Chapter 45: The Youth Above the Clouds
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Gu Yunyi’s art exhibition was one of the most discussed topics among the upper-class alpha families in the city.
When Gu Liyu parked the car in the underground parking lot of the exhibition center, there were luxury cars inside, but the places where Gu Liyu parked were filled with ordinary private cars.
“At first, I thought this was a luxury car exhibition. It’s only after coming here that I feel like I’ve returned to the mortal world,” An Lan half-jokingly said.
On their left was an old white Volkswagen with paint stains on the door, and on the right was a black Jeep. The back seat of the Jeep was filled with various art supplies and easels.
Gu Liyu answered, “My uncle is a bit like you. He never thought being born into the Gu family was anything special. He has a wide circle of friends, has connections with famous families, and also appreciates talented but relatively unknown artists. Although this is his exhibition, he wants people in the art world to see other outstanding yet unnoticed creators.”
Listening to Gu Liyu, An Lan became curious about Gu Yunyi.
“I can’t compare to your uncle. He’s contributing to the art world, while I’m just a student.”
Gu Liyu stopped in the middle of closing the door and looked at An Lan, “An Lan, you know about the butterfly effect, right?”
“Of course – the idea that the flap of a butterfly’s wings in the rainforest can cause a tornado in a distant place two weeks later.”
“Yes. From our perspective, a seemingly insignificant small problem, or even something we so-called high-quality alphas take for granted but is not quite normal in the mechanism. If it’s not guided and adjusted in time, it could pose a great danger to our lives. But if there’s a small mechanism that is positive, after some time and effort, it may change us. As the representative of the young generation of alphas, changing us means changing the entire mechanism. This will not only be a small-scale self-revolution.”
Gu Liyu’s expression was serious, and his eyes seemed to burn quietly with clusters of glassy flames, making An Lan’s emotions gently sway like sea waves.
“I don’t remember why we suddenly started discussing this issue.”
“Because you said you can’t compare to my uncle. But I want to tell you, perhaps you are the butterfly that can cause a huge change.”
An Lan’s heart felt like it was pricked, and a faint electric current seemed to be flowing in his blood.
“Then I’ll do my best… to always have wings.”
“I will protect your wings,” Gu Liyu replied.
Not far away, a car had stopped. The door opened, and someone put down a wheelchair, helping a young man in his twenties sit in it.
“Hey, Little Yu. I knew I’d see you at Uncle Gu’s exhibition.”
The young man was wearing a beige linen shirt and casual pants. Even though he was sitting in a wheelchair, An Lan could see that his figure was slender and tall, and his handsome features exuded confidence.
“Brother Yun, you’re here.” Gu Liyu nodded.
“Introduce us, won’t you? I thought you were closer to Xu Xingran and Xiao Chen. I didn’t see them, but there’s a new friend by your side.”
Gu Liyu said to An Lan, “An Lan, this is Xiao Yun, also Xiao Nan’s brother.”
“Oh… Hello.” An Lan nodded.
He immediately realized that this person, Xiao Yun, was the older brother of Xiao Nan and the reason for the pheromone competition between Xiao Nan and Xiao Chen in the changing room at the Observing Mountains and Seas Club.
At that time, Xiao Nan mentioned that Xiao Chen could return to the Xiao family entirely because of Xiao Yun’s help. However, Xiao Chen thought it was because Xiao Yun had a heart condition, implying that Xiao Yun coveted his heart.
But the true situation was unknown, and An Lan refrained from making comments. He wouldn’t easily develop prejudices against someone he had just met.
“This is my classmate, An Lan,” Gu Liyu said.
“Just a classmate?” Xiao Yun pushed the wheelchair closer, tilted his head, carefully looking at An Lan, and a faint smile curved his lips.
An Lan chuckled, “A very close classmate.”
“Oh, a very close classmate.” Xiao Yun glanced at Gu Liyu again.
“Brother Yun, you’re here!” Xiao Nan’s voice came.
He hurriedly walked over from another area of the parking lot, frowned when he saw An Lan, and directly asked, “Why are you here?”
