"Does it look bad?"
"Or does it make me look old?"
Before the old man could reply, Huo Tingzhou said, "Maybe I should just change back into my usual clothes."
"No need, I think this looks quite good," Granny Huo said with a smile. "When Jiang Si picked this color, I was worried it might be too dull, but it actually suits you very well."
"Old man, what do you think?"
"Doesn’t our third son look especially sharp in this?"
The old man’s words were blunt but held truth. "Of course! As the saying goes, 'Fine feathers make fine birds, and a jingling bell makes the dog run faster!'"
"Honestly, with this little makeover, our third son looks years younger."
He didn’t forget to add, "This was a gift from your wife. Wearing what she gave you to pick her up will surely make her happy."
Granny Huo nodded in agreement. "Hurry along now. Oh, and your wife left in such a rush this morning that she forgot her water bottle—take it with you."
"And the scarf, bring that too, just in case the weather turns chilly later."
"Also pack some snacks—she barely ate anything this morning."
...
While the old couple was busy giving Huo Tingzhou advice, Jiang Si had already followed the sports bureau staff into the stadium.
A few days earlier, Yang Meina had reported Jiang Si’s situation to her superiors.
Upon learning that she was here to create a facial template database for the public security system, the sports bureau had been extremely cooperative.
"Sister-in-law, here’s the schedule for today’s events—the ones with checkmarks are all men’s competitions."
"See this marked area on the ground? That’s the closest observation point to the competitors."
"Later, if you want to observe any particular athlete, just go to this spot."
Concerned that Jiang Si might tire from standing too long, the staff had even prepared a foldable high stool for her.
It was already 8:50, and the table tennis competition would begin in just ten minutes.
After explaining everything, Yang Meina said,
"Sister-in-law, I’ll leave you here for now."
"If anything comes up, you can ask any of the staff around."
"If you get tired, just head to the lounge over there. I’ll be back in about two hours."
"Got it, Second Sister-in-law. Don’t worry, I won’t wander off."
Yang Meina wasn’t worried about her wandering off—she was more concerned about someone trying to steal Third Brother’s wife in her absence!
In this day and age, approaching a young woman alone could easily be seen as flirting.
But in broad daylight, if someone came up to greet her politely, it wouldn’t be a big deal.
Especially since most of today’s competitors were energetic university students.
Yang Meina hadn’t thought much about it until she saw the athletes lining up outside the stadium earlier.
The moment their eyes all turned toward Jiang Si,
she finally understood why her husband had been so against bringing Third Brother’s wife along recently.
Truth be told, Jiang Si hadn’t dressed up specially today.
Her outfit was the most ordinary style of the era, and her hair was tied in a simple single braid.
To avoid unnecessary attention, she had even worn a sanitary mask when leaving the house.
Yet even with only her eyes visible,
Jiang Si’s mere presence—even just her silhouette—drew the gaze of nearly everyone around.
It just went to show that charm wasn’t something you could easily hide.
But since she’d already agreed, Yang Meina couldn’t back out now.
Fortunately, Fourth Uncle had arranged for two female police officers to accompany them—otherwise, Yang Meina wouldn’t have felt at ease.
At exactly 9:00 a.m., the lively Youth Games officially began.
Jiang Si set up her drawing board.
After adjusting her position, she settled in quietly.
For the first half-hour, she barely moved, spending most of her time observing the male athletes.
And every single one of them, when caught under her gaze, either blushed and looked away or—
if they were bold enough—grinned widely or squinted their eyes in exaggerated smiles the moment she glanced their way.
"......"
Jiang Si frowned slightly but didn’t react much. Others, however, did.
On the bleachers less than ten meters away, a group of art students buzzed with chatter.
They had noticed Jiang Si even during the warm-up.
As art students, they immediately recognized that her drawing board was top-tier.
What’s more, it was an imported piece from East Germany.
Even her pencils and sketch paper were high-quality materials unavailable on the market without special permits.
Naturally, curiosity about her identity—and what she planned to draw—spread quickly.
So much so that they barely paid attention to the actual competition.
But after waiting over an hour, the girl still hadn’t put pencil to paper.
Watching her look left and right without drawing anything, someone couldn’t help muttering,
"What’s she even doing? It’s been an hour, and not a single sketch?"
"Total waste of such good supplies, hogging the best spot like that."
"She can’t be from our academy, right?"
At the moment, only the sculpture, oil painting, printmaking, and mural departments at the art academy emphasized sketching. After checking among themselves, none of the students recognized the girl.
Just as the murmurs continued, someone suddenly exclaimed, "Look! She’s finally drawing!"
The entire group turned to watch.
But after a few minutes, they were utterly baffled.
In all their years of training, none of them had ever seen someone start a portrait by drawing the pupil first.
No—she didn’t even begin with the pupil. She started with the highlight in the eye.
It wasn’t that she didn’t know how to draw.
In fact, with just a few deft strokes of her blending stump, she effortlessly rendered the transparency of the cornea.
The technique itself wasn’t difficult—what stunned them was her sheer precision.
Before they could process that step, Jiang Si had already picked up a charcoal pencil to shade the orbicularis oculi, then finally outlined the eye socket.
Her approach to the nose was just as unconventional.
Again, she began by blending the highlight on the tip before defining the wings and bridge.
By the time she had sketched multiple facial features,
someone suddenly realized, "She hasn’t looked up even once this whole time."
At first, the remark didn’t seem significant. But upon reflection, the students’ expressions shifted from surprise to outright awe.
Could it be that during that entire hour of not drawing, she had been memorizing their facial features?
How on earth does she remember so many people?
And her technique of deducing the external contours from the internal structure—absolutely brilliant!
Jiang Si was completely absorbed in her drawing, utterly unaware that the scene of her painting had left the art students around her speechless in awe.
Once she finished, she packed up her drawing board and headed straight to the next competition venue.
But as she walked, a towering figure suddenly blocked her path—a wall of dark, solid muscle.
The clothes were ones she had picked herself, so she recognized them instantly.
Just like last time at the docks, Huo Tingzhou immediately took the drawing board and toolbox from her hands.
But this time, the look he gave Jiang Si was noticeably more intense.
"Darling, I'm back."
It had been over a month since they last saw each other, and pretending she hadn’t missed him would be a lie.
Especially after learning about the hardships he endured as a child, her heart ached even more for him.
Just as she was about to speak, two voices suddenly called out from behind her.
"Miss—"
"Miss, could you wait a moment—"
