching her chest, overwhelmed with shame.
That's right, how could the magnanimous Princess Changning ever be so petty as to forbid others from using her brushwork style to paint other subjects?
If Princess Changning were still alive, she might even praise the other person.
She had been far too narrow-minded, and she was not worthy of admiring Princess Changning.
Le Xuanji lowered her head, her entire being deflated.
Seeing his granddaughter's distress, instead of comforting her, Le Chang laughed heartily, praising Gu Nanyan for her admonition: "This girl Xuanji is too arrogant, always thinking she can do anything, acting so powerful. A few compliments as a young artist or a beautiful painter, and she gets puffed up beyond belief.
It's good that Nanyan took her down a peg, let her know that there are always greater heights and greater talents.
Come on, take a look at Nanyan's painting."
Le Xuanji, her face flushed with embarrassment, stepped forward hesitantly, and then timidly raised her head to look at the painting on the desk.
She was immediately stunned!
It was a painting of playful kittens, the kittens not rendered in great detail, but rather with just a few strokes, a lively and youthful kitten was outlined.
The entire painting was executed with no extraneous brushstrokes.
"It's painted so well," Le Xuanji murmured in awe.
Le Chang nodded: "At least you have some discernment. This painting was just done by Nanyan."
Le Xuanji was nearly dying of shame, not daring to raise her head.
How foolish she had been, boasting about being a beautiful painter, fawned over online to the point of getting a swelled head, when in reality, she couldn't even paint as skillfully as Gu Nanyan, falling far short.
As noon approached, the Le family arranged a guest room for Gu Nanyan and Zhan Yiran to rest for a while before going to the dining room for lunch.
Meanwhile, Le Xuanji ran off to the kitchen.
Le's Mother was preparing lunch with the maid when she saw her daughter come in and hastily shooed her away: "What are you doing here? You're all thumbs, you'll just get in the way."
"Mom, I want to help you cook."
Le Xuanji's face was flushed, a little embarrassed.
Le's Mother was stunned. Her daughter had always been focused solely on painting, never lending a hand with household chores. For her to suddenly want to cook was unheard of.
"Has the sun risen from the west?"
"Mom!" Le Xuanji couldn't take her mother's teasing anymore and pouted, "I just want to help you, is that so wrong?"
With that, Le Xuanji rolled up her sleeves and started washing the vegetables.
Le's Mother felt there was something off about her daughter, but couldn't quite put her finger on it, so she just chalked it up to a whim.
Oh well, let her cook if she wants to.
When lunch was ready, Gu Nanyan and Zhan Yiran went to the dining room.
The dishes were prepared lavishly and looked very appetizing.
Le Xuanji's face was flushed as she invited them: "Mrs. Zhan, Miss Zhan, please try it and let me know if you like it."
Gu Nanyan nodded: "Thank you for your hospitality, I like all these dishes."
After taking their seats, everyone began to eat.
Throughout the meal, Le Xuanji kept surreptitiously observing Gu Nanyan, silently psyching herself up before finally mustering the courage to use the shared chopsticks to serve Gu Nanyan a piece of food: "Mrs. Zhan, please try this. Do you like it?"
Gu Nanyan took a bite and immediately sensed the difference.
Having grown up accustomed to delicacies, she was highly attuned to the nuances between dishes.
The dishes she had eaten earlier were all exquisitely prepared, with impeccable knife work and flavors, clearly the handiwork of a master chef. But the piece that Le Xuanji had served her was completely different, with the pork belly strips cut unevenly, long and short, and the flavor also a bit off.
Gu Nanyan's expression changed slightly.
Noticing this, Le Xuanji, who had been surreptitiously watching her, immediately grew anxious, her heart pounding.
"How is it? Is it not good? If it's not good, just spit it out and throw it away."
Le Xuanji's eyes were reddening.
Gu Nanyan raised her gaze, giving Le Xuanji a glance, then slowly finished the sweet and sour pork belly.
Then, she dabbed her lips with a napkin and said, "The flavor of the dish is indeed a little lacking, but the sincerity behind it is precious. Compared to the other dishes, I prefer this one."
As she spoke, Gu Nanyan reached out and took Le Xuanji's left hand, pointing to the knife cut on her index finger, "You're hurt, why didn't you bandage it?"
Le Xuanji quickly pulled her hand back, hiding it behind her back, feeling very embarrassed: "It's nothing, just a little cut."
"When did you get hurt?" Le's Mother asked in surprise. She hadn't even noticed the cut on her daughter's finger, which must have happened when she was cooking.
Realizing this, Le's Mother felt both concerned and chiding: "See, I told you not to go into the kitchen since you can't cook. But you insisted on butting in, and now look, you've cut your hand."
"Mom—" Le Xuanji tried to stop her, but it was too late.
Zhan Yiran instantly understood and exclaimed in surprise: "This sweet and sour pork belly was made by you?"
Le Xuanji raised her eyes to glance quickly at Gu Nanyan, then lowered her gaze again, not daring to look at Gu Nanyan's expression: "I wanted to cook a dish myself to express my apology to Mrs. Zhan. It was all my fault, I was too arrogant and obstinate, disliking others using Princess Changning's brushwork style to paint other things, and publicly opposing it online. My thinking was too narrow.
I want to apologize to Mrs. Zhan. Will... will you forgive me?"
As she spoke, Le Xuanji's tears were threatening to fall, but she stubbornly held them back.
She couldn't cry, absolutely couldn't cry, or else Gu Nanyan might dislike her even more.
After waiting for a while without receiving a response from Gu Nanyan, Le Xuanji felt despair. She bit her lip hard, her face pale.
Wah, Gu Nanyan wouldn't forgive her.
It was all her fault, all her own doing.
Le Xuanji, Le Xuanji, this is the consequence of your arrogance and conceit!
Le Xuanji took a deep breath, intending to apologize to Gu Nanyan again, but when she raised her head, she saw Gu Nanyan having the maid bring the sweet and sour pork belly over to her side, and she ate it bite by bite.
Le Xuanji's heart skipped a beat.
Gu Nanyan wiped her mouth and turned to Le Xuanji with a slight smile: "I understand your sincerity, and I really like this dish. Not being obstinate, acknowledging your mistakes, and being willing to sincerely apologize... your character shines as bright as a crystal.
I forgive you, or rather, I never blamed you to begin with."
Le Xuanji's tears immediately welled up.
Wah~
She didn't cry when apologizing.
She didn't cry when she thought she wouldn't be forgiven.
But at this moment, Le Xuanji couldn't hold back anymore.
How could there be such a wonderful woman like Gu Nanyan in this world? How could she be so kind?
Le Xuanji couldn't control her emotions any longer and ran to the bathroom.
Watching her daughter run away without looking back, Le's Mother finally understood why her daughter had gone to the kitchen to cook earlier.
It turned out she wanted to apologize.
Tsk, tsk, tsk. Before seeing Gu Nanyan's face, she was still fuming, disdaining her. But in the blink of an eye, she was eagerly gazing at her, seeking forgiveness.
Hmph, this time, let her learn her lesson well. Let's see if she dares to listen to rumors and judge others arbitrarily because of gossip again!
