Endless Fall

85 Admiring the Paintings

Lin Jiao looked around expectantly.

When she saw Monet’s painting, “The Woman With an Umbrella ”, she was indescribably happy and couldn’t stop herself from smelling.

The woman in the painting was standing in the grass with an umbrella, her scarf and white dress fluttering in the wind.

Although the figure was blurry, one could still feel the beauty of the painting.

“Uncle, do you know who she is?” Lin Jiao asked Pei Zhi with a smile.

“Monet’s wife, Kamei.”

“No, the one with Kamei in it is in Washington.”

Pei Zhi recalled the painting from his memory and indeed found something different from the one in front of him.

He asked in confusion, “Then who is she?”

“The daughter of Monet’s second wife.”

“Not his biological daughter?”

“No. Suzanne is the child of Monet’s wife and brother.”

Pei Zhi could not comment on their complicated relationship.

He looked at the “Water Lotus” not far away. After she finished appreciating “The Woman With the Umbrella”, he led her over.

While they were discussing, Qu Shao, who had no clue whatsoever about arts, slowed down.

He walked over to Van Gogh’s Self-Portrait and handed the phone to Ven Olle. “Help me take a photo.”

Seeing that Qu Shao only wanted to take photos of Van Gogh’s paintings from the beginning to the end, Ven Olle said curiously, “Don’t you want to look at the works of Renaud and Degas?”

“No.” Qu Shao only knew Van Gogh.

He posted the photos he had just taken on WeChat and wrote. “Van Gogh is irreplaceable in my heart.”

“Which painting do you like best?”

“The one with a villa.”

Ven Olle was confused for a long time.

He leaned over and stared at Qu Shao’s phone. He couldn’t help but punch him. “Idiot! This is a church.”

Qu Shao smiled awkardly.

He turned off the screen and said seriously, “Is church not a house? I think you’re an idiot.”

“Churches are different from houses.”

“Different in what way? Aren’t they all made of granite?”

“You’re just quibbling.”

They discussed the topic of houses and churches for a long time. Two hours later, they were still talking about it.

“Aren’t you thirsty?” When Lin Jiao was led out of the museum by Pei Zhi, she looked back.

“A little.” Qu Shao swallowed his saliva. “I was too busy quibbling with him to even look at the sculptures downstairs.”

“Then why don’t you go in and take a look?”

“No need.” He couldn’t understand the scriptures anyway. “Where are we going next?”

“Church of the Sacred Heart.” Ven Olle found a parking spot and got into the driver’s seat. “There’s a restaurant called LeCoqRico nearby that’s not bad.”

“What’s their signature dish?”

“Roast chicken.”

Lin Jiao’s appetite was aroused.

She looked out the window at the traffic and got out of the car with them to walk to LeCoqRico at the entrance of an alley.

While waiting for food, they chatted about their upcoming plans and cut down the places they did not have to go to under Ven Olle’s suggestion.

“I’ll book a ticket to Disneyland first.” Qu Shao opened the ticketing app. After paying, he asked, “Boss, when are we going back?”

“Three o’clock on the sixth.”

“We got tiem then.”

“Yes.” Pei Zhi rolled up his sleeves and wiped the juice that Lin Jiao accidentally spilled on the table. “We can rest for a day when we get back.”

Lin Jiao drank the rest of the juice. When she smiled, the corners of her eyes curled up slightly like a hook.

She rested her chin on her palm and stroked her skin with her jade-like fingertips. “I’ll have to start working for President Pei again in a few days.”

“You don’t want to work?”

“I do, but I want a salary raise more.”

“Me too!” Qu Shao’s eyes lit up when he heard the salary raise. “Boss, can you give us a raise when we get back?”

“Alright.” Pei Zhi agreed readily.

He looked at the roasted chicken on the table. As the waiter cut the chicken into pieces, he asked Lin Jiao, “What’s your salary now?”

“Five thousand.”

“That low?”

Lin Jiao’s expression did not change. “I just passed the probation period at the end of last month. I don’t have much bonus yet.”

There were too many departments in Sheng Heng Corp, so Pei Zhi could not always pay attention to the salaries of his employees.

He looked at Qu Shao, who said, “Most employees of the planning department earn about 8,000 to 15,000 yuan a month.”

“What about the team leader?”

“Team Leader is between fifteen and twenty thousand.”

Pei Zhi picked up a piece of chicken and placed it on her plate. He then asked her about her career plan, “Do you want to stay in the planning department?”

“At the moment, yes.”

Lin Jiao tasted the crispy meat on the outside and tender on the inside. “I’ll think about other things when I get promoted to team leader.”

“Okay.” Pei Zhi knew that she wanted to learn something from her job.

He suppressed his urge to promote her to be his secretary. “With your ability, you can even be promoted to supervisor.”

“I think so too,” Qu Shao agreed.

As time passed, the golden sun hanging in the sky fell from the west and alternated with the bright moon before rising from the east.

The car carrying the four of them drove through the streets of Paris and headed east against the sun. It stopped outside the gate of the Disney.

Paris Disney was divided into two parks: Disney Studios and Disneyland. The former was suitable for exciting and adventurous activities, while the latter was suitable for taking photos and watching fireworks at night.

“Do you want to play this?” Ven Olle turned to ask them, pointing at an old house.

“What’s that?”

“A haunted house.”

Driven by curiosity, Lin Jiao agreed.

She followed them into the haunted house set up in the hotel and was led by the staff to watch a video in the hall.

The theme of the haunted house was that on the night of October 31, the hotel was struck by lightning, causing an elevator filled with passengers to be transported to the underworld.

Just looking at the scene flashing in the video, Lin Jiao felt an indescribable nervousness.

She glanced at the spiderweb above her head and leaned against Pei Zhi. “Uncle, I think it’s better if you hold my hand.”

“I’ve been holding your hand, haven’t I?” Pei Zhi looked at her slender wrist.

“This kind of hand-holding doesn’t work.” She pursed her lips, her gaze never leaving his face. “It’s too easy to get pushed away.”