The Growth System Comes at the Age of Thirty

Chapter 117 Surprise

Tangyuan Restaurant.

While Chen Jingle was riding a small electric donkey, Li Beixing and Zhou Manlin were already sitting in the store.

Ten minutes earlier than the appointed time.

Zhou Manlin looked at Li Beixing next to her and marveled: "Why are you dressed so beautifully? I didn't ask you to go on a blind date."

Li Beixing rolled his eyes: "I should ask you this. I have never seen you dressed so beautifully before when I went shopping."

Zhou Manlin smiled and said: "That's different. I'm inviting people to dinner today. If you dress too casually, it would be a bit disrespectful. What about you?"

Li Beixing pushed his hair behind his ears: "Same!"

"Hey~~"

Zhou Manlin saw through her thoughts at a glance: "Why are you still nervous?"

Li Beixing snorted softly: "Why are you so nervous? I don't know what you are talking about."

"You're so tough-mouthed, Xingbao~"

"Ha~!"

The two joked with each other.

At this time, Zhou Manlin's eyes lit up: "Hey, he's here."

Li Beixing quickly followed her line of sight and saw Chen Jingle leisurely walking in.

Zhou Manlin pretended to be surprised: "Dress up carefully and look even more handsome than the last time we met. Oops, I'm a little excited."

Li Beixing: "..."

Did you do this on purpose?

Seeing how angry she was, Zhou Manlin couldn't help covering her mouth and burst into laughter. It was so interesting.

Li Beixing said angrily: "Okay, okay, they're coming in, don't talk nonsense later!"

"Okay, beg me." Zhou Manlin smiled.

Li Beixing clenched his fist: "Zhou Manlin, wait!"

…

"Sorry for being late."

Chen Jingle was a little embarrassed.

He was already almost 10 minutes ahead of the agreed time, and he never expected to be the last one to arrive.

Zhou Manlin smiled and waved her hand: "No, no, it's not the appointed time yet. I came in advance to confirm the appointment. There are a lot of people today. I'm afraid they will take advantage of my absence and give the seat I reserved to others. Then I have to Wait.”

"Aren't they afraid of bad reputation?" Chen Jingle was surprised.

Zhou Manlin blinked: "It's similar to overbooking by airlines, because some customers may not be able to come on time. They just need to make room before the customers come."

"I understand." Chen Jingle suddenly realized.

Li Beixing said nothing, and his eyes fell on the bag Chen Jingle was carrying.

Chen Jingle put the bag on the table, smiled and said to Li Beixing: "Boss Long's two paintings, please help Mr. Li transfer them to Boss Liu for me."

"OK."

This was something that Li Beixing had promised before, and Li Beixing did not refuse.

Chen Jinngle took out another scroll from the bag: "Then there is your portrait, I also painted it and brought it over with me."

Hearing this, Li Beixing was suddenly stunned.

ah? Is this already painted?

Chen Jingle didn't tell her before, so she thought she would have to wait for a while, but she was suddenly pleasantly surprised, and her anticipation was mixed with a little embarrassment.

"What portrait? Chen Jinngle, can you draw?" Zhou Manlin was surprised.

Chen Jingle said with a smile: "I just painted it for fun. I didn't expect anyone to like it."

Zhou Manlin turned to look at Li Beixing: "Xing Bao, why didn't you tell me?"

Li Beixing glanced at her: "You didn't ask."

This time it was Zhou Manlin who bared her teeth.

Li Beixing looked at Chen Jingle with an expression of joy and anticipation: "Is the painting really done?"

Chen Jingle said with a smile: "I just don't know if you can accept this style of painting."

"Open it quickly and take a look!" Zhou Manlin urged.

She was very curious about Chen Jingle's painting skills. She had only seen the calligraphy works posted on WeChat Moments before, and she thought they looked pretty good. He shouldn't be a deceitful person.

Li Beixing slowly unfolded his own painting.

Hiss~!

When the painting was fully unfolded, Zhou Manlin's eyes widened and she took a deep breath.

She also studied art. Although she changed careers later, she still had the basic skills in art-related industries, so she was more shocked than Li Beixing.

This is just because the portrait that Chen Jingle painted for Li Beixing blends freehand brushwork and realism very well. It looks like freehand brushwork, but there is also a fine brushwork structure in the freehand brushwork. The overall character looks realistic, but it is not entirely realistic.

However, every part of the two feels very harmonious and not obtrusive.

The characters in the painting have bright eyes, white teeth, and bright smiles, perfectly replicating the appearance of Li Beixing himself. Not only that, Zhou Manlin was stunned for a moment.

Teachers and professors in Guangmei may not be able to draw Chinese paintings of this quality.

sharp!

She couldn't help but ask: "What is your relationship with Mr. Bai Bohua?"

There are faint shadows of Bai Bohua's paintings of ladies in this painting, but not much.

Chen Jingle shook his head: "It doesn't matter, but I really like Mr. Bai's style and characteristics, and I learned a lot from his works."

"Then who is your teacher?" Zhou Manlin was curious.

Chen Jingle still shook his head: "I don't have a teacher, I taught myself."

Zhou Manlin's eyes widened with an expression like "Are you **** kidding me?"

As an art student, she knows very well that having a teacher to guide her and not having a teacher to guide her are two completely different concepts.

If someone told her that she could become a master of traditional Chinese painting through self-study, she would think the other person was stupid.

With the development of Chinese painting to this day, no matter how many people stand on the shoulders of their predecessors, they cannot become masters. You are a self-taught person, so why do you?

impossible!

Absolutely impossible!

Li Beixing couldn't help but snicker: "You're silly, Chen Jingle is indeed self-taught. His talent is very good, or very good, and his progress is super fast. It makes no difference to him whether he has a teacher or not."

