Inlaid With Jade - Chapter 56

Chapter 56 
Portrait 
  
Li Heming probably didn’t expect Lin Jing’s sentences to expose the old things he had tried so hard to hide from Lin Yu. 
  
However, Lin Yu was quite dissatisfied when she heard Lin Jing describe the brother who helped her in her childhood: “What black charcoal? Brother, don’t talk nonsense.” 
  
She recalled: “Besides, I remember that brother’s name was Mu Er, and he didn’t dress like a young master but like a child from an ordinary family.” 
  
She used to be brilliant but was confused when she met Li Heming. Lin Jing said with reason: “Mu Zi Li, Mu Er is Li’s second son. Who else can it be except him? And think about it: which child from an ordinary family has spare money to buy He Ji’s cakes?” 

T/N: Li ? is formed from the characters Mu ? and Zi ?.
  
Lin Jing was more than ten years old at the time, and he still remembered the face. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that the child’s eyebrows and eyes were somewhat similar to Li Heming’s. He was almost sure the two were the same person, and their ages matched. He sighed: “I didn’t expect Li Heming to be the reincarnation of a black monkey spirit.” 
  
Lin Yu scolded: “Don’t say that about him!” 
  
She was becoming increasingly skilled at defending him and didn’t even allow Lin Jing to say anything casually. Seeing Lin Yu frowning at him, Lin Jing shouted: “He was so black that you couldn’t tell his nose and eyes apart. You couldn’t recognize him when you put him next to Third Brother. Why blame me?” 
  
Lin Yu wanted to laugh, but she felt it was inappropriate for her as a wife to laugh at her husband. But she couldn’t compare Li Heming’s face now with the charcoal-like man in Lin Jing’s mouth. She pondered momentarily and asked, “Is he really that black?” 
  
Lin Jing spread his hands: “If you don’t believe me, go back and ask Mother. Mother must have seen what Li Heming looked like in the past; see if there is any difference from what I said.” 
  
How could Lin Yu disturb Wang Yueying for such a trivial matter, but Lin Jing’s words aroused her curiosity. After thinking about it, she told him: “Why don’t you draw a portrait of him in the past for me to see.” 
  
Lin Jing readily agreed: “Okay, I’ll let you see it.” 
  
Lin Yu sometimes checked the accounts in the inner room, so there was paper and ink. Lin Jing took the pen and drew a portrait of “Mu Er” according to his memory. 
  
Lin Jing’s calligraphy was excellent, but his painting skills were mediocre. To say that he was mediocre was to flatter him. Lin Yu frowned as she looked at the inhuman figure on the paper, wanting to ask if he had painted it randomly. But after looking at it a few more times, she felt that the short-sleeved man in the painting was somewhat similar to the “Second Brother Mu” in her vague memory. 
  
Lin Jing put down his pen, stepped aside, and raised his hand to signal Lin Yu to look closer: “If you look carefully, you will know I am not talking nonsense.” 
  
As soon as he finished speaking, he heard Li Heming’s voice from the door: “What do you need to see carefully?” 
  
Li Heming walked in with Lin Yu’s medicine and a small bag of candied fruit. He saw the siblings gathered around the table and seemed startled by his words. They all turned around and looked at him with strange expressions as if they were caught in trouble. 
  
Li Heming glanced at the two people, turned his feet that were initially walking towards the chair, and walked straight towards the two people. 
  
Lin Jing coughed, and without hesitation, he left Lin Yu and the little man in the painting and walked out the door. The man, who was never particular about details, started to be polite: “It’s getting dark; I won’t bother you anymore. Don’t see me off, don’t see me off.” 
  
With that, he slid out the door in strides. 

Seeing Lin Jing running away, Lin Yu turned helplessly and met Li Heming’s eyes. Li Heming’s eyes moved slightly and swept across the rice paper she blocked behind her. He asked her, “What trouble have you done again?” 
  
How could Lin Yu dare admit it? She shook her head and said guiltily, “Nothing.” 
  
If Li Heming couldn’t understand this poor acting, he wouldn’t have to be the Northern Leader. He stopped before Lin Yu, looked over her shoulder at the black mass on the paper, and asked her: “What is this blackness that can’t be seen?” 
  
Lin Yu naturally wouldn’t say it was him. She turned around and looked at it, hesitating: “Um… the little monkey drawn by my brother.” 
  
Li Heming took a look and suddenly frowned. He pointed to an inconspicuous little word on the corner of the monkey’s clothes and asked her: “Is this monkey surnamed Li?” 
  
Lin Yu hadn’t noticed the word “Li” written by Lin Jing in the corner. Now she saw it and knew why Lin Jing ran so fast. 
  
After seeing this, she hurriedly picked up the half-dried painting and moved away from Li Heming. She quickly put the painting over the stove, dried the ink, and rolled it up, saying vaguely, “You are mistaken. It is a fold of clothing, not a word.” 
  
Lin Yu was good at fooling others, but she always had many loopholes when fooling Li Heming. After some thought, he guessed what was happening when he saw the black face of the so-called little monkey in the painting. He put his arm around Lin Yu’s waist and lifted her before him, staring at her with his eyes down: “Are you making fun of me?” 
  
Lin Yu shook her head and said earnestly: “How could it be? You are not a little monkey.” 
  
Li Heming was silent for a moment: “You know?” 
  
Lin Yu continued to pretend to be confused, and she turned half a circle lightly to break free from his arms: “I don’t know what you are talking about.” 
  
Before she could leave, Li Heming caught her back. He stretched out his hand: “Give me the painting.” 
  
Lin Yu hid behind him and looked at him warily: “What for?” 
  
Li Heming had a wooden face. He said like a bandit leader: “Burn it.” 
  
Lin Yu held the painting tighter: “No. Why burn my little monkey? It’s so cute.” 
  
Li Heming frowned slightly: “Cute?” 
  
“Isn’t it cute?” Lin Yu unfolded the painting, looked at it carefully, held back a smile, and said, “It’s so black and thin, and it looks like it rolled in charcoal. Don’t you like it?” 
  
After hearing this, Li Heming had a headache. He couldn’t do anything to Lin Yu, so he closed his eyes and stopped looking.