Chapter 19 The real star

Andy Wu was one in a million, as well as the most outstanding son in the Wu Family. He had been called a genius since he was little and no matter what he had decided to learn he would learn it easily and well. He was efficient in both brainy and brawny activities and he had learnt a variety of things. He was also sophisticated in lyre-playing, chess, calligraphy and painting. Take painting for example, he was the unbelievable kind. He could excel his master and the teacher who taught him resigned two months later. Of course to Andy, painting was just a spur of the moment. He lost interest and quit painting soon after he got a good grasp of it. That’s why few as his paintings were, they arouse wide attention in the painting and calligraphy field. The painting Tiger Unleashed was one of them. “Do you like it, Julia?” Seeing Julia being quiet, Xinlei Cai asked. Tears of surprise and excitement came out of her eyes, Julia nodded hard, “Yes, I like it very much! Thank you for giving me such a valuable gift.” Hong Zhou next to them also couldn’t help praising, Andrew’s paintings are so rare and valuable and this painting Tiger Unleashed may be worth millions of dollars. Young Master Cai is really generous!” “Things that can be bought with money are all cheap.” Xinlei Cai said blandly. This was a real man, a true generous man with great taste. As they were talking, Jenny and Jane did nothing but to look at them by the side. “It’s a fake.” Suddenly, Andy, the invisible man who had been ignored by them this whole time started to talk again. Even Andy himself didn’t know his painting got so valuable, as well as his casual signature. However, the one in front of his eyes was not a real one though it was carefully imitated. At first sight, he almost mistook it as his own painting, but after looking at it for a few more times, he found out the fake only got the appearance but could never got the soul. This fake didn’t have the uniqueness taken from Andy. The real Tiger Unleashed was so alive as if a tiger that had been caged for hundreds of years about to break out. Only this kind of aggressiveness was the hardest part to imitate. Andy chose to expose Xinlei Cai exactly because he hated to see Cai’s way of doing things. Andy considered him as polite in the appearance but full of tricks inside. That was exactly the type of man he despised. Everyone was greatly shocked by Andy’s words as they were admiring the painting. “Andrew is my idle and I have studied his paintings for many years. I say this is a real painting then it surely is a real painting. Who are you to say it’s a fake one?” Julia was the first one to defend against him. The reason why Julia was so excited was that she truly believed it’s a real painting, and that Andy had humiliated her idle as well as Xinlei Cai by saying so. “Hey you fool, are you crazy again? Don’t think I’ll punch you?” Bill Xia had already considered Andy’s presence being annoying. Now that he’s saying crazy words again, it made Bill really angry. “Why do you accuse my painting of being fake?” At the moment, Xinlei’s look got serious too. He bought this painting years ago with high price and it couldn’t have been fake. Andy was humiliating him by saying so and it made Xinlei really unhappy. Looking back directly into Xinlei’s eyes, Andy fought back firmly, “Because I was the person who painted the Tiger Unleashed, so I am positive that yours is fake.” Andy Wu looked really serious and righteous. But it made other laugh really hard. Andrew was a great painter while Andy Wu was a complete fool. Who could have believed it when the fool claimed himself to be a genius? The once tense atmosphere soon got pleasant. Even Xinlei couldn’t help laughing, “Hah-Hah, I didn’t believe you are a fool, but now I do!” Andy didn’t care about how these people mocked him, but Jenny did. Her face was burning hot. She knew it, that Andy would only cause trouble once he started to talk. She had told him a thousand times not to say anything stupid but he still did to embarrass her. Being a ridiculous fool inside the family should be enough but now in front of strangers? Jenny couldn’t take it any more but to walk directly to Andy and said with extreme anger, “Would you have died if you had kept your mouth shut? Why do you always embarrass me and torture me like this? Did I owe you anything the last lifetime?” Jenny acted out all the complaints and anger. She felt so depressed tonight that Julia had found such a good boyfriend while she herself married a fool. It would be alright if he had kept his mouth shut but he just couldn’t. As soon as he talked people would know he was a complete fool. It really drove her crazy. Looking