"Are you really self-taught?" Zhou Manlin couldn't believe it.

Li Beixing spread his hands helplessly: "We must admit that people's talents are different."

"I know, but..." Zhou Manlin frowned, looking at Chen Jingle like an alien, unable to accept this fact for a while.

Li Beixing was very satisfied, his eyes turned into crescent moons: "The painting is really good, thank you!"

Chen Jingle waved his hand quickly: "You're welcome, as long as you like it. As I promised before, if it weren't for Teacher Li's help, I wouldn't be able to sell so many works."

Li Beixing couldn't help but said, "Can you stop calling me Teacher Li all the time? Just call me by my name."

Chen Jinngle paused when he heard this and smiled: "Sorry, I'm used to it."

Li Beixing rolled his eyes and hummed slightly.

Zhou Manlin looked left and right and found it very interesting.

Oh~

…

At this time, Chen Jingle took out a double-palm-sized wooden photo frame from the bag: "By the way, this is for you, Miss Zhou."

"Huh? Me?"

Check out the 16-9 book bar and see the correct version!

Zhou Manlin was stunned at first, then took it and took a look. It turned out to be a calligraphy work placed in a photo frame, with two lines of small characters written on it:

"Always smile and good luck will come naturally."

The black font, white background, red seal, and wood-colored photo frame all go together well.

Immediately surprised: "Are you sure it's for me?"

Chen Jingle smiled: "As long as it's not too crude."

Zhou Manlin was very satisfied with this gift.

"How can I dislike it? This gift is great! Thank you, I like it very much!"

This word is unusual at first glance, full of charm and classy. You can put it on your desk as a decoration later and keep it well.

Look at people, they give gifts so elegantly.

She showed off the photo frame to Li Beixing: "Xingbao, doesn't it look good?"

With a hint of helplessness, Li Beixing smiled fondly and said: "Chen Jingle's current calligraphy level is no worse than those of the famous calligraphers in the calligraphy association, so just enjoy it secretly!"

"That being said, I did make money."

Zhou Manlin was surprised and smiled at Chen Jingle and said, "But I didn't prepare a gift, so I can only give it to you next time."

Chen Jingle waved his hand: "Ms. Zhou invited me to dinner. It's already very good. There is no need to talk about gifts."

"Eating is a thank you, and gifts are exchanges. They are two different things."

"No need."

“…”

Li Beixing couldn't bear to see the two people being so polite, so he had no choice but to interrupt: "Okay, okay, don't be polite anymore, put it away first. If you continue to be so polite, I'm afraid I won't be able to finish the meal."

Chen Jingle smiled sheepishly, while Zhou Manlin had an angry expression: "I know."

He turned to Chen Jingle and said, "Let's order first, and you can see what you want to eat."

"I've never been here before, just order." Chen Jingle waved his hand without taking the menu.

Zhou Manlin was not polite: "Then let me have some. Are there any taboos?"

Chen Jingle pondered for two seconds: "Except for the internal organs, everything else is fine."

Zhou Manlin tilted her head and looked at Li Beixing, winking: "Oh, just like Xing Bao."

"It's just a normal dietary taboo. What a fuss." Li Beixing rolled his eyes at her.

Chen Jingle chuckled: "Everyone has foods they don't like to eat. Some are physical discomforts, some are psychological discomforts. It's just individual differences. I feel that the internal organs of animals have an earthy smell."

Li Beixing's eyes lit up: "Yes, it just smells earthy. I told them and they all thought there was something wrong with my nose and tongue."

I have found a soulmate.

"Okay, okay, then I won't eat the offal. There are plenty of choices on the menu."

Zhou Manlin ordered three signature dishes, secret crispy roast chicken, cheese beef balls, and stir-fried seasonal vegetables.

"Would you like some Xingbao?"

Li Beixing thought for a while: "How about adding soup? Or dessert?"

Zhou Manlin thought for two seconds: "Soup, I remember the tangerine peel duck soup here is good. The dessert is a bit high in calories. I have lost weight recently."

Li Beixing glanced at her round figure and didn't want to say anything. He pinched Zhou Manlin's fleshy leg under the table, earning a look.

Chen Jingle had no objection, he was only responsible for eating.

…

This restaurant serves food very quickly.

The first thing that was served was the duck soup with tangerine peel.

One cup per person, a lot of portion.

The ingredients of tangerine peel, cordyceps flower, and shelduck are simple, but they are stewed at just the right temperature and taste delicious. It is indeed good, but Chen Jingle thinks there is room for improvement.

Followed by the secret crispy roast chicken.

The color and aroma are very good. Chen Jingle tasted a piece and the taste was okay, at least worthy of the environment and price.

When you clip the second piece, you can roughly tell how it is done.

It’s not difficult to reproduce.

The third dish is cheese beef balls.

Chen Jingle was more curious about this dish.

There are only three on a plate, so the portion is a bit small, but the beef **** are quite big, bigger than table tennis balls.

Zhou Manlin used serving chopsticks to pick up one for Chen Jingle: "Try it, I think their cheese and beef **** are very good. It is an innovative dish. I should have learned from White Swan, but theirs only adds some cheese on the surface, and the beef is more." . And the beef has tangerine peel, which I think tastes better than the white swan one.”

"Uh, thank you, I can do it myself."

Chen Jingle was flattered, but more unnaturally.

Li Beixing: "..." He silently kicked Zhou Manlin under the table.

What are you doing?

Doesn’t he have any hands himself and wants you to pick up food for him? !

Zhou Manlin turned her head and looked over, her expression unchanged, but there was a smile in her eyes.

Hey, she's in a hurry. She's in a hurry.

You should take the initiative. Did they call you out to make you the mascot?

(End of chapter)