The oil painting highlighted Bei Xiaonian’s features. In it, she was smiling, pretty as a flower, pure and beautiful.
Pinned against the wall now, her hair was flying in the wind as she smiled radiantly.
It was alluring.
Li Beinian couldn’t help staring at it.
Noticing Li Beinian’s gaze, Nico’s expression softened as he said, “She’s my first love.”
First love…
Those words seemed to cause Li Beinian an inexplicable pain in her heart.
These words that carried a romantic connotation…
But Li Beinian knew, she was long gone.
“First love…”
Li Beinian turned around and saw the tenderness in Nico’s eyes.
“Yes.” Nico pushed his wheelchair slowly towards her. “It’s a little coincidental. Her surname is Bei and there’s a Bei in your name. Hmm, look at her portrait. Does she look a little like you?”
As he spoke, he came up beside Li Beinian.
The girl stared at the oil painting and nodded. “One can’t help but admire the Xia Nation population. It’s a nation of great land mass and high population. Some people look so much alike but are completely unrelated.” As she spoke, she looked at Nico and smiled. “Don’t you think it’s amazing?”
Nico was clearly dissatisfied with this answer. Just as he was about to speak, Li Beinian seemed to have thought of something and interrupted, “I remember that there was a news report about this in Australipreviously… two women who were born on the same day, month, and year. They looked exactly the same. After they chanced upon each other on Twitter, they both thought that they were the other party’s twin sister. One was in Europe while the other was in North America. After they met, they did a blood test and realized that they were unrelated…”
“Beinian,” Nico interrupted her, his expression was complex.
However, following this, he did not say anything and remained silent.
Li Beinian could imagine how he felt to an extent, however, she feigned ignorance and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“The porridge is getting cold. I’ll go and finish it first.” Nico spoke gently. “Will, show Beinian around.”
“Yes.” Behind his gold-rimmed glasses, Will’s eyes were full of regret.
However, very quickly, he regained composure and walked towards Li Beinian. “Miss Beinian, let me show you around.”
“Alright.”
Li Beinian did not stand on ceremony, but kept steady and natural.
She smiled and turned around to hold Mu Xichen’s arm. “May I bring hubby?”
“Of course.”
Li Beinian held Mu Xichen’s hand and followed Will upstairs.
On the wall of the Nordic-style staircase, the oil paintings got smaller and were hung higher as they went up.
It had to be said that the design was visually very comfortable.
As Li Beinian went up, she realized that there were more portraits of Bei Xiaonian.
Further on, there were all sorts of portraits of Bei Xiaonian standing, sitting, and taking a nap.
Every painting exuded an air of gentleness and pureness.
Her features and charming aura were almost identical to Li Beinian’s.
She looked more like Li Beinian in these paintings than any other photographs that Li Beinian had seen so far.
Li Beinian wondered if Nico had painted these after he saw her.
However, after looking at the date of the last painting…
It was dated twelve years ago.
As Li Beinian took all these in, the pain in her heart grew.
The walls of the second floor corridor were covered with oil paintings.
The oil paintings were of all sorts of subjects.
They vividly depicted the customs, costumes, and sceneries of many different places.
However, a great many of them were paintings of Bei Xiaonian.
From the looks of it, these paintings had been around since 20 years ago.
On this wall alone, there were at least five framed paintings of her produced in any one year.
Given this, how many more paintings were there that were not on display?
Li Beinian didn’t dare imagine it. She looked at all these and realized that for the past 20 years, he had been painting Bei Xiaonian every year.
Besides the oil painting, there were also sketches, works in colored pencils, marker pens, and ballpoint pens…
Will brought her to a room. As soon as she opened the door, the faint scent of paint greeted her.
Obviously, this was a studio.
At a glance, Li Beinian saw a painting that had obviously just been drawn and had yet to be completed.
The girl in the picture was looking straight ahead with a smile on her face. Her eyes were warm and affectionate, and her soft and long hair fell over her shoulders. This picture was different from all the other paintings of Bei Xiaonian, the girl in the picture was dressed in a very modern manner.
It was her.
Nico was creating a painting of Li Beinian!
Li Beinian looked at the picture and felt an inexplicable urge to cry.
Will didn’t look at Li Beinian. Instead, he looked at the creation before them and said, “Nico has been drawing this for the past few days and is planning to give it to you before he leaves for home.”
Li Beinian pricked her ears and turned around. “Are you guys going back?”
“Yes.” Will had a faint smile on his face. He was gentlemanly and polite, but at the same time, there was a tinge of regret on his face. “You know, Nico was looking for someone. Now that he has found her, he doesn’t know how to face her. He thinks that this might not be the best time for him to deal with their relationship. Coincidentally, there’s something in England that Nico needs to settle personally, so his return is inevitable.”