An Lan replied directly, “This isn’t your art exhibition. Whether I come or not has nothing to do with you.”
Xiao Nan was stuck, but Xiao Yun turned and said, “Xiao Nan, how do you talk? I’ve told you many times; the world doesn’t revolve around you. You must be overestimating yourself again and having conflicts with others outside, right?”
“Brother Yun, you don’t know… this guy is with Xiao Chen!” Xiao Nan said angrily.
“Xiao Chen is our classmate. I’m not with Xiao Chen. Do I have to be with you then?” An Lan retorted.
Xiao Nan was stuck again.
Xiao Yun chuckled softly, “An Lan, you’re really interesting. This is the first time I’ve seen someone retort Xiao Nan like this.”
“Sorry, couldn’t resist.”
“No need to apologize; Xiao Nan needs a good retort,” Xiao Yun said.
At this point, An Lan’s wrist was grabbed, and Gu Liyu said, “I’ll go see my uncle first. Brother Yun, see you later.”
“Okay,” Xiao Yun nodded.
And so, Gu Liyu kept pulling An Lan to the elevator. After entering, Gu Liyu continued holding An Lan’s wrist, as if afraid An Lan would get lost.
“Is that Xiao Yun? Why is he in a wheelchair?” An Lan asked.
Normally, An Lan wouldn’t be so concerned about others. However, Xiao Yun, despite appearing polite, made An Lan feel like he had to be careful with his words. Especially considering Xiao Yun sitting in a wheelchair, An Lan might unintentionally offend him if he didn’t know the reason.
“Apparently, it’s because Xiao Chen had a conflict with his father some time ago and left in a fit of anger. Xiao Yun went to find Xiao Chen and ended up in a car accident. Xiao Yun’s legs were injured, and Xiao Chen’s shoulder was hurt.”
So, that was the reason for Xiao Chen’s shoulder injury.
“Then Xiao Yun… his legs…”
At this moment, the elevator door opened. Gu Liyu, with An Lan in tow, walked out. Gu Liyu whispered, “Needs a few months of rehabilitation, but he should be able to stand up.”
Xiao Yun’s real issue was his heart.
Gu Liyu took An Lan to a room backstage at the art exhibition. He lightly knocked on the door, and a voice from inside said, “Little Yu? Come in.”
Gu Liyu pushed the door open, and they saw a young man in a white coat turning around to look at them.
In front of him was an easel, displaying a fantastic space created by overlapping lines of various colors. In the center of the deep and subdued colors was a faintly bright point.
“Little Uncle, I’m here.”
Gu Yunyi put down what he was holding, took off the coat, revealing an asymmetrical casual shirt and casual pants. He didn’t look like someone about to host his own art exhibition.
His features were somewhat similar to Gu Liyu’s, but Gu Yunyi seemed more open and friendly. He smiled like a big brother next door.
“Is this An Lan?” Gu Yunyi walked over to An Lan, tilted his head to look at him, and then smiled, “Indeed, a youth above the clouds.”
An Lan hadn’t seen the painting “Youth Above the Clouds,” but being described like that by the original artist, he immediately felt embarrassed.
“Let’s go, let’s go to the exhibition together. Xingran and Little Chen should already be there.”
“Hearing this, your little uncle and the class monitor, and also Xiao Chen, seem quite familiar?” An Lan whispered to Gu Liyu.
“My uncle has come to watch our shooting competition,” Gu Liyu replied.
Suddenly, Gu Yunyi turned his head, lowered his eyes, glanced at An Lan leaning against Gu Liyu and speaking, and smiled.
An Lan immediately straightened up and slightly distanced himself from Gu Liyu.
“An Lan, you are the first one to talk to our Little Yu like this by his ear.”
“Ah… I… I won’t do it again next time.”
“Why not? He likes it.” Gu Yunyi glanced at Gu Liyu.
An Lan immediately looked at Gu Liyu’s face. However, Gu Liyu just tugged his wrist and said, “Let’s go.”
