“Is it… pretty good?”
Shang Wu blinked and patted Li Mo on the shoulder.
She didn’t understand this aspect, but upon a cursory look, it indeed was quite good.
“It’s not bad.”
Ying Bing gently nodded, her eyes showing some surprise.
Even without painting the face, she could recognize it was her.
This meant that the control over the atmosphere and flavor had reached a level of three parts mastery, possessing a divine charm.
“It’s just a trivial strength of mine.”
Li Mo curled his lips.
He wasn’t being modest; he really did have the skill.
This level of proficiency was the result of sixty years of dedication!
However.
As he watched Ying Bing’s gaze linger on the artwork for a long time with a somewhat dazed expression.
Little Li’s heart suddenly wasn’t so pained anymore.
“Why didn’t you paint her face?” Shang Wu pointed to the blank face of the girl in the painting.
Li Mo helplessly said,
“The first time I painted a portrait, I thought about drawing a smiling face.”
“And the composition of this painting depicts the brilliant scene of midsummer. If the person isn’t smiling, it would ruin the overall atmosphere.”
“Not just a smile…”
Shang Wu recalled before she finished speaking.
She seemed to have never seen Ying Bing’s smile.
Li Mo also couldn’t recall it.
In his memory, Ying Bing rarely showed a smile, as rare as the sun rising from the west.
Not to mention seeing her smile.
He couldn’t even imagine what an ice chunk would look like when smiling.
“Little Ice, why don’t you… give it a try?”
Shang Wu egged her on.
Ying Bing lightly frowned, lowering her head in contemplation, somewhat troubled.
But.
Since she owed Li Mo a favor,
Having agreed to be his model until the completion of the artwork.
She could only…
Ying Bing raised her lips like bits of jade, narrowing her eyes slightly, trying hard to make her cold face show a smile.
“Huh…”
Is it beautiful?
Yes.
But…
“Sss…”
Li Mo and Shang Wu leaned back slightly, feeling a chill rush to their heads.
That’s a smile, or rather a cold smirk!
Cold and emotionless, like a bright moon looking down at all life, silently saying two words:
“Ants.”
If drawn like this, the painting would definitely be rated 18+.
Any adult who sees it would be directly scared into developing psychological trauma.
“What should we do…”
Li Mo pondered for a moment, suddenly looking cross-eyed (refer to Xiao Pu Jie’s profile picture) and made a funny face.
“Pfft… Hahaha, are you silly?”
Shang Wu held her stomach, laughing uncontrollably.
“?”
Ying Bing’s frown deepened even more, not understanding this perplexing behavior.
Li Mo helplessly returned to a normal expression and earnestly said,
“It seems it’s time for the King of Jokes to make an appearance!”
“Today, I will surely make you laugh!”
The Qiushui Pavilion Comedy Challenge begins!
First up is our beautiful master, contestant Shang Wu.
With a solemn face and a determined heart, she vows to make Ice Chunk laugh!
She started with a serious look.
“There’s a little butterfly, she was flying, then suddenly she got so hungry she couldn’t fly anymore… Hahaha… Then… Then.”
The joke wasn’t finished.
She herself laughed so hard she was almost out of breath.
“Then… she fell into the mud and drowned, Hahaha…”
Shang Wu held her own stomach, laughing so hard she couldn’t catch her breath.
“?”
Li Mo and Ying Bing exchanged glances.
Is this funny?
Where’s the humor?
“So master, where’s the punchline of your joke?” Li Mo asked.
“Starved to d*ath by mud butterflies (Shaanxi dialect).”
A friendly reminder: There are functions to switch between Simplified and Traditional Chinese, adjust font size, and change reading background color at the top right corner.
Simplified Traditional
Shang Wu wiped away tears and said.
Ke Mo: “…”
What a lame pun.
Due to contestant Shang Wu using a pun and losing points, Judge Little Ke and Judge Ice Chunk decided to disqualify her from the competition.
Well.
Mainly because Master’s joke was as funny as sh*t, if it were any longer, she would have died laughing before finishing it.
Please welcome contestant Little Ke!
Ke Mo decided to use his ultimate move:
“There’s a person whose fart sounds particularly loud, guess why?”
“Why?”
Shang Wu shook her head.
Ke Mo: “Because he wore bell-bottom pants.”
“Hahahaha…”
“Hmm?”
Ying Bing tilted her head, looking at Shang Wu, who was laughing uncontrollably, not understanding.
Is this supposed to be funny?
“Not laughing?”
Little Ke’s competitive spirit flared up.
He didn’t believe it!
…
Half an hour later.
Little Ke looked suspiciously at everyone.
Master’s abs were nearly bursting from laughter, exclaiming she couldn’t take it anymore.
Ice Chunk’s head had more and more question marks.
Ke Mo was parched and lost faith.
He deeply doubted that Ice Chunk had no sense of humor at all.
“I’m really stupid, really.”
“Ah, give up, Little Ice probably doesn’t like to laugh anyway. Your jokes are really great.”
Shang Wu caught her breath and shook her head.
“Ah, how can I make her laugh?”
Ke Mo racked his brains, using a brush to poke his mouth.
Maybe he was too serious about telling jokes.
He didn’t notice that he was holding the brush upside down, leaving ink stains on his handsome face.
“Pfft…”
“Master, don’t laugh at me.”
Ke Mo helplessly wiped his mouth, only to smear the ink stains, making his face look like a black cat cop.
“It’s not me.”
Shang Wu shook her head doubtfully.
Right.
The soft laughter came again, but clearly, Master was talking to him.
“Hmm?”
Ke Mo was stunned, turning around to look.
The sunset still had a trace of light, struggling not to set.
This trace of light happened to illuminate the young girl, making her ice-like eyes flicker with light and shadow.
The gentle evening breeze ruffled her hair, blurring her face and slightly upturned lips.
But the new painter reflected in her eyes was so clear.
Ke Mo suddenly felt unable to sense the passage of time, as if time had stopped.
A world-famous painting was right in front of him.
“What are you waiting for, get to work.”
Shang Wu patted his shoulder.
“Aoao.”
Ke Mo quickly regained his composure.
Concentrating, he added a delicate smile to the blank face of the girl in the painting.
For some reason.
After these few strokes, he felt his mind empty and fatigue washed over him.
“Is it done? Is it done?”
Shang Wu leaned over.
“This… is me?”
Ying Bing also stared fixedly.
The girl in the painting felt both unfamiliar and familiar to her.
Because even she couldn’t remember what her smile looked like.
However.
Under Ke Mo’s brush, a few strokes captured the essence perfectly.
Coldness and brilliance were perfectly blended together.
This smile seemed eternal, lifelike, as if another version of her stood quietly before her.
She looked at it under the moonlight, a strange emotion spreading in her heart.
Rustling—
The evening wind blew, rustling the leaves.
