He unexpectedly becomes a father at the start of his life, and the mother of his child is a national

Yu Mobai parked the car steadily downstairs, turned off the engine, and the first thing he did was pick up the painting tube from the passenger seat, hug it tightly to his chest, before getting out of the car, locking the door, and quickly walking into the apartment building.

He took the elevator to the eighteenth floor and stood in front of Lin Sinian's door. He raised his hand and rang the doorbell, feeling very pleased with himself and already imagining Lin Sinian's expression later.

The doorbell rang a few times, then footsteps came from inside, and the door opened.

It was Lin Sinian who opened the door. He was visibly taken aback when he saw Yu Mobai standing in the doorway, and then he smiled.

"Old Yu? What's going on here? Why did you suddenly show up? You didn't even call ahead to let me know you were coming."

As he spoke, he stepped aside to make way for him and said, "Come in quickly, come in quickly, don't stand at the door."

Yu Mobai didn't stand on ceremony. He carried the painting tube into the house, changed into slippers, and headed to the living room.

Lin Sinian casually closed the door, led him to sit on the sofa in the living room, and then went to the tea table to make tea.

"What brings you here today? I thought you were holed up in your study again, studying your precious paintings."

Yu Mobai sat on the sofa, gently placing the painting tube he was holding on the sofa next to him, protecting it with his hand. The smile on his face was almost overflowing.

Lin Sinian walked over with two cups of brewed tea, placed one of them in front of him, and looked up to see his beaming expression. He couldn't help but smile and ask:

"Look at how happy you are! What's up? Did you strike it rich today? What amazing treasure did you find?"

Upon hearing this, Yu Mobai picked up the painting tube beside him, slowly swirled it in his hand, deliberately keeping everyone in suspense, his tone full of smugness:

"You bet! I just got this great item today, it's an absolute gem."

"Oh?" Upon hearing this, Lin Sinian immediately became interested, sat down on the sofa opposite him, and leaned forward slightly.

"What good stuff? Whose work is it? Is it from modern times or from ancient times?"

Yu Mobai smiled mysteriously and raised an eyebrow: "Guess."

Lin Sinian became interested and, after thinking for a moment, first gave a name: "Fan Zeng's?"

Yu Mobai shook his head, picked up his teacup, and took a sip of tea slowly.

"He Jiaying's?" Lin Sinian guessed again.

Yu Mobai shook his head again, his smile growing even wider.

"Zhou Yansheng's? It can't be his, can it?"

Yu Mobai continued to shake his head, not saying a word, just watching him and smiling.

Next, Lin Ssu-nien guessed the names of almost every well-known figure in contemporary Chinese painting and calligraphy circles, from Huang Yongyu to Han Meilin, from Feng Dazhong to Jia Youfu.

After hearing more than a dozen names, Yu Mobai kept shaking his head, unable to guess a single one correctly.

Lin Sinian was genuinely puzzled now. He put down his teacup and looked at him:

"Whose work is it? You old rascal, stop keeping me in suspense and just tell me already, I'm getting impatient."

Seeing how anxious he was, Yu Mobai stopped smiling and smugly uttered two words: "Haolin."

Lin Sinian was stunned for a moment, his eyes widening in disbelief: "Haolin? Which Haolin?"

"Which other Haolin could it be?" Yu Mobai's smile grew even more smug.

"Who else could it be but Hao Lin, the young painter who tried to snatch that painting 'Autumn Wind in Ten Thousand Valleys' from you last time, and ended up losing it to you?"

Lin Sinian's eyes widened instantly, and he stood up abruptly from the sofa, his voice filled with shock and urgency: "Haolin has a new work? You got his new painting?"

"Of course." Yu Mobai patted the painting tube beside him gently, as if afraid of damaging the painting inside. "The treasure is kept in here."

"Quick! Open it and let me see!" Lin Sinian couldn't sit still any longer. He quickly walked up to him, urging him to unfold the painting, his eyes full of anticipation.

Yu Mobai stopped teasing him and carefully opened the lid of the painting tube, holding it with both hands, and took out the scroll inside.

Lin Ssu-nien quickly reached out to help, and the two of them carefully unfurled the scroll on the coffee table.

Soon, the complete "Lotus and Fish Playing" painting was clearly presented to the two of them.

Lin Sinian immediately bent down, his face almost touching the painting, his eyes fixed on it without blinking.

His gaze moved from the layers of lotus leaves to the lotus buds about to bloom, then from the lotus flowers to the lively fish swimming in the water, then from the fish to the hazy mountain shadows in the distance, and finally, his gaze was fixed on the small dragonfly on the edge of the lotus leaf, and he couldn't look away.

The living room fell silent instantly, with only the soft breathing of the two people audible.

After a long while, Lin Sinian finally straightened up and, just like Yu Mobai had done before, let out a long, deep breath, his voice trembling slightly.

"Old Yu, this painting... is amazing! It's so much better than that 'Autumn Wind in Ten Thousand Valleys' from last time!"

"Of course, I think so too." Yu Mobai nodded smugly, looking very proud, and felt extremely comfortable.

Lin Ssu-nien leaned down even closer, pointing to the carp in the painting, his voice full of admiration:

"Look at these fish. With just a few strokes, they are so lifelike, capturing both form and spirit, and not at all stiff."

Without decades of experience in brush and ink techniques, one absolutely could not achieve this effect; it's truly amazing.

As he spoke, his finger moved to the dragonfly again: "And this dragonfly, it's truly a stroke of genius! Such a tiny dot, yet it brings the whole painting to life."

Look at the way it's perched on the lotus leaf—so light and graceful, it looks like it's really there, as if a gust of wind would send it flying.

"That's right," Yu Mobai added from the side, becoming more and more smug as he spoke.

"Look at these lotus leaves again. The ink is so rich in variations, with varying shades of dark and light, wet and dry. They undulate and curl freely, without any rigidity."

And these lotus flowers, in their budding state, are delicate and beautiful, yet not at all vulgar.

And the distant mountain shadows, rendered with just a few strokes of light ink, are hazy and ethereal, instantly filling the entire painting with a sense of space and atmosphere, becoming more and more captivating the more you appreciate it.

The two of them stood around the painting, looking at it over and over again, appreciating it carefully. The more Lin Sinian looked at it, the more he liked it, and the more he wanted it, wishing he could have it for himself.

He stared at the painting for almost twenty minutes before reluctantly looking away and turning to Yu Mobai, his eyes filled with envy and a hint of barely concealed jealousy.

"Old Yu, where did you get this painting from?" Lin Sinian asked, his tone still a little annoyed.

"Yu Lantang Gallery, He Muqing's place," Yu Mobai replied casually.