Zi Yi was a little surprised. “Haven’t you already been assigned after graduating from military school?”

“I rejected the assignment.” Situ Feng clenched his hands and wanted to hold them tightly. However, his strong self-control made him stop himself. “My dream is to join the Third Young Master Lu’s secret guards. Compared to guarding, I prefer to be in the forefront.”

“Yunxiao’s secret guards are a private entity. You can join the special forces instead”

“It’s not the same. I only wish to join the Third Young Master Lu’s secret guards.”

Zi Yi stared at Situ Feng’s side profile and said, “To work under Yunxiao, it’s not as easy as you think. Also…”

Zi Yi originally wanted to say that one had to have special skills to work under Yunxiao. However, she changed her mind about saying that and instead said, “I’ll mention this to Yunxiao when I return, but I cannot guarantee that he will want you.”

Situ Feng immediately answered, “Thank you Doctor Zi. I will try my best to fight for a place.”

Zi Yi nodded and took her leave.

Situ Feng waited for Zi Yi’s car to drive some distance away before he turned and walked back. Not long later, he saw Situ Qin standing nearby.

“Brother, you really thought things through?” Situ Qin revealed a complicated expression.

Situ Feng nodded in all seriousness. “This is my dream.”

“But… I heard that the tasks that the Third Young Master Lu takes on are all the most dangerous tasks. The moment you join them, your life would not belong to yourself anymore.”

Situ Qin bit her lips and controlled her emotions. A few seconds later, she said, “You are the only male in our family and if you were to…”

“There’s still you around in the family.” Situ Feng interrupted her and said firmly, “Men and women are the same. As long as you have the capability.”

“That’s not what I meant!” Situ Qin stomped her foot anxiously. “Father died on the battlefield and Mother followed him and passed away. In our family right now, there are only the two of us and our Grandfather. If you were to… what would happen to Grandfather?”

Speaking of this, Situ Qin wiped her eyes and stared at him with reddened eyes.

Situ Feng pursed his lips, and his eyes revealed his determination. “I can only avenge our father by becoming the Third Young Master Lu’s subordinate.”

Situ Qin felt her body stiffen. Her hands clenched into fists but she did not say anything but turned around and ran away.

…

Zi Yi directly headed to the School of Fine Arts to fetch Dou Xiangling.

Dou Xiangling was carrying a cardboard box in her hands and there were a few scrolls and painting tools in it.

After she put the cardboard box in the trunk, she sat in the car and said with a smile, “Ian called earlier and said that he will arrive in the afternoon.”

Zi Yi: “…I didn’t expect that he would really come.”

Dou Xiangling looked at Zi Yi in a funny way. She had frequent contact with Ian these days and he had been paying special attention to their art gallery. She felt that it was normal for Ian to rush over and attend the first art exhibition in their art gallery.

“Ian has contributed a lot and he also mentioned before that he’s looking forward to the opening of our art gallery.”

“Oh…”

Zi Yi was speechless.

Dou Xiangling saw Zi Yi’s reaction and changed the topic. She told her about which professors she would be visiting later.

The professors of the School of Fine Arts lived outside the North Gate.

“It just so happens that the professors stay close to each other. It’s not troublesome to send them the invitations.”

The two of them arrived at the staff residential area outside the North Gate. The weather was fine today and in addition, the professors were all on holiday. When their car drove past, there were many professors and their family members taking a stroll and testing in the winter sunshine.

After Zi Yi and Dou Xiangling finished delivering the invitation, they did not stop and headed to Elder Bai’s home.

Elder Bai who finally got to see Zi Yi would certainly not let her leave easily.

“You lass. You would say that you’re busy every time I call you. Now that you’re here, don’t even think of leaving so easily.”

Zi Yi smiled gleefully and said, “Elder Bai, if you don’t let me go, I’ll stay in your house like a leech and eat all your food.”

“Go ahead and eat and drink however you like.”

Before Zi Yi and Dou Xiangling arrived, they had called Elder Bai in advance. He immediately got his daughter-in-law to buy tons of delicious snacks and all of which were placed on the table in the living room. They had been piled up like a mountain.

“See that? Those are all yours. If you don’t finish them today, don’t even think about leaving.”

Zi Yi’s eyes widened at the sight of the sheer quantity of snacks.

Dou Xiangling and Elder Bai’s family members who were standing beside her chuckled.

Zi Yi looked away and said, “My cousin and I still have to send out invitations.”

“Haha.” Elder Bai was already prepared in advance. He asked his son to bring his phone and said, “Tell me who else you are inviting. I’ll call them all to my house. It just so happens that we can also have a chat about painting.”

Zi Yi: “…”

Dou Xiangling who was standing by the side and smiling was certainly willing to send out all the invitations in one go and so, she mentioned the names of those who they had yet to deliver the invitations to.

They were all from the Painting and Calligraphy Association. With a phone call, Elder Bai had gathered all of them.

When everyone arrived, the first thing they did was to have Zi Yi paint a painting. After she was done, everyone sat down together and talked about the Painting and Calligraphy Association.

Elder Gu asked, “There will be several big competitions in the Painting and Calligraphy Association from April to June next year. Also, the art students will begin to take advancement examinations. Little Yi, do you want to come over and be an invigilator then?”

Zi Yi shook her head without a second thought. “I don’t have time.”

Elder Zhang admonished her. “You lass. You always say you don’t have time. Our country’s Painting and Calligraphy Association is so popular but if you go out, no one recognizes you at all.”

Zi Yi revealed an expression as if it did not matter to her. “Why does it matter if they recognize me or not? I don’t rely on my face either.”

Elder Bai laughed cheerfully. “Now that you mention it, I think that you will also do well even if you just rely on your face.”

…

Zi Yi and Dou Xiangling remained at Elder Bai’s house until 4 p.m. before they left.

The moment they got in the car, Zi Yi received Ian’s phone call.

Ian said, “Zi, I have arrived in the capital. It’s my treat tonight, let’s go to your bar for a drink.”

Before Zi Yi could reply Ian added. “You can also invite Xiangling over. It’s fun with more people around.”

Zi Yi tilted her head and looked at Dou Xiangling. “My cousin is with me right now. You can ask her to come along yourself if you want to.”

Ian suddenly remained silent. A few seconds later, he said, “I’ll be hanging up then. I’ll give Xiangling a call.”

Dou Xiangling was sitting close to Zi Yi and she had heard what Ian said. She opened her mouth and in the next second, her phone started ringing.

Zi Yi looked at Dou Xiangling who stared at her phone without answering and asked, “Why don’t you answer it?”

Dou Xiangling looked at her phone and said, “I don’t want Ian to have any misunderstandings of my intentions.”

Zi Yi raised her brows. “You know he’s trying to woo you?”

“Yes.” It’s not like she had a low EQ, how could she not know?

She looked distressed.

Zi Yi took her phone and said, “You don’t really feel uncomfortable with him and even if you can’t be in a relationship with him right now, it’s also good to treat him as a friend. Why think about it so much?”

Dou Xiangling looked at her.

Zi Yi winked at her and purposely joked around. “Ian is our investor and even if you don’t like him, we should still try to extort more money from him.”

Dou Xiangling was speechless. “…”