Li Beinian felt as if something was pricking her heart as she listened to these words Will was saying.
He turned to her, maintaining the same polite smile, only, there was even more regret in his eyes now. “Miss Beinian, you’re a good person. The fate between you and Nico is pre-destined. I watched Nico grow up. He is really a good person. If… and that’s only an if, Nico manages to find his daughter, and if his daughter was willing to acknowledge him as her father, I think, he will make a very good father.”
As he spoke, his gaze fell on the half-finished painting. “This is a long scroll. Nico has been working on it for a long time.”
As Will spoke, he unrolled more of the scroll from behind the drawing board.
Li Beinian realized that she was in the centre of this painting.
On the left was Nico himself.
He was looking straight ahead with a faint smile that was warm and welcoming.
On the right, was the face that she saw all along the way up to this studio.
It was Bei Xiaonian.
They were positioned on either side of Li Beinian, holding her hand, looking warm and affectionate.
Li Beinian felt as if her heart had been stabbed. The sharp pain seemed to travel from her chest to that space between her nose An indescribable feeling surged within her.
Her eyes reddened at once.
Will straightened the long scroll and smiled. He said politely but solemnly, “Nico once proposed to Miss Bei. Miss Bei agreed and promised to wait for him for a lifetime. Later on, Miss Bei passed away unexpectedly. From then on, Nico never accepted any other women. Nico’s greatest regret is not being able to spend a lifetime with Miss Bei.”
After a pause, he added, “He loves her very much.”
Li Beinian’s eyes started to turn misty and tear up.
Mu Xichen gently held her so that she leaned against his broad shoulder.
He put his arm around her shoulder silently to offer her comfort.
Will noticed this heartwarming gesture and said softly, “You hold a special place in Nico’s heart, that is why he’s willing to put you in this painting. I hope you don’t mind.”
Li Beinian shook her head and tried to hold her tears back. Forcing a smile, she said, “I really like it.”
She wiped her eyes, then said, “I didn’t expect Mr. Nico to be so devoted to Miss Bei. Eventually… he didn’t get married?”
Will shook his head slowly. “He said, there’s only one love, and only one heart, and he’d given it all to Miss Bei. There’s no more love left for another person. Rather than let the living watch over him, he prefers to continue watching over the dead. He feels it’s not a bad way to live the rest of his life.”
After leaving Nico’s house, Li Beinian couldn’t hold back her tears anymore.
Mu Xichen held her gently and said, “Nico is still watching us.”
Li Beinian, however, couldn’t hold herself back any longer. She cried, “She’s been dead for so many years. He should be living a normal life. She definitely wouldn’t want him to live such a life!”
Mu Xichen held her and walked forward. He whispered, “How do you know he’s not living a normal life?”
“They’ve only been in love for a year at most. Do they really have such deep feelings for each other?” Li Beinian found it unbelievable. “It’s been more than 20 years. Nico could have just erased the memory of her and started a new life.”
“What if he doesn’t want to?” Mu Xichen’s voice was faint and he seemed to be smiling.
Li Beinian turned to look at him.
The golden sunlight fell on the side of his face and bounced off his chiseled and exquisite features, creating a radiant glow.
His dark eyes were bottomless and unfathomable as he stared at her. “Some people are like this. You can’t articulate exactly what’s good about them, but you just can’t forget them.”
Li Beinian fell silent and couldn’t help but thought of it from a different perspective.
If she died, would Mu Xichen be like Nico?
For more than twenty years, he missed her every day.
Because he continued to cherish a woman who had died, he remained single for the rest of his life. He didn’t even ensure the continuation of his bloodline…
Li Beinian felt a little sad at the thought of this.
Things shouldn’t have turned out this way.
There was no reason for a living person to continue to watch over the dead. A normal person should live a normal life.
Alas, Li Beinian found it hard to accept that Mu Xichen might have another woman, allowing someone else to take her place.
She glanced sideways at the man and hesitated for a moment before saying, “Ah Chen.”
“Uh huh.”
“If something happens to me one day…”
“That will not happen.” Mu Xichen did not let her finish.
“Just supposedly,” Li Beinian emphasized. “If something does happen to me, you have to go on living happily. Live well and find yourself another woman…”
“That day won’t come.” Mu Xichen held her firmly and looked into her eyes. “When I married you, I said that I’d only have one woman in my life. Have you forgotten?”
“What if…”
“Then I’ll die with you.” Mu Xichen’s eyes were terrifyingly serious as he said with no uncertainty, “From the moment we got married, we were bound together. I will be with you even upon death, Ah Nian.”
Li Beinian looked into his eyes and asked, “Is this worth it?”
“It’s worth it.”
“Why?”
Mu Xichen thought for a few seconds before answering seriously, “It’s worth it because it’s worth it.”