Gu Yunyi’s exhibition occupied an entire floor of the exhibition center. Each painting had its own display wall, forming a winding corridor. Walking through it, slowly admiring the artworks, felt like witnessing Gu Yunyi’s thoughts flowing.
An Lan really liked this feeling. He stood in front of the first painting, gazing upward in a trance.
It depicted fallen leaves – one half already withered and brittle, crumbling at a touch. The other half remained a fresh green, slightly curved, still retaining vitality.
“What do you see?” Gu Yunyi came to An Lan’s side, smiling.
“As for me…” An Lan touched his nose, “There are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand people’s hearts. What I see might not be what you want to express. It’s like extracting the central idea of a passage in a language exam.”
“Creation is my freedom, and interpretation is yours. When your interpretation aligns with my original intention, that’s what’s called understanding,” Gu Yunyi said with a smile.
“I… I see growth. Growing up is like… the process of being forced by reality to wither. The inner dreams are gradually stripped away by reality, the spirit gradually loses nutrients, and all those lively, cute, and unrealistic fantasies finally die. The half that is still green is like the little bit of innocence and purity that a person retains… When this leaf falls to the ground, it probably will wither completely.”
An Lan replied.
Gu Yunyi stood beside An Lan, both looking at the painting. He said softly, “Love is the same.”
“Ah?”
“When you’re still young… you’ll unconditionally like someone without any criteria… ignoring money, status, material life, and just liking someone. But as you grow up and become realistic, you’ll miss the pure feeling of liking and pursuing someone when you were young. However, you might not necessarily still have the ability to love someone,” Gu Yunyi said.
An Lan stood there, stunned.
Gu Yunyi turned around, looked at An Lan, who seemed a bit confused, and chuckled.
“If it’s the alphas from our Gu family, it’s another interpretation.”
“How do they interpret it?” An Lan asked curiously.
At this moment, Gu Liyu approached with a light blue drink and handed it to him.
“Let Little Yu tell you.” Gu Yunyi smiled and gestured that he was going to the area with his artist friends.
Gu Liyu calmly spoke, “Every alpha from the Gu family… seems to go crazy for love in the end. If we compare this leaf to rationality, starting from when we fall in love with someone is when this leaf leaves the branch. Rationality dries up and shatters bit by bit until it falls to the ground and is eventually destroyed.”
An Lan looked at the profile of Gu Liyu. All his calmness and detachment seemed like the calm acceptance of the outcome.
“Actually, falling into the soil might not necessarily be destruction, right?” An Lan spoke.
“Hmm?” Gu Liyu looked at him.
“Because going crazy due to losing reason but eventually returning to the embrace of the earth. There’s always a home, embracing and understanding it. This leaf becomes nourishment for that tree again, and new leaves will grow.” An Lan answered.
Gu Liyu fell silent.
An Lan didn’t say anything, quietly accompanying him.
After some time passed, voices of dispute came from the refreshment area behind them, seemingly… Xiao Nan?
“I’ll go check.”
After all, this was Gu Yunyi’s uncle’s art exhibition, and he was considered half of the host. If there was a dispute among guests, he couldn’t just ignore it.
An Lan’s first reaction was that the only one who could argue with Xiao Nan was probably Xiao Chen.
Sure enough, in front of a table with snacks, Xiao Nan was holding Xiao Chen’s collar, questioning him, “Didn’t you know Brother Yun would come? Why did you still come? Do you have a conscience?”
Xiao Chen smiled faintly, lightly tapping Xiao Nan’s hand on his back, “You really have a taste for being used as a tool, huh?”
“What do you mean?”
At this moment, Xiao Yun wheeled himself to their side. He sighed and said to Xiao Chen, “Stop it. This is Gu Yunyi’s art exhibition, not your home.”
“Yeah. You weren’t the one who invited me. Why get so worked up?”
Xiao Chen took a piece of cake and put it in his mouth, displaying a disdainful and mocking attitude, reigniting Xiao Nan’s anger.
Xiao Yun spoke again, “Xiao Nan! Do you want to cause trouble at Little Uncle Gu’s art exhibition?”
