Huayu97: Starting with Wu Song Fighting the Tiger

The lingering melody of Li Yijun's "Rain Butterfly" still echoed among the red walls of the Forbidden City, its tender and poignant beauty even lending a touch of gentleness to the bare winter blossoms. Liu Xiang stood at the foot of the steps of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, listening intently, when out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of a large group of people gathered at the foot of the eastern palace wall. Their chatter, like that of sparrows, utterly disrupted the solemnity of the courtyard.

He walked in that direction with a frown, and Li Yijun and Fan Xiaoxuan followed his gaze, their smiles instantly fading.

On the open ground beneath the palace wall, a man in a woolen overcoat was holding a paintbrush, gesturing at the canvas on the easel. Standing in front of him were a man and a woman; the man wore bell-bottoms and his hair was permed like ramen noodles, while the woman was wrapped in a mink coat, her face covered in so much powder that half a pound could be scraped off. The two of them were posing in an extremely awkward manner.

The man placed his pinky finger on the woman's shoulder, while the woman swayed her hips, her high heels landing directly on the red wall beside them.

What infuriated Liu Xiang the most was that the man with the ramen-noodle hair was still clutching a freshly broken branch, grinning as he gestured at the woman's mink coat, shouting, "Doesn't this look more artistic, Painter Wang? This withered branch paired with a beautiful woman, absolutely stunning!"

The man called Painter Wang squinted at it, nodded in approval, and said, "Not bad, not bad at all! Destruction is the sublimation of art! This broken branch is just an eyesore; breaking it off is perfect!"

"Sublimation my ass!" Liu Xiang's temper flared up instantly. In his previous life, he had seen many so-called artists in the news who did whatever they wanted because they had some fame, destroying cultural relics and historical sites under the guise of creation. He never expected that he would actually witness this real-life incident today.

Fan Xiaoxuan's face turned red with anger. She grabbed Liu Xiang's arm and stomped her feet, saying, "Brother Liu Xiang, how could they do this? Are the trees in the Forbidden City something you can just break off like that?"

Li Yujun frowned, her voice filled with anger: "This is outrageous! This is a national cultural relic protection unit; how can we let them run rampant like this!"

Liu Xiang gritted his teeth and glanced around. He happened to see a tourist with a Seagull brand camera taking pictures of the palace. He immediately walked over and took out fifty yuan from his pocket.

"Comrade, could I borrow your camera? I'll pay you, I just want to take a few photos." Liu Xiang's tone was urgent, but her eyes were fixed on Paomiantou, who was still breaking branches.

The tourist was an upright man; he had disliked that group of people from the start. Upon hearing that Liu Xiang wanted to take photos as evidence, he immediately shoved the camera at him, waving his hand and saying, "No need to pay! These people are outrageous! I've wanted to take pictures for a while, but I didn't dare go up! Go ahead and take the pictures, but make sure they're clear!"

Liu Xiang thanked them and rushed over with his camera. Without wasting words with the group, he pointed the camera directly at the twig in the instant noodle-head's hand and the incongruous painting on Wang the painter's easel, snapping away furiously.

The flashes of light were particularly dazzling in the winter sun, making it difficult for the group to open their eyes.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Painter Wang, his eyes stinging from the flash, put down his brush and rushed over, reaching for Liu Xiang's camera. "Who gave you permission to take these pictures? Hand over the film!"

Liu Xiang dodged to the side, shielding her camera to her chest, and said with a sneer, "I'm taking pictures of you! How dare you damage the trees and walls of the Forbidden City in broad daylight, and yet you dare to talk so shamelessly about art here? I think you've got no shame whatsoever!"

The woman in the mink coat walked over, hands on her hips, and shrieked, "Where did this brat come from? Do you know who our painter Wang is? He's a famous artist from the Beijing Academy of Painting and Calligraphy, he even has connections with the leaders! If you know what's good for you, hand over the film reel right now, or you'll regret it!"

Liu Xiang sized her up, then curled her lip and said, "Famous artist? I think she's more infamous! You think connections can get you to damage cultural relics? Let me tell you, I'm not handing in this film roll today!"

As he spoke, he raised his camera again and took a picture of the woman's high heels on the red wall, muttering, "Take a clear picture, preserve all the evidence of this damage to cultural relics, and then send it to the cultural relics bureau to see how you explain yourselves!"

"You!" Painter Wang's face turned green with anger, and he reached out to shove Liu Xiang. Liu Xiang was prepared and grabbed his wrist with her own. Painter Wang cried out in pain, his face contorting like a panda's.

"What's going on?" Just then, several Palace Museum staff members wearing blue uniforms walked over quickly. The one in the lead was an old man wearing a red armband and holding a megaphone. He looked very serious.

As soon as the staff arrived, the painter Wang immediately changed his tune, clutching his wrist and crying out for justice: "Comrade, comrade, you've come at the right time! This guy took my picture for no reason and even hit me! You have to stand up for me!"

The woman in the mink coat chimed in, adding fuel to the fire: "Exactly! He even accused us of damaging trees! We were just sketching here, we didn't damage anything!"

Liu Xiang sneered, handed the camera to the old man in the red armband, pointed to the photos inside, and said, "Grandpa, look for yourself! This photo clearly shows the branch in his hand, the painting on his easel, and the lady's shoe print on the red wall next to him! Whether it's vandalism or not is obvious at a glance!"

The elderly man in the red armband took the camera and flipped through the photos one by one, his face growing increasingly grim. Several staff members behind him also came over to look, and after reading them, they were all furious.

"Wang Jianguo! It's you again!" The old man in the red armband finally recognized the painter Wang, and he glared angrily, blowing his beard. "Last time you broke off a branch of winter plum blossom for sketching at the Summer Palace and were criticized in an internal notice. This time you actually dare to come to the Forbidden City to cause trouble? You really have a lot of nerve!"

Wang Jianguo's face turned pale instantly, and he stammered, unable to speak.

The woman with the instant noodle hair and the mink coat panicked and shrank back, not daring to utter a sound.

Taking the opportunity, Liu Xiang said, "Sir, I've taken all these photos. I can develop the film and give it to you. Also, I just saw that they broke off more than one branch, and there are trampled marks on the bushes over there!"

The elderly man in the red armband nodded and said to the staff behind him, "Xiao Li, go over there and take a look, and photograph the scene! Xiao Zhang, go and register their identification documents!"

After saying that, he looked at Liu Xiang, a hint of approval on his face: "Young man, thank you! If you hadn't taken photos as evidence in time, who knows how these people would have tried to argue their case!"

Liu Xiang smiled and said, "Grandpa, the Forbidden City is a national treasure; how can we let them ruin it!"

As he spoke, he took out the fifty yuan he had prepared to give to the tourist and handed it to the tourist who had borrowed the camera: "Comrade, we agreed to give you the money earlier, here you go."