The oil painting highlighted Bei Xiaonian’s features. In it, she was smiling, pretty as a flower, pure and beautiful.
Pinned against the wall now, her hair was flying in the wind as she smiled radiantly.
It was alluring.
Li Beinian couldn’t help staring at it.
Noticing Li Beinian’s gaze, Nico’s expression softened as he said, “She’s my first love.”
First love…
Those words seemed to cause Li Beinian an inexplicable pain in her heart.
These words that carried a romantic connotation…
But Li Beinian knew, she was long gone.
“First love…”
Li Beinian turned around and saw the tenderness in Nico’s eyes.
“Yes.” Nico pushed his wheelchair slowly towards her. “It’s a little coincidental. Her surname is Bei and there’s a Bei in your name. Hmm, look at her portrait. Does she look a little like you?”
As he spoke, he came up beside Li Beinian.
The girl stared at the oil painting and nodded. “One can’t help but admire the Xia Nation population. It’s a nation of great land mass and high population. Some people look so much alike but are completely unrelated.” As she spoke, she looked at Nico and smiled. “Don’t you think it’s amazing?”
Nico was clearly dissatisfied with this answer. Just as he was about to speak, Li Beinian seemed to have thought of something and interrupted, “I remember that there was a news report about this in Australipreviously… two women who were born on the same day, month, and year. They looked exactly the same. After they chanced upon each other on Twitter, they both thought that they were the other party’s twin sister. One was in Europe while the other was in North America. After they met, they did a blood test and realized that they were unrelated…”
“Beinian,” Nico interrupted her, his expression was complex.
However, following this, he did not say anything and remained silent.
Li Beinian could imagine how he felt to an extent, however, she feigned ignorance and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“The porridge is getting cold. I’ll go and finish it first.” Nico spoke gently. “Will, show Beinian around.”
“Yes.” Behind his gold-rimmed glasses, Will’s eyes were full of regret.
However, very quickly, he regained composure and walked towards Li Beinian. “Miss Beinian, let me show you around.”
“Alright.”
Li Beinian did not stand on ceremony, but kept steady and natural.
She smiled and turned around to hold Mu Xichen’s arm. “May I bring hubby?”
“Of course.”
Li Beinian held Mu Xichen’s hand and followed Will upstairs.
On the wall of the Nordic-style staircase, the oil paintings got smaller and were hung higher as they went up.
It had to be said that the design was visually very comfortable.
As Li Beinian went up, she realized that there were more portraits of Bei Xiaonian.
Further on, there were all sorts of portraits of Bei Xiaonian standing, sitting, and taking a nap.
Every painting exuded an air of gentleness and pureness.
Her features and charming aura were almost identical to Li Beinian’s.
She looked more like Li Beinian in these paintings than any other photographs that Li Beinian had seen so far.
Li Beinian wondered if Nico had painted these after he saw her.
However, after looking at the date of the last painting…
It was dated twelve years ago.
As Li Beinian took all these in, the pain in her heart grew.
The walls of the second floor corridor were covered with oil paintings.
The oil paintings were of all sorts of subjects.
They vividly depicted the customs, costumes, and sceneries of many different places.
However, a great many of them were paintings of Bei Xiaonian.
From the looks of it, these paintings had been around since 20 years ago.
On this wall alone, there were at least five framed paintings of her produced in any one year.
Given this, how many more paintings were there that were not on display?
Li Beinian didn’t dare imagine it. She looked at all these and realized that for the past 20 years, he had been painting Bei Xiaonian every year.
Besides the oil painting, there were also sketches, works in colored pencils, marker pens, and ballpoint pens…
Will brought her to a room. As soon as she opened the door, the faint scent of paint greeted her.
Obviously, this was a studio.
At a glance, Li Beinian saw a painting that had obviously just been drawn and had yet to be completed.
The girl in the picture was looking straight ahead with a smile on her face. Her eyes were warm and affectionate, and her soft and long hair fell over her shoulders. This picture was different from all the other paintings of Bei Xiaonian, the girl in the picture was dressed in a very modern manner.
It was her.
Nico was creating a painting of Li Beinian!
Li Beinian looked at the picture and felt an inexplicable urge to cry.
Will didn’t look at Li Beinian. Instead, he looked at the creation before them and said, “Nico has been drawing this for the past few days and is planning to give it to you before he leaves for home.”
Li Beinian pricked her ears and turned around. “Are you guys going back?”
“Yes.” Will had a faint smile on his face. He was gentlemanly and polite, but at the same time, there was a tinge of regret on his face. “You know, Nico was looking for someone. Now that he has found her, he doesn’t know how to face her. He thinks that this might not be the best time for him to deal with their relationship. Coincidentally, there’s something in England that Nico needs to settle personally, so his return is inevitable.”