at Jenny, Andy tried to explain, “I...” “You shut up!” Jenny stopped him, without waiting for him to finish. “Jenny, is this the husband you have been refusing to divorce? How big of him! He can paint! Please do paint one for me when you have time!” Bill started to mock him. “I want one too! I like Andrew too! Please paint one for me as well.” Qian Zhu said and mocked along. Even Jane who had been quiet also mocked Andy, “I heard you can’t even write! How can you say you can paint? Are you out of your mind?” Julia said unwillingly, “Let’s not talk about him! What a bummer!” Having received such a great present, Julia was in great joy and excitement. She had intended to show off but couldn’t have expected that Andy came to ruin her mood, which really upset her. “Don’t get mad baby. Just tell me what whatever you like next time and I’ll bring it to you.” Words like this might sound ridiculous if said by others, but sound natural by Xinlei Cai. What he said did put a big smile on Julia’s face. She said softly to him, “Thank you, honey.” The scene was so sweet and could make everyone jealous. Today’s party was indeed for Julia and Xinlei. They were the stars. All the others were nothing but supporting roles. What’s different was that Bill was being an active supporting role by speaking highly of Xinlei the whole time while speaking ill of Andy at the same time. He really enjoyed the part he’s playing in. The whole party gave the best credit to Julia and made her shiny while it made Jane a plain and insignificant woman, and Jenny, low to the dirt. “Waiter, bill please.” Xinlei called the waiter at the end of the party. The waiter came with the bill in hand, “Three hundred and thirty six thousand, sir.” Jenny’s face immediately turned pale on hearing the number. It was so much higher than she expected. But Xinlei didn’t seem to mind it at all. He was born into the rich Cai Family, such small amount of money certainly was a piece of cake for him. He said boldly, “I’ll swipe the card.” He took out his bank card. It was a Platinum Card from the Jiangdong bank. Anyone who wanted to get this card had to deposit no less than ten million dollars, and also needed to ensure the high ability and frequency of buying, otherwise the Platinum privilege would be canceled. Thus, not every rich man was qualified to own this card, which was not hard to know. Xinlei surely didn’t forget to show off by swinging the card around before swiping it. Right at this moment, Julia stopped him and said, “This is a family party, and we all Go Dutch, which means you only need to pay ninety thousand. Xinlei said, “It’s not a big deal, I was the one who suggested this place so just let me pay.” He just wanted to show how rich and generous he was. Julia said in a charming manner, “It’s our family rule and please don’t break it. Besides everyone has money.” Julia certainly knew Xinlei wouldn’t care about this small amount of money, but it’s her man’s money, she didn’t want it spent on Jenny and Jane. Women’s little tricks. Since Julia said so, Xinlei didn’t want to be taken advantage of, so he said, “Alright.” He paid ninety thousand dollars. Jane and Hong Zhou had a good financial condition too since Hong Zhou’s business had been running quite well so it wasn’t a big deal for him, either. Besides he got the chance to know Xinlei today, ninety thousand dollars was definitely worth it. So he immediately paid for it without hesitation. Following Hong Zhou, Bill paid as well. Finally it was jenny’s turn. From the moment she heard the number three hundred and thirty six thousand, she began to look unpleasant. How could she accept the fact that she came here but got humiliated, let alone she needed to pay ninety thousand! Ninety thousand was even more than what she was worth! Jenny had been spending a lot these years, since her mother was jobless and addicted to gambling while Andy was also consuming her at home, not to mention he got admitted to the hospital every now and then. Everything was in no way small money. Jenny had to support the family on her own and could hardly make both ends meet. Twenty thousand was all she had got in her card. She was both embarrassed and nervous. Seeing Jenny doing nothing, Bill said, “Jenny, don’t tell me you have no money, do you?” Holding her words for a while, jenny finally said with a blushing face, “I forgot to bring my card.” Her voice was so low for the lack of courage. “It doesn’t matter, madam, we support Alipay, Wechat pay as well bank online.” The waitress explained. Jenny’s face got even redder on hearing this and her lips almost bled as she kept biting them. She stumbled, “I, I...” “Let me pay!” Andy stood up from the corner and said calmly.