Xiao Nan released Xiao Chen’s collar, but his anger had not subsided.
“Brother Yun, don’t you think the Gu family is going a bit too far? Since they invited you, why did they also invite Xiao Chen? Are they deliberately humiliating our Xiao family?”
“Isn’t Xiao Chen part of the Xiao family?” Xiao Yun warned Xiao Nan with his eyes.
“I really don’t count as a member of the Xiao family. If you care so much, I’ll bring my household register and change my surname to my mother’s one of these days.” Xiao Chen replied.
Xiao Yun wheeled himself to Xiao Chen’s side, sighed, and said, “Xiao Chen, no matter what misunderstanding there is between us, no matter if my mother’s attitude has made you upset, here, I apologize to you. But… Dad really misses you and is worried about you. Besides, you’re still with the Little Lu. How old is she? Do you know how to take care of a girl her age? Why not come back home?”
“A girl her age is quite sensitive to adults’ attitudes. So, I think taking her out is more conducive to her mental and physical health.” Xiao Chen lazily replied.
“You…” Xiao Nan was itching with anger.
Gu Yunyi heard the commotion and walked over. He patted Xiao Nan’s shoulder and asked, “What’s going on?”
Seeing Gu Yunyi, Xiao Nan became angry. He directly slapped Gu Yunyi’s hand away and said, “Little Uncle Gu, you know that Brother Yun got hit by a car because of Xiao Chen, and you still invited him here…”
Before Gu Yunyi could explain, Gu Liyu spoke up, “Xiao Chen is my classmate, and I invited him. Is there a problem?”
“It’s you?”
An Lan was also a bit surprised. He hadn’t seen any interaction between Gu Liyu and Xiao Chen on regular days. However, he didn’t expect Gu Liyu to invite Xiao Chen to the art exhibition.
Gu Liyu didn’t answer Xiao Nan’s question but looked at him straightforwardly.
This gaze seemed calm but carried a silent force, pressing on Xiao Nan’s nerves and making him gradually feel uneasy.
Xiao Yun sensed it and pushed the wheelchair between Xiao Nan and Gu Liyu. “Little Yu and Little Chen are classmates and teammates in the shooting club. Inviting him over is completely normal.”
“Little Uncle Gu, it seems that the refreshments at your art exhibition are excellent. Everyone is gathered around the refreshment table and not leaving.”
Xu Xingran’s teasing voice sounded. He walked over from nearby and stood behind Xiao Chen, gently placing a hand on Xiao Chen’s shoulder. Familiarly, he said, “I thought you would be late. Unexpectedly, Little Uncle Gu’s art exhibition is where you behave. Bald Qiang will probably cry for lacking charm when he finds out.”
Xiao Chen raised an eyebrow, “Behave, my foot.”
Xu Xingran’s gaze slowly fell on An Lan, and his smile became even more apparent. “An Lan, you’re here too.”
Xiao Nan chuckled, “You guys seem to be close. Don’t you know that Xiao Chen is leaving the Observing Mountain and Sea Club?”
“Oh, I see. Where are you planning to go then?” Xu Xingran wasn’t surprised at all; he just nudged Xiao Chen with his elbow.
“Take a guess,” Xiao Chen unexpectedly responded using Xu Xingran’s own style.
Despite Xu Xingran’s seemingly refined appearance, An Lan vaguely felt a bit of a mischievous factor in his bones.
For example, when you ask him a perplexing question, he might respond with “What do you think?” or “Take a guess,” making it even more confusing and allowing Xu Xingran to enjoy the other person’s increasing confusion.
“There’s nothing to guess. Besides envy, I can only feel jealousy.” Xu Xingran’s statement indicated that he knew where Xiao Chen intended to transfer and, in his view, it was a place not inferior to the Observing Mountain and Sea Club.
This left Xiao Nan dumbfounded. According to the information he gathered, Xiao Chen was planning to join the “Above Cloud Club,” a club of moderate scale with no outstanding coaches in recent years and no remarkable achievements.
What’s the difference between joining such a club and giving up his shooting career?
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