Li Beinian felt as if something was pricking her heart as she listened to these words Will was saying.
He turned to her, maintaining the same polite smile, only, there was even more regret in his eyes now. “Miss Beinian, you’re a good person. The fate between you and Nico is pre-destined. I watched Nico grow up. He is really a good person. If… and that’s only an if, Nico manages to find his daughter, and if his daughter was willing to acknowledge him as her father, I think, he will make a very good father.”
As he spoke, his gaze fell on the half-finished painting. “This is a long scroll. Nico has been working on it for a long time.”
As Will spoke, he unrolled more of the scroll from behind the drawing board.
Li Beinian realized that she was in the centre of this painting.
On the left was Nico himself.
He was looking straight ahead with a faint smile that was warm and welcoming.
On the right, was the face that she saw all along the way up to this studio.
It was Bei Xiaonian.
They were positioned on either side of Li Beinian, holding her hand, looking warm and affectionate.
Li Beinian felt as if her heart had been stabbed. The sharp pain seemed to travel from her chest to that space between her nose An indescribable feeling surged within her.
Her eyes reddened at once.
Will straightened the long scroll and smiled. He said politely but solemnly, “Nico once proposed to Miss Bei. Miss Bei agreed and promised to wait for him for a lifetime. Later on, Miss Bei passed away unexpectedly. From then on, Nico never accepted any other women. Nico’s greatest regret is not being able to spend a lifetime with Miss Bei.”
After a pause, he added, “He loves her very much.”
Li Beinian’s eyes started to turn misty and tear up.
Mu Xichen gently held her so that she leaned against his broad shoulder.
He put his arm around her shoulder silently to offer her comfort.
Will noticed this heartwarming gesture and said softly, “You hold a special place in Nico’s heart, that is why he’s willing to put you in this painting. I hope you don’t mind.”
Li Beinian shook her head and tried to hold her tears back. Forcing a smile, she said, “I really like it.”
She wiped her eyes, then said, “I didn’t expect Mr. Nico to be so devoted to Miss Bei. Eventually… he didn’t get married?”
Will shook his head slowly. “He said, there’s only one love, and only one heart, and he’d given it all to Miss Bei. There’s no more love left for another person. Rather than let the living watch over him, he prefers to continue watching over the dead. He feels it’s not a bad way to live the rest of his life.”
After leaving Nico’s house, Li Beinian couldn’t hold back her tears anymore.
Mu Xichen held her gently and said, “Nico is still watching us.”
Li Beinian, however, couldn’t hold herself back any longer. She cried, “She’s been dead for so many years. He should be living a normal life. She definitely wouldn’t want him to live such a life!”
Mu Xichen held her and walked forward. He whispered, “How do you know he’s not living a normal life?”
“They’ve only been in love for a year at most. Do they really have such deep feelings for each other?” Li Beinian found it unbelievable. “It’s been more than 20 years. Nico could have just erased the memory of her and started a new life.”
“What if he doesn’t want to?” Mu Xichen’s voice was faint and he seemed to be smiling.
Li Beinian turned to look at him.
The golden sunlight fell on the side of his face and bounced off his chiseled and exquisite features, creating a radiant glow.
His dark eyes were bottomless and unfathomable as he stared at her. “Some people are like this. You can’t articulate exactly what’s good about them, but you just can’t forget them.”
Li Beinian fell silent and couldn’t help but thought of it from a different perspective.
If she died, would Mu Xichen be like Nico?
For more than twenty years, he missed her every day.
Because he continued to cherish a woman who had died, he remained single for the rest of his life. He didn’t even ensure the continuation of his bloodline…
Li Beinian felt a little sad at the thought of this.
Things shouldn’t have turned out this way.
There was no reason for a living person to continue to watch over the dead. A normal person should live a normal life.
Alas, Li Beinian found it hard to accept that Mu Xichen might have another woman, allowing someone else to take her place.
She glanced sideways at the man and hesitated for a moment before saying, “Ah Chen.”
“Uh huh.”
“If something happens to me one day…”
“That will not happen.” Mu Xichen did not let her finish.
“Just supposedly,” Li Beinian emphasized. “If something does happen to me, you have to go on living happily. Live well and find yourself another woman…”
“That day won’t come.” Mu Xichen held her firmly and looked into her eyes. “When I married you, I said that I’d only have one woman in my life. Have you forgotten?”
“What if…”
“Then I’ll die with you.” Mu Xichen’s eyes were terrifyingly serious as he said with no uncertainty, “From the moment we got married, we were bound together. I will be with you even upon death, Ah Nian.”
Li Beinian looked into his eyes and asked, “Is this worth it?”
“It’s worth it.”
“Why?”
Mu Xichen thought for a few seconds before answering seriously, “It’s worth it because it’s worth it.”
