Chapter 29: Elementary School Level
Cheyenne had also seen Grandpa’s new work, “Summer Retreat”. It was a bit hasty to create, to be honest. The so-called Summer Retreat was just a big watermelon that Grandpa had drawn. If you looked closer, there were a few more watermelon seeds on the melon and a little piece had been bitten off.
Hmm, she was the one who bit a piece of it because she was busy and left after taking only one bite.
Grandpa suddenly had the idea to turn it into a painting and who knew he would win the gold medal for it.
Cheyenne thought to herself that the painting was indeed nothing much.
Malaya still smiled warmly and said, “Oh my goodness, Mr. Edwards, you’re really modest. Your paintings are all masterpieces.”
Grandpa smiled but didn’t say anything as he waited for her next words.
Sure enough, that woman mentioned Nora with pride written all over her face as she said, “Mr. Edwards, my little daughter has been studying painting for over ten years now. She has always admired you and finally gets to meet you today.”
“Why don’t you take some time out of your schedule to see how good her painting skills are?”
“She just won a youth art award last week and is planning on participating in a national college student painting competition next month.”
As Malaya spoke, she gestured for Nora to go and retrieve the artwork herself. Sean, who had been lacking in energy until now, perked up slightly with a twitch of his lips.
“Mom, my sister and Cheyenne’s grandfather aren’t painting the same kind of painting. How can he give advice?” The boy was blunt, showing no manners by referring to Layne as “Cheyenne’s grandfather”.
Layne thought he was so much older than Sean himself, so it would have been appropriate for him to be addressed as “old Mr. Edwards”. Malaya probably favored her son over her daughter, which is why her son was so impertinent.
Fortunately, Layne returned home in time and secretly trained his granddaughter, otherwise, she might have become a useless spoiled lady just like Malaya expected.
Caught off guard by her own son’s interruption, Malaya felt both embarrassed and annoyed as she glared at him.
“What do you know? You’re just a kid!” She scolded angrily.
Sean still felt dissatisfied and muttered under his breath. “I told the truth!”
Furthermore, he heard the conversation between his mom and sister just now. They were trying to curry favor with Cheyenne’s grandfather in order to gain access into the Royal Academy of Arts abroad.
He just felt they were so naive. He knew well Cheyenne was a selfish and vicious woman who had been jealous of Nora’s excellence since childhood, so there was no way that Cheyenne’s grandfather would help.
Besides, Nora could have gotten into a good school on her own merit. Their mother’s intervention was unnecessary.
Cheyenne caught his reaction and cursed under her breath, “Idiot!”
After a while, Nora finally came down.
After some deliberation upstairs, she finally found her favorite and proudest painting.
It was a Western-style portrait oil painting.
It looked somewhat like an 18th-century style, and the young girl depicted was herself.
She was attending a banquet, wearing a gorgeous strapless long dress in a bright yellow color, with delicate makeup.
The people around her were also well-dressed and were dancing, portraying a scene of luxury and extravagance at a high society gathering.
Malaya grinned as she pushed Nora towards Layne. “You’re here! Show your grandpa your painting… Isn’t this the one that won an award last week?”
George was proud of his exceptional daughter and wanted to impress his father-in-law with her achievements.
He pretended to be helpless and said, “Didn’t you see your grandpa eating?”
Old Mr. Edwards smiled faintly, put down his cutlery, and looked at the painting.
“It’s okay. I’m old and don’t have a big appetite. Just looking at a painting won’t take much time.”
Cheyenne finished her meal and sat upright, looking at Nora’s painting.
With just one glance, she withdrew her gaze, thinking, ‘She has the courage to show off such a bad painting in front of my grandfather.’
Layne thought for a moment and politely praised first. “It’s pretty good. The colors are accurate and saturated. The lines are smooth, and the layout of the picture is well thought out.”
Even top masters praised it, making Malaya even happier.
And George was afraid that his father-in-law would ask why Nora was much better than Cheyenne in painting, so he explained hurriedly, “Well, we wanted Cheyenne to learn how to paint with Nora together; we even paid for it.”
“Maybe drawing is too boring for Cheyenne, so she came back after only two days.”
“But Nora has good patience; she persisted until now.”
Cheyenne listened as her father praised his mistress’s daughter and depreciated herself. She looked over coldly.
“I disagree with what you said, father. I didn’t want to learn there because the teacher was incapable to teach me,” she said seriously in a declarative tone.
Nora and her brother looked at each other as if they had just heard a joke. Nora, being the lady she is, kept her thoughts to herself and silently mocked Cheyenne for being crazy.
Sean, on the other hand, never held back his opinions and said what was on his mind.
“You really know how to flatter yourself,” he quipped.
“How old were you then? The teacher was at least twenty years older than you. How dare you say that she couldn’t teach you anything? What a vain liar you are!”Original from NôvelDrama.Org.
Layne couldn’t help but feel more disgusted with the Lawrence family after seeing Sean mocking Cheyenne in front of himself. He wondered how much grief Cheyenne must have endured.
Malaya started to lecture Cheyenne in a serious tone.
“I know that you don’t like that teacher and always cause trouble in class. But remember, she is still your teacher and deserves respect from her students.”
Her words painted an image of Cheyenne as someone who lacked respect for authority figures and was arrogant due to her mischievous nature.
Malaya deliberately said so to mislead Layne.
But her scheme didn’t work, because Layne knew better than anyone how skilled Cheyenne was in painting.
As the family continued to belittle Cheyenne, Layne couldn’t help but laugh at their narrow-mindedness.
“If Malaya thinks I’m lying, then let me prove it by taking a look at Nora’s painting,” Cheyenne said lazily as she got up from her seat and walked over.
Resting her chin on one hand, she looked at Nora’s work with a sneer. “This is just my elementary school level. Is that really something worth showing off?”