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Perhaps it was her bright smile that influenced the child. Li Rui hesitated before nodding.

Li Lei pulled him to sit by his side, stroking his head and giving him more pieces of the dessert while smiling. Li Rui was not often treated this way by Father. He was flattered and immediately straightened his back, working hard to showcase his best side so that Father and Aunt Ling would take a greater liking to him.

“Xiao Rui is so cute.” Xia Ling praised before wielding her brushes to paint.

The drawing of portraits required patience. It was not only hard on the painter, but on the models as well, for they had to stay still for one to two hours. Xia Ling took into consideration that the child was still young, so she did not have high expectations of him. “Xiao Rui, you can eat some dessert and chat with Father.” Only then would the child be able to stand sitting there and hopefully develop an interest.

The child obeyed happily and chatted with Father while eating the desserts. After a while, his feelings of restriction and timidness disappeared. He would even burst into laughter from time to time. Li Lei pitied the child for having been neglected by his mother and was more patient towards him. He deliberately chose some interesting topics to talk about with him. Time passed quickly.

Xia Ling drew her final stroke on the canvas and announced, “Done.”

Both the young and old rushed to look at it in excitement. Under the light and shadow, beautiful showers clustered. A handsome man was talking with his head turned to the side to a child. His expression was focused yet gentle, as if he treated the child beside him as the world’s most precious treasure. The child was looking up at him, full of admiration and respect.

“Great drawing.” Li Lei complimented his wife. “Turns out I’m so handsome.”

Xia Ling smiled while glaring lightly at him. “You’re just standing under Xiao Rui’s spotlight. Xiao Rui’s such a cute child, how could he admire an ugly person? That’s why I had to draw you a little more handsome.”

The two joked around.

Li Rui listened to them talk while glancing at the painting. He did indeed look incredibly cute in the painting. He was wearing clean clothes inside and holding onto the dainty dessert. The sunlight shone on his face as if the whole world was lit up. However, that was not what moved him most. What touched him most was the expression of Li Lei as he looked at him, so focused and gentle. It made him feel as though he were genuinely loved.

It turns out that Father really did like him...

Warmth rose in Li Rui’s heart. He reached out his hand to touch the painting.

“The painting hasn’t dried yet.” Xia Ling smiled and pulled his hand back. “Xiao Rui, if you like it, I’ll give this painting to you. I’ll get the maids to hang it in your room.”

“Really?” The child raised his head in joy.

“Of course,” Xia Ling said. “Xiao Rui, do you like to paint?”

“Yes!” The child nodded fiercely.

“Then these are yours. I’ll give these painting tools and dyes to you. If you’re interested, you can try painting yourself.” Xia Ling smiled sweetly. “You could become a great painter in the future.”

“Yes!” The child nodded fiercely again before taking the brushes from her solemnly.

In the days that followed, Li Rui did indeed develop an interest in painting. When Shaohui was in class he would be painting by himself. At first, he started painting abstract color blocks, then when he had acquired the art of composition, his painting became more realistic.

Xia Ling went to see him often. She would praise and guide him on his painting.

Glancing at the respecting and trusting gaze of the child, she would feel a little despicable sometimes. No matter how dedicated she was in teaching him, it could not hide the fact that she was simply removing a possible obstacle of Shaohui. Having an artistic brother was much better than an ambitious one.

Because of her guilt, she was even more attentive to the child.

Her guilt was so big she even invited a personal tutor. She would even personally ask after his food and clothes.

Even Xiao Hui would be a little jealous sometimes and would grumble. “Mother has been too good to Xiao Rui.” He was overwhelmed with homework these days, and could not spend time with her as much as Li Rui did. Furthermore, his time spent together with Father was not always pleasant—Sadly, when Father was teaching him the various techniques and he was inconsistent, he would hit him. He was not as gentle and patient as Mother was to Li Rui.

Xia Ling smiled. “Aunt Su Tang is not here, so Mother has to take care of him.”

Shaohui blinked his eyes, speechless. This child was clever. He had known ever since Li Lei had the conversation with him that the adults did not like Li Rui gaining too much practical knowledge. He had already guessed that Xia Ling showing concern for Li Rui was only one facet of it, but the other more frightening facet was to have Li Rui immerse himself in some useless art so that he would not pose as a threat to Shaohui in the future.

However, he also knew that there was nothing he could do about it.

He had taken to heart the good of Father and Mother, but the wrongs that Xiao Rui had faced had long been lingering in his heart. Why was there no perfect solution in this world? The child looked up wistfully at the sky. He has me as his life’s first difficulty.

Xia Ling still continued to take care of Li Rui with all her heart.

Li Rui was now much closer to Xia Ling. Under the cultivation of her and the private tutor, many of his bad habits were fixed. He no longer hit and scolded people, and he could differentiate the atmosphere and was now more patient.

Even Old Master Li was satisfied.

Old Master had indeed wanted a rich playboy, but not one that would throw the Li family’s face. It was fine if he lived his life astray, but he could not be the topic of people’s gossip and make people think that the Li family was not cultivated. In the past, Su Tang’s teaching methods had been too coarse. She had almost turned him into a city commoner, no different than that of a wild child in the mountains. However, Xia Ling was now guiding him towards the path of the arts with dedication. This would allow the child’s wild behavior to be changed into the unrestrained disposition of an artist. It was a charming temperament belonging to those of a rich family.

Old Master Li’s impression of Xia Ling slowly changed. He had thought of her as useless in the beginning, but who was to know that she would actually be well qualified for the role of the matriarch. At least in the component of educating a child, she was far ahead of Su Tang.

This day, Old Master Li was drinking tea in the yard.

Li Rui walked over to him with a painting. “Great-grandfather, great-grandfather, look at the portrait I’ve drawn of you. Is it good?” The child’s eyes shone as he awaited praise.

Old Master Li took the painting and examined it. The sketch was simple. The composition and shading were amateurish, but the drawing seemed to carry a sort of temperament that drew out the character’s traits. Old Master’s charitable and sharp gaze was life-like on the canvas. He was elated to see this and repeated “Good” many times.

Li Rui was happy to receive compliments from him. “Aunt Ling also said it was good! She said it was much better than brother’s paintings!”

Old Master Li lifted him onto his knee and asked cordially, “Aunt Ling really said that?”

“Yes!” The child nodded fiercely. His face was flushed with excitement. “She said that I was especially talented in drawing and few kids can compare to me. She also said brother does not have this kind